Chapter 28: “The Steel Cradle Sliding Through the Mire”
“…Mm‚ …mmnn… Did someone swap my body in the middle of the night with a ‘pickling stone set (extra-large)’…?”
When I pried open my heavy eyelids‚ the gray curtain of rain that continued to sink the world blocked my view‚ just as always. The rough sensation of a rocky ledge pressed against my back. The cold stabbed into my skin.
(Right leeeeg? Are you open for business today as well?)
I try knocking inside my head‚ but there’s zero reply. My right leg‚ bound up with an AC adapter cord‚ is functionally completely closed for business.
(Then leeeeft arm? …Please wake up.)
My left arm‚ which had been fixed with duct tape and a rubber gasket on that cliff to keep Haru-kun from falling‚ is now in a complete “marshmallow plush toy” state thanks to the double combo of congestion and nerve compression. Not even a finger twitches.
“…You’re awake‚ Nagisa. Don’t mutter things like ‘three parfaits’ in your sleep. It’s noisy.”
Right beside me‚ Rin-chan was sitting with her back against the rock. The sleeve of her water-repellent jacket had been torn during yesterday’s rescue‚ and her thin arm was trembling slightly from the cold.
“Good morning‚ Rin-chan… Your sleeve is gone. Did I use too much of it as material for my ‘fluffy fortress’?”
“…It was the cost of keeping you tied down. Cheap enough.”
While saying that bluntly‚ Rin-chan glared at the compass that continued to spin wildly due to the magnetic anomalies caused by the “black wall” in the west.
“…We’re checkmated.”
Where she pointed with her chin was a vast “sea of mud.” Reddish-brown mire covered the world‚ and fragments of the city floated up and sank again.
“…According to my calculations‚ the success rate of moving on foot is zero. With two injured people‚ the probability that everyone will become fertilizer for the mud within a single meter of movement reaches ninety-nine point nine percent.”
At the edge of the rocky ledge‚ Haru-kun‚ covered in mud‚ placed a blank notebook on his knees and said it flatly.
“Rin-chan‚ right now I’m confident I could sell for a high price as a luxurious ‘comfortable sitting ornament.’ But you see‚ I can’t move even a millimeter by myself.”
“…I don’t know about the value of ornaments‚ but right now my muscles understand that weight better than anything.”
Rin-chan roughly brushed my wet hair aside. Her fingertips touched my ear‚ and something deep in my chest thumped. Her gaze was directed beyond the sea of mud—toward the gigantic tower blurred in the fog: the “Library.”
“…Haru‚ record it in that notebook. From now on‚ we’re going to rewrite the calculations by force.”
“…Now then. If you’re aware that you’re an ornament‚ obediently follow my instructions.”
Rin-chan nudged the scattered debris on the rocky ledge with her foot. Aluminum panels that used to be part of a building exterior‚ rusted pipes‚ and the “leftovers of the world” scattered from yesterday’s fierce battle.
“…Rin-san‚ unnecessary energy consumption is not recommended.”
Haru-kun set the blank notebook on his knees and tapped it lightly with his fingertips. It was the notebook I handed him yesterday saying‚ “You’ll write the future in this!”
“Our combined body weight is about one hundred forty kilograms. Considering the viscous resistance of this mud‚ if we simply place ourselves on a board and drag it‚ the only future I see is it sinking to the bottom of the mud as an ‘anchor.’”
“Haru-kun! If Rin-chan becomes ‘Reindeer Rin-chan‚’ I can become Santa on the sled…!”
“Nagisa‚ Santa delivers presents. You’re just ‘heavy cargo.’”
While being hit with Rin-chan’s retort‚ she pulled a large enamel sign out of the mud that read “24-Hour Operation – Station Front Parking.”
“Haru. Look at the curved surface of this sign. If we use the upward bend of the edges‚ we can trap a layer of air along the contact surface. We can lower the coefficient of friction ‘physically.’”
Next‚ she tore the casters off the remains of a cart. “We’ll use these as a ‘keel’ to slice through the surface of the mud.”
“…I see. A fluid-dynamics approach.”
Haru-kun’s eyes sharpened. Calculations raced across the blank notebook. “Cutting the viscosity of the mud by thirty percent. …Revising. The probability of success has risen to three point five percent.”
“Three point five percent!? That’s almost the same as the super high odds of getting a ‘winning ticket’ in my parfaits!!”
“…I don’t know your parfait probabilities‚ but three point five is enough. I’ll make up the rest with my muscle strength.”
Rin-chan straightened the collar of her sleeveless jacket and smiled fearlessly.
“…Haru‚ fix it at that coordinate. Nagisa‚ supply duct tape with your right hand. …Got it?”
The top of the rocky ledge turns into a “secret workshop.” Rin-chan scrapes the mud off the casters and places them at the four corners of the sign.
“Roger! I’ll show you my skills as the ‘Minister of Adhesive Power!’”
I place my unmoving left arm on my knees and search for the edge of the duct tape with just my right hand. My fingertips are cold and it won’t peel easily.
“Alright then—activating the forbidden ‘Nagisa-style bite-and-tear technique!’”
I bite through the tape with my front teeth. A secret technique from the night of the blizzard when I built the “fluffy fortress” in the office.
“…Use your hands. …Hey‚ don’t stick it to your fingers. Stick it to the sign.”
Rin-chan’s fingertips brushed lightly against my lips‚ and a heat different from the rain’s cold shot through me.
During the work‚ the moment I shifted my posture slightly‚ my numb left arm swung outward with centrifugal force and almost struck the corner of the rock.
“Eek…!”
Panicking‚ I stretched out my right hand and grabbed the left arm that felt like someone else’s forgotten luggage despite being my own body‚ and forced it down onto my knees.
“…Nagisa‚ don’t move. The tourniquet on your right leg is loose too.”
Rin-chan stopped working‚ supported my knees with her own body‚ and tightened the AC adapter cord.
“Hiu…!”
Raindrops dripping from Rin-chan’s wet black hair fell onto my ankle. Her breath touched the back of my knee‚ and only that spot felt burning hot.
“…Did… it hurt…?”
“Nope. When you touch me‚ Rin-chan‚ that spot feels like it returned to a ‘save point in life.’ It makes me feel safe.”
“…Don’t say things that make no sense. Good. That shouldn’t come off now.”
Haru’s calculations‚ my assistance‚ Rin-chan’s technique. The scattered junk transforms into a single shape with one “will”—a sled.
“It’s done… Our steel cradle.”
It was a clumsy but incredibly reliable “comrade-in-arms” born in the end-of-the-world.
“Alright! I name it the ‘Nagisa–Haru Exclusive Mire Breakthrough Express Deluxe Parfait Heap Edition!’ It’s complete!”
The thing sitting on the rocky ledge looked like “garbage from the future‚” but to us right now it shone brighter than a galactic railway train.
“…The name is too long. Rejected. Haru‚ get on.”
Rin-chan wrapped the nylon towing rope around her shoulder and under her armpit like a sash‚ winding it several times. The rope bit into the white shoulder visible from her sleeveless jacket‚ and with every breath it made an unpleasant “kyuu…” sound.
“…Rin-san‚ please allow me to reconfirm. Nagisa-san and my combined weight is about ninety kilograms. For the pulling side‚ the overload exceeds statistical limits—”
“Haru-kun‚ that ‘math where you throw me away’ gets a failing grade!”
With Rin-chan’s help‚ I plopped down heavily onto the sled.
“Being heavy just means there’s that much ‘living stuff packed inside.’ Right now Rin-chan is about to transport the most valuable asset in the world!”
“…Haru‚ the calculations are enough.”
Rin-chan pulled the rope tight.
“The reason I’m pulling you… is because I want to ‘fix’ it. This broken situation.”
“…Haru-kun. Here‚ the notebook. From here on out‚ you’ll write everything. If you don’t write it‚ all our efforts will be washed away by the rain and become ‘something that never happened‚’ you know?”
Haru-kun’s eyes widened as if struck by the thought. With trembling hands he gripped the pen again and wrote “Day 1” at the top left of the blank page.
(Statistically‚ the probability that tomorrow—Day 2—will come is almost zero. But writing this single word is my rebellion against the calculations.)
A quiet heat lit in Haru-kun’s eyes.
“…Recording. Rin-san’s muscle contractions‚ and Nagisa-san’s… baseless trust.”
“Ahaha! There is a basis! My excitement sensor is going crazy!”
The “steel cradle” carrying the three of us slowly began to slide across the mire of despair.
“…gh… …ku…!”
A low‚ suppressed sound leaked from Rin-chan’s throat. Her legs were swallowed into the reddish-brown clay up to halfway up her shins. The rope biting into her shoulders bent her slender body like a bow.
The sign-sled resisted the surface tension of the mud and slid… a few centimeters.
“Go go! Rin-chan engine‚ full throttle! According to the commentary in my head‚ Rin-chan right now has the horsepower of three ponies! A roaring engine like a super luxury sports car!”
Holding my unmoving left arm with my right hand‚ I shouted desperately.
All we could hear was the “zzzz…” sound of mud tearing apart and Rin-chan’s rough breathing. But if I didn’t say things like that‚ the reality of the “weight” on her back would crush me.
Suddenly‚ I stopped my commentary.
In that instant‚ only the heavy sound of the endlessly falling rain echoed like a deep silence trying to swallow the three of us.
(Ah… scary. If I stop talking‚ this rain sound will erase everything…)
So I start talking again.
“Rin-chan‚ look! Up ahead—the fog’s getting a little thinner! That big shadow there‚ isn’t that the ‘Library’ Momiji-chan told us about!?”
Rin-chan lifted her mud-covered face and pierced the distant silhouette with sharp eyes.
“…A shoulder massage… once is enough. …In return… make… a huge parfait…”
“Huh‚ Rin-chan just said parfait!? Yay! It’s the anniversary of your defection to Team Parfait!!”
“…Noisy… …I’m pulling…!”
Rin-chan kicked the ground hard again. In Haru-kun’s notebook‚ Rin-chan’s breathing‚ my commentary‚ and the path of the three of us continued to be carved into record.
The rain still hasn’t stopped. The black clouds in the west are still aiming at us.
But we’re already “one entity.”
The one who carries‚ the one who records‚ and the one who laughs. The sled called the bond of three people cuts through the sinking world and races toward the stronghold of hope.
The inside of my chest felt hotter than ever before.
End of Chapter 28
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