"The Country of Illness..." "Hey, Kino." "It doesn't look like we're inside a country..." "Did we really enter one?" "We did." "We just passed the walls, didn't we?" "I heard that this country is very developed..." "That there's many skyscrapers..." "And that it's a very beautiful and clean country." "That's definitely a lie." "You think so?" "Sorry, Hermes." "What are you doing?" "I'm surprised someone like you let me fall over." "Here we... go." "Well done." "Kino, one of the primary clutch sprocket's teeth seems to have broken off." "I see..." "I guess I got a little too excited from riding so fast for such a long time." "I have to repair it somewhere." "Let's leave this country already." "There's nothing here." "Let's continue down that road a little more." "There may be a town." "See?" "I see, so it wasn't a lie after all." "Are you a traveler?" "Yes." "I'm Kino." "This is Hermes." "I'd like to stay here for three days." "We welcome you." "Rather than three days, stay here as long as you wish." "Thank you." "I'd like to repair Hermes as well." "My clutch gear is broken." "We'll help you of course." "However, before you enter the city... we will have to clean you first." "Okay." "Kino!" "Whoa, you're really shining now, Hermes!" "They've fixed my clutch gear." "And filled me up too!" "However, look at my exhaust pipe." "They added that crazy thing." "It's a system that purifies the exhaust gases and a muffler as well." "However, now you can go wherever you want in the city." "It really existed, skyscraper town." "Nearly the entire population of our country lives here." "This serves as a map." "Understood." "Nearly the entire population..." "That must mean that people live out in the wild as well." "Are they the people who committed sins?" "No, no." "On the contrary." "They are the elite and pioneer the wild." "Even though they're able to live in a beautiful place like this?" "Exactly because of that." "This is a place isolated from the pathogens in the outside world." "That's exactly why we idolize life on real soil, below the real sun." "The pioneering groups are made up of families with the healthiest bodies and best educations." "We really envy them." "What's wrong?" "Why are you making weird noises?" "It's interesting." "Even though we're outside, your voice echoes." "One person, and one motorrad." "This hotel will pay for all your expenses, you may ask for anything." "I beg your pardon?" "That's great!" "It's all free?" "All right!" "Yes!" "What a nice view." "Yeah..." "But it's a little awkward." "What is?" "I don't really understand, but..." "There's a pretty unique smell to this town as well, don't you think?" "You think so?" "It's really slight." "But it's almost like antiseptic solution." "A really peculiar smell." "Sorry for disturbing you." "Hello there, traveler." "I'm the owner of this place." "And this is my wife." "Ah, hello." "To be honest, we have a request for you." "I wonder if they're gonna ask us to pay for the room after all." "What?" "We have a daughter who has been suffering from a disease for a long time." "Could you please, if you have time, tell her some stories of your travels tomorrow afternoon?" "I see..." "Please, traveler." "It would really help us." "I'll do it." "Tomorrow afternoon, right?" "Our stay here is free of charge, after all." "The end of town, I suppose." "I wonder if dwarfs live here as well?" "This is just a backdrop." "Backdrop?" "They set this up so the people don't feel as if they're living in a confined space." "Yes, come in." "How are you feeling?" "Here's the person you've been waiting for." "Hello." "I'm Kino." "This is my partner, Hermes." "Hello there." "My name is Inertia." "It's nice to meet you, Kino, Hermes." "I heard about you from my parents." "Thank you very much for coming all the way to my room." "When I first thought about a traveler on a motorrad," "I expected someone wilder." "You can't judge a book by its title!" "You meant, "You can't judge a book by its cover"?" "Right, that's what I meant." "So, let's talk about our travels." "Yes, please." "Do you know about my illness?" "Yes, the owner told me about it before I entered this room." "That in the past, a certain percentage of the population, unrelated to gender or age, fell ill." "And that a cure has yet to be found." "But recently, a medicine that can slow the advance of the disease has been found." "A cure will surely be found soon as well, they said." "Yes, I believe so too!" "If you get better, will you go to school again?" "Yes, I'll try my best so I can go out into the country." "Hm?" "You want to go there?" "Your parents don't know about that, do they?" "No." "You want to be a farmer?" "That plays a part too, but there's someone I want to meet." "Meet him, and thank him." "What kind of person?" "Umm..." "Please keep this a secret from mom and dad." "Okay, this story won't leave the room." "Understood!" "There's an observation room, right above this one." "Shall we go there?" "This is definitely a mysterious and dizzying scenery." "I felt the same way at first." "But I've gotten used to it." "This is from a boy named Logue." "He's living with his family in a pioneer village now, and works the fields." "When did you get to know him?" "One year ago." "He came to this hospital so they could check his health." "While I was watching the scenery here, he suddenly rushed in." "He ran up there, and while pointing at the country..." "Just you watch, I'll definitely go there!" "That's what he shouted!" "Actually, he wasn't allowed to be here." "And while I looked on completely surprised, the supervisors came to throw him out." "And then I suddenly blurted..." "That boy is a friend of mine!" "How bold!" "Shortly afterwards, Logue and his family were sent off as a pioneer group." "So then you started writing to each other?" "Yes." "In order not to cause trouble for each other, we decided to write one letter each month." "In the letter I got three months ago, he wrote that a child had been born for the first time." "And in the one two months ago, he wrote that he was fine even though a bug had flown into his food." "And in the most recent one, he wrote that he had carried real tomatoes." "He's happily fulfilled his dreams and works hard." "When I take the medicine, I feel bad for a while." "I always read his letters then." "They give me strength." "I hope they find a working medicine soon." "Kino, Hermes!" "Can I ask something of you?" "What, what?" "Due to the rules, I can only exchange letters with Logue." "But I had learned about birds through his letters, so as a present..." "I'd like to give him this bird broach!" "I see." "There aren't any birds in the sky here." "No..." "Kino and Hermes, you must have seen places where birds fly, right?" "They say people want to travel when they see birds." "That's a beautiful saying." "You will definitely be able to see him for yourself." "But if you tell me where he is on this map, I'll give it to him." "Thank you." "Traveler, take care." "Thanks." "You had to return the map, do you still remember?" "I learned it by heart, we'll be fine." "If we continue for another sixty, there should be a two-topped mountain on the left." "When we pass that, the 42nd pioneer village should be right ahead." "No one there?" "What are you doing in a place like this?" "Are you maybe... that traveler that came the day before yesterday?" "That's right." "I'm Kino." "This is Hermes." "I'm lieutentant Cole, of the third special guard unit." "The border is in the other direction." "Are you lost?" "Does no one live in this village?" "This pioneer village has been discarded." "That's strange." "Kino came here with a package for a person who's lived here since one year ago." "What's his name?" "A boy named Logue." "This is Cole." "There are no suspicious people here." "I guess they left the country already." "My name's Hermes." "You sure do have an interesting shape." "As I thought, I felt like I was being watched." "I wasn't imagining it." "Welcome to the post office." "And then, Kino let me fall over." "It's unbelievable, isn't it?" "Isn't it?" "It's a present from Inertia to Logue." "Can you deliver it for me?" "Logue... died half a year ago." "More specifically, love is what stole his life from him." "So I can't deliver this." "You were the one who wrote the replies to Inertia." "I should've written her earlier not to write any more letters." "Why was Logue killed?" "You know about the disease in this country, right?" "Yes." "This country is trying with all its might to overcome that disease, but there's a limit to what animal testing can do." "As a result, experiments using human test subjects to develop a special medicine began." "And those subjects were the pioneer groups?" "Only people who are healthy and without relatives are selected for the pioneer groups." "Half a year ago, it was decided that Logue's family would become experiment subjects." "Logue is actually in a place very close to Inertia." "In the shape of a small sample, inside an underground pathology lab." "But Logue definitely didn't die in vain." "A medicine to delay the disease has been developed!" "Inertia will be able to benefit from it soon!" "It was for the sake of the country." "So it will continue, in order to save the lives of many." "Above all else, to save that girl." "Then the package is for you." "I've delivered it." "I guess I have to write a reply." "Well then, it's time to leave." "Kino, thank you." "And..." "Sorry." "You're the silent type, eh?" "Quite a bit..." "Thank you very much for the present." "Please come to the village when you get better." "Let's have a long talk, then." "Hey, hey, Kino!" "What kind of country do you want to go to next?" "Let me think." "A place where everyone, without exception, is living happily would be nice." "A traveler who averts their eyes from the truth can't become happy, Kino." "Well then, a place with good food would be nice, even if the rest is bad." "We should be able to manage that." "isshun yume wo mita..." "I saw a dream for a second anata ga waratteita" "You were laughing ikutsumo no yoru koete" "After many nights ima yatto tadoritsuita" "We finally arrived nee ano sora no hate" "Hey, what is there nani ga aru no?" "Beyond the end of the sky?" "anata ga mukau basho he" "Please lead me michibiite kudasai" "To the place where you're going" "I sing for you" "I sing for you itsuka kaze ni nare yume oikakete" "Sometime I will become the wind and chase after dreams anata no tame ikiru tsuyosa" "Please give me the strength kono watashi ni sazukete kudasai" "To live for you" "tatoeba michi no ue" "A flower blooms hokorashige ni saku hana" "Proudly on the roadside hikaru ga sasu hou ni mukatte" "Facing the light makenai you ni te wo nobashiteku zutto..." "Stretching out its hands so it won't lose forever..." "I sing for you" "I sing for you ima mo sono mune ni yume wa imasu ka?" "Are there dreams in your heart now as well?" "mou ichido dake habataku kara" "I'm going to set off one more time kono tsubasa ni kaze wo harande" "So please blow wind into these wings"