Humanity's Destination (4)
On the 1.5th floor of Imir's mind, Shirone dreamed.
A transmitted dream.
Time in dreams hardly mattered, but the amount of data poured into it was staggering.
It was that vast a story.
A man known as the First Yorahan, and the insight he gained amid a terrible tragedy.
The era was when humanity had just left tribal life and centralized states were beginning to form.
"Phew, it's hot."
Tyrants were everywhere, and the lives of the ruled were far more wretched than in Shirone's world.
It was a time when many philosophers and seekers raised questions about life and preached their thoughts.
"It's so hard to meet people these days."
Yorahan, a twenty-year-old seeker, wandered the world with the will of his quest in his heart.
He opened the cap of his water flask and lifted it to his lips, but only a single drop fell.
"Ugh, ugh."
Climbing mountain paths had left him parched, and he couldn't find any water.
"If this keeps up… I might die, huh?" he said, then let out a strained laugh.
"Still, I'm living better than so many who suffer under tyranny."
War, and more war.
The ambitions of the powerful knew no bounds, and clashes with other states happened nearly every day.
We have to stop the wars.
Some said the political system must change, others the economic system, but
You can't sustain things on the sacrifice of the few. If everyone showed a little consideration, the wars would stop.
He believed in the human heart.
"All right! Let's go!"
He had to meet someone to preach to, didn't he?
The first sign that something was wrong on his cheerful mountain trek came two days later.
"Gasp. Gasp." He had traveled to many remote places, but never one as completely isolated as this.
Where on earth am I?
There wasn't even the slightest sign of animals—only trees and grasses.
Although he'd studied herbalism to some extent, these plants were unfamiliar, and the day before he'd eaten the wrong thing and developed diarrhea.
I'm dehydrating badly.
Had he lost consciousness?
Through intermittently returning awareness, Yorahan felt he had spent another day or so like that.
Is this how it ends?
It would be sad to leave without spreading his will, but it wouldn't be unfair.
There must be others who think as I do. After all, who am I? I wasn't popular.
In that age, no one could have guessed how impossible Yorahan's dream was.
I'm drowsy.
Just as he was about to accept eternal sleep, he heard the sound of footsteps on the grass and someone calling.
"What are you doing here?"
Yorahan's eyes snapped open to see the faces of a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman.
"P–person…"
His hoarse voice betrayed him.
"Save him."
The two exchanged a look, shrugged, and then asked Yorahan again.
"How should we save you?"
"Water, water… something to drink… please… I beg you."
"Water? There's a village with water."
As Yorahan teetered on the brink of breathlessness, the woman spoke.
"Can't you hold on?"
He thought, What will you do if I can't? but his head was already nodding.
"All right. Wait a moment."
The woman closed her eyes.
At first he thought she was praying for his soul, but then something astonishing happened.
The surrounding trees trembled and countless droplets sprang from their leaves.
What is this? A dream?
In an age when magic belonged to only a few, that was the only conclusion he could reach.
But as the droplets fell into his gaping mouth, his brain released a rush of pleasure.
"Hah. More, more…"
"Let's gather the water and give it to him." The man suggested, and the woman pressed leaves together with mud to make a bowl.
"Here."
When she poured the water, Yorahan's Adam's apple bobbed as if it might burst.
"Hah."
How could he put that moment into words?
I'm alive.
Then he slid back into sleep.
Hearing laughter outside, Yorahan slowly opened his eyes.
Birds were chirping.
He sat up bolt upright, thinking how long it had been since he'd heard birdsong.
"What… what is this?"
He looked around and found a small hut; he was lying on a bed woven from grass.
"This wasn't a dream?"
As he swung his feet down from the bed, the tent flap opened and two people entered.
A boy and a girl, both about seventeen—beautiful, but what struck Yorahan most was their scent.
A floral scent.
Humans who carried the smell of flowers.
They had brought water to wash with, and when they saw him awake they were surprised.
"Oh? You're awake? I have to tell the chieftain."
"Wait, wait."
They stopped at his hurried call.
"Sorry, but where is this? What happened? Did you rescue me?"
"No. It was oppa and unni who saved you. I'm supposed to go report to the chieftain—may I? Can I go?"
Their insistence was odd, but Yorahan was mild by nature.
"All right. You saved my life, so it's a bit bold to ask, but could I have some food?"
Once his thirst was quenched, he felt on the verge of starvation.
"Food…"
She thought for a moment, then said, "Oh! Arman unni has something she eats. Shall I bring that?"
"Yes, thank you. I don't have any money now, but when I get better I'll repay you somehow."
They left, and not long after a plate with red flesh on it was brought in.
"Here, eat." Contrary to what he'd imagined, the food was raw meat only rinsed with water.
"Well, different regions have different customs, but this is unusual. It would taste better grilled."
"Eek!"
They flinched.
"The Hwa don't use fire. Fire destroys everything—nature… and us."
"Hwa?"
A name he had never heard.
There was no hostility, so Yorahan bowed to them.
"Thank you. I'll eat well."
"Um… then may I go tell the chieftain now? I was told to be sure to say something."
"Huh?"
Yorahan blinked.
"Didn't you already go?"
"He asked for food, didn't he? So obviously he couldn't go."
Only then did a sense of strangeness settle over him.
Something feels subtly different. Is consideration for others the highest priority in their culture?
If that's true…
The gods guided me here. This is a chance to test my ideas.
Chewing the raw meat, Yorahan said, "All right, go on."
After confirming the flap was closed, he swallowed and put on his shoes.
"They say the market is the side dish," he muttered.
He slipped out of the hut, and the Hwa smiled as they basked in the sunlight.
Huh. They don't feel hostile. The village's atmosphere was unlike any he had known, and it eased his tension.
As he wandered among the Hwa feeling their gazes, a fierce woman's voice rang out.
"Why are you letting humans in?!"
Even a human shout sounded wildly out of place here.
Human. She must mean me. If so…
Are the Hwa not human?
He walked to the hut from which the voice had come and peered inside through a window without glass.
Wow.
All the Hwa were beautiful, but the woman seated in the chair radiated something beyond beauty.
A lovely scent. A lotus?
Chieftain Lutia said, "Arman, calm down. The Hwa must help humans. It is the will of our ancestors."
Yorahan saw the woman called Arman.
She's frightening.
Her fierce eyes and hair rough enough to reach her waist made her stand out sharply from the other Hwa.
"Human?"
Arman stamped her foot.
"You know how much humans have oppressed us. Isn't that why we hide deep in mountains where no human steps?"
"I know the danger of humans. But I cannot pretend I didn't see them. If we understand and embrace them, one day they will cherish us."
"We'll be dead before that. We'll all be killed."
"Arman."
"That human—when he wakes, what will he demand of us? Aren't you afraid? Will you run again? Must we abandon the village we've tended for hundreds of years and flee?"
The Hwa's extreme passivity was as intense as humans' yearning for free will.
"One will be fine. And besides, we have you, Arman."
A carnivorous plant is exceedingly rare even in nature.
To eat meat one must hunt, and that implies an active will.
"…I say this out of frustration. Lutia, you don't know. There are strong humans among them."
Arman, who had fought to protect the Hwa for years, never underestimated humans.
"Ordinary ones we can block with Sosegye Changyu, I suppose. But if that man—"
Pointing outside the village, Arman finally noticed Yorahan standing by the window.
"You!"
Startled, Yorahan ducked below the window, but Arman dashed out.
"I'm, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Grabbing his collar, she dragged him into the hut while apologizing.
"Aahk!"
"Eavesdropping like a thief! I'll kill you!"
She seized the only metal kept on the chieftain's shelf— a longsword.
It had no use other than hunting and combat, but this was no time to be particular.
I heard about the Hwa. If this man were to take advantage of our traits… the consequences would be horrifying.
As the blade glinted above her head, Yorahan put out his hand.
"Wait! There's no need to kill him!"
"Silence."
Just as she swung, he felt his nerves stiffen from the ground up through his feet.
"Arman."
Lutia said, "You dared handle metal without my permission? Is it not only humans who are dangerous to the Hwa?"
The lotus bloodline was chieftain because the power of Sosegye Changyu was strongest.
Because they were interconnected, there was neither pure activity nor pure passivity—only perfect compromise and mutual persuasion.
Arman lowered the sword sullenly.
"I'm sorry."
If the danger of humans lay in the possibility of bloodlust, Arman herself was not much different.
"That's enough. Let him out."
Slipping the sword back onto the shelf, Arman left the hut, and Lutia approached Yorahan.
"I'm glad you're alive. Please, sit."
"Ah, thank you."
Having crossed death's threshold several times already, Yorahan sat as if stunned.
"As chieftain I must ask: how did you come this far? There are almost no animals here, and many poisonous plants grow—people generally do not come to this place."
It was a village they had tended for generations.
"I'm a seeker. I travel the world and spread my thoughts. Not that I'm unemployed! I do know a few fields of study…"
Lutia tilted her head.
"I don't quite understand. Isn't spreading thoughts something any human might do?"
"Well, mine are special thoughts. About the direction of humankind—how we should live, that sort of thing."
"Ho."
Lutia was intrigued.
"What a peculiar profession. Would you share your thoughts with me?"
This was the first time anyone had asked that, and Yorahan was taken aback.
"Oh, well, the basis is love. Of course, material things change people's hearts, but…"
Even as his rambling speech wore on, Lutia listened without the slightest movement.
"…Well, that's it, haha! Actually I'm not usually this incoherent—my mind's a bit clouded."
Yorahan's face drained.
"Um… excuse me?"
Lutia sat demurely; then her shoulders trembled and tears began to fall.
"I see."
She smiled like a fully bloomed flower.
"What a beautiful world that would be."