Chapter 4: Cities at Sea (Part 2 of 2)

It was a cold evening with heavy snowfall and long dark hours. After having dinner, Ishida offered Rhina his bed and slept on the couch. 

But a few hours later, he was still awake. As it turned out, he had not entirely forgotten the discovery he made at the ammunition factory that afternoon.

I wonder what kind of people are operating the place and why they want to produce weapons, he thought. 

Perhaps another war is coming...?

Ishida shook his head. No, it can’t be! The last war we had was over a thousand years ago! Still, what about those mosaic paintings? 

What do they represent? That mountain looked a lot like Mount Lagoda. Maybe they were made long ago to tell the history of this place. But there were some missing paintings, too. This is like reading a classic mystery novel...

The young man tried to close his eyes, but he found himself staring at his guest, who was sound asleep. 

Mount Lagoda hasn’t had visitors for over a century, he told himself. What is Rhina doing here, and more importantly, why did she come here? 

Ishida continued to ponder through the night. Eventually, after getting a short period of rest, he found that it was already dawn. 

Quietly, in an effort not to wake his visitor up, Ishida cooked some breakfast for Rhina and grabbed his banner. Before going, he took another glimpse at Rhina. She was the most charming human being he had ever seen, and yet she somehow resembled someone he knew… or used to know. 

After placing a tray of food next to the bed, Ishida gently opened the door and stepped outside, neglecting to put his shoes on. After all, his parents were long gone, and there was no one to scold him for having dirty feet. 

Suddenly, Ishida felt something utterly terrifying in contact with his foot. It was cold, crunchy, and powdery. 

A chill went down his spine. He tried to look down and saw that the ground was covered in a grey substance— a form of precipitation. It was snow.

“No, NO!! Not you again!” Ishida wailed. “Get away from me!”

The young man rushed back inside and frantically dusted the tiny snowflakes off his foot. By then, it was too late. 

The acidic chemicals in the snow had already devoured much of his toenail and were rapidly spreading to other parts of his foot, leaving bright red rashes on his skin. 

Ishida closed his eyes in disgust and dipped his foot into a bucket of boiling water for a few seconds before quickly yanking it back out. 

He then dried his foot with a towel and repeated the process multiple times. 

The red rashes on his skin did not disappear. Ishida reached for some ice and poured it into a bucket before dropping herbs into the bucket of boiling water and stirring them together. 

He proceeded by pouring some herbs into the ice bucket and plunging his foot into the mixture. 

Green, orange, and purple smoke rose from the bucket and filled the room. Ishida pressed a button on the windowsill that opened all the windows in his house. He then pressed another button that turned on the air purifiers and the ventilation system. 

Ishida proceeded to lift his foot from the bucket filled with ice and saw that the burns were starting to vanish. When he rubbed some more herbs on the burns, they finally disappeared. Ishida breathed out a sigh of relief. 

My toenail isn’t going to grow back any time soon, though. Oh, well. At least the burns weren’t too severe.

Suddenly, an anguished voice cried out from inside Ishida’s house. “No, please don’t!” 

Ishida turned around and saw that Rhina was violently shaking her head with her eyes still tightly closed. 

“What’s the matter?” Ishida asked as he approached the bed.

“Don’t cut those flowers, please— Mother planted them! She would be terribly disappointed if she saw you do this,” she said in agony. “No, please don’t lock the door! I promised the butterflies that I would play with them all day today.”

“Rhina, wake up!” 

“I’m begging you, don’t do it!”

“Calm down— it’s just a bad dream.” 

“Let me out! Please!” 

“Listen to me, you’re dreaming, and you need to wake up.” Ishida stroked her hair.

“Ishida?” Rhina slowly lifted her eyelids.

“Yes, it’s just me. Everything’s going to be alright,” Ishida said in a soothing voice. 

Once Rhina had gone back to sleep, Ishida quietly stood up. 

I wonder what happened in her dream. I’m glad that it’s over with, the young man said to himself. Now, my feet will need some protection against the acid snow if I am to go outside at all today. 

He scanned the room with his eyes from left to right from bottom to top until he spotted a pair of boots sticking out a box on a wooden shelf next to the door.

Very well, those will do, he thought. He placed a stool next to the shelf and stepped onto it. 

He stretched his hands as far as they would go, but the box was simply out of reach. Just a little bit more!

Ishida leaped up and clutched the box with both of his hands. But it was too early to celebrate this achievement, for he did not land back on the stool as smoothly as he had expected. 

The force from the impact was so great that two of the stool’s four legs snapped in half, triggering it to collapse. 

Following this, Ishida’s back slammed onto the ground.

BANG!

“Aghh,” he moaned as he tried to stand back up, only to collapse again from the pain.

Ishida let out a sigh of relief when he saw that his visitor was still asleep. He then gathered his strength and stood back up, strapped the boots on, and stepped outside. 

Only after ten steps through the snow did he realize that they were a bit too big for him, as they were his father’s.

As he cautiously trudged through the snow, Ishida found that something was unusual. The usually quiet morning was filled with all sorts of noises. 

When he reached the town center, he found that all the villagers were already awake, and they were in a panic.