Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [171]
When they were no more than a day’s journey distant from Lyris, they encountered their first accident on the road. A large cart drawn by two darbabas had tipped over, spilling a great load of rock salt. The mess would have to be removed by hand, then the cart would have to be moved out of the way before anyone could pass. The men there couldn’t say how long it would take, and until it was done, no one could go farther.
A short distance ahead was the border for both Sasaya and Bog. At the checkpoint gate, officials observed travelers as they passed from one land to the other. The United Southern Nations valued the independence of each of its lands, but times were peaceful, and there was little hassle involved with passing between any of the four countries. This policy was what made it possible for drivers and merchants like Kee Keema to travel all through the south. The gates’ only duties were to record the number of people who passed, and make sure that the contents of each cart matched the writ the driver carried.
They decided that rather than wander aimlessly around while they waited for the road to clear, they might as well help with the cleanup. As such, they were all working and sweating in the noontime sun, when two officials flew down from the gate. They set up a desk in a small teahouse to the side of the road, and announced that they would proceed with the gate-passing formalities to help expedite congestion after the road was clear. It was such a reasonable suggestion that Wataru was rather surprised.
“I can’t imagine any official in the real world being this thoughtful.”
The officials had actually flown down. They were both karulakin. Wataru immediately remembered being saved by a kindly karulakin during his first visit to Vision.
“What? What are you looking at?” asked the karulakin who was wearing eyeglasses.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I met one of your kind before—that is, one of your people saved me once.”
“Well now, that’s fine, just fine.”
“Ah! Quite good, quite good.”
The two gate officials flapped their wings enthusiastically. They looked pleased. “We always seek to serve the public good, you see. Tell me, what was the nature of your predicament?”
“Ah, um, well, I was attacked by these gimblewolves…”
“Aaah!” the officials shouted. “Gimblewolves!”
“I’ve not had one of those in a long time!”
“Can barely remember the taste!”
“Ach, we should go home more often!”
“No, no, it’s our duty to serve the people!”
“Then we should at least write home and have them send us some gimble-wolf jerky.” The karulakin smacked his lips.
When they walked away from the desk, Kee Keema put a hand to his chest and made a faint gagging noise. “I’d heard the karulakin liked that foul-smelling flesh, but I never imagined it was really true. Makes me ill just to think about it.”
“So the homeland of the karulakin is near the desert where the gimblewolves live?”
“Aye. Up on a rise, at the top of a cliff over the gulch. But many, like these two, leave to become officials. Bird-men have good heads for figures.”
“Say,” Wataru asked. “If I ask you something, would you promise not to get angry?”
“What’s that?”
“What would happen if these karulakin took up transportation, like your kind? Wouldn’t they be pretty stiff competition? I mean, they could fly things anywhere!”
Kee Keema threw back his head and laughed. “Not a worry there. Not even a little. They haven’t the strength to lift much more than a crate. It would take one the whole day to load a cart.”
Kee Keema put a hand to his jaw and struck a pose of exaggerated thought. “The day our livelihood is threatened will be the day a creature shows up that’s faster than a darbaba, doesn’t need care and feeding, and can go just where you tell it to go without you yanking on the reins the whole time. But I’m not worried. The Goddess looks out for her own. She wouldn’t leave us waterkin out