Chapter Two - 9
9
When I woke up, it was still the middle of the night. The night lasted frighteningly long. It was as though the whole world was covered in night. But Marie was next to me. I could still hear the faint sound of her breathing. Thank God. She was safe.
My head ached. It was probably the alcohol. I got out of bed, grabbed a glass, and left the room. I walked down the darkened hallway and down the stairs. The only remnants of the party that had once been held here were scattered dishes and the echoes of noises long gone. A pitcher of water was in the kitchen, so I poured myself a glass and drank.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a black shadow cross my path.
Then I noticed a knife against my neck. I felt the cold blade on my skin. I tried to calm my breathing and my racing heartbeat.
“Yo.”
I heard a voice from behind me. It didn't take long for me to trace it. It was the voice of the German soldier who'd been looking down on me from atop the bunker, his gun at the ready – Geoffroy.
“It's nice to see you again.”
“Can't say I agree,” I replied, unable to move. “I'm surprised. I didn't expect you to show up so soon.”
“Where is Marie?”
“Oh, you know, around.”
“Yes, I'm aware that she's somewhere around here. But that's not really what I wanted to know. You understand the situation. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.”
“That's my line.”
I grabbed Geoffroy by the wrist and twisted, aiming purely for pain. Geoffroy flinched and pulled away. I pulled my gun from the holster at my waist, thanking my lucky stars that he hadn't noticed I had it. Guess it was good that I didn't turn on the lights. I removed the safety and pulled back the slide. I pointed the muzzle at Geoffroy. The gun's sight shone sharply in the darkness.
“A German soldier snuck into the French army's quarters. A French sub-lieutenant captured him. That's the current situation. I have every right to kill you.”
“If you're going to kill me, kill me. Even death is but a temporary setback to one who will be reborn.”
“You might not be reborn this time.”
“It will never end. You know that, don't you?”
“Well, that's alright.”
I looked at the knife in Geoffroy's hand. It wasn't an army knife, but one of the cursed daggers.
“You dug that out of the ground?”
“What are you talking about?” Geoffroy tilted his head. “Oh, I see. You tried to escape by burying it. But unfortunately for you, this dagger isn't the one you buried. This is dagger number VI.”
“Okay, so I'll bury that one, too.”
“You can't escape the daggers. Don't you understand that yet?”
“I've never thought of trying to escape,” I said, spreading my hand. “You have anything else to say? I'd like to wrap this up soon.”
“You still have no idea what this is about, do you? No, you don't remember at all.”
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Well, that makes things easier for me.”
Geoffroy raised his arm and threw the dagger at me. The dagger missed and stuck in the wall behind me. I'd ducked with lightning reflexes and was safe. However, that had cost me my chance to take a shot, and I let Geoffroy escape.
Geoffroy broke the window and ran outside. Shards of glass danced in the air, shimmering in the moonlight. I pointed my gun after him, but I could no longer see him in the darkness.
I turned back and pulled the dagger from the wall. It was heavier than it looked. It felt right in my hand.
As I gazed at the dagger, without a sound or the slightest hint of movement, I found myself surrounded by several soldiers who'd rushed in. They surrounded me with guns in hand.
“Sub-lieutenant?”
Among them was Rolo. Rolo looked into my face through crooked glasses.
“Ah, Rolo. I see you found your glasses.”
“Yeah. Turns out they were swept in the opposite direction. Sub-lieutenant, we came running when we heard the sound of glass breaking.”
“I see. It looks like this dagger was thrown from outside.”
I made up some excuse and showed the dagger to the others. They looked it over with interest, but nobody showed any sign of knowing what it meant.
“That's strange. There's supposed to be a sentry outside. Should I take a look?”
“Yes, please. I'll be waiting here.”
I knew there was no point in searching, but I couldn't go back to bed after that, so I decided to sit on a chair in the living room and wait. Rolo and the others walked outside with grim looks on their faces. I gave them some words of encouragement, but they only nodded, faces not softening at all. Of course, they were all excellent soldiers who had survived up until now.
I put the dagger on the table. I didn't know what I'd say to Marie when she came downstairs. But she didn't wake up. I thought I should bury the dagger before she did.
I remembered the strange thing Geoffroy had said. He seemed to know something I did not. Had he gone mad because he learned that secret? A secret that caused his world to collapse?
I placed my elbows on the table and dozed off. I was awoken by noisy voices coming from outside and raised my head. Rolo and company were just coming in through the front door.
“Sub-lieutenant, we found a weird one.”
Rolo was dragging a young person with an androgynous face that could have been male or female. They were dressed in fluffy white clothes and an intricately woven skirt, with black boots and a feathered hair clip. They obviously weren't a German spy, but they equally obviously weren't from any of the surrounding villages. I might have thought they were a local noble's kid if they weren't making such an unsophisticated noise.
“Have a seat,” I said, offering a chair. “What were you doing out there in the middle of the night?”
“What's it to you? I've had this stupid soldier grabbing my arm for a while now. Do something about him, Mr. Sub-lieutenant. Then we'll talk.”
“It's fine, you can let go.”
Rolo and the others stepped back. I told them they could rest while I handled our visitor, and they obediently went upstairs.
“See? They're good soldiers, you don't have to be afraid of them. Now then, what's your name?”
“Snowy.”
“Snowy...?”
For some reason, the name was nostalgic. It sounded like an obvious alias, and yet I couldn't shake the feeling it was an important name, important to me. Perhaps I had already met Snowy before. A long time ago, back when the origins of my reincarnations were still ongoing. I can't remember all of my past memories; in fact, there's much I've forgotten. I wondered if Snowy was among them.
“That's an interesting name. Where are you from?”
“From far away.”
“And what were you doing roaming around in the middle of the night?”
“I'm a detective.”
“A detective?”
“Yeah. I was just thinking about those bodies that disappeared from the trenches. That's a lot of work for me. That's why I'm walking around looking for chaos – this world has a self-correcting function, and when it gets all out of whack, it seeks to restore order. But there will always be more chaos than order in this world. That's why there are detectives like me around. It isn't about order, consistency, or anything so neat and tidy. A detective needs to be someone who breaks things. That's why we're charged with managing the chaos.”
“I don't understand.”
“Even if you don't get it now, you will soon enough. Whether you want to or not, actually.”
Snowy's smile was pregnant with meaning. I sighed.
“I get it. It's chaotic. So, what was the person in charge of managing the chaos doing out here, anyway? And at this time of night?”
“You didn't listen to a thing I said, did you? I explained all that already. The short version is, I'm going to start stirring things up. What's happened so far isn't enough to be called chaos. That's why I'm going to cause some real chaos. Until we destroy each other.”
“Only children and armies like destruction. Are you planning to start a war, Snowy?”
“For you, it's a war, but for me, it's just a point. A point is a point, and it can't be anything but a point.”
“Then why is it a war to me?”
“Because 'war' is a sad word. It suits you, Mr. Sub-lieutenant.”
“That's ominous. How did you know that bodies had disappeared from the trench to begin with?”
“Because I'm a detective.”
“I see.”
We faintly smiled at each other.
“The bodies disappearing from the bunker is no mystery to me,” Snowy declared proudly. “The only thing I find mysterious is how people get so caught up in such stupid phenomenon.”
“You're awfully confident.”
I didn't trust a word Snowy was saying. I was beginning to suspect the poor kid was suffering from a mental illness.
“The six daggers are the keys that connect the world,” Snowy said, picking up the dagger from the table. “You believe in reincarnation, don't you, Mr. Sub-lieutenant?”
“...You know?”
I was so surprised I grabbed Snowy's hand. Snowy looked hurt, so I immediately let go and apologized. My attitude towards them did a complete 180.
Despite their height, Snowy seemed to be looking down on me from somewhere far above.
“The order in your world is kept by the daggers. More than you understand, those daggers hold the world together. But now that's all over. The daggers are stuck in the book. They've become bookmarks. And if you remove the bookmarks, the world will return to chaos.
“The daggers have placed a terrible curse upon us. I don't recall them ever bringing any order.”
“The daggers bring about your fate of being continuously reborn. Your fates repeat themselves without any deviation. The daggers form a wedge that ties your existence, Mr. Sub-lieutenant, to their fate.”
“What will happen to us if the daggers are removed?”
“We'll all be engulfed in total chaos. Someone once said that the whole world was a single point. Unfortunately, they were right, and it's a very serious circumstance.”
“Then, what do we do? How can we be saved?”
“Saved? You're gonna have to figure that out yourself.”
With that, Snowy abruptly stood up from their chair and disappeared through the door. It seemed to me that they genuinely had disappeared.
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