UTW
Presents
ＳＨＩＮＳＥＫＡＩ
ＹＯＲＩ
Episode Fifteen
Afterimage
Saki, look!
Someone destroyed the igloo and leveled the snow.
The queerat couldn't have done that.
There was a lot of snow.
Either Maria or Mamoru did it.
Where did they go?
I don't know.
They made it difficult to track them.
You think they went through the trouble of erasing all their tracks?
That's probably what the queerat did.
Maria can fly quite well even if she's carrying Mamoru.
I think we've come far enough.
Want to continue on land?
Saki? Are you okay?
I'm fi—
Maria...
Mamoru...
Where did you go?
Want to eat lunch?
Calmed down?
Thank you.
Why are you thanking me?
I was just thinking you're really nice.
Hey...
Do you think we can find them?
We will find them.
That's our only chance of saving them, right?
That's why we've come here.
Yeah.
You're right.
What's wrong?
Don't turn around.
It's about a hundred meters behind you.
What is it?
A queerat, I think.
I see it.
Can we catch it?
It's too far away.
We'd have to get closer.
It noticed us!
We have to chase it!
Which colony is it from?
Who knows?
But it isn't Squonk, is it?
There's tracks.
It went this way.
Wait!
What happened to me?
You fell through the cornice.
Did I fall all the way to the bottom?
No, I caught you in time.
You shouldn't be hurt.
I was worried because you wouldn't wake up, though.
Where are we?
Don't be surprised.
It's the place we've been looking for.
No way...
Seriously?
Yeah, seriously.
It's quite a humble abode, but this is the guest house of the Robber Fly colony.
I see you have regained your senses.
Squealer!
It has been long, gods.
It really has.
Have you been doing well in the meantime?
Yes. Lately the chances to show devotion to my gods have been plentiful.
I was honored to be bestowed with a most noble name.
What is it?
I am now Yakomaru.
The Robber Fly colony, too, has made great strides towards recovery.
Including the neighboring colonies that we merged with, our numbers now reach eighteen thousand.
This, too, would have been inconceivable if not for the favor of the gods.
I'd love to hear about your colony later,
but we kind of have an emergency right now.
We need your assistance.
Most certainly.
Please leave it all to your servant Yakomaru.
I would always lay down my life to aid the two that I am so indebted to.
Where's the Goat Moth colony?
Four or five kilometers to the northwest.
It is one of the few remaining independent colonies affiliated with neither the Giant Hornet colony nor our coalition.
What would your business with the Goat Moths be?
We're looking for our friends.
I understand.
The fastest way should be to locate the individual called Squonk.
Let us venture to the Goat Moths once the sun rises.
We can't go now?
I understand your feelings in the matter, but the snowy paths are dangerous at night.
I fear the Goat Moths might also construe our approach as a raid.
Now then, your food will be here shortly. Please enjoy.
Before we do that,
we would like to greet the queen.
We'd like to apologize for coming uninvited, too.
I see.
Very well.
All buildings are connected by underground tunnels.
Here we see factories for a variety of things.
And here stands the first of our buildings made with concrete.
This...
The assembly hall of the colony.
Wasn't the old colony centered around the queen's nest?
The sixty representatives of us eighteen thousand discuss and decide matters in this building.
Where did the queen go?
As the constituent colonies each brought their own queen,
it became necessary to consolidate them under one roof.
Then let's go.
We have to ask her about tomorrow too.
As you will.
But colony matters are decided by the assembly.
In our particular case, as a representative of the assembly, I will take matters—
Whatever!
We just want to say hello.
Very well.
What is this?
Please do enter.
Please follow me.
Here lives our queen.
It's been a long time.
I'm Watanabe Saki. We've met.
It's sleeping.
It might try to bite us in its sleep.
We'd know if she started to wake up.
What is it?
Bring the light over here!
What are you doing? Come on!
What the hell is this?
We had no choice.
You had no choice?
What did you do to the queen?
I will explain.
Let us go outside.
It was not our intent that the queen end up in such a pitiful state.
She is, after all, the mother of the colony.
Then why?
Did you not feel it when you last saw her?
The queen had not been mentally stable for a while.
Yes... We felt that.
Queens used to hold absolute power in all colonies.
Although our queen had always been rather tyrannical,
her atrocities only worsened, until eventually she was consumed by maddened distrust
and had all the ministers that were advancing our recovery executed.
We were sure our extinction would be only a matter of time.
That's why you—
We swear absolute loyalty to the colony and queen.
However,
we are not tools to be discarded.
We are second in intelligence only to the gods on this planet.
And so, all who worried for the enduring existence of our colony gathered of their own volition, and formed a union.
A union?
Yes.
It was necessary to negotiate with the queen to preserve our most basic of rights.
Sadly, the queen was consumed by rage.
She regarded our move as an act of treason!
With great reluctance we chose this path.
"This path"?
What's the point in keeping her alive in this state?
We did not wish to completely destroy her mental faculties.
Thereafter, her aggressiveness declined greatly and she became submissive.
She continues to bear children and actively contributes to the growth of the colony.
If anything, she can now live more peacefully than ever.
I sincerely believe she is happier now.
However, since we had never performed the procedure before, there were several hygienic complications.
Shortly thereafter, she began suffering from encephalitis and has been as you saw ever since.
That's terrible.
Should not all intelligent individuals be given equal rights?
That is what I read in the books of the gods.
It is the core principle of democracy.
Then what about the other queens?
Was it necessary to throw them all into the same building?
All colonies were dealing with the same problem to one degree or another.
Only the queen can reproduce, so her existence is indispensable.
Even so,
she should not be able to claim the entire colony as her possession on those grounds.
The queen is responsible for childbirth,
whereas intellectual pursuits such as governance and military leadership are handed to those with the greatest aptitude.
That is the foundation of the Robber Fly colony.
I don't like this.
I really don't like this.
Why?
This is just really fishy.
What they say and what they think seem completely different.
I can't trust them.
But we need their help if we want to find Maria and Mamoru.
You saw what they did to the queen.
She's their own mother!
How can they do that?
Well...
I mean, it shocked me too.
But in the end, they are beasts.
They don't feel like we humans do.
They only did that in order to survive.
Look at you defending them.
That's not what I...
Well...
Don't humans see their own values as universal?
Like expecting the parents to sacrifice themselves for the child?
But is that really realistic?
Isn't it a mistake to judge queerats through the lens of human ethics?
What I meant when I said I don't like this is... well...
It's more like they seem too similar to humans.
It's true that there are no other animals like them.
I have the strange feeling that they're trying to replace humans.
We have no concrete buildings back home.
It can only mean they're trying to take for themselves the material culture which we abandoned.
Where did they learn about it?
He said he read about it,
but there's no way he'd simply come across a book that explained all he wanted to know about.
So how did he learn about it?
This is just my guess, but maybe Squealer caught a false minoshiro.
But isn't it a little far-fetched that they would oppose humanity and try to replace it?
I guess it's kind of impossible.
I mean, just the two of us could crush this colony.
Hey, what if Squealer did to a human what he did to the queen?
What do you mean?
Nah.
Never mind.
What's wrong?
Saki?
Wow.
This is the stronghold of the Goat Moth colony.
What?
I don't see a stronghold anywhere!
There!
A cave extends past that shadow.
They have dug far and deep into the cliff over the years,
turning the entire cliff into their stronghold.
Well, it appears we will have to demonstrate we are here in earnest!
Wh— Wait!
We didn't come here to fight!
However, as you can plainly see, they are ignoring our summons.
I will not permit such rudeness!
You have my heartfelt thanks!
I am overwhelmed by gratitude, for you saved the lives of my soldiers!
Gods!
The Goat Moths have fired an arrow knowing you are among us!
Their actions are completely unforgivable!
Bring down divine punishment!
But isn't a single arrow perhaps just a mistake?
Even if it is one single arrow, the drawing of a bow on a god is
a crime serious enough to bring annihilation to the entire colony!
Furthermore, this is necessary to further our cause.
We have no means of finding your friends unless the Goat Moths agree to let us question them!
All right. We understand.
Don't be too harsh.
That's enough!
Squealer!
What is it?
The one we have business with is Squonk!
Tell him to bring him here now!
Very well.
Right away.
Squonk!
Do you remember us?
Yes, gods.
Where did Maria and Mamoru go?
I don't know, gods.
You don't know?
Weren't you with them?
Yes.
But those gods went far away.
Far away?
Where?
I don't know.
Don't you at least know the direction?
I don't know, gods.
But I was given a letter.
Nakisou na aoringo kakaeteru mune no oku
泣きそうな青リンゴ 抱えてる胸の奥
In my chest, I carry a green apple that wets my eyes
Korogatte tsuyogatte
転がって 強がって
I fall over yet pretend to be strong
Kyuukutsu na sora niramu
窮屈な空睨む
I glower at the sky and it seems to suffocate me
Unmei ni juujun ni
運命に従順に
Do I look like I'd wait quietly
Jukusu no wo matsu mon ka
熟すのを待つもんか
For destiny to ripen it?
Sen no kaze
千の風
The winds
Agaite sakende
あがいて 叫んで
I struggle and scream
Fuke fuke
吹け吹け
Blow and blow
Watashi wa shabondama
わたしはしゃぼん玉
I'm a soap bubble
Soredemo shinjiteru
それでも信じてる
And still I have faith
Yokisenu arashi ni
予期せぬ 嵐に
In a sudden storm
Joushou shite kakou shite
上昇して 下降して
I rise and fall
Aragau shabondama
あらがうしゃぼん玉
I fight, soap bubble that I am
Soredemo ikiteku
それでも生きてく
And still I live on
Hajikeru shunkan niji hanate
弾ける瞬間 虹、放て
I make a rainbow when I burst
We can no longer live in Kamisu's 66th district.
There is no turning back.
Please tell them we have died.
To be honest, I would have gone with you.
FROM THE NEW WORLD