카넬리아 (도서)/2권

제2회　구동

「여어, 토비. 마침 잘 왔어」

내게 인사를 건넨 미휴트는 카운터 안에서 느릿하게 움직였다. 먹던 과자를 무릎 위에 놓고 설탕 투성이의 양손을 탁탁 턴다. 어두운 가게 안에 달콤한 냄새와 구운 사과 냄새가 퍼졌다.

「마침 물건이 도착했단 말이지」

미휴트는 허리를 틀어 뒤쪽의 찬장에서 오래된 잡지에 쌓인 물건을 꺼내 주었다.

「이번엔 뭐야？」 못 들을 걸 알면서도 물어봤다.

「상대는 왕국의 거기다」 미휴트는 질문을 무시하고 철도와 비행선의 티켓을 건넸다.

「쓸데없는 걱정은 안 해도 돼, 토비. 매번 하던 것처럼 빈틈없이 해 줬으면 좋겠군」

깊은 한숨을 내쉰 미휴트는 손가락으로 눈밑의 기미를 문질렀다. 그 손이 다시 과자로 향했다. 그가 과자를 입으로 가져가기 전에 나는 가게를 나왔다.

가방 안에서 파지로 싼 소포가 구르고 있었다.

나는 옆구리에 그 감촉을 느끼며, 이것도 장물일 것이리라고 짐작해 보고 있었다.

달리 불안은 없었다. 정체 모를 물건을 나르는 것은 익숙했고, 지금까지 어떤 문제가 생기더라도 잘 넘겨왔다. 실제로 일을 하며 쌓은 경험도 있어 도력 마법(오벌 아츠) 지식과 솜씨는 상당했다. 덕분에 역에서 수상한 놈을 봐도 필요 이상으로 신경을 곤두세우는 일은 없었다.

승강장은 왕국 방면 열차를 기다리는 승객으로 혼잡했다. 벤치에도 자리가 없어 나는 어쩔 수 없이 입구 근처에서 기다리기로 했다. 가방을 바꿔 들기 위해 몸을 틀었을 때 남자 2명의 모습이 눈에 들어왔다. 그들은 개찰구 앞, 정확히 제국 문장인 말머리가 새겨진 타일 부근에서 무언가 이야기를 하고 있었다. 곧 1명이 더 와서 이야기에 합류했다. 계속 보고 있자니 녀석들의 모습은 평범하지 않았다. 체격이 상당한 데다 헤어스타일까지 같은 셋은 인파 속에서도 눈에 확 띄었다.

그 3명에게서 시선을 돌려, 나는 가방을 고쳐 들고 주머니 안에 있는 도력기를 손가락으로 만졌다. 열차의 도착을 알리는 여자의 목소리가 흐른다. 낮은도력기관의 소리가 멀리서 느껴지더니 곧 어깨 위로 지나간다.

「괜찮을 거야」 입으로 그렇게 중얼거렸지만 귀에는 들리지 않았다. 브레이크 소리가 울리고 검은 빛을 내는 철 덩어리가 선로에 미끄러지며 들어온다. 도력기관이 반대 방향으로 추진을 거는 것이 공기의 진동으로 느껴진다. 대기실에서 나오는 인파에 떠밀리듯 나도 객차의 문 쪽으로 밀려갔다. 차창 옆을 지나갈 때, 순간 개찰구 쪽이 눈에 들어왔다. 아까 그 남자들은 없었다. 타일로 만들어진 말의 옆얼굴만이 붉게 물든 모습으로 나를 노려보고 있었다.

Chapter 2 - The Train Station

'Hello there, Toby. You've come at just the right time.'

Greeting me with these words, Micht shuffled slightly in his seat behind the counter. The baked confection he had been eating was ever so carefully placed atop his lap to prevent it from falling onto the floor. He smacked both of his powdered sugar-covered hands together with a clap, and a cloud of white particles puffed into the air. The smell of sweet spices and baked apple pervaded the dimly lit shop.

'We had an item dropped off no more than a few minutes ago,' he continued.

Turning in his seat, Micht reached back and snatched up something wrapped in old magazine paper from off the shelf, tossing it to me. Knowing full well I wouldn't get any sort of answer, I asked anyway.

'What do we have this time?'

Laying out my railway and airship tickets, Micht ignored my question and said, 'Make sure this gets to the same place as always.' In his slow drawl he added, 'It would be in your best interest to keep your involvement to a minimum by leaving the business side of things to me and focusing solely on getting the job done, Toby.'

He leaned back in his chair and let out a deep sigh, the balls of his fingers kneading the bags under his eyes. Then, once again, his large hand extended down toward the unattended cake resting on his leg. Before the sweet treat could reach his watering mouth, I had already made my way out the door of his tiny shop.

As I walked, the waste paper-bundled package bounced around inside the folds of my bag. By the feel of its shape and weight as it beat steadily against my side, I concluded that the object in my possession was probably just more swag. It didn't make me nervous not to know what it was that I was carrying, for I had done this type of job many times before. And no matter what kind of trouble I found myself wrapped up in, I had always somehow managed to come out unscathed.

In truth, my experience on the job had made me tough, and I had become well-versed in the art of orbal magic. So it was that when I laid eyes on that rough-looking trio at the station, I felt no more knots of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach than was necessary for someone of my abilities.

The platform for the train bound for Liberl was a bustle with passengers awaiting its eventual arrival. Seeing that the benches were so crammed full of people that they could have very well been a tin of packed sardines, I resigned myself to standing near the entrance as I patiently waited for the train to come in. Twisting my body in order to move the bag to my other shoulder, I noticed the figures of two men.

Heads bent together and conversing in an inaudible tone, they stood just beyond the ticket gate, right about where the horse head of the imperial emblem lay embedded in the ground in a grand mosaic of tiles. After a short interim, another man approached and joined in the conversation.

From my own perspective, this was one ragtag group I most certainly couldn't have given a passing grade to based on looks. All three were extremely well-built and sported the same haircut. To put it mildly, they stuck out in the crowd like a bunch of sore thumbs.

Making sure to avoid eye-contact with them as they glanced in my direction, I slung my bag back onto my shoulder, and ever so calmly reached my hand into my pocket and ran the tips of my fingers across the surface of my orbment.

A woman's voice reverberated within the walls of the station notifying the passengers that the train had arrived. The low rumble of an orbal engine could be felt in the distance and after a few moments, a large vehicle was seen rolling up on the shoulder.

I muttered to myself, 'All is well,' but the sound of my voice was drowned out by the din of the massive machine. Brakes screeched, and a flash of black light reflected off the surface of the giant iron beast as it came sliding in across the rails. The immense vibration in the air emanating from the moving locomotive at its epicenter let me know that the orbal engine had been put into full-reverse in order to decelerate and bring the train to a grinding halt.

While being shoved to and fro by the waves of impatient travelers flooding out of the waiting area, I was swept toward one door of a passenger car. As we passed by the conductor, I caught another glimpse of the ticket gate. The men who were once there were now gone and the only thing that remained was the profile of the horse made of glossy tiles, glaring back at me in a shade of deep crimson.

第２回　駆動

「よう、トビー。いい時に来たな」

僕にそう声をかけると、ミヒュトはカウンターの中でもぞもぞと身じろぎした。食べていた焼き菓子を膝の上に置き、粉砂糖まみれの両手をぱんぱんと叩く。薄暗い店内に、甘い香料と焼きリンゴの匂いが広がった。「ちょうど今、商品が届いたとこさ」

ミヒュトは上半身をひねって、背後の戸棚から古雑誌の紙に包まれたものを取り出してよこす。「今回はなんだい？」無駄と知りつつ僕はたずねる。

「相手先は王国のいつもの場所だ」ミヒュトは質問を無視して、鉄道と飛行船のチケットを並べる。「余計な心配はしなくていいぞ、トビー。

いつもの通り、賢いお前でいて欲しいよ」

深いため息をつくと、ミヒュトは指の腹でぐいぐいと目の下のクマをもんだ。その手がまた焼き菓子に伸びる。やつがそれを口に運ぶ前に、もう僕は店から出ている。

バッグの中で古紙の包みがころころと弾んでいた。わき腹にその運動を感じながら、たぶんこれも盗品なのだろうと、僕は品物の正体に見当をつけていた。

別に不安はなかった。正体不明の品物を運ぶことは慣れっこだったし、これまでどんなトラブルがあってもうまく切り抜けてきた。実際、仕事での経験のかいもあって、僕の導力魔法(オーバルアーツ)の知識と腕前は相当なものだった。だから駅でそれらしい連中を見かけたときも、必要以上に神経質になることはなかった。

ホームは王国方面への列車を待つ乗客でごった返していた。ベンチは一杯で、仕方なく僕は入口近くに立って待つことにした。バッグを持ち換えようと体をねじったとき、２人の男の姿が目に入った。そいつらは改札の前、ちょうど床に帝国国章の馬頭をあしらったタイル細工のある辺りで、何か話し込んでいた。すぐにもう１人やってきて、話に加わる。僕の目から見ると、連中のかっこうは及第点とは言えなかった。並外れて体格が良く、同じような髪型をしたその３人は、人ごみの中にいても良く目立った。

連中から視線をそらすと、僕はバッグを抱え直し、ポケットの中の導力器へ指先を這わせた。列車の到着を知らせる女の声が辺りに流れる。低い導力機関のうなりが遠くに感じられ、やがて肩の上にのしかかってきた。「大丈夫さ」小さく呟いたが、僕にその声は聞こえなかった。ブレーキ音をわんわんと響かせ、黒光りする鉄のかたまりが線路に滑り込んでくる。導力機関が目一杯に逆推進をかけるのが、空気の振動で分かる。待合室から溢れ出た人々に押されるように、僕も客車の扉へと流されていった。車掌の横を通り過ぎるとき、一瞬だけ改札の方が目に入った。さっきの男たちはもういなかった。タイルで作られた馬の横顔だけが、真っ赤になって僕をにらんでいた。