새벽녘의 사수 슌란/1권

Chapter 1: Snowfall Encounters
The girl ran. Though her lungs burned with each step that crunched into the packed mountain path, gasps profound enough to hear even through the subdued effect of snowfall, she ran.
Her attire no doubt contributed to her body's protests, for there was far more of her tanned skin to be seen than there was cloth.
It starkly marked her as one who hailed from a foreign land; and yet the coldness in her eyes and coal shade to her hair did equally as much to meld her into the darkened storm surrounding her.
'There's enough to fence me in from every angle, but the wind tells me to keep on ahead.'
Wolves with frames three times greater than any normal pack were in pursuit, their eyes bloodshot and their chase unrelenting.
In the midst of the chase, the girl would pivot and fire a bolt from her bowgun. This had no effect in slowing her pursuers, but neither did it slow her. When the moment was right, she would twist in the air, fire, and let the momentum of her shot thrust her backward till she landed and pushed onward.
Her agile, wild motions held the practiced polish of one who had long challenged and prevailed mountainous terrain. The wolves pursued despite this, charging over the brethren felled by her bolts with an obsession that elicited from her a strange twang of compassion. That they didn't stop now, she imagined, must have meant they couldn't stop—that someone had set them on this trail and made it a matter of survival.
'Guess I'm not the only one with my life on the line here.' But compassion would never triumph over obstinance. Patting the book secured in a waist pouch with her bow-held hand while clutching a cylindrical trinket around her neck between her other bolt-ready fingers, she continued.
The elements knew something of obstinance. The thinning air as she climbed upward? The windswept snow, now more ice than powder? The numbness of her upper body from both despite the fire of her spirit and the blood pumping through her legs? She could persevere, but whatever the mountain was or wanted, would be.
What would be was a tall, rocky face with a jut that was far too tall and far too angular for her to do anything but stop. The seconds-long pause was all the wolves needed to surround her.
'I'd said there was enough to fence me in...' she grit between chattering teeth, '...but that didn't mean I wanted them to.'
The wolves crept closer in a slow, knowing manner, well aware as she that there was no path to freedom. The girl dismissed the sight to deliver a questioning gaze at the cylindrical trinket around her neck. To her, this trinket was more than simple accessory; it was a tried and true companion.
'What to do...' she mused for precious seconds. '...Nah. Too much of a gamble.'
The bowgun in this moment, useless. The wait for death through sunken fangs, inevitable. The mastermind who formulated this chase had won.
Or so they would have had Aidios not smiled down upon her.
As though to reward the girl's fortitude, a crisp gunshot rang out in that moment, sending a flurry of falling flakes scrambling. Two wolves collapsed to the ground in the seconds that followed, gouts of blood staining the pure white around them.
Startled, the wolves shifted their focus rapidly from their prey to their fallen comrades, then again to source the direction of the sound. The first to find it seemed to fall with the thundering clap of a second shot.
'Run! Now!' cried a young man's voice through the howling wind. No doubt the gunman.
Indeed, the lupine blockade that had seemed so insurmountable was now weakened enough that her own weapon could finish the job. She gave a small nod to her unseen savior before rushing into the rest of the pack, firing bolts between the sound of more shots from afar.
The swirling storm carried with it the scent of explosives, indicating to the girl that the gunman's weapon was no modern orbal gun but an old-fashioned muzzleloader. Which bid the question: how were the intervals between firing and reloading so unnaturally short?
'There's a path over here!' After confirming she had made her escape, the gunman slipped his upper half out from the shadows of a nearby crag and gestured for her to follow. Having traveled across many lands and encountered all manner of people, she knew from a glance that he was the single most reliable defender she could have chanced to meet under the circumstances.
He cut a fine figure, with silvery hair that melted into the snowy mountain top. His face seemed near chiseled from marble with its sharp lines, accompanied by a hunter's eye that pierced as well as any one of her bolts. Even the muscles that covered his tall frame were lithe and sculpted through practical training.
He was, as she saw him, the fresh beauty of the mountain and its crystalline storm in human form. Peeking through a heavy fur coat was the muzzleloader she heard—confirmed to be just the one despite its rapid fire. Stranger than this mystery, however, was how familiar he felt to her even when they had never met before.
She followed him into his rocky shelter, but perhaps the motion-perfect high from running to survive had already left her. The moment she felt safer, the book at her waist slipped clumsily from its pouch. Her hands weren't free to catch it, with one hand still clutching the bowgun and the other the trinket.
The wintry-haired young man instead used the stock in hand for reloading his weapon to shift the book's course, pushing it to land on his own bags and saving its pages from being dampened by the snow.
'Thanks. Guess you saved me and my book.'
'You're welcome, but only for the book. The jury's still out on if I've saved you.'
As he said it, their attention turned toward the wolves. They had done more than recover from the surprise attack; a fellow pack had joined them, swelling their numbers a great deal.
He took a closer look at the new situation through the scope of his rifle, a slight twitch born from narrowing his eyes as he focused. He then pointed to a small animal trail to his left and waited for the girl to nod in understanding before entering it.
She was dubious of their chances against a larger pack. So was he, she suspected. Certainly, running down a route so familiar to their pursuers wouldn't get them out of their current predicament.
'I might have to stack the odds a little more in our favor.'
Taking the cylindrical trinket with both hands, she ran in the opposite direction from the young man—toward the wolves.
'What are you doing?! We've got to get—!'
The young man's shout was drowned out by a sudden light shining through her fingers from the trinket's engravings. What followed was a fog thick enough that even the most perceptive of wolves could see no farther than their own snout. As the fog continued to thicken, the snowstorm assailing the animal trail calmed to a gentle flutter. Then, to nothing.
'Time to go, then,' was all the girl said in response to this. 'This way, right?'
'Umm... Yeah. We head through here and take a right.'
He had never witnessed anything like this in his countless years on the mountain. He didn't know what to think of it. She noticed.
'Something the matter?'
'I just...wasn't expecting the fog to roll in.'
'Someone up there must really love us, huh?'
The young man guided her down the trail under snowless skies till they reached a flat housing scant trees. Beyond it were more powder-topped mountains and steep cliffs.
The threat was no more.
'It's hard to believe we lost them so quickly,' he muttered, suspicion evident in his tone.
'It's amazing how fast you can go when you can see.'
She dismissed his misgivings, instead looking him over while considering his clothing, skill, and where they had met. All three points had brought her to a clear conclusion.
'Thank you for your help,' she began, 'but there's something I'd like to ask, if you don't mind.'
'I...suppose I don't mind.'
His hesistance was the only thing that shook her certainty, but only for a brief moment. He just have been a little different from the others she knew of, for the rest of his traits were unmistakable.
'Are you a Matagi?'
His eyes widened in surprise for a beat. Then another. Then, silently, he nodded.
To be Continued

第１回　雪の邂逅(かいこう)
　雪を連続的に踏み、そして蹴る音の反復。静かに抑えられながらも、心肺の負荷を隠し切れない息遣い。
それを響かせる少女は、彼女が進む雪の降りしきる山道には全くもって相応しくない装いであった。或いはそれが彼女の身体が上げる悲鳴をより大きくしているのかもしれない。微かに日焼けした肌とそれを随所に覗かせる薄い装束は、彼女が遠い地からの来訪者である事を物語る。一方それとは対照的な淡い寒色の瞳と、雪降る空の色にも似たくすんだ濃灰の髪は、彼女がこの地に惹かれて来た事を必然かのようにも思わせた。
　　「……数は包囲に十分、風の流れ的にまだ山道は続きそう」　
少女の背後には通常の群れの三倍はあろうという狼の集団。血走った眼を覗かせる狼達は振り返る事もせず、少女と同じ道を走る。少女は時折立ち止まり、手にしたボウガンを群れに撃ち込むが、狼の勢いは目に見えるほどには削がれなかった。　
ボウガンを放った少女は軽快に背中向きに跳ね飛びつつ空中で身をよじり、元の方向へ向き直る。そして勢いを損なう事なく再び走り出す。山を渡り歩き、生き抜いてきた者特有の荒々しくもありながら軽快なその身のこなしは、彼女の涼やかな雰囲気と相まって一つの優美さを醸し出していた。
狼達は一心不乱に少女を追い続ける、矢を受けた同胞の屍を越えてまで。
少女はその様に、一種のシンパシーを感じた。彼らも追われているが故に追うのだ。追い立てられたことが彼らの生存本能を駆り立てている。
「必死なのはお互い様、か……それでもわたしは……」
少女は首から下げた筒と、腰袋に収めた書物を強く握った。そう、お互い様であるからこそ、ここで負けてはいられない。狼達を駆り立てた者――それに打ち勝つのもまた、彼女がなさねばならない事であった。
だが、強さを増す雪風と彼女が標高を駆け上がる度に低下する気温は、信念に支えられた彼女の体力を容赦なく奪う。足腰が未だ問題なく動くとしても、そこに血液を供給する上半身が冷え切ってしまっては十分に力を発揮できなかった。
気づけば彼女は山壁に追い詰められ、狼に包囲されていた。「……皮肉だね……逃げた末、予想通りに終わるなんて」
少女は微かに目を細めつつ、手にした筒に視線を向ける。筒に問いかけるかのように。その様は、単にその筒が彼女にとって大切なものというよりはむしろ、ある種の信頼感に近しくも見える風であった。
　　　「やっぱり“賭け”過ぎるかな……」
脳裏に浮かんだ選択肢を制する少女。狼は彼女の選択を知ってか知らずか、間合いを詰め続ける。少女が諦めの色を見せない事が不変であっても、最早包囲網は完成していた。ボウガン一丁で切り抜けることは不可能にも等しい。
しかし狼たちの生存欲求よりも、少女の不屈を女神は汲み取ったのか。次の瞬間、一発の乾いた炸裂音が宙を舞う雪すら震わせた。そして、隣り合う二匹の狼がほぼ同時に血を噴いて白い地面に倒れ伏した。
「……！」
狼達の注意が少女から倒れた仲間、そしてそれを為した炸裂音の方へ向く。その間にも同様の乾いた音がもう一発。音の在処を見つけたであろう狼が倒れた。
そして二発目の轟きは、狼だけでなく少女にもその方角と、その意味するところを知らせる事となった。
　　「陣を崩したぞ、抜けろ！」
炸裂音――銃声と同じ岩陰から響いた青年の声の通り、狼の包囲網には弱体化した箇所があった。これならボウガンだけでも抜けられる……少女は反射的に小さく頷くと、矢を放ちながら無言で狼の群れに突撃した。それと同時に、さらに一発、また一発と銃弾が数秒間隔で撃ち込まれ、少女を遠くから守る。
　その度に雪を帯びた風の中に硝煙の匂いが溶けていく。導力銃ではなく古い火薬式ライフルである事は誰の目にも明らかだ。だが、連射の間隔は通常のそれよりも明らかに短かった。
　　「こっちに！　抜け道がある」
銃の主は少女が包囲網を脱したのを確認すると同時に岩陰から上半身を乗り出し、手招きする。
多くの土地を渡り歩きその人々を見てきた少女には、その青年がこの環境下においてもっとも頼りになる戦士である事がすぐに分かった。彼は少女のものとは違う、まさにこの雪を纏った山肌を思わせる銀髪が目を引く美丈夫であった。白く彫りの深い端正な顔立ちと鋭い眼光、そしてしなやかでありながら合理的に鍛えられた長身。それらが調和した様はこの地の美しさと環境の双方を擬人化したようであった。彼は毛皮のコートを着込み、一丁の旧式ライフルをその手に握っている――やはりあの速射は、彼が一丁の銃のみでなしたものであったのだ。そして――その青年の風体に少女は覚えがあった。
少女は岩陰に滑り込む。が、同時に想定外の躍動故か、腰袋の中に入っていた一冊の本が空中に飛び出してしまった。片手をボウガンでふさがれた少女は、筒を守るのに手いっぱいだ。「っと」
銀髪の青年は丁度次弾を装填中であった銃の銃床(ストック)を以て本を受け止め、その場に落下させた。本は地面に置かれていた彼の荷物の上に落ち、雪に濡れることを免れた。
　　「ありがとう。良い意味での誤算だったかな、今回は……」　
　少女はすぐさま本を拾い上げ、静かに言う。
　　　「それはどうも。だが、まだ助かったのは本だけだ」
見ると、狼の群れは体勢を立て直し――それどころか後続と思しき他の一団まで迎えつつある始末であった。
青年は照準器の先の光景を前に、小さく身じろぎした。
青年は自身の左手側にある小さな獣道を指し示し、少女が頷くのを確認すると自身もその中に駆け込む。だが、既にここまでの数を集結させた狼を相手に“裏道”だけで切り抜けられるのかは、一つの賭けだろう。
　　　「……仕方ない、じゃあわたしも賭けてみるよ」
青年が決断しかねている状況を悟ってか、少女はそう言って首に下げた筒を両手で構えながら青年の後ろ――即ち狼達の方へと逆走した。
　　　「何をしているんだ、さっさと抜けないと――」
制しようとする青年の声は、直後に起こった現象を前に途切れる事となる。
少女の掲げた筒が、その表面に刻まれた紋様から淡い光を放った。すると狼達の予想進路上に、恐らく自らの指先すら覆い隠す程の濃霧が瞬く間に発生した。更に驚く事に、振り返ってみれば、二人がこれから進まんとしていた道先ではどういう訳か雪と風が大幅に緩和されていたのである。
　　「……うん。じゃあ、行くよ。ここを抜けるんでしょ？」
　　「あ、ああ……その先を右だ」
土地に慣れているはずの青年は信じられない光景を前に、戸惑いながら異郷の少女のペースに乗せられていた。
　　　「どうかしたの？」
　　　「いや……運良く霧が立ってくれたなと」
　　　「……運は招くもの」
やがて青年の道案内に従って降雪の無くなった道を突き進むと、二人は開けた平坦な地に出た。木々がまばらに生え、その先に雪に覆われた山肌や切り立った崖が見える。二人は背後の気配から解放され、崩れるようにその場に座り込んだ。
　　　「こうも早く抜けられるのか……」
　　「……視界が保証されていただけ早かったんだと思うよ」
戸惑いを見せる青年に対し、淡々とした口ぶりを保つ少女。少女は青年が見せた技術と装い、そして出会ったのが“この地”である事から、一つの確信を得ていた。
　　「……まずは助力にお礼を言うね。
それで……一つ聞いても良い？」
　　「あ、ああ……」
戸惑う様子も見せる青年は、少女の“それ”に対するイメージを形作った者に比べるといささか違った印象があった。
しかし“彼”が特異な例であった事も今となっては承知している。そしてそれを差し引いても、青年が先ほど見せた技量は、伝え聞くものの通りであった。
　　「キミは……もしかして、《マタギ》？」
故に少女は、単刀直入に問うた。
青年は一拍子――いや、二拍子の間を挟んで、静かに頷くのであった。
　　続く