카넬리아 (도서)/6권

제6회　구조의 확인

테이블 위에는 나의 도력기와 빈 가방과 낡은 종이에 싸인 물건이 나란히 있었다. 유격사는 나의 얼굴과 테이블 위의 물건을 비교하듯 번갈아 보고 있었다. 가죽장갑을 낀 오른손을 과시하듯 턱으로 가져가 문질렀다.

내가 끌려간 곳은 펍의 2층이었다. 유격사는 정성 들여 방의 배치를 확인하고 가장 안쪽 방에 나를 끌고 갔다. 아무래도 근처에는 협회(길드)의 지부가 없는 것 같다.

처음 나의 앞에 앉은 것은 마른 사람이었다. 이름을 물었지만, 곧 어느 쪽이 클레이고 어느 쪽이 파블인지 까먹었다. 몸 검사가 끝났을 때 손에 장갑을 끼운 사람 즉, 파블인지 클레이인지가 되돌아오고, 상대에게 귓속말을 한다. 결국 시스터는 찾지 못한 것 같다.

그들의 관심은 시스터 카넬리아와 《엽병단(예거)》에 집중되었다. 열차에서 카넬리아에게 들은 이야기를 전부 말하고 피해자인 척하며 되려 그녀에 대해 물었다. 실제로 나는 피해자였다.

「그 여자는 셀너트, 아인 셀너트」 마른 남자가 수첩을 읽었다. 「원래는 《엽병단》 소속으로 현재 소속와 활동 내용은 불명이야」

「뭐, 선량한 시민이 상대할 만한 자는 아니지」 장갑 낀 남자는 젠체하며 말하고는 종이에 싸인 물건에 손을 뻗었다. 나의 상태를 확인하며 물건을 책상 중앙에 펼쳐 놓는다. 나온 것은 점토가 들러붙은 금속 덩어리였다.

「연구 기관에 전하는 중」이라고 둘러대고 있지도 않은 손님의 주소를 알려주었다. 유격사들은 빠짐없이 메모했다.

그리고 그대로 나는 유격사들과 동숙하게 되었다. 역에서 생긴 사건으로 조서를 작성하기 위해 다음날 지부에 가게 되었지만 큰 불만은 없었다. 어떻게 하면 아침까지 무사히 보낼 수 있을까. 그것이 최대의 고민이었기 때문이다.

나는 일출과 함께 눈을 떴다. 평온한 아침의 방문에 안도의 한숨을 내쉬었다. 유격사들의 모습은 보이지 않고 복도에서 그들의 목소리만이 들려왔다.

윗도리 소매에 팔을 꿰자 팔꿈치에 통증이 오면서 그녀가 떠올랐다. 말로 설명하기 힘든 불안감을 느끼며 세수도 하는 둥 마는 둥 나는 도력기(오브먼트)를 손질하기 시작했다.

뒤쪽 뚜껑을 열고 기름칠한 가죽으로 쿼츠를 집어 올렸다. 다른 슬롯에 넣고 가벼운 마법(아츠) 중심의 구성으로 바꾸는 데까지는 5분이 걸리지 않는다. 1개씩 나사를 원래대로 하고 뚜껑을 닫으니 마음이 안정되어 다시 침대에 누웠다.

그때, 숙소 직원으로 보이는 키 큰 여자가 세면용으로 뜨거운 물을 가지고 왔다. 김이 피어나는 대야를 테이블에 올리고 여자는 조용히 침대 시트를 벗기려고 한다. 침대에서 쫓겨난 내가 어쩔 수 없이 대야로 향했을 때 열려있는 문 너머로 2개의 그림자가 연속하여 가로질러 갔다.

「왔군」 나의 중얼거림이 들려왔다. 손에 비누를 들고 믿기 힘들 정도로 냉정하게 열쇠를 걸어 문을 닫고, 벽 옆에 섰다. 벽 너머로 노성과 피륙이 부딪치는 소리가 엇갈렸다. 허리에 쇠사슬을 당겨 방금 조정한 도력기를 꽉 쥐었다.

유격사는 2명, 아까 본 자들도 2명. 나를 더하면 머릿수는 이긴다. 문 쪽에서 방향을 바꾸었을 때, 어딘가 멀리에서 그리고 나 자신도 중얼거린다.

「두 명이라고？」시스터는「3인」이라고 말했었다. 그렇다면 또 한 명은 어디에──스스로의 물음에 얼어붙은 내 목에 무언가가 휘감기고 눈 깜빡할 사이에 뒤에서 당겨져 넘어졌다. 나의 시야에 여자의 핏발이 선 눈이 보였다. 대야를 가지고 온 그 여자였다. 손에 있는 도력기를 사용하여 나는 넘어진 채로 마법을 썼다. 압축된 공기가 나의 허벅지를 통과하여 여자를 그대로 창문까지 날려버렸다. 흰 리넨과 선혈이 바람이 꿰뚫고 나간 자국을 따라 소용돌이처럼 휘감았다.

Chapter 6 - Ascertaining the Inner Workings

My orbment, emptied bag and package wrapped in old magazine paper were laid out neatly on the table in front of me. The bracer sitting opposite me gazed alternately at my face and the items on the table as if trying to gauge my reaction to them. Constantly rubbing his chin between his fingers, it appeared to me as though he were making an effort to display his right hand, snugly fit within a leather gauntlet.

I had been led to the second floor of the lodge by the two men, and then, after they had painstakingly checked the layout of the floor, I was taken to the farthest room from the stairs. It occurred to me that the reason for the use of the makeshift space was due to there being no guild branch nearby.

The first man to sit in front of me was the lanky one. He told me his name, but I soon forgot which one was Clayton and which one was Pavel. About the time I had finished being frisked, the bracer wearing the gauntlets, Clayton or Pavel, whoever it was, returned and whispered something in his partner's ear. It seemed as though they were trying to locate Sister Carnelia, but having no luck.

After much probing on the subject of her and the jaeger corps, and after relating everything I had heard from her on the train, I turned the conversation around and, playing the role of the victim, inquired into her past history. (Though strictly speaking, I guess I was, in fact, a victim.)

'Her name is Selnate. Ein Selnate,' read aloud the lanky bracer from a pocket book he held just below eye level. 'Originally a constituent member of a jaeger corps, her present affiliation and activities are unknown.'

'In short,' added his partner pompously, 'she's not the type of person any upstanding citizen should be getting involved with.'

He reached out his gauntlet-clad hand and picked up the object bundled in scrap paper. Checking my reaction all the while, he unwrapped the paper, laying it out flat in the center of the table. Its contents turned out to be a lump of metal ingrained with a sort of clay-like substance.

I blurted out, 'I was on my way to a research institute with the item when everything happened,' and then threw in the address of some non-existent client for good measure.

The bracers took notes, making sure not to leave out any of the details of our conversation. Then, to dispel any lingering suspicions, I agreed to stay with them under their watchful eyes for the night.

The next day, I also found myself inclined to go along with them to the nearest guild branch in order to file a report about the events that happened back at the station, but I had no qualms over the matter. My greatest concern at the moment, after all, was not running into any more trouble.

I awoke as the sun came up over the horizon and day broke. With the advent of a peaceful morning, I sat up in bed and breathed a sigh of relief. The bracers who had stood guard the previous night were no longer present in the room, but the sound of their voices could be heard echoing out in the hallway beyond the closed door.

Slipping my arms through the sleeves of my jacket, I felt a sharp pain in my right elbow which brought back vivid memories of the woman from the day before.

Suddenly, a feeling of uneasiness came over me and still half-undressed, I began adjusting my orbment. After opening its back cover, I used a thin piece of tanned doeskin and started plucking out the quartz installed in each slot. It didn't take but five minutes to insert them each into different slots and rearrange their configuration with a set of light magic as my base. One by one, I replaced each screw until finally the metallic panel was back in place, and as a feeling of calmness set in, I rolled back over in bed.

It was at that time that a tall woman appearing to be a maid opened the door carrying a basin of hot water for the sink, with which guests could shave and wash their faces. After placing the small steaming tub on the table, the woman went quietly about her daily task of removing the bed linen.

Finding myself shooed from my own bed, I reluctantly headed toward the basin when just beyond the open door, I caught sight of two shadows cutting across the hallway in succession.

'They're here,' I heard myself mutter as the low tone of my suppressed voice reached my ears.

With only a bar of soap in hand, I remained unbelievably calm as I quickly shut and bolted the door. Then, pondering my next move, I stood still with my back pressed up against the wall.

On the other side of the hardened clay wall, the brief clamor of fighting ensued. Fumbling with the chain attached to my hip pocket I grabbed hold of the orbment I had adjusted just barely moments before.

It was two bracers versus the two others I had seen moments ago. Throwing myself into the mix with the two men from the guild would definitely put us at an advantage from a numbers standpoint. However, when I turned again to face the door, the voice of self-doubt came percolating through my closed lips in the form of a distant mutter.

'There were only two of them?' I murmured to myself.

If Sister Carnelia's words were to be believed, then one unit consisted of three people, not two. Again, I questioned myself inwardly, 'Then where's the third?'

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I realized my plight.

Something swung down over the top of my head, catching me around the neck, and the next instant I was flung to the ground. From the corner of my blurred and spotty vision came the inexplicable view of a woman with demonic bloodshot eyes standing over me, trying to wrench the very life out of me with every twist of the sheet she had wrapped tightly around my throat.

Clutching my orbment in hand, I activated it and fired off a burst of magic while lying half-asphyxiated on the wooden planks of the room floor. The destructive vortex of compressed air sliced deeply into my hip, but at the same time, caused the woman to double over before forcefully blowing her to another part of the room. Shreds of whirling linen flecked and sprayed with fresh blood blasted out through a gaping hole in the wall where a closed window once stood, leaving nothing behind but shards of broken glass and a frame rent beyond all repair.

第６回　仕組みの確認

テーブルの上には、僕の導力器(オーブメント)と、空にされたバッグと、あの古紙の包みが並べてある。遊撃士は僕の顔と卓上の小物とを、まるで見比べるように交互に眺めていた。いかつい皮手甲をはめた右手を見せ付けるように、しきりとあごをなでる。

僕が連行された先は、宿酒場の２階だった。遊撃士は念入りに間取りを確かめ、一番奥の部屋へと僕を通した。どうやら近くに協会(ギルド)の支部はないらしい。

最初に僕の前に座ったのはやせている方だった。名前を聞いたが、すぐにどっちがクレイでどっちがパヴェルだか忘れてしまった。身体検査が終わった頃に手甲をした方、つまりパヴェルかクレイが戻ってきて、相棒に耳打ちする。結局、シスターは見つからなかったみたいだ。

彼らの興味は、シスター・カーネリアと《猟兵団(イェーガー)》の方に集中していた。カーネリアから列車の中で聞いたことを全部しゃべると、僕は被害者づらして逆に彼女のことをたずねた。真実、僕は被害者だった。

「あの女はセルナート、アイン・セルナート」やせ型の方が手帳を読み上げた。「元は《猟兵団》の構成員で、現在の所属と活動内容は不明だ」

「まあ、善良な市民の付き合う相手じゃない」

もったいぶった調子で手甲の男は言い、古紙の包みに手を伸ばした。こちらの様子を窺いつつ、包みを机の中央に広げる。出てきたのは、粘土のこびりついた金属の塊だった。「研究機関に運ぶ途中」と僕はでまかせを言い、居もしない客の住所をつらつらと並べ立てた。遊撃士は残さずメモを取る。

そしてそのまま、僕は遊撃士たちと同宿することになった。駅での一件の調書を取るため翌日は支部に行くことになったが、僕の方に不満はなかった。どうやって朝まで無事に過ごすか、差し当たってそれが最大の悩みだったからだ。

僕は日の出と共に目を覚ました。平穏な朝の訪れに安堵の吐息をついたときには、もう遊撃士たちの姿はなく、廊下の方から彼らの声だけが聞こえた。

上着に袖を通すと、右肘が痛んで、あの女のことを思い出す。とたんに言いようのない不安を感じ、身支度もそこそこに僕は導力器(オーブメント)の調整を始めた。

裏蓋を開け、油なめしの鹿革でクオーツをつまみ上げる。別のスロットへ差し込み、軽めの魔法(アーツ)を中心にした構成に変えるまで、５分とかからない。１本ずつネジを元通りにしめ直していくと、ようやく気持ちが落ち着き、僕はまたベッドに転がった。

そこに宿の使用人らしき背の高い女が、洗面用のお湯を持ってやってきた。湯気の立つたらいをテーブルにどんと置くと、女は黙ってシーツを剥ぎ取りにかかる。ベッドから追い出された僕が、仕方なくたらいの前に向かったとき、開け放たれたドアの向こうを、２つの影が続けさまに横切った。

「来た」僕は自分の呟きを耳にした。片手に石鹸(せっけん)を持ったまま、信じられないような冷静さで戸を閉め、鍵を掛け、壁際に立つ。土壁の向こうで、怒号と肉のぶつかる音とがひと時に交錯する。腰の鎖を手繰り、いま調整したばかりの導力器を握り締めた。

遊撃士は２人、さっき見えた相手も２人。僕を加えれば数では勝つ。ドアの方へ向き直ったとき、どこか遠くで、また僕自身が呟いた。

「２人だって？」シスターは１単位「３人」だと言っていた。なら、もう１人はどこに――自分の問いに凍りついた僕の首に、何かが巻きつき、あっと思う間もなく後ろに引き倒された。青ざめた視界の隅に、シーツを引き絞る女の血走った目が映った。たらいを持ってきたあの女だった。手の中で導力器を唸らせて、僕は倒れたまま魔法を放つ。圧縮された空気が僕のふとももを切り裂き、女をくの字に折り畳んで窓まで吹き飛ばした。白いリネンと鮮血とが、風の突き抜けた跡に渦を巻いた。