새벽녘의 사수 슌란/4권

Chapter 4: Dual Threats
Fate can be strange. Fate can be fickle. And, at times, fate can be irredeemably cruel.
Guided by the girl, Chunlan found himself face to face with a living symbol of the laws of his people—the laws he loathed but would be pained to lose.
There was not a single person living on Mount Whitecrown who had not heard of Raiju.
Since its first appearance ten years prior, it has used its lightning to slaughter countless humans and animals, usuruping the balance of power all throughout nature. Many Matagi rose to challenge it and were injured or fallen, with none so much as finding its lair. It now lived as a symbol of destruction and greed, known to all as a true blight upon the land.
And now here it was.
Upon sight of this bear before him, the instincts he long sealed away were prickling through to the surface. It was an excitement that coursed through muscle, through flesh, through bone—the craving for a rematch and, as he noticed with the trembling of his fingers over his rifle, also a deep fear.
'Its name is Raiju?' Sayu looked to Chunlan, puzzled over the name, but her eyes started to shift nervously as the cylindrical trinket glowed bright. Up till then, he'd only seen her act cool and calm; now her eyes darted back and forth with a mild panic between him, the trinket, and the bear.
'That's right. Don't tell me you came here looking for it?'
'No, I knew there was a part of it here, but I didn't know it'd manifest as a beast like this.'
'A 'part'? Something to do with the cylinder?'
The thing continued to light up in response to Raiju, shining brighter and brighter the closer it approached.
Chunlan couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. A part would indicate that once united, the beast and trinket would become whole —but what kind of relationship could there be between a monstrous creature of nature and a manmade instrument. 'Just what is that cyl—'
Raiju roared. Chunlan, a flicker of exhilaration being elicited by the sound, cut himself off and turned his focus back on the beast. 'You're just itching for a fight, aren't you?!'
It responded with a mighty leap from the rock it stood upon, diving toward them. Sparks erupted from its body with each print impressed into the ground.
'No! You're not the one it's calling to!'
Before Sayu could explain, a spear of stone as tall as either of them darted from somewhere, whistling eerily through the air as it arced straight for Raiju. The beast stepped aside to miss the attack in an instant, but the spear held such thrust behind it that even the slight brush upon its side tore a hunk of hide from its flesh.
A crimson stain began to bubble through its blue-white fur. The king of thunder halted its advance, looking somewhere off in the distance before stepping backward with timorous hesitiation. Then, with a flash of light to cover its movements, it retreated back into the mountain.
'Damn you! I'm not missing this chance! Get back here!' Chunlan cried, though he knew well it has made the wisest choice to safe its own life. Even still, having his unexpected rematch stolen away by an equally unexpected external force left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
'Chunlan! Look out!'
'Wha—'
Whatever threat had chased Raiju off wasted no time in turning its attention toward them. Ducking the instant he heard Sayu's warning, Chunlan watched the stone spear streak just over his head, hitting a splintering tree that was growing right in front of him.
'What was that? I've seen an art like that!'
'He's coming,' Sayu muttered in response.
'He? He who?'
The two made their own retreat behind some nearby rocks. Sayu gripped the trinket around her neck, now weakened in its glow, tighter than ever as she explained. While he listened, Chunlan used a pair of binoculars on his person to scan where the spears had flown from in hopes of seeing who or what was behind them.
'He attacks Woodland Wanderers and steals the artifacts we collect,' she started. 'And I assure you, we won't be the first he's murdered. He's a berserker who spreads destruction wherever he goes.'
The binoculars revealed an unusual figure. He was tattooed with symbols on every surface of his skin but his ears—even his hair had similar patterns shaved into it. And as he stood, the playful smile on his lips betrayed no hints of the violent nature she was describing.
'...No. That undersells him. He's trying to murder every last one of us, and we don't even know who or what he is. All we have is the name we made up for him.'
Thoguh far away, Chunlan was met with the man's direct gaze—one ten times sharper, ten times heavier than his own. Even through the lens, he felt a bloodthirsty aura that pierced through him as well as any stone spear that could be thrown. It was terrifying—and as he absorbed this fear, the man disappeared from view.
'We call him the Oni—the demon.'
Chunlan put the binoculars down, seeing that the Oni now stood only a few dozen arge from their position.
'So the bear got away. No matter. There are times when business is better fit before pleasure.'
As if on cue from his words, the rocks around the two exploded. When he saw no blood-trailed remains among the rubble, however, he merely smiled in appreciation of their abilities. The gunshot rang out immediately after did nothing to change this.
'You've found yourself an intriguing bodyguard, little mouse.' The shot aimed toward the Oni failed to ruffle him in the least. Fear nor hesitation traced his features, but rather a conflict between calmness toward the circumstances and a desirous hunger for violence.
A rock wall effortlessly burst from the ground to block the bullet before it could reach it.
'I'm not interested in your weird tricks, Oni! We want to know who you are! And why are you here?!'
Chunlan and Sayu managed to only just evade the rocks exploding. Now Chunlan, hidden in a bank of withered weeds, kept his finger on the trigger as he barreled their pursuer with questions. The ease at which the man had blocked his shot left him shaken, but he recovered control and put on a brave front so as not to further shift the muzzle of his rifle with anxious trembling.
The more ferocious the opponent, the less you showed of them your back—that was one of the iron laws of the Matagi.
'I am the Stone Melder. I'd much prefer you call me that over that other unfortunate name you've given me.'
'And why are you coming after Sayu? Why did you try to kill Raiju?'
He continued to fire off questions with the speed at which he reloaded and fired more bullets from his riddle, slowly adjusting himself to a position that would allow him to move instantaneously should he need to.
'I'm here to squeeze the life out of a little mouse and her whole mouse clan, if that isn't apparent enough. Their deaths shall be an offering to another clan—and to see this mission of mine accomplished, I've been gifted power. My stone melding exists for no greater reason than what I speak.'
Lies. Some of it, at least. Chunlan could sense it as soon as the Oni opened his mouth, for it was in no way possible for the joy that split the man's face as he attacked Raiju to be under the guise of a mere mission. Yet he wondered if the Oni himself was unaware of how naked his desire for killing was through his deceptive answer.
Still, there had to be a reason behind it. A real reason.
'That's all?' Chunlan responded. 'Well, none of that sounds like a good enough reason to be on my mountain—so get off!'
Even as he said it, Chunlan pressed down and let the next bullet fly, leaping straight toward the Oni. He slammed his right fist into the ground in response, and more masses of stone lifted from the earth to form a wall that shielded him.
Perfect.
Coaxing the Oni into creating this wall had been part of Chunlan's plan. Moving to hide in the shadow of the wall, Chunlan used the moment to grip his nagasa—a special hunting knife of the Matagi—to slide into the man's blind spot and strike.
'Hah! It'll take more than that, little cub!'
Even as the light flashed off Chunlan's arching blade he felt a sharp stab of pain through his body, leaving his consciousness to swim through naught but blackened agony. It wasn't until his back slammed into the ground arges behind where he had been that he saw the Oni's left hand was encased entirely in rock to form a heavy gauntlet.
'Your blade found its mark. It's been a while since I was last scratched.' The rock wall crumbled, revealing the Oni's twisted expression. He panted with excitement as warm life blood dripped liberally from the wound on his side. 'A parlor trick at best, but I like your spark. You will make a fine warmup before I take down that bear.'
'We Matagi do love our parlor tricks,' Chunlan replied dryly. 'Sometimes, we even like to use ourselves as decoys.'
As the Oni moved to close the distance between him and Chunlan, several bolts came raining down from above. He blocked them with the stone still wrapped in his hand, but by the time he returned his eyes to his opponent, he was gone.
'He blocked that, too, huh? Too bad...but thanks anyway, Sayu.'
'I should be the one thanking you. Now I've got proof his stone walls aren't a perfect defense. That alone is worth its weight in money to me.'
After firing off another bolt to force more distance between them and the Oni, Sayu helped Chunlan to his feet, and the two slipped into the thick foliage nearby. Chunlan could see the foreign girl was back in control of her emotions—that was the only way she could have known to step in to strike without him saying a word.
'Looks like one of my most reliable relatives got to see the guy's weakness, too.'
As she said this, she pointed up to a cliff in the direction they were heading. There, Chunlan got his first look at the one Sayu intended to meet on the mountain.
To Be Continued

第４回　二つの脅威
縁とは時に奇妙で残酷で、そして度し難い。
異郷の少女に導かれた先に待つは、絶つには痛みを伴う、忌々しき戒めの象徴。時を越えて見えたそれは、青年の内に封じられた衝動を駆り立てる。
《雷獣》――白笠嶽地域に住む者であれば、その名を知らない者はいないと言っても良い。
十数年前に現れて以来、その雷撃を操る能力を以て多くの動物や人間を屠り、山における力の均衡を破壊した存在。多くの《マタギ》達が挑んできたが、その大半が返り討ちに遭ったばかりか未だ巣穴の特定も出来ていない、偽りの山の王。今や白笠嶽において災厄の象徴と言っても良い、破壊と貪欲の化身。
それが今、シュンランの前に姿を現していた。シュンランは長らく経験しなかった高ぶりをその身の内に感じる。自分の中にある最高の自己矛盾を。気づけば、猟銃(スルベ)を握る手も震えていた。かつての戦いの続き……それを自分は欲している。
　　　「《雷獣》……？」
サユは発光をさらに強めていく筒に、明らかに困惑していた。泳いだ目を抑えようとするその姿は、先程まで冷静に自身のペースを保っていた彼女が初めて見せるものであった。
　　「ああ……知ってて来た訳じゃないのか？」
　　「ううん……“片割れ”がここにあるのは知ってたけど……　
流石にそれが魔獣の姿になっていたのは想定外……」
　　　「片割れ……もしやその筒と関係が？」
サユの手にした筒は《雷獣》の出現を告げるかのように光を放ち、《雷獣》に接近するほどその光を強めていた。
関係の存在は明らかだ。しかし、“片割れ”というからには二つで一つの存在のはず。羆(ひぐま)の魔獣と、この小さな筒状の人工物との間にそのような関係があるなど、にわかには信じ難い。「その筒は一体――」
《雷獣》が再び雄叫びを上げる。それが強敵を威嚇する際の声である事を知るシュンランは言葉を切り、得物を改めて《雷獣》に向けた。
　　　「お前もここで決着をつけたいっていうのか……！」
《雷獣》は岩から跳び、全身に火花を迸らせながら駆け出す。「……違う、その魔獣が威嚇してるのは……！」
しかし次の瞬間、人の身の丈ほどもある岩の槍が不快な風切り音を響かせて何処からか飛来した。そしてそれは、《雷獣》目がけて一筋の弧を宙に描く。
《雷獣》は咄嗟(とっさ)に横跳びで回避を図るも、岩の槍はその一片だけで《雷獣》の皮一枚を裂くには十分な威力を持っていた。
蒼白の毛皮に赤黒い染みを浮かべる《雷獣》。突進を止めた彼はどこかを睨みつけながらじりじりと後退し……そして閃光で自らの姿を眩ますや、山の奥に消えてしまった。
　　　「くっ、待て！　ようやく見つけたというのに！」
シュンランは《雷獣》の行動が生存のための戦略的撤退であると理解している。それ故になおの事、外的な脅威によって　《雷獣》が再び自身の前から消える事を理不尽と感じた。
　　「シュンラン、危ないっ！」
「なっ……！」
しかし、《雷獣》をも退けた脅威は二人にも容赦なく襲い来る。咄嗟に身を伏せたシュンランの頭上を岩の槍が掠め、目の前に生えていた樹木を爆砕せしめたのだ。
　　　「何だこれは、岩の槍とは……魔法(アーツ)でもないようだし……」　「……来る。あいつが……」
　　　「あいつ……？」
二人は岩陰に身を隠す。しかしサユは筒を――《雷獣》が去り、光を弱めるそれをなお強く握りながら言った。シュンランは脅威の正体を掴まんと、岩が飛来した方角に双眼鏡を向ける。「……わたし達《森の遊人》が運ぶ古代遺物(アーティファクト)を奪うために……
それ以上の破壊と殺戮を繰り返す狂戦士……」
　双眼鏡は異様な男の姿を映していた。耳を除く全身に文様を刻印され、側頭部に独特の剃り込みを入れた大男。その内なる暴力性を秘めた貌(かお)には、愉悦の色が浮かんでいた。
　　　「……ううん、それすらもあいつにとっては詭弁に過ぎない。
あいつは、わたしたちを根絶やしにしようとすらしてる。　
なのに、何者なのかすら未だわからない。
だから、わたしたちは仮にこう呼んでる」
レンズの先の大男は、シュンランが持ち得るそれの何倍も鋭く、そして重い眼差しを以てシュンランの視線に応えた。レンズ越しであっても殺意が重たく突き刺さる――かと思いきや次の瞬間、レンズの中の大男は姿を消した。
　　　「……《鬼》と」
　――双眼鏡を目から離すシュンラン。そのほんの十数アージュ先に、《鬼》が立っていた。
　　　「……羆は逃したか。まあ良い、先に仕事を済ませるのみ……」
巨大な岩が一瞬にして砕け散る。しかし《鬼》は、その残骸の中に血だまりを認められない事に関心の笑みを浮かべた。そしてそれは、直後に響く銃声を受けてもなお変わらなかった。「面白い助人だな、山猿共」
自身に向けられた銃撃にも関わらず、《鬼》は落ち着いた、それでいて貪欲さに満ちた振る舞いを崩さない。銃弾は彼の身体に到達する前に、突如として現れた岩の壁によってその行く手を阻まれていた。
「……あんたのその手品ほどは面白くないと思うがな。
何なんだ、貴様は……！　この山に何をしに来た！？」
自身が身を隠す岩を砕く一撃を間一髪のところでサユと共に回避していたシュンランが、枯れた草むらの中で猟銃を構えながら応えた。銃弾を防がれた事に狼狽するも、身の震えが銃口にまで及ばぬよう気を引き締め、強気に振る舞う。獰猛な相手にこそ逃げる背を見せてはならぬ……《マタギ》の鉄則だ。　「オレは《岩壁使い》。今はそれで十分だ。
だが、オニという呼び方だけは気に喰わん」
　　　「《岩壁使い》……何故サユを襲う？　何故《雷獣》を狙う？」
シュンランは問いを投げかけながらも次弾を装填し、即座に動ける位置を確保すべく、じりじりと横に動く。
「知れた事。その山猿共を滅し、一族への手向けとするため。
そしてそれを成すための力を得るためだ……
この《岩壁使い》としての力も、そのために得たに過ぎん」
半分嘘だ。シュンランは直感した。この男が《雷獣》を攻撃した際に見せた愉悦に満ちた表情を覚えている。弔い、力を得るため……詭弁の裏にある欲望に彼は自分でも気づいていない。
――そして、かくも欺瞞(ぎまん)と煩悩に満ちた理由であるならば。「なるほど、そのためにね……ならばお引き取り願う！」
シュンランは猟銃を放つと同時に草むらから飛び出し、《鬼》に躍りかかった。
《鬼》は地面に右拳を叩きつける。すると盛り上がった地面の岩が瞬く間に壁を形成し、彼の姿を銃弾から隠した。
　――だが壁で身を隠すとは同時に、彼自身の視界も遮るということ。
　　「隙ありだッ！」
シュンランは《鬼》に敢えて岩壁を形成させ、その陰に隠れて肉薄していた。その手にはナガサ――《マタギ》に伝わる特殊山刀が握られている。
　　　「ハッ、甘いわ小童！」
　　　「……くッ！」
しかしシュンランは刃を閃かせた瞬間、その身体に鈍い痛みを、そして意識の断絶を感じた。《鬼》の左手に纏わりつく岩が重厚な手甲を形成していた事に気づくのは、数アージュ後方の地面に背中を打ちつけてからだった。
「……刃は届いたか。久しいな、皮を裂かれたのは」
岩壁が崩れ、貌を歪ませる《鬼》が姿を現す。彼は脇腹の刀傷から垂れた一筋の生暖かいものを手に、愉しげに息巻いた。「小賢しいが、度胸は誉めてやる。
あの羆の前の肩慣らしにも丁度良さそうだ」
　　　「……ああ、《マタギ》は小賢しいもんだ。
だから、時には自分も囮にする！」
　　　「……！」
シュンランとの間を詰める《鬼》の頭上に、幾本もの矢が降り注ぐ。彼は左手に残る岩を以てそれを受け止めた。しかし　《鬼》が視線を地面に戻した時、既にシュンランの姿はそこに無かった。
「防がれたか……だがサユ、助かった」
　　「こっちこそ……お陰で、糸口が見えるかもしれない。
岩壁の守りが絶対じゃない証明をできただけでも十分な収穫」
シュンランは既に、矢を放ってさらなる隙を《鬼》に与えたサユによって抱き起こされ、共に茂みの中に滑り込んでいた。
サユは冷静さを取り戻していた。シュンランに言われるまでもなく、最適なタイミングで彼を助け出す程度には。
　　「……それにほら。わたしの頼りになる家族も、
今のを見ていてくれたようだしね」
《鬼》を挟んだ先に聳(そび)える崖の上を指差すサユ。
そこには、彼女の言う「頼りになる家族」の姿があった。　
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