Tyrant's Stars: Parts Three and Four by Hideyuki Kikuchi Page B

about that?”
    Matthew’s memory returned to him. After having been rescued by Duchess Miranda, he’d wandered around in search of help, coming at last to a kind of depressed region. Suddenly the light of dawn had become a blistering beam. Though he’d tried desperately to escape, it was so hot his skin cracked, and he’d swiftly become deranged. Even after that, he could recall wandering a good deal longer. That he’d managed to do so was thanks to the strength he’d built up working on his family’s farm.
    “Wh . . . wh . . . where ... am I?” he asked, and the words came out more easily than he’d expected.
    “You know the central Frontier?” the girl who resembled Sue inquired.
    “Uh, yeah.”
    “Well, near its northern edge. In the village of Rushall.”
    “The northern edge?”
    From the fortress, it was a full week on horseback to the northern Frontier, according to what Count Braujou had told them back at Lamoa. When had he traveled so far?
    Perhaps sensing Matthew’s question, the girl continued, “Scientists investigating the Heat-Ray Road have established that its secret lies in a distortion in physical space. The atmosphere that should buffer the sunlight is twisted, so the rays come straight there instead. Apparently the same thing happens in a few different places around the world. I don’t know how many people like you I’ve had to help.”
    For a second, Matthew’s mind drifted away. The northern edge— that was the place he and Sue had the most cause to fear. His own feet had ended up carrying him right into hell. Flames of what might be described as pity flared up in Matthew’s heart, and he groaned. The flames had taken the shape of Sue’s face.
    “Don’t cry,” the girl said, gently stroking the corner of his eye with a pale finger. “I don’t know who you are or where you come from, but I’ll look after you until you’re able to walk again. The medicine I put on you works real well. Why, in three days’ time you’ll be good as new.”
    “Thank . . . you . . .”
    “Don’t mention it. When the going gets tough, we’ve gotta help one another. They call me Sue. Um, what’s the matter?”
    “I’m . . . Matthew.”
    And having managed to reply, Matthew shut his eyes. This Sue’s face vanished, but the face of the other Sue was still in his heart. He silently prayed to God that Sue’s face wouldn’t be replaced by this one’s.

    Damn that boy—hasn’t he shown up yet?” a voice muttered from an enormous coffin.
    Lacking even a single window, the room was sealed in darkness. Nevertheless, the occupant of the coffin couldn’t come out because it was still midday.
    We’ll meet up soon enough. Get your car to go a little faster,” another voice replied in the darkness. If it’d been light and any human had been there to witness this scene, it would’ve scared the living daylights out of him. Sitting on top of the coffin was a disembodied left hand.
    “It’s not as if you don’t know what kind of condition these Frontier roads are in,” the voice from the coffin responded. Needless to say, it belonged to Count Braujou.
    That s the fault of you Nobles,” the left hand countered sharply. You used metals that would last forever to build the major highways your carriages took, while you frustrated the humans’ efforts to make roads by leaving tangled forests and supernatural critters everywhere. You made a world of medieval horrors, leaving contemporary people to suffer like serfs, powerless in the midst of monsters and magic. The production of artificial blood had already been perfected. Why didn’t you just wipe out the human race in one fell swoop? Your world has no need for human beings.”
    That question’s been answered by as many people as there are stars in the universe,” the count said. “But not one of them can claim to have the true answer. Perhaps ...”
    As Braujou paused, the left hand inquired, “Perhaps what?”
    It wouldn’t have been