Chapter 19: Questions...
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Is being ignorant truly an obstacle in establishing a relationship between individuals?
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Mayu and Pasha continued their discussion while the cashier tallied up the accounts.
After that, they made their way to the square where the carriage had been left, carrying a large number of bags.
"It takes forever to count up the groceries — you'll see, the day we leave the citizen zone you're going to be blown away by how much simpler and faster it is!"
Mayu was ahead of Pasha, carrying twice as many bags without the slightest difficulty.
'...how is that even possible?'
Pasha caught up with her as best she could to ask the questions that had been on her mind for a while.
"Uh, what exactly are we going to do in Lumout? We're going to ask... trackers to find Liu's trail? And then? That's it? And we just wait?"
Mayu stopped and turned toward Pasha. The streets were fairly empty at this hour. They had taken a shortcut to reach the carriage more quickly.
"Hm-hm, it's true that we haven't really explained much to you... there's little chance we'll find Liu with the Trackers we have in Lumout, Beni is the only Yellow..."
'Yellow?...'
She resumed walking through the small streets toward the carriage, continuing to speak.
"...honestly, we're going to Lumout to contact Yumi's parents in the citizen capital, and so they can contact Liu's parents, they have far more means than us to find her."
The square where the carriage had been parked was quite far away; Yumi had needed to use the bathroom as soon as they arrived at the merchant village.
"Uh... Yumi told me that Liu's parents were also in Luren, so why don't we contact them directly?"
'And besides, if they're in Luren, why have they never come to see Liu?...'
Mayu glanced at Pasha as she walked, replying with a sigh.
"Hhaa... right, Yumi was the one who explained that to you. So... actually, she must have gotten confused, but Liu's parents aren't in Luren — they're in Lupran, the capital of the inner ring, not the citizen zone."
She lowered her head, showing a hint of embarrassment on Yumi's behalf.
"Although Yumi was born outside the citizen zone, she has no memory of it, and she grew up like Liu, without really knowing what lies beyond the citizen zone. So it's natural that her explanations aren't very accurate. I should have explained things better to her too..."
'Yeah... that makes sense... but how long have they been in Luttren? I only arrived when I was... seventeen, and that was already five years ago...'
They arrived on one of the main streets — a little more frequented, though still fairly deserted.
"I don't know everything she told you, but Liu's parents don't have as much freedom as Yumi's. Their families are important and they're rather well-known, their every move is written up in the newspapers or something like that, and they don't have the ability to come into the citizen zone."
'...I see... that's... a little surprising...'
Mayu's explanations were far more complete than Yumi's. Although the answer was thorough, Pasha wanted to know more.
"...I understand, but after contacting Yumi's parents, what do we do? I'd like to go search for Liu..."
Hearing that, Mayu sighed again. She stopped and turned toward Pasha.
"Mm, it's nothing against you, but you won't be able to search for Liu... well, you could, but it wouldn't serve any purpose, and I think you know why... It's simply a matter of ability — you could never keep up with the trackers' movements, you would only get in the way of the search..."
Mayu's arguments were logical, and although Pasha was reluctant, she was prepared to accept it.
'Hhaa... it's only been one day, but...'
Pasha tightened her grip on the bags she was carrying, their weight weighing on her somewhat.
"And after contacting Yumi's parents, we planned to head straight to the citizen capital to join them."
Mayu continued her explanations as she resumed walking.
"Yumi's parents have been in the citizen zone ever since Yumi was discovered by their families. Mm... basically, they were punished and now have to manage the citizen zone without pay. But their punishment ends by the end of the year, so after we join them, we should normally return to the inner ring..."
'A punishment?... manage?... and we're going to the inner ring?'
Although the explanations were fairly complete, Pasha's ignorance of anything outside the citizen zone made it difficult for her to understand everything.
"...I know it probably isn't very clear, mm... I actually thought to bring the citizen's guide that Yumi's parents gave me — it's last year's edition, so by reading it you should more or less understand everything... I need to have Yumi read it too."
'A guide?...'
Pasha felt somewhat relieved that there was another way to understand everything beyond Mayu's explanations. She didn't want their conversation to consist only of things she didn't understand.
"...what kind of guide is it? Will I really understand everything by reading it?"
Mayu answered her while shifting some bags from one hand to the other to fix her hair.
"Mm, it's a guide that explains how Lumeno's society works outside the citizen zone. The book is fairly thick, but with the table of contents it shouldn't take too long to grasp the broad strokes... like the hierarchy, energy and all that. Actually, it's a summary of what people outside the citizen zone learn during their education. More or less..."
Pasha was a little surprised by the existence of such a book. She adjusted the position of her arms, the weight of the bags beginning to be too much.
'It's so practical, but... why does it even exist?... and where do you buy it?...'
"Okay, well I'll start reading it right away during the journey."
Mayu nodded and picked up her pace, hauling the bags as though they didn't exist.
"Finally! This village is huge."
They had finally reached the carriage, after quite a long walk.
'It gets so heavy after a while... that must be why the way back was longer...'
Pasha hurried over as well so she could finally set down the bags full of groceries.
...
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[Liu's Pov]
Opening the door, the first thing she spotted was Milo... eating... chips.
'...what?...'
"...the commercial conflict between..."
The living room was not silent, but Milo and Lumian were visibly not talking. Voices were resonating through the living room.
'...what are those voices??'
"...ducal families of Lupran..."
The voices were unknown to Liu, even the way they sounded was unknown to her.
'He doesn't see me?... what is he looking at?...'
Milo was looking straight ahead, over Lumian who was still lying on the couch.
"...finding a solution to..."
Since she wanted to apologize, she had only been paying attention to Milo. But when she turned her head slightly to look to her right.
'...drawings?... no...'
She spotted one of the room's objects that she didn't recognize.
"...that was LumenoInfo, see you tomorrow, Lumenians."
If she remembered correctly, it was only a large rectangular panel of deep black.
'...it changed... the drawings are moving?!...'
But now, the panel was no longer black, but... filled? Covered? With colors... forming drawings? Moving? Or rather... scenes?
'...why is there no more sound?...'
The image on the panel changed completely, becoming... a desk? At least, that's what was written in large letters on it.
Clack.
The door closed behind Liu, finally drawing Milo's attention, although Lumian didn't seem to react to it.
"What are you doing?"
Milo's sudden question snapped Liu out of it. She hadn't moved since she had entered the room.
"Uh... what is that?... that."
She asked directly, pointing her finger at the drawing panel? without even taking her eyes off it.
"...mm, it's a TV, like uh... I don't really know actually..."
Milo took a few seconds to reply, only to, as always, give a rather unhelpful answer.
'A TV...'
"Right, aren't you two hungry? It'll be noon in less than an hour... I don't mind making you something to eat since it's Liu's first day, but it won't be every day."
Before Milo could deepen his reflection and find an answer to Liu's question, Lumian stepped in and brought up food.
'A meal... how long has it been since I last ate?...'
It hadn't been all that long, but most of what she had eaten had come back up.
"You can sit down, you know."
Lumian looked at Liu as he got up from the couch, heading toward the storage room door.
Tap!
"And you, stop eating chips."
In passing, he tapped Milo lightly on the back of the head.
"Tch..."
'...chips...'
Liu went to sit at the table with Milo, to his right, and out of curiosity, she tasted a chip.
Crack...
"Blegh..."
'It's so salty!!'
She made a face, sticking out her tongue, but Milo was lost in his thoughts, until he turned toward Liu and spoke to her.
"Mmm... I've got it! A TV is like a picture book, where the pictures move. But they're not drawings, they're... like a projection of a real place?... actually it's, uh..."
He had racked his brain to find an answer he could give to someone as ignorant as Liu. But it had proven more difficult than expected.
"It's a real scene relayed on the screen, that's all."
Lumian came back from the storage room, setting a few packets on the counter, apparently ingredients unknown to Liu.
'It was real?...'
She turned her head to look at the... TV.
'...a screen?... and what is... desk?... and the voices?...'
"Anyway, there are way too many things to explain to you. Fortunately, I bought a guide. I've finished catching up, so you can take it and read it."
Hearing that, Liu and Milo asked at the same time:
"A guide?"
Lumian began opening the packets and taking out ingredients and utensils.
"Yeah, it's something for citizens when they become nobles and leave the citizen zone."
'...does that happen often?... and why did he buy one?'
While Liu was thinking, Milo exclaimed at this information.
"Whoa, I didn't even know that existed — like, does it happen often that Citizens become Nobles?"
Lumian answered as he prepared the meal.
"I don't know, but if it exists then yeah, it must happen."
'But what exactly does it cover?...'
Liu was about to ask questions, but as usual, Lumian cut her off and stopped her.
"Before you ask any more questions, you have to finish the book. Otherwise I won't answer them. I'm not going to waste my time answering your questions when the answers are in the guide."
Milo, meanwhile, asked a question that had nothing to do with it.
"What are you making?"
'...I never get a chance to speak!...'
The situation kept repeating itself throughout that long morning. It was adding fuel to Liu's violent tendencies.
"A quiche. It should be ready in a quarter hour I think."
As soon as Lumian had finished answering, Liu stepped in with a question in a loud, sharp voice, almost annoyed.
"What were those voices that came out of nowhere just now?!"
Ignoring what Lumian had told her, Liu asked the question that had been nagging at her the most.
"Those are the voices of the people speaking on the screen, and they come out of the speakers on the couch."
This time Milo had a clear answer; he responded the moment Liu asked the question.
'...speakers?...'
"The speakers are what... relay? The sound from... the scene that's relayed on the screen..."
He continued his response, explaining as best he could what he knew, while turning toward Lumian for confirmation.
'...what does relay mean again?...'
Although it was clearly explained, Liu didn't have the imagination needed to truly understand all of it.
'...is it like the lullaby?'
"Yeah, more or less."
Lumian answered and looked at Liu with a sigh. Her ignorance was evidently visible on her face.
"Hhaa, basically, the TV is a place where scenes with sound are stored. And the screen and the speakers are the objects that allow the sound and images to be relayed, end of story. Now, Patrick, grab my phone and put some music on."
Although it wasn't really the answer to what Liu had been wondering at that moment, this explanation was far more understandable than the others, despite the new words.
"I think I understood."
She nodded while thinking of a new question.
'...music? There's also music on... in the TV?...'
Without Liu noticing, Milo had grabbed the piece of wood that Lumian was always pressing. He began pressing it a few times, and...
"~~~"
...suddenly, sound came out of the couch to Liu's right, making her jump.
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Is being ignorant truly an obstacle in establishing a relationship between individuals?
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