Baccano! - Volume 5 - Chapter Ep

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EPILOGUE

THE CHILDREN OF BOTTLE

One week had passed since that night’s crazy ruckus, and from the day that dawned over the village, one would have thought that nothing had ever happened.

In the end, no one had seen Feldt since that night, and the castle looked as though its rooms had never been lived in.

The villagers had come to a conclusion that was convenient for them: Angered, the demons had taken Feldt and vanished.

They decided that the five witches had been solidly on the side of the demons, and, with Fil still disgraced for the murder of the village headman, the incident came to a close—

…Or so they thought.

The strangeness began one morning, when the villagers used water from the well.

Some drank it directly, while others ate food that had been prepared with it.

“What’s…this? Wh-wh-wh-what is this? What the hell is this?!”

The instant the water they’d drawn from the well entered their systems, memories were planted in their heads. Memories of all the abuse they’d heaped on the Fils… However, these memories didn’t belong to them, the ones who’d inflicted the violence, but to the girls who’d been their victims.

The fact that the girls had been trying to protect them, their own warped emotions, the perspectives of the victims— All of this had taken root in their minds as their own experiences, their own memories.

For them, the experience was pure suffering. Not only that, but it didn’t happen to all the villagers equally: The more they’d hurt her, the deeper the memories sank into their hearts.

“Stop… Go away. We were wrong, so please get out of my head…”

Even if they wanted to atone, they couldn’t find the girls anywhere.

And today, once again, morning came to the village. The “memories” that had indelibly stained their hearts were unchanged, as the plain truth. And so it would be tomorrow as well, and the day after that…

Never forgiven, unable to make amends. All that remained with them was suffering that would never serve any higher purpose.

Forever and ever…

“Elmer, you know… You’ve got a pretty nasty streak.”

“Do I really?”

“Yes. Nasty. I never thought you’d toss Fil’s ‘water’ into the well.”

In the laboratory outside the forest, Czes and Elmer were seated on a modern-looking sofa and talking.

“Not being able to atone is their punishment. Still, to think it was possible to have them drink the water, and then not fight for control of their minds… This way, we can clear up the misunderstanding completely. After all, they’ll share all of Fil’s past and memories and experience. Then, when Fil thinks she can forgive them, she can just go back to the village. Although I guess it’s probably best if she does that before old Mr. Bilt dies and the village is set free…”

“But even so—”

“They thought my Christmases and Easters were demonic rituals, too. I’ll feel cruddy unless we get that misunderstanding cleared up properly. See?”

“B-bringing your own grudges into this… You’re a complete jerk.”

At that perfectly natural comeback, Elmer looked away for a moment, then changed the subject as if to distract him.

“By the way, Czes. When are you going to smile for me?”

“Huh?”

“I hear you yelled about it when you were escaping, after they caught you.”

At Elmer’s mean-spirited smile, memories of that night came back to Czes. Then, the moment he understood what he meant, his eyes flew open and he broke out in a cold sweat.

“F-Fiiiiil!”

“Don’t try to weasel out of it. All right, go on, smile for me. If you need some sort of reason, I’ll produce a tiger from a folding screen for you.”

“You make no sense… Dammit! I absolutely refuse to do it in front of you! Anywhere else, but not here!”

On seeing Czes flare up like a child, Elmer teased him exactly like Sylvie:

“Aww, Czes. You really are cute.”

“ !”

Watching Czes turn beet red and yell, Elmer cackled away, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Half a year after the incident, the five alchemists completed their new research in Bilt’s facility.

They’d been looking for a way to make it possible for the homunculi to live outside the village; in other words, to make their bodies the same as a human’s. Maiza’s knowledge hadn’t been enough in some places, and they’d needed to call the homunculus in New York and her young husband and ask for help, but after half a year’s time, all the work was finished.

“What are you going to do now, Maiza?”

“…I’d like to go to Japan to search for Denkurou, but no matter what, I’ll have to go back to the syndicate in New York first.”

“I’ll go with you… There are some people I really want to see; it’s been forever.”

Czes quietly agreed with Maiza. His friends in New York were terribly good people. He felt guilt toward them, and he’d gone along on Maiza’s journey as if he were running away from them, but now he was ready to accept them honestly.

Watching the two of them, Elmer thought for a little, then spoke.

“In that case, maybe I’ll go to Japan. I haven’t been in a while, and I want to know whether the new Super Mario is out yet. I mean, uh, well, if I find out anything about Denkurou, I’ll let you know.”

“Maybe I’ll go with you. I haven’t seen Denkurou in ages, either, and I’d like to.”

“Let me just say this: Ditto the above.”

The other two agreed to this, and for the moment, their group was neatly divided between two destinations.

Without really saying good-bye to each other, they quietly opened the door to the outside.

After all, in the midst of time eternal, temporary separations seemed to last no more than a moment.

“……”

When the time came to go outside… Feldt, who now looked like Fil, stayed glumly in his chair in the corner of the storehouse. Noticing this, Sylvie left the circle of immortals and came over to him.

“What’s the matter? You wanted to see the outside world, didn’t you?”

For a little while, Feldt was silent. Then he looked at Sylvie and, slowly, began to speak.

“Do I really have that right?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m still not sure. When I inherited Fil’s memories, they showed me just how wretched and stunted I was. Or rather, it felt as if they reminded me of something I already knew. Even if Fil does forgive me later on, what should I do out there? Who should I make amends to? I’ve been thinking about it for the past six months, but… In the end, I still haven’t found the answer. Since that’s how I am, do I really have the right to live outside?”

Harboring something like hatred for himself, Feldt lowered his head.

However…when he did so, Sylvie took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. She wore her usual kind smile, a lone, mismatched thing in the midst of her glamour.

“Don’t look like that. Elmer says it, too, remember? Smiles suit you best.”

“He told me so all through this past half year. But, even so, I can’t find a reason to live. It feels as though, once I’ve seen the outside world, everything I am will end, and…it scares me.”

When she heard that, Sylvie sat down beside Feldt.

“Listen, do you remember what you said that night? You told me I had no goal.”

At her words, Feldt recalled that time vividly. He’d told Sylvie she had no reason for living, and that as a result, she’d never beat him.

“Are you saying that if I have no reason to live, then I don’t have the right to live, or to smile?”

“That was… I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, I’m not talking about what you said then. You’re wrong now.”

Still smiling, Sylvie peeked into Feldt’s face, continuing in a voice that the others couldn’t hear.

“I had a goal. Revenge.”

“Huh?”

At those abrupt words, in spite of himself, Feldt looked back at her.

She went on, and her smile held the faintest trace of sadness.

“After Szilard killed the man I loved, for nearly three hundred years, I thought only of getting revenge on him.”

“But you said becoming beautiful was—”

“That was for revenge, too. I figured if my face was completely different from what it was before, he wouldn’t recognize me. I’d get close to him without making him suspicious, and I’d grab his head before he could make a move. That’s what I thought. Silly, isn’t it? Still… When Maiza told me Szilard was dead, I couldn’t believe it.”

Her quiet words held a wide range of emotions. Feldt was awed by their force, and all he could do was keep listening in silence.

“It’s just as Elmer says. If I’d had some sort of grounds for doing it, I might have bathed in the lifeblood of children. That’s how tormented I was. And so…to be honest, it was a shock. It felt as if my reason for living had been snatched away just like that.”

When Sylvie had spoken that far, her old smile returned.

“Compared to that, your wish is terribly optimistic, and I’m jealous. Besides, seeing the outside world…? I’ve never heard of such an overwhelming goal before. ‘Outside’ is probably far wider than you’re imagining. I’ve been alive for three centuries, and even I could never say I’ve seen the world.”

“……”

At that point, Sylvie spotted a figure running toward them, and she continued, smiling even more brightly than before.

“Getting back to what we were talking about. When that shock hit me, I’d gotten tangled up in a variety of things, and… Frankly, if Maiza and Nile hadn’t been there, I don’t think I could have endured it.”

Feldt frowned.

“And so, while you make amends for your sins and achieve your goal… If you can manage it, pay attention to the people around you, too. Elmer makes that his goal in life.”

With that, Sylvie went back to Elmer and the others.

As Feldt tried to ask her what those last words had meant, someone tugged at his hand.

When he turned around, there was Fil, all ready to leave.

“Let’s go.”

The girl smiled at Feldt. Her eyes were clear, with no hidden motives. As if drawn by that smile, Feldt stood up—and before he knew it, he’d nodded.

“Smiles are magic. There’s no doubt about it.”

“Elmer’s saying dumb stuff again.”

“No, no, no, I mean it! Smiles give me strength. Listen, of all the emotional expressions built into human DNA, smiles are memories engraved in a positive direction. People can smile naturally from the moment they’re born…”

“It’s the same with crying and getting mad, though.”

“…Well, hang on now. The ‘waaaah!’ that newborns do is actually a laugh, you know. It’s like, ‘Horror! Infant Explodes with Laughter’… Or, no, maybe not ‘Horror!’ ‘Bizarre!’ might be better.”

“Let me just say this: Be silent.”

Elmer tried to stand his ground even then, but seeing that the girls were ready, he stopped talking…and began to walk outside, into the sunlight.

To be completely honest, somewhere in my heart, I may have feared the outside world.

Since the night I gave Feldt one of my bodies, no matter how I tried, I hadn’t managed to find an opportunity to smile. When we were abruptly told we’d be able to go “outside,” I actually felt uneasy before I felt happy.

True, I had wished to see the outside world. However, would I—the self who, up until now, had known nothing but this forest—be able to survive out there?

“That forest is your glass bottle; it is your flask. You girls can’t leave it and live. That is what you are…”

I remember my past clearly now. For that very reason, the words of the alchemist who created me keep echoing in my mind. Apparently he was Master Bilt’s grandfather, but in the end, I realized I didn’t even know his name, and it made me feel something indescribable.

When I told Master Elmer about that unease, he smiled at me and said, “Oh, is that all? You and Feldt haven’t even left the glass bottle yet.”

Then Master Elmer stopped smiling for a moment, and as he spoke, his face grew a little serious.

“It’s possible that everybody’s a homunculus. If they leave their flasks or glass bottles—the world they’re able to perceive—they can’t live. That said, it’s possible to expand the flask itself as far as you want… Let’s see. How should I put it? I don’t know any better examples. Huey’s really good at making up pseudo-philosophical lines like these, but…”

Huey. That name came up from time to time, when Master Elmer and the others talked. I was a little curious and asked about him.

“Hmm. If you want to find out about him, it would be best if you met him in person, but… Yeah, if you go ‘outside’ someday, I bet you’ll run into each other. Anyway, they say the best way to stretch glass out and expand it is to make it hot. That cold expression of yours really isn’t going to cut it, y’know.”

On hearing that, I began to feel, vaguely, like leaving the forest. I thought this sort of change of heart came suddenly, like a jolt of electricity, but apparently it wasn’t quite that easy. Over these past six months, thanks to Master Elmer and the others, I felt as though I’d managed to expand my hopes for the outside world, little by little.

Next time, I’d smile for Master Elmer for sure.

I wanted to smile an even better smile than he did, and to laugh out loud.

In order to make that happen, I think I’ll see the world. I’ll see many, many more things than Master Elmer has. I may experience lots of unpleasant things, too, but I’ll get strong enough to smile in spite of it.

I’ll go around with Feldt and look at everything. I can’t completely forgive him yet, but I’ll travel all over with him, and someday, I’ll make him smile.

Then we’ll smile for Master Elmer together.

If we do, I’m sure Master Elmer will smile back at us… Because I can probably make Master Elmer smile, too. Not just him, either; all sorts of other people…

When I thought about that time, I started to look forward to seeing the outside world, just a little.

“Aww… In the end, I only taught Fil about a handful of holidays.”

Stopping in front of the open door to the outside, Elmer thought back over his days in the castle.

“To be honest, I wanted to teach the Fils about Valentine’s Day in February. We’d all make homemade chocolate together, et cetera. It’s just that we wouldn’t have been able to make good chocolate with the facilities in that castle, so I decided not to.”

At Elmer’s comment, Nile quizzically spoke up. “Chocolate? What does chocolate have to do with Valentine’s Day?”

“The Valentine’s-Day-and-chocolate thing was a campaign a Japanese chocolatier dreamed up to double their sales: ‘If a girl gives a guy chocolate, their love will become mutual.’”

“But that’s just a sales promotion. What about it is a holiday?”

Elmer responded to Sylvie’s question by launching into a vehement rebuttal.

“You’re not giving it enough credit. Whoever came up with that holiday was a genius. No matter what shape it took, it soared past ‘popular’ and became culture. Candy shops and artists add a variety of personal touches to it, then send it out into the world: It’s a developing culture. In other words, it’s a holiday that keeps on evolving! They say most holidays were originally created out of a desire for abundant harvests, for wealth. Why can’t a chocolate shop start a holiday out of a desire to do good business?! What’s even more awesome is that they made another holiday called White Day, where guys return the favor! I just love that energy.”

On hearing that, Maiza broke in as if he’d remembered something.

“I hear they’ve recently been running Valentine’s Day chocolate campaigns in New York as well. They’re probably trying to capitalize on Japan’s sales.”

“Right; Miria and Ennis were all excited about it when we called last year.”

Czes chimed in, and Elmer’s eyes sparkled even brighter.

“Really? I see! So the Japanese imported Christmas, and now they’ve exported Valentine’s Day!”

“No…all they’ve exported is the chocolate custom. Valentine’s Day itself already existed…”

Laughing off Maiza’s comeback as if to say Don’t worry about that, Elmer took a big step through the door. As the sunlight streamed down over him, he turned and called to Maiza and the others still inside. Just then, he saw the girls emerge from the depths of the room.

“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly the kind of holiday I want Fil and Feldt to participate in. That village doesn’t have any local customs, so from now on, you’ll just have to become the type of people that create them… Well, that’s all I meant.”

Focusing on the five girls following him, Elmer gave them his usual smile.

It was almost as if it were his default expression.

Then, brightening his countenance even further, he spoke to Fil and Feldt.

“This is more of a sealed glass bottle than a flask. Absolutely anything can be born in here, just the way you were. Good things and bad things alike.”

At that, Elmer spun around and spread his arms wide, with the sun at his back.

“Welcome to our bottle!”

1771 On the Atlantic Ocean In the darkness

In response to the demon’s question, Elmer spoke slowly.

“I’ve made up my mind, demon.”

The voice in his mind sounded surprised.

Then, with no hesitation, Elmer named the power he wanted.

“Listen, demon. I want to see you smile.”

<?!>

“Smile, all right? Laugh from the bottom of your heart, at the top of your lungs, like you’re having fun, like you’re overjoyed. Tell me how you smile, you who are called a demon, and what makes you really and truly happy.”

He could sense that the demon’s heart was unsettled. At that point, Elmer was already satisfied.

“I’m sure your smile will give me strength.”

The clearly flustered demon was gazing at him.

<…That’s a problem. My apologies. I underestimated you.>

The face of the man people called a demon gradually began to twist, and the world was on the verge of being completely enveloped in darkness once more.

<I’ve lived several thousand years as a demon who grants human desires…but this is the first time I’ve ever encountered such a difficult wish.>

Just before the world was locked in darkness, Elmer reached out and caught the demon’s arm, which had begun to warp, in a firm grip.

“Uh-uh, don’t you run. Don’t lie, either. I’m not a believer in smiles for nothing. I’ll see through a fake smile right away.”

At Elmer’s stern words, the demon averted his eyes uncomfortably. When he saw it, Elmer grinned.

“Say, demon, I’ve got a favor to ask. If that wish is a hard one, depending on the conditions, I’ll give you some time.”

<Conditions?>

“You know Maiza, right? He’s the guy who summoned you.”

<Yes, I remember.>

“Well, his kid brother died. It must’ve been a terrible shock. He might be feeling rage, or sadness—or maybe despair.”

<Perhaps.>

“So, listen, would you look out for him? I’ll try to hunt up old Szilard, so you stick close to Maiza and help him out with stuff. As a human, not a demon. I mean, you already look human anyway. No problem there, right?”

< >

“Travel around that new world we’re headed to with him. Do it until, someday, he’s able to give a good belly laugh. If you do, I bet you’ll figure out how to smile, too. If you run into me after that… Smile then. Be glad that you met me again. ‘I can smile now! How d’ya like them apples?!’ …I’ll even take a reason like that, so please, show me your smile.”

Silence flowed past, and the seething darkness had gone quite still.

As Elmer’s mind receded again, he heard the demon’s voice, quite clearly.

He’d made a demon expend effort. Wasn’t that incredibly weird? If he told somebody about it, would they laugh, or would they give him a bored, forced smile?

As he thought about pointless things, Elmer’s mind shut down completely.

And thus time passed…

2003 New York Alveare

I tell you, this place has great food… Although the smell of honey is just a bit too strong.

So that’s the end of the tale of Mr. Happy Ending.

Did he ever get to see the demon smile? —I don’t know.

That’s why I stopped in here, to find out. I heard a sketchy rumor that the demon’s at this restaurant.

…What gives? Your eyes just lit up.

You want to meet them? Both the demon and Elmer? Seriously?

Ha-ha, you guys really are weirdos.

Me? My name’s—Fil Nibiru, previously male. I hope we run into each other again.

Until then, I’ll be praying that all your days are happy ones.