bookworm

It was easy to imagine how stars in space would get a little boring without a big observatory telescope. Once in a while a supernova would cause new stars to appear and disappear, but otherwise they’d endlessly spin around and around at a constant speed, with a pole star always at the center. There couldn’t be a more boring topic of research.
Inferior and superior planets, on the other hand, moved in much more interesting ways than the stars.
“You won’t teach me?”
“Well, I suppose I’ll have to. Now, listen carefully...”
My humble approach made Sham feel proud of herself.
She’s easy to please. And that prideful expression of hers is kinda cute.
“First, the constellations can be divided into summer and winter constellations. What we see now are winter constellations.”
We’re starting with the basics? She’s like an elementary school teacher.
“And well, um, that’s the Bull.”
“I see...”
Unsurprisingly, I had no idea which one she meant. Simply pointing up at the sky with a finger was no way to indicate a specific constellation.
“That’s the Lyre, and that’s the Cat.”
“Wow...”
I wasn’t learning anything, but Sham was surprisingly cute, so I was okay with it.
I feel like I’ve turned into her dad. The thought made me smile. I’d always wanted a daughter like her. Save for one bad experience with a woman, there hadn’t been any others in my previous life, and that unpleasant experience had left me with something close to gynophobia.
“And that’s the Ladle.”
Okay...
I didn’t know what the Bull, Cat, or Lyre constellations were supposed to look like, but I could recognize a ladle shape. There were seven stars forming the ladle’s shape, and the outline stood out clearly because they shone brighter than the others around them.
It looks just like the Big Dipper. Uh...
I blinked several times, doubting my own eyes, and took another look at the Ladle constellation.
Huh?!
It looked exactly like the Big Dipper. No, it was the Big Dipper. For a moment, my mind went blank.
I shifted my gaze in search of other familiar constellations. I didn’t know them well at all—I couldn’t tell you what Cygnus looked like—but I recalled a few famous ones made of bright stars.
I soon found another. I could see so many other stars that it was difficult to make out, but I was certain that I’d found Orion.
Huh... But that shouldn’t exist. Can the stars look the same from another planet? I knew the answer without having to think. Of course not. It’s impossible.
Constellations were made up of the light of stars and galaxies in space, or the residual light of a supernova as it reached the Earth’s surface. When viewed from another position or distance, the stars that made up the constellations wouldn’t remain clustered together in the same way. The three-dimensional nature of space meant that they’d become scattered further apart as you moved closer.
Calling it a space fingerprint or planetary DNA would be an odd analogy, but from other planets, the constellations could never look the same as they did on Earth. And if this was an entirely new universe, then absolutely everything should’ve been different.
There had to be some kind of explanation. I came up with several theories and tried to make them work. Once I’d eliminated the absurd, though, I was left with just one logical explanation: I was in roughly the same location as the Earth and in the same galaxy.
✧✧✧
“...and that’s the Monkey, and that’s the Chair.”
I came to my senses and realized that Sham was still talking.
“And...that’s all of them. Have you memorized them?” Sham asked.
You expect me to remember all that? Anyhow, I’ve got bigger things on my mind.
“Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”
“Huh? Don’t tell me you fell asleep?” She looked a little shocked.
Now I feel bad.
“No, it’s just that now’s not the time...”
“It isn’t? But you’re the one who asked to hear about them in the first place...”
She’s got me there. She looks so disappointed.
“I’m really sorry, but can we end our stargazing for today?”
“Astronomy must be boring. It’s a shame because it’s interesting to me...” she said, growing unhappier by the second.
Ah, jeez. What do I say to her now?
“No, I like it too—it’s just that I think I’m about to make a big discovery.”
“I understand. You can explain your great discovery to me later.”
I’ll have to make this up to Sham at some point...
I dashed down the ladder and searched for a maid so that I could ask for directions to Satsuki’s room. Then I knocked on the door.
“Come in,” came the reply.
“Pardon me,” I said while entering.
“Oh, it’s you, Yuri. What’s wrong?”
“I was wondering if I could take a look at a map. Do we have one?”
“A map...?” Satsuki looked unsure for a moment. “Oh, I suppose you might never have seen one before.”
It wasn’t that I’d never seen a map, it was just that the ones back home were all rough sketches that a child could have drawn, and none of them showed anything beyond our kingdom. Those were no help.
“I’d like to see the biggest one you have.”
“The biggest... I believe it’s in the vault.”
“When I say the biggest, I don’t mean how big the parchment is—I mean the one that shows the widest area. I want to see the shape of the continent.”
“Don’t worry. It’s a map from the late days of the empire showing all of its territories.”
A map of the old Shantila Empire was impressive. It must have been a treasure.
She must have noticed my surprised expression because she explained further. “But of course, it’s not the original. It’s only a copy.”
A copy? That’s still good for my purposes.
The Shantila Empire had once controlled a vast territory that included what was now the Shiyalta Kingdom, and I’d heard that their civil engineering surpassed that of the Shiyalta Kingdom of the present. Some of the empire’s construction techniques were still in widespread use after nine hundred years.
Kalakumo, the city I was currently in, had been constructed after the fall of the empire, so it wasn’t a remnant of those times. The shoreline defenses and foundations of the castle on Royal Castle Island were said to have been built in the days of the empire, though. I had high expectations for a map made by the same people.
“Could you please show it to me?”
I let Satsuki guide me to a set of imposing doors reinforced with iron plates. This was the vault.
Satsuki set down the large key to the vault and headed deeper inside, lantern in hand.
A faint light revealed the many valuable items packed into the small space. They weren’t the gold and silver treasures of a pirate’s hoard. Most of it was weapons—swords and spears—as well as armor mounted on the walls. Their historical significance must’ve given them value.
But on closer inspection, I did see some gold bars too. They rested on top of a sturdy-looking shelf where they’d gathered a lot of dust. Nearby was a bright red object that looked like a piece of precious coral.
“Oh my, it’s dusty in here,” Satsuki noted as she held her handkerchief to her mouth.
“It really is.”
The valuables gathered here were bound to stoke greed and other impure thoughts, so the manor’s maids weren’t sent in to clean the room each day.
“I seem to remember it being in here,” Satsuki continued.
She opened a bureau made of a pale wood that might’ve been paulownia. Inside, there was a map made from a large piece of parchment that had been folded in two.
Parchment was made using animal hide, so there was a limit on the maximum size of one piece. This map was actually two large sheets that had been sewn together with fine thread. Once it was opened up and spread out, it was about the size of an open newspaper.
Although the outline of the landmass was terribly distorted, its shape was immediately familiar to me—it was the western region of the Eurasian continent. It must’ve been drawn largely based on third-party reports. This rendering of Eurasia was quite crude compared to the accurate maps I’d known in Japan, but it was still easily recognizable as the same landmass.
“Our kingdom is located in this region here.”
Satsuki pointed at a spot that corresponded to the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Much like Russia, the Shantila Empire had once been a vast expanse of territory, although much of it was the barely habitable regions in the far north. Judging by the borders drawn on the map, it had stretched from the Ural Mountains all the way to the Scandinavian Peninsula, and it’d gone down past Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula to the south—almost as far as the city of Baku.
The imperial capital of Shantinion appeared to be on the Crimean Peninsula. Unlike the Scandinavian Peninsula, which looked like a rough sketch, the map was incredibly well-drawn around the shores of the Black Sea. It matched my memories of world maps almost exactly. I could even see the Sea of Marmara connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The map extended from that region to around the Italian Peninsula.
Great Britain, on the other hand, was drawn like a peanut, and Ireland wasn’t even pictured. Either it didn’t exist, or the mapmaker used information so vague that they hadn’t known to include it. I had no way of knowing which.
“Our kingdom isn’t depicted particularly well on this map. I believe the heart of the empire was in the far east in those days.”
“I see...”
So I was right about the peninsula being drawn inaccurately. This whole region must’ve been far too remote to garner much attention back in the empire’s heyday. Anyway, it all adds up. I really am on Earth after all. How’d it take me a whole seven years to realize it?
“Was this what you were hoping to see?”
“Yes, it’s exactly what I wanted. I don’t suppose you could show me an accurate map of the peninsula too?”
“There’s a map of the kingdom in my husband’s room.”
“Would it be possible for me to view it now?”
“Yes, I’ll lead you there.”
Satsuki and I left the vault. On the way out, she closed and locked the door.
“This way.”
After we’d walked along the corridor for a while, Satsuki brought me to a room that was lined with tightly packed bookshelves on either side. It was hard to believe that this private room had once belonged to a warrior; it looked more like a study than someone’s personal quarters.
“This is a lot of books,” I said.
“Once you live with us, you can read them all you like.”
“I look forward to it.”
I was no bookworm, but didn’t mind sitting down with a book once in a while.
“Oh, it’s right here on the desk...” Satsuki said.
The map had already been laid out. Since the maids were unlikely to touch things in this room, only Gok or Satsuki could put the map away. That meant Gok must’ve been looking at it before he left, and it’d remained on the desk since the expedition had set out.
A shadow came over Satsuki’s previously happy face.
“Would I be allowed to take a look at it?” I asked.
“Yes... Please go ahead.”
Satsuki put her hands under my armpits and lifted me up.
“Um...”
“You’ll be able to see it better if you sit on a chair.”
She scooped me up and put me on what had once been Gok’s chair. Her strength surprised me. Once she’d placed me down, Satsuki moved away and watched over me.
Uh... It helps, I guess.
I inspected the map and found that it showed two neighboring nations—the Shiyalta Kingdom and the Kilhina Kingdom. Both were on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The Kilhina Kingdom was at its base, roughly where Finland would’ve been.
Further to the east were the Dafide Kingdom and the Timna Kingdom, but each was partly cut off. The two countries had already ceased to exist.
The biggest difference between the Scandinavian Peninsula and what I remembered was that the end appeared to be missing a chunk around the Denmark region. The island that would’ve contained Copenhagen was completely gone. I couldn’t imagine the mapmakers forgetting to include that region completely, so it was possible that it didn’t exist at all.
Ho Province was now the tip of the peninsula and covered its southernmost parts.
“My husband was fighting here,” Satsuki explained as she pointed at the map.
That’s near Saint Petersburg.
Saint Petersburg was a city on the shore of the Baltic Sea, and it occupied part of the peninsula’s root. But Satsuki had pointed to a spot a little further inland. Basically, the fighting was happening in the eastern part of the Kilhina Kingdom where the peninsula connected to the mainland.
“There’s a fortress here. It’s the one Rakunu fled from.”
Geographically speaking, it was a good place for trade, but since relations between the Shanti and Kulati people were completely nonexistent, it probably wasn’t possible to establish a trading city on the border.
“Did the fighting start at the fortress?”
“Soon after the battles began, they suffered a defeat that forced them to defend themselves from within the fortress.”
I didn’t know what sort of fortress Satsuki was talking about, but for some reason the soldiers there had needed to mount a suicide attack. If there had been any hope of reinforcements arriving and breaking the siege, such drastic measures wouldn’t have been necessary—their chances of success would be low, after all, so it was only chosen as a last resort.
I noticed that the fortress was positioned much further north than our current location. Perhaps they’d hoped that winter itself would join the battle. In a contest of endurance, would our side have run out of food before the enemy? It was impossible to answer based on guesswork. Without asking someone who’d actually been there, I wouldn’t know the specifics.
“Thank you. I understand now,” I said.
“Oh? What is it you understand?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to learn some geography.”
I’m not lying.
“Oh, really? Well I’m glad I helped.” She seemed willing to let me off without further questions.
“Well, it’s been a tiring day. I’d like to rest. Sorry for keeping you up so late,” I said.
“Not at all. Let me see you back to your room.”
“That’s all right. I’ll be fine by myself.”
I doubt I’ll need a guide to find my room from here.
“It’s easy to get lost at night. You can’t see anything outside, so even adults get lost sometimes. I hope you’ll be all right.”
Ugh... I thought I would be until she said that.
“In that case, is it too late to accept your offer?”
“Of course not. Let me take you there.”
In the end, I had Satsuki take me back to my room.
The corridors were dark and deathly silent. Even the richest households couldn’t illuminate their corridors evenly at night. Considering the risk of a fire, increasing the number of torches might have even been foolish. The stairs were an exception, however—there was a torch placed wherever the stairway turned a corner because of the high tripping risk. Their thick wicks absorbed oil from canisters to create some fairly large flames. Once one’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, it was easy to see where the stairs began and ended.
After navigating the stairs, we entered a corridor that seemed familiar. If I remembered correctly, heading straight would lead us to the room where Rook was sleeping.
But we got no further before hearing a strange voice—the sound of a girl crying.
The voice felt supernatural, and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. It stood to reason that a manor like this would be home to a ghost or two. Not to mention that two people had died earlier today.
“U-Um...” As I turned to Satsuki, the sobbing stopped.
“Shush,” Satsuki whispered and gestured at me to be silent.
Maybe it’s best to just keep quiet?
We walked a little further and then came to the owner of the voice.
“Sham, did you get lost again?” Satsuki asked.
Sham was sitting in the corridor with her knees to her chest. She’d been crying.
“Yes...” she replied with a sniffle. She looked relieved when she recognized Satsuki’s face.
That’s cute.
“Looks like we caught you at an embarrassing moment,” Satsuki said.
Sham then noticed me hidden in the darkness.
“Huh? Yuri?! It’s not—”
“Sham, don’t shout,” Satsuki chided before putting a finger to Sham’s mouth to close it.
I realized that the only other sounds around us were the distant snores of old men. We couldn’t hear any forest creatures here, which made it quieter than my usual home. The shrill voice of a little girl could really carry through these corridors.
“I’m s-sorry...”
Sham was surprisingly obedient when faced with her mother.
“I’ll head back to my room...” I said.
“No, wait. It only happened today... I don’t normally get lost, honestly...” Sham muttered.
“I know, I know. You couldn’t help it because it’s so dark.”
Between the pitch-black corridors and the rows of identical doors, it was hard for anyone to find their way. Still, it was odd to see Sham lost on the first floor when her room was somewhere on the second floor. Maybe she’d taken a wrong turn while worrying about ghosts—this manor was enough to give anyone a fear of them.
“I’m serious... Please believe me...” she whimpered.
I couldn’t quite tell in the darkness, but I sensed her tearing up again.
“Don’t worry. If anything, having a flaw or two just makes you cuter.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m stupid...”
Apparently, that was Sham’s biggest concern. It hadn’t even crossed my mind, though.
“I don’t think that.”
This has nothing to do with how smart you are...
Satsuki took Sham by the hand and began walking.
“Let’s head back to our rooms. Yuri, your room is just up ahead.”