Watching the jaw muscles of Tumanako, who had chewed up and disposed of the candy in an instant, I nodded. So in life, you even get the chance to hear about New Zealand mythology. The myth I’m familiar with is more along the lines of a bear becoming human after eating wild garlic and mugwort, and I am a little curious what people from other countries would think if we told them we were descendants of a bear.
As I checked whether John Doe was breathing properly and whether his pulse was beating, I lifted my head and saw an English sentence on the elevator that I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe when I first got into this elevator, I’d been so out of it that I hadn’t realized something like that was engraved there.
Our home is girt by sea
......I don’t know why they engraved something like that here. Is it supposed to mean that since this elevator is surrounded by seawater, you should be well aware of your current predicament?
Looking at the stylishly engraved English phrase, I thought that all the phrases engraved in elevators seemed a little strange in their own way. When Tumanako heard my opinion, he glanced at the elevator wall and said,
“Ah. That? I think it’s a line from the Australian national anthem.”
Oh. Is that so. The impression you get from seeing it without knowing it’s from a national anthem is a little different from the impression after you know. But the sense of being surrounded by seawater still didn’t go away. To shake off the chill, I began focusing on the people around me.
The people from Engineer Team A were exchanging opinions on what route through the Third Undersea Base would allow them to escape the base most effectively. Tumanako and I met eyes. The dentist and hair designer, both newcomers to this undersea base, kept our mouths shut and quietly listened to the engineers’ discussion.
Several routes were being discussed, and when I realized that none of the three considered the hidden staircase their top priority, I let out a sigh of relief.
Just thinking about climbing those stairs again was exhausting. ......That didn’t mean I liked elevators either.
As for why they didn’t prefer traveling by staircase, Baek Aeyoung explained that if the staircase connecting the Second Undersea Base and the Third Undersea Base was as I had described, then if we were attacked from both above and below at the same time, we could be isolated in the middle. It was because while climbing the stairs, there was no way to leave midway for somewhere else. ......So stairs could be seen as a dead end. On top of that, Shin Haeryang glanced at Tumanako and me, then added that it would take a lot of time.
The danger I was thinking of was on the level of slipping and falling while walking up the stairs, but these people’s perspective was a little different from that of an ordinary person like me. They didn’t seem to think the murderous drain on stamina and the hardship that made you not want to live while climbing those damned 4,200-something stairs were all that important.
Maybe they thought that way because they had good stamina, but not me. I hate stairs. I’ve already made a plan not to climb any stairs for about five years. When I get home, I’m going to write “do not climb stairs” as my goal for next year.
At first, Shin Haeryang had insisted on the staircase with over 3,000 steps despite those dangers, seemingly because he thought it was safer in that situation than choosing the elevator. Then how should we go this time? The three of them were now armed with guns, and none of them had an injured leg. They would probably be able to go wherever they wanted without any major restrictions.
Looking at the map of the Third Undersea Base, the three of them tossed out comments one by one. If it were me, I’d go this way and then that way. If it were me, I’d hide here and fuck up every bastard that came up. I think they’d have put at least a few people on guard here. Unless these guys have no brains, if it were me, I’d definitely hide at this passage and target people coming and going. But if they’re members of a cult, couldn’t they really have no brains? If they had brains, would they have joined a cult? Aren’t you underestimating the enemy too much? Aren’t you overestimating the enemy too much? The only thing I underestimated wrong was the size of your head. I didn’t think it’d be so big even night-vision goggles wouldn’t fit. Why is my head size coming up? I’m suddenly being personally attacked! Team Leader! Don’t tattle to me.
Though some idle chatter was mixed in, all three quickly agreed on heading to the escape craft port of the Third Undersea Base. It seemed they intended to fight even if armed Infinite Church people were guarding it. Tumanako listened quietly to the three of them making their judgment, and his eyes gradually began to sparkle. Then, with his pale face showing even a slight smile, he said to me,
“There’s a hair salon near the escape craft port. Could we stop by there for just two minutes? There are snacks there, and my potted plant too.”
“A potted plant? You grow plants?”
“A friend gave it to me as a gift when I said I was going to work here. It’s a small Rhaphidophora. That friend said they were probably giving it to me because they were worried I’d only stay inside the undersea base. The idea was for me to carry the plant, take a little time, go outside the base, and get some sunlight. Hair designers live in salons during working hours, eating hair and smelling all kinds of chemicals. Then when we get home, we’re tired and just lie around.”
Growing plants is a good hobby. It’s good for both body and mind. On the balcony at my house, my younger brother planted things like lettuce, green onions, and basil. We harvest and eat them sometimes, and I’m always surprised by how fast green onions grow. If you water them and forget about them for about a week, they’ve grown as long as your palm.
I didn’t know what the Rhaphidophora Tumanako was talking about was, but it seemed he wasn’t raising it to eat it, but for good habits and happiness. Just thinking of Tumanako photosynthesizing with his potted plant under the sunlight made my heart feel warm.
It felt as if the sadness and despair I had been carrying were being washed away, if only slightly. Like when we chose a path far from escape in order to release the jellyfish. Tumanako might be able to board the escape craft while holding the potted plant he had received as a gift.
Since we were talking about growing plants, I recalled the most recent memory I had of seeing a flowering tree submerged in seawater and floating around. That was......whose room was it again? After I barely remembered the owner of the room, I asked Shin Haeryang with a bit of guilt.
“The potted plant in your room, Haeryang, was floating around pickled in seawater.”
The owner of the plant answered calmly.
“I see.”
There was no sign at all of him grieving over the tragedy.
“Aren’t plants not supposed to touch seawater?”
I asked because I had never once watered the potted plants on my balcony with saltwater, and Shin Haeryang said simply,
“I don’t know much about plants, but probably not.”
Maybe I should have fished it out and put it on the desk. Seo Jihyeok, who had stuck himself flat against the wall beside the elevator doors at a gesture from Shin Haeryang, said irritably,
“You mean the plant that bastard Sato gave him as a gift, right? It always gave me a bad feeling. Good riddance it died this time.”
Tumanako, who grew plants, frowned at Seo Jihyeok’s rough words. If he said a few more wrong things, it looked like he might rip Seo Jihyeok’s head out like a potted plant. Shin Haeryang shrugged and said,
“Still, the flowers were pretty.”
“If someone gave me something like that as a gift, I’d smash that bastard’s head with the pot the moment I received it.”
Baek Aeyoung moved to stand behind Shin Haeryang. Then she told Tumanako and me to move aside and stick as close to the wall as possible. Tumanako quickly went and stood beside Baek Aeyoung.
Then I should stand behind Seo Jihyeok. Hugging John Doe, who was lying on the elevator floor, I moved away from the center. The three of them were probably preparing in case we came under fire again the moment the elevator doors opened. As I barely managed to drag John Doe into a corner, I asked,
“What did he give him for you to react like that?”
From the outside, the flowering tree itself hadn’t looked problematic. Seeing me drag John Doe along and lean him against the wall as much as possible, Seo Jihyeok answered with a sigh.
“That was oleander. Oleander.”
After asking, I realized I didn’t know much about plants. I didn’t know what that was, but it didn’t seem like a plant used for salad greens. Then was it ornamental? With his head leaned against the elevator wall, Seo Jihyeok said to me in an aggrieved tone,
“Jihyeon still teases me about it sometimes. That bastard Sato came saying he was giving the Team Leader a potted plant as a gift, but the Team Leader was away, and by chance Jihyeon and I were there instead. I told him I’d pass on the plant, so leave it and get lost. Up to that point it was fine, but I guess it was a bit shocking to Jihyeon when I wrapped a scarf around my hands and yanked the flowering tree right out of the pot.”
“You pulled the tree out of the pot?”
“Of course I had to look for cameras or wiretaps hidden under the soil or leaves.”
Seo Jihyeok answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Apparently, in this undersea base, if you received a flowering tree as a gift, you had to shake out the pot and search it. That was very far removed from my common sense. Slightly dazed, I asked Seo Jihyeok just in case.
“Did you find any?”
“No. So I got treated like a lunatic.”
At those words, Baek Aeyoung cackled, and Tumanako, who had been listening beside her, also burst into laughter as if he found it absurd. Seo Jihyeok pushed my chest back with his arm, making me press against the wall, and said,
“I don’t like that bastard.”
Hearing Seo Jihyeok’s sulky complaint, Shin Haeryang gave a light laugh and said,
“He hates you too.”
“Great. He hates you too, Team Leader, so let’s all hate each other in harmony.”
Shin Haeryang spoke to the people.
“Prepare to exit. We’ll arrive at the Third Undersea Base soon.”
“What about Mr. John Doe?”
He’s completely unconscious. What are you planning to do? Shin Haeryang asked, sounding slightly flustered.
“Do we have to take him with us?”
It was the tone of someone who seemed used to knocking people unconscious and leaving them behind depending on the situation. It was exactly like the Baek Aeyoung I had seen in the laundry room. Hey. How can you leave a person lying on the roadside like this—no, on the elevator floor? I can’t adjust to this undersea base. I don’t think I ever will.
“We can’t just leave him here, can we?”
“He could shout or otherwise call people over.”
With those words, the elevator arrived at the Third Undersea Base, and the doors opened with a small sound. Shin Haeryang carefully kept watch around us, realized there was no one there, and stepped out into the corridor of the Third Undersea Base. Seo Jihyeok did the same.
The two of them checked all the way to where the corridor facing the elevator ended, then sent back a signal that there was nothing wrong. Only after confirming that there was no one did they signal Baek Aeyoung and the rest of us to come out into the corridor.
I grabbed John Doe by the upper body and dragged him out, coming out of the elevator. And while doing that, I felt an enormous sense of déjà vu. Huh? Aren’t the things I’m doing similar to something I did before?