8人目の選ばれし子ども
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Chapter 5; Vamdemon’s Castle ① The Inquisitive Heart
Koushiro Izumi, along with his Digimon partner Tentomon, left the lake and headed for the mountains.
But when there wasn’t any development to be seen, one day he asked nonchalantly, “Isn’t it about time you told me what’s there to find on this mountain?”
He spoke as if he wasn’t the one who had suggested climbing this mountain in the first place. Tentomon panicked. “It wasn’t me who wanted to come up here!”
Koushiro folded his arms, getting lost in thought for a moment. Then, pointing to the heavy clouds covering the top of the mountain, he said, “I feel that there is something up there. The feeling is rather vague, but I believe that the answers to why I was called to the Digital World and what the Digital World is can be found up there…”
“In any case…”
The surface of the long and narrow Temp Lake coolly reflected the sun and the blue skies. A panorama of a richly green forest surrounded it. Here and there the forest was dotted with buildings, in some parts appearing in small clumps as villages. It was a bird’s eye view that could only be seen from the mountaintop.
“Seeing this brings home to me just how small we truly are.”
While the air was fresh on the mountain, it was also thin, so Koushiro’s breathing naturally began to grow heavier as they ascended. Tentomon kept suggesting that they climb back down, but Koushiro just as stubbornly refused. His irresistible desire to see what lay hidden behind the clouds around the mountain peak was not unnoticed by Tentomon.
But no matter how much they kept climbing, they could not reach the top.
“I think it would be faster if I evolved to Kabuterimon and flew us up there, wouldn’t you say?” he suggested, growing impatient at last. But Koushiro shook his head.
How many days had passed since they had first stepped onto this mountain?
“Let’s take a break here,” Koushiro said.
“How far away is it to the peak?” Koushiro asked, to which Vadermon replied,
“Um… But it’s only natural for a mountain to have a peak,” Koushiro answered.
“This is your first time climbing this mountain, is it not? And yet, you have come to the conclusion that this mountain is the same as the others. You put to use your current knowledge, limited in what you only know so far, and you have reasoned that this mountain is probably no different. Is that correct?”
“I do not know the answer to that. We must not speak of what we do not know,” Vadermon responded evasively.
This mountain, he informed them, is named the “Mountain of Analogical Reasoning.” While everyone was free to reason on this mountain as much as they liked, it would never give them an answer. That was the sort of mountain it was.
Meeting Vadermon was like a culture shock to Koushiro.
The boy looked so distressed that Tentomon told him how he honestly felt. “You don’t have to think about this so deeply…”
“Oh, so you think so too, Tentomon? I was just thinking exactly that, as a matter of fact. There is no limit to knowledge, and it’s probably impossible for me to learn everything there is within my life span. If I want to get rid of the worry, I shouldn’t talk about it or think about it at all.”
The next day, Koushiro discussed this with Vadermon. Vadermon cheerfully said that he would be glad to help Koushiro gain peace of mind.
Vadermon first made Koushiro sit, in the Zen meditation posture, on top of a blue planet that looked similar to Earth, and spoke.
“I understand.”
And so, Koushiro dropped his “n”s.
“Te tomo , you should trai with me. Why wo ‘t you?”
Tentomon tried it out for himself.
“I see. I deed that is a shame.”
On the second day, Koushiro dropped his “m”s.
“I see. That’s good.”
Tentomon smiled encouragingly.
By the seventh day, Koushiro had dropped his “t”s and “o”s.
Tentomon felt somewhat sad that he had been reduced to nothing but an “e”.
By the eighteenth day, Koushiro dropped his “e”s. Tentomon no longer had a name.
There was no mistake that Koushiro’s face grew more serene with each passing day. But his eyes… His eyes looked so blank. Nowhere in them could he find that bright sparkle they once had, like at Andromon’s factory, when Koushiro was typing into his laptop with engrossed excitement, or within the empty well in the desert.
That’s why it was all the more painful.
Tentomon’s sadness made him degenerate into Motimon, then degenerate even further into Babumon, a slime ball with a pacifier in its mouth.
On the 71st day, Koushiro had rid himself of the entire Japanese alphabet.
Alert, Babumon watched it travel through the air where Vadermon, who had at one point shown up next to them, sucked it in with a vacuum gun.
He quickly left the Room of the Mysterious Universe.
“Babu, babu…”
But although he couldn’t voice his thoughts, his tear-filled eyes expressed them.
Babumon’s unspoken pleas pierced through Koushiro’s consciousness. Koushiro did not wonder why he could understand. He had lost his inquisitive heart.
Relentlessly, Babumon kept vocalizing to him. “Babu, babu!”
As if he could sense that, Babumon’s eyes directed Koushiro to the laptop he was always carrying in his backpack. When Koushiro rested the laptop in his lap, he typed into the keyboard:
He did not know whether or not Babumon could read Japanese. But as if his feelings had reached him, Babumon jumped excitedly in place, speaking happily, “Babu, babu, babu!”
“Babu, babu,” Babumon agreed, nodding his head.
Babumon could only say “Babu, babu,” but to Koushiro’s ears, he could hear the nostalgic tinge of Kansai dialect in Tentomon’s voice telling him, “Of course, Koushiro-han!”
Koushiro and Babumon left the Room of the Mysterious Training on the 71st day.
“That’s too pricey. Can’t you give me a better bargain?”
“Not a chance. I just procured this inquisitive heart, so it’s very fresh. I am not lowering its value.”
Without his inquisitive heart, Koushiro was unconcerned about who Vadermon was talking to but he knew that the heart that they were talking about belonged to him.
The room looked partly like a cheap saloon in a Western, and partly like a specimen room.
Vadermon looked at Koushiro and said, “What do you want?”
The inquisitive heart returned to where it belonged, inside Koushiro. At the same time, the power of speech returned to him.
“Babuu!”
“Hey, what’s going on?” the Digimon customer asked Vadermon.
Vadermon took out what looked like a toy gun with a parabolic antenna attached in the front. He aimed the muzzle at Koushiro. “Give it back.”
“Then I’ll kill you and take it from your dead remains.”
“Run!”
Both Koushiro and Babumon burst out of the room and escaped into the Room of the Mysterious Universe.
Pew pew pew pew pew…
Pew pew pew pew pew…
“Just how do we beat Vadermon?”
Calming himself, he analyzed the situation.
“I want to know! I want to know! I want to know!” Koushiro shouted.
The star changed into a shape Koushiro had once seen before, flying like a comet into Koushiro’s hand.
“I have a Crest of my own!”
“How were you able to evolve through the different stages all at once?”
“I see. The size of this universe is greatly reduced, which means time here is also shortened!”
“Kabuterimon, super-evolve! AtlurKabuterimon!”
Turning to the approaching Vadermon, AtlurKabuterimon valiantly pierced him with his horn.
“Ugyaaaaaah!”
Vadermon vanished in a spray of particles.
When they left the mountain hut, they found themselves at the summit.
“I think the peak covered in clouds was an illusion made by Vadermon,” Koushiro answered with a sunny smile.
“Not really. It’s still a mystery why my Crest was there of all places. It’s much too convenient to have been a coincidence! Perhaps it is something that surpasses even human intellect–”
“Hey!”
“Let’s go, Motimon. Everyone is waiting for us.”
And so, Koushiro climbed down the mountain and rejoined his friends.
Long, long ago, in a country far, far away, there lived a king named TonosamaGeckomon.[18]
One day, from the eastern country, a very important sorcerer came to visit and a welcoming party was held in his honor. Chefs throughout the country used their greatest skills to prepare the most magnificent dishes and the sorcerer was very pleased.
TonosamaGeckomon had quite a bit to drink, so he was in high humor as he presented to the sorcerer his favorite medley. The sorcerer also appeared to be enjoying himself, beating in time to the music.
But because TonosamaGeckomon had not had his fill of singing, he did not let go of the mic. Reluctantly, the sorcerer allowed him carry on but when TonosamaGeckomon did not stop singing even when the sun rose the next morning, he finally lost his temper.
The sorcerer waved his staff once and immediately TonosamaGeckomon fell into a deep, deep sleep. He sank through the stone floor, until only his topknot stuck out from the pavement like the bud of a large plant.
“What should we do, tama?”
And so, three hundred years passed.
Although she was indeed very beautiful, she did not appear at all like a Digimon. And so it was, for Mimi was something called a human being.
Raising her delicate pinky finger as she held the mic, she began to sing.
The girl kept a high score on the karaoke screen as she sang.
“The sorcerer’s prophecy came true, ribbit!”
The Digimon began to raise excited voices. But–
All of a sudden, Mimi stopped singing.
“Well, I’m bored of this,” Mimi said nonchalantly. “Also, I’m hungry. Isn’t there something to eat?”
Once Mimi and Palmon had their fill, they asked, “Now, sing for us once more, tama.”
But her stomach full, Mimi gave a big yawn and said, “I’m sleepy from eating so much. Get the beds ready.”
From there, Mimi’s selfishness began.
What’s more, she called together all of the tailors throughout the country so they would make her a gorgeous dress of gold and silver thread, studded with jewels.
Reluctantly, Mimi would sing, but she would always stop midway.
“Anything but that, tama.”
She made up many strange laws, such as ordering everyone to call her Princess Mimi, and cheer “L-O-V-E, Princess Mimi” whenever she showed herself on the balcony, and use camera flashes whenever she walked along the walkway.
The Digimon servants were very much troubled indeed. They would whisper furiously among themselves,
“We’ve tried everything but nothing works, tama.”
Two humans who were also accompanied by Digimon, just like Mimi, arrived at this country.
“It’s Mimi-chan.”
And then, they asked the Geckomon and Otamamon to take them to Mimi.
“Hey, this is no time to be fooling around. Get out of those funny clothes right now,” the boy who called himself Taichi said. From his brisk way of talking, he must be a knight.
“Funny clothes?” she demanded angrily. “How rude! Besides, why do I have to change?”
“Why do I have to walk?”
“Why do I have to go to the others?”
Unable to watch any more, Jou’s companion Gomamon said, “Come on, Palmon. Say something.”
As you would expect, those words upset Mimi greatly.
“Mimi…”
“Crying isn’t going to help,” Mimi said sharply. She turned her back to leave.
And then, Taichi and the others, along with Palmon were locked in the underground dungeons.
As she was sleeping in bed, somebody approached her. When Mimi sensed that presence and opened her eyes, she was greeted by a familiar face.
Sora was a beautiful girl who was of a different type from Mimi. With a face full of love and tinged with sorrow, the girl Sora said to Mimi, “You understand what you have been doing, right?”
The truth was that Mimi herself felt that she had gone overboard.
But since the Geckomon and Otamamon obeyed her every desire, she began to give in to her selfish whims.
And now she had locked Palmon and her friends in the dungeon.
That is the sort of person Sora is. She was like a wonderful big sister, who treated everyone with kindness without any favoritism.
Mimi apologized honestly.
“…Yeah.”
“That’s great. Mimi-chan, you really are a good girl.”
In doing so, sleep suddenly came to her.
It could have been because she acknowledged for herself that she was a good girl. As if surrounded by the smell of freshly baked bread, she fell into a comfortable sleep.
When Mimi woke the next morning, she found herself gripping a Crest in her hand.
Mimi released Palmon and the others from the dungeons and prepared to sing. To atone for all that she had done to them, she decided to sing to the very end.
Palmon and the others forgave her with smiles on their faces.
They all listened to her, spellbound.
“Ribbit!”
It was TonosamaGeckomon.
“I didn’t know he was such a tyrant, tama!”
Agumon evolved to Greymon, Gomamon to Ikkakumon, and Palmon to Togemon to stop him, but TonosamaGeckomon was too powerful. TonosamaGeckomon saw Mimi standing on the stage with a mic in her hand and realized that she was the girl who had woken him up.
“S–So you can sing with a loud voice, right?” Mimi answered, but TonosamaGeckomon burst out laughing.
“Nooo!”
Then, would you believe it?
“Togemon, super-evolve! Lilimon!”
Then holding a flower in both hands, she chanted a magic spell.
A rainbow light flew out, squarely landing their mark on TonosamaGeckomon.
TonosamaGeckomon screamed and fell over.
Caught underneath the rubble, TonosamaGeckomon fell once more into a long sleep.
And then, Mimi and Palmon left for somewhere to join Taichi and the others in their continuous adventure.
–Piyomon–
Why won’t you join the others?
So you’ve been bothered all along by what he’d said after all. When we went to that strange underground storehouse.
It was some time after Taichi and Agumon disappeared that we all went looking for them. In the end, we couldn’t find them and everyone was so tired and driven down.
Koushiro’s laptop wouldn’t even work at such an important time. It can be so useless sometimes.
In any case, Etemon was tangled up in a lot of cables when he died, so maybe that’s why.
Never mind that, we were talking about the storehouse.
No, I wasn’t worried. After all, I’m there to protect you when you’re in danger.
I didn’t expect there to be an entrance beneath that mountain. I mean, there were these strange dark clouds that kept swirling above it, and it looked so creepy that I didn’t even want to get close. Why did you think about going there, Sora?
It’s got to be because your Crest that was inside the storehouse was calling for you. Yeah, right, that Crest. You’re always holding it, Sora. It’s so pretty. The Crest of Love fits you perfectly.
It wasn’t even near evening yet, but you couldn’t see the Sun anywhere there. All you could see were trees with black leaves.
I was a little scared too. But Sora kept walking in deeper and deeper.
In the forest, we suddenly came upon that rock face. I was a little surprised when I realized it was the bottom of a mountain that rose higher than the highest trees. But what happened after was the real surprise.
Then the rock face split open and we saw a warm, rose-colored light inside. And then he came out, that hateful PicoDevimon.
And when he saw you, it was the first thing he said.
“So you’re the bearer of the Crest of Love! Damn it, I can’t believe a Chosen Child is here!”
I didn’t really know what he was talking about, but I knew the Crest he was holding was the source of that rose-colored light.
We didn’t even ask anything and he spilled everything to us. He must have been really panicked.
That PicoDevimon tried to attack us, so I evolved into Birdramon and drove him away. Then Sora walked right into the mountain.
There were so many different things inside, but you made sure to find the Crests.
So you are worried over what he said back then.
What a rude guy. How can he say that Sora doesn’t know what real love is?
Huh? Sora, what’s wrong? Why are you so mad?
There are so many things I don’t understand very well, so I must have said something in my ignorance that made you mad.
Real love? Hmmmmmmm… I don’t really know what it is either.
But why do you think that you don’t know what real love is?
So your mother teaches flower arranging. Hmm. Then there must be a lot of these ‘apprentices’ you say, and your mother must always be busy.
What do you mean by ‘family position’? You always have to be on your best behavior and appearance? That must be difficult. So you hate being called the daughter of a master school.
Ah, you love your father.
Why do you think that your mother doesn’t care about your father?
She’s never in the house but she never goes to see your father. So that’s why you think that way. Sora, you think that your mother doesn’t love. I see, so that’s why you think that you don’t have love either.
Your mother is against you playing soccer?
Well, yes, there’s not much that can be done without the ace striker. You wanted so much to fight for the others.
Oh, thank goodness. It healed without leaving any scars.
I see. So that’s why you think that your mother doesn’t understand you. Because there is no love there, you don’t understand what it is.
But Crests sure are a mystery. Whenever their true owner is close by, they glow such a pretty color. It happened when we found Yamato at the restaurant, when we told Koromon about the mushrooms, and when we found Mimi at TonosamaGeckomon’s castle. It was as if the Crests were calling for everyone.
Your Crest must have called for you too, Sora.
Sora! Look! That thing flying in the night sky! ‘Dragon’? Is that what you call it in your world?
But never mind that, look at what that Devidramon is pulling. It’s square and made out of wood. It has wheels attached.
Eh, go after him?
Okay. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you Sora. Let’s go.
The back of the carriage is opening.
It’s falling.
It’s dropping lightly to the ground.
It looks like a human but it’s a Digimon.
I don’t know who he is, but he’s definitely someone very bad.
Someone’s there on the other side. Oh no! Huh? It’s Taichi. Everyone else is there too. Koromon, Tsunomon, Mochimon, Tanemon, they’re all back to their baby selves.
“Bloody Stream!”
Are they fighting?
I have to go help them quickly!
Sora, I have to go. They’re all in their weak forms.
I have to fight!
“Night Raid!”
It’s almost upon everyone.
I’m going! I can’t watch this anymore!
Piyomon, evolve! Birdramon!
Meteor Wing!
But I can’t inflict much damage to this black figure. I have to save Taichi and the others.
I can feel my power draining. My consciousness is about to fade.
It’s Sora’s voice.
The core of my body feels hot. Light courses through me. The Crest on Sora’s chest is glowing.
Crimson flames come bursting up from somewhere, licking around my body.
Birdramon, super-evolve! Garudamon!
My body evolved into a giant bird human with large wings.
“Shadow Wing!”
I unleash a copy of my entire body made out of flames. But Vamdemon is strong. Saving Taichi and others is my first priority. I pick up their bodies and escape high into the sky.
“Before I realized it, I was acting just like my mom. I didn’t want Piyomon to get hurt. I understood how Piyomon felt about wanting to fight for the others. I understood so badly, but I just couldn’t let you do it… I finally understand how my mother felt back then.”
④ Gennai’s Underwater MansionIt was as if a fire had been lit on Temp Lake. The red of the sunset, as well as the red of the gliding Garudamon bearing the children reflected against the water surface.
“How? It’s like I’m not myself,” Garudamon answered, looking troubled. The transformation of her body had changed her voice so it was now throaty and hoarse.
“Oh, here we go again,” Gomamon said, heaving a big sigh. “I was late evolving to Adult too! You’ve got to pull it together, Jou!”
It seemed that at some point, Jou took it as his position to comfort the others. His intent to pull the rest of the group along because he was the oldest had disappeared in a good way, and now he was being his natural self among the party.
Each of the children’s experiences at the lake had been painful, but all of them had clearly matured.
As they watched, something happened in the lake.
“Geh geh geh geh!” Jou cried out with exaggeration, except this time it wasn’t an act.
Just as Mimi said, there was a Japanese mansion sitting at the uncovered bottom of the lake and the white body of a robot next to it. Someone jumped out from inside the house and waved up at them.
Hearing that, Taichi said, “Let’s go down. It looks like he wants something from us.”
Centarumon hurriedly urged them inside the mansion. Just as the door closed behind them, the two halves of the parted lake came together once more, encasing them underwater.
“Let me show you to the guest room. We have food ready and waiting for you there, so you can rest easy.”
“It’s like we’re on a school trip,” Jou said after eating his fill and rubbing his full stomach. He lay spread-eagled on top of the tatami mats, taking a deep sniff of its woven rushes.
Just then, the sliding door opened quietly.
On the other end of the opened door stood an old man with a wrinkled face. What little hair he had left was tied up into a high ponytail.
The children who were sleeping jerked awake, while those sitting on the ground stood up straight. All of them were greatly surprised.
Centarumon was standing behind Gennai. Taichi immediately got up and stormed towards Gennai.
The other children also gathered in front of Gennai.
“An old wound in my back was giving me pain,” Gennai answered, shrugging his shoulders. “I couldn’t leave the barrier, I’m sorry to say.”
“The Digital World appears similar to ours, but it’s strange in places. Its laws of physics are a mess. Why is that?”
They were in Gennai’s studio, with various machine parts and prototype models scattered across the wooden floor. The walls were made of long panels of resin.
However, Koushiro alone could not sleep. He was tired, but there were so many things that he wanted to ask Gennai.
“What are Digimon?”
“Gennai-san, are you a Digimon too?”
“Agent?”
“Is it Homeostasis that chose us to be Chosen Children?”
“What are the Digivices and Crests?”
Gennai explained the extent of what he knew, but of course, there were many things even he did not know.
“I don’t know that. Instead, let me ask you. Do you know how your world was born?”
There was only one question that Gennai postponed in answering.
“I’ll explain that to you along with the others tomorrow. Now, it’s late so you should get some rest. But before you do, I want to borrow your laptop to add some convenient functions to it.”
And so, the morning came.
After finishing breakfast, everyone folded up the blankets that made up their beds. No one had instructed them to. After seeing Yamato start it, everyone else followed suit.
Sitting comfortably, the children waited for Gennai to begin speaking.
The Digivice apparently had a function that logged information of the Digimon they had met so far. By attaching a Digivice to Koushiro’s laptop, the information inside of it would display in the Digimon Analyzer program that had been installed into the laptop.
Gennai clasped his hands behind his back.
“Vamdemon? You mean, that Vamdemon?” Piyomon asked. Everyone’s faces grew rigid with anxiety.
“To attack us?” Palmon asked worriedly, but Gennai shook his head.
“An invasion… to where?” asked Sora.
“For your world. Vamdemon plans to kill the eighth Chosen Child in your world.”
“T–The eighth… You mean there’s another Chosen Child?” Mimi asked.
“Vamdemon appears to believe that the eighth child is in Hikarigaoka, but we know that child no longer lives there. But where that child lives now… that we don’t know. However, the Chosen Children will fulfill their destiny when all eight of you are together. If even one of you is missing, it will be the downfall of both this world and yours. Please, children. Find your eighth companion and protect them.”
⑤ Operation Invade the Real WorldEternal night.
However, not even those Digimon living in the forest dared to approach the lofty mountain that loomed over them. They were afraid of it. Afraid of both the castle ruins that stood at the top of that mountain, and of Vamdemon who lurked within it.
“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih!”
The scream belonged to PicoDevimon, who was tied to a pole and hanging over a fire like a roasting pig.
“P–Please forgive me, Lord Vamdemon!” PicoDevimon pleaded desperately, but Vamdemon’s eyes smiled coldly beneath his red mask. His thin fingers with pointy nails like that of a bird of prey ran through the blond bangs that hung over his pale face.
His voice was not angry. In fact, he sounded almost happy. He was obviously enjoying himself, relishing the eyes full of fear, the screams, the face twisted with pain.
Standing beside him was Tailmon, who appeared to be pitying PicoDevimon’s plight, judging from the expression on her face.
The tongues of fire licked PicoDevimon’s body.
Black smoke rose from PicoDevimon’s behind like burning rubber.
Tailmon immediately followed behind Vamdemon’s trailing red cape, and Wizarmon followed after her as inconspicuously as he could.
Although the hallways were not narrow, there were no straight corners that could be called corners, giving the feeling that they were trapped inside. If someone who did not know this entered the castle, they would get lost immediately and be driven insane. Wizarmon only realized this for himself very recently.
Here, Vamdemon stopped. He had reached the front of his room but he made no attempt to open the door for himself.
The room, with its curtains drawn all the way, was naturally faintly dark, and had a musty smell.
Vamdemon walked over to the desk, taking the cards that lay there in place of books.
With a low creaking sound, the bookshelves slid apart. Appearing behind them was a pitch-black staircase that led to an underground stone room. Pushing back his cape, Vamdemon walked inside.
Of course, Wizarmon and Tailmon weren’t far behind.
Red candles burned along the walls of the spiral staircase, their wax dripping like blood at their feet.
Even when they reached the bottom of the stone room, that feeling did not go away. In fact, it got even stronger.
The large door that stood before them was a gate that connected