12

The bright-orange tones of the Rust-Eater made for a striking contrast against the lush greenery of the valley. As the trio approached, they felt a slight warmth emanating from the mushrooms.

“This is the Rust-Eater…?! That legendary mushroom that can counteract the Rust…?” said Pawoo in wonder.

“It sure is, Pawoo!” said Milo, overjoyed, holding his sister’s hand and looking up at the mushrooms. “We finally did it! Now we can cure you!”

“…Hmm? Maybe not. Something’s wrong,” said Bisco, tilting his head at the scent of the spores scattering down from above. Ignoring the great deal of damage to his own body, he sprang up onto the Pipe Snake’s carcass, tore off a piece of the mushroom cluster, and dropped back down in front of the other two. Then he gazed at the piece in his hands intently and took a bite.

“…Just as I thought. It’s too weak.”

“Too weak…? Bisco, what do you mean by that?”

“All mushrooms have the power to feed on the Rust. The Rust-Eater is just the best at it. But this mushroom’s power, its taste… It’s no different than the regular mushrooms that grow around here.”

“Wh-what…? But…but we struggled so hard…”

Milo’s face fell as he took the mushroom in his hand. After such a fierce battle, was it all for nothing? Meanwhile, Bisco’s face was stern and rugged, and his worry for Jabi was plain to see.

“This one’s a dud. That’s all there is to it. We’ve still got some time before the sun sets. We’ll just have to find another.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Akaboshi! None of us are in any shape to fight, least of all you!”

“We don’t have time. If you’re too beat-up to come with me, I won’t force you. I can do it alone—”

“You’re the most beat-up one here, Bisco!” said Milo, gripping him by the scruff of the neck as he walked away and spinning him around. “If you try to fight another one of those things, you’ll die for sure! Get your head out of your ass for once and stop making us worry!”

“So—what? You’re happy to come all this way for nothing?! Let go of me!”

Bisco jerked back his bloodied hand, and Milo fell over into the sea of grass. With trembling eyes, he watched Bisco leave and felt a strange pulsing warmth in his hand, so he sprang to his feet.

“B-Bisco! Come back! The Rust-Eater! It’s…!”

Bisco spun around, and what he saw stopped him in his tracks. There in Milo’s hand, the orange mushroom glowed like a ball of fire.

“…What’s going on? That’s the same mushroom, right?”

“Yeah… Oh, I know! Bisco, let me have some of your blood!”

Saying this, Milo wiped some blood off Bisco’s neck and dribbled it over the Rust-Eater.

“I thought so… Look, Bisco!”

It was clear to anyone who saw it that the Rust-Eater was undergoing some sort of transformation. The part that Milo covered in Bisco’s blood began glowing, and the patterns on the cap’s surface started to shift.

“What the hell…? Is it drinkin’ my blood? What kinda magic is this, Milo?”

“I’ll explain later. First, let’s seek refuge in that cave over there. We need to patch you up, Bisco. The Pipe Snake did a number. I’m shocked you can even stand.”

“Are you crazy? We finally got the loot we’re after, and you wanna rest?”

“Your health comes first. If you don’t listen to what I say, this goes over the cliff.”

“Okay, okay, okay! I get it! Don’t chuck it!”

With a gentle sigh, Pawoo smiled at her little brother as he turned and beckoned to her. Whether it was a sigh of relief at seeing how Milo had grown or of jealousy at the redheaded thug who walked alongside him, or some mixture of the two, even Pawoo herself could not explain.

“Jabi told me just before we left Imihama,” said Milo. “The Rust-Eater wasn’t able to eat rust immediately after growing.”

“Huh…? He never told me that…”

“Hey, I told you to sit still!” At Milo’s warning, Bisco clammed up like a scolded Doberman.

“Apparently, many Mushroom Keepers lost their lives in the search for the Rust-Eater. The others went to bury their fallen friends and surrounded the graves with Rust-Eater mushrooms to create a new garden for them. Then, a few days later, when they came back to say their final farewells…”

“…The Rust-Eaters had transformed?” asked Pawoo. Milo nodded as he finished wrapping Bisco’s bandages.

“That’s what Jabi said. And so it came to be known among the Mushroom Keepers that a miracle cure was born in honor of the fallen heroes.”

“But you suspected it was their blood that did the trick,” said Bisco. “And it turned out to be true.”

“And it can’t just be any blood; it has to be the blood of a Mushroom Keeper. There’s something special about it…about you, Bisco, and Jabi, too. Unlike the rest of us, you can give blood to anyone and receive blood from anyone.”

Milo quelled the soft pain in his heart as he stuck a syringe into Bisco’s neck and drew out his blood, depositing it into a vial. The deep crimson almost seemed to glow with Bisco’s life force.

“I see; I guess that logic makes sense. But then, how come Jabi never told me about any of this? Why didn’t he tell me about the thing we were after?”

“Think about it, Bisco. We only found out your blood was the key seconds ago. Going by Jabi’s story, he might have thought that to activate the Rust-Eater, you were going to need to give up somebody’s life…”

“What?! I’d never do that!”

“Wouldn’t you?” asked Pawoo. “Isn’t that why they call you the Man-Eating Redcap?”

“You know, you’re pretty talkative for a muscle-bound gorilla!”

Milo ignored the squabbling of the two meatheads and carefully injected Bisco’s blood into his sample of the Rust-Eater mushroom. Shortly thereafter, the Rust-Eater began emitting spores that glowed like sparks, and the whole thing burned red like smoldering firewood. The marbled patterns on the cap started to swirl and shift like galaxies, and the dark cave was filled with light.

“W-wow…!”

All stopped and gasped in amazement. It felt like they were witnessing one of the world’s most hidden secrets. Milo shook himself out of his stupor and dropped the glowing mushroom into his machine. The powerful solution inside the tubes of reinforced glass dissolved the Rust-Eater immediately, becoming an orange liquid that shone with an impossible light.

“It’s like a riddle,” Pawoo muttered. “It had to have been deliberately designed. These Mushroom Keepers are more intelligent than society gives them credit for. Their pharmaceutical technology is centuries ahead of the rest of the world. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call them bearers of divine revelation.” She scratched her cracked lips with the nail of her thumb. Then she turned to Bisco. “Perhaps things would have turned out differently if this red monkey over here wasn’t running about causing chaos and giving the Mushroom Keepers a bad name.”

“What did you say…?! Maybe if you guys hadn’t been so hardheaded…! Grh…!”

Bisco grimaced in pain, and Milo rushed to his side.

“Please don’t fight; you’re both badly hurt!”

“Well, don’t just space out, Milo! You need more blood, don’t ya? Hop to it!”

“I can’t, Bisco! You’ll die if I take any more! Think about yourself for once!”

“Well, people always call me Bloody Bisco, so I must have more than most people. Another poke can’t hurt!”

“No, Bisco!”

As Pawoo watched her brother argue, she saw a side of him she had never witnessed before. A Milo full of life and charm. He spoke to Bisco like a son to his cherished father, yet also a mother with concern for her reckless child. It was this mixture of admiration and affection that expressed their relationship more eloquently than any words could.

He must really love him…

She couldn’t say it out loud. It was lonely, but she also felt a strange sort of relief washing over her. She looked back at Bisco, his ferocious canines and vermillion tattoo. He didn’t exactly look like an upstanding gentleman, but he possessed an indomitable spirit that allowed him to pierce through all obstacles in his path, as evidenced by his earlier battle with the Pipe Snake.

“The Man-Eating Redcap, Bisco Akaboshi…” Pawoo muttered his name to herself, then stood up.

“Where are you going, Pawoo?” asked Milo. “It’s dangerous outside at night.”

“To fix my bike. I may be badly wounded, but I can do that much, at least.”

“Didn’t know Imihama had gorillas who could fix bikes,” said Bisco. “City of marvels.”

“Ha! That’s nowhere near as impressive as a monkey who can fire a bow.”

“Say that again! To my face!”

“Stop it!” said Milo. “Oh no, your wounds are reopening! You’re losing blood! Calm down!”

Pawoo chuckled and walked toward the cave entrance. Suddenly, a searchlight beam cut through the night, illuminating the fallen Pipe Snake’s body, and a fearsome wind flattened the ringing grass, scattering leaves into the air.

“What’s that?!” said Bisco, running over to her. “Dammit, you’ve led the Vigilante Corps right to us!”

“No, I haven’t!” said Pawoo, squinting. “…Look, it’s a military weapon! It’s massive…”

Looking closely, Bisco could make out the shape of a giant anglerfish adorned with weapons and armor of all kinds. It was a large airborne mobile-weapons platform known colloquially as a Flying Fatty.

“Is it from North Miyagi Military Base…? Why is it here?!” asked Pawoo. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through a megaphone.

“Hello, Akaboshi. I’ve been following your travels very closely, but the chance to kill you never came up. Honestly, it’s rather embarrassing, but…I have no shot of defeating you in a fair fight, you see… I was at my wit’s end with how to deal with you.”

Poking out of an open hatch in the roof of the Flying Fatty was a man with jet-black eyes, holding on tightly to his hat as the high winds threatened to whisk it away.

“And wouldn’t you know it, my indecisiveness has been rewarded! You’ve come across the legendary cure to the Rust, the Rust-Eater! It’s a good thing you didn’t die on me, Redcap!”

“Whaddaya mean by that…?” Bisco seethed. His emerald eyes clashed with Kurokawa’s own. “I thought you seemed familiar. You’re Imihama’s governor. How did you know where I was? Have your goons been tailing me?!”

“Heavens, no. Trying to keep up with you would be like trying to scale Mount Everest in the nude. And we’re shorthanded enough as it is these days.” Suddenly, Kurokawa shrieked as his hat was finally blown away by the wind. Then he continued, an utterly disappointed look on his face. “I thought you might use the train. So I requested the service records. And wouldn’t you know it, there was one line that saw sudden use after decades of inactivity.”

Suddenly, Milo ran over and tugged on Bisco’s sleeve. “Bisco! Pawoo! Let’s hide deeper in the cave! Even if he sends his men in, they’re no match for the three of us!”

“But they’re gonna take the Rust-Eater!”

“That’s right; scuttle off into the shadows for me, please!” Kurokawa’s droning voice rang out over the Weeping Valley. “I’m absolutely dreadful at multitasking, you see, and there are so very many of these mushrooms to harvest. This should please the central government a great deal.”

As Kurokawa spoke, several thick hooks launched out of the Flying Fatty and embedded themselves in the Pipe Snake’s body, which by now had become a veritable forest of Rust-Eater mushrooms. Slowly, the titan’s carcass began to lift off the ground and into the air.

“Dammit, not if I can help it!”

“Bisco, no! It’s too dangerous!”

But before Milo could stop him, Bisco leaped up toward the Flying Fatty. Its machine guns swiveled and fired at him, but he evaded them all with the agility of a mountain dog, drew his bow, and struck the anglerfish right between the eyes. However, nothing happened. Bisco’s explosive mushrooms were nowhere to be seen.

“…?! My arrows… Why aren’t they working?”

Small redcaps started to grow on the creature’s face, but they quickly turned black and withered. It was the first time any artificial object had resisted Bisco’s mushrooms.

“Ho-ho, those almost bloomed, even with all the protective coating I applied. That’s scary. It really does terrify me to go up against you in the flesh, Akaboshi… I’m quaking in my boots.”

Kurokawa gave a shiver, before turning to the rabbit-headed man in the pilot’s seat.

“Finger off the trigger, hotshot. You’ll damage the goods. Take us up.”

“Sir! Akaboshi is weakened! We could finish him off right now, and the others would be too distraught to come after us!”

“…Careful. If you don’t show the Mushroom Keepers a little more respect…”

Before Kurokawa could finish, a bright-red arrow shattered the reinforced glass of the cockpit, grazing the pilot’s cheek and embedding itself in his seat. The explosive force of the blooming mushroom catapulted the rabbit-headed man through the shattered window.

“…then that’s what will happen to you,” continued Kurokawa as he watched the man sail through the air and disappear into the depths of a shadowy gorge. Sweeping the enlarged mushroom off the pilot’s seat, he sat himself down at the controls and turned the Flying Fatty around, machine guns blazing.

“We will meet again, Akaboshi! Consider this my engagement ring!”

As his craft turned to leave, Kurokawa leveled his handgun and fired. A sulfur-yellow streak flew through the air toward Bisco. Already overwhelmed dodging the machine guns, Bisco was unable to evade it, and Kurokawa’s bullet found its target in his side.

“Grh… Gah!”

“Bisco!”

Milo broke free of his sister’s restraint and rushed over to Bisco. Blood was pouring from his flank, along with a sticky yellow substance, as he gritted his teeth in wide-eyed pain.

“That bastard, he used a rust round…!” said Bisco, coughing up blood.

Rust rounds were a cruel and devious technology that infected their targets with the Rust. It spread from the point of impact, eating away at the target’s flesh.

“Oh no, not you too! Bisco…!”

But Bisco wasn’t looking at Milo’s tearstained eyes. He glared up into the night sky, driving his anger into Kurokawa’s sullen sockets as the Imihama governor turned his craft around and absconded with the Rust-Eater.

“Hey, are you sure you don’t want the shot?” Milo looked a little worried as Pawoo sat atop her motorcycle.

All that remained of the bountiful Rust-Eater harvest were the scraps they had scavenged beforehand. Enough for two doses. Originally, that would have meant their mission was complete, and Pawoo and Jabi could both be cured. But the only way to get Jabi his dose on time was for Pawoo to take the Vigilante Corps highway that stretched all the way to Imihama.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Kurokawa has his spies hidden among the vigilantes, and by now, he’s probably noticed that the Rust-Eaters he stole aren’t working. If he sees that I’ve been cured, he’ll know we hold the secret to awakening them. We don’t know to what lengths he’ll go to find out.”

Pawoo’s smile was radiant in the light of the morning sun.

“It’s fine, Milo. Once I’ve given Jabi his dose, I’ll take mine. Then I’ll keep Kurokawa distracted while you find a way to get close to him. I should be able to keep his goons off you while you do that.”

Then Pawoo turned to Bisco, who wore a sour expression.

“Akaboshi, you need to be prepared if you’re to go up against him. He’s a despicable coward…which means he’s capable of anything. The vigilantes and the other prefectures have all had trouble laying their hands on him. So look out; he’s a crafty bastard.”

“…If he finds out he needs Mushroom Keeper blood to activate the Rust-Eater, he’ll come after Jabi and me. One way or another, he needs to be dealt with,” said Bisco lazily as he cracked his neck. “It’s way easier to just kill him than look after all you guys.”

“…I don’t like to admit it, but Milo is safer with you right now. Milo is my life. I’m trusting you. Take care of him.”

“…Yeah, sure. You want him back by midnight, too?” Bisco was so thrown off by Pawoo’s words that, for once, he didn’t seem to have the energy to start a fight. “Well, you look after yourself, too, I guess. It’d be a shame if you died right after I saved your life.”

Pawoo simply stared at the mad dog’s face…and when Milo got up to tend to Actagawa, she quietly beckoned Bisco over.

“…And take this.”

In Pawoo’s hand was the medicine vial her brother had only just given her.

“What?! You need that, don’t you? Milo made that for—”

“I can’t look after him anymore, Akaboshi. Only you can. Especially if you’re going up against Kurokawa. He needs your strength.”

Pawoo looked down at the bandages covering Bisco’s side.

“The Rust isn’t too bad now, but it’ll get worse. It’ll probably spread faster than normal, too. If you have to, use it.”

“Pawoo… You…”

“Heh. You finally used my name.”

The warrior Pawoo flashed a rare smile that seemed to glimmer in the dawn’s light.

“Now, get going and beat Kurokawa. You can worry about me after that. Hey, it just means I trust you; that’s all.”

“…Fine. If that’s what you really want, I’ll take it.” Bisco nodded and quickly hid the vial in his pocket just as Milo returned. “Not that it matters, ’cause I’m gonna kill him in the blink of an eye anyway. We’re just doin’ things in a different order, I guess. But if this is meant to pay me back for savin’ your life, then it doesn’t count.”

Pawoo simply gave a bewitching smile that froze Bisco in his tracks. Then she stroked his chin and brought her face close to his.

“Do you still remember what you said to me when we first fought?” she whispered, her voice soft and smooth. “You said I had a pretty face. Even though it’s marred by the Rust. Only you would say that, Akaboshi.”

Bisco was so unnerved that all he could do was avert his gaze.

“And now that I look closely…,” she continued, “…you’re not too bad yourself.”

“Wha—?!”

Bisco jumped back, and Pawoo giggled. Then she twisted the accelerator and rode off.

“You’re just a bit too young for my taste!” she said as she disappeared into the Weeping Valley, bathed in the morning glow. Bisco ground his teeth in anger and tried to shout something after her in response, but the words that came to mind all got stuck in his throat, and he simply watched her go in silence.

Bisco didn’t dare look, but he could feel Milo’s grinning face burning a hole through him. Unfortunately, he didn’t need to, for the young doctor quickly ran around and stared at him curiously.

“What is it? You got a problem?!”

“Hey, Bisco, do you have a girlfriend? You don’t, right? Well, what do you think of Pawoo…?”

“People can’t marry gorillas.”

“Doesn’t she just make your heart flutter?”

“No.”

“She’s an E cup, by the way.”

“Shut up! What’s gotten into you?!”

As Actagawa strutted over to see what all the fuss was about, Bisco turned away to hide his embarrassment and tried to change the subject.

“According to Pawoo, that flying anglerfish was from Shimobuki Garrison. It’s a bit of a detour, but let’s head back to Shimobuki through the wetlands. There, we can steal back the Rust-Eaters.”

“Okay, Bisco!”

Then Bisco gave a nod and hopped up with his usual agility atop Actagawa’s saddle…only to fall off, tumbling into the grass below. Bisco lifted himself off the ground in shock, as if even he didn’t understand what just happened. Then he began coughing violently.

“Bis…co…!”

As Actagawa looked on in confusion, Bisco’s eyes went wide with shock and discouragement. He had failed to ride Actagawa. That simple mistake had made it painfully clear to him just how weak he had become.

Milo ran over and helped Bisco to his feet. Bisco gave a small chuckle and wiped the blood from his mouth.

“…Heh. Sorry. I’m slowing us down.”

“Don’t say that…”

“Just look at me. At least I can’t shout at you anymore, eh?”

“Don’t say that!”

Milo looked like he was about to burst into tears. Bisco brushed his arm aside and leaped atop Actagawa once more. After helping Milo up, he spoke in a quiet voice.

“I’m fine, Milo. I’m strong. I’m like a bear who keeps fighting despite being covered in wounds. Even if poison ravages my body, there ain’t a single scratch on my soul. My heart keeps beating all the same.”

“…”

“Let’s go.”

Milo said nothing. As Actagawa started to shift himself along, Milo simply leaned his head on Bisco’s side and thought.

Are you angry, Bisco? I suppose so.

But all the wounds you’ve taken on my behalf…I’ll take for you.

I’ll be your shield. Your spear.

My body may be small, but I can give you all my heart.

And I can protect you from everything that stands in your way.

Actagawa’s orange shell glittered in the brilliant morning sun. The faces of the two boys atop him were marked with cuts and bruises, and yet there was a beautiful magnificence in their noble resolution.