Swoooosh──
"The weather is rather foul."
At the boundary of the floating, churning, dark gray lake. More precisely, beyond the border of the next lake, a fierce downpour was coming down.
The surface of the water was growing rougher by the second, and the sight of those incomprehensible giant pillars standing rigidly upright was almost grotesque.
...Though they weren't exactly just pillars.
Even setting that aside, the sight was threatening enough to drain Sinclair's face of color. Maybe he was losing confidence. He was rather fragile, after all.
"Can we... really do this?"
"When have we ever been able to do something before doing it?"
"Ha, fair enough~"
At Mr. Heathcliff's and Ms. Rodion's comfort, Sinclair's expression loosened a little. Good.
Well... from the perspective of someone who knew what those giant pillars really were, I was still anxious...
Still, opening the path to that whale was the old man's role, so there was no need to worry too much. Ms. Ishmael probably knew what they were too.
Then maybe I could relax a little as well. ...Though it was a bizarre sight that made it hard to feel at ease even knowing what it was.
"...We'll be entering."
"Do we not need to worry about the waves of this lake?"
"I don't know the rules of the area ahead, or the type of waves. I remember the way the sea fog opened, and the black lake churning within it... but all that remains is the captain's excited speech after witnessing the legend in reality, and the memory of hastily preparing to hunt the whale. ...So from here on out, this is the real adventure."
...She doesn't know? There's no way Ms. Ishmael could forget something that grotesque...
No matter how hazy it was, I couldn't imagine her forgetting a sight like that.
Maybe seeing it directly would jog something loose. Right now, it seemed like no one could make it out clearly because of the darkness that was part of this lake's nature...
"Then... we'll have to face everything head-on."
"Yes. When the waves come, we'll meet them head-on. ...Even if that whale appears."
When she finished speaking, Ms. Ishmael began scanning the surroundings while maintaining the utmost tension.
But for several minutes... nothing appeared on the lake. Except for those strange things in my line of sight.
"...It's quiet for now. Back then, it attacked us just a few minutes after entering the lake."
Then I spoke up.
Let's say it was because I couldn't suppress my curiosity about whether Ms. Ishmael knew what those things were, and if she did, how she had gotten past them.
"There appear to be multiple... large pillars ahead, Ms. Ishmael. Do you know anything about them?"
"...What? What do you mean..."
"Ah, it'll be faster if you see for yourself. There's one closer over there. Mr. Meursault, do you have a lantern?"
"I do. Shall I illuminate it?"
"Yes. Please."
When Mr. Meursault stood and shone the light where I pointed, the massive thing began to come into view for the prisoners as well.
"What is that... Why would something like that be floating in the middle of a lake?"
"Could it be a lighthouse...?"
"A lighthouse, maybe..."
Those were Mr. Gregor's, Ms. Rodion's, and Sinclair's answers. As the bus's designated voices of common sense, I suppose those were the obvious guesses.
They were nowhere close to the truth.
"...What in the world is that... Wait. How many of those are there exactly?"
"There are too many to count carelessly..."
"...Ah."
Then Ms. Ishmael's face went pale, as if she had just realized something.
Bingo. So she did know.
Immediately after, lightning flashed and the view I'd been seeing was laid bare. Long, massive shapes rising above the sea...
"So that's what it was... That's what it looked like. Even just a part of it... like that."
"Uh, what is it?"
"Ha... Whether you want to know or not, you'll find out."
Ah, judging by the way she answered Sinclair like that, she must have encountered it and gotten past it before. Then there was no need to worry too much if the old man's plan went sideways.
"That's a tidal wave...! Everyone, hold on to whatever you can!"
Just as I was letting out a relieved smile, a wave larger than the boat itself crashed over us.
The lake forced the boat beneath the surface for a moment.
Whales. They were whales.
There were an absurd number of whales sleeping in this lake. All in the same posture. As if dead.
I wasn't ignorant of that, since I'd seen them from outside too, but... seeing them directly underwater made their grotesqueness feel much closer.
Hah... just what kind of ship was the Pequod that it crossed through a place this insane? Though we're planning to cross it too.
While all sorts of thoughts flashed through my head, the boat rose back above the surface.
"Phew...! ...We were lucky. The odds were probably higher that we'd sink right there."
"No... was that really lucky for us? Just now..."
At Faust's calm remark, Heathcliff began to blurt out something else in confusion.
So he saw what those pillars really were. Well, if you get dragged under the water, you'd probably see it. Though there might be people who closed their eyes.
Even so, Dante definitely saw it. What, was he supposed to close his eyes when he doesn't even have any?
Still, judging by their reactions, it seemed all the prisoners had seen that sight.
Otis, Sinclair, Hong Lu... no, everyone visible looked completely stunned.
Ah, except for Ryoshu. Aside from a faint trace of surprise in her eyes, there was nothing else.
"There are no deserters, but..."
"Huh? Huh? What we just... saw..."
"It wasn't a lighthouse... they were all... the tails of enormous whales..."
Rodion was practically on the verge of fainting. The way she was rubbing her arms, she must have gotten goosebumps all over.
"Wow... seriously... I want to stop. This? Hah...! I wish I could go back to not knowing whales looked like that..."
"Should I draw it for you and give it as a gift? So you'll remember it for life."
"You... you...! I'm really going to hit you!"
"Mm-hm... I'll behave."
When I casually tossed out a remark, Rodion's sharp fist started pounding my back. Ow.
...Should I really draw it and give it to her? My expenses seem to be doubling lately because of Rodion...
"So this lake was a place where whales came to sleep... Right. If they tilt their necks and sleep, that part could rise that high... But... there's no way they wouldn't notice all this commotion."
Wait, then that means...
As soon as Ms. Ishmael finished speaking, the whales immediately began to move. As if... waking from sleep.
...The first to react to that phenomenon was Sinclair.
"I-it's... tilting!"
"...They're going to wake up now."
It felt as if Ms. Ishmael had whispered, "We finally made it here." I couldn't hear it properly over the storm and the waves, but...
"If the indigo old man joined us safely according to plan..."
"Waaah!!!! Th-those are whales!"
There was no need to question why Don Quixote was shouting.
The sight of a school of whales, clearly far larger than any we had seen so far, swimming off in unison in some direction was...
"....."
enough to make even Mr. Meursault look surprised.
...So he wasn't a machine?
"It seems the operation up to this point was a success."
"Then we'll act as discussed."
"...Ah! There, over there!"
Just as Otis finished speaking, Ms. Ishmael pointed at something and shouted.
There was... a whale. A whale beyond comparison with anything else.
So white it was almost chilling... with enormous scars carved into its skin.
"Ha. Hahaha... Found it! Just as I thought... that person was right. The scars from when we... from the Pequod are still there."
"That person?" The sudden phrase caught my attention. The reason was extremely... suspicious.
Strong enough to see the pale whale's wound with her own eyes and come back... and she still bothered to tell Ms. Ishmael about it?
My instincts twitched, but there wasn't enough information to draw much from it.
And then Mr. Vergilius's voice, coming through the crackling radio Faust was holding, shattered my thoughts completely.
"So you've found it at last, have you?"
"That appears to be the case."
"As always, the success rate of this operation will be abysmally low."
"Indeed."
As soon as Faust finished answering, Ms. Ishmael shouted in a voice so heated it was almost feral.
"Oarsmen!!!!!"
In a voice that rang clearly even through the thunder, as if she had become a different person entirely.
"Answer me!!!! You rowers!!!!!"
"Uh? Y-yes! Yes!"
"The target is that white thing! Give it everything you've got!!!! Row!!!!"
"...With everything we've got! Row!"
At Ms. Ishmael's command, Heathcliff and Otis, cowed by her intensity, answered in unison.
Though this boat's main propulsion should be the engine, not the oars... hmm, no need to ruin the mood. It's true that as auxiliary power, all the prisoners are each holding an oar too.
"Hah, hahah...!"
And it didn't seem like there was any point in talking in front of Ms. Ishmael in that state anyway.
"I can see a light... It's the indigo old man."
At Faust's words, I turned my gaze and saw the old man's boat sliding toward the whale.
The old man looked at us, then began speaking to us in a voice far louder than usual.
"The whales awakened from sleep have all gone toward the bait we cast!"
"The operation is a success! Now..."
The thing that had been awakened by the thunder, the old man's shout, or Otis's reply—it suddenly opened its eyes.
The eyes were enormous. Far larger than the boat we were riding in.
"...It's been a long time since I've seen something like this up close."
I swallowed my own answer. Me too. Though that would be for Otis to say, not me—I had no desire to spill my past.
Its black eye was far too huge to be called a normal eye. Big enough that a normal person might mistake it for a mirror.
"I've been looking forward to seeing it myself. This eye."
The old man was heading toward the whale with no expression at all. He really was something else. No sign of tension even after seeing that.
As for Ms. Ishmael on this side... it felt like someone had modified her.
"...Come now, fish. Take the bait as well. You have no choice but to bite. You always have."
"Rowers!!!! Faster!!!!!!"
"I respect that you've lived through years I can't count, and that you were born in a place I can't understand. But... before this chance passes, I intend to face you with this body and head toward the end of understanding."
────────!!!!!!!!
The old man's massive harpoon flew and lodged itself in the creature's body. So now it was time.
Otis shouted at the prisoners.
"Now! Row as hard as you can and move!"
Tch, guess I'd better row too. If I half-assed it here and something disastrous happened, I'd have no excuse.
With the prisoners' oars driving it forward in earnest, Ms. Ishmael stood alone on the accelerating boat, harpoon in hand.
"What would I think if I faced you again? I thought about it a lot. Ha... but in the end, it's not as complicated as I expected. ...I'm glad to see you, you damn whale!!"
Thud──!!
"...! ...!"
It was clearly a harpoon far smaller than the one thrown by the old man.
Yet the pale whale let out a cry as if it were in tremendous pain after being struck by that harpoon, and slowly opened its enormous mouth.
"Its mouth is opening!"
"....."
At Otis's words, the old man lifted his massive harpoon gun and said to us,
"Come. I shall begin the hunt."
It was a quiet, almost whispered statement, but there was not a single prisoner who failed to hear it.
Everyone rowed desperately. As for me, just enough. I already knew I wouldn't need to put in much force to get in.
More than that, the whale's gaping mouth drew my eye.
A vast passageway, as though staring into an endless abyss.
We were sucked into that bottomless hole.
Along with a torrent of violent current, we were swept downward as if falling into a black well.
<...!>
A loud impact rang out once, as if something had collided with something else.
And then we vanished into the pitch black.
"Ah... can you hear me? How did the operation go? Can you hear me? Hey! ...Looks like the radio really did break down."
"Yeah, I'm worried."
Before we went in, I think I heard a voice from the bus saying that.