Chapter 7

In the distance, the mountain ranges were visible.

The sea of clouds had disappeared.

The thick clouds dividing that ethereal village and the earth had vanished, and the weather was slowly returning to normal.

“—Now, if only we could descend smoothly without any trouble,” I muttered, out of breath.

We were standing on the edge of a steep cliff.

In our retreat, we had reached the wheat fields.

Its ears swaying under the pale blue moonlight in the night breeze, heaving with grain, the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ drooped its head.

“Are you sure we’re alright? This place, it’s …” Yo murmured, uneasiness apparent.

“The wheat itself can’t do us any harm. As long as we don’t eat it, this wheat is just wheat.”

Being on the safer side, I had been repeatedly writing “I do not want to eat the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’” onto Utsurogi with ‘Heaven’s Door’, but it seemed that he would not begin to devour the ears of wheat.

Though I saw the wheat ears and thought them beautiful, I was not plagued by a voracious appetite either.

It would be apt to call the wheat field surrounding us the root of all evil, yet the ancient wheat itself did not possess any sort of malicious intent. Simply put, to survive the land which it had been sown into, it had to adapt drastically, and had done nothing more than find a companionship alongside humankind that allowed it to propagate itself in the long term.

Its control was too powerful. Probably from 10,000 years ago or even longer ago, a period more difficult to survive in than now, constantly facing death—it was a resilient life form adapted to a severe environment where every living thing was forced to persevere, regardless of shape or size.

In a sense, the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ was like a dinosaur which had been brought back to life in the modern age.

As an organism, it was too powerful. Absent from the long history of coexistence and harmony that other plants and animals had to participate in, it had abruptly traveled through time one day.

That was why so many other life forms were sacrificed for the cost of this organism. This ancient wheat known as the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ was simply trying to survive.

Putting it like that, this was a tragic living being.

“… Even so, us humans have our own livelihoods to worry about.”

When I turned around, I could see the flickering fire of torches on the slope.

They had finally caught up to us. Domesticated humans. Perhaps they embodied the state of man in the primordial age.

“—Mr. Kishibe.”

Spearheading the domesticated villagers was Yaginuma.

“With your talent, we could assemble even more humans to our village. Here, please taste the wheat ears surrounding us. You’ve got it all wrong because you’re framing us as livestock. The wheat is God, so to speak, and we’re its angels. It’s just like Heaven, it feels so incredible …!”

He smiled, wide and complacent, the muscles of his face just about ready to tear.

The survival instincts of the ancient wheat dominated his flesh, and he plucked wheat ears close to him that were ready for harvesting. Stripping it by hand, he raised the wheat grains he placed on his palm.

“Toshiya, Yo … I’m on your side, remember. There won’t be any more hardships now with me, so you can be at ease now!”

His voice was jubilant.

Most likely, this was exactly the blissful life which the man in front of me had truly desired.

However, that was a deception. Turning dreams into illusions, dominating others all for its own convenience, manipulating them. Striving to live is the instinct of organisms, but even then there was undoubtedly a line which should not be crossed.

“… Who do you think you are! Why should the great Rohan Kishibe draw manga ‘just’ for you lot? I won’t become cattle, even if you would kill me instead!”

Right now, I was angry. I was rather outraged.

“And on top of it all … I hate all manner of sob stories, but to trample on his ‘sentiment’, when he’s suffered through so much hardship for his precious child, and to make him a slave—bastards like you are intolerable.”

Yaginuma—or more likely, the wheat controlling his mind and body—let out a snicker.

“Say whatever you please. In any case, you have nowhere to escape.”

Yaginuma crunched on the raw kernels of wheat.

He was probably confident that we were out of options.

It was certain that we could not run any farther from them.

“Oh yeah? You’ve all been bestowed the honor of growing this wheat, was it? Then how about this?!”

In an instant, I invoked my ability.

“‘Heaven’s Door’—‘Villagers, set the wheat fields ablaze with fire by your very hands!’”

The command would conflict and be neutralized within a moment.

Nevertheless, a moment was all that was needed.

Their torches lit the wheat fields ablaze, and the strong gusts of the cool and dry wind spread the flames in a flash.

“On the contrary, let me take advantage of your control, ‘Gleanings of Paradise’.”

The villagers, the domesticated villagers, descended upon the wheat with their hearts and souls to put out the fire.

Either that, or they retreated to dash down to the waterway to get ahold of water to extinguish the fire. They tried to increase the output of the irrigation watermill to collect more water.

“… It seems that in becoming captive to the ancient wheat, their thought process had been radically simplified. It should be obvious as to where their priorities lie, if they compared the fire jeopardizing them, to us now.”

“No, not the wheat … We’re—. Damn it, we won’t let you escape … the fire—”

Yaginuma, whose job was to issue orders to the villagers, was brought to a standstill on which to prioritize.

The Utsurogi family and I slipped past his side.

“—If you all are going to demand respect from humanity, then you yourself ought to have demonstrated respect toward humans first. That’s the reason why other types of wheat, unlike you, have survived alongside mankind, and the reason for why you went extinct.”

Yaginuma stretched out his hand, trailing after us. However, his feet had instead begun to carry him towards the burning wheat to put out the fire.

“I’ll apologize in advance, Utsurogi. We’re going to have to borrow your strength from here on. If we make it safely to the ground, then I’ll treat you to a meal.”

And then, with the torch I had stolen from Yaginuma in my hand, I straddled his gigantic body along with Yo.

Carrying us on his back, Utsurogi escaped from the wheat fields, bounded across the settlement, and descended the mountain.