【Connected Metafiction】The Note Continent Drift Chronicles Chapter 1: The Loud Voices of a Small Country

🖋 Introduction
This series is a metafiction series based on the world of note. Based on real note creators and events, I have symbolized the impressions I felt into a story. While drifting between reality and fiction, I will travel through note as if it were a continent, using the form of a fable to explore the "light" emitted by people's expressions.

⏮ Previous Summary

Bell note is locked in his study in a dream and cannot get out.
Holding the question, "What happens if you are trapped in the extraordinary?", he suddenly remembers "Gulliver's Travels".
What he came up with was "The Travelogue of the Note Continent"—a story that weaves a journey of relativizing himself by likening note events and people to "countries".
Thus, Bell note and Torako begin their journey of drifting with a mysterious parchment map in hand.

Click here for the previous story👇

Chapter 1: The Loud Voices of a Small Country

Tossed by the waves, Bell note and Torako were thrown onto the sandy beach.
When they came to, their bodies were covered in thin ropes, and they were unable to move, like prey caught in a spider's web. They couldn't even move a single finger freely.

"…Bell, isn't this more of a restraint than a welcome?"
Torako says, frowning, yet sounding somewhat amused.

"A restraint… I suppose so. But the technique is meticulous. The ropes are spaced evenly."
Bell note gives a bitter smile.

Looking around, tiny people the size of ants surrounded them, filling the beach.
They held up spears and shouted something in unison. The voices were small, and the fragments didn't make sense on their own. But when hundreds, thousands of voices overlapped, they resonated with a pressure that didn't lose to the roar of the waves.

"Bell, they're saying something."
"Can you make it out?"
"Hmm… 'Dangerous', 'Catch them', something like that. Also, the word 'hero' was mixed in."
"The evaluation is polarized. They must want to decide whether I'm a dangerous person or a savior."

When Bell note tried to move his shoulder, the threads creaked, and the little people thrust their spears forward all at once.
Torako laughs softly at the sight.
"It looks like you could break them one by one, but when they gather, you can't move. The same goes for voices. Even small voices can stop a giant if they are bundled together."

Eventually, a little person who seemed to be the captain of the guards gave a loud command. Perhaps because Bell note had been obedient without struggling, and because Torako's lighthearted remarks had eased the tension, the ropes were carefully untied, and the two were taken to the castle surrounded by a heavy escort.

The stone-paved hall was filled with little people the size of beans, buzzing like a ceremonial procession. The king sitting on the throne glanced at the two, his face stiff with fear at first. However, as soon as he realized the giants wouldn't lash out immediately, his expression changed completely.

"Oh, great visitors!"
The king raised his voice and spread his arms wide.
"You must be the guardian giants sent to us by the heavens! Please, be the shield that protects this small country!"

The moment those words echoed, the hall was enveloped in great enthusiasm.
The people shouted, "It's a savior!", "Our giant!", clapping their hands and ringing bells. The collection of bean-sized voices now surged as cheers.

Bell note looked around with a blank expression.
"…A shield? We're just castaways."

Torako puts her hands on her hips and laughs with an exasperated look.
"Bell, if you say 'No, that's wrong' here, you'll be beaten to a pulp in an instant. It's for your own good to play along."

The little people whipped up a whirlwind of enthusiasm, and some even began to sing the beginning of a heroic epic on the spot.
Bell note, flustered amidst the applause, grabbed Torako's sleeve.
"Torako, isn't this a bad situation?"

“Bell, make a more serious face. Yes, just like that.”

Bell note straightened his back as if resigned and raised his voice awkwardly. “I-I see... If my power can be of use... then... I-I would be happy to.”

The people cheered, and the king nodded with satisfaction. But the next moment, Bell note’s face froze when he asked the reason for the war.

“Eh...? Which end of the bread... should one bite from...?”

The moment he said it, he doubted his own ears. It was such a trivial reason, ill-suited to the solemn atmosphere of the royal palace.

Torako shrugged as if exasperated and smiled innocently. “Bell, the more trivial the conflict, the harder it is to stop once it catches fire. Because it’s simple enough for anyone to chime in.”

The king and his retainers nodded at each other with grave faces. But their appearance was comical, and to Bell note, it looked like nothing more than small children fighting in a sandbox.

In the end, Bell note was dragged into the war without any say in the matter. Swept away by the king’s command and the expectant gazes of the people, he had no room to resist.

“Bell, look, you’re already being used as a ‘shield’.”
Torako whispered. Feeling as if he had been dragged out as a sideshow for a festival, Bell note gave a bitter smile.

The giant’s presence was overwhelming. Just by standing there and pushing aside the soldiers, the enemy would collapse. He didn’t even feel pain when stones were thrown at him; he thought of it as nothing more than a mosquito bite. Bell note had changed the course of the war with his physique alone.

The war ended surprisingly quickly. A song of victory rose, and bells rang out. The king declared loudly, “Great visitor! This victory is thanks to your power!”

In an instant, the people praised him as a hero. Small children shouted Bell note’s name, and an old bard composed an impromptu song. Everywhere in the square, a chorus of “Giant, save us” echoed, and Bell note’s name spread throughout the country.

“A hero, huh, Bell.”
Torako laughed. “But isn’t it a bit embarrassing to be turned into a song?”

Bell note blushed and accepted the crowd’s cheers, looking uncomfortable.

Bell note was surrounded by the crowd, smiling sheepishly. With a look that suggested he didn’t mind it, he had somehow accepted himself as a hero. “Torako. I’m actually pretty good, aren’t I?” “Hehe, Bell. If you get carried away, you’ll be brought down just as quickly.” Bell note gave a bitter smile at Torako’s teasing.

However, Torako’s words became reality like an ominous prophecy.

As soon as the victory banquet ended, whispers began in the corners of the city. “The giant seems to be eating too much food.” “I heard he polished off breakfast for ten children.” “Eventually, he’ll gain power surpassing the king and intend to rule this country.”

At first, it was just whispers like the wind. Every time it reached people’s ears, it swelled, grew, and someone else added new rumors. The voices intertwined, amplified, and eventually covered the city as a single, massive “atmosphere.”

The eyes of the same people who had been cheering until yesterday were now clouded with anxiety and suspicion today. Even the children who had been singing the hero’s song were hiding in the shadows, trembling and saying, “The giant is scary.”

Bell note met that gaze head-on and felt a cold sweat run down his spine.
“...Torako, you were laughing so much until yesterday, why?”
Torako thought for a moment before saying,
“When small voices overlap, Bell. They change direction in an instant, just like the wind. Yesterday it was a tailwind, today it’s a headwind. That’s all.”

The rumors of the crowd finally reached the depths of the castle. Whispers of “execute him” began to reach the King’s ears. In the shadows of the pillars in the great hall, Bell note and Torako listened to the people’s arguments.

“The shield that protects the country is now a sword that invites disaster.”
“Sooner or later, the giant will betray us.”
“Finish him off while we still can.”

Bell note’s heart froze. In just one night, a hero had turned into a criminal.
“...Is this what they call the ‘voice of the people’?”
Beside him as he muttered, Torako shook her head quietly.
“The voice itself isn’t bad. It’s just that when you aim it in the wrong direction, it corners people like this.”

Bell note was swallowed by the commotion in the hall, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
“T-Torako... what should I do...? ...I don’t know how to move anymore.”
His voice trembled, and his fingertips reached out as if to search for Torako’s sleeve.

Torako looked up at him steadily and whispered in a small voice, sounding half-exasperated.
“Oh, Bell... you really are faint-hearted.”
She raised the corner of her lip and continued.
“What should you do? That’s obvious, isn’t it? We run.”

“R-run...?”
Bell note blinked in surprise.
“After being built up this much, if I run, won’t I just be seen as even more of a villain...?”

Torako shrugged and said smoothly,
“You’re already being treated as a villain; you’re the only one who hasn’t noticed.”
“B-but... the King is there, and the soldiers too...”
“It’s fine. They’re just being swept away by the ‘voice.’ When the tide changes, they’ll start saying something else immediately. That’s just the kind of people they are.”

Torako’s words were calm, yet somehow bright.
“I can’t be a hero, and I don’t want to be executed. So there’s only one answer. We leave this place.”

Bell note bit his lip and looked down.
Torako leaned even closer to his ear and whispered in a voice filled with a smile.
“Come on, stand up. The night is still deep. It’s perfect for escaping, isn’t it?”

A beach at night. The two of them moved while crouching along the white sandy beach illuminated by moonlight.
Behind them, the lights of the castle town were still flickering. In the distance, the commotion of the little people could be heard. Carried by the night wind, that commotion felt like the lingering scent of a rope that was still trying to bind them.

Bell note rubbed his arms, which had finally been freed, and muttered with a sigh.
“If small voices gather, even a giant cannot move... huh. I see, there are countries like that.”

Torako looked at Bell note, who had said this with a somewhat philosophical air, and laughed.
“Look at you acting all enlightened now... even though you were panicking about ‘what to do’ just a moment ago.”

“Ugh... t-that’s...” Bell note choked on his words and looked away.
Torako shrugged, continuing half-exasperated but somehow looking amused.
“You’ve had enough, haven’t you? Being tossed around by voices like that.”

“W-well... I suppose so. No, really... I’ve had enough.”
Bell note hung his head dejectedly, but beside him, Torako smiled mischievously.

Bell note and Torako slipped into the night and quietly left the country of Lilliput.
The waves crashing on the sandy beach washed away the commotion of the castle town as it faded into the distance. The lights left behind would no longer chase the two of them. Even so, the whispers of the little people seemed to cling to some part of his heart, and Bell note looked back many times.

Torako, who had been walking in silence for a while, suddenly opened her mouth.
“...I’m done with being bound by small voices.”
That voice rang out remarkably clearly, mixing with the sea breeze.

“But—” Torako stopped walking and stared at the dark horizon.
“I wonder where one should go when someone gets hurt.”

The words were less of a question and more of a small prayer cast into the night sky. Bell note could not answer, and simply stared at her profile.

Then, as if in response—tearing through the darkness of the night, a faint light flickered in the far distance. It was a light too weak to be a flame, and too close to be a star.
"Torako... can you see it?"
"Yeah. What is that..."

The two looked at each other to confirm what they saw, and continued walking as if guided by that light.
As they traveled through the night, the sky began to turn white, and the scent of bonfire smoke drifted in, mingling with the smell of the tide.

And the next morning—the place they arrived at was a settlement built quietly on the edge of the country.
There, people who had once been chased away by the whispers of Lilliput and lost their place to belong were living huddled together.

They built small houses for one another, repaired cracked roofs, fixed broken boats, and were assembling new ships.
The sound of hammering nails, the sound of shaving wood, and the laughter of children overlapped—and in contrast to the whispers filled with fear, that resonance sounded as bright as a song.

Bell note caught sight of a large beam propped up in a corner of the repair yard.
The rugged timber bore countless handprints. Small palms, small strengths, layered over and over again; perhaps that is why this beam was finally able to stand here without breaking.
Tracing the wood grain with a fingertip, Bell note muttered to herself.

"It's not just voices that destroy... There are definitely voices that try to protect someone, too."

At those words, Torako, who had been watching from nearby, chuckled.
"Bell, you really do love sounding so enlightened."
She jerked her chin, pointing toward the seaside.

"Look, that ship. Isn't it almost finished? Let's ask them to let us ride on that for our next journey."

New ships were lined up along the shore.
The sails swaying in the sea breeze were still pure white, with nothing drawn on them. Yet, like a blank map, they seemed to be waiting for the story that was about to be carved into them.
The shadows of the sails reflected in the waves shimmered quietly in the morning sun, swaying as if to bless the next voyage.

🔔Bell