SYSTEM NOTICE

Auto translation by AI. Be sure, accuracy, nuances and authorial intent may not be fully reflected.

[Serialized Novel] "Lute of the North Wind" Episode 1 (#CreativeAward2024 / #FantasyNovelCategory)

2024年5月20日 06:02

<Synopsis>
In 2030, in Kagami-hara City, G Prefecture, patients with unexplained respiratory distress increased rapidly, and the medical system was on the verge of collapse. Is this the return of a pandemic caused by a mysterious virus?
Rei Owada, a high school girl who had been able to see fish swimming in the sky since she was a child, spent her days staring only at the sky, carrying the loneliness of not being understood by others. Meanwhile, Jin Tachihara, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force pilot, notices a faint anomaly in the sky. Meteorological researcher Ryuto Tenma was investigating the abnormal weather. The fates of these three crossed through the "sky." A mysterious lute that only Rei can play. The door to a long-hidden legend opens in the modern age. This is the story of three people who carried the world on their shoulders for 120 days.

(Synopsis 286 characters)

Episode 1: Distant Swell

It was a place like the hinge of the world.
The deep, gouged rift in the land between the east and west is said to be a claw mark left by a giant dragon in ancient times. The gale that rose from the bottomless valley with a roar toward the heavens was called the Dragon of the Wind. Some call it a tornado.
When the night of the seventh new moon arrives, snow like feathers begins to fall.
When the north wind, with its great wings, toyed with the earth and the people living upon it, there were those who came riding the north wind. They were called the "Lute" (Dragon People).
It is a memory like a forgotten lullaby of the Earth from long ago.

[June 1, 2030, Kagami-hara Central Hospital, G Prefecture]
Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo.
The sound of the siren never stops.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
The wheels of the stretcher spin busily.
"SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) 75%, cyanosis over the whole body, impaired consciousness. Pulse fifty... uh... three..."
The moment the paramedic reporting the vitals began to slur his words and became suspicious, he staggered heavily outward. He clung to the open rear door of the ambulance and collapsed, sliding down. His breathing was labored. Tension ran through the protective suits gathered around the stretcher.
"Are you okay?"
A fellow paramedic stopped the nurse who was rushing over with his hand.
"We'll handle this. Get the patient inside quickly."
The nurse looked back several times as she ran into the hospital.
Wee-woo, wee-woo.
Another siren was approaching from across the river.

Medical workers were also collapsing one after another with respiratory failure.
Since the beginning of May, patients with unexplained respiratory distress had been increasing rapidly in the vicinity of Kagami-hara City, G Prefecture. Kagami-hara Central Hospital was already near capacity. It was not just patients with respiratory failure. Many patients brought in for strokes and other conditions were also experiencing concurrent respiratory distress. The medical field was in total confusion due to this unprecedented situation.

Temperatures had continued to rise since April, with some days already exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. At first, it was thought to be heatstroke caused by the body's inability to adapt to the rapid rise in temperature.
Under the COP21 Paris Agreement, Japan had set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2030. An agreement like a relic of the past. The fact that this year was the deadline was also being glossed over. It was nowhere near the target reduction rate, and the non-binding target values had become hollow since the time of the declaration. Global temperature rise did not stop, and sea temperatures continued to rise. Extreme heat became the norm, glaciers melted, and sea levels were slowly rising. To protect lives, the use of air conditioning was unavoidable, which in turn caused the heat island effect. Who was it that sarcastically remarked that if an anomaly continues every day, it becomes the norm?
Normally, respiratory distress is not a symptom of heatstroke. Patients without underlying conditions such as asthma or pneumonia were suddenly being struck by respiratory distress. Based on the example of the infectious disease that plunged the world into a pandemic ten years ago, an unknown viral infection was suspected. Day after day, respiratory physicians, heart disease authorities, and infectious disease specialists expressed their own opinions from their respective territories, and calls for a lockdown of Kagami-hara City were growing. Meanwhile, the mysterious disease was slowly infiltrating the surrounding areas.

Kagami-hara City, G Prefecture, is a mortar-shaped basin surrounded by mountains on all four sides.
Because it has an inland climate far from the sea, heat easily builds up. However, for some reason this year, cloudy days had continued since early spring. There were almost zero clear days. Even without sunlight, the temperature was high. Despite the rainy season having started nationwide, it remained cloudy in Kagami-hara, but it did not rain.
It had already been two weeks since it became gloomy even during the day.
In the sky, clouds with red-dyed hems hung low, as if to put a lid on the basin surrounded by mountains.

いいなと思ったら応援しよう！

サポートをいただけたら、勇気と元気がわいて、これほどウレシイことはありません♡