Gatekeeper Rain Episode 20: Melody and Synchronization

Episode 20: "Melody and Synchronization"

"You were humming."

From behind, the sound of a keychain. Jingle-jangle.

The morning shift, a former thief.
His eyes were narrow, and he spoke with a straight face.

"......I wasn't humming. It was a hum."

"You were humming, too."

"......Maybe it was mixed in."

The thief looked at Rain's throat.

"The lighter your throat is, the more information leaks out."

"Does information leak from the throat?"

"It does. Sound is more honest than footprints."

The thief made a gesture of listening intently.

He crossed his arms just like that.

"So, that melody. It becomes the same halfway through, doesn't it?"

[[phN_open]]
Rain's eyes widened slightly.[[phN_close]]

“...I suppose so. How did you know?”

The thief pointed toward the end of the field path—in the direction of Gate Street.

“The village is currently seeing an increase in customers at the inn. Pleasure is something the mouth remembers. What it remembers, it lets out on its own.”

“...Well, I sort of understand what you mean.”

The thief said, looking satisfied.

“In other words, your throat is currently being hijacked by the village's pleasures.”

“Please don't hijack it!”

The thief gave Rain's shoulder a light pat.

“I'm going to handle the morning's business.”

“Is that necessary?”

“It is.”

The thief leaned over slightly and lined up three small stones on the ground.

I tap my toe against the ground, 'tap, tap, tap'.

Change how you walk. If the melody is the same, shift it with your feet. Feet are hard to steal.

You can steal feet too?

Only someone like me could steal them, though.

(What kind of skill is that!)

The thief pointed at a pebble.

One, shift the sound.

Two, don't stop talking.

Three, add to the end of the sound.

The thief wrote fluently on the paper.

...You're really going to stick it on.

I am. Once it's stuck on, the village will obey.

Rain stared at the paper.

(...It's not worth posting. It's just humming.)

The thief jingled his keys and headed toward the gate street.

Afternoon.

As the wind calmed down a little and the sun climbed higher, the air grew slightly warmer.

A man in a black cloak appeared without a sound.

"Afternoon gatekeeper. I am a mage."

The thief was standing in front of the bulletin board.

He stuck the paper he had just written firmly onto it. His keys gave a small jingle.

The thief looked at the mage and signaled with his chin.

It was as if he were saying, 'I'll leave it to you.'

Leaving only that behind, he walked off toward the gate street.

Rain asked immediately.

“...The humming becomes the same halfway through.”

The mage nodded.

“It is the synchronization of melodies.”

“Synchronization? It’s not like frogs all starting to croak at once.”

“The world synchronizes. Villages, in particular, are prone to synchronization. Because they are small.”

The mage looked at Rain’s throat and spoke indifferently.

“I will provide a countermeasure. Chant: ‘Melody, Resonance.’”

“Resonance...?”

“It is a separator.”

“Sound is vibration. You don’t need to stop the vibration; you just need to cut it and let it flow.”

The mage added indifferently.

“Resonance rides on top of synchronization.”

The logic was so forced that Rain, unable to keep up, tried saying it anyway.

“...Melody, resonance.”

The moment he said it, the nearby flowers and grass swayed like a wave.

“...It just swayed, didn't it?”

“It is resonance.”

“That's ridiculous!”

“The more ridiculous the phenomenon, the more genuine it is.”

The mage continues.

“Next time you feel like humming, chant it first.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. ...However.”

“However?”

“The melody the village has already learned will try to return. The force of its return is strong. Add one beat right before it returns.”

(Isn't it too late for this?)

At the same time, the gate next to me creaked.


Creeeak.

Episode 21: "Earthen Pot Session"
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