"I'll smash you! Smash you!"
"You even got caught setting a fire. Even a cripple like me knows to run as soon as the job's done!"
"You're all so good at talking, aren't you? How come none of you can do a thing when it comes to real work?"
"You're useless! Worse than useless!"
Yiduo's voice echoed through the room as he kept it low and berated his companions.
Yiduo's home stood at the edge of the village, with a direct view of the barn through its window.
The furnishings were sparse, and the few pieces of furniture showed their age. Even the cold fireplace held a thick layer of ash.
Since Yiduo's parents died, the house had never been renovated.
Now, the doors and windows were shut tight, and several people sat around the dining table with their heads hanging.
Yiduo paced back and forth around the table, dragging his crippled leg.
Looking at his incompetent accomplices, he finally found an outlet for the frustration he had bottled up for so long, and an unprecedented thrill surged through his chest.
Although all of them could speak with the mysterious insect tamer hidden in the castle, Yiduo, who was responsible for passing on messages and supplies, had always felt he was the most valued of the group.
Yet because of his crippled leg and his habit of thinking things through-and looking over his shoulder at every step-he had never had much standing in their little group, and the others had given him plenty of grief.
This time, though, Yiduo's performance really had stood out.
He had passed on intelligence, lured away the guards, and even put on a wild performance in front of everyone without showing the slightest hint of nerves.
Leaving aside the fact that he really had been scared to tears, he dared say that even the actors in the great theaters the caravans talked about couldn't have made it more convincing.
His companions, on the other hand, who considered themselves clever and capable and looked down on everyone else, had botched the two most crucial steps.
Not only had someone seen them start the fire, but when they had tried to stir everyone up to resist in front of the barn just now, one glance from the princess had silenced them all. None of them had dared breathe too loudly.
How could he save the Valley of the Wind with this bunch of vermin?
Imitating the insect tamer's condescending tone, Yiduo demanded:
"Tell me, haven't you got anything to say for yourselves? Who was it yesterday, beating his chest and promising that all I had to do was pretend I didn't see anything?"
The other four exchanged glances, then all looked at a man with heavily callused palms who still smelled of fuel.
His name was Barton, and he was a blacksmith. He was the one who had been responsible for setting the fire.
"Don't look at me," Barton protested in a rough voice.
"You know me. There's nothing wrong with my skill with fire. Who knew that kid Pao would barge in right then? I couldn't exactly beat him to death on the spot, could I? So..."
The others turned their eyes to two sun-darkened farmers, brothers named Huo'er and Huomu.
The idea of stirring people up against Nausicaä in front of the barn had been theirs.
Huomu didn't flinch under their gazes and shot back:
"You know us brothers. We did our best! Didn't you say it was a 'trick of the eye'? But the princess raised her hand, and a fire that big just vanished!"
Huo'er hurriedly nodded in agreement. "Exactly. And those terrible injuries healed in the blink of an eye. How were we supposed to speak up after that? Didn't you see how that bigmouth Tuoshi nearly got beaten up for muttering a couple of words?"
"Don't give me that. I wasn't the one who called it a 'trick of the eye'!"
Yiduo brushed past the subject and looked at the last man, a shifty-eyed fellow with a pointed face and a big nose.
His name was Jijinsi, and he was a member of the Valley of the Wind's caravan. Thanks to his silver tongue and frequent trips outside the valley, he handled the group's contacts both inside and outside the valley, as well as "procuring supplies."
Seeing the others look his way, Jijinsi spread his hands with a sheepish grin.
"Heh heh, you know me. I can talk the dead back to life, but the way things went today... if a god really has come down to earth, there's nothing I can do about that."
"Besides, I went to a lot of trouble to smuggle those two cans of fuel in. You can't say I didn't do my part, can you?"
Jijinsi had long since seen through Yiduo's petty gloating and gave him no opening.
As he listened to them all wash their hands of responsibility, Yiduo's face went pale, then flushed.
"Fine, fine... I can see it now. Every one of you has a special talent."
"All right, let's say you all have your reasons. What about the result? The result is, nothing got done, and they've got something on us. When they follow the trail back here, none of you will get away!"
The tongue-lashing was like a bucket of cold water over their heads.
To the east of the Valley of the Wind lay the sea; to the west were the desert and the boundless forest of the Sea of Corruption. Fleeing the Valley of the Wind unprepared would be suicide.
"Maybe we should just forget it," Barton suggested in a muffled voice. "Now that Her Highness has that Divine Tree helping her, the Valley of the Wind will soon get through the crisis. There's no need for us to-"
"Idiot!" Yiduo cut him off at once.
"She says it's a Divine Tree, and you believe her? It's definitely a more advanced trick of the eye, made to fool idiots like you!"
Whether he was trying to convince himself or not, Yiduo knew he couldn't turn back.
Then Huomu, the farmer, suggested in a low voice, "Well, what if we did something about that Pao...?"
He raised a hand and drew it across his throat.
The room fell silent in an instant.
Yiduo stared at him for several seconds before slowly speaking.
"Good idea. So, who's going?"
Silence.
Huomu, whose eyes had flashed with menace a moment ago, was the first to look away, lowering his head to study the tips of his shoes. Barton stared at his rough palms as though trying to find something remarkable on them.
Huo'er began to jiggle his legs uncomfortably, while Jijinsi picked at his ear and pretended he hadn't heard a thing.
If they had the guts for that, they would have found a way to assassinate Nausicaä long ago. Why would they be sneaking around sabotaging things?
In the end, Jijinsi, the quickest thinker of the lot, broke the silence.
"Let's not panic. Have you forgotten something important?"
The others raised their heads and waited for him to continue.
"Aren't the reinforcements that lord mentioned arriving in a couple of days? Without the gunship, even if they want to resist, can they beat those fully armed reinforcements?"
"When the time comes, we'll go meet them in advance, work together from inside and out to open the castle gates, and capture Nausicaä. That'll be a great achievement."
"I'm sure that lord will overlook this little failure then."
That picture temporarily dispelled the gloom on their faces.
Right, the reinforcements would be here soon. What were the militia before those people but a rabble?
Once they had that princess underfoot and exposed her lies on the spot, they would be the heroes who had saved the Valley of the Wind!
They couldn't help losing themselves in their fantasies, letting out low chuckles of "heh heh."
Outside, the cloud-covered sky gradually darkened.
The group also prepared to leave and attend the evening's celebration.
Whether to gather intelligence, avoid attracting attention, or even just get a free meal, they had no reason not to attend.
But they were destined to miss the celebration.
The moment Yiduo pulled open the door, he saw not the street, but a man wrapped in a brown cloak.
"Where are you going? Traitors... of the Valley of the Wind?"
"L-Lord Yupa!!!"