Escape from an Ancient Civilization Ch 122

Chapter 122

Consciousness grew calmer, and the senses became sharper. Nataek’s eyelids fluttered, closing and opening in long blinks. He was too dizzy to keep his eyes open. Yet, this was not a place where he could just close them and rest, so there was no choice but to endure it.

“Ever since Inanna’s blessing descended upon us, only fortune has followed Kish!”

Samuagon laughed as he gestured toward Heduana. Although Heduana held the status of a priest, she was also one of Samuagon’s closest confidants and handled the duties of sukkal mak alongside him.

After the representatives of each nation confirmed their stances, more detailed negotiations began at the banquet table. Emotional exchanges came as a bonus.

“It is now time to unite this land as one!”

The attendees sometimes expressed mutual anger at the Guti tribes, and at other times roared with laughter to strengthen their camaraderie. For Nataek, however, none of that mattered. He was battling against his eyelids dropping and his forehead collapsing onto the table with all the strength he had left.

“Teresi. If you want to return to your quarters, just say the word.”

Medeus spoke quietly.

“I’m fine.”

Nataek replied in a slow tone.

“You don’t look fine at all.”

Medeus placed a worried hand on Nataek’s knee. His consciousness wavered precariously, yet his sense of touch was on edge. The spot where Medeus’s hand rested felt as though the fine hairs there had bristled upright.

“I said I’m fine, so would you please move your hand.”

Nataek brushed Medeus’s fingers away with the back of his hand. Then, pressing the tingling skin with his warm palm, he tried to suppress the sensation.

Don’t sleep. Don’t sleep.

He pinched his thigh ruthlessly.

He could not tell how long that hellish time dragged on. When Nataek was about to hit his limit, an attendant whispered something into Samuagon’s ear, making his face shade with concern.

“Oh ho! Then arrange lodging near the harbor. It would be best to bring them after a night of rest there.”

Blinking heavily, Nataek raised his gaze toward Samuagon, not understanding.

“They say the stormy seas have delayed Delam’s ship, so it seems today must be a day for only Umma and Kish to deepen their bond of faith.”

In short, Delam could not come, so the banquet would continue as a “round two” with just the two delegations. Samuagon raised a hand.

“Bring forth Kish’s finest dancers to the banquet hall!”

Nataek despaired at Samuagon’s eagerness to provide not just food but entertainment as well. Unable to fight it off any longer, his drooping head finally slumped forward. Medeus quickly reached out to steady Nataek’s forehead. Samuagon asked in surprise:

“The envoy of Inanna. Are you well?”

“Yes, I—well…”

Before Nataek could recklessly insist that he was fine, Medeus interjected and covered for him.

“He has not been sleeping properly for several nights while tending to me. Because he was restless last night as well, the wine seems to have gone to his head rather quickly.”

At that moment, the banquet hall doors opened and statuesque dancers swept in. Everyone inside turned their attention toward them.

“Oh-ho! Then it would be best for him to rest quickly. I gave him unnecessary fatigue.”

Though Nataek wanted to stand up, he could not decide whether it would be proper to leave. Not well-versed in the etiquette of ancient civilizations, he could not be certain. He tried to say again that he was all right, but Medeus suddenly rose.

“Then may I escort him away myself?”

For the first time since arriving in Kish, Medeus acted like a trusted retainer. Half drunk and in good humor, Samuagon was pleased to see his attitude.

“Granted.”

Even as his consciousness flickered, Nataek thought:

That bastard… He could act like this all along, and yet he kept speaking without any filter until now? What the hell, is he trying to mess with me?

With his eyes closed, the world was dark. But he could unmistakably feel his body lifted into the air.

“Mess with you?”

Medeus asked Nataek.

“Please… watch what you say.”

“Who’s listening? There’s only the two of us here.”

At that, Nataek struggled to lift his heavy eyelids. Somehow, although he had just been at the banquet table, now he was slumped over Medeus’s back. Pressing his cheek against Medeus’s shoulder, he muttered:

“…Why am I here?”

“You kept trying to collapse to the floor. I said we should let you rest.”

“Put me down, please…”

“No. You absolutely refused to be carried in my arms, so I gave you a piggyback instead. Now behave.”

The night breeze tickled Nataek’s hair. His strength drained completely. Though he told himself he wanted to be set down, it felt as though his legs would collapse the moment they touched the ground. Moving his long arms slightly, he looped them around Medeus’s neck. Turning his head aside, he saw only the jet-black sky. The banquet must have ended, for night had already fallen outside.

“Wow. There are so many stars.”

Medeus raised his head.

“They’re always like this.”

He arched an eyebrow as if astonished that Nataek found something so ordinary remarkable. In modern skies, however, it would be impossible to see so many stars. Nataek recalled marveling at even a few dozen stars visible in the countryside. But above Kish, the night sky teemed with countless bursts of light. Taking a deep breath, he said:

“The air is so clean.”

Obsessed with survival and escape, he had never paid attention to air or nature until now. Alcohol made him mellow, and emotions hidden beneath reasoning slipped out.

“Clean air?” Medeus sniffed and tilted his head, clearly not understanding the sentiment. Never having inhaled the smog of modern cities, how could he?

“In the bustling east where I live, it is hard to breathe such clean air. Unless I travel to the countryside, perhaps.”

Ah—yes, not just the countryside, but tourist spots preserving natural environments, like the Alps or Mongolia. Then again, wasn’t Medeus’s mother said to have come from the north? North of Mesopotamian civilization… that would mean Northern Europe in modern terms.

Nataek’s meandering thoughts, softened by drink, flowed easily.

“Medeus.”

“Yes?”

“Has your mother ever said anything like that? That the sky was full of stars, or that the air was clean—something like that. Did she ever remark about how different it was from where she came from?”

As Medeus walked, his steps brushed softly through the earth.

“The opposite, actually.”

“The opposite?”

‘May I ask—you mean why am I here?’

‘A long time ago. Before I was born, my mother would remember her homeland. At night, she could see the moon and stars there too. Looking up at the sky here reminded her of that place. Especially at this time of night, when gazing at the heavens, she would feel as though she had returned home.’

‘Do you… wish to go back there?’

Medeus shifted Nataek’s sagging body higher on his back, pulling him closer. Their faces drew nearer.

“My mother used to say the night skies of her homeland in the north were similar to these. So she would come out every night and spend a long time just gazing upward.”

“….”

Nataek imagined a northern European land he had never visited. She’d looked up at the sky every night…

“Didn’t she long for her homeland?”

“She did.”

Then why had she not returned?

“Did she ever say she wanted to go back?”

“Perhaps… she did. But she also said she couldn’t.”

Forcing open heavy eyelids, Nataek asked, startled awake:

“Why not? Why couldn’t she?”

Medeus turned his head toward him and, inhaling deeply the scent of Nataek’s presence, smiled faintly.

“She said something precious was here that she could not leave behind.”

“….”

Nataek rested his head once more against Medeus’s shoulder. Though he wished not to understand, he unmistakably grasped her meaning.

He pictured Medeus’s mother, bound to this place by something she considered dear. He imagined young Medeus left alone. And as the child’s image twisted in his mind into the man who now carried him, his heart constricted.

When I leave this civilization… Medeus will remain behind alone.

The thought ached inside him. He even began to sympathize with Medeus’s mother—how could she bear to abandon Medeus? No wonder she stayed.

Wait. What am I thinking? Sympathize? Why would I? What good would it do?

I must return, no matter what. From the beginning, our worlds were different.

Nataek shook his head, trying to drive away the feelings. But the more he resisted, the clearer the image of Medeus left alone became, unsettling him further. He hugged Medeus’s neck tightly.

“She said… she couldn’t leave because the precious thing was here.”

No. Don’t think like that. We can’t be together. Never, never, never…

“That can’t be…”

“What can’t be?”

But Nataek gave no answer.

“…Teresi?”

Footnotes:

1. Sukkal mak was a title in Mesopotamian civilization, meaning the “chief messenger” or a senior diplomat/minister serving a ruler. 
2. The Guti (or Gutians) were a nomadic people from the Zagros mountains who invaded and troubled Mesopotamia during the late 3rd millennium BCE.