Vol 2 Chapter 3 (2/2)
___Captain, I feel like it was that kind of generic nickname…I am unhappy, remembering that name.
“But even though I was big, as an Oni I am weak to magic…so when I was suddenly attacked by a guy claiming to be a subordinate of the Demon King, I was caught by the magic of that creep, Gaius, and sadly my consciousness was blown away…The voices of those kids screaming ‘Captain! Captain!’ are still burning in my ears. At that time I could not do anything.” (Shuten)
I found myself getting angry when I remember it. It might have been good to make Gaius suffer a little more.
“I’m sorry…I did not intend to pry into the details.”
“Well it’s fine…For this reason, I do not mean to drag it out but, even now I can’t quite decide if I will go to that demon village. And so, it’s impossible to say if I was broken by my past, but someday I am going to return to that mountain to see.” (Shuten)
“…I see.”
Uh, it ended up becoming a dark story unintentionally.
Hm, Hiragi seemed to have received it strangely as her face has slightly darkened.
…that’s why I didn’t really want to talk about it.
“So then, even considering various things, I think you really don’t need to worry about it. Though would that make us friends?” (Shuten)
“It’s an obligation of Kin.” (Hiragi)
“What, you can ride there?” (なんだよ、そこは乗れよ)
Whew.
I stood up from the edge of the stump. Carrying the Demon Slayer on my shoulder, I had a thought and turned towards Hiragi.
“Will you go to the capitol or come southwest with me? Think about it carefully. Either way you can stay here awhile…I’m going to sleep.” (Shuten)
“Yeah…um” (Hiragi)
“What is it?” (Shuten)
“Sorry.” (Hiragi)
“I don’t mind. Don’t worry about it.” (Shuten)
…I’m going to bed. I really don’t remember much. My mind is not that sharp. I will head out again tomorrow, though I wonder if I can fall asleep after bathing in cold water. Two days, Empire. Cold…water.
The light from the sparking campfire had disappeared for a long time. There were several monster bones among the black charred firewood. Occasionally the exhausted firewood snapped and collapsed, the empty sound echoing through the midnight silence of the abandoned village of Rene.
It is the time when monsters become active.
Yet nothing happens around that shadow, and now monster attacks…It is inevitable, considering that there is no circ.u.mstance where they could approach that person who sits quietly. It was the figure of a man sleeping with his back to the chimney, a big axe lying next to him.
After all, it is said that b.e.s.t.i.a.l monsters perceive strength and will give the shadow of such creatures a wide berth.
This abandoned village in the middle of the mountain combines the beautiful feeling of being in the woods and being near the sky at a reasonable alt.i.tude. Thanks to the heavenly starry sky, no matter how far the evening sun falls it will never be true darkness.
Large lights and small lights. Whether there was difference in brightness, the scattered stars were increasingly beautiful.
“…Shuten is probably asleep.” (Hiragi)
Beyond his shadow was a large silhouette. Illuminated by starlight, her many tails were revealed. Behind her gaze is the one abandoned shop. In other words, the shadow of that man on the roof.
What is this?
“………a branching point?” (Hiragi)
She thought she wanted to quickly head to the Imperial capitol.
Even so, she thought that she didn’t want to leave him.
He said he was heading southwest. She was also going southwest. However, if she accepted this reasoning, it seemed like there was no reason to go to the capitol, was the feeling she got. (だがもしそれを受け入れてしまえば、帝都に赴く理由は無くなってしまうような、そんな気もしていた)
“…Today, it was…fun…” (Hiragi)
She was surprised herself at the words that came from her mouth.
To even be able to afford the feeling of “fun,” and also to accept that emotion obediently. It was a memorable and nostalgic feeling.
Sealed a hundred years ago, to then just wake up and live life just as usual. Although the question had been raised if she held a grudge, was he really going to give up on asking that after that? Ah, surely she would have died like that. She wondered if she would have run out of magical energy and died if the seal hadn’t been undone.
In fact, she was considerably weakened.
That was something she had realized immediately after the stone was broken. If she had been trapped for ten more years, then her power would have dropped to a dangerous place where even the monsters of the Wendell plateau would become enemies.
So when she escaped, her feelings were complicated.
To be able to move freely was a pleasant thing, and those things she had planned to do once free could now be put into action.
But suddenly being seen naked by the teasing man who she had randomly come across, then defeated by a strange organization previously unknown, furthermore, in an attempt to help the guy who repelled the organization’s agent she had made him kindred.
“…in retrospect, this all rather sudden.” (Hiragi)
She sighed.
She shouldn’t be so merciful (情けないったらありゃしない). Is this appearance of the Nine-tail’s presence so thin? Originally, she should be a creature more feared and not be to be made fun of like that, compelled to apologize, much less awkwardly trying to bathe together.
“But why, why…” (Hiragi)
Although in her circ.u.mstances the appropriate response would be anger, hatred, and resentment, the emotion that dominated her mind is “fun.” Embara.s.sment, foolishness, frustration, laughter, annoyance. How often had she ever felt these pure emotions before being sealed in the stone for a hundred years?
“…it was only once, wasn’t it?” (Hiragi)
She was reminded of the year before she was sealed. Just that memory cannot be forgotten. Even as a demon, with a body cursed by an enchantment, for one year she had fallen in love with someone.
And so, because of that, it was said the Empire was manipulated…there is the thought that it was all her fault.
Shuten had said he had been thinking about revenge. But he cannot help but wonder if it is his own fault自分に落ち度があったら踏ん切れないかもしれないと(). He surely said as much. If something is your own fault, you cannot say blame anyone other than yourself.
“Shuten…?”
If she thinks about it, he resembles someone.
“That person I liked a long time ago…was such a foolish man.” (Hiragi)
To think that the man resembling her fancy would hara.s.s her, but it was somewhat refres.h.i.+ng even though she was helpless.
“Leaving me to decide where to go…Somehow, he’s cunning.” (Hiragi)
Moreover.
“…I faced a terrible foe last battle. Though I do not know if I could even run away from such a cheat.” (Hiragi) (アイツ最後ひどい顔してたし。誤魔化してるつもりなのかはしらないけど)
She realized she was not the only one with a tragic past.
She also knew not to take the words of a stranger at face value, and still thought she was the most unfortunate. But Shuten had left cuts in her heart.
It is still scary to abandon the past.
He certainly said that too. But that part of him always facing forward was very dazzling.
“…Yeah, I’ve decided.” (Hiragi)
She nodded.
It is because he was there that she can be her present self. Then, those things broken from the past might also be repaired. At this time, she chose one of options before her.
“Let’s follow Shuten… southwest. It is not breaking from my past…however, it is likely that I will be able to think positively.” (Hiragi)
The capitol is the path of revenge. The southwest is the path of settling her past.
“Clearing up my past alongside this guy, I will let him know that I am his older sister.” (アイツより先に清算して、私の方がお姉さんであることを思い知らせてやらないと)
However, if she thought of Shuten, she felt like it will be a little easier. She knew she would be fine with this self. (空元気であることは自分でも分かっていた)
She was able to smile due to the influence of a single person.
“Yeah…I’ve decided…I will tell him tomorrow…I will say to him…I will say it cannot be helped…I will follow you…okay, I do not want you to misunderstand…it’s not that I want to go with you, got it?” (Hiragi) (TL: Awh, what a cute tsundere xD)
Hiragi slowly returned to the nearby abandoned building where he had made his bed. She glanced at the man who had been breathing deeply asleep for awhile, and smiled.
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