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Hi! Here's chapter 9~ No pictures in this chapter, but considering it's a fairly serious chapter, not all that surprising.
Chapter 9
In my mind, Moeyo Dragons is playing over and over again.
And not the new version from ’99, but the version that Eiji Bandou sang. I hate the Ce League, I hate it, I really hate it, but I’m still chuckling over the Super Hitoshi going boshoot.
“Uh… ugh, Eiji Bandou is, Makoto Nonomura is…” (1)
“Are you having that dream again?”
Light reaches my optic nerves and even the underside of my eyelids turn white. Bearing my pain and opening my eyes, I see that right above me are shining golden hair and lake’s bottom green blinking down at me. If only he was a girl, I’d deal with his attitude and go out with him.
“… but anway… uwah! Why did you put my head on your lap again!?”
Rolling across the grass three times, I distance myself from Wolfram’s lap. My limbs are heavy and my throat is parched and there is an unbearable ache in the back of my head. Propping myself up with my arms behind me, I look up at the sky and take a deep breath.
“My head hurts. I feel like I’m going to vomit.”
“It’s a lack of sleep.”
Citing this working class condition, Wolfram throws a towel at me.
“Wipe your face; there’s still some drool on it. After using that much magic, usually you would rest a long time, but today you haven’t even slept for half that. Headaches and nausea are a given.”
“Magic… That’s right, the fire!? What happened to Biron!?”
With a slow and cautious gait, Greta brings me water. Pressing the wooden cup to my mouth, she looks at me with concern. No one would believe that she tried to kill me a few days ago.
“Hyscliff brought Luis Biron to the authorities. The fire at the brothel was also extinguished. A bunch of sulfur-smelling water was dumped all over it, but you probably don’t remember it anyway.”
“No… hey, that’s kind of weird. I do remember. Even though usually I completely-pon forget it all.”
Oh no, I picked up that speaking habit.
It’s only a vague memory like my view was obstructed by silk curtains, but it was like someone shot a short film and I was watching my own back.
“It was dragons, right? Right, so if Rokkou Oroshi is playing in my head, then maybe I can use tigers. It’d be awesome if I could just keep on using all 12 of the baseball team mascots…” (2)
I started having some wishful thinking like, lions and eagles and water buffalo and Neptune are all strong, but I would like to hold back on the seagulls and the swallows and the koi fish.
But that’s weird. Usually I’ll hear a woman’s voice and I’ll lose consciousness.
“A woman’s voice? Who’s this woman?”
“That’s my line! Just lie down. Try and regain some of your strength.”
“But, I can’t be the only one resting. Someone has to help Izura and Nina.”
“They’re both alive. The firefighters saved them!”
Hurriedly supporting me as I stood up, Greta presses Windpipe No. 1 into my hands. A cane isn’t all that dependable on ground covered by tall grass. Checking the time on the digital analog on my wrist, I see it’s just past two in the afternoon. It hasn’t even been an hour since the race.
Burned down, there’s nothing much left of the still smoking buildings. There are injured laid out on the grass in front of me, but they aren’t being treated. Around ten of the young firefighters are silently continuing their work, but the onlookers were only watching curiously from across the street. It seems like they’re so busy getting together and chatting, they don’t have any time to help out.
“Where’s the doctor? How come there’s no doctor?”
Of course, there was a group of medics, but there were so many injured, they couldn’t handle them all. It’s amazing how few girls were packed into that building. There were about a hundred of them silently hanging their heads or sobbing or praying as they lie on their backs, waiting for their turn even though they didn’t know when it was coming.
“In a blaze that intense, it’s amazing no one died.”
Wolfram lent me his shoulder. I didn’t think it would be so tiring to not sit back down. I feel like I’m being crushed by the heavy air and like gravity has doubled.
“… Yuuri?”
At the minute and hoarse call from below, my knees fold under me.
“That’s Yuuri’s voice, isn’t it?”
“Izura? Your face… it’s covered in soot so I didn’t recognize you.”
Her blonde hair and sun tanned skin are all black. It’s the color that the girls hate the most, the unlucky and evil color black. And it’s not just soot. The eyes looking up at me are cloudy.
“I’m relieved, Izura, that you’re alright.”
“Hey, did you see Nina? We were together part of the way, but I can’t see anymore.”
“Your eyes… no, I haven’t seen Nina. But I’m sure she’s alright. There aren’t any dead… there aren’t any casualties.”
“I’m glad. Yuuri, if you find Nina can you heal her like yesterday? Her cold hasn’t healed completely and if she gets a fever again I’d feel really bad for her.”
Her arms and legs are covered in blisters and bruises. Her eyelashes and eyebrows are burned and her voice is strange as if her throat is injured as well.
“Hey, before that, your…”
My hands are pinned behind my back. The ground I was gazing at becomes the sky. I’m suddenly as dizzy as if I did a 1000 knocks on a midsummer sports ground. (3)
“Your Majesty!”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m just dehydrated. If I had a sports drink or something…”
I hear a voice from over my shoulder.
“Wolfram, I thought I told you to let him rest somewhere out of the way.”
“Don’t yell at me. He’s the one getting up and walking around.”
There’s a burnt smell coming from Conrad’s clothes binding my arms behind me.
“I said it before right? I mastered how to use Heal. It might just be for peace of mind, but I can heal some of the light injuries…”
“No.”
Are you kidding?
I fail at trying to turn around and my head starts to hurt again.
“You’re not going to say the same thing as with Hube, are you!? Besides, Izura saved me and I don’t think of her as an enemy.”
“Please think about how exhausted you are!”
“I’m fine! I said I was fine!”
Even I knew they were just words. Trying to concentrate is foolish. I probably can’t even think properly. Like I’m recovering from the flu, I’m weak and aching and in pain.
But even so, with this terrible scene in front of me, there’s no way I’d be able to just go to sleep. If there was nothing I could do I might hug my knees and watch, but I have power now. Even if it’s just by a little bit, I’ve got enough power to ease the pain of others.
“Let go of me and let me do what I want! I just want to do what I need to do!”
“And then if you collapse who is going to heal you!? No matter how powerful the magic you have, you need to know your limits. If you excessively use that power without knowing them, the worst case scenario is that you’ll lose your life! You can’t abuse your body and soul again after using power you’re not used to.”
“But…”
In a voice she just barely got out, Izura calls my name. She tells me that she’s not in that much pain and that I should rest.
“… Even if you’re behind me, I know what face you’re making, Conrad. I know that you’re really worried about me and I know that I’m about to fall apart. But, these children are…”
Greta is walking around looking at everyone’s face, searching for Nina. She’s doing what she can to ease at least one of Izura’s worries.
“… these children were suddenly brought here to a country where they don’t know right from left. And it wasn’t of their own will, it was something they had to do for their families. They don’t know when they’ll be able to go back or when they’ll see their parents and siblings again. They don’t know if it was worth it or if there were other choices or even if what they’re doing is the best thing they can be doing right now. They don’t know what’s waiting for them or how much longer they can go on. And they can’t even let anyone know that that uncertainty or depression is there! They have to be energetic and upbeat and amiable and laugh! And do you know why!? It’s for everyone’s benefit!”
I’ve never cried before besides when I was frustrated.
“You know why they have to endure so much for their friends and families? It’s because they love them. It’s because they’re important…”
Right behind my ear, Lord Weller asked something of me. It wasn’t a question, but a distressed utterance.
“Are you hurting?”
So slowly that even I got impatient with myself, I shake my head.
“… I’m not… hurting. That’s not it. What hurts is that the result of what I did decided these girls’ fate. It’s all because of the stupid stuff I did in Svelera without even thinking about anything.”
Am I losing control of my body, or am I leaning against him?
“So… I want to… do something. It doesn’t have to be atonement. I don’t care if it’s unwanted or I’m yelled at.”
Because, that’s the ‘Yuuri Shibuya’ I want to be.
“… Let go of me.”
“If I let go of you, you wouldn’t be able to stand.”
It’s just like he said.
On the edges of my blurred vision, a vivid red jumped into view. Worrying that another fire started, I use all my strength to lift my head. It wasn’t fire.
“What is the meaning of this!?”
It’s a flaming woman.
A woman with flaming red hair tied high up on her head, with strong and confident steps, is weaving through all of the injured and coming this way. She’s holding three suitcases in one hand and has two wooden boxes on her back. With that height and her dainty arms and legs, she must be ridiculously strong.
“Anissina? Why are you here?”
“Before that, Lord Weller, judging from the black hair and eyes of this slovenly mess you’re supporting, it seems this is our beloved and respected king. Ah yes, it seems so.”
She grabs my chin as I stand baffled and roughly lifts it up to meet my gaze.
“It has been a while, Your Majesty, not since the day of the coronation. Although as the lowest member of the ten noble families, I never really cared much about ever meeting Your Majesty. Although now that we have met, I am glad to see Your Majesty the Demon King is in good spir… well I suppose not. Why are you so worn out?”
I’ve met dozens of nobles, but someone this unreserved is bizarre. I can’t say I’m getting any cold feelings from her overly brisk way of talking, but I’m not seeing any ill will or depravity in her intelligent light blue eyes either. What’s lying there is curiosity and the love of the pursuit. It’s a strong feeling of believing in herself.
“… It was just a little bit of self-loathing.”
“Self-loathing! A worthless emotion, but Gwendal sometimes uses that expression. It is an escape route that men use all the time!”
I want this person’s user manual. Conrad hesitatingly interrupts.
“Anissina, now’s not the time to-“
“More importantly, just what exactly is this scene!? Did the foolish men finally work up a conspiracy and begin attacking the noble and wise women!? If so, Anissina von Karbelnikoff, despite my poor ability, will have to take up the post at the women’s military camp!”
She’s not even trying to listen to what people are saying.
“I decided to go on a journey and was on a ship from Karbelnikoff to Munschtettner – it was on a magic-powered quaternary ship, my best work – when an out of season, strong wind caught the sails and I ended up being carried to this uncharitable land. Oh that wind was irritating. To think that I would be made a fool of by a random wind after studying all the weather maps and sea routes!”
“Like I said, Anissina, now’s not-”
“However! It must be fate that things happened this way. Because I have already been brought here, I will do something worthwhile and instill some awe and reverence of the demons. Now, I suppose I will start with treating the wounded.”
Eh!?
“You’re going to heal them, Miss Anissina!?”
“Ah, Your Majesty, I had heard from Lady Celi that you have powerful magic. Then why are you just standing around? Is this not a perfect opportunity to test your abilities? You can just fly through healing a hundred people. Now let us start with you, right in front of us.”
The Red Devil sits down and takes Izura’s hand, whose head she had placed on her lap.
“Where does it hurt?”
“I don’t really hurt anywhere, but… I… I can’t see. Will my eyes never get better? I wonder if I’m never going to run again.”
“Well, I do not know. Let us focus on the blisters on your arms and legs as they are at most risk of getting infected. If it is because of the trauma of fire and smoke, vision will usually return, but even if it does not, it is not such a horrible thing.”
Greta is jumping around in the distance. I wonder if she found Nina.
“… A friend of mine was not blessed with vision at birth, however just by a light touch of her fingertips, she could read anything. You should become like that too. That is if your vision does not return, however.”
“I can’t read at all.”
“Then you should learn starting now. Not being able to read and write is inconvenient, is it not?”
“I can’t.”
I’m slowly lowered to the ground and I lay a hand on Izura’s hair as she hides her face in Anissina’s lap. Anissina doesn’t wait for or expect a response as she holds the girl’s wrist.
“… Even if I go back home, they’ll tell me that women don’t need to read.”
“That is true. Even in the country I was raised in we were told something similar. Men should act like men and women should act like women. However the amusing part is that they do not tell us what sort of woman we should act like. The result is that everyone does whatever and the question of which way is ‘right’ hasn’t been answered in over 2000 years.”
And the result of those teachings is Anissina and Cecilie.
Greta comes running out of breath with her cheeks reddened from the cold wind.
“I found Nina. But she’s completely exhausted.”
The woman who was part of The Great Demon Kingdom’s Three Great Witches gently rubbed Izura’s fingers.
(2) Rokkou Oroshi is the theme song for the Hanshin Tigers. So much baseball! My mind can’t take it XD
(3) Baseball again! 1000 knocks is baseball training. Someone hits a ball out and they have to quickly catch it and get it back to home base. This is called ‘one knock.’ So they do it a bunch of times and it becomes 1000 knocks. In this case, 1000 is actually a way of saying ‘endless’ and they don’t actually count or anything, though. I feel like this series is forcing me to know more about baseball than I want to o.O
(4) I realize there’s nothing ‘un-cute’ about ‘it is the same’ in English, but in Japanese, it was said in a very boyish way (which is how Wolfram speaks all the time). The boyishness doesn’t translate at all, though. Sorry? o.o
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