PROLOGUE 1-1 – NOZOMUNO TSUMIKI
——
Within the quiet interior of local eatery “Nozomiya”, Nozomuno Tsumiki let out a huge sigh.
She would never have displayed such a gloomy attitude in front of customers, but that wasn’t the issue now. It had been quite some time since the last customer had left.
*sigh…*
Tsumiki glanced around the eatery again, void of customers, and her shoulders dropped.
The only energetic creature in the store was the clock’s cuckoo.
There were two reasons why “Nozomiya” was so empty.
First, the eatery was situated along a street which usually saw very few passers-by.
Second, a chain restaurant had opened right in front of the local train station, stealing away the few customers who had frequented “Nozomiya”. The eatery was truly in a desperate situation.
Tsumiki’s parents could only tell their daughter not to worry. She knew that they had said so, not out of adult’s pride, but because they didn’t want her to burden herself with the eatery’s problems.
The eatery, a small establishment managed by their family of three.
Tsumiki loved the eatery.
She couldn’t let it close down.
‘But what can I do…?’
Tsumiki was well-known in the area as the eatery’s cheerful poster girl. There were even a few customers who were her loyal fans, but it was impossible for the eatery to turn a profit based on those people alone.
They could lower the price of items, but her parents would already have done so if they thought it was going to help. But since they didn’t, it meant that it wasn’t an option she should consider.
The final straw would be taste… She would have to make changes to the menu.
And she didn’t mean adding more seasoning to their original items.
She needed to come up with something that would make people come from afar just to get a taste, a famous dish that would capture the customers’ hearts.
However, while Tsumiki had much experience in waiting at tables, she had no experience with regards to cooking. That was because her parents had always forbidden her from entering the kitchen.
But Tsumiki was not the type of girl who would back down because she was faced with an obstacle.
“…Yep. Alright, I’ve decided!”
She would never let her beloved “Nozomiya” close down.
It didn’t matter what kind of impossible challenges she would have to face. Taking a deep breath, Tsumiki determinedly made her first move.
PROLOGUE 1-2 – TETRA METRA RETRA
——
Once upon a time, there lived a “monster” who destroyed everything on Earth’s surface.
The creature was huge, enveloping the land as far as the eye could see. Its footsteps created earthquakes, its breath hurricanes, and it enjoyed nothing more than destroying the world.
Finally, its actions stirred the wrath of the gods, who rained divine punishment upon it.
Its humongous frame was forced into a “sealed space” created underground, so that it may never return to Earth’s surface ever again. The gods then built a temple and village next to the “sealed space”, and created people out of clay to guard the doors of the space…
…Now, the descendents of the original guardians were faced with a dangerous situation.
“Ehh, the ‘sealed space’ is experiencing tremors again. Ehh, the walls are slowly collapsing…”
“Is that so? Alright.”
Tetra Metra Retra, the village chief’s daughter, gazed at the statue of the goddess standing in the large room of the temple as she listened to the report of the villager who had just returned from the “sealed space”.
“Thank you for your report. You did a great job.”
Tetra nodded at the villager in gratitude.
Instead of leaving, the man lingered, as if he still had something to say.
“Ehh… That’s that. Will the seal really be broken?”
“……”
A pained expression flitted across Tetra’s face for a moment, but a forced smile soon took its place.
“Things will be alright. When it was first sealed up, the ‘Monster of Haishin’ raged so badly within the ‘sealed space’ that the walls cracked, but it soon grew exhausted and stopped struggling… Well, that was what was written in our folklore. So please, there is no need to worry.”
“Ehh, ehh, that’s good to know, ehh.”
The villager bowed, then left Tetra’s room.
*…sigh*
After ensuring that she could no longer hear his footsteps, Tetra let out a frustrated sigh.
“How can anyone be assured by a legend that’s millions of years old?”
She whispered at no one in particular, then shook her head a few moments later, as if clearing her mind of something.
Millions of years ago, the gods had granted prosperity to the village in reward for guarding the “sealed space”, including the fact that its people would never go without food, clothing or shelter.
However, that prosperity had sapped the people’s drive to survive and succeed. When one could live in comfort even without working hard, it was natural that people soon turned lazy, no matter how important their mission was.
Right now, the guardians were nothing more than human-shaped blocks of clay lacking all vitality. Even with the village in potential danger, nobody was doing anything. It had gotten so bad that Tetra literally had to order someone to go investigate the “sealed space”.
In fact, Tetra’s assertive actions were described as strange by all the villagers.
But Tetra could do nothing about the “Monster of Haishin” alone.
……No.
In fact, Tetra was the only person in the village who knew how to defeat the “Monster of Haishin”. Using her power as the daughter of the village chief, she had arrived at the answer after gathering all the fragments of legends of the village, then analyzing and studying them.
“……”
However, Tetra had not put her plan into action.
She could not do so.
It was just too cruel.
What could she do?
She couldn’t rely on anybody in the village.
Which meant that she could only seek help from outside.
‘…Why is Tetra working so hard to save the people who aren’t even ready to save themselves?’
A voice at the corner of Tetra’s heart questioned, as doubts of her own weakness surfaced.
But she knew the answer.
Because the village was her beloved home.
Ignoring her weak heart, Tetra made preparations to journey to the Earth’s surface.
——
Note:
Haishin, written as “背信”, means betrayal. However, in the novel, it is written as “背神”, which has the same reading but means “turning one’s back against the gods”. Due to this double entendre, I decided to leave Haishin untranslated in this story.
PROLOGUE 1-3 – ?
——
The “beast” held a strong grudge against the “Monster of Haishin”.
Just how long had it survived with this hatred…? As a non-human entity, the “beast” had been around for a long while, so time held no particular meaning for it.
A long time ago, the “beast” had been tricked by the “Monster of Haishin”.
That mistake had cost the “beast” to lose everything.
Most importantly, it had lost its freedom, and thus, the “beast” had no knowledge of how the “monster” had then gone on to ravage the Earth… However, knowing how much the “monster” enjoyed bringing destruction to all it meets, the “beast” could already guess that the world was doomed.
Hatred and regret, then self-reproach.
“That ‘monster’… I’ll surely… with my own hands…”
Tormented by these three raging emotions, the “beast” lived on, existing in hopes that someday, it would defeat the “Monster of Haishin”. That had become its sole mission.
Without that, the “beast” would have gone crazy.
Without that, it would have lost all will to live.
So, the “beast” waited.
Waited for that one “chance” to regain its freedom.
Waited, without knowing if that time would ever come.
Waited for that day when it would get its revenge and fulfill its mission.
Waited in pain.
Waited with hatred.
And then, one day…
…That “chance” appeared before the “beast”.
——
Note:
Haishin, written as “背信”, means betrayal. However, in the novel, it is written as “背神”, which has the same reading but means “turning one’s back against the gods”. Due to this double entendre, I decided to leave Haishin untranslated in this story.
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