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akujunkan...and my hands have been very idle of late. Here's Chapter Two, in all its translated and annotated glory. I'm thinking about doing a bit on the meaning of the various names, as they're rather intriguing in and of themselves, and if my guess is correct, will eventually be central to the story.
But first things first:
Being a translation of the second chapter of Silver Diamond (c) Sugiura Shiho.
Translation (c) Trismegistus (gmorrison). Do not distribute without permission.
Words in " " are spoken aloud.
Words not in " " are internal dialogue.
Words in ( ) are character asides.
Words in {{ }} are Sugiura's asides.
Words in (( )) are my comments on the text/translation.
Words in // // are descriptions of action.
Words in \\ \\ are flashbacks.
Words preceeding an * will be footnoted at the page break.
Double returns = page breaks.
And without further ado:
Silver Diamond
by Sugiura Shiho
translation by Trismegistus (gmorrison)
Another world will come falling down
Rakan: Apparently my mother suffered memory loss from the very beginning. And if that wasn't sufficently dramatic and embarassing, she'd apparently collapsed in the flowerbeds in the backyard, holding me, as well. I was two years old at the time.
Amongst the flowers...
I'm a man; imagining how it must have happened is absolutely embarrassing beyond words, but I can remember that little bit clearly.
(No matter how impossible it is for me to admit that this is fact.)
And fifteen long years ago, the elderly man who lived alone in this house, having suddenly encountered us...
P2
Rakan: ...took us in without blinking an eye.
Rakan's Mother: ........
Grandfather: Sweeeet! I've lived alone my whole live, and now I've suddenly gained a daughter and grandchild! I'm so lucky!
(I was so lonely before.)
Rakan: He told me the truth just like that.
Child Rakan: {{After having had the facts matter-of-factly explained to him}} "But you didn't go to the police?"
Grampa: "Nope. You'd just appeared so suddenly in my garden, you see. And you were clearly not from this world, either.
"(And it was a little strange as well. And I liked you two so much.)"
"Incidentally, I did check briefly to see if anyone had reported two missing persons, but no one had, so..."
Child Rakan: He had us investigated?
"But grampa, how on earth did you manage to get us included on the family registry?"
Grampa: "I have my methods."
{{CRIMINAL}}
Grampa: (Your grampa's very rich, so first I set up a foreign orphanage, and then I had papers forged, and then I hired accomplices, and then I followed up on them to make sure they took care of everything properly, and then I had it set up so that you were made Japanese citizens, and then...)
Rakan: And having taken all of those suspect measures, anyone bothering to notice that I was a fatherless child simply saw a normal family with a doting grandfather and mother.
As time went on, I thought that all that business about me and my mother coming from another world was just another joke of my grandfather's.
P3
Rakan: And so we spent our lives until my mother died two years ago, and my grandfather quietly passed away a year later.
Grampa: "Rakan. It's all right."
Rakan: Well, no, he wasn't exactly quiet...
Grampa: "No, no! It's really okay! Grampa's very rich! I'm leaving you enough to live happily on your own without every having to worry about anything! You can use it all! Use it for anything!"
Rakan: "Grampa, don't waste your energy talking! (You're sick!)"
Doctor: "(Sawa-san! Sawa-san!)"
"Please be a little more quiet."
Grampa: "There's even enough to pay my hospital bills!"
Rakan: "I know that!"
Grampa: "(Don't you worry at all!)"
Rakan: "Grampa, I'm going to have to pay an inheritance tax on anything you give me, so I'm not exactly going to run wild. But thank you."
(We live in the country, though, so I won't have to pay too much.)
{{Pragmatist}}
Grampa: "I...see... You're so serious."
"You were a good grandson to the very end."
"You've made me very happy."
"Thank you."
Rakan: No, Grampa. Thank you.
Thank you for going to the trouble of taking me and my mother in and pretending as though we were yours, when in reality we were like characters out of an old folk tale.
P4
Rakan: There was no way I could allow myself to brood over my unusual past forever. Rather, I adopted the role of a human being in order to blend in to modern society. First, I went to school and studied (and tried to live thriftily whenever possible). I planned to graduate from a good college and become a civil servant or enter into some other comparatively risk-free occupation. I was going to find a serious, gentle woman to marry (probably someone I'd meet in the workplace) and use the house my grandfather left me to live a quiet, steady, conservative life.
P5
//The alarm clock rings. Chigusa crushes it with his fist.//
Rakan: "Good............. Good morning..............?"
{{Rakan is a very proper person. You may depend upon him to always say 'good morning,' no matter what.}}
Chigusa: "Morning."
P6
Rakan: Well, that sure woke me up.
"Um, incidentally, Chigusa-san.... That thing was called an 'alarm clock.'"
Chigusa: "Ah... So that's an 'Alarm Clock'..."
"(By the way, just 'Chigusa' is fine.)"
"It wouldn't stop screaming, so I thought it was probably a dangerous creature."
Rakan: "Alarm clocks are not creatures."
Chigusa: "They aren't creatures? Then what about this?"
//Chigusa points to the stove.//
Rakan: "That is not one either."
What kind of world do you come from?
Chigusa: (No kidding. So it's not a creature...)
Rakan: Yesterday, I happened to peek into my backyard and found this nice-looking young man,* who had fallen down from the sky into my world.
*((This word is really oniisan, which literally means 'older brother,' but is used to politely refer to older strangers.))
P7
Rakan: He grows guns out of strange branches.... Strange...creatures show up... and he saves me from them.... And when I tried to get him to take a bath, well...
\\
Rakan: (Crap! Now that I think about it, I don't really have any guest clothes...)
"Please, put a bathrobe on. Please. Oh, for crying out loud, don't tell me I have to dress you..."
\\
Rakan: In the end...
I couldn't figure out any sort of solution.
{{So, failing that, Rakan decides that they might as well relax and have breakfast.}}
Rakan: (Here you are.)
Chigusa: (Thank you.)
//Rakan compares his memories of himself and his mother lying in his garden with the image of his discovery of Chigusa the day before.//
Rakan: It's exactly the same thing, I suppose, but...
P8
Rakan: Because I don't want to acknowledge these feelings (I just want to be like a normal person), I don't want to hear about it in detail, and if I think about it, there's a lot I can't ask anyway, but...
Now that I consider it, this know-nothing act of his is just a little bit suspicious.
Chigusa: "Rakan, this food is really good!"
Rakan: "Huh? Really? Thanks!"
He can't really be bad. (He did help me after all...)
And he smiles so often, such an open smile. I somehow... Somehow...
"Well, I've got school, (Speaking of, I'm gonna go get changed) so-"
"Um, is there a reason you just followed me into my bedroom like you belong here? (And why are you carrying that gun?)"
"....and..."
Speaking of, he was here this morning.
Rakan: "And hey! What were you even doing in my room this morning in the first place? Didn't I tell you to sleep in that room downstairs?"
P9
Chigusa: "Well, you are an incredibly valuable creature, after all."
Rakan: "...Uhh..."
He did say I was a person who could make the plantlife of his world grow freely. "You mean because I'm a Sanome and all that?"
Chigusa: "Yup. And it'd be a big problem for me if anything were to happen to you."
"(That's why I'm keeping by your side.)"
Rakan: "Nothing's going to happen to me. Not in this world. I mean, really. Up until now, weird things like that wooden ...gun?... growing out of nowhere just haven't happened to me. Well, the plants in my garden are a little bigger than most, but other than that..."
Chigusa: "Yes, but that's all thanks to you. After all, you are orginally a resident of my world."
P10
Chigusa: "And that's why the plant I brought with me reacted to you. You are a from the same world as I am. You have the power of the Sanome, and yet the exact same face as The Prince."
Rakan: "...Huh?"
"The Prince........?"
Chigusa: (Yup. The Prince.)
((Rakan envisions something out of a German fairytale.))
Rakan: //Taking notes// "Okay... 'prince.'"
Chigusa: "No, no. Like this. (You used the wrong characters.)"*
Rakan: "Ah, that kind of prince."
Wait a minute, he understands written Japanese. Come to think of it, understands spoken Japanese, too.
Wait a minute!
"Hold on a minute here."
*((For those with Japanese encoding, Rakan wrote '王子' (run-of-the-mill prince), which Chigusa corrects to '星子' (Imperial Prince). These two words are homophones, but the meaning is very different.))
P11
Rakan: "When you say 'Prince,' what...?"
..do you mean?
{{What an idiotic question.}}
Chigusa: I mean that you're the person who will inherit ultimate authority."
Prince... You call yourself the Child of God. The god who will destroy his own country... You're out there somewhere.....!!
P12
//People in Chigusa's world survey the damage his bullets, which have sprouted thick creepers, have done to the palace walls.//
Random People: ............
P13
Random Person: "Senrou Chigusa."
P14
Random Person: "This must have been his last stand. That he would attempt to assassinate the Prince!"
P15
Dark-haired man: "Of course... This must have been Senrou's doing."
Blond-haired man: "Isn't he dead?"
Dark-haired man: "That's the final bullet. That entire abominable family... Just like The Prince predicted."
Long-haired man: .............
Dark-haired man: "So what do we do about the damage this bullet caused? If we try and tear it out, the whole wall will collapse."
Blond-haired man: "I guess we've got no choice but to leave it like this."
Gold-haired man: "Leave it as it is."
Random People: "Kingen-sama."
Random People:"Kinrei-sama...!"
P16
Kingen Kinrei: "Ignore it. It will wither inside there."
{{Kingen Kinrei}}*
Blond-haired man: "Kingen-sama!"
Dark-haired man: "Kinrei-sama! Is The Prince..."
Kinrei: "Don't worry. The Prince is unharmed."
//A figure appears beside Kinrei.//
Everyone: "My Prince........!!"
*((This is the first time Sugiura actually marquees a character's name, so my guess is that he's going to be pretty important.))
P17
Blond-haired man: "My Prince!"
Blond-haired man 2: "My Prince! Are you unhurt?"
Dark-haired man: "My Prince! Is Senrou...?"
P18
//The Prince, who has heretofore remaind silent, bends and appears to whisper something into Kinrei's ear.//
Kinrei: "The cursed silver-hairs no longer exist in this world."
P19
Dark-haired man: "Hurrah!"
Kinrei: "The Senrou family has met its final demise. The 'silver' that threatened our prophesied world has been completely eradicated. Those named the 'Sengin' have become the 'Senrou.' 'Silver' doesn't even remain in their name."*
*((More funtime with characters! 'Sengin' is written with two characters meaning 'thousand silvers.' 'Senrou' retains the character for 'thousand,' but replaces the character for 'silver' with a new character indentical to that for 'silver' but for the addition of an extra stroke, which turns the character into one meaning 'lock.' It's an archaic and rarely used character, but one which appears in the compound for 'prison' or 'dungeon.' So Senrou's name now has associations with criminals and imprisonment.
P20
Kinrei: "The seeds of disaster have been completely erased. Only the remaining chosen people 'Shall know, along with me, the awakening of the God who shines in the sands...'"
P21
Random Person: "I'm grateful... For as long as the Child of God is here, we will be protected!"
Random Person 2: "But Senrou... is truly a monster, isn't he?"
Random Person 3: "That he had enough strength to keep shooting that gun until the very end..."
Random Person 4: "...So do you think he really is dead?"
Dark-haired man: "I saw him. Senrou. His whole body shot full of arrows and blood-splattered."
P22
Dark-haired man: "His sentence was to be crucified in the middle of the desert. There's no way he could have survived that."
Long-haired man: So he's finally dead...
Blond-haired man: "Hey! Narushige!"
Dark-haired man: "So you came too, Shigeka Narushige?"
L (Narushige, from now on): ............
Only because I was called.
Blond-haired man: "On an errand I suppose, Narushige."
Dark-haired man: "I mean, the only 'Shigeka' with any free time is...you."
P23
Random Person: "Yours must be a pitifully heavy name to bear for a 'Shigeka' who can't birth children, Narushige."
Blond-haired man: "As a man, you're absolutely worthless. Such a waste, seeing as you were born with such a pretty face..."
//A snake slithers out of the neck of Narushige's robes.//
Snake: "At this point all men are useless, you bastards. The next time you mess with Narushige, you'll mess with me too."
"(I will bite you.)"
Narushige: "Kou. I won't allow that. There's no antidote to your venom."
Blond-haired man and Dark-haired man: //recoil in fear//
Narushige: "Kou. Thank you. That's enough for now."
Snake (Kou, from now on): "Narushige. Why do you always let them get away with saying that stuff?"
"(But hey.)"
//Kou gives Narushige a peck on the cheek.//
Narushige: "....Well, it's true, isn't it? If you aren't a woman, you're useless to this Family."
P24
Kou: "Ah, I've had it with this! Why the hell did we come here?"
"(God, those bastards.)"
"Let's go home!"
Narushige: "I came because we really were summoned."
Kou: "Summoned!? By whom!?"
Narushige: "I..."
//A black hand reaches toward Narushige and Kou.//
Kou: "Wha?"
Narushige: "What...?"
Kou: "What the hell? What the hell? What the hell? Ahhhhh! A whirlpool......!! Narushige!"
P25
Rakan: //sighing in contentment// ...Ahh
Ahh.
(Yes! Lunchtime!)
Ahh. (That was good.)
Well this reality is certainly relaxing, isn't it?
Random male student: "Hey. Who's that weirdo in the coat by the gate?"
Random female student: "Huh? Where? Where?"
//Rakan chokes on his mug of tea.//
Random student: "What's wrong, Rakan?"
Random student: "(Rakan?)"
Random student: "Ah, there really is someone there!"
Random female student: "Isn't he cool-looking?"
Random female student 2: "He's so tall!"
Random female student: "Is he someone's friend?"
Random student: "(Really? Where?)"
Random female student 2: "Does he ever have a pretty face! Wanna go talk to him?"
Random female student 3: "(Let me see!)"
Random female student: "(Ah! A teacher's already headed for him.)"
P26
Rakan: ".......Chigusa! ...San!? What the hell are you doing here?!!!"
..........
Random female student: "Heeeeey! Rakan-kun, is he your friend?"
Random female student: "Who, who?"
Random female student: "Who is he? Who is he?"
Rakan: "Huh?:
Random female student: "'S he your older brother!?"
Random female student: "Isn't he handsome?"
Rakan: "Um."
Random female student: "Introduce us! Introduce us!"
Rakan: "Um, sorry. Later."
Rakan: "Sensei!"
Teacher: "Oh, Sawa!"
Random girls: (Hey, it's Sawa-kun!)
P27
Chigusa: "Rakan!"
Rakan: "............."
Random Girls: "Waaaaaaaiii! He smiled! He smiled!
"Wooooooooowwww!"
"Woah, he's so cool! He's so cool!"
Teacher: "So he really is a friend of yours, Rakan?"
"(I thought he might be a pervert stalking you or something.)"
Rakan: "Ah, well, that is to say..."
"(Sorry.)"
"What are you doing here?"
"And speaking of, how did you..?"
(I can't imagine that you know how to use trains or anything.)
Chigusa: "I followed your scent."
Teacher: HE IS A PERVERT.
Teacher: "Sawa. Are you sure this guy really is safe?"
Rakan: "Well, that is, yes. In a manner of speaking."
Girls: "Sawa-kun, who is he-ee?"
Rakan: "Huh?"
Girls: "Is he your friend? Is he your friend?"
Rakan: 'Wh-who is he?' I hadn't even thought about what kind of story I should make up in a situation like this...
P28
Chigusa: "I'm Rakan's houseboy!"
Rakan: "Ch-........ Chi-....... Come over here for a minute, Chigusa-sa--"
Chigusa: ('Chigusa-sa?')
"Hey, it's hard to say that, isn't it? Just call me 'Chigusa.'"
Rakan: "Yeah, that's dandy! Chigusa!! Not only do you show up out of the blue, but then you have to tell people that--"
Chigusa: "Sorry, I meant to say I was your housekeeper."
Rakan: "Since when have you ever helped me with anything around the house?!"
P29
Rakan: "But anyway, that's neither here nor there. What on earth were you doing, coming here? And my house?"
Chigusa: "Don't worry. I made sure to lock up before I left."
"(See, here's the key.)"
Rakan: How should he have even known to do that? How?
Chigusa: "............. Should I not have...?"
"Was it a bad idea for me to come here?"
"(To meet you?)"
Rakan: "............."
Rakan: "No. But Chigusa..."
"Oh, never mind. Hold on for a sec. We might as well go home together."
P30
Chigusa: "Rakan."
"Rakan."
"Rakan."
"Did I... Did something I did make you angry?"
"(Did I accidentally do something really horrible?)"
".........................."
//Rakan sighs.//
P31
Rakan: "Hold on a minute."
Chigusa: ?
//Rakan walks into an ATM.//
Rakan: "(Sorry to keep you waiting)"
"Let's go."
"First, we're going to buy you some clothes. Then, vegetables and meat. Then we'll go home."
The thing is, it's a problem. And yet...
It's a problem. And yet...
Chigusa: "(Whoah, is that a creature?)"
Rakan: "(No, that's a train.)"
P32
Rakan: I do enjoy it. I understand a little now, Grampa.
Why you took us in when we suddenly appeared, such mysterious people, in your life.
Living alone is a little... colorless.
Being solitary is sometimes... a little... lonely.
P33
Rakan: "I'm home!"
Chigusa: "(I'm home!)"
Rakan: "Chigusa, you go on in ahead of me. I'm going to step out back and water the plants."
Chigusa: "'Water the plants'?"
Rakan: "Yup, in the garden."
Ah, of course.
"Would you mind watering them for me?"
"After all, those who don't work, don't eat."
{{Rakan is a very young Old Man.}}
Rakan: (Since you're my 'housekeeper,' I might as well have you help out.)
"Anyway, there's a spiggot by the corner there."
Chigusa: (Yeah, I see it.)
Rakan: "If you could just lightly water the garden."
P34
//Narushige and Kou are standing in the garden.//
Narushige: "............"
Kou: "Se-"
P35
Kou: ...a member of that criminal Family!? "Senrou Chigusa!?"
Narushige: Can it be possible?
"You should be dead!"
Chigusa: "I should be dead?"
Narushige: You monster.
Chigusa: "Then I suppose I should be grateful I'm not."
Narushige: "Kou!"
Kou: "Right!"
//Kou transforms himself into a sword.//
P36
Rakan: Did that...
...snake just turn into a sword?!
//Now follow two pages of the most extreme hotness I've seen in any manga, anywhere, as Deadly Serious! Narushige and Chigusa face off. Yummy.//
//Narushige goes in for the kill, but Chigusa blocks with his tree gun, knocking Kou from Narushige's hands.//
P39
Narushige: "Kou!"
//Kou transforms back into a snake and falls to twine around Narushige's arm.//
P40
//Narushige and Chigusa stand with their weapons at one another's throats.//
Rakan: "Chi- Chigusa..."
Chigusa: "Rakan. It's all right. Come here."
Narushige: ?
'Rakan?'
Rakan: "............"
P41
Narushige: "My.... My Prince?!"
Rakan: Not again...
Kou: "He..."
Narushige: "Kou!"
{{Kou reverted to snake form without thinking}}
Kou: "He has the same face as the Prince!"
Rakan: Wha??? The snake is talking...
"............."
(But I thought it was a sword?)
Chigusa: "Rakan. Grab a sprig from that firearm tree over there and bring it here."
Rakan: "A sprig?"
Chigusa: "Yup. One of the slender branches."
Narushige: ?
?
Rakan: "I've got it."
Chigusa: "Bring it over here."
Rakan: "'Kay."
Come to think of it, I'm the one who's acting like the houseboy.
(Really. I even cook the meals.)
"Now what?"
P42
//Chigusa smiles enigmatically as the sprig begins sprouting new branches.//
Rakan: Crap! Am I making it... Ah, not again......"
Narushige: "A Sa- Sanome.....!?"
P43
Chigusa: "That he is. Lower your sword, Shigeka Narushige."
Narushige: "What do you mean, 'That he is?' How is The Prince..."
Kou: "You're saying he's a Sanome?"
"And where the hell are we anyway, Senrou?"
Narushige: "Why was I...to this place?"
Rakan: "..........."
"Um........"
"First thing's first."
{{He's pretty much given up on this situation.}}
Rakan: "Please, come inside."
P44
{{And so, once more, he prepares a meal in an attempt to relax.}}
Narushige: "........................"
Kou: "........................"
Narushige: "........................"
Rakan: "........................"
Narushige: "Senrou!!! How can you be so disrespectful as to allow The Prince to serve us tea?!"
"(You mean to just sit here and let him wait on you?!!)"
Chigusa: "Well it's not like I know how to do it!"
Rakan: (We've just discovered Narushige's breaking point.)
Kou: "But isn't he a Sanome?!! Who is he? Who is he?"
Rakan: "Enough! We'll talk later. Please, eat."
"(Incidentally, I'm no Imperial Prince.)"
Kou: "(What?)"
Rakan: And so, although I don't really understand how it happened, I just got another few housemates.....
That will be all.
But first things first:
Being a translation of the second chapter of Silver Diamond (c) Sugiura Shiho.
Translation (c) Trismegistus (gmorrison). Do not distribute without permission.
Words in " " are spoken aloud.
Words not in " " are internal dialogue.
Words in ( ) are character asides.
Words in {{ }} are Sugiura's asides.
Words in (( )) are my comments on the text/translation.
Words in // // are descriptions of action.
Words in \\ \\ are flashbacks.
Words preceeding an * will be footnoted at the page break.
Double returns = page breaks.
And without further ado:
Silver Diamond
by Sugiura Shiho
translation by Trismegistus (gmorrison)
Another world will come falling down
Rakan: Apparently my mother suffered memory loss from the very beginning. And if that wasn't sufficently dramatic and embarassing, she'd apparently collapsed in the flowerbeds in the backyard, holding me, as well. I was two years old at the time.
Amongst the flowers...
I'm a man; imagining how it must have happened is absolutely embarrassing beyond words, but I can remember that little bit clearly.
(No matter how impossible it is for me to admit that this is fact.)
And fifteen long years ago, the elderly man who lived alone in this house, having suddenly encountered us...
P2
Rakan: ...took us in without blinking an eye.
Rakan's Mother: ........
Grandfather: Sweeeet! I've lived alone my whole live, and now I've suddenly gained a daughter and grandchild! I'm so lucky!
(I was so lonely before.)
Rakan: He told me the truth just like that.
Child Rakan: {{After having had the facts matter-of-factly explained to him}} "But you didn't go to the police?"
Grampa: "Nope. You'd just appeared so suddenly in my garden, you see. And you were clearly not from this world, either.
"(And it was a little strange as well. And I liked you two so much.)"
"Incidentally, I did check briefly to see if anyone had reported two missing persons, but no one had, so..."
Child Rakan: He had us investigated?
"But grampa, how on earth did you manage to get us included on the family registry?"
Grampa: "I have my methods."
{{CRIMINAL}}
Grampa: (Your grampa's very rich, so first I set up a foreign orphanage, and then I had papers forged, and then I hired accomplices, and then I followed up on them to make sure they took care of everything properly, and then I had it set up so that you were made Japanese citizens, and then...)
Rakan: And having taken all of those suspect measures, anyone bothering to notice that I was a fatherless child simply saw a normal family with a doting grandfather and mother.
As time went on, I thought that all that business about me and my mother coming from another world was just another joke of my grandfather's.
P3
Rakan: And so we spent our lives until my mother died two years ago, and my grandfather quietly passed away a year later.
Grampa: "Rakan. It's all right."
Rakan: Well, no, he wasn't exactly quiet...
Grampa: "No, no! It's really okay! Grampa's very rich! I'm leaving you enough to live happily on your own without every having to worry about anything! You can use it all! Use it for anything!"
Rakan: "Grampa, don't waste your energy talking! (You're sick!)"
Doctor: "(Sawa-san! Sawa-san!)"
"Please be a little more quiet."
Grampa: "There's even enough to pay my hospital bills!"
Rakan: "I know that!"
Grampa: "(Don't you worry at all!)"
Rakan: "Grampa, I'm going to have to pay an inheritance tax on anything you give me, so I'm not exactly going to run wild. But thank you."
(We live in the country, though, so I won't have to pay too much.)
{{Pragmatist}}
Grampa: "I...see... You're so serious."
"You were a good grandson to the very end."
"You've made me very happy."
"Thank you."
Rakan: No, Grampa. Thank you.
Thank you for going to the trouble of taking me and my mother in and pretending as though we were yours, when in reality we were like characters out of an old folk tale.
P4
Rakan: There was no way I could allow myself to brood over my unusual past forever. Rather, I adopted the role of a human being in order to blend in to modern society. First, I went to school and studied (and tried to live thriftily whenever possible). I planned to graduate from a good college and become a civil servant or enter into some other comparatively risk-free occupation. I was going to find a serious, gentle woman to marry (probably someone I'd meet in the workplace) and use the house my grandfather left me to live a quiet, steady, conservative life.
P5
//The alarm clock rings. Chigusa crushes it with his fist.//
Rakan: "Good............. Good morning..............?"
{{Rakan is a very proper person. You may depend upon him to always say 'good morning,' no matter what.}}
Chigusa: "Morning."
P6
Rakan: Well, that sure woke me up.
"Um, incidentally, Chigusa-san.... That thing was called an 'alarm clock.'"
Chigusa: "Ah... So that's an 'Alarm Clock'..."
"(By the way, just 'Chigusa' is fine.)"
"It wouldn't stop screaming, so I thought it was probably a dangerous creature."
Rakan: "Alarm clocks are not creatures."
Chigusa: "They aren't creatures? Then what about this?"
//Chigusa points to the stove.//
Rakan: "That is not one either."
What kind of world do you come from?
Chigusa: (No kidding. So it's not a creature...)
Rakan: Yesterday, I happened to peek into my backyard and found this nice-looking young man,* who had fallen down from the sky into my world.
*((This word is really oniisan, which literally means 'older brother,' but is used to politely refer to older strangers.))
P7
Rakan: He grows guns out of strange branches.... Strange...creatures show up... and he saves me from them.... And when I tried to get him to take a bath, well...
\\
Rakan: (Crap! Now that I think about it, I don't really have any guest clothes...)
"Please, put a bathrobe on. Please. Oh, for crying out loud, don't tell me I have to dress you..."
\\
Rakan: In the end...
I couldn't figure out any sort of solution.
{{So, failing that, Rakan decides that they might as well relax and have breakfast.}}
Rakan: (Here you are.)
Chigusa: (Thank you.)
//Rakan compares his memories of himself and his mother lying in his garden with the image of his discovery of Chigusa the day before.//
Rakan: It's exactly the same thing, I suppose, but...
P8
Rakan: Because I don't want to acknowledge these feelings (I just want to be like a normal person), I don't want to hear about it in detail, and if I think about it, there's a lot I can't ask anyway, but...
Now that I consider it, this know-nothing act of his is just a little bit suspicious.
Chigusa: "Rakan, this food is really good!"
Rakan: "Huh? Really? Thanks!"
He can't really be bad. (He did help me after all...)
And he smiles so often, such an open smile. I somehow... Somehow...
"Well, I've got school, (Speaking of, I'm gonna go get changed) so-"
"Um, is there a reason you just followed me into my bedroom like you belong here? (And why are you carrying that gun?)"
"....and..."
Speaking of, he was here this morning.
Rakan: "And hey! What were you even doing in my room this morning in the first place? Didn't I tell you to sleep in that room downstairs?"
P9
Chigusa: "Well, you are an incredibly valuable creature, after all."
Rakan: "...Uhh..."
He did say I was a person who could make the plantlife of his world grow freely. "You mean because I'm a Sanome and all that?"
Chigusa: "Yup. And it'd be a big problem for me if anything were to happen to you."
"(That's why I'm keeping by your side.)"
Rakan: "Nothing's going to happen to me. Not in this world. I mean, really. Up until now, weird things like that wooden ...gun?... growing out of nowhere just haven't happened to me. Well, the plants in my garden are a little bigger than most, but other than that..."
Chigusa: "Yes, but that's all thanks to you. After all, you are orginally a resident of my world."
P10
Chigusa: "And that's why the plant I brought with me reacted to you. You are a from the same world as I am. You have the power of the Sanome, and yet the exact same face as The Prince."
Rakan: "...Huh?"
"The Prince........?"
Chigusa: (Yup. The Prince.)
((Rakan envisions something out of a German fairytale.))
Rakan: //Taking notes// "Okay... 'prince.'"
Chigusa: "No, no. Like this. (You used the wrong characters.)"*
Rakan: "Ah, that kind of prince."
Wait a minute, he understands written Japanese. Come to think of it, understands spoken Japanese, too.
Wait a minute!
"Hold on a minute here."
*((For those with Japanese encoding, Rakan wrote '王子' (run-of-the-mill prince), which Chigusa corrects to '星子' (Imperial Prince). These two words are homophones, but the meaning is very different.))
P11
Rakan: "When you say 'Prince,' what...?"
..do you mean?
{{What an idiotic question.}}
Chigusa: I mean that you're the person who will inherit ultimate authority."
Prince... You call yourself the Child of God. The god who will destroy his own country... You're out there somewhere.....!!
P12
//People in Chigusa's world survey the damage his bullets, which have sprouted thick creepers, have done to the palace walls.//
Random People: ............
P13
Random Person: "Senrou Chigusa."
P14
Random Person: "This must have been his last stand. That he would attempt to assassinate the Prince!"
P15
Dark-haired man: "Of course... This must have been Senrou's doing."
Blond-haired man: "Isn't he dead?"
Dark-haired man: "That's the final bullet. That entire abominable family... Just like The Prince predicted."
Long-haired man: .............
Dark-haired man: "So what do we do about the damage this bullet caused? If we try and tear it out, the whole wall will collapse."
Blond-haired man: "I guess we've got no choice but to leave it like this."
Gold-haired man: "Leave it as it is."
Random People: "Kingen-sama."
Random People:"Kinrei-sama...!"
P16
Kingen Kinrei: "Ignore it. It will wither inside there."
{{Kingen Kinrei}}*
Blond-haired man: "Kingen-sama!"
Dark-haired man: "Kinrei-sama! Is The Prince..."
Kinrei: "Don't worry. The Prince is unharmed."
//A figure appears beside Kinrei.//
Everyone: "My Prince........!!"
*((This is the first time Sugiura actually marquees a character's name, so my guess is that he's going to be pretty important.))
P17
Blond-haired man: "My Prince!"
Blond-haired man 2: "My Prince! Are you unhurt?"
Dark-haired man: "My Prince! Is Senrou...?"
P18
//The Prince, who has heretofore remaind silent, bends and appears to whisper something into Kinrei's ear.//
Kinrei: "The cursed silver-hairs no longer exist in this world."
P19
Dark-haired man: "Hurrah!"
Kinrei: "The Senrou family has met its final demise. The 'silver' that threatened our prophesied world has been completely eradicated. Those named the 'Sengin' have become the 'Senrou.' 'Silver' doesn't even remain in their name."*
*((More funtime with characters! 'Sengin' is written with two characters meaning 'thousand silvers.' 'Senrou' retains the character for 'thousand,' but replaces the character for 'silver' with a new character indentical to that for 'silver' but for the addition of an extra stroke, which turns the character into one meaning 'lock.' It's an archaic and rarely used character, but one which appears in the compound for 'prison' or 'dungeon.' So Senrou's name now has associations with criminals and imprisonment.
P20
Kinrei: "The seeds of disaster have been completely erased. Only the remaining chosen people 'Shall know, along with me, the awakening of the God who shines in the sands...'"
P21
Random Person: "I'm grateful... For as long as the Child of God is here, we will be protected!"
Random Person 2: "But Senrou... is truly a monster, isn't he?"
Random Person 3: "That he had enough strength to keep shooting that gun until the very end..."
Random Person 4: "...So do you think he really is dead?"
Dark-haired man: "I saw him. Senrou. His whole body shot full of arrows and blood-splattered."
P22
Dark-haired man: "His sentence was to be crucified in the middle of the desert. There's no way he could have survived that."
Long-haired man: So he's finally dead...
Blond-haired man: "Hey! Narushige!"
Dark-haired man: "So you came too, Shigeka Narushige?"
L (Narushige, from now on): ............
Only because I was called.
Blond-haired man: "On an errand I suppose, Narushige."
Dark-haired man: "I mean, the only 'Shigeka' with any free time is...you."
P23
Random Person: "Yours must be a pitifully heavy name to bear for a 'Shigeka' who can't birth children, Narushige."
Blond-haired man: "As a man, you're absolutely worthless. Such a waste, seeing as you were born with such a pretty face..."
//A snake slithers out of the neck of Narushige's robes.//
Snake: "At this point all men are useless, you bastards. The next time you mess with Narushige, you'll mess with me too."
"(I will bite you.)"
Narushige: "Kou. I won't allow that. There's no antidote to your venom."
Blond-haired man and Dark-haired man: //recoil in fear//
Narushige: "Kou. Thank you. That's enough for now."
Snake (Kou, from now on): "Narushige. Why do you always let them get away with saying that stuff?"
"(But hey.)"
//Kou gives Narushige a peck on the cheek.//
Narushige: "....Well, it's true, isn't it? If you aren't a woman, you're useless to this Family."
P24
Kou: "Ah, I've had it with this! Why the hell did we come here?"
"(God, those bastards.)"
"Let's go home!"
Narushige: "I came because we really were summoned."
Kou: "Summoned!? By whom!?"
Narushige: "I..."
//A black hand reaches toward Narushige and Kou.//
Kou: "Wha?"
Narushige: "What...?"
Kou: "What the hell? What the hell? What the hell? Ahhhhh! A whirlpool......!! Narushige!"
P25
Rakan: //sighing in contentment// ...Ahh
Ahh.
(Yes! Lunchtime!)
Ahh. (That was good.)
Well this reality is certainly relaxing, isn't it?
Random male student: "Hey. Who's that weirdo in the coat by the gate?"
Random female student: "Huh? Where? Where?"
//Rakan chokes on his mug of tea.//
Random student: "What's wrong, Rakan?"
Random student: "(Rakan?)"
Random student: "Ah, there really is someone there!"
Random female student: "Isn't he cool-looking?"
Random female student 2: "He's so tall!"
Random female student: "Is he someone's friend?"
Random student: "(Really? Where?)"
Random female student 2: "Does he ever have a pretty face! Wanna go talk to him?"
Random female student 3: "(Let me see!)"
Random female student: "(Ah! A teacher's already headed for him.)"
P26
Rakan: ".......Chigusa! ...San!? What the hell are you doing here?!!!"
..........
Random female student: "Heeeeey! Rakan-kun, is he your friend?"
Random female student: "Who, who?"
Random female student: "Who is he? Who is he?"
Rakan: "Huh?:
Random female student: "'S he your older brother!?"
Random female student: "Isn't he handsome?"
Rakan: "Um."
Random female student: "Introduce us! Introduce us!"
Rakan: "Um, sorry. Later."
Rakan: "Sensei!"
Teacher: "Oh, Sawa!"
Random girls: (Hey, it's Sawa-kun!)
P27
Chigusa: "Rakan!"
Rakan: "............."
Random Girls: "Waaaaaaaiii! He smiled! He smiled!
"Wooooooooowwww!"
"Woah, he's so cool! He's so cool!"
Teacher: "So he really is a friend of yours, Rakan?"
"(I thought he might be a pervert stalking you or something.)"
Rakan: "Ah, well, that is to say..."
"(Sorry.)"
"What are you doing here?"
"And speaking of, how did you..?"
(I can't imagine that you know how to use trains or anything.)
Chigusa: "I followed your scent."
Teacher: HE IS A PERVERT.
Teacher: "Sawa. Are you sure this guy really is safe?"
Rakan: "Well, that is, yes. In a manner of speaking."
Girls: "Sawa-kun, who is he-ee?"
Rakan: "Huh?"
Girls: "Is he your friend? Is he your friend?"
Rakan: 'Wh-who is he?' I hadn't even thought about what kind of story I should make up in a situation like this...
P28
Chigusa: "I'm Rakan's houseboy!"
Rakan: "Ch-........ Chi-....... Come over here for a minute, Chigusa-sa--"
Chigusa: ('Chigusa-sa?')
"Hey, it's hard to say that, isn't it? Just call me 'Chigusa.'"
Rakan: "Yeah, that's dandy! Chigusa!! Not only do you show up out of the blue, but then you have to tell people that--"
Chigusa: "Sorry, I meant to say I was your housekeeper."
Rakan: "Since when have you ever helped me with anything around the house?!"
P29
Rakan: "But anyway, that's neither here nor there. What on earth were you doing, coming here? And my house?"
Chigusa: "Don't worry. I made sure to lock up before I left."
"(See, here's the key.)"
Rakan: How should he have even known to do that? How?
Chigusa: "............. Should I not have...?"
"Was it a bad idea for me to come here?"
"(To meet you?)"
Rakan: "............."
Rakan: "No. But Chigusa..."
"Oh, never mind. Hold on for a sec. We might as well go home together."
P30
Chigusa: "Rakan."
"Rakan."
"Rakan."
"Did I... Did something I did make you angry?"
"(Did I accidentally do something really horrible?)"
".........................."
//Rakan sighs.//
P31
Rakan: "Hold on a minute."
Chigusa: ?
//Rakan walks into an ATM.//
Rakan: "(Sorry to keep you waiting)"
"Let's go."
"First, we're going to buy you some clothes. Then, vegetables and meat. Then we'll go home."
The thing is, it's a problem. And yet...
It's a problem. And yet...
Chigusa: "(Whoah, is that a creature?)"
Rakan: "(No, that's a train.)"
P32
Rakan: I do enjoy it. I understand a little now, Grampa.
Why you took us in when we suddenly appeared, such mysterious people, in your life.
Living alone is a little... colorless.
Being solitary is sometimes... a little... lonely.
P33
Rakan: "I'm home!"
Chigusa: "(I'm home!)"
Rakan: "Chigusa, you go on in ahead of me. I'm going to step out back and water the plants."
Chigusa: "'Water the plants'?"
Rakan: "Yup, in the garden."
Ah, of course.
"Would you mind watering them for me?"
"After all, those who don't work, don't eat."
{{Rakan is a very young Old Man.}}
Rakan: (Since you're my 'housekeeper,' I might as well have you help out.)
"Anyway, there's a spiggot by the corner there."
Chigusa: (Yeah, I see it.)
Rakan: "If you could just lightly water the garden."
P34
//Narushige and Kou are standing in the garden.//
Narushige: "............"
Kou: "Se-"
P35
Kou: ...a member of that criminal Family!? "Senrou Chigusa!?"
Narushige: Can it be possible?
"You should be dead!"
Chigusa: "I should be dead?"
Narushige: You monster.
Chigusa: "Then I suppose I should be grateful I'm not."
Narushige: "Kou!"
Kou: "Right!"
//Kou transforms himself into a sword.//
P36
Rakan: Did that...
...snake just turn into a sword?!
//Now follow two pages of the most extreme hotness I've seen in any manga, anywhere, as Deadly Serious! Narushige and Chigusa face off. Yummy.//
//Narushige goes in for the kill, but Chigusa blocks with his tree gun, knocking Kou from Narushige's hands.//
P39
Narushige: "Kou!"
//Kou transforms back into a snake and falls to twine around Narushige's arm.//
P40
//Narushige and Chigusa stand with their weapons at one another's throats.//
Rakan: "Chi- Chigusa..."
Chigusa: "Rakan. It's all right. Come here."
Narushige: ?
'Rakan?'
Rakan: "............"
P41
Narushige: "My.... My Prince?!"
Rakan: Not again...
Kou: "He..."
Narushige: "Kou!"
{{Kou reverted to snake form without thinking}}
Kou: "He has the same face as the Prince!"
Rakan: Wha??? The snake is talking...
"............."
(But I thought it was a sword?)
Chigusa: "Rakan. Grab a sprig from that firearm tree over there and bring it here."
Rakan: "A sprig?"
Chigusa: "Yup. One of the slender branches."
Narushige: ?
?
Rakan: "I've got it."
Chigusa: "Bring it over here."
Rakan: "'Kay."
Come to think of it, I'm the one who's acting like the houseboy.
(Really. I even cook the meals.)
"Now what?"
P42
//Chigusa smiles enigmatically as the sprig begins sprouting new branches.//
Rakan: Crap! Am I making it... Ah, not again......"
Narushige: "A Sa- Sanome.....!?"
P43
Chigusa: "That he is. Lower your sword, Shigeka Narushige."
Narushige: "What do you mean, 'That he is?' How is The Prince..."
Kou: "You're saying he's a Sanome?"
"And where the hell are we anyway, Senrou?"
Narushige: "Why was I...to this place?"
Rakan: "..........."
"Um........"
"First thing's first."
{{He's pretty much given up on this situation.}}
Rakan: "Please, come inside."
P44
{{And so, once more, he prepares a meal in an attempt to relax.}}
Narushige: "........................"
Kou: "........................"
Narushige: "........................"
Rakan: "........................"
Narushige: "Senrou!!! How can you be so disrespectful as to allow The Prince to serve us tea?!"
"(You mean to just sit here and let him wait on you?!!)"
Chigusa: "Well it's not like I know how to do it!"
Rakan: (We've just discovered Narushige's breaking point.)
Kou: "But isn't he a Sanome?!! Who is he? Who is he?"
Rakan: "Enough! We'll talk later. Please, eat."
"(Incidentally, I'm no Imperial Prince.)"
Kou: "(What?)"
Rakan: And so, although I don't really understand how it happened, I just got another few housemates.....
That will be all.
