Surprise surprise, the antagonist in this story turns out to be Raios's buddy (the same guy with deadly crab-infested lakes in ME28 that I translated a couple of weeks ago). And, of course, since he's Raios's buddy, he's a total scumbag. While he's not (yet) raping innocent little girls like his sempai in sleazebagness, what he does when he's not dumping trash in his lake is apparently not far behind Raios's shit. Seems like he's also becoming a reoccuring character at this point.
All that remains is a 6 page long part 3. Oh, and the story is apparently ending with a plot twist at the last moment.
P.S. I didn't have any editors for this and only gave it a once over, so please excuse any oopsies I may have made. If anyone notices anything weird (be it weird phrasings, obvious mistakes, or anything else you feel might need improvement), please let me know.
Italic text indicates English words in katakana, where it was important to make a distinction from actual Japanese. Furigana (ruby text) was used in an instance where I needed to emphasise that a Japanese word was being used there (mostly because Kawahara was throwing around both English and Japanese words for the same thing). Double em dashes (——) were present in the raw; instances with single em dashes (—) were added by me to make it easier to adapt complicated grammar in the raw into readable English.
Any feedback is appreciated.
-Gsimenas
Credits
Raws: CelestTranslation: Gsimenas
2
"A ghost……?"
Faced with Eugeo's most sceptical expression ever, I nodded my head frantically.
"I'm serious here. Yesterday, when I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw a faint light coming from a corner of the kitchen…… Upon peeking inside, I saw the ghost of a small girl sitting there……"
"A small girl……"
As Eugeo muttered this, his expression suddenly became serious. After moving his mouth up and down as if hesitating several times, he let out a slightly cracked voice.
"Did that girl…… tell you her name?"
"Eh…… nah, she disappeared before I could ask……"
"Then…… what did her hair look like?"
"If I recall correctly, she had her hair braided into twintails. About this long."
When I pointed to the area right below my shoulders, Eugeo gave a short sigh. That's when it finally dawned on me. My partner was thinking that the ghost I saw might have been the Alice girl he's been looking for.
I don't know what Eugeo's childhood friend Alice Zuberg looks like, but I have been able to confirm the fact that the ghost girl from yesterday wasn't Alice. After all——
"The ghost called this Bilzen Inn her 《papa's inn》. So, I'm pretty sure she's the daughter of this inn's owner."
"The inn's……"
Muttering this, Eugeo turned around to look at the building. At the same moment, a soft bell chime came from beyond it. Six o'clock in the morning.
Having woken up one hour earlier, we finished up our daily early-morning practice in front of the inn's entryway and then proceeded to the well in the backyard to wash our faces. Using this opportunity, I told him about last night's event, but looking at the red roof illuminated by the pure morning sunshine, it didn't seem like the place would be haunted by ghosts, even though it was abandoned.
"Say, Eugeo. In the first place, do ghosts actually exist in the Human Empire?"
When I posed this question, my partner once again turned around and suddenly shrugged his shoulders.
"I for one sure have never seen one…… Though, among the stories granny told me when I was little, there were some featuring ghosts. At the end of most of them, they'd be exterminated by some knights or priests from the Axiom Church, though."
"Hmm…… Well, since goblins do exist, it wouldn't be odd if there were ghosts, too……"
"Those two are entirely different subjects, I believe."
"Eeh, that so?"
"After all, goblins are living creatures from the land of darkness, while ghosts aren't exactly alive, no? Though…… goblin ghosts might very well exist in the land of darkness, for all we know."
At Eugeo's words, I subconsciously gave a wry smile. To someone who's grown up completely immersed in games since childhood like me, goblins and ghosts are both just types of monsters, though from an Underworlder's perspective, goblins are indeed beings of this world, while ghosts are beings from the netherworld. The question is: does the twintail girl exist within the system or not?
"Ah, right, dammit……"
As I frowned, Eugeo tilted his head.
"Damn what?"
"I should've tested whether I could bring up a Stacia Window for that ghost last night."
"……Even I can't tell whether you're joking or being serious here……"
Shaking his head in shock, Eugeo removed the cover of the well.
The cover, made out of stone, was still in good condition, but as Eugeo had told me yesterday, both buckets that should have been hanging down from the pulley above us had decayed. 'How on earth did he scoop up some water; did he make a bucket out of metal elements or something?', as I watched on with that question on my mind…
"System call. Generate aerial element."
'Why wind elements?', as I cocked my head in puzzlement, Eugeo threw a green element into the well.
"Kirito, form a bowl with your hands."
"O……okay."
Still unable to grasp what he was going to do, I followed his instructions. As my partner glimpsed into the well, suddenly——
"Burst element."
'Gopaan!', a muffled explosion roared inside as cold air spouted from the well… or so I thought, when… A column of water rose up with the force of a fountain, rocking the pulley.
"Come on, Kirito! Now!"
Eugeo plunged his hands into the water, so I quickly followed suit. I hurled the water — so cold that it stung my hands — towards my face to wash it.
Hearing as the water once again fell down into the well, I got the remaining water off my hands and face, before opening my eyes. Looking at Eugeo, drops of water dripping from his forelocks, I gave him a piece of my mind.
"You sure pull some crazy stunts."
At that moment, my partner burst into laughter.
"Ahaha, how do you like that, now you know how I feel when I get dragged into your usual crazy stunts."
"Even I wouldn't go this far……"
"It beats trying to open up a 《Window》 for a ghost!"
Declaring this, Eugeo once again returned to his sceptical expression.
"At any rate…… As I've said numerous times now, are you really sure you talked to a ghost? Couldn't you have just been dreaming?"
"The fact that I wasn't dreaming is the one thing that I am definitely sure of. After all, the ghost told me something that I hadn't known before."
As we were having breakfast, consisting of a celery-like plant——apparently called 《caldamo》—— that was growing wild in the inn's backyard, in addition to our own dried fruit, I told Eugeo of the ghost girl's final words.
"On the day of a storm, Ladino-sama…… did something not nice……?"
"Yeah, that's definitely what the girl said. I've got no clue who the hell this 'Ladino' character is, but that guy's undoubtedly related to why this inn went out of business…… if you believe the words of a ghost, that is."
"Hmm……"
Just then, Eugeo showed some hesitation for a few moments, before telling me something I had not expected.
"I do know who that character is."
"Oh, so you do………… Wait, wut!? You do!?"
"Yeah. The Ladino family are imperial nobles that have a personal domain just south of this inn. Remember how I told you yesterday that travellers passing by this area are having a hard time as Bilzen Inn has gone out of business?"
"Yeah. If I recall correctly, they either borrow a horse, camp outside, or depart from the previous town in the dark……"
"Actually, the mistress of that 《Nagabibachi》 inn that we stayed at the day before yesterday told me of a fourth option. Staying the night at an inn operated by the Ladino family one kilor to the south of Bilzen Inn…… Though the lodging fee is sky-high there, so I didn't tell you anything about it, figuring that it was irrelevant to us moneyless folks."
"That definitely doesn't sound relevant to us. Though, considering that those guys are even running an inn, the ghost's words are sure starting to ring true."
Facing me as I munched on the final caldamo, Eugeo took on quite the serious look.
"Indeed…… Something not nice, huh. Something that isn't against the Taboo Index or the Imperial Fundamental Law yet capable of driving the once prosperous inn out of business……"
After saying as much, he hung his head, as if being hurt by his own words.
During our seven hundred kilometre trip from Rulid Village on foot, we have experienced the virtue of a great many people; however, we have experienced the opposite as well, though seldomly. In this world, there are also people who believe that "anything not forbidden by the law is condoned." Having been born in Rulid, a village that had bullies and greedy rich guys but did not have any truly wicked people, Eugeo apparently can't come to grips with the concept of human malice.
However, when we head to Central Capital Centoria, where both sorts of people have taken residence, we're probably going to see an increase in our odds of encountering sinister malice. While we still have the time, we've gotta learn ways to deal with it.
I hesitated on how to put such misgivings of mine to words. However, seemingly having sensed what I was thinking, Eugeo donned an expression of resolution as he said the following.
"Kirito, let's go take a look at the boundary of the plot. I've got a bit of an idea."
Having finished cleaning up after our breakfast, and having packed our bags, we picked up our respective swords and headed out of the Bilzen Inn. As the building was facing south, the path leading to the Nomain Highway went to the west; however, when we investigated a grove on the east side of the front yard, we also found a path there, nearly covered up by all the weeds. Upon exchanging a nod in silence, Eugeo began leading me along that path.
If this were an RPG quest, this path should lead to a clue that would help us solve the mystery of the ghost girl and why the inn ran out of business. As my curiosity continued to be piqued during our walk, Eugeo came to a stop a mere twenty or so metres down the path. I didn't even need to ask why. Because the path was blocked by a sturdy-looking wooden fence.
The fence covered not only the path but also extended to the sides into the forest. When I approached it and peeked in through the gaps, I saw a plot of cleanly ploughed land on the other side. About a hundred metres long. In addition to the caldamo we found growing in the backyard, a variety of other spring vegetables grew verdantly there, conveying the richness of the soil there.
"……So that's the Bilzen Inn's field? Who's taking care of it now that it's out of business? Also, why is there no door on this fence……?"
At my question, Eugeo shook his head exaggeratedly.
"Nah, that field doesn't belong to the inn. Most likely, it's the field of that Ladino family that the ghost girl mentioned, I think."
"Whaaa!? But…… don't you think the inn is just way too close for that? Heck, I can't even see hide nor hair of Ladino's mansion or whatever."
When I turned around saying that, I could clearly see the inn building down the path. Almost all of the inns that we've spent a night at had their own fields or pastures; the fields had to have been about this far away from the main building.
Eugeo nodded with a serious look, before pointing to the right—— that is, to the south side.
"I believe we'll figure things out if we head there."
Saying that, he began walking along the tall fence, thus I followed suit.
Weeds were growing thickly even inside this grove, though not to an extent that would cause people to trip. We pressed on, brushing off a swarm of midges along the way, but the fence turned out to be longer than I had expected. After we traversed fifty or so metres, we finally encountered a change.
Ahead of us, the Ladino family's fence bent ninety degrees to the west. And there appeared to be another fence just in front of it. When we approached it in a light run, we noticed that the closer fence had rotted to heck and looked like it would collapse at any moment now. When I looked to the west, I realised that it hadn't seen any repairs in a long time, seeing as the fence had actually broken up at several spots. There were but thirty centimetres separating the two fences.
"Just as I thought……"
As Eugeo muttered this, I posed a question, "What do you mean by that?" Just then, my partner began explaining, looking as if he had put a load of salt into his mouth.
"Ehmm…… Kirito, even you know that the ownership rights for objects and buildings are unquestionable, right."
"Ah, yeah. All it takes is to open up a Stacia Window for people to figure out whom it belongs to, after all."
"Yeah. Though, it's not that simple for the ownership rights of land plots. You can't open up a Window for land, after all…… A long time ago, there was apparently some distinguished priest at the Axiom Church who succeeded in forcing a Stacia Window to appear for the land itself, but the moment that priest laid eyes on the Window, he went crazy and disappeared, or so the story goes."
"He-heeeh……"
Hearing that, I got the urge to try that out right away, but since it was clear as day that Eugeo would get mad at me for that stunt, I held back my urge and continued with the topic on hand.
"So, how exactly do people settle on ownership rights for land?"
"With this."
Eugeo extended his hand, putting it on Ladino family's fence that towered firmly over the land.
"You can't see the ownership rights for land, but you can see the fences. According to the Imperial Fundamental Law, a fenced up plot of land belongs to he who holds ownership of the fence. Though, of course, the length of the fence is strictly determined by the size of the family that owns it, or the number of people in the family."
"Hmm…… So that means the rotten one here is the fence for the Bilzen family's plot, while the firm one is the fence for Ladino family's personal domain, is that it?"
"Yeah. And so you see…… In the past, both fences probably stretched out straight to the west and east, I believe."
Saying that, Eugeo pointed at the spot where Ladino family's fence bent to the north.
"Eeh? So, you mean that field over there used to belong to the inn in the past?"
"I think so. The girl did say…… 'on the day of a storm', right? I'm almost certain that when an awfully strong storm destroyed Bilzen family's fence, the Ladino family made use of the opportunity to construct a new fence in a way that it went straight through the inn's plot of land to make the fields their own. That's the reason why the inn was forced out of business, I'm sure of it."
Even when Eugeo closed his mouth, I still couldn't bring myself to react to his words for a time.
Despite the fact that I judged my partner to be 《lacking resistance against human malice》, I found myself to be at a loss for words at the extremely sleazy act committed by the Ladino family. If the reason why that ghost girl died was because their family lost their fields and then starved to death due to being unable to maintain their business, I won't feel satisfied until I storm into their mansion and shake the family lord by his nape till he's foaming in the mouth, regardless of how much of a big-shot noble that Ladino character is.
Having approached the fence, I once again peeked in through the gaps. To the south of the fence was a pasture with no connection to the eastern fields. Far beyond the pasture filled with long-haired goats － called Ul-goats －, munching on the grass without a care in the world, I was barely able to make out a spire with a blue roof that seemed to belong to a mansion. The mansion was likely at least two kilometres away.
"……They have such an oversized plot of their own, so why on earth did they have any need to steal someone else's fields. Not like they couldn't foresee what would happen to Bilzen Inn, after all."
The ghost girl told me, 'Ladino-sama did something not nice.' 'Not nice' my ass, how is that not a clear-as-day crime? Even if it doesn't go against the laws or taboos of this world, it's an utterly inexcusable action.
Extending my right hand, I grabbed firm hold of the varnished Ladino family fence. However, just before I could add some force to it, Eugeo put his hand over my own.
"Kirito…… breaking that fence would be a violation of the Taboo Index."
"…………Yeah, I know."
As I attempted to somehow contain my anger, blowing out all the air in my lungs, my partner gently patted me on the back. It seemed like a gesture you would use for a kindergartener with a temper tantrum, but it did actually help me calm down, prompting me to take my hands away from the fence.
"……At any rate, now we know why the inn ran out of business, huh."
"Yeah. Though it's a shame that there's nothing we can do here……"
"Yeah……"
Of course, we can't resort to destroying Ladino's fence to reform the old boundaries of the fields, after all, nor can we just stay here and wait indefinitely for another great storm to pass by. Besides, even if we were to take back the fields by some means, there's no one left in the Bilzen family to make use of it.
The people of the Human Empire can't choose their occupation—— their 《Calling》 by themselves, thus even if the inn's management had become unsustainable, they wouldn't be allowed to just take up a new job at a different town. Even so, no matter how hungry a parent were, they should have at least tried to feed their child; based on the fact that such a young girl has died, it's highly likely that the entire Bilzen family has already starved to death.
Dead bodies in this world are all eventually reduced back to resources, without leaving even a bone behind, thus we couldn't even search for their remains to hold a funeral for them——
"……Sorry for having you accompany me on something so weird, Eugeo."
Muttering this, I put on a mask of cheeriness as I returned the favour by slapping my partner on his back.
"Now, it's about time we headed out. Gotta reach the next town before it gets dark, huh."
"…………"
However, despite always being the one to rush me, Eugeo didn't even try to nod this time. After just a few moments of staring at the fields beyond the fence with a serious look, he suddenly turned around.
"Hey, Kirito, you mind if we spend a bit more time investigating this place?"
"Huh? Ah…… sure, I have nothing against it……"
"That so. Then, let's go."
Smiling, he began returning along the path we had used to come here.
Walking another fifty metres along the fence, we regrouped at the path in the middle of the grove. Although I was almost certain that he was planning to return to the inn, Eugeo instead continued crossing the path and stepped into the northern side of the grove.
Just when we traversed about another fifty metres, the fence bent ninety degrees to the east. Ladino family's, I mean, the Bilzen family's old field seems to span a hundred metres or so in all directions; if that's the case, it would add up to ten thousand square metres, that is, one hectare, that is, one hectare. A single household of farmers nationwide in the real world possess an average of two hectares of arable land, or so I recall learning at the Survivor School, though considering that this world doesn't have agrochemicals or tractors, one hectare would be quite a lot here.
Having stopped at the corner of the fence, Eugeo looked around the surrounding trees. I assumed he was searching for a gap in Ladino family's fence, but I was apparently wrong.
"……Yeah, just as I thought."
Since he muttered something like that, I couldn't hold back posing the following question.
"What's 'just as you thought'?"
"Kirito, take a close look yourself. The trees growing around here look bigger than the ones on the plot's southern side, right?"
"Huh……?"
Doing as told, I looked at the broadleaf trees growing in the area. Indeed, there appeared to be a lot more imposing trees here than in the southern grove.
"When I took a look at the fields, I noticed that vegetables were growing better on the northern side, despite the southern side having more exposure to the sun, so I was struck by a hunch. This area has a lot of blessings from Terraria…… meaning that the land is very fertile. Perhaps there's a spring or something like that nearby."
"Heeh, just what you'd expect from an ex-woodcutter. Though, what of it?"
"Ehm……"
After a few moments of hesitation, Eugeo said with resolution.
"I just thought of a little something. If someone were to cut down all the trees around here, you could surely make yourself a new field out of it……I thought."
"Eh… eeeh!?"
As my partner uttered something outrageous, I subconsciously found myself staring at his face.
"……W-well, yeah, that does sound logical, but…… Even if we were to make a new field, there's not a single person left in Bilzen family anymore. Who do you think will use that field for growing vegetables…… Don't tell me, are you suggesting that we reopen the inn ourselves?"
"Heavens no, we can't do that. We're planning to go to the Central Capital and enroll at the Swordcraft Academy, after all. Though, if we were to refurbish this area into a field, we might find someone — and I'm not talking about some random scoundrel who'd just want to get his hands on the ownership rights of the building ― who'd be willing to take up work at the inn. And then, when the inn begins thriving like in the old days again, the ghost you saw, Kirito, might be satisfied with it and depart to Stacia-sama's side…… is what I was thinking."
"……Take over the inn…… that sounds nice and all(1), but you can't just change your Calling as you please, right?"
"Of course not. So, our only option(2) is to have a child who has yet to be given a Calling request the position from their town mayor or village chief, or to have a person who's already working at an inn request independence from their employer."
"Hmmmm……"
Hearing the possibility that I hadn't even considered till now, I let out a groan for a few moments.
Would the twintail girl allow a random person with no relation to her family whatsoever take over the inn? Or would she be satisfied by it and be able to pass on peacefully if the inn becomes as prosperous as in the old days, even if the inn's name were to change……?
『Mister…… are you not… scared of me?』
Suddenly, the girl's words played back in my ears.
I'm almost certain that the girl only wanted to talk to someone. Having been all by herself for who knows how many years, she was looking for someone she could chat with. In that case, surely the girl would want the inn to regain its prosperity once more.
"……You're right. If that were to happen, I'm sure it would make the girl happy. Though, you know……"
Once again, I looked over the grove on this side of the fence. Looking solely at the size of the towering trees, they looked so imposing that you could even call this grove a small forest.
"……How many days is it going to take to cut down all these trees……? If I recall correctly, the Swordcraft Academy's entrance exam is taking place on the 10th Day of the 3rd Month, while today is the 2nd Day of the 3rd Month, so we have to reach the Central Capital in a week. If we don't make it in time, all our half a year's worth of work as sentinels at Zakkaria to get a recommendation letter from the commanding officer will have been for naught."
"Kirito, how many days do you yourself plan to spend on cleaning up such a small grove?"
Boldly declaring thus, Eugeo smoothly took out his Blue Rose Sword that had been hanging at his left hip.
The moment I saw that slightly transparent silver blade, I almost blurted out an 'Ah!' in surprise. However, without giving me a chance to say anything, Eugeo took a stance by moving his sword behind him to the right, activating the Sword Skill 《Horizontal》.
'Gagaan!', came a shockwave as a blue flash mowed through the scraggy trunk of sawtooth oak-like tree. Felling it in one swipe—— would have been an exaggeration, but the slash did cut nearly half of the nearly one metre-wide trunk, causing it to creak.
"Hmm, considering how long it would take me to do handle this, seems like this would go faster if you, Kirito, were to use your 《Horizontal Arc》 or 《Horizontal Square》 on the trees with the Blue Rose Sword."
As my partner nonchalantly made such a declaration, I couldn't help but stare at his face from the side in silence for a few moments.
Now that I think about it, Eugeo and I had once cut down a huge as hell cedar tree — named the Gigas Cedar — that was even referred to as the 《Demon Tree》 using the Divine Object that is the Blue Rose Sword. Compared to that thing, the trees growing in this grove were nothing but scrubs.
"So what's it gonna be, Kirito, you up for it?"
At Eugeo's last call-like question, I voiced my own final doubt.
"Ehm…… Would clearing out a grove at our own discretion not go against any taboos?"
Just then, Eugeo answered with his usual stunned expression.
"If that were actually forbidden, how do you think my ancestors would have been able to found Rulid Village?"
Five hours passed as Eugeo and I continued working in silence, with me felling trees using the Blue Rose Sword as Eugeo used my own sword——a rugged yet sturdy 《Steel Sword》 that was provided to me at the Zakkarian garrison——to get rid of the branches and leaves to turn the trees into logs.
During that time — spent so entirely devoted to our work that we even skipped our lunch break midway — we cleared out the grove to the north-east of the inn.
If this were the real world, dealing with the leftover stumps would have actually been more time-consuming than cutting down the trees, but it was possible in this world to completely exhaust a 《stump's Life》 by slashing it vertically once or twice, causing it to turn into spatial resources. A large number of logs piled up in the inn's backyard; additionally, a large number of branches were turned into firewood after adequate cutting, while the remaining leaves scattered to the ground, turning into resources as well.
The sole exception was an old silver oak that we found towering by the side of a small spring during our work and decided to leave untouched. According to Eugeo, who predicted the existence of the spring, such an old tree could apparently be used for offering daily prayers to keep the fields protected. Based on the spatial resource theory, cutting it down should improve vegetable growth, but we decided to follow the traditions of Eugeo's ancestors.
Once we completely took care of all the weeds and thickets, completing our work on the bare land that, like the original fields, was one hectare in size, our labour for the day came to an end. We then used the inn's well to wash away the sweat and mud——this time, instead of using wind elements to create a water spout, we made ourselves a new bucket from the loads of leftover lumber——and greedily devoured a pig- or tanuki-like beast that Eugeo and I had brought down during our work and roasted whole, before being quickly assailed by drowsiness despite it only being just past six.
As I wanted to get up at twelve o'clock in the evening, I had more than enough reason to collapse into the same sofa as last night, where I immediately found my consciousness slipping away. This world didn't have any alarm clocks, so whether or not I would actually wake up at twelve o'clock was up to chance; however, the sensation of something pulling on my forelocks roused me from the deep abyss of slumber once more.
"Hey, get up, Eugeo."
After some gentle shaking, his flaxen-coloured eyelashes quivered and finally slowly rose up. Although my partner usually far surpassed me in his ability to get up from sleep, his still half-closed eyes continued wandering absent-mindedly for a few moments before his green eyes finally opened up in sudden realisation.
"……D-did it appear?"
At that subject-lacking question, I nodded in silence. Before waking him, I had confirmed that a faint light was coming from inside the kitchen this night, just like yesterday.
We crossed the cafeteria on tiptoes, passing through the arch into the kitchen. Once we peeked into the shade of the water jug, surprise, surprise, we found a girl sitting there this night as well, hugging her knees and giving off a bluish-white phosphorescence. Despite suddenly tensing up for a moment upon seeing her, Eugeo bravely struck up a conversation.
"……Hey there."
Just then, the twintailed-girl slowly raised her head, her silver eyes first looking at Eugeo, then at me. Returning her gaze to Eugeo again, she asked him a question.
"Mister…… you're not afraid of me either?"
Based on the fact that she said 《either》, the ghost girl apparently recalled that she had spoken with me the previous night. It's odd yet not odd at the same time.
While I was cocking my head in puzzlement, Eugeo squatted in front of the girl, before nodding with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm not afraid.
"Oh……"
For a moment, it seemed like the girl had also smiled, but she cast her eyes down right afterwards. I kneeled down next to Eugeo as well and, taking care not to startle the girl, I began talking to her.
"You know…… we figured out what Ladino family did on the day of the storm. They built a fence around your family's field, taking it away from you."
"…………Yeah."
The girl nodded. As the girl seemingly found it difficult to bear that unpleasant memory, the outlines of her body began quivering without a sound. Upon sidling up to the girl a bit, I continued speaking to her in a whisper.
"We can't take back your fields for you…… but today, this guy here and I cleared out the grove in your backyard to create a new field. Once we finish ploughing it tomorrow, it'll be all ready for use."
Just then, the girl once again raised her head, her mirror-like eyes alternating between me and Eugeo.
"……Really? Will we be able to grow various vegetables again?"
"Yeah, you can grow anything."
Eugeo assured her with a smile.
"Caldamos, tamanases, and even siral trees can grow there now."
Hearing that, the girl gently stood up with a radiant — a far cry from ghostly — smile. As she held out her small hands towards us, tears that looked like beads of light appeared from her eyes——
"Thank you, misters. I'm sure Papa and Mama will be happy to hear that. Thank you so much……"
Eugeo and I extended our hands at the same time, gently placing them on the girl's hands. I didn't feel anything physical behind them, but I did indeed feel a faint warmth in them.
The next moment, the girl's entire body was covered in white light, scattering into countless particles and dissolving into the air.
After a few moments, Eugeo muttered.
"……We didn't even get the chance to ask her name…… but I'm sure she went to the Celestial World."
"Yeah, I'm sure of it."
Nodding, I gripped my partner's right shoulder.
Notes
1. ^ In this part, Kawahara used the phrase って行っても (tte ittemo), which I assume is a typo for って言っても (lit. despite saying x or although you say that), since both are pronounced the same, yet the former doesn't really make sense here. Just noting this for those who are interested, seeing as I can't really account for such a typo when I went with a loose translation here anyways.
2. ^ Another typo. The original text was "かしない" (ka shinai), when it was likely meant to be "しかない" (shikanai).
Thank you for your work on that. Pls keep going on!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to part 3! :)
ReplyDeletePlease!!! I beg U!!! Finish the Translation of Volume 21 of SAO!!! Deafan has been stuck on chapter 3 for more then 3 months!!!
ReplyDelete