Chapter 4 of 31
V1C2 Part1
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Here's the first half of chapter 2.
Sorry for the lack of updates for...almost two months now. College has been way too overbearing (I definitely overloaded myself this year >.>). I promise to translate a lot during my vacation breaks, especially during Christmas break coming up (whoo three weeks).
Something to be noted is that I am now using the Chinese raws primarily instead of using the Japanese raws. The Chinese translation apparently is at volume 9 already (O.o). I still use the Japanese raws to proofread the translations and to reword what I think is translated incorrectly or lost its original meaning.
This means a few things.
First and foremost, speed will be faster (yay! well, not that you can tell from this belated release anyway heh).
Secondly, I will start to make some arbitrary decisions to reword sentences to what I think flows/feels the best, with the original meaning or intent or purpose or pun etc. of the original (Japanese) text.
Thirdly, it'll finally be keeping with the name of this blog =D.
Lastly, I will be releasing on a chapter basis instead of a part basis, so expect half-chapters or full chapters every few weeks instead.
Thanks all for the patience. Enjoy.
#TeamSetsuna4Life
*********************
<1>
The next morning.
“When the former Holy
Demon Lord ruled over the land...the people from the old civilization
greeted the day like this-”
Mahiro slowly walked towards the sun rays that shone into the room.
“ 'A new morning has come!
Yes, that's right, a morning filled with hope...!!' ”
“The people from the old
civilization must've been really energetic then. Then, Prince, you
should dance energetically too!”
Pariel clapped her hands.
Inside the room were several court performers, and a court dance teacher who was acting as
the narrator.
Mahiro had these social
dancing lessons every Wednesday morning. No matter which country it
was, social dancing was an important skill to have. How could someone
from the royal family not know how to dance?
“I say, Pariel, you're
only an escort, who are you to think that you could you set my
schedule? I'm the prince.”
“You already said that
yesterday. This is Edelweiss-sama's orders though. I don't dare to
disobey her!”
“Telling excuses like
this, aren't you ashamed of yourself? Do you get enjoyment from
ruining people's lives...”
Bam.
“...Eh? You were here,
Edelweiss?”
“Yes, is there anything
wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“If Your Highness cannot
take over the management of the country, then at least you need to
act like a prince”
Bam.
“Like
a prince...then, I'm not the prince...? Then...do you mean that...I'm
only a body double for the real Mahiro who's someone out there in
this world? The shocking truth has been revealed?!”
“Edelweiss
didn't mean that! Why do you have such an outrageous imagination...”
“Simply put, I don't like social dancing and stuff like this.”
Mahiro
slowly walked towards Pariel, until their faces almost touched.
“P-prince?”
Pariel's
heart unconsciously began to beat faster.
“Give
me your hands.”
“O-okay...”
“Put
your hands on my waist.”
“Okay...”
“Front,
front, back, back, right, across, across...Look, isn't this really
obscene!?”
Wham.
“Isn't
right and across the same thing?! ...And wait, how is this obscene?!”
“All
in all, I just want to dance more soulfully!?”
“S...oul?
Ful? Eh?” [TL Note: Mahiro said soulfully in English.]
"And so, I'm going to go to town again...”
Mahiro
stealthily watched Edelweiss's face, but her expressionless face, so
like ice, had such an intimidating aura far beyond any maid's
nitpicking.
"That was what I first thought but.. never mind...”
“Do
as you like.”
“Yahoooo~!”
Mahiro weirdly cried out, and sprinted out of the room. The performers and
the dance instructor breathed out sighs of relief, and started
packing.
“E...eh....Edelweiss-sama,
is this all right...?”
“What
are you still here for? Go chase him.”
“Huh?
Urm, am I supposed to bring him back...?”
“His
Highness plans to stop the Imperial invasion by himself.”
Pariel
doubted her ears, because Edelweiss was someone who would never joke
around. Furthermore, the Empire was not supposed to make a move yet,
so what exactly was there for Mahiro to stop?
“If
we ignore him, he just jumps straight into a dangerous situation. But, if
you stay by his side, he wouldn't be so reckless. So, you have to
follow him, and aside from immediate dangers you are to let him act
as he pleases. Understand?”
“I...I
understand! I will follow the prince, and guard him!”
Pariel
hurriedly bowed, and then ran out of the room to chase the prince.
(Eh...What
did she mean by that prince saving the country...!?)
2
So,
Pariel changed out of her uniform, and switched into a casual outfit
much like the one she wore yesterday. She followed Mahiro to the rear
garden of the castle.
“Prince,
weren't you going outside the castle?"
“Of
course.”
Even
though this was the rear garden, because of the sheer size of this
castle, there was a clearing here where one could go riding or have a
small-scale hunt; a small forest filled with sunlight. There was a
stable, a stop for carriages, and even a garage where the automobile
that the king rode on came from. Mahiro's purpose in coming here was
probably to head to the repair area.
A
strong waft of machine oil was immediately apparent after they
stepped into the huge warehouse. There were numerous carriages and an
automobile being repaired here.
“...Did
you come here to rent out a horse, or did you want to get a
carriage?”
“That's right, I came here to rent out my favorite horse.”
“I
thought you said yesterday you didn't know how to ride horses...”
“In
this wide world, of course there are horses I could ride.”
If that
was the case, then wouldn't it be faster to just send someone
to prepare a horse? It was probably because the prince was used to
sneaking out of the castle; this was probably the first time he could
walk out so brazenly, so he probably didn't know of such a convenient
method.
“Do
you want me to have them prepare one for you?”
“Nay,
nay...I came here for that.”
Mahiro
pointed towards a cloth-covered object placed at the corner of the
warehouse. At this, everyone in the warehouse became frightened.
“He's
really going to ride it?!”
“The prince is finally going to use that?!”
“Is
it really fine if we don't stop him?!”
It
suddenly became a chaotic scene.
The
head of the mechanics, wearing industrial-grade protection
goggles, came over with an apprehensive expression. Pariel often rode
horses, so of course she knew him by face.
Older
officers like him were all pretty strict and hard to handle, and this
person seemed just like a merciless instructor. Especially seeing as how
he dealt with iron machinery, not horses, and had the title of the
“Stubborn Boss” .
“Prince!
Are you really planning to ride this?!”
“YES!!”
Mahiro,
in the blink of an eye, gave him a thumbs up.
“The
day has finally come, boss!! Are you ready?!”
“Ooh...oooohhhhh,
Prince!!”
The
head mechanic looked like he was about to beat someone up. Pariel had
no idea why he was mad, but he looked like he could easily give the
prince a spanking. Just as she thought this--
“Ahhh,
I'm truly glad that I chose to follow you, Prince!”
“Huh!?”
Pariel
subconsciously shouted.
It seemed like he was actually shivering from over-excitement. He even had to take
off his goggles to wipe away his tears of happiness.
“I
never expected that I could really see this monster in action...!”
The
head mechanic let out a weird laughter.
“The
mechanics team has already repaired everything. We're only missing one
part now, and that's you, Prince Mahiro!”
“Good!
Look, Pariel!!”
Mahiro
lifted the cloth covering the object, and underneath was...
“This
is my beloved horse...the “Bronco of Steel” ZX-7RR--!!”
“Wait,
isn't this a bike?!”
Obviously
it was a relic from the old civilization.
Compared
to the few Cub class bikes in the shop that could be seen, this bike
was far larger. Seeing how huge it was, it must've been stuffed full
of parts on the inside.
“Bo...boss,
where did you get this thing...?”
“Huh?
Of course, it was made from the parts that Prince collected!”
It
seemed like he was saying that “Since you're always with him, why
didn't you know of this?”
“I
actually have a secret mountain of junk. I like to go there to pick
up parts, and then buy or custom order the missing parts from the
Veronica Trade Alliance...and then!”
Mahiro
gestured towards everyone in the repair facility.
“Then
I request everyone to put together my machine!”
“Wow...”
Before
they realized it, the two were surrounded and mobbed by the machine
geeks.
“Amazing...amazing...”
“It
must be super fast...”
“It
definitely can go at two hundred kilometers."
“So
terrific...”
Chatter
chatter chatter.
“Prince,
don't be so stingy with this! I want to play with this toy even if I
have to kneel and beg for it!”
Chatter
chatter chatter.
(So...so
scary...!)
Pariel
could only retreat backwards in tears.
*
Vrooom!
“...!?”
Pariel reflexively clamped her ears shut at the loud noise from the start
of the engine.
Including
the noise from the exhaust, the cacophony of noises made the bike seem
almost broken. Everything was completely different from the Cubs.
“Ahahahaha!!
Pariel, this is the real neighing of a horse! And this beat of the
heart! It's truly the union between rider and horse!!”
Vroom!
Vroom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Every-time
Mahiro twisted the handlebars, a sound that seemingly reached into
the heavens came out of the exhaust. The surrounding mechanics all
shut their eyes and were in a stupefied state, almost as if they were
enjoying an orchestra of the highest quality.
(Abnormal...everyone
here's abnormal...!)
Not
only did curious people come to see what the commotion was about,
even patrolling knights came in with their lances at ready, thinking
that a monster had appeared.
“Hm,
only this has the qualifications to be my horse! Let's go, Pariel!!”
“G-go...are
you planning to ride this out...?”
No
matter what, she couldn't let herself be left behind again. Pariel
climbed up onto the seat behind Mahiro, who already had his gloves
on, and Mahiro put on his protective goggles.
“It's
time for me to rewrite the highest speed record in the Middle
Plains.”
“Huh?
You aren't going to find a new way to dance?”
It
seemed like finding the soul in his dancing was just another excuse.
Pariel's comment was completely submerged beneath the shouting and cheers of all the mechanics.
“Nice,
Prince!”
“Don't
die!”
“Come
back alive!”
“Don't
die!”
“You
can do it!”
“Don't
die!”
“Don't
die!”
“Hey,
why are there so many voices worried about your life?”
Suddenly
a safety helmet was put on top of Pariel, who was becoming quite
frightened.
“Bos-boss!?”
She
only saw a thumbs up from the head mechanic.
“Don't
die, young lady! Good luck!”
“Wh-?”
Vrooooooooooooooooooooooooom!
“Ahh..aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Part 3
It
actually wasn't very hard to get used to riding on the bike. One
would think that they would be faster from the sound they made, but
this speed was similar to a sprinting horse. The only difference was
that everyone turned to look at them because of the loud noises that
the bike made, making Pariel feel very embarrassed to be riding the
bike.
After a
while, the two arrived at the south gate they were at yesterday.
The guards thought that there was an incident because of the sound,
so they all rushed out fully armed.
“Ah,
it's just the prince.”
“Wow,
is that a new machine?”
“Prince,
riding a horse is definitely better than riding a machine!”
(I
think so too. Horses won't be this loud, and they're cute too...)
Though,
Pariel suddenly thought, maybe it was because Mahiro liked the things
that others liked. He seems to be very welcome here. He looks like he was very close to the young soldiers here, as well as with the mechanics back in the repair facility.
(This
is the prince's good point..I guess?)
Then,
even the captain ran out from the guard station.
“Prince,
did you need anything today? As per your orders, we haven't had any
inspections ever since yesterday...”
“I'm
going to do two things. The first is to bet the name of our knights
squadron, and break the speed record on the Middle Plains. The
other...”
The
bike was loud even when it was parked. Pariel was unable to hear what
Mahiro said clearly, but the captain who heard opened his eyes wide.
“...Prince,
are you really going to...!?”
“Listen,
you mustn't close the gate. Properly convey this to the people at the
north gate. If I do not return before sundown, then go to Edelweiss
for instructions. Understood, captain?”
“I...I
can't accept this, this isn't something that someone like you should
just go and do...”
“Ahahaha,
let's go, my beloved horse!”
Vroooooooom!!
Before
long, the prince and his guard faded into the distance, growing
smaller and smaller.
“...He
really went...”
“What
happened, captain? Why do you look so pale?”
The
captain stroked his beard and then answered.
“Un...eh,
that's impossible...I think the prince was only joking, he said that
he's going to scout out the approaching Imperial army...”
“He
must be joking. There's not a single trace of the Imperial army
around here, and the countries to the south haven't reported anything
awry.”
“I-it
must be so! After all, he can't go scout out what doesn't exist. Ah,
it was because his gaze seemed more serious than usual...”
The
captain kept on stroking his white beard, as if he was wiping away
cold sweat.
*
“Prince...you
really went outside the city! What do you want to do!?”
“If
you don't want to come along then you can get off! The hopes of
everyone on the mechanics team is on me! How could I return
empty-handed!?”
“...Who
cares about that! After all, this beloved horse of yours is not fast at
all, only loud!”
As they
spoke, they left the road.
Mahiro
turned the bike towards a distant mountain, and then stopped it.
“Are
you done playing around? Then, we can return? This bike is loud and
uncomfortable to sit on, my butt hurts a lot...”
“Pariel,
you just complained about my beloved horse being slow, right?”
“Ah,
I did say so. My Limiel runs faster, and is more comfortable to sit
on. Plus it's warm and cute too...”
An
unnerving smile appeared at the edge of Mahiro's mouth.
“One
hundred and twenty horsepower.”
“...Huh?”
“According
to the records of the old civilization, my beloved horse has a total
of one hundred and twenty horsepower.”
Hee hee
hee.
“P-prince?”
“Too
slow? Don't give me that! I was only warming up right now; would you
whip a horse that just woke up?”
“O-of
course I wouldn't do something so unreasonable...”
“It's
the same logic. I need to warm up the transmission and the engine, so
I was purposefully riding it slowly. I'm about to use the whip now.
Listen, Pariel, don't ever let go of me.”
“O-okay.”
She
didn't know what was going on, but the prince sounded so serious, so
much so that Pariel just hugged him tightly.”
“Now
howl, my beloved horse, ZX-7RR!!”
He
started off again.
Pariel
thought that Mahiro should at least think of a more appropriate
name...
“Eh...?”
Something
seemed a bit off.
“Huu-------!”
The
pitch of the wind had changed in an instant. No matter how hard you
whipped a horse, there was no way that you could hear such a
monstrous sound. Even so, this “horse” was still speeding up.
“P...pppppppppppprinceeeeee....this
bike, right now, how fast is it...!?”
“Only
about a hundred kilometers! We're still far from our goal! It's only twice
the speed of your horse right now!”
...Now
that she recalled, didn't the mechanics say that the goal was 200 kilometers?
(…)
Pariel
was on the verge of fainting.
“Ahahaha!
We can do it! We can do it Pariel! This thing's too awesome! This is
the best thing I've ever ridden! Even at this speed, there are no
problems!”
Vroooooom!!
“Waaaahhhh!
…Prince, I get it! I was wrong! It's fast! It's really fast! And
wait, the mountain's ahead already! If we keep going like this we're
going to crash into it!”
“Nah,
that's not it. That mountain is our destination. You should duck and
take care not to get your head hit by a tree branch!”
“Really~~~!
Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh...!?”
The
bike rushed into the mountain. Branches and leaves kept whittling by
their sides. The uneven ground caused them to bump up and down, and
they were almost thrown off the bike.
(So scary, going to die, going
to die, going to die...!) [TL Note: I made an arbitrary decision here to separate this from the original paragraph and put it separately as Pariel's thoughts.]
…!
The
next second, everything from before vanished. The bike rushed into a
meadow in the forest. Mahiro stepped firmly on the brakes, and slid
the the bike to a stop.
Pariel
opened her eyes to an unbelievable scene.
An army of hundreds of black-armored figures stood in the clearing. In the
Middle Plains, none of the countries had any corps that wore such an
uniform. After she took a closer look out of curiosity, the armors
bore the <Crest of the Lion> of the Empire. Which meant that
they were...
(The
Imp...Imperial...Imperial Army!?)
The
knights also were frozen in shock.
If
those who approached were an army, or obviously a demon, the knights
probably would've attacked right away. But since the intruders were
completely unexpected, they had no idea how to react.
The two
sides were equally shocked.
“Erm...erm...we...we're...”
Pariel
was the only one who hastily tried to say something.
If
Pariel followed along, Mahiro wouldn't be in danger, she said...
“Edelweiss-sama
you liar!”
Too bad
that she wasn't here. Cursing had no effect.
“What
should we do, what should we do, you idiot!!”
Then,
Mahiro suddenly talked to her in a low voice.
“To tell you the truth, I wanted to scout out to see if there was an Imperial scout
force here.”
“Ah...?
T-then...”
“Uh
huh. But, since we were going so fast, I couldn't stop the bike in
time.”
Shock.
“We
charged into the enemy's camp for such a simple reason...?”
As the
two were having their exchange, they were already surrounded by the
army of black knights.
*
“What
happened? Was that a cry of a demon?”
The
knights replied with a bit of uncertainty to Lunas' inquiry.
“Erm,
well, we caught some spies...probably not, bandits, maybe...eh, they
don't really seem like so either...ah, well, I'm not really sure, we
caught two strange people...”
“...Hmm?
Well then, let me meet them.”
As
Lunas stood up, Reiner interjected.
“Princess,
please leave this to me.”
“Don't
say that. We have nothing to do until night time anyway. Let's wait
until we see them to judge whether it'll be a repeat of last night's
events.”
*
There
were more people crowded around Mahiro's beloved horse than there
were around the two.
“What's
this?”
“A
bike, you've never seen one before?
“Oh,
so this is a bike? This is my first time seeing one.”
“How
does this work?”
“What
does this switch do?”
“Let's
carve a memento on here with a coin.”
The
Empire did actually have relics from the old civilization.
Automobiles were used for the transport of large objects or supplies
over a long distance, and a bike had little use for them, so it was
normal that they have not seen one before.
“Ahhh,
please stop, please stop! Don't randomly leave your fingerprints on
there, much less carve a memento with a coin! Think of the younger
generations, don't destroy things mindlessly!”
(He's
actually more worried about the bike's safety rather than his own...)
Of
course, Pariel was bound by ropes as well, so she was considering how
to escape. Fortunately, the attention of all the soldiers were on
Mahiro's bike. As long as she could loosen the ropes, there will be a
chance for them to escape...or so she thought.
“Quiet!
Her Highness Princess Lunas has arrived.”
After
the order shouted by the young man, the chaotic scene quickly
returned to order. The black knights lined up quickly, which spoke
volumes about the harsh training that they went through. As Pariel
wondered what they were doing, an eye-catching beauty dressed in male
attire appeared.
Her
face was filled with spirit, and her chestnut-colored hair fell to
her waist. She even brought high level maids to such a place. Most
importantly, when she appeared, the black knights were filled with
tension.
The
Gran Marsenal Empire's third royal princess – Lunas Victora
Majestia.
Her
very presence changed the atmosphere around them.
(The
Third Imperial Princess, in a place like this--!?)
Lunas,
wearing a calm, composed smile, stood before the shocked Pariel and
Mahiro.
“These
two? You're right, they don't look like spies or bandits. Who are you
two?”
Royalty.
It was the same as Mahiro bringing a Royal Guard along with him to
this place. The only difference was the fact that she brought
hundreds of soldiers all the way from the Imperial capital.
“Answer.”
She
held in her hands a beautiful sword, with prismatic gems lining the
edge of the sword all the way from the hilt to halfway up the blade.
“Ah,
eh...we're, this is my young master, and I'm his family tutor...”
Something
like this that she would say on the streets to hide their identities would
obviously have little effect here.
The
blade, almost seeming to flare as it moved, was slowly brought to
Pariel's throat. Aside from the feeling of impending death in her,
she also felt an odd sense of loss.
“What's
there to be scared of, Pariel?”
Mahiro
shook his head in disappointment.
“We
haven't done anything wrong. Why not tell her clearly?”
Compared
to Pariel who was in a stupor and frozen still, Mahiro, despite his
hands being bound behind him, drew up his body with dignity and
answered.
“Everyone
hear this! I am the Royal Prince of the Kingdom of Mismarca –
Mahiro Yukelsnike Edenfalt!”
4
The
area was dead quiet.
“Young
master?”
“Hahaha,
look Pariel. Even though I came alone into their camp, I could scare
them with a single sentence!”
Bam!
Despite
both her hands being bound, Pariel subconsciously gave a reverse roundhouse kick to the back of Mahiro's head.
“Okay,
young master, is your mind clearer now? You're in the presence of Her
Highness Lunas, who bears such a name to herself. Introduce yourself again correctly."
Mahiro
could only squirm on the ground after being disciplined by Pariel,
who turned on her high level teacher's switch.
“Y...yes,
I was wrong. Actually, I am Mahimahi, King of the South Seas, I
apologize for any disturba-geh.”
“All
in all, young master has a severe case of mental disorder and vivid
imagination...so...”
It was
hard to believe. After she said it, she had trouble even believing
herself. Pariel thought that she must have angered the princess, and
lifted her head slightly to peek, only to see the princess smiling.
“Did
you think I would believe that?”
Pariel
immediately thought that “Of course it didn't work”...but looking
carefully, Lunas was talking to Mahiro.
“Heh
heh, did you believe that you would live longer if you called
yourself the prince? You should consider what you say more
carefully.”
Well,
there was the possibility of being taken as a hostage if he were to
say that. Of course, there was also the possibility of immediate
execution.
Lunas
turned to ask the young general.
“Does
he seem like a prince?”
“Definitely
not.”
An
instant reply.
“How
about a spy?”
“Impossible.”
“Hmm,
I think the same.”
(Un...unbelievable...)
It
seemed like they wouldn't believe him because he seemed so stupid.
Well,
honestly, as a prince, it definitely seemed weird for him to venture
out alone, and not to mention that he was punished with a kick to the
back of the head. He even changed his name to Mahimahi. He had none
of the princely grace that was expected of a prince.
Ahh, if
she was an outsider, she wouldn't even consider the possibility that
Mahiro was a prince...
Lunas
looked over at the bike.
“So,
what were you doing with this?”
“I
wanted to establish a record for the fastest speed on the Middle
Plains.”
Because
Mahiro spoke of such unusual things, Lunas had some trouble
understanding him.
“The
fastest speed...establish a record? What use does that have?”
“That's
easy. Mismarca has no special industry or produce. But, if I
establish a record for the highest speed here, then it would prove
the might of Mismarcan mechanics and of its scientific might, and
would spread the fame all over the continent. So, after that,
countries would come to Mismarca for repairs, modifications, or even for building entirely new automobiles. After that...famous
and skilled mechanics would come from all over the continent. So,
Mismarca would finally have its unique industry that no other
country could match. We could match, no, even exceed the
technologies of the Far East and the Veronica Trade Alliance.” [TL Note: I made an arbitrary decision to combine two paragraphs here since it seemed awkward.]
It was
amazing that Mahiro could easily spin such a tale of lies.
(Sigh...it
seemed that he had a lot of practice in his everyday life...)
Anyways,
after Mahiro's speech, not just the black knights, but even the princess
was moved. The tension in the air slowly faded.
“Hmm..so,
you mean, you're part of the mechanics?”
“Nay,
I'm not a military officer; to be specific, I am an outside
subcontractor. Monsters like this bike, there aren't many people
willing to test them out.”
Since
they came this far, might as well as rely on the Prince's lying
skills. He was a genius at it, if he could keep his calm and speak so
naturally while surrounded on all sides by enemies. It seems that
idiots had their strengths in unusual situations.
Lunas
looked deeply at the bike, and then, smiling, said.
“Ahhh,
you said that this little thing was a monster? Between it and a
horse, which one is faster?”
“Of
course the bike is faster!”
“Ohhh?
What about comparing it to a truck? Our army uses them regularly for
transport, and they could easily exceed one hundred kilometers on
flat ground! You mentioned speed record, what kind of speeds were you
talking about?”
“Our
goal is twice of that speed, two hundred kilometers.”
As
Mahiro said that, everyone was quite shocked. The princess let out an
expression of disbelief.
“For
real? It couldn't really be that fast. Two hundred kilometers were
the attack speeds of dragon knights! What if the bike crashed at that
speed?”
“Then
of course you would be turned into meat mush.”
Mahiro
said nonchalantly.
“Even
falling from a horse would result in heavy injuries. And
unfortunately, I don't know how to use magic, so I can't erect
magical barriers or things like that.”
At
this, even the <Sword of Luminosity>, infamously fierce, felt
that Mahiro was unbelievable and reacted a little cutely, having a sweat drop on her temple.
“Something's
not quite right. Why did you come up to this mountain that is filled
with trees? If it were really that dangerous, then wouldn't somewhere
with less obstacles be better...?”
“Something
with wheels is different from a horse. It goes even faster down a
slope.”
– So
I climbed up a mountain.
So it
was only because it was faster to go down a slope.
“““...”””
Mahiro wore such a radiant and simple smile that left others
speechless.