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3rd Person Perspective
Once through the gate and into the city, he exits the carriage without being noticed by Kawahara.
The city was already bustling
with activity as if a festival had already begun. Merchants are running around
carrying large loads of goods to prepare their stalls, craftsmen are decorating
street lamps and trees, and children are running around with grilled skewers
and candy in their hands. Everyone looks hectic, happy, and joyful. He doesn’t
see what he’s looking for.
He moves swiftly through the school-of-fish-like
crowd, oblivious to his presence. He enters a park close to the center of town.
It is an empty area, cut off from the buildings that line the street.
He sat down on a suitable
bench while looking at the children playing and kicking the ball. Freed from
the crowds, his dizziness has finally subsided, and he can finally breathe a
sigh of relief.
There is a playground in the
corner of the square. There is a seesaw and a swing. And there is a row of
raised scaffolding like mushrooms. You can jump across the tops of them.
(I wonder what the name of
that one was?) (Unknown)
When he was a child, he used
to watch from afar as other children my age played on them. After he left his hometown—there
was something similar in that village.
A girl about five years old is
trying to jump. She is doing well halfway through, but she reaches a distance
that she can’t reach even if she stretches her legs, and even though she tries
to jump, she fails and falls down. A woman who seems to be her mother runs up
to the child who is half-crying while smiling wryly.
He realizes that he too is
smiling a small smile.
After realizing this, he
smiles to himself again.
“—Hey. You’re late, Deputy
Commander.” (Unknown)
Sitting
next to him is the man to whom he has – albeit tentatively – handed over his
position as commander.
“Please stop, Commander. I’m
supposed to be Takagi of Suginami here.” (Takagi)
“Takagi? Oh, is that your
fake identity?” (Unknown => Commander)
He-Kawataro handed over the ID
he had borrowed from a corpse in a metro somewhere several years ago. The commander
quickly glanced at it and chuckled, “Kuku”.
“What’s wrong?”
(Takagi => Kawataro)
“…It’s nothing. Torasuke
Takagi.” (Commander)
Kawataro tilted his head, not
understanding the meaning.
“Kawataro of Kappabashi,
it’s a gold-colored kappa statue in Asakusa. A kappa was said to have lived in
the Sumida River in the Edo period and helped with the creation of the river to
repay the people who saved its life. Over there they treated them like a lucky
mascot rather than a mischievous youkai.” (Commander)
“Huh?” (Kawataro)
“On the other hand, Toranosuke
Takagi was a warrior in the Miyazaki region of Hyuga Province in Kyushu who had
an anecdote about killing a yokai. There are paintings of him diving into the
water and catching a kappa. It was a little funny to see him all alone with a yokai
picture scroll like that.” (Commander)
“Huh?” (Kawataro)
“Well, I got all that
from Wikipurio. I remember it all very well, such useless knowledge.”
(Commander)
Kawataro had no idea what was
going on. The man often brought up such stories. This was long before Kawataro
was born, long before the current country was born when this country was called
Japan.
The Asakusa mentioned earlier
is probably different from Kawataro’s hometown of Asakusa. The name Kawataro,
which he chose after being chased from that town, has nothing to do with being
a kappa or the old tale. It is an ironic coincidence that it is the exact
opposite of a mascot from Kitcho [T/N: Restaurant chain.].
“So, how did you get in so
easily?” (Commander)
“Well… I had heard about the
checkpoint beforehand. I had to kill some thugs and ingratiate a merchant to me,
the old man was a nice guy, so I managed to get in. I was a little scared
because the warrant was pretty similar to me.” (Kawataro)
It was most likely the work of
those guys who had escaped from the Rikugi Metro. It was a good thing I took
off my trademark sunglasses from the Metro.
“Hyahaha, frankly, that made
me laugh.” (Commander)
“It wasn’t even a few
years ago, but hey, it was drawn like that.” (Kawataro)
“Well, it’s not even a portrait,
let alone a photograph. With so many people coming and going, there’s no way
you can identify a person with just a caricature like that. In an age without
surveillance cameras or facial recognition systems, it’s just like in a spy
movie where a terrorist gets into an event.” (Commander)
He still has no idea what the
commander is talking about. It’s not like the commander is asking for
understanding either, so it’s fine to laugh vaguely.
“Anyway, you’re being threatened,
aren’t you?” (Commander)
“Of course, they would.
After all, I’ve made such a disturbing move around the neighborhood before an important
festival. It’s like asking to get our faces.” (Kawataro)
He didn’t have to take the
risk of sneaking in by climbing a wall under the cover of night. For an event
as important as this, they would be on high alert day and night.
“Well, it was correct
that I didn’t ask you to be a courier. It would have been even more suspicious
if you had been carrying such a suspicious-looking item.” (Commander)
The commander then went
through their bag. What they took out was a rough, blue-black, palm-sized
sphere.
Kawataro knows what it is.
Perhaps that is why it seems to be pulsating in the hand of the commander as he
gazes at it.
“Kuku”, The leader laughs. His
crescent eyes are fixed on the children running around the park, and the
corners of his mouth are lifted up as if to slice his cheeks into bright red.
“…If I release this
here now… It’s going to be really fun…” (Commander)
When Kawataro realized it, the
core of his body was trembling.
Kawataro desperately tries not
to show it, but instead puts a frivolous smile on his face and holds the
commander’s hand.
“…Not yet, Commander.
The fireworks haven’t gone off, and the special guest hasn’t arrived yet.”
(Commander)
Like a balloon on the verge of
bursting, the color of the Commander’s madness subsides. Or maybe he’s just
making it look like it’s settled.
“Oh yeah, there’s one
more thing I wanted to show you.” (Commander)
He puts the sphere back in his
bag and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper instead.
Kawataro takes it and looks at
it, wrinkling it out.
The black-and-white printout
listed the matchups for the Grand Tournament, which was to be held in three
days. The paper lists seven matchups, with exaggerated titles or catchy phrases.
“…kuku.”
(Commander)
The final match, which will be
the main match, will be the last match of the tournament. The “Holy Silver
Puppeteer” will be facing a young hunter from Sugamo. A name and photo are
prominently displayed under a pop-up sign that reads, “Sugamo’s Golden
Rookie”, the World’s Most Reckless Challenger! The expression on his face as he
strikes a fighting pose with his fists clenched is interesting because it oozes
a sense of abandon rather than enthusiasm for taking on the legend.
“…If you take a picture
with such a rough image quality, the dull face looks even duller… ‘Slime
Killer'” (Kawataro)
“Huh? It’s getting
interesting, isn’t it?” (Commander)
The commander is also very
excited. He gets up from the bench and stretches out.
“Well, I’m going to sleep
for a while, it’s the f-o-u-n-d-i-n-g festival and it has been years since I’ve
seen their faces… I’m looking forward to it.” (Commander)
Singing in an out-of-tempo
tune, the commander headed out to leave. Kawataro follows behind their back swaying
in a good mood.
“…it’s finally time,
huh?” (Kawataro)
After leaving the park, KLawataro
turned his attention once again to the central area of Sugamo City. The city of
Sugamo has a lot of elegant buildings that he has never seen before even in
Asakusa.
Sugamo City Hall, the City
Council building, the mayor’s mansion, and the state guest house.
He looked at them as if he were
shooting at them and flicking a finger in his chest. The moment when the white
bullet will be released is just around the corner.
“…looking forward to
it, huh…?” (Kawataro)
He murmured so as if to
persuade himself before turning on his heels.
Trick or treat. He felt like saying.
A/N: The intermission is a bit after in chronological order. The main
story rewinds a little and starts with the story of Shuu and the others.
T/N: If you like the series rate, review it and add it to your reading list on Novel Updates. You can also donate through Paypal or Ko-fi or subscribe to Lazy Translations. Thank you!
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