Translator Corner
Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!
As usual. The apology session:
Sorry… for the lateness on my part… But I
need to put rice on my plate… (or bread for European).
I am thanking the donators for the donation.
Your donation will be used to purchase LN to be translated one day…… I wonder
if one day will come where I don’t need
to work for my daily bread……
DISCLAIMER: There is no
guarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I was
wrong.
Author:
Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)
Translator:
Yukkuri Oniisan
Editor:
So-Chintzy
Postwar Arc
Chapter 4: The Lion in a Cage
Several days had pa.s.sed since our
return to the Capital City Parnam from Van.
I am now in front of the prison underneath
Parnam Castle. There is no light source other than torches, so it is dim. From
the fact that it is located inside the castle, it could be easy to surmise that
there are many people of high ranks who have entered this prison. Chiefly,
imprisoned as political prisoners. Inside such a dungeon, I am faced with
someone behind the bars. After a lull of silence for a pa.s.sing moment, I
addressed the person inside the cell.
「This
is the first time we have met personally like this. I am the Temporary King, Souma
Kazuya.」(Souma)
「It
is my pleasure to meet you. I am Georg Carmine.」(Georg)
While giving his greeting, the
former Army’s Supreme General, the Lion-faced beastman, Georg Carmine, bowed
his head deeply. In contrast with me, who was sitting on the chair, Georg sat
directly on the cell floor, cross legged just like how a commander in Sengoku
j.a.pan would sit when having an audience with his lord.[1]
While still bowing his head, Georg began to talk,
「Once
again, I give my sincere congratulations for the war this time.」(Georg)
Georg’s imprisonment in this
place happened several days before our return. Until then, he was under house
arrest at Randell Castle, so he must have gathered the information back then.
「Raise
your face. It is hard to talk with that posture.」(Souma)
「As
you wish, Your Majesty.」(Georg)
Georg raised his head and moved his
body upright to face me. Because his body has a burly physique, with a stature
close to 2 meters, our eyes were at the same level even though I was sitting on
a chair. 『Magnificent』…… such an expression suited him as a military man. I
understood why Liscia respects him. It was hard not to be overwhelmed by his
atmosphere. He has such an amazing presence, even so, he is the youngest
amongst the three dukes. I’m positive that Castor is about 160 years old. While
for Excel, she had pa.s.sed 500 years.
「Doesn’t
the true ages of the Three Dukes seem to be the opposite from their outer appearances?
Also in the mental age aspect, too.」(Souma)
When I mentioned this, Georg
laughed 「Gahaha.」
「Certainly.
It is typical for the long living races that the body and mind’s growth could
be said as slow. For a long living race, it’s been said that their appearance
and mental age is (their true age) x (human or beast-kin’s usual maximum
lifespan
I see. It could be said that this
world had something similar to 『for the Crane one thousand years, the Tortoise ten
thousand years』[2] that is 『for the Dragonewt Race five hundred years, the Sea
Dragon Tribe one thousand years.』 for the symbol of longevity (but in this world, they really do live up
until that age). In other words, Castor is 160 x 100 ÷ 500, so he is still just
32 years old (human equivalent). If we think along these lines, then I could
understand why he still had his muscle-brained att.i.tude,……. Eh? Wait a minute!
「If
we use that theory, then isn’t Excel’s mental age already 50 years old?」(Souma)
「……In
everything, there is an exception.」(Georg)
「Don’t
just overlook on this.」(Souma)
From that casual conversation, after
a breather, I moved on to the main business.
「……If
I meet with that you, there are a lot of things I want to say to and ask from
you.」(Souma)
「By
all means.」(B)
「Well,
before that, it seems you haven’t met with Liscia yet.」(Souma)
When I brought this matter up, Georg
slowly closed his eyes. Since her return to Parnam, it seems that Liscia had once
had requested to meet with Georg. However Georg, yelled 『Your
Lady is someone who will soon become the queen, how could you request to meet
with a criminal?』(although to be accurate, it was the prison guard who
sent the verbal message) and drove her away. Since Liscia has a really serious
personality, she reacted heavily to those words. Since then, she has never made
another meeting request. Each and every day, she is stout heartedly endured it.
「……That’s
why, I don’t think this situation is alright.」(Souma)
「My
farewell with the Princess had been finished at the Final Counsel. There is no
longer any need for words for now.」(Georg)
「The
time when she cut her hair?」(Souma)
「I have
seen the Princess’ resolution with that deed. As a person, as a women, Princess
has splendidly archived her independence. I don’t want to cloud that
resolution, influencing it by this fading body.」
He rejected for Liscia’s sake? Good
grief…… this obstinate old man.
「There
is something that I want to ask.」(Georg)
「What
is it?」(Souma)
「It
is about the people who followed our treason, what will happen to the soldiers
of the Army and the Air Force? Then, how will you deal with the treacherous
n.o.bles who have committed dishonest deeds?」(Georg)
「The
soldiers from the Army and the Air Force have obtained meritorious deeds in the
war against Amidonia, and so are pardoned of their crime. The Vargas House had
committed high-treason against me, but they have accomplishes many meritorious
services until the previous King’s reign. The only people who will be implicated
would be Castor and Carla. The duchy will be abolished, but I will let the
eldest son, who had severed connections with the House beforehand and was in the
care of Excel, to succeed the House and permit him to possess only the Crimson
Dragon Castle-Town. But then, since that child is still young, his mother Axera
and the chamberlain Tormann will become his counselors. As for Castor and Carla,
since Excel had appealed for them by relinquis.h.i.+ng her war merits, they will
receive my personal judgment at a later date.」(Souma)
Georg closed his eyes. I wonder
what he felt when he heard all this.
「Then,
for the dishonest n.o.bles…… on top of the abolition of their Family Name, confiscation
of their territories and a.s.sets…… execution. The main perpetrator will be publicly
executed, while the other implicated people will be dealt with in private.」
The existing law stated that 『the Crime
of High Treason will be punished by summary execution to the third degree of kins.h.i.+p.』 Before rebelling just like Georg, if they had severed
their connections, then they wouldn’t have involved the unrelated relatives, but
the dishonest n.o.bles had mostly been negligent in doing so. Perhaps, they never
thought that they would lose…… But how incompetent of them. Furthermore, not
only they commit treason, but they also had committed corruption, bribery,
collusion with Amidonia, and misdeeds on their individual territories (abusing
their authority and status to commit murder, rape, robbery, etc.), and in any
case, they had completely violated the law. For people like Georg and Castor,
whose only crime was treason, it is possible to at least deliver a clemency
appeal for them, but on the contrary for the n.o.bles, there are pet.i.tions to
have them killed in a gruesome manner.
「A
system of guilt by a.s.sociation, I guess that is to accuse the other relatives for
not stopping the criminal? But isn’t third degree of kins.h.i.+p is too much?」(Souma)
「That
can’t be helped. For humans and beastkin, being able to see the face of a
great-grandchild already means a long life, but there are races that could see
the face of their great-great grandchild and beyond that while still in active
service. Because of this, the sentence scope was extended.」
「That’s
why, wouldn’t too many unrelated people die? Even after Hakuya frantically ran
around things, he was barely able to revise it to second degree of kins.h.i.+p.
Furthermore, those under thirteen years are exempted from the execution sentence
and would be given to an orphanage or into the church’s custody.」
Those under the age of ten will
be in the care of a state managed orphanage, those aged eleven to thirteen will
be entrusted to the church. The difference between both of those are whether or
not they could marry and create a family in the future. For those that entered
an orphanage, this is possible, but not so for those who entered the church, as
they will need to detach themselves from the secular world. Furthermore, if
there are pregnant women or women that are not yet one month from her
childbirth, they, too would be entrusted to be watched by the church. If in the
future, they conspire for a crime, then at that time, they will be “dealt with”
…… Currently, I am only able to do this much.
「I
am…… against this guilt by a.s.sociation system. Only the people who committed
the crime who should be judged. Even if they are the criminal’s relatives, it
is surely a mistake to put innocent people to death. In addition, I also feel
the same for public execution. The death penalty, as a verdict for a heinous
crime, will lose its deterrence value. That’s why, I don’t want to turn such a death
penalty into a public spectacle and want to quickly reform the citizens’ minds who
thought of the death penalty as a show.」(Souma)
「It
is already your country. You can do whatever you like with it.」(Georg)
「……Then
I shall do so.」(Souma)
「……Your
Majesty, is it painful to rob people’s life?」(Georg)
Was I making quite a bitter
expression on my face? Georg spoke out as if he noticed it.
「Of
course there is no way that it is not painful. Just by one decree, numerous lives
could be snuffed out. I am crushed by this sense of responsibility. Just half a
year ago I was still a commoner, you know.」
「I
have heard about this from Princess’ letter. Yet, the Princess gave high
praises to Your Majesty as a King amongst Kings. She wants to devote her body
and soul to support you.」
「Liscia……
has frequently supported me. However, I must make a decision that will make her
really sad. I must have you…… die.」
I put my hand on my forehead and
let out a groan.
「Your
plan is splendid. I have heard about it from Hal’s dad…… Glaive. To gather all
the dishonest n.o.bles into one place, even their hidden a.s.sets, and catch them
in one go. Even those that were missed by Hakuya and I, a plan that doesn’t leave
much to desire. However…… since we couldn’t release this information officially,
your treatment, will be the same as the dishonest n.o.bles.」
There are two reasons why I
couldn’t make an official statement about this. The first reason is that there
were casualties in the battle between the Royal Army and the Kingdom Army. Unlike
the battle at the Crimson Dragon Castle-Town, where the only casualties on
Royal Army side was just one battles.h.i.+p, at the battle on Randell’s outskirts, there
were quite a few victims that had fallen on both sides. Although, it could be
said that Georg had deliberately incited the battle for this country’s sake, surely
the families of the victims wouldn’t agree with this.
The second reason, is that Zem, which
was paying the ransom for the captured mercenaries would have its sentiments towards
Elfrieden deteriorate even more. At the present stage, Zem would regret
dispatching their mercenaries to the losing side as the revenge for our
discontinuation of the Zemish mercenary contract. However, if they know the
secret connection between Georg and me, then Zem would have thought that they
had been set up by the Kingdom (although, it was Georg’s own arbitrary actions).
Their national sentiment towards the Kingdom, that was already bad, will become
even more worse. This is a situation that I want to avoid.
That is why we arrived at this
situation, I couldn’t make an official statement about Georg’s plan. But then, Georg
had already been aware of this since the beginning. But he decided to purposely
take this literally to the grave. An obstinate person. Really…… a foolish one.
「Hey,
are there no other ways besides this? Is this your wish? To suffer even infamy,
have a double suicide with the dishonest n.o.bles, are you satisfied by this!?」(Souma)
I stood up and banged at the
cell’s bars.
「Why
do you need to rush things!? It will take time, but there are surely other ways
to bring the dishonest n.o.bles to justice! The same with what happened to
Castor! Isn’t his rebellion because of your fault pus.h.i.+ng your plan rashly!
Even though there are jobs I want you to do in the post war times, but that
plan has already been thrown out of order now, right? …… Well, settling everything
with just one action is too ambitious. If this country’s openness had become
relatively better, my and Hakuya’s plan would proceed easily. Because of that, there
is no meaning for losing you! Don’t you know that for a country, losing a
talented person is a terrible blow! It is not an equal value to the dishonest
n.o.bles!」(Souma)
「……」(Georg)
I asked Georg who had silently
closed his eyes. I once again struck the cell’s bars.
「Answer
me! You. Are you really satisfied by this!?」(Souma)
「……Of
course.」(Georg)
Georg made his reply with a calm
expression.
「I
believe that I am similar to a large tree, and after my death, new sprouts
would grow from my roots. Then, my only wish is for that sprouts to grow
healthily.」(Georg)
「……For
that reason, must the great tree also need to be struck down?」(Souma)
「It
is my cherished dream. I feel joy to sense that the next generation will have a
robust growth. Your Majesty will also eventually understand.」(Georg)
「…… Will
I?」(Souma)
「When
the Princess gives birth to a child, then certainly you will.」(Georg)
I slammed myself into the chair. I
was wrapped by an unusual ennui as I asked another thing that I had been
concerned with.
「Hey…..
Was everything “thought up by yourself”?」(Souma)
「……
What does that mean?」(Georg)
Georg opened his eyes and asked
me back. Don’t suddenly play senile!
「This
is our first meeting. Even so, you have a strangely high evaluation of me. You
have entrusted the current plan to me, you have entrusted Liscia, who is like a
precious daughter for you, to me, and you have entrusted the Kingdom’s future
to me. No matter how much I thought about this, this is strange. Where does
that faith come from?」(Souma)
「…… I
knew of your extraordinary talent from the Princess’ letters, do you have any
dissatisfaction with this answer?」(Georg)
「Yeah, I am dissatisfied. Could you harbor faith on
letters? If we are talking about your self-sacrifice, then there is only “for
Elfrieden’s Royalty’s” sake, isn’t this true?」(Souma)
Now that I thought about it, it
had been strange “since the beginning.” Since the beginning, strangely the road
that I needed to take had been prepared. Suddenly handing the crown to me, easily
obtaining political power, pairing me with Liscia as her fiancée to grant me a
just cause, and bringing the dishonest n.o.bles to justice before I knew it. To
think back upon it, I felt that the noob me had moved too easily. Perhaps, this
was someone’s intentions…… If someone could do this, then there no one else but
“that person.”
「Is the
current plan that person’s order?」(Souma)
「……I will
keep silent about this.」(Georg)
「Please
answer it. That person, you, what in the world is it that the both of you know?」(Souma)
「……」(Georg)
I waited for Georg’s words, but
he didn’t reply back. We were facing each other in silence for a short while. Only
the soundless ringing inside the prison reached my ears.[3]
…… This is enough, it would be futile, no matter how much I waited.
「So
you… can’t give the answer.」(Souma)
「…… If
the time for that eventually comes, that person will speak to you.」(Georg)
I stood up, took out a small
bottle from my pocket, and placed it in front of Georg.
「Your
Majesty, this is?」(Georg)
「……Poisoned
wine. It will be done in this way, since I can’t bring myself to let a man that
has sacrificed himself for his country to be executed in front of the public. Also……
I have recommended this method to the people who are trying to sacrifice
themselves for you.」(Souma)
Perhaps it was because of Georg’s
personality, that there was not a small amount of officers and soldiers from
the Army who did this. Starting from the
former second of command, Beowulf, to several high ranked army officers, all had
requested to be punished with the same sentence as Georg. Also, among the Army
and the Air Force soldiers who didn’t get pardoned with the services they had done
in the war against Amidonia, there were people who were being imprisoned from
trying to commit suicide in front of the Royal Castle to demand a life clemency
for their general. Really…… These death-seeker fellows.
Georg received the small bottle,
said 「My grat.i.tude」, and relaxed his cheek. His stern lion face began to
look like that of a good natured old man. Georg opened the lid of the small
bottle and then lifted it towards me.
「Your
Majesty. I will entrust the Princess to your hands.」(Georg)
「I can’t
make any definite promises…… but I am Liscia’s fiancée. She is someone who will
soon become my family. 『No matter what happens, protect the family.』……
This is the sole belief that I would never discard even if I have to disregard
my realist thinking.」(Souma)
Because I knew how lonely it was being
alone after losing a family, I would never concede over this belief. Even if it
would be inefficient for doing so. Perhaps, because Georg felt my resolution, he
nodded in satisfaction.
「I
feel relieved to hear that reply. I will pray for Elfrieden Kingdom’s glory, and
Your Majesty and the Princess’s happiness from underneath the shadow of the gra.s.s.
Farewell….. Excuse me.」(Georg)
After saying these words, Georg drank
the contents of that small bottle in one gulp. His body shook violently before
he leaned forward, the empty small bottle fell from his hand to the floor and broke
with a clang. At the next moment, there
a thudding sound, and with that over, silence once again visited the prison. Georg’s
face that fell sideways…… showed a satisfied smile. I stood up, turned my back
at the cell and walked away.
Step, step……
After several steps, I stopped
for a moment, and turned my head back once more.
「You
idiot…… Don’t just burden me like this.」(Souma)
I walked again. This time I
didn’t turn back.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next day, Chris Tachyon’s News
Program informed the public the news that 『Former
Kingdom Army Supreme General Georg Carmine, has committed suicide in the jail.』
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Author note:
Thank you for keep reading this.
Georg’s way of life’s image song[4]
will not of 「A Lion Standing in the Wind」[5], but the second part of the lyric from 「When the Dream Blows」[6]. If you know both of this, then you are
quite a nerd.[7]
*and some part about giving reaction and
comment after reading this and next story that I don’t feel want to translate…*
☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽
Q: Why are you not
translate Author notes Yukkuri-san?
A: I only translate Author
notes that have interesting content… Most of the previous author notes is just thanking
the reader and asking for comment and rating……
Q: Why don’t you
translate faster Yukkuri-san?
A: Well… let’s just say……
working.
Also… I have several fully
translated chapter in store, but since it has become night (at least on my
place) and I am sleepy, I will post it tomorrow afternoon.
For your drug, here a ‘not
so good’ scan from the LN.