Himegami no Miko v1c7

Himegami no Miko (姫神の巫女) Part I, Chapter 7
Dear HnM translation fans,

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Uhh, I mean…

A thousand apologies. I decided to open with Sonnet 18 to see if I can woo you all into taking me back and forgiving me for my extended absence. I explained a little bit in my previous post following the new year, but not too many seemed to have read (or cared for) it. :-/ Hopefully there is still a place in your hearts for little ol’ me…?

I worked on this chapter over several days as it seems like I lost some of my touch, but I feel like I’m gaining it all back, little by little. So if the quality of this one doesn’t seem so great, please bear with me! m( _ _ )m

On a slightly unrelated note: I did make it to the interview round for the JET Program which, though I have not been informed of the exact date yet, will take place closer to the end of this month. As I’ve said, my biggest goal this year is to make it back to j.a.pan and, with this, I’m one step closer to realizing it. :)

Long overdue thanks to megan, lilly_938, lethe, Zefiris, Kaizora, serene01, darkcharm and Nekane for your lovely comments! I hope I can make this rather long wait up to you now!

Disclaimer: Himegami no Miko belongs to Uetake Sumio-san and ill.u.s.trations belong to Kaishaku. The original text can be accessed here. This is not being done for profit or for sale; only for the sake of those who can’t understand it in the original j.a.panese. Also, for my own practice and enjoyment. The translation is 100% my self-effort, so please do credit me for it, especially if you would like to translate it into another language. Thank you!

“What a petty joke.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
Souma waved his hand.
“No matter what, the Honorable Arbitrator must not lend a hand to either one of the Mikamiko. The battle should only be between the Mikamiko of each respective family to the very end. Shouldn’t it?”
“I know, I know. That certainly has been the law since time immemorial, but…”
Saying that, Souma brushed his hair back.
“There’s something that worries me a little.”
“What…would that be?”
“Putting aside my mission as the Honorable Arbitrator, aren’t you casting reality aside with this silly playing house?”
Chikane’s eyes became clouded with discomfort.
“With all due respect, the Hinomiya Mikamiko and I have already settled on what we are going to do.”
For the ‘Soul Offered to Heaven’ during the Ceremony to Appease the Spirit of the Dead, I will offer Himeko to Oomikami-sama. That is what we have decided.
“I know but, capturing and imprisoning her would be the same thing…wouldn’t it?”
“In that case, the Hinomiya family would try to recapture the Mikamiko and fighting would ensue. I do not dread conflict, but the Hinomiya Mikamiko said that she sees no need in pointlessly shedding the blood of any relatives.”
“So, you’re just playing at getting along?”
“Yes.”
“But, you know, they say that one grows attached to a pet after three days.”
“I was selected as the Mikamiko of the Kouzuki family.”
Souma’s gaze held Chikane’s eyes captive.
His powerful air of intimidation was sharp like a nail, grave like a crus.h.i.+ng force capable of killing an average person, no, even a capable member of the Kudara, with one look.
A chill ran down Chikane’s back.
Those eyes were definitely dreadful.
That gaze resembled Chikane’s own, but it was also different from hers.
If Chikane’s eyes were that of a huntress aiming for a prize, Souma’s were those of an aristocrat enjoying himself with falconry.
Like a snake that licks its lips before its cornered prey, he torments his victim by rolling the tip of his tongue as if savoring a fine taste.
‘Where should I begin and how should I eat it?’
However, Chikane would not allow herself to be defeated.
Using all her willpower to stop his blow, she returned his glare.
Chikane is the Mikamiko of the Kouzuki family.
Even if she’s up against the Kutouda who control the island, or the Honorable Arbitrator, she will not yield to anything except her destiny.
She must not lose. Otherwise…there is no way she would be able to win this fight where she has risked to put her life and pride on the line.
Within the mysterious silence, both of their gazes crossed swords with one another.
This was a clash of wills. It was the intangible, silent locking of swords where they bet on the position of their souls.
The moment resembling eternity continued———
Suddenly, a smile came to Souma’s lips.
It was an innocent and childish smile where one could not even sense a single particle of the horror that had been present just a moment before.
Their locking of swords had ended.
Chikane felt a light sluggishness.
She felt a sort of sense of wasted effort in having run a long distance.
The spark of the soul was, at the same time, the bloodshed of the spirit.
Brus.h.i.+ng his forelocks, Souma shook his head.
“As what you would expect from the Kouzuki Mikamiko. Quite obstinate.”
“…”
“Honestly speaking, I don’t care about which one of you wins as long as the Ceremony to Appease the Spirit of the Dead is carried out.”
“…”
“Well, I guess that, between the both of you, I’d want you to win most, perhaps?”
As Souma said that, he peered fixedly at Chikane’s face as if evaluating her.
“Compared to that pug-nosed face, you’d be more preferable. In any case, I must leave behind some fine offspring for the sake of the future of the island.”
The Mikamiko who is victorious and lives has one other duty.
That is Kunado-
To join with the Honorable Arbitrator and bear his child.
The end of ‘The Soul Offered to Heaven” concludes with a kind of marriage before G.o.d.
Chikane’s facial expression did not change. Not one eyebrow twitched.
However, her heart beat loudly for some reason.
At that moment, Souma stretched the palm of his hand towards Chikane’s chest and grasped an abundant breast.

The warning line of the five senses Chikane had polished to a s.h.i.+ne and that could not be crossed had been destroyed in an instant.
So casually, so ignorantly, like when a child extends his hand, and too naturally, as dead leaves that scatter about and fall.
There was no awareness of any broken fragments.
There was not even any hostility, ill will nor, perhaps, any interest in terms of l.u.s.t…
For that reason, he was able to cross the line.
At the end of the locking of swords of their souls, a seam had been produced.
“!?”
“You probably think so, too. Don’t you?”
The palm of Souma’s hand wriggled like living thing.
It was a beast seeking temporary pleasure.
Chikane’s cheeks and the inside of her body grew hot in a blinding rage.
The muscles along her spine violently trembled and she felt a chilling fear and numbing wrath along with humiliation as though her body had been smeared with mud.
It was animalistic and physiological———pleasure.
This, unlike that mysterious ‘something,’ did not release heat. It was a more straightfoward tempestuousness.
Everything Souma had said was true. It was the destiny of those born on the island.
Any of the girls on the island would gladly submit themselves to it.
They would accept it with no hesitation whatsoever.
And yet, her heart was certainly in a commotion. It was in discord.
As if it were a flower that knew it would be plucked one day.
This is the palm of someone’s hand?
The palm of someone’s hand who was born on the same soil as Himeko?
Why did she think that she would find it much more preferable if it were a poisonous snake crawling on her?
Why had she been tainted?
Chikane’s fingertips moved, unconsciously searching for something. Searching for the sword that could slice off the palm of his hand.
Beyond that, she would not mind cutting off her own chest to put an end to it.
A sound entered the crevice of the cool moon.
With just one more push, the crevice tore open and inside was something that simmered. Red hot anger resembling boiling lava thunderously began to pour out.
It was anger capable of burning and destroying all reason, theory and understanding.
At that moment, Souma took his hand off of Chikane’s chest.
The incident had elapsed in just a few moments and was nothing more than a naughty teenage boy’s prank.
However, to Chikane the torture during that short period was the longest, most repulsive and most unpleasant of any she had encountered over the course of her fifteen years of life.
Souma, who seemed completely carefree in the wake of Chikane’s irritation, spoke.
“You see…I think that you should once again come to a decision.”
“Decision…?”
“Haven’t you decided? …On your resolve. What seems to be the state of your mind.”
Chikane’s mind?
She had made up her mind long before. She felt she had certainly conveyed that, and yet…
As Chikane was about to open her mouth in protest,
Souma opened his.
“It’s as though you’re a woman now.”
A woman?
That low, small whisper pierced “something” solid within Chikane’s chest.
Am I? A woman?
I am the Kouzuki Mikamiko.
I am a being who is to battle and kill another under the command of Oomikami.
From the beginning, I cast aside my existence as human and, moreso, that of a girl.
I’m-?
The wind blew and Souma disappeared.
This time for sure there was no one underneath the overhead structure, save for Chikane who stood alone in shock.
Chikane’s soul began to question herself.
What am I…?
Her chest continued to ache like a burn.
Like a brand that was proof of a sin.
Forever. Forever.