KKM novel 3: Ch1, 2 and 6
I think I'm just clutching at straws here. My brain is dead from all this translations :( Words actually came out of my mouth, completely jumbled-up today because the translation's apparently melted my ability to think coherent sentences.
Anyway, I've done a LOT of translating in Novel 3 :D Some scenes are ridiculously cute!
======================
Chapter 1:
Setting: Yuuri is sucked through the water at the Sealife Centre, and has been rescued by Conrad and co. from the sea. This part's just cute, nothing too specific XD
To someone like me, whose looks, build and intelligence can only be classified as mediocre in all aspects, I can only pore over Anderson’s fairy tale story and desperately wish for the day I can change from the ugly duckling to a swan. Is there any girl who believes a Mazoku’s personality is more important than their appearance? A fan of “the Beauty and the Beast” perhaps? If there is, please feel free to contact me.
-----
Setting: Yuuri is changing out of the wet clothes.
The waistband is a little loose. The maid, scared that I will be angry, drops her head regretfully.
“Don’t worry about it! It’ll be fine when if I wear a belt!” (Yuuri)
“Your majesty, have you become thinner? Perhaps your body is not feeling well…” (Conrad)
“No, nothing like that. This is this result of my stomach training! I even bought an abdomen-strengthening-whatever-it’s-called body building kit!”
The shop had a sale on at the time; so I only spent one thousand yen. My goal is to get a six-pack like Kamen Rider. As I hurriedly pull the belt from my dripping wet trousers, Gunter sneaks into the room cannily.
“Please wait a second, I’ll start fanning straight away.”
This is the world of Maryoku and swords, so of course it doesn’t have any house appliances. But even though there’s no air conditioner, the further one wanders into this ivory-white rock-bricked building, the cooler it becomes. And as I’ve taken off my socks, the cool sensation is even more prominent on my soles. I haven’t had time to say it’s not hot when Gunter makes ushering motions with his right hand. Maids and servants gracefully step into the room, and in each of their hands, there are gigantic ducks. The ducks are held by their necks, so of course they feel pain. They flap their wings ceaselessly. This sort of movement does indeed induce a lot of wind, but not only does the breeze wafted along bring with it the stench of poultry, I thought it was too cruel.
“Please don’t! Don’t do something like this which would anger animal protection groups all over the world! And I’m cold enough already!”
“Kami-sama… Such words of kindness! To think that your majesty would care for such small animals! This is surely the honour of the Maou and all Mazoku citizens. Ahh… One cannot forget all that is in the world and the creator of Shin Mazoku! Your majesty has the wisdom and power to rival Shinou-heika himself, and the courage and the immortal magnificence…”
While he talk, his hands move beautifully, moving in perfect symphony… [then a sentence I don’t understand]
“… the country’s twenty-seventh Maou-heika! Alright, your majesty, I had said something deliberately wrong there. Can you identify the mistake?”
“So-Sorry… I didn’t notice.”
Disappointment shows on the beautiful man’s face.
“As expected, your majesty needs to stay in this country longer. To learn and understand the ways of the people as well as the country’s contours and the basics of foreign relations. No… Perhaps you should never return there again! I will follow and stay by your side forever…”
The situation is clearly straying from the right tracks… But Conrad, who had ushered out the fanning ducks, beautifully and effortlessly turned it around again.
“Haven’t I told you already, Gunter?”
Conrad’s attitude is as calm and composed as usual, he also knows how to get along with everyone. It seems that I can learn a lot from him, for example: how to deal with Gunter.
“His majesty’s existence is very important to the Earth and Japan, we cannot monopolize him.”
If I really am that important, then logically I shouldn’t have sat on the cold wooden bench for the past three years [talking about baseball].
Suddenly, there is the sound of shouting/whining, accompanied by a series of busy footsteps. It seems that someone is approaching angrily.
“Gunter! Why was only Brother called to receive Yuuri? You didn’t even report this to me, the fiancé! Even if you look down on me, there should still be a limit…”
The one who barged in is the angel-like bishounen, Wolfram von Bielefelt. He seems to be at a loss for words upon seeing my half-dressed state - having had no warning beforehand - and his cute face is flustered.
“… Yuuri, why is your arm a different colour to your face? Did you catch some grave disease? Or maybe it was a curse…”
“What curse! That’s a bit too rude, isn’t it?”
My arms and everywhere above my neck have been tanned to a dark colour, but my body and the skin on my feet are still very white. Even though having a uniform-printed tan is considered a baseball player’s great honour, if we were at the beach or swimming pool, the appearance does look rather odd.
Wolfram uses his thumb and forefinger and pulls at my cheeks, hard.
“Ow ow ow ow ow!! Aaie-ooh-Aie!”
Then Wolfram confirmed with Conrad that this was the real Yuuri, etc etc…
Then!! There was a nice description of Wolf from Yuuri’s POV.
Whilst his body build is no better or worse than mine, there is a difference as wide as the gap between the heaven and earth in our facial features. Wolf is a rival-less super bishounen, like a Vienna choir which has jumped straight out of a shoujo manga. He has inherited his mother’s shiny, blonde hair and verdure green eyes. I imagine all artists in the world would fight over the chance to paint his portrait. If he appeared in someone’s dream, the dreamer might even be moved to tears thinking they had seen an angel. However, as soon as he opens his mouth… forget any angels… he is just a boy who is egotistic to the extreme. Already, he is eighty-two years old; if he was in Japan, his personality would fit that of a pertinacious old man! And because of a small small misunderstanding of cultures, we are somehow engaged to each other.
======================
Chapter 2:
Setting: They are on the way to seek the Maou impostor. Yuuri is riding on the same horse as Wolfram.
Riding a horse together, one will feel hot in all aspects.
No matter how I shuffle or adjust, the fact that it is boiling hot does not change. Under the glaring rays of the midsummer sun, two young boys of sixteen and eighty-two - ah, never mind… are tightly bonded together on the back of a horse, where space is limited, it was only natural that the body temperature will soar. And even more so when the place we are currently in isn't an air-conditioned room, but rather the middle of a desert, with no end in sight. I can only try my best to create some distance between me and my companion; hopefully allow some wind to blow across. But the air is full of heat and sand, and really cannot be described as wind.
“You should come closer, you’ll fall down otherwise.”
“But I’ll be hot…”
Wolfram seems to be enjoying this situation immensely. If my companion's a beautiful girl, I will of course be very glad to share a horse too. I may even loop my hand around to grasp the reins, and meekly remind her to be careful. But sadly, sitting before me is a bishounen who's cuter than any girl.
-----
Setting: Wolfram is sucked into the desert pool. Yuuri is trying to usher Conrad to chase after his brother. This one little passage is so <3!
As soon as I think of the blonde locks inherited from his mother and those beautiful verdure eyes, and the horrors that will face them in there, my chest becomes so painful that I cannot breathe.
=========================
Chapter 6:
Setting: After Yuuri has become Maou, and effectively freed those imprisoned women. He is waking up again...
Rocking backwards and forwards gently, I wake up to find myself lying on a tricolour wooden bench. Still sleep-deprived, I carefully peel open my reluctant eyelids. My eyeballs are dry; it hurts.
“…What in the…”
The moon and stars are suddenly obstructed by a mop of careless golden strands; I haven't had time to appreciate their beauty, someone has grabbed my hair.
“Why do you always, always, do this?!”
“…Wolf…”
“What?!”
“I… I want water.”
I seem to have betrayed his expectations. Wolfram’s delicate eyebrows crease up so they are almost vertical, a hand grabs onto my head.
“Ow!”
“Drink it ‘til you’re dead then!”
Wolfram pulls me to the washbasin on his legs, presses on the back of my head and pushes it into the bowl. It hurts! And not only does my mouth touch the water, my nose and ears become submerged too.
“… Ow ow… I-I’m going to die! … Really gonna die! Please forgive me!”
“Did you know how worried I was?”
Angering a bishounen, even if one is not at fault, will bring about an unfathomable amount of pain. And this time, it is because of my own selfishness that has made everyone suffer, the guilt is therefore indescribable.
“Wolfram, how come you’re here? What about Conrad?... Ah, and Gwendal!! You must go save him quickly! He may have been put to death already while we are talking!”
“Brother has safely escaped jail already! And answer my question, did or did you not know how worried I was about you?!”
Even though I I know clearly that he is the same gender as me, but to have been approached and chased by a beautiful bishounen like him… my heart still flutters unconsciously. At a time like this, the most effective thing to do is to repeat “he is already eighty-two years-old” like a mantra to myself, and not look at him.
I shift my gaze delicately away from his vision, trying to decipher the gradual darkness around us. The women who were forced to work as slaves and their guards a not there anymore. Did some kind of miracle happen that freed them? I, who have been unconscious the whole time, have no way of knowing.
It must’ve been me who did something frightening again, to scare the whole group of them into having such pale faces. I don't know how anxious I made them…
“… Okay, I know now. Really. I’ve also worried over this kind of thing before, haven't I? So I can understand how you feel.”
“You only know how to say pretty words. Now sit there and don’t move, I’ll help you get something to eat.”
He throws a piece of cloth smelling like the sun to my face, and walks back to the room...
-----
Setting: They are now on the run. Some of the women have decided to come back to Shin Makoku with them.
Nicola, Wolfram and I sit in the four-seats horse-cart, almost like an elegant voyage on the Orient Express. Originally, Gwendal was also here, but because of his own insistence, he was switched to a horse. Even though he’s broken two ribs.
So I'm lying on the space of two seats, my head resting on something soft.
Sir von Bielefelt’s knees.
“Eh eh eh…!! Why do I have to lie on a man’s lap?”
“You always sleep for two to three days after you use your Maou powers, but this time you only slept for two hours. Did you hear that? Two hours? You have shown us magic that disgusting, how can two hours be enough? We should be on constant lookout right now, hence why you were selected as part of the horse-cart crew.”
“… Even so, why do I have to lie on your legs?”
“Pleased, are you?”
“Who would be pleased?!”
“Ask -”
Nicola, who has cried when she couldn’t find Hube, has regained her energy upon knowing she will soon live in his hometown. She is a simple-minded person, with an optimistic look on life. Her smile is certainly infectious.
“It seems that you two have a good relationship. I wonder who Yuuri will marry in the end, the older brother or the younger brother?”
“Ma… I’ll marry neither!”
“Eh? Then why did you elope…”
“I didn’t elo-”
“It’s because this guy’s a big flirt and a cheater!”
I try to stand up headbutt-style, but he must’ve done something to my acupoints; a push on my forehead and I fall back down again.
Conrad lifts the makeshift fabric door, and speaks:
“We almost at the border… Your majesty? Ahh, where are you? Why are you lying on someone’s lap? I didn’t recognise it was you.”
“Save me, Conrad! Even if it was to sit behind you, please let me ride on a horse!”
-----
Setting: Back in Shin Makoku now. Yuuri is trying to go back to earth... well, trying... Shown (altered) in epsidoe 15.
NOTE! There is a drama CD showing Wolfram's imagination as he walks to the bath - it's hilarious XD
“Your methods of seduction are certainly more daring now.”
Determined, I have knocked on Wolfram’s door, and the bishounen greeted me with a complicated expression and head tilted to one side. I suppose it's hard to imagine the normal me doing something like this, so those tender lips didn’t open again.
“What I’m saying is… we only need to bathe together. If you’re finding it a bit embarrassing, then just wear some swimming trunks.”
“If it’s just the two of us then there’s nothing to be embarrassed about…”
“Then go get ready! I’m in a hurry! … Hey, what are you preparing? You only need a towel and a change of pants.”
There are some weird props in his room; no matter what, there is no need for rubber ducks right?
I pull on the broadly grinning Wolfram, and head towards the familiar Maou bathroom.
The Maou’s personal bathroom is as grand as always, the cream coloured bath tub is huge enough to be in the world record. This country's so hot but there isn't even a swimming pool to train in; I really wish I could share this bathroom and the adjoining chambers.
Today, sexy queen Cheri-sama and the menservants who normally ask to wash my back are not there, but the water still pour steadily out of the five-edged bull-mouth tap. I can finally swim however I want to swim, and drink however I want to drink.
I stand up before Wolfram whose eyes are widened and lips pursed, and jump into the tub, still wearing my clothes and holding my nose. It seems for an instant that I almost touch the bottom, but then I resurface.
“Pwah!”
“What are you doing?”
“Sorry, can you give me a push from behind.”
With my hair and shirt dripping with water, I crouch beside the tub once again.
“Push me.”
“What kind of game are you playing?”
I forced him to push me into the water, but my body still floated back up quickly.
“This is strange… Wah! What are you doing! Why have you jumped down too?”
Wolfram follows after me into the first water passage, his wavy golden locks are instantly drenched. This vision before me is like an angel bathing himself, but he - like me - has jumped in with clothes on. He swims towards me in fluid breaststrokes.
“Why did you jump in? You didn’t need to come in! Just push me, that’s all!”
Snow-white arms encircle my neck.
Fortunately, with the help of buoyancy, I just manage to keep from toppling over.
“Don’t hug me!”
“Didn’t you want to try a new type of game?”
“What ‘game’? … Wolfram, what kind of perverted things are you thinking?”
I am forced into a corner with nowhere to run, and he is still gleefully broadening his happy fantasy; I drop my head shamefully. I let my feet touch the tub floor, and then try to extend my knees.
But the water does not suck me down.
“… I can’t go back.”
“Ah? Didn’t you come back safely?”
“I didn’t mean that! Even though I have returned from Suberera back to Shin Mazoku, but this time, I need to go back to my home!”
I flap my arms around the water like a child, brandishing wildly. Wolfram stands up gently, away from the water droplets.
“I can’t go back now! Can’t go back to my home, Earth, Japan! Last time and the time before that it was always something to do with water, so I thought maybe this time I can go back through the bath. But on my own, no matter what I did nothing happened. Then I thought... maybe if it was someone else… But now even if you pushed me, I still can’t go home!”
“What did you say?”
“… Wolf, how come your expression’s become like 森进一.” [An old Japanese singer, I think - not sure]
There are creases between his eyebrows and his nose. The former Mazoku prince lifts his chin and his shoulders shift slightly.
“You - for this kind of little thing - used me?”
“What ‘little thing’? I tell you, this is very very important to me!”
“But you are already this country’s Maou, there’s no need for you to run around everywhere anymore! To you, this castle should be your home! To live here always… isn’t that only natural?”
He has deliberately used several emphatic and powerful words. Every time that this bishounen scolds me, I would feel the numerous wounds his words would cut. What he said is probably true; me diving stupidly into the water is most likely pointless and an idiot thing to do.
But I really didn’t think there’d be a day when I’d be unable to return to Japan.
“But you know too, right? Last time and last last time, if I had tried my hardest and resolved the problem, I would be able to go home. And I’ve retrieved the Mateki this time, my impostor… even though we didn’t look much alike, but we still ensured she’s safe and sound. It might be counted as a normal pass level only, but at the very least we’ve succeeded, right? But then why can’t I go back?
... Or maybe it's because the game was not archived…? But if I can never return to Japan, what will become of me if I continued living in Shin Mazoku?”
“Be the Maou, of course!”
Even though I have long gotten used to those two words [ma-ou: demon king], for an instant I still could not breathe.
That's right, I have already announced that I will take that role, and swore on it in front of everyone.
“But I can’t go back… I never thought of this… If I can never return to Japan, then I won’t see if Saitama Seibu Lions wins the season, and will never learn how to bat XXX by the coach. And I’ll never be able to see a baseball game again!”
“You can set up a new team here! Didn’t you always ramble on about making it a national sport?”
“My baseball skills aren’t at that level yet!”
The clothes have absorbed a lot of water, and are becoming heavy. But my body still refuses to sink.
“And the team, the school, my friends… like Murata! He saw me sink down but never resurfaced, he must be very shocked and is probably blaming himself…”
It's possible that the Shibuya Yuuri in Japan is pronounced dead already at the Sealife Centre. I haven't done any warm-up exercises before jumping into the pool, maybe my heart has already been paralysed and so died painlessly.
And that’s why… I can't go back?
“Then… What do I do… How can I tell my family…… No, I probably can’t say anything. And my wife…”
“You have a wife?”
“Don’t pick on my words now! I meant my brother [yeah, I don’t understand this part at all]! My parents and my brother… and suddenly, I can never see my family again… Isn’t this a bit too unfair and unreasonable!”
“Why can’t you understand?!”
Wolfram sweeps back the wet bangs from his forehead, and suddenly, he seems two years older than me. The verdure and seemingly haughty eyes are narrowed and glaring towards me. He really does have an angel’s face, but his words draw blood with each syllable.
“You belong to this world, Yuuri. You cannot escape from the home of your soul!”
“No one told me that.”
Even I can hear the tremble in my voice at the last few words.
“Have you really been oblivious all this time?!”
I have thought of everything too simply...
If the silence continues any longer, it is very possible that I will do something extremely embarrassing.
So I jump, and dive into the pool. I push the floor several times, and try to stay submerged for as long as possible, checking the place where I usually come from.
I shouldn’t abandon my resolve, I have to calm down. Didn’t baseball commentators always say “a crisis point is a turning point”? Even when forced into a situation with no visible way out, I must stay calm and collected. If I don’t carefully analyse the surrounding, I will never find the way to break out of the deadlock.
But no matter how I try to convince myself, the strange water currents from before refused to appear.
“Hey!”
If Wolfram hadn’t pulled me up, I’d have forgotten to breathe.
======================
I don't know why I chose so many passages to translate in Novel 3. It was only when I was scratching my head wondering why the hell I'm doing this that I realised most of them are animated quite accurately in the anime anyway ... -_-;
It's weird to translate... Chinese doesn't really have tenses and I find myself constantly jumping from one to another. I think I'll try to stick with present tense, but I always write in past that some sentences can't help but sound so weird... :S
Even though the sentences were few and, often, standalone-ish. There were some seriously cute Yuuram/Wolfyuu moments!! :)
PS. Editing this post has taken me hours... Does anyone use any kind of simple LJ client? I'm posting this using Deepest Sender
Anyway, I've done a LOT of translating in Novel 3 :D Some scenes are ridiculously cute!
======================
Chapter 1:
Setting: Yuuri is sucked through the water at the Sealife Centre, and has been rescued by Conrad and co. from the sea. This part's just cute, nothing too specific XD
To someone like me, whose looks, build and intelligence can only be classified as mediocre in all aspects, I can only pore over Anderson’s fairy tale story and desperately wish for the day I can change from the ugly duckling to a swan. Is there any girl who believes a Mazoku’s personality is more important than their appearance? A fan of “the Beauty and the Beast” perhaps? If there is, please feel free to contact me.
-----
Setting: Yuuri is changing out of the wet clothes.
The waistband is a little loose. The maid, scared that I will be angry, drops her head regretfully.
“Don’t worry about it! It’ll be fine when if I wear a belt!” (Yuuri)
“Your majesty, have you become thinner? Perhaps your body is not feeling well…” (Conrad)
“No, nothing like that. This is this result of my stomach training! I even bought an abdomen-strengthening-whatever-it’s-called body building kit!”
The shop had a sale on at the time; so I only spent one thousand yen. My goal is to get a six-pack like Kamen Rider. As I hurriedly pull the belt from my dripping wet trousers, Gunter sneaks into the room cannily.
“Please wait a second, I’ll start fanning straight away.”
This is the world of Maryoku and swords, so of course it doesn’t have any house appliances. But even though there’s no air conditioner, the further one wanders into this ivory-white rock-bricked building, the cooler it becomes. And as I’ve taken off my socks, the cool sensation is even more prominent on my soles. I haven’t had time to say it’s not hot when Gunter makes ushering motions with his right hand. Maids and servants gracefully step into the room, and in each of their hands, there are gigantic ducks. The ducks are held by their necks, so of course they feel pain. They flap their wings ceaselessly. This sort of movement does indeed induce a lot of wind, but not only does the breeze wafted along bring with it the stench of poultry, I thought it was too cruel.
“Please don’t! Don’t do something like this which would anger animal protection groups all over the world! And I’m cold enough already!”
“Kami-sama… Such words of kindness! To think that your majesty would care for such small animals! This is surely the honour of the Maou and all Mazoku citizens. Ahh… One cannot forget all that is in the world and the creator of Shin Mazoku! Your majesty has the wisdom and power to rival Shinou-heika himself, and the courage and the immortal magnificence…”
While he talk, his hands move beautifully, moving in perfect symphony… [then a sentence I don’t understand]
“… the country’s twenty-seventh Maou-heika! Alright, your majesty, I had said something deliberately wrong there. Can you identify the mistake?”
“So-Sorry… I didn’t notice.”
Disappointment shows on the beautiful man’s face.
“As expected, your majesty needs to stay in this country longer. To learn and understand the ways of the people as well as the country’s contours and the basics of foreign relations. No… Perhaps you should never return there again! I will follow and stay by your side forever…”
The situation is clearly straying from the right tracks… But Conrad, who had ushered out the fanning ducks, beautifully and effortlessly turned it around again.
“Haven’t I told you already, Gunter?”
Conrad’s attitude is as calm and composed as usual, he also knows how to get along with everyone. It seems that I can learn a lot from him, for example: how to deal with Gunter.
“His majesty’s existence is very important to the Earth and Japan, we cannot monopolize him.”
If I really am that important, then logically I shouldn’t have sat on the cold wooden bench for the past three years [talking about baseball].
Suddenly, there is the sound of shouting/whining, accompanied by a series of busy footsteps. It seems that someone is approaching angrily.
“Gunter! Why was only Brother called to receive Yuuri? You didn’t even report this to me, the fiancé! Even if you look down on me, there should still be a limit…”
The one who barged in is the angel-like bishounen, Wolfram von Bielefelt. He seems to be at a loss for words upon seeing my half-dressed state - having had no warning beforehand - and his cute face is flustered.
“… Yuuri, why is your arm a different colour to your face? Did you catch some grave disease? Or maybe it was a curse…”
“What curse! That’s a bit too rude, isn’t it?”
My arms and everywhere above my neck have been tanned to a dark colour, but my body and the skin on my feet are still very white. Even though having a uniform-printed tan is considered a baseball player’s great honour, if we were at the beach or swimming pool, the appearance does look rather odd.
Wolfram uses his thumb and forefinger and pulls at my cheeks, hard.
“Ow ow ow ow ow!! Aaie-ooh-Aie!”
Then Wolfram confirmed with Conrad that this was the real Yuuri, etc etc…
Then!! There was a nice description of Wolf from Yuuri’s POV.
Whilst his body build is no better or worse than mine, there is a difference as wide as the gap between the heaven and earth in our facial features. Wolf is a rival-less super bishounen, like a Vienna choir which has jumped straight out of a shoujo manga. He has inherited his mother’s shiny, blonde hair and verdure green eyes. I imagine all artists in the world would fight over the chance to paint his portrait. If he appeared in someone’s dream, the dreamer might even be moved to tears thinking they had seen an angel. However, as soon as he opens his mouth… forget any angels… he is just a boy who is egotistic to the extreme. Already, he is eighty-two years old; if he was in Japan, his personality would fit that of a pertinacious old man! And because of a small small misunderstanding of cultures, we are somehow engaged to each other.
======================
Chapter 2:
Setting: They are on the way to seek the Maou impostor. Yuuri is riding on the same horse as Wolfram.
Riding a horse together, one will feel hot in all aspects.
No matter how I shuffle or adjust, the fact that it is boiling hot does not change. Under the glaring rays of the midsummer sun, two young boys of sixteen and eighty-two - ah, never mind… are tightly bonded together on the back of a horse, where space is limited, it was only natural that the body temperature will soar. And even more so when the place we are currently in isn't an air-conditioned room, but rather the middle of a desert, with no end in sight. I can only try my best to create some distance between me and my companion; hopefully allow some wind to blow across. But the air is full of heat and sand, and really cannot be described as wind.
“You should come closer, you’ll fall down otherwise.”
“But I’ll be hot…”
Wolfram seems to be enjoying this situation immensely. If my companion's a beautiful girl, I will of course be very glad to share a horse too. I may even loop my hand around to grasp the reins, and meekly remind her to be careful. But sadly, sitting before me is a bishounen who's cuter than any girl.
-----
Setting: Wolfram is sucked into the desert pool. Yuuri is trying to usher Conrad to chase after his brother. This one little passage is so <3!
As soon as I think of the blonde locks inherited from his mother and those beautiful verdure eyes, and the horrors that will face them in there, my chest becomes so painful that I cannot breathe.
=========================
Chapter 6:
Setting: After Yuuri has become Maou, and effectively freed those imprisoned women. He is waking up again...
Rocking backwards and forwards gently, I wake up to find myself lying on a tricolour wooden bench. Still sleep-deprived, I carefully peel open my reluctant eyelids. My eyeballs are dry; it hurts.
“…What in the…”
The moon and stars are suddenly obstructed by a mop of careless golden strands; I haven't had time to appreciate their beauty, someone has grabbed my hair.
“Why do you always, always, do this?!”
“…Wolf…”
“What?!”
“I… I want water.”
I seem to have betrayed his expectations. Wolfram’s delicate eyebrows crease up so they are almost vertical, a hand grabs onto my head.
“Ow!”
“Drink it ‘til you’re dead then!”
Wolfram pulls me to the washbasin on his legs, presses on the back of my head and pushes it into the bowl. It hurts! And not only does my mouth touch the water, my nose and ears become submerged too.
“… Ow ow… I-I’m going to die! … Really gonna die! Please forgive me!”
“Did you know how worried I was?”
Angering a bishounen, even if one is not at fault, will bring about an unfathomable amount of pain. And this time, it is because of my own selfishness that has made everyone suffer, the guilt is therefore indescribable.
“Wolfram, how come you’re here? What about Conrad?... Ah, and Gwendal!! You must go save him quickly! He may have been put to death already while we are talking!”
“Brother has safely escaped jail already! And answer my question, did or did you not know how worried I was about you?!”
Even though I I know clearly that he is the same gender as me, but to have been approached and chased by a beautiful bishounen like him… my heart still flutters unconsciously. At a time like this, the most effective thing to do is to repeat “he is already eighty-two years-old” like a mantra to myself, and not look at him.
I shift my gaze delicately away from his vision, trying to decipher the gradual darkness around us. The women who were forced to work as slaves and their guards a not there anymore. Did some kind of miracle happen that freed them? I, who have been unconscious the whole time, have no way of knowing.
It must’ve been me who did something frightening again, to scare the whole group of them into having such pale faces. I don't know how anxious I made them…
“… Okay, I know now. Really. I’ve also worried over this kind of thing before, haven't I? So I can understand how you feel.”
“You only know how to say pretty words. Now sit there and don’t move, I’ll help you get something to eat.”
He throws a piece of cloth smelling like the sun to my face, and walks back to the room...
-----
Setting: They are now on the run. Some of the women have decided to come back to Shin Makoku with them.
Nicola, Wolfram and I sit in the four-seats horse-cart, almost like an elegant voyage on the Orient Express. Originally, Gwendal was also here, but because of his own insistence, he was switched to a horse. Even though he’s broken two ribs.
So I'm lying on the space of two seats, my head resting on something soft.
Sir von Bielefelt’s knees.
“Eh eh eh…!! Why do I have to lie on a man’s lap?”
“You always sleep for two to three days after you use your Maou powers, but this time you only slept for two hours. Did you hear that? Two hours? You have shown us magic that disgusting, how can two hours be enough? We should be on constant lookout right now, hence why you were selected as part of the horse-cart crew.”
“… Even so, why do I have to lie on your legs?”
“Pleased, are you?”
“Who would be pleased?!”
“Ask -”
Nicola, who has cried when she couldn’t find Hube, has regained her energy upon knowing she will soon live in his hometown. She is a simple-minded person, with an optimistic look on life. Her smile is certainly infectious.
“It seems that you two have a good relationship. I wonder who Yuuri will marry in the end, the older brother or the younger brother?”
“Ma… I’ll marry neither!”
“Eh? Then why did you elope…”
“I didn’t elo-”
“It’s because this guy’s a big flirt and a cheater!”
I try to stand up headbutt-style, but he must’ve done something to my acupoints; a push on my forehead and I fall back down again.
Conrad lifts the makeshift fabric door, and speaks:
“We almost at the border… Your majesty? Ahh, where are you? Why are you lying on someone’s lap? I didn’t recognise it was you.”
“Save me, Conrad! Even if it was to sit behind you, please let me ride on a horse!”
-----
Setting: Back in Shin Makoku now. Yuuri is trying to go back to earth... well, trying... Shown (altered) in epsidoe 15.
NOTE! There is a drama CD showing Wolfram's imagination as he walks to the bath - it's hilarious XD
“Your methods of seduction are certainly more daring now.”
Determined, I have knocked on Wolfram’s door, and the bishounen greeted me with a complicated expression and head tilted to one side. I suppose it's hard to imagine the normal me doing something like this, so those tender lips didn’t open again.
“What I’m saying is… we only need to bathe together. If you’re finding it a bit embarrassing, then just wear some swimming trunks.”
“If it’s just the two of us then there’s nothing to be embarrassed about…”
“Then go get ready! I’m in a hurry! … Hey, what are you preparing? You only need a towel and a change of pants.”
There are some weird props in his room; no matter what, there is no need for rubber ducks right?
I pull on the broadly grinning Wolfram, and head towards the familiar Maou bathroom.
The Maou’s personal bathroom is as grand as always, the cream coloured bath tub is huge enough to be in the world record. This country's so hot but there isn't even a swimming pool to train in; I really wish I could share this bathroom and the adjoining chambers.
Today, sexy queen Cheri-sama and the menservants who normally ask to wash my back are not there, but the water still pour steadily out of the five-edged bull-mouth tap. I can finally swim however I want to swim, and drink however I want to drink.
I stand up before Wolfram whose eyes are widened and lips pursed, and jump into the tub, still wearing my clothes and holding my nose. It seems for an instant that I almost touch the bottom, but then I resurface.
“Pwah!”
“What are you doing?”
“Sorry, can you give me a push from behind.”
With my hair and shirt dripping with water, I crouch beside the tub once again.
“Push me.”
“What kind of game are you playing?”
I forced him to push me into the water, but my body still floated back up quickly.
“This is strange… Wah! What are you doing! Why have you jumped down too?”
Wolfram follows after me into the first water passage, his wavy golden locks are instantly drenched. This vision before me is like an angel bathing himself, but he - like me - has jumped in with clothes on. He swims towards me in fluid breaststrokes.
“Why did you jump in? You didn’t need to come in! Just push me, that’s all!”
Snow-white arms encircle my neck.
Fortunately, with the help of buoyancy, I just manage to keep from toppling over.
“Don’t hug me!”
“Didn’t you want to try a new type of game?”
“What ‘game’? … Wolfram, what kind of perverted things are you thinking?”
I am forced into a corner with nowhere to run, and he is still gleefully broadening his happy fantasy; I drop my head shamefully. I let my feet touch the tub floor, and then try to extend my knees.
But the water does not suck me down.
“… I can’t go back.”
“Ah? Didn’t you come back safely?”
“I didn’t mean that! Even though I have returned from Suberera back to Shin Mazoku, but this time, I need to go back to my home!”
I flap my arms around the water like a child, brandishing wildly. Wolfram stands up gently, away from the water droplets.
“I can’t go back now! Can’t go back to my home, Earth, Japan! Last time and the time before that it was always something to do with water, so I thought maybe this time I can go back through the bath. But on my own, no matter what I did nothing happened. Then I thought... maybe if it was someone else… But now even if you pushed me, I still can’t go home!”
“What did you say?”
“… Wolf, how come your expression’s become like 森进一.” [An old Japanese singer, I think - not sure]
There are creases between his eyebrows and his nose. The former Mazoku prince lifts his chin and his shoulders shift slightly.
“You - for this kind of little thing - used me?”
“What ‘little thing’? I tell you, this is very very important to me!”
“But you are already this country’s Maou, there’s no need for you to run around everywhere anymore! To you, this castle should be your home! To live here always… isn’t that only natural?”
He has deliberately used several emphatic and powerful words. Every time that this bishounen scolds me, I would feel the numerous wounds his words would cut. What he said is probably true; me diving stupidly into the water is most likely pointless and an idiot thing to do.
But I really didn’t think there’d be a day when I’d be unable to return to Japan.
“But you know too, right? Last time and last last time, if I had tried my hardest and resolved the problem, I would be able to go home. And I’ve retrieved the Mateki this time, my impostor… even though we didn’t look much alike, but we still ensured she’s safe and sound. It might be counted as a normal pass level only, but at the very least we’ve succeeded, right? But then why can’t I go back?
... Or maybe it's because the game was not archived…? But if I can never return to Japan, what will become of me if I continued living in Shin Mazoku?”
“Be the Maou, of course!”
Even though I have long gotten used to those two words [ma-ou: demon king], for an instant I still could not breathe.
That's right, I have already announced that I will take that role, and swore on it in front of everyone.
“But I can’t go back… I never thought of this… If I can never return to Japan, then I won’t see if Saitama Seibu Lions wins the season, and will never learn how to bat XXX by the coach. And I’ll never be able to see a baseball game again!”
“You can set up a new team here! Didn’t you always ramble on about making it a national sport?”
“My baseball skills aren’t at that level yet!”
The clothes have absorbed a lot of water, and are becoming heavy. But my body still refuses to sink.
“And the team, the school, my friends… like Murata! He saw me sink down but never resurfaced, he must be very shocked and is probably blaming himself…”
It's possible that the Shibuya Yuuri in Japan is pronounced dead already at the Sealife Centre. I haven't done any warm-up exercises before jumping into the pool, maybe my heart has already been paralysed and so died painlessly.
And that’s why… I can't go back?
“Then… What do I do… How can I tell my family…… No, I probably can’t say anything. And my wife…”
“You have a wife?”
“Don’t pick on my words now! I meant my brother [yeah, I don’t understand this part at all]! My parents and my brother… and suddenly, I can never see my family again… Isn’t this a bit too unfair and unreasonable!”
“Why can’t you understand?!”
Wolfram sweeps back the wet bangs from his forehead, and suddenly, he seems two years older than me. The verdure and seemingly haughty eyes are narrowed and glaring towards me. He really does have an angel’s face, but his words draw blood with each syllable.
“You belong to this world, Yuuri. You cannot escape from the home of your soul!”
“No one told me that.”
Even I can hear the tremble in my voice at the last few words.
“Have you really been oblivious all this time?!”
I have thought of everything too simply...
If the silence continues any longer, it is very possible that I will do something extremely embarrassing.
So I jump, and dive into the pool. I push the floor several times, and try to stay submerged for as long as possible, checking the place where I usually come from.
I shouldn’t abandon my resolve, I have to calm down. Didn’t baseball commentators always say “a crisis point is a turning point”? Even when forced into a situation with no visible way out, I must stay calm and collected. If I don’t carefully analyse the surrounding, I will never find the way to break out of the deadlock.
But no matter how I try to convince myself, the strange water currents from before refused to appear.
“Hey!”
If Wolfram hadn’t pulled me up, I’d have forgotten to breathe.
======================
I don't know why I chose so many passages to translate in Novel 3. It was only when I was scratching my head wondering why the hell I'm doing this that I realised most of them are animated quite accurately in the anime anyway ... -_-;
It's weird to translate... Chinese doesn't really have tenses and I find myself constantly jumping from one to another. I think I'll try to stick with present tense, but I always write in past that some sentences can't help but sound so weird... :S
Even though the sentences were few and, often, standalone-ish. There were some seriously cute Yuuram/Wolfyuu moments!! :)
PS. Editing this post has taken me hours... Does anyone use any kind of simple LJ client? I'm posting this using Deepest Sender