“There’s no one here though?”
“Mm, there’s no sign of anyone.”
“I think everybody left.”
We arrived at Karen’s hometown, but we didn’t see anyone. The inside of her house is quiet and there are no signs of people living there.
“By the time I left the village, more than half of the population here had already left. Some people stubbornly stayed in the village, but I guess they have evacuated anyway.”
It was probably a wise decision especially when they didn’t know when the monster would come down from the mountain and attack.
“But smoke is coming out of that house, isn’t it?”
It is a house a little away from other houses. Something like smoke was rising from a house that was located overlooking the village.
“That is Master’s house. Looks like Master is still here.”
We decided to go to that house.
“Master! It’s me, Karen! I’m back now!”
Karen called out, and the response was immediate.
“Karen!?”
It was a gray-haired old man who jumped out of the house. He is probably in his mid-sixties. I had heard that he was attacked by the monster and suffered a lot of injuries, but he looks fine.
—No, his right arm and left leg are clearly not moving well. Both are prosthetics.
“Karen! You look fine!”
“Master too. From what I see, you have gotten much better!”
It was a touching reunion between a teacher and student…..or so we thought,
“Why the hell are you back? Aaahhhh, you stupid disciple!”
The old man yelled.
“M-master?”
“I told you not to come back because it’s dangerous here! Do you want to be beaten to death!?”
“I-, I know it’s dangerous! But if a monster takes over my hometown and I just run away, I’ll be a disgrace to a samurai! I will definitely defeat it on behalf of Master—”
“What Samurai!? You stupiiiid disciple! It’s way too early for a greenhorn like you to talk about being a samurai!”
The old man scolds Karen with saliva flying out of his mouth.
Yep, he’s really energetic.
“It’s no good for a brat like you to try to ruin your life right away! Pride of a samurai? Bullshit! What the sense of being a Samurai if you could only die like a dog?! It’s much better to try to live even if you drink mud!”
Oh, that is surprisingly correct.
Karen is trembling a bit while biting her lips without saying anything back.
“Hmm? By the way, who are they?”
“Uhm. Well, for some reason, we ended up cooperating with Samurai-oneechan.”
“A talking baby? How strange….…”
“It’s a karakuri doll.”
“A karakuri? Hmph! No matter how I look at it, he is a real baby. I don’t know what’s inside of him though.”
Whoaaaaaa! This old man is too keen to see through so much at first sight!
“Haha, what are you talking about, Master? A real baby can’t speak you know. Now, Karakuri in the city has developed to this point.”
I’m glad Karen is easy to fool.
“Oh, stupid disciple…… And what’s the matter with your sarashi?”
“It’s so tight so I’m taking it off for now. B-but, of course, like Master said, I wore it properly when I am in the city.”
“Really? If you expose something like that in the city, you’ll attract endless amounts of bothersome people. A country girl like you could easily be fooled.”
Then the old man coldly orders Karen.
“Whatever you are here for, you’re going to leave the village at once.”
“No, Master! I have become stronger! Now we will defeat the monster and restore the village!”
“……Sure, I don’t know how you’ve done it in this short period of time, but you indeed got a little stronger. But that’s not enough. You can’t beat that monster. After all, it’s not just a snake. That’s a Lóng.”
“Lóng?”
A Lóng is a type of dragon.
It has a lengthy, snake-like body with whiskered mouth and is said to be able to fly through the air despite having no wings.
“And if my guess is correct…… No, in any case, I will never allow you to lay a hand on that monster! Leave this village right now!”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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