City of Rain | Main Episode

[healingbonds]

MahoYaku Masterpost & Translator's Notes

CHAPTER 1

Akira: We’ve arrived at the Eastern Tower. Today I’d like the Eastern wizards to head to the City of Rain.

Heathcliff: The City of Rain.... That’s the capital of Eastern Country. Isn’t that where your restaurant was, Nero?

Nero: Well, yeah.


> Option: I want to visit your restaurant, Nero.

Nero: We’re not going to play around, you know? Plus, I bet someone else has opened shop there by now.


> Option: You opened a restaurant in the capital? That’s amazing.

Nero: It’s nothing. There were plenty of mealhouses like mine.
The rent is more expensive than in the rural areas, but you get way more customers, so. There are a lot of bars and restaurants in the area.


> Option: What was the most popular item on your menu?

Nero: A potato, olive, and parsley omelette with slices of thick-cut bacon. And the tomato soup.

Akira: Sounds delicious!

Nero: My favorite food is ajillo, but garlic isn’t considered super communal around here, so I didn’t offer it that often.


Shino: The Town of Rain.... The capital, huh. It must be a big city, then.

Nero: You’ve never been there before, Shino? Don’t get your hopes up — you’ll just be disappointed.

Shino: So it’s rural?

Faust: It isn’t rural, but it certainly is the capital of Eastern Country — it’s the most Eastern place in the country.

Nero: You’ll understand when we get there. You too, Mister Sage.
That’s right.... I bet my restaurant is gone by now, but an acquaintance granted me a patch of land on the outer edges of the City of Rain.
I raised herbs there.
It’s not a valuable patch of land — I don’t think anyone would’ve noticed it. So it should still be there. You should harvest some herbs when you have the time.
The soil was rich, so maybe I’ll keep growing herbs there. I bet the other wizards will use the herbs too.

Akira: Harvesting herbs... I guess it’s like a home garden?
We have a mission to take care of today, but I’ll be sure to make use of it at some point.


CHAPTER 2

Akira: So this is the City of Rain.... There are so many people, but it’s strangely quiet.

Nero: Well, the legal code bans us from yelling in public spaces, after all.

Akira: The legal code....?

Shino: It’s so quiet that it’s suffocating. Sage, where are we headed? If we need directions, I’ll just ask....

Faust: You may not. It’s illegal to speak to someone for the first time in a public space.

Shino: What!?

Heathcliff: Shino, you’re not allowed to yell.

Akira: W-we’re supposed to investigate the river running through the City of Rain. Apparently it suddenly turned a golden color one day, and.....
I thought it would cause a commotion, but everyone here is so calm.....

Nero: Well, it’s illegal to gossip, after all. I’ll explain while we walk towards the river — all about Eastern Country, and the legal code.

✦✧☾✧✦

Nero: The river that turned to gold is over that way.

Akira: Nero. Why are there so many rules in the City of Rain? What is this legal code...?

Nero: It’s the code that protects the peace of Eastern Country. It was written so that nobody would have to undergo anything unpleasant; so that we could all live happily. But they kept making new laws every year.
Apparently there’s over one hundred volumes full of statutes now. Nobody can remember every single law, so we all just try to avoid getting into trouble.

Shino: ....Nobody ever mentioned that when I was at Blanchett.

Faust: They’re more lax about enforcing the code in the suburbs. But it looks like everyone respects the law in the capital.

Shino: Heath, you’ve been to the capital before, right? You went to the Eastern Country royal castle, too.

Heathcliff: Yes, I went to offer New Year’s greetings in my father’s stead. I think I memorized about three hundred rules from the moment I stepped through the gates till the time I spoke to the king.

Shino: ....Isn’t it suffocating, living in a city like this?

Nero: It’s not all bad. You don’t get involved in unnecessary relationships, so you rarely go through unpleasant drama.
So long as you all follow the law, nobody will cause you any trouble. You can live life at your own pace.


CHAPTER 3

Nero: This is the river. The water really did turn golden.

Akira: It looks like people are dropping by to take a look. They’re all turning away in silence, though....

Shino: Good thing this happened in Eastern Country. If this happened in the West or the South, they would’ve made a huge fuss.

Heathcliff: Ah... They put up a poster.... “We are currently investigating this incident. Please do not drink the river water. - The City of Rain Public Office.”

Faust: I’m impressed that this poster was enough to keep people calm.

Nero: Everyone is kind and serious at heart. They’ve just forgotten how to take action because the law restricts your every move.
It’s a really great place to live in so long as no one finds out that you’re a wizard.

Shino: You don’t want them to find out?

Nero: Of course not. This city is so cramped and insular. People need an outlet for their stress.

Shino: And that outlet is us. I see. No wonder Heath turned out so shy — he visited this city all the time.

Heathcliff: It’s not the city’s fault, and who do you think you are... Why are you acting like my parent....

Faust: If rain falls, blame it on wizards. If you’re scratched by a cat, blame it on wizards. No matter what happens, it’s our fault. Let’s solve this problem quickly and leave.
There’s a fish in the river.... It can’t be a powerful poison, then. Shino, you go take a look. Kids love swimming, right?

Shino: Maybe you did. Kids nowadays aren’t like that anymore. But sure.

(Splash)

Heathcliff: Woa....h. Don’t go diving in like that. Do you notice anything weird?

Shino: ....It tastes like honey.....

Akira: Honey? Are you saying it’s a honey-flavored river?

Nero: ..........

✦✧☾✧✦

Akira: I didn’t expect the golden river to be honey flavored..... How did this happen?

Faust: A magic tool might be involved. It would be great if we could ask around to see if anything suspicious has happened lately, but....

Heathcliff: If we can’t go up to people and talk to them, we can’t do any investigating.

Nero: The public office sent the investigation request, right? Then we just need to head to the office and request a certificate that states we’re performing an investigation for the safety of this city, along with an investigatory permission form.

Shino: What a pain.

Nero: Yeah. So let’s use these for now.

Faust: What are these?

Nero: A counterfeit certificate and permission form. I made them with magic.

Faust: .........You.....


CHAPTER 4

Faust: .........You.....

Nero: If you’re gonna complain, please head to the public office and wait in line for half a day, Mr. Faust.

Faust: .............

Shino: Let’s use them for now. If they yell at us, we can go line up at the office.

Heathcliff: But.....

Nero: I thought you guys hated humans, but here you are, trying to abide by their rules. I guess you really love them after all.

Faust & Heathcliff: ...........

Faust: Let’s use these.

Heathcliff: We should use these.

Nero: Now you’re talking. Can you go interview the people over there? I’ll head the other way with Mister Sage.

✦✧☾✧✦

Akira: ...Everyone looks really surprised when we speak to them. They’re relieved when we show them the forms, though.

Nero: They’re not used to speaking on the streets, after all. You’re allowed to talk inside shops, though there are some owners who ban talking inside their shops too.

Akira: What was your rule, Nero?

Nero: I let people talk.

Akira: That’s surprising.... You said you had trouble getting along with others, so I thought you’d ban people from talking inside your restaurant.

Nero: Fair point.... I don’t like building long-term relationships, but I did enjoy chatting with people for short periods of time.
Be it about the weather, or their job.... I didn’t dislike it when people told me, “it was good,” or “it wasn’t too great,” either.

Akira: It can be fun chatting with people you hardly know.

Nero: Sometimes it was a pain; sometimes it made me feel downright awful. And on those days, I’d feel miserable all day. But....
After a few days, I always wanted to hear someone talk again.

Akira: Nero......

Nero: ....The golden, honey-flavored river.... Might be because of my restaurant.

Akira: Because of your restaurant....?

Nero: Yeah. Back when my restaurant was open, I used my magic honeypot whenever I ran out of spices.

Akira: A magic honeypot?

Nero: It doesn’t taste as good as the real thing, but. If you put water in the pot and place it under the moonlight, it transforms into something like honey. Even though it’s actually just water.
But one day, it just disappeared from my shop. I guess someone must’ve taken it when I wasn’t watching.


CHAPTER 5

Akira: So... Are you saying that the magic honeypot fell into the river....?

Nero: Probably.

Akira: Why didn’t you tell everyone?

Nero: Faust is an obstinate guy. The kids are pure, and they have a strong sense of justice. They wouldn’t forgive the burglar.
You get tossed into jail for at least fifty years for stealing something in this country. I’d rather not make a fuss.
I’ll dig up the honeypot from the bottom of the lake. So can you keep this a secret, Sir Sage?

Akira: ....Is that okay with you, Nero?

Nero: The guy who stole my honeypot probably figured out that I’m a wizard.
But nobody started rumors about me. That’s why I could keep my restaurant open. ....It’s a form of give-and-take.

Akira: Nero.....

Nero: So I’ll be headed back to the river. Can you distract Faust and the others if they pass by?

✦✧☾✧✦

Nero: << Adnodus Omnis >>

Akira: Ah... Part of the river is transparent now.... That’ll make the honeypot easier to find.

Citizen: A wizard cast a spell on the river.... Maybe he’s the reason the river’s color changed.... ....I need to report this to the police.....

Akira: Wait! He’s just investigating.....

Nero: It’s fine, Mister Sage. I’ll finish this off before they arrive.

Akira: But.... If you tell him the truth, he might understand.

Nero: It takes way too long to make people in this city understand. ....There, found it.

Akira: The magic honeypot....! The color of the river is slowly returning to normal.....

Nero: See? Problem solved.

Nero’s customer: ....Mister Nero....!

Nero: ....You’re one of my regulars.....


CHAPTER 6

Nero’s customer: I.... I’m so sorry....! I didn’t realize my child had tucked away the pot into his bag. I should’ve brought it back immediately, but I.....
I was so scared you’d suspect me of robbery..... And then, while I was trying to figure out what to do with the pot, the restaurant disappeared, and.... I dropped the pot in the river.....

Nero: ....It’s fine. We’re all terrified of being accused. I’m sorr....

Nero’s customer: Please don’t kill me!

Nero: ...........

Nero’s customer: I didn’t know you were a wizard! I’ll keep it a secret, so please don’t kill me!

Nero: ....I can’t promise you that. I’ve cursed you, see. If you do something like this again, your heart’s gonna stop.

Nero’s customer: Eeek.....

Nero: Or do you want me to kill you now? If you treasure your life, get out of my sight!

Nero’s customer: ..........

(Footsteps)

Akira: ......Nero.....

Nero: ......Man.....

Akira: Um... Nero.... I don’t know what to say to you, but.....

Nero: What should we do with this? Wanna use the honeypot? It’s pretty useful.

Akira: ....I do.

Nero: Haha.... Then I’ll give it to you. Just make sure you don’t drop it in the river.

Akira: Yes.... I’ll treasure it.....

✦✧☾✧✦

Shino: So the river changed color because of something Nero lost?

Heathcliff: You should’ve told us. We would’ve helped you look for it.

Nero: I didn’t want you guys to complain.

Faust: We would never. Don’t be silly.... Were you really the one who lost the honeypot?

Nero: Yeah.

Faust: ....... And you’re fine with how things turned out?

Nero: Yeah, this is fine. Everyone here can use the river as usual starting tomorrow. I did something good — for a wizard, you know.

Akira: Thank you, Nero....

Shino: Show me the honeypot, Sir Sage. ....Huh. So you can make honey with this. I like honey, you know?

Heathcliff: Let’s fill it with water and place it by the window when we get back. We’ll have a pot of honey by tomorrow morning.

Nero: Haha.... Then I guess I’ll bake some bread tomorrow. Let’s eat some fresh baked bread with honey.

Shino: Yay.

Heathcliff: I’m looking forward to it.

Faust: That sounds great.

Nero: Ahaha! Let’s head back to the magic headquarters, then.