healingbonds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
healingbonds) wrote2020-06-11 07:24 pm
healingbonds) wrote2020-06-11 07:24 pm
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Prelude to the Festival and Justice | Chapter 7
Chapter 6 << | index | >> Chapter 8
Arthur: Sir Sage, are you sure you’re not tired?
Akira: Ah....... I’m fine.
Arthur: Please don’t worry. Sir Oz isn’t here, but Cain and I are with you.
Cain: That’s right, Akira. No matter what happens, we won’t let anything harm a single hair on your head.
Akira: (Arthur...... Cain...... It’s reassuring to be in the company of a gallant prince and a dashing knight.......)
Arthur: I will protect you even if it costs me my life.
Cain: I’ll put my life on the line for you.
Akira: P-please don’t go overboard. Take care of yourselves and place your safety first.
The two of them share a strong sense of justice and a disregard for danger, but they also tend to be reckless.
That same concern seems to occur to both of them.
Cain: Your Highness. That is the job of a knight. You’re the prince, so please don’t go overboard.
Arthur: What’s with the sudden formality? As the Sage’s wizards, we stand as equals.
Cain: That won’t do. You are still my lord.
Arthur: Cain, you’re an irreplaceable friend. You are the only person who didn’t draw back from me when I asked for you to be my friend.
Cain: Ahaha. I’m just shameless, that’s all.
Arthur: That’s what I like about you. So please don’t suddenly turn into my subordinate. We’re equals, aren’t we?
Cain: I won’t give in on that score. Protecting my lord is what it means to be a knight. Let me look cool—I want to show off.
Arthur: You’re already cool, Cain.
Cain: It is my utmost honour to hear you say that, Your Highness.
The two of them seem like friendly brothers, undivided by their difference and status as they joke and laugh between themselves.
Just as I feel myself relaxing at their banter, Cain suddenly raises his voice sharply.
Cain: .........! Don’t move, Akira.
Akira: ..........!
Arthur: What’s wrong, Cain?
Cain: I hear footsteps. A lot of them.....
Cain swiftly looks around.
At that moment, something darts out from a corner of the ruins lying in front of us, running across my field of vision.
It’s a group of children, their laughter ringing out into the air.
Children: Ahahaha......!
Akira: ............!? Children!? In a place like this......
Cain: I see them as well...... Are they some kind of monster?
Arthur: Their clothes look old-fashioned...... Like the clothing worn by the ancient people I’ve seen in history books.....
Arthur and Cain move to stand in front of me, as if protecting me is the natural thing to do.
Blue skies, white ruins, the sound of the wind....... We hold our breaths, searching for the children’s presence.
But what comes to our ears isn’t laughter—it’s uplifting music.
Akira: (This music..... Isn’t this the sound of the zither we heard earlier......?)
I cast my eyes over the ruins, looking for the figure of the wandering bard.
As I take in our surroundings, an unbelievable sight unfolds.
(Scenery changes )
In an instant, the ruins fill up with human figures, and the streets of the city all come alive.
Shop owners selling fruits in the marketplace....... Women walking with large loads on their shoulders...... Cheerful children running through the marketplace.....
It was as if we had come to Mesa before it was destroyed.
Shop owner in the marketplace: Come on now, come closer! There’s nothing you can’t get your hands on in this city!
Lady walking by: Oh my, what wonderful mana stones! It’s all thanks to our victorious Mesa warriors! Hey, don’t run!
Children: I’ll be fine!
Man: Welcome to the eminent capital in the world, Mesa! The oasis of Mesa is paradise on earth!
Cain: ......Oasis......?
Struck still with amazement, Cain looks beyond the ruins.
The scenery, which had been an endless desert wasteland before, has transformed into a green field of lush waterfront with open fountains.
Arthur: ......Is this an illusion? Are they the dead souls of Mesa?
Cain: It was said that Mesa was destroyed overnight in a natural catastrophe. If that’s the case, the souls of Mesa’s people.....
Could they be unaware of the fact that they died?
Akira: (What destroyed Mesa wasn’t a natural catastrophe...... It was Oz......)
(It was such a lively city.... So why did Oz come to destroy it?)
Chapter 6 << | index | >> Chapter 8
Arthur: Sir Sage, are you sure you’re not tired?
Akira: Ah....... I’m fine.
Arthur: Please don’t worry. Sir Oz isn’t here, but Cain and I are with you.
Cain: That’s right, Akira. No matter what happens, we won’t let anything harm a single hair on your head.
Akira: (Arthur...... Cain...... It’s reassuring to be in the company of a gallant prince and a dashing knight.......)
Arthur: I will protect you even if it costs me my life.
Cain: I’ll put my life on the line for you.
Akira: P-please don’t go overboard. Take care of yourselves and place your safety first.
The two of them share a strong sense of justice and a disregard for danger, but they also tend to be reckless.
That same concern seems to occur to both of them.
Cain: Your Highness. That is the job of a knight. You’re the prince, so please don’t go overboard.
Arthur: What’s with the sudden formality? As the Sage’s wizards, we stand as equals.
Cain: That won’t do. You are still my lord.
Arthur: Cain, you’re an irreplaceable friend. You are the only person who didn’t draw back from me when I asked for you to be my friend.
Cain: Ahaha. I’m just shameless, that’s all.
Arthur: That’s what I like about you. So please don’t suddenly turn into my subordinate. We’re equals, aren’t we?
Cain: I won’t give in on that score. Protecting my lord is what it means to be a knight. Let me look cool—I want to show off.
Arthur: You’re already cool, Cain.
Cain: It is my utmost honour to hear you say that, Your Highness.
The two of them seem like friendly brothers, undivided by their difference and status as they joke and laugh between themselves.
Just as I feel myself relaxing at their banter, Cain suddenly raises his voice sharply.
Cain: .........! Don’t move, Akira.
Akira: ..........!
Arthur: What’s wrong, Cain?
Cain: I hear footsteps. A lot of them.....
Cain swiftly looks around.
At that moment, something darts out from a corner of the ruins lying in front of us, running across my field of vision.
It’s a group of children, their laughter ringing out into the air.
Children: Ahahaha......!
Akira: ............!? Children!? In a place like this......
Cain: I see them as well...... Are they some kind of monster?
Arthur: Their clothes look old-fashioned...... Like the clothing worn by the ancient people I’ve seen in history books.....
Arthur and Cain move to stand in front of me, as if protecting me is the natural thing to do.
Blue skies, white ruins, the sound of the wind....... We hold our breaths, searching for the children’s presence.
But what comes to our ears isn’t laughter—it’s uplifting music.
Akira: (This music..... Isn’t this the sound of the zither we heard earlier......?)
I cast my eyes over the ruins, looking for the figure of the wandering bard.
As I take in our surroundings, an unbelievable sight unfolds.
(Scenery changes )
In an instant, the ruins fill up with human figures, and the streets of the city all come alive.
Shop owners selling fruits in the marketplace....... Women walking with large loads on their shoulders...... Cheerful children running through the marketplace.....
It was as if we had come to Mesa before it was destroyed.
Shop owner in the marketplace: Come on now, come closer! There’s nothing you can’t get your hands on in this city!
Lady walking by: Oh my, what wonderful mana stones! It’s all thanks to our victorious Mesa warriors! Hey, don’t run!
Children: I’ll be fine!
Man: Welcome to the eminent capital in the world, Mesa! The oasis of Mesa is paradise on earth!
Cain: ......Oasis......?
Struck still with amazement, Cain looks beyond the ruins.
The scenery, which had been an endless desert wasteland before, has transformed into a green field of lush waterfront with open fountains.
Arthur: ......Is this an illusion? Are they the dead souls of Mesa?
Cain: It was said that Mesa was destroyed overnight in a natural catastrophe. If that’s the case, the souls of Mesa’s people.....
Could they be unaware of the fact that they died?
Akira: (What destroyed Mesa wasn’t a natural catastrophe...... It was Oz......)
(It was such a lively city.... So why did Oz come to destroy it?)
Chapter 6 << | index | >> Chapter 8