Prologue 2

SHS V1 PROLOGUE PART 2

Translator: ShimizuA

*unedited

A Hostile Banquet

The seven high schoolers that stranded at [Flaregard] kingdom in another world. The injury they got from the crash healed steadily thanks to careful nursing by the villager of mountain village Elm where they was sheltered. At first they were bewildered at their situation, but thanks to the follow up by Mikogami Tsukasa, the high school politician who already in touch with the villagers, they were able to regain their composure. And the day after all of them had recovered for a month, the villagers holding a banquet.

“Ehm! Well then! Celebrating the full recovery of those who came from another world, cheers!”

“““Cheers!!”””

An elder with splendid full beard and wolf ears and tail. He was Ulga, Winona’s father and this village chief. Forty villagers followed his signal cheered to Tsukasa and his friend as their guest of honor. After they gulped down the beer from wooden jug, they started to reach out for the dishes that lined up on the floor at Village hall that also doubled as village chief house.

The menu was grilled boar with herbs that just got caught today and steamed potato with butter. They also got some fruits like plums, pears, honey-pickled apples from the town for today. Freshly baked bread and boiled eggs was distributed to each person. Chopped goat cheese made in the village also being served. There also scrap meat stew and Sauerkraut.

Fruits was especially popular, as adults and children was seizing for them self. Perhaps because sweet thing was hard to get inside the conifer forest area.

“Gah haha! I always thought that you all wearing weird clothes, but to think that you came from different world! That’s surprising!”

Ulga laughing excitedly fitting for a mountain man, while drinking with a big jug with beer foam on his moustache. To him, the genius businessman, Sanada Masato, answer back.

“We are more surprised than you guys. I woken up to find that a person with wolf ears and tail was nursing me and that Tsukasa just said ‘Here was a different world from the earth’. I got a shiver when I thought that he got a screw loose in his head.”

“Nyahaha. That’s right. When Shinobu sees another villagers other than Riruru(-chan) I thought that my head had gone crazy~.”

The genius journalist, Sarutobi Shinobu, followed up while putting plum into her mouth.

“Certainly your reaction when you were saw our tail and ears was hilarious. Although Tsukasa put a poker face, the others reactions were quite good. We also have fun thinking how we surprise the one who wake up next.”

“B, but saying ‘we will eat you’ to injured people that just woken up it just too much! Tsukasa and the others were really troubled you know!”

Riruru complained at Winona’s and the other’s prank. While they have stopped doing that now, when they did the that Riruru had gone on rage, forced Winona as main preparator and the other un-adult like adults into seiza at the village plaza, as if they were sinners lamenting in front of a judge that preached them at court. Ulga, the village chief, was also there, so unexpectedly she was the most powerful person at the village.

“But I like such a mischievous Winona you know.”

“Oh my Masato? You really have good eyes for women~.”

“Mou……”

As Winona sighed and giving him sidelong glance after being flattered by Masato, Kanzaki Keine, the genius doctor who sat beside Riruru, also gave her comment.

“By the way, how is? Have you gotten used living at this village already?”

“Yeah,” Keine answered with elegant nod and a smile that never broken once after she wake up.

“One month already passed, we were able to get used to the live here and able to accept the fact that we have come to another world. Thinking back, maybe we were fortunate that we just got injured. If we got trapped, maybe some of us go through panic attack….Well, it seems some of us still haven’t accepted reality.”

As Keine told that, there was one person holed up at the corner, not joining the feast; the genius magician, Prince Akatsuki.

“Impossible impossible impossible!! It’s a dream. It’s a nightmare.”

Unlike the other 6 person who able to accept the ‘unreal’ situation in one month, he still couldn’t catch up with the situation. Maybe it was because his nature as magician that such ‘unreality’ only comes from tricks or technology.

“““Rawr~! We’re gonna eat you!”””

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! CAT EEEAAARS!! DOG EEEAAARS!!”

He became a plaything for the village mischievous kids.

“I didn’t see anything! I haven’t seen anything! This has to be at trick! This must be a trick! This must be the usual morning show director’s works! I always been bothered since that bastard always comes with absurd projects!  This time they must be set up this uselessly high quality trick to scare meeeeee!!!!”

“Ahahahaha”

“Big sis you’re so funny!”

“Wha, that, that’s wrong! I’m a man! A big bro!”

Have being called big sis by the kids, Akatsuki who had only been shrieking voiced a rebuttal. Even if he was a boy, because his pretty face, coupled with his short stature and lack of muscle, Akatsuki often mistaken as a girl. However that was reasonable. Actually in his whole life only Tsukasa, who excelled at observing people, that had correctly guessed his gender in first sight. It was also including the village, that Riruru and the villagers was showing their surprised look.

“Eh, Akatsuki is a man?!”

“Hoo. You sure have a cute face. …Eh? But Riruru. I’m taking care of the boys, and I left you with the girls right? You didn’t noticed at that time?”

“I have thought that he has small breast…… But iI didn’t felt anything wrong from his body so i didn’t noticed……”

“Eh? So you mean that it was too small that you didn’t noーー”

“STOOOOP IIIIIIT!!!!! I’LL CRY YOU KNOOOWW!!!”

“““Raawr~~~~”””

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!”

He really cried. Looking at miserably Akatsuki,

“ …… Poor Akatsuki……”,

the genius inventor, Ooboshi Ringo unintentionally sympathized with him. Masato clapped at those word with his talkative mouth.

“The children was happy, isn’t that enough for an entertainer?”

“Hue?”

*flinch* Not thinking about that, her shoulders dropped and her face was red like an apple, as she tried to hide her face by immersed in the meal. Since usually she had less chance to interact with others, she was really shy towards strangers.

“But it’s really surprising that you came from world without byuma.”

“It is an established theory that human beings have evolved from monkeys in our world.”

“So the place Tsukasa and others said as ‘Earth’ is a world with only hyuma right?”

“Wait a sec. What does that hyuma and byuma means?”

“Ah, oh right Shinobu was still asleep when we talked about this. To put it simply, Byuma is a human being with characteristic of a beast like those in the village, and Hyuma is referring to human like us.”

“There was also slight difference beside appearance, Byuma has a lot of strength, and while it’s rare, some Hyuma can use magic power.”

“He~. I always thought that this world was fantasy-ish, but to think that magic also exists~”

“It sure was surprising. By the way, what it can do?”

“Well, they can talks with spirits, controlling fire and wind …, I’m sorry.  I have heard stories from Winona’s husband, but the truth is I never seen magic or magic user. Because there are only a few of them. But because of that any person that can use magic, even if they are commoners they can be raised to aristocracy.”

“Oh yeah you yeah said so…”

“…… Well it would be nice to investigate about magic eventually.”

Tsukasa muttered to no one. After living at the village for one month, he roughly understood that civilization level at this world at least was same as the Age of Discovery. That’s why knowledge about it was essential. If he don’t know about it, it may interfere with the search for the way back to the original world. And more importantly,

(It might be able to answer the unrealistic circumstance that happened to us) taught him.

They might be summoned by someone through magic. It may like story that comes out from pop novel, but that was the best possible situation.

And when they was discussing about that, suddenly Winona hit her palm,

“Ah, I remembered something,”and said something unexpected.

“Actually. When I heard that Tsukasa and the other comes from another world, it’s like some stories I have heard somewhere before. Now I remembered where I heard that. Before we married, that guy told it to me. A story about seven braves [1] from another world.”

“““ーーーーーー!!!”””

Everyone, even Akatsuki that supposedly be covering his ears and closing his eyes, was surprised and opened their eyes wide. It was natural, since that story was too similar with their current situation. They couldn’t just ignored it.

So firstly they tried to throw some question at Winona. But, Tsukasa blocked them before that with his right hand. It was rude if everyone started questioning all at once. By his judgement as politician, he stopped his comrades. And then they realize Tsukasa’s intention, so they swallowed their question and backed down. After confirming that, Tsukasa once again as their representative asked Winona.

“I’m sorry. Can you tell us that story in details?”

But Winona’s answer was displeasing.

“ …… I’m sorry, but I also didn’t knew the details. My husband was a peddler from Elm village that goes to the whole country of Flaregard. At the middle of his peddling, he heard ‘ A long ago, seven brave had come from another world and saved the continent from wicked [Dragon]’ …… or something like that at the southern region. So I only know to that extent.”

“Is your husband isn’t here now?”

“ …Three years ago. He passed away when he involved at war.”

“ ……… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t worry about that. It may be an important clue to go back to your world after all. It’s natural to be desperate. I’m also want say sorry. We couldn’t help you.”

Winona’s last word made the banquet filled with awkward silence.

But it was shattered by a single boy.

“Bullshit!!”

Suddenly, a boy around Riruru and Tsukasa and other’s age, who was drinking alone at the corner, slammed his jug to the floor and shouted sharp word. They never talked directly, but Tsukasa knew him. He was Elk. He was Ulga’s grandchild and Winona’s son.

“What’s wrong Elk?”

Elk answered the village chief with irritated voice.

“‘What’s wrong?’ my ass! Grandpa, mom, Riruru, and you all, are you crazy??!! ‘We come from another world riding steel bird that flying in the sky’ ~~ like hell I gonna believe such absurd story! Do you really believe their bullshit?! Besides, our harvest from the forest this year was insufficient so our village financial affairs was already in the red, and here you all holding a banquet! Thanks to that, our village treasury have gone before the winter! How are we going to survive the winter! We don’t have the leisure to afford extra seven mouth to feed!”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s a happy occasion.”

“Over my dead body as the treasurer! We should just abandon them!”

“Elk. That’s enough. Elm mountaineers didn’t have such a small heart.”

“Guh……”

While Elk flinched when his mom Winona rebuked him,

“A, at any rate,  ‘ya all! After your wound healed leave this village immediately! We don’t give any food for swindlers like ‘ya!”

And eventually left the party ground with angry shoulder[2] and showed his hostility openly.

“Nyahaha. He tell us to get out but he is the one who get out…”

“I’m sorry about that. He is god with letter and numbers, and his bow handling is above average, …… But he is quite apathetic sometimes.”

“Don’t mind about what he said. You all were thrown into a different world without a way back right? Until you can find to return back, you can live in this village.”

“Hmhm.” “Let’s do it slowly.” “Together we can manage to do it somehow.”

The villager nodded together.

Helping anyone and support anyone. ーーIt was the culture necessary to live in the mountain with many coniferous trees and few nature’s blessing.

“Thanks for your kindness everyone from Elm village.”

Tsukasa bowed his head and accepted their kindness.

A different world where they couldn’t tell left and right. Without a place to stay, they couldn’t pass the night with ease. They greatly appreciated Elm village’s favor. But on the other hand,

“But, what Elk said might be right. Wheat cannot grow in white, hard and barren soil. There were only root crops field that mainly made of small potato in this village. I heard that the meat and fur from hunting was taken as tax for the feudal lord, so only shank meat and scrap meat was left here[3]. I don’t think we could afford to live with only that. … No, even there some margin to do that, it’s absurd to add 7 more people to the 50 people that already lived in this village for long-term care.”

After all, that made the population increased over 10%. And it didn’t become labor force, but sick people who only consume.

“ …… We really have been bothering everyone. As we can already move, let us help with the village work from tomorrow. Because if we didn’t work, we don’t have excuse to earn our living.”

“No, it’s more than that. I think we should do more to payback your favor.”

Masato butt in at the end of Tsukasa word’s. Ulga smiling broadly to his high-spirited word,

“Haha! I’m looking forward to it! Once again, to welcome our new family, cheers!!”

They welcomed the new resident with the second toast tonight.

“““Cheers!!!!”””

After that the village welcoming party continue with pleasant laughter. In the middle of those excitement, Riruru little by little moved her legs and sat beside Tsukasa. And then, she offered her jug with lovely smile.

“ … I looking forward working with you, Tsukasa.”

“Yeah. Likewise.”

They silently bump their jug. Thus, the seven super high schoolers become the Elm village family.

I’m gonna use brave for Yuusha, and hero for Eiiyu, in case if both of them appeared.怒り肩, angry or square shoulder. If you know better term please tell me….Shank meat is meat at the leg, and scrap meat is meat left on the bone after trimming.