Dantalian no Shoka:Volume2 Chapter1
The house was blazing.
The pure white walls, elegant spires, sophisticated furniture and ornaments were all burning ferociously.
The cries of the escaping servants were mixed with the sounds of the collapsing wooden furniture.
The ferocious blaze stained the sky a crimson red.
The corridors were almost filled with smoke and they were completely dark. In this smothering darkness, only the flickering light of the fire provided some illumination.
And the owner of this house was depending on this faint illumination to escape.
After a while, his expression slowly became less tense.
The smoke around him was not thick anymore and he could see the living room in front of him.
As long as he passed through the living room, he would be able to see the exit, the fire had not reached there yet. As long as he walked out, he would be saved.
Just as he was about to run forward, cheering, he suddenly stopped.
He could see by the illumination of the blazing fire, a figure walked slowly towards him.
It was a girl, it was a girl wearing thin clothing.
“Ah, are you alright, Florence?”
He said as he walked towards her.
“Yes, Father.”
The girl nodded gently. The flickering light illuminated the side of her smiling face.
The girl held a book in her right hand.
It was a book with a western décor.
And her left hand seemed to be holding something heavy…
“What are you doing, Florence, let’s escape quickly…”
The words of persuasion from the man to the girl stopped, because he noticed that as she approached him, the girl’s left hand started to raise.
In her hand, there was an axe. It was an axe used to chop wood.
Then this axe, as if attracted by the man’s wide-eyed gaze, swung towards him viciously.
“What…”
Feeling the impact on his right shoulder, the man couldn’t help but groan.
He looked at the axe protruding from his shoulder in disbelief.
As the girl violently yanked the axe from his body, there was a spray of blood from his shoulder, and he collapsed.
The blood pooled on the carpet that had caught fire, it gave off a nauseating smell as the fire came into contact with it.
“W-why… Florence…”
The man looked at the girl with an expression of fear.
But she didn’t reply, she only smiled beautifully and raised the axe. The axe chopped open the man’s head and he never moved again.
Even though this had happened, the girl’s expression did not change.
There was only a high-pitched laughter from her mouth.
She threw aside the axe, picked a vase rolling on the ground, and poured its contents on the man’s body.
The pungent smell of oil started to permeate the air in a moment.
The man’s body was encased by the flames quickly, releasing a foul odour as it burned.
And the girl left the house without looking back.
Then she disappeared into the darkness of the night.
She carried the book in her right hand.
The night air was rent with her cheerful laughter—
Chapter 4 - Rose Princess
Episode 04: La Belle au bois dormant
1
The slope stretched onward.
This was a risky mountain path covered with wild grass.
The path had been neglected badly. Its surface was hard, there were uneven bumps and at the same time, wood pieces and sandy rocks littering the path, making it difficult for a person to navigate the path. And there would be differences in the height of the path that were caused by looming boulders that could cause a person to trip.
The path was surrounded by a thick forest. Hoof marks left by horses could be seen if a person scrutinized the path carefully, but the assumption could be made that not many people would walk on this road.
But on this neglected mountain path, there was a young man and girl walking on it.
The appearance of these two people did not fit their surroundings.
The man seemed to be around twenty years old, he was a youth who wore a leather double-breasted uniform and was carrying his baggage.
Although he walked as if he were a soldier, he did not give off a coarse air. Rather, he made people feel that he was a well-taught, serious young man.
Behind him, a young petite girl followed along. She looked to be twelve or thirteen years old.
This girl seemed like a porcelain doll. She had a mesmerizing beauty.
Her long black hair was tied up with lace ties and her hair fell to her waist.
Her eyes were as black as the night.
Perhaps the reason for this was due to the pure western blood. Her specially-coloured skin was as smooth as honey mixed with milk, it made people think of high-priced porcelain.
Her clothes were as dark as her hair.
It was an outfit that would make one think of the medieval times where the knights had ceremonies, although it was not really an outfit, but it was not a bizarre armoured clothing. There were numerous ruffles on the edge of her skirt, although it looked loose and puffy, her waist that had a ribbon tied around it was surprisingly slim. But the metal armour around her waist and on the back of her hands did not suit with her lacey outfit, and it seemed a little strange.
“I’m bored.”
This girl dressed in black sighed as she said to herself.
Even though this voice sounded like a bird singing, it also felt like she was pouting. Seeing the youth not reacting to her words and continuing to walk, her mouth pursed up even more.
“I’m bored, Huey. And tired. My feet ache and I’m hungry too. Why do we have to suffer climbing this desolate mountain trail? Only idiots and smoke would dare to go against gravity, are you trying to say that you are actually an idiot?”
“The road situation is so bad that no cars can drive in, what else can we do.”
The youth called Huey sighed and turned around. He smiled at the pouting girl.
“And, the one who wanted me to come and investigate this village, wasn’t it you, Dalian?”
“That was because I did not know that it was actually a rural area in the mountains and forests. Is there really anyone living here?”
“Eh, I heard that this is a road where carriages drawn by horses can transport goods to the town.”
“Don’t even mention horses, but I haven’t even seen a monkey on the road, except for one like you.”
The girl called Dalian heatedly replied.
In reality, the condition of the road was actually quite bad. It was narrow and it meandered, and it was quite steep. Although it was day time, it was quite dim, if someone accidentally walked into the forest, they might actually walk until they reached a cliff.
“Don’t tell me we’re lost? How useless is your sense of direction.”
“Don’t say it as if I’m someone who gets lost easily.”
Huey appeared to be unhappy.
“This should be the place. There aren’t so many road junctions that someone would get lost easily, this mountain should be in the territory of Carabells… But the village at the bottom of that mountain seems strange.”
“No matter what, that place only looks like a desolate village.”
Dalian muttered emotionlessly, then she looked over her shoulder.
Although it could not be seen from where they were, there was a small village at the foot of this mountain. At the first glance, it seemed like a normal farming village surrounded by wheat fields and fruit plantations. But there was no one in that village. The buildings and the possessions were untouched, only the people had disappeared suddenly.
“In the town we were in earlier, when the policeman was giving us instructions on how to get here, he did not even mention about this situation.”
Huey said with a troubled tone.
“If that policeman was not lying, then it means that this village has been abandoned recently… But this cannot be explained. There doesn’t seem to be any signs of any plague or catastrophe, even if the village were moved, there wouldn’t be any need for them to leave during the harvesting period, right?”
“Why do you care about that so much, I’m hungry and tired now, think of something to help me, Huey.”
“Where do you want to rest? If the sun sets then it will be even more troublesome, we have to reach our destination before then…”
Dalian shook her head helplessly, then looked to the sky. Although it was still day time, but in this place that was deep in the mountain ranges, there would be two or three hours more until sunset.
“I know. There’s no other way, you’ll just have to carry me.”
Dalian sighed gently, then proudly lifted her head. Huey only blinked his eyes dazedly.
“Ah?”
“I telling you to carry me. Shouldn’t you thank me for my generosity and then bend down to carry me?”
Huey only stared at Dalian speechlessly for a while.
“I say, don’t you know that I’ve been helping you to carry your baggage ever since just now…”
He pointed at the baggage on his back, attempting to rebut her. But Dalian didn’t even look at it.
“What about that?”
Huey frowned unhappily.
“This baggage is very heavy, what did you put in it?”
“Books. Just in case.”
“…Books?! Why do you need books for climbing?”
Dalian stared coldly at Huey who was speechless.
“How foolish you can be. If I don’t bring books to the mountains, what will we do if we run into danger?”
“What can books do when we are in danger?”
“When you are lost, running around with your eyes blinded and wasting energy is not what a wise person would do, don’t you know that?”
“I know that… But what has that got to do with books?”
Dalian had an expression that said ‘of course’, straightening herself and raising her head to look at Huey.
“If there are books, then wouldn’t it be possible to stay in these mountains and not feel bored?”
Huey was frozen for a moment, then he smiled and said:
“That also means that I can throw away this baggage.”
“What foolish things are you saying, blockhead! And you made me explain so much things to you!”
“I know, anyway to carry the books or to carry you, choose one.”
Huey grumbled ‘who is the blockhead’ as he sighed.
But Dalian revealed a rare smile and said:
“Don’t worry, Huey. I’ll carry this baggage. So you can come and carry me.”
Huey only narrowed his eyes in annoyance:
“I say, you’re really taking me for an idiot, are you?”
“Wu… How did you know?”
Dalian seemed a little frantic, she even scrunched up her eyebrows, but Huey was too lazy to take note of her, he prepared to continue walking—then he suddenly stopped again.
Standing in front of Huey and Dalian, on the winding path, was a person.
It was a young girl wearing an uncommon outfit.
Her hair was pinned up with a head scarf that had a complicated flower pattern, and she wore an outfit that seemed like what the ancient clans wore. In her left hand, she carried a basket woven from vines and it seemed to be filled with freshly-plucked fruits.
“Oh dear.”
Feeling Huey and Dalian’s presences, she turned around and her face revealed her surprise. But this was a normal reaction if she were meeting a stranger.
Huey tried to give her a friendly smile, and greeted her cheerfully.
“Excuse me, Miss, are you from the village?”
“Eh, I’m kind of from there… But our dwelling place is not so big that it can be called a village.”
She nodded her head stiffly as she replied, at the same time her face appeared to be alert.
“What about you? Is there anything that you are visiting our village for?”
“Eh, actually we’re finding someone.”
“Is there someone that you know of in our village?”
“About this, actually, no.”
Huey frowned slightly, troubled and the woman’s expression tensed even further.
“To be more accurate, we’re here to find a book. It should be with someone…”
“A book?”
The woman looked at Huey as if he were a suspicious character. This wasn’t strange, who would believe that he was specially making a trip to the mountains, just to find a book?
Huey looked behind him at Dalian with a helpless expression.
But the girl wearing black had been staring at the woman dressed in traditional clothing for the whole time, as if she were a shocked animal.
And he didn’t know if Dalian’s fear of meeting strangers had spread, but the woman wearing traditional clothing took a few steps back as well as if shocked. The atmosphere was nervous and it made one suspect that if someone talked to her hastily, would she run away screaming?
A nervous silence enveloped the three of them.
What interrupted this silence was a ‘growl’, as if it were the cry of some small animal.
It was a sound that was able to dissipate that nervous atmosphere and make a person collapse. The girl dressed in black suddenly clasped her hands to her abdomen, her cheeks quickly reddening.
The source of that strange sound was Dalian. Dalian who had been saying that she was hungry earlier was so hungry that her stomach had growled. She lowered her quickly reddening face, not moving.
But Huey closed his mouth, trying not to laugh.
The woman wearing traditional clothing only looked at Dalian, dazed, then she started to realize what had happened, and couldn’t help but laugh. It could be seen that she wasn’t successful in suppressing her laughter, but that made her laugh even harder.
The mountain path that was surrounded by the lush green forest rang with laughter.
2
[In progress]
