Mismarca Koukoku Monogatari:Volume 8 Prologue
This place, once arrived, will never be lost. [1]
That night, in the full glory of his body, a touch of dirt stained the throne.
Today, in this place which once again appears in front of their eyes, is not the arrogance of youth, but merely a pale, gaunt man. Wearing ornate armor and a sword inherited from a Dynasty, he stands.
Lady Lunas looked at this scenario and laughed. Her armor already tainted with a sea of blood, and she has long reveled in the fragrance of blood.
“I humbly present myself, Lunas Victora Majestia!! This is our first meeting, Rahil II, King of Mismarca!!" [2]
The brave women of the Imperial Court tried to hide their shock at her bloodstained face, while the King in turn, his chuckle. [3]
“Very fierce Lion Princess. I am unaware of the unauthorized actions.”
“Your son, your life, together with your country as reparations for me. So, how are you going to do it?”
“As you can see, with this.”
Rahil pulled out his sword, throwing the scabbard sideways, and then grasping the sword with both hands.
Lunas laughed again.
“Ha, ha, ha!! Ha, ha, ha, ha!! Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!! Indeed a ruler of a country does not bow so easily.”
Waving just slightly, the sword was stopped by blades of blood and then suddenly vanished into thin air. Lunas took another step closer to the terrace.
“Then, I’ll give you your-“
Flash. One casual twinkle.
Inherited from the old Dynasty, and crafted by the highest authority with beauty as the priority, this sword was forged. Enemies from across the world have pursued the beauty and practicality of this “Seven-Star Sword”, only to be broken.
The crossguard pierced the carpet, coming to a rest in the floor. Holding a sword, only half of Rahil’s throat cells were exposed to the air as Lunas pointed impatiently.
“Oh? Spill it, what do you plan to do?”
"Hmmm, kuku, [4] what's to be done? Little girl. Because of your improper way, you'll lose my son."
“…”
Lunas who was happily smiling, instantly turned cold with rage.
“Compared to having this conversation, what haven’t you just cut off my head, Lion Princess?”
“Give it up, you don’t have a chance.”
Rahil very casually threw his sword away.
“Do you still have time to talk? If so I think I have something that will please you.”
“…..What is it.”
“I hope you can cut my head off, and give it to my son Mahiro as a farewell gift.”
After living through this war right in the center of the storm, Lunas wondered if Rahil’s mind was still working.
Or maybe if the King is never allowed to insult anyone.
But to mention this as a relic… …no, a farewell present, is too confusing. Especially if the recipient was his own son.
Armando Rahil smirked evilly upwards. His eyes, no sense of dignity to speak of… …that’s right. On that night of danger, Mahiro looked exactly the same.
“I don’t have to think about it, I don’t have much time left anyways. Rather than dying in my bed or the like, hands like yours… …might bring some color to this boring life at the end.”
“…Fine.” Lunas replied, bringing her sword back up to Rahil’s throat.
“Though, the opponent is but a little girl. So it was a little sour too. How do you want to do this?”
“Dry.”
For this simple answer, the Serpent King issued a very strange laughter.
“Hmm. It’s no wonder [Lumiere] would give it such a high level of evaluation.”
“Any last words?”
“Be careful. Mahiro… … he surpassed me, that child, but… …” Rahil smirked. “Exhausting my life energy was my proudest masterpiece.”
“Acknowledged.”
Lunas, blade in hand, swung that cross shaped weapon out in a straight line.
Translator's Notes and References[edit]
- ↑ This bit is worded awkwardly, however; I believe it means that, once you've been to this place, you'll never forget about it. Hence, it'll never be "lost" in your mind.
- ↑ Using chinese.yabla to look up individual characters, I managed to clear up the first half of the sentence. Second half is still iffy. For "Rahil"'s name, the Chinese text uses the symbols with the pronunciation of: lā Xī ěr. Basically, La-shi-air. Translating software (Google Translate, Bing Translate, Babylon) all seem to like using Rahil, so I've stuck with that for now.
- ↑ Again, I was pretty dumbfounded here, at the "brave women of the Imperial Court" part, I'm not sure if I'm taking it too literally, or if I really did translate it correctly.
- ↑ Previously I had translated this literally because the symbol used here making the sound "ku" means warehouse/storehouse. So it was something like "Hmm...storehouse storehouse." Then I realized after awhile that they were going for the sound, and not the meaning. Hence, the Japanese portrayal of laughter "kuku".
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