Akatsuki Translations

The moment I stepped into the Abyss filled with gray trees blocking the blue sky, I felt as if something had switched in my head. Suddenly, I was overcome with a sense of nostalgia.

The overwhelming green scent, born from the embrace of Mother Nature, was absent. This monochromatic, inorganic place obscured even the scent of rolling death, making its presence hazy and unclear. Despite being so close, when was the last time I set foot here? So much time had passed that I had to wrack my memory.

Straining my ears, I could hear the distant thunder-like roars of ferocious beasts, the sound of something crossing through the trees, and the dying screams of creatures echoing from somewhere.

A place where merciless death and violent life coexisted. In this demon realm that should reject all, the air I inhaled deeply tasted of freedom.

“Hey!”

Startled by the sudden voice from behind, Shuou jumped up in surprise. For a moment, he thought pursuers had caught up to him, but the voice belonged to a young woman, and as his head cleared, he realized it was a familiar one.

“You!”

As he turned around, he saw her standing there. A girl with lustrous copper skin, wearing a simple, pale pink training outfit, A Shara raised her eyebrows in wonder.

“Why—”

Before he could finish, A Shara began rapidly explaining the situation.

“I thought I’d see off the back of the defeated, so I secretly followed you. But when I thought I’d found you, I saw you entering the forest and tilted my head in confusion. If you were going to abandon your life out of the shame and despair of defeat, I thought I’d stop you and say a word, given our slight connection…”

Shara bent down, looking up at Shuou’s face from below.

“But it seems I was mistaken. Your eyes aren’t dead… rather, you look angry.”

Shuou relaxed the tension between his eyebrows.

“Whatever—just go back!”

Shara tilted her head to the side with a troubled expression.

“…That’s fine, but what do you intend to do?”

“Leave me alone.”

Shara’s gaze fell to Shuou’s feet.

“You’re not going back to Murakumo—the tips of your shoes are pointing towards the forest.”

Shuou nodded ambiguously.

“Not now, no.”

Shara raised her gaze and put her hand on her chin. As if making a decision, she pierced Shuou with a straight look.

“I understand. For now, I’ll accompany you.”

Shuou gaped in astonishment.

“Wha—”

Shara answered immediately.

“Because I’m curious. That reason should be enough.”

Shuou was perplexed by this girl who spoke with a clear, confident voice.

“I’ll tell you clearly, I’m heading into the depths of the forest. It’s not just any forest, it’s a world where you can lose your life in the blink of an eye.”

He tried to scare her, but Shara nodded lightly, unfazed.

“Even a child knows that. But what about you, trying to enter there? From the looks of it, you don’t seem to wish for death. So either you know how to survive in the Abyss, or you’re just an idiot. Though our acquaintance has been short, I’ll believe it’s not the latter. No need for thanks.”

“Than—no, that’s not it!”

Shuou scratched his head. Feeling irritated, he glared at Shara with a sharp gaze.

“To put it more clearly, I don’t want you following me.”

“Request denied. I want to accompany you.”

Shuou’s shoulders sagged with a sense of defeat. There seemed to be no way out of this argument. He had realized somewhere that persuasion or threats wouldn’t work, especially with this girl. Unless he restrained her freedom or, in an extreme case, snuffed out her breath, A Shara would not bend her will.

Facing the indecisive Shuou, Shara opened her mouth impatiently.

“I’ll also make it clear. I’m interested in your actions. I simply want to know what you’re trying to do in a place where you could lose your life in the blink of an eye.”

Meeting her clear, unwavering eyes and gaze, Shuou gave up and looked away.

“Fine, I understand, do as you please. But you’ll surely regret it.”

The deeper they went into the forest, the darker it became, and the path grew more treacherous. While ordinary people would likely be terrified by the way the traces of the human world faded, Shuou felt relieved as he surveyed the surroundings.

The Gray Forest, as most people call it in a word, actually has significant differences in terrain and the flora and fauna that inhabit each region. Fortunately, the environment of the forest in this area didn’t feel much different from the forest where Shuou had spent half his life, and most of the plants living in the surrounding area were familiar to him.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the inside of the Gray Forest up close,” Shara said, her voice bouncing with the ease of someone who had come to play at an amusement park. Just as Shuou thought she was restlessly swimming her gaze around, she suddenly reached out, taking an interest in something that looked like a bundle of silk threads hanging down from the nearby trees.

Shuou instinctively grabbed Shara’s outstretched arm. “Stop it.”

Shara, stopped just before satisfying her curiosity, looked back with a blank face. “Do you not like it when I take an interest in beautiful things?”

“…………”

Instead of saying it out loud, Shuou picked up a branch that had fallen nearby and poked the bundle of silk-like threads. Then, what had looked like a bundle of threads melted into a sticky liquid as if it had a will of its own, enveloping the dead branch.

“It’s the remnant of a Rabidaemon’s sticky thread. It lures prey with its shimmer, and when touched, it clings to the object and invades the body with paralytic poison. For a creature the size of a human, the moment you touch it, your body will be unable to move until you die.”

Shara quickly withdrew her hand, clutching it to her chest. Her usually composed face was sweating and pale.

“Don’t casually touch things here. If you’re following me, step where I walk. If anything happens, I won’t lend a hand.”

There was no reply. Shara only nodded slightly, making a sound of swallowing her saliva.

As they carefully checked their surroundings and proceeded, Shuou explained how to avoid the dangers he noticed in advance for Shara, who was following behind him, though it wasn’t what he wanted.

In the forest where trees stood in a chaotic manner, they suddenly came out to an open area. Perhaps due to the sense of openness from being able to see the sky, Shara had regained a little composure on her strained face. However, despite all that he had said, when Shuou saw her trying to step into the open space ahead of him, he stopped her by grabbing her shoulder, exasperated.

Shara turned around and laughed as if to cover up, like a child being scolded for mischief. “Is this no good too?”

Shuou nodded, crouched down, and pinched the soil ahead to check its texture. “The soil has an unnatural stickiness. This is a ‘Monkey Swallower’ nest.”

“Monkey, Swallower ?”

Picking up a conveniently sized dead branch, he threw it into the open space. Immediately, the soil on the ground rippled, and countless small insects swarmed the branch. The dead branch disappeared in an instant as if swallowed by the soil.

“It’s a type of Rabidaemon, and this nest serves as a feeding ground for the larvae. Right now, they’re about the size of a grain of rice, but when they become adults, they apparently grow to about the size of an adult human.”

As she listened to the story, Shara crouched down and stared at the ground ahead.

“Are all the open spaces their nests?”

“No, not necessarily.”

“Then how do you tell them apart? You were checking by pinching the soil. Could I tell too?”

Shara pinched the soil ahead and the soil in front of her, moving her fingers as if to check the texture.

“I can’t tell… they’re exactly the same…”

Shara’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Shuou pinched a small amount of soil in front of the open space and held it to his nose.

“Monkey Swallowers impregnate the soil with a unique sweet smell that attracts animals. It’s almost indistinguishable to humans, but if you rub the pinched soil strongly, you can smell it just a little. I used to distinguish them this way when I first started.”

Following Shuou’s example, Shara sniffed the rubbed soil and broke into a delighted smile.

“I can tell! It’s sweet and sour. There’s no such smell in the human world.”

Influenced by Shara’s innocent joy, Shuou unconsciously returned a smile, then hurriedly shook his head.

This isn’t the time for this.

“Let’s go. We’ll walk as much as we can before the sun completely sets.”

As the day ended and dusk arrived, they walked in the faint red sunlight that dimly illuminated the forest, and soon the world welcomed the night.

The Abyss in the night shadows became even more lively. The high-pitched calls of monkeys and the verbose voices of birds that seemed almost ready to speak in human language constantly rose from the surroundings. However, this noisiness was proof of safety. The fact that these small animals were active told them that there were no major dangers in the area.

“It’s almost scary how noisy it is,” Shara said in an uncharacteristically meek voice, hugging her shoulders as she followed behind in the darkness.

“It’s spring,” Shuou replied perfunctorily, even though he understood the meaning was different.

The area was enveloped in darkness. Despite this, Shuou did not have a light to illuminate the night. All of his belongings had been taken away when he was imprisoned and subsequently exiled, leaving him with nothing but a single sword hanging meaninglessly at his waist.

Thanks to the absence of clouds in the sky, moonlight spilled through the gaps between the trees. For eyes accustomed to the night, there was no hindrance to walking. However, this was something that only he, who had lived in this world for a long time, could do. A Shara, a princess from the human world, was beginning to show signs of exhaustion in this situation where she could not get water, food, or rest.

“Ah—”

Seeing A Shara trip on the flat ground, Shuou stopped walking.

She’s at her limit.

The regret of not leaving her behind, even by force, echoed in his head.

“Shall we rest?” he said, extending his hand. Looking up at him with a face soiled by dirt, Shara bit her lip and nodded.