#kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 author's afterword

[fantranslatorbychoice]

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 10 - A New Uproar Begins + Author's Afterword

Yep, enjoy the double-upload guys.

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Alright here you all go....

P300 "Well then, hang in there, Kasuga!" "Bye-bye Kasuga, be well!" "Improve yourself! Don't break your body!" The Ayakashi in Tenjin-ya all called out to Kasuga who was already in an airship and has collected all of her things.

I gave Kasuga a present, "Tummy-captivating Recipes" cookbook, food that are both easy to make and delicious.

"Kasuga, with this, slowly but surely you can capture the heart of your childhood friend whom you're getting married to."

"Waaah, thanks Aoi-chan. This is so helpful, because I just suck at cooking."**

Kasuga with her smiling face. That face that lights up the sky like the blinding sun, thinking about the fact that I won't be seeing that smile anymore made me feel so lonely. Without realizing it, my tears started flowing.

While at it, I pushed the box filled with assortments of "Hell-juu" and Black Sugar Manjuu to her.

"Here, take this with you. Its flavors will bring you nostalgia."

"Hey, Aoi-chan, stop crying."

Kasuga being Kasuga, she made Chiaki-san hold her belongings and went over to me, wiping my tears away with her sleeves.**

T/N:  I found my opportunity to plug this in lol *sings* You suck at cooking yeah you totally suck. *end of song* I'm sorry guys, that's my jam sometimes, I'm not calling you bad cooks, the song just rolls off the tongue. Plus the videos are really good too, kewl effects lol not sponsored btw

Also, kimonos have long-@@$ sleeves so Kasuga can do that lol

P301

"Home's not that far away, we'll meet again for sure."

"What's that?"

"Both of us will soon get married to a Hachiyo. Somehow, that's the threads of fate that binds us together."

The threads of fate, that binds us together.

Wait just a minute. I'm not there yet...

We both looked down on our hands, they were shaking.

"Bye-bye! Bye-bye, Tenjin-ya! Goodbye, everyone! My Tenjin-ya!"

This bright young girl's voice echoed everywhere, and the airship starts lifting up high, high into the bright blue sky.

Up until the end I was sobbing, but O-ryo, standing beside me, wasn't even crying at all.

She just looked indifferent all throughout the whole thing. And then a victorious smile popped in her face.

And after that she looked more at ease.

It seemed that somehow, she seemed more determined about something, and wore that in her demeanor.

That's strange. That bottle opener made out of ice that she always has with her, could it have gotten lost?

--Ring.

P302

That sleeping water from the farthest north, it's crystal-clear sound, Kasuga was scattering it from above the airship that she's in.

And when I just realized it, Kasuga's image has disappeared into the sky above, and I can't see it anymore.

Far, far away, where the clear, blue sky has taken them in, way up high.

And, as if looking over everyone in Kakuriyo, the seasons have changed.

Goodbye, Kasuga.

I'm looking forward to seeing that again, the day when I see that shining and vibrant smile again.

x-x-x-x

Afterwards, about a month has passed.

Just as Ginji-san have planned, shortly after the Autumn Festival, "Hell-juu" was marketed  commercially.

Tenjiya's as well as Gintengai's souvenir shops have started selling this steamed manjuu, and thanks to being autumn as well as the increasing number of tourists to Kimon, it got record-breaking sales all throughout.

Whether or not it's going to be a long-time best selling product, what matters right now is that it's a huge success.

More than anything, hats off to everyone at the Tenjinya basement workshop, on how quickly the planning and manufacturing of this souvenir product was made.

Everyday the iron mice at Tenjin-ya's basement are working hard to catch up with the huge production volume, without getting fluttered or disorganized while doing their job.

Even more surprising, is that the manjuu with cream cheese spread and no bean paste sells better than the "egg variant" one which has bean paste in it and was labelled as "proper manjuu". I wonder if it's because little by little, in Kakuriyo

P303

the demand for cheese has been increasing, as well as the fact that it's just gaining popularity, and that is its appeal, a report worthy of being sent to the emperor.

It might be first of its kind, and difficult, but it was a huge success.

Its sales was a hit, and Byakuya-san said that pretty soon huge confection companies as well as local ones and even ordinary folk would start putting in "cheese" flavored souvenir products  and other similar items in their own shelves.

It delights me to think that while it was borne out of me, the fruits of my labors are finally showing up.

Along with a huge sense of accomplishment, it also feels very exciting.

But not by any means was I able to do this on my own, as I relied on many others too.

Kasuga's christening it with "Hell-juu" was surprisingly simple and easy to understand, and the fact that it permeated easily into the people's psyche was also an important factor to its success. And marking the manjuu's outer crust with the deformed version of the hellish flower, "red spider-lily"** helped make it even cuter and more adorable.

Aside from that, there were many wise sages in Tenjin-ya who gave such good advice, feedback, experiences, and other help that greatly helped in Hell-juu's product development, properly executing its mass production and moving onto sales.

But there was one thing though, a mishap that Ginji-san and I made. I'm going to tell you that right now.

We tried making other limited edition variants of "Hell-juu" for Autumn, and some of them didn't sell so well or sales were very slow.

Those were the "sweet potato" and the "apple" flavors. Diced sweet potato were kneaded into the dough to make it into that flavor, just like how we normally do it, and we wrapped the dough all around the apple jam for the "apple" flavor, but I just couldn't understand why, at a level being so perplexing, that from the very first day these two didn't sell so well, and likely the only thing would be due to them being very unfamiliar.

T/N: You've probably have seen this flower a lot, in graveyards in anime. It's very prominent in Hell Girl. The plant is actually planted in graves so animals won't dig up corpses, like a deterrent.

P304

But why did the "cheese" sell so well?

As handmade sweets from stores, the other flavors were well-received...

When these came out in the shop's show window, despite the packaging that was supposed to make or break a confection's sale, the product itself looks different from what it was supposed to be.

It was for that reason that the "apple" flavor was to be pulled off from the shelves only after a week, and when that day was finally decided on, after work hours Ginji-san brought some mountain apple liquor to drink.

It was an awful time, and the thing about drinking mountain apple wine was that it helped in forgetting things...

Even though this was an exceptional failure, this information is going to be very important for our next success. Those are the words that Ginji-san shared to me.

Why did this failure came to be I have no idea, and overnight I got so depressed that I needed someone to ponder this with, along with some gentle consoling.

x-x-x

There is also one more thing I just realized.

Odanna-sama, as of now, hasn't returned from his business trip to Youto, and he has been absent from Tenjin-ya.

Also, beforehand, Odanna-sama and I had a quick chat.

We got our hands on some rumors, that apparently there will be a meeting of all the Hachiyos at the end of the year holidays, it was going to be the very first "overnight meeting", and the Ayakashi King has summoned me to attend.

P305

"Say, Ginji-san? Odanna-sama hasn't come back yet? It's already been a week, is he alright? I heard from Ritsuko-san before that the Imperial Court is a scary place."

"Yes, it seems that he hasn't returned as of late... But no need to worry, the O-niwaban's Saizou-san is with him. Also I am receiving messages from Odanna-sama everyday."

"I wonder.. is Odanna-sama alright?"

"Yes, for sure."

I see. Since the beginning he was always out on a business trip, I think...

One week goes by, then two weeks, Odanna-sama's absence in Tenjin-ya is still going on... as the days go on, I have stopped getting any updates or messages.

The upper brass of Tenjin-ya started to get flustered.

A messenger was dispatched to Youto, and despite having hopeful news, it turns out that the Ayakashi King ordered Odanna-sama that he cannot go back to Tenjin-ya, and to only wait for further information to be announced by a messenger from the Imperial Court.

"What does that mean?"

"For sure, while he was doing major work in the Imperial Court, Odanna-sama ran into an accident."

The management grew even more worried and started panicking. Of course, that includes me.

I don't get how this happened...

The Odanna-sama that I talked to in Yugao back then, I wonder... there's no way that wasn't a premonition.

P306

There were also other matters concerning the Imperial Court, there were things and plans happening behind the scenes that nobody knows about, things that we were not cautious of and can't do anything about, here in Tenjin-ya. Byakuya-san mentioned something about an unforeseen threat that is about to arrive.

During the first ten days of December, there came a huge shake-up.

That envoy from the Imperial Court paid a visit to Tenjin-ya.

And that envoy, somehow, as far as I'm concerned and made aware of... Is that.. Raijuu.

x-x-x

"Tenjin-ya, isn't this frightening, confusing, utterly incomprehensible and non-sensical?"

"..."

We caught wind of a disturbance, and a bit before opening hours, Ginji-san and I saw something over by the front desk lobby, Raijuu with his hateful and horrible smile was being surrounded by the management, all the while speaking while bearing a calm demeanor.

"In the end, with your Odanna gone, you're all just lowly businesspeople. I hold strong political powers over the Imperial Court, and you all cannot do anything about it.

"Ehhh shut up. If you have some use for Tenjin-ya, first of all, if that's the case, stop pushing us around like you always do!"

Akatsuki's earnest yet fierce-looking face wasn't complying, and yet, while laughing so loudly, Raijuu started climbed up Tenjin-ya's grand staircase.

P307

Clink,clank.

The golden decorations attached all throughout his body, these made striking, echoing sounds as he climbed up the stairs.

In that moment, when he took a glimpse of me briefly, with that disgusting tongue of his, Raijuu started licking his lips.

As I unfortunately started recalling all sorts of traumatic memories, Ginji-san stood in front of me in silence.

"Haven't you comprehended it yet? The Ayakashi King himself sent me to go here, under his command."

"Excuse me?"

"That's what I said, That is what the Ayakashi King said. That is what the important announcement to all of you is about."

Abruptly, coming from the upper stairs where he just walked up to, he turned around and faced everyone, leisurely looking down on all of us as he smugly smiled a wide-toothed smile.

"From now on, by any means, I am now Tenjin-ya's "Odanna-sama"** and not that ogre god anymore!"

Anybody could've been astonished by those words, we couldn't believe our ears.

Odanna-sama... That guy cannot become Tenjin-ya's Odanna-sama...

It can't be, what the heck is this Raijuu talking about... I don't understand what it means.

"S--stop saying such nonsense! Who the hell gave you the right to say such things?"

"But. That's. Why. I already told you, MY words ARE as good as the Ayakashi King's, Ginji-kun. Well, whatever,

T/N: Odanna-sama is not Odanna-sama's actual name, it's a position, like how he is the big boss of Tenjin-ya. So the term "Odanna-sama" can be used by anybody. It's just that Odanna-sama, here and in the anime, his name isn't revealed yet. (I know what his name is, but that's gonna be revealed in a future volume lololol)

P308

at any rate, to us, we have formally conveyed it to you. That ogre god, Kakuriyo was so shocked to know that he has been holding onto some very important secret. Better than that, I conclude that I have no choice but to take care of that Hachiyo's position now."

"An important....secret?"

All of us grew even more and more disturbed.

In this place where Odanna-sama isn't around, something important is decidedly and conveniently being exposed.

This strange circumstance being told about, just about everything is getting chaotic.

"Those speechless-looking faces are the most amusing, don't they? It's such an elevated sight worth seeing, now I wanted to eat some liquor with some side dishes. Say... You over there, why are you trying to scurry and hide away from me, Skilled Cook Aoi-chan?"

My name was called out, and it made me tremble.

I clenched my fists and pulled them closer to my chest, as I glared angrily at Raijuu.

"Hee-hee. Do I.. scare you?"

"What you're calling scary.. it is rather creepy."

"Bwahahaha! Well, that's fine, I don't mind that kind of reaction. Buuuu~t I think THIS thing here will scare you even more. No.. More likely that, as far as YOU'RE concerned, what this means for you is deliverance, possibly."

Raijuu's face looks somewhat amused, and gleefully takes out something from his breastpocket, he pulled out a box.

"Ta-dah~! What is this~?"

P309

I remember that box. That... That is...

"Hee-hee, a while ago I snooped around Odanna's room, and I found a rea~lly awesome item. It's connects Tsubaki Shirou and Odanna, it's the debt contract~"

"Oh...."

I see. When I first came to Tenjin-ya, that was shown to me, I fell in despair...

In grampa's own handwriting, a debt contract, in which he gave away his granddaughter for payment!

"Hee-hee. Since that Odanna is no longer here, this doesn't mean anything anymore, does it?"

Raijuu pulled it out of the box, and brandished it up high.

Without realizing it, I yelled "Stop!" and tried to reach it with my hand.

But, after that bastard heard my voice, he tore the piece of paper in half, and his loud laugh drowned out the sounds of the paper being ripped apart.

"Bwahahahaha! Yep, there you go. Aoi-chan, now you're no longer Odanna's fiancee, it's now nothing. Now that I have set you free, it's fine if you express your gratitude to me~"

After that he scattered all the tiny pieces.

The tiny pieces of paper fluttered down, down, down the staircase. Even though to me, that thing was something that forcibly tied me down, in that moment I felt attacked and I had a sense of loss, and even I couldn't believe it myself, it was a very important thing.

"A...Aoi-san..!"

P310

I was light-headed and unable to think, and without a moment's delay, Ginji-san came to help me stay upright.

But with the status quo, nobody dared to nor even had the gall to say anything. It was everyone's at everyone's pace. While wearing his smug, victorious smile, I was shocked as I looked at Raijuu who tore up, shredded into pieces and threw away the debt contract.

But...

"Go die, you moron."

We thought we heard this lethargic noise from behind Raijuu...

"Ahhhhh!"

Raijuu suddenly fell off the stairs and rolled down indignantly.

From where Raijuu's body used to stand, there he was, with a hard, cold stare, Byakuya-san.

Somehow, this guy seemed to have violently kicked Raijuu off the stairs. Underneath the stairs, Raijuu has suffered a minor injury and was licking his own blood off.

Tenjin-ya's hot water chimney has finally erupted with so much killing intent.

"Gaaah. Well, sure enough, Byakuya the white demon has came out. You're intending to kill me!"

"What are you talking about, I really do wanted to kill you, so much."

Byakuya suddenly closed his fan that was usually spread across his mouth, and started making a stabbing motion with it.

Along with that smooth, slicing sound, that reflexively makes every Tenjin-ya employee straighten their backs,

P311

Byakuya looked over, and with increasingly cold eyes stared down at Raijuu.

"You bastard, how dare you stand in front of my face here in our Tenjin-ya? Why, I never recalled ever inviting you in. Go to the ravine outside and keep hurling yourself in there for a million times until you die!"

"But I already fell down just now, didn't I?"

Lightly scathed by Raijuu's words, Byakuya-san took one step down the stairs, and picked up all the scattered pieces of the debt contract. While laughing scornfully, he held these tightly.

"Regarding the circumstances of our Odanna-sama here at Tenjin-ya, it is rather unexpected, and even if whatever happened over at the Imperial Court was indeed true, knowing you, you have once again completely showed how utterly stupid you really are. So stop laughing."

"Wha...t?"

"This debt contract is fake. The real thing is hidden somewhere, where you'll never be able to find it."

"Huh?"

Nobody reacted more strongly, than I did.

When Byakuya-san saw my reaction, he responded with a "Oh?", looked into my eyes slightly surprised at my face, and started giggling.

"Oh, Aoi, I feel assured by your courageousness."

"Wait, wait, wait that's not it, it's not like that!"

Finally, my usual reactions have come out at last.

Ginji-san too, at some point smoothed down his own chest with a sigh of relief.

P312

But over here, Raijuu's face instantly became disagreeable.

"Huh? Byakuya, I always thought that I was superior, was I wrong? From now on, you'll be my underling. That's because I have now become the master of Tenjin-ya."

"You dumbass. I don't care how many times the Ayakashi King keeps putting out decrees, whatever the hell you're saying, know that it is worthless."

Byakuya-san pulled out something from inside his sleeves.

What the heck... That looks like an impressive silk pouch. He opened it confidently, and pulled out a shining, golden yellow cube.

"Wait.. is that... The Golden Badge!"

"Golden Badge?"

"Indeed. It is the Hachiyo's verification badge used here in Tenjin-ya. Whenever there is a very important decision to make, this is an indispensable item. Within Tenjin-ya, Odanna-sama and Byakuya-san are the only ones who handle it."

Ginji-san, who was nearby, explained about it.

It was unexpected that something like that actually exists, but I could understand by everyone's reactions that there was nothing to worry about.

"When it comes to a Hachiyo's appointment as well as their resignation, other than the Ayakashi King's decree, twice a year it is required to attend the so-called "Hachiyo Overnight Conference", and along with the recognition of all the Hachiyos, that is to say, all of the Golden Badges need to be gathered. The next overnight conference would be at the end of the year, otherwise it would be at the beginning of the next year, Up until that point, whatever you do, Odanna-sama is still Tenjin-ya's Odanna-sama."

"Hee-hee. Eventually, that's gonna be a problem.. is it not? The Hachiyos cannot go against the decree of the Imperial Capitol."

Immediately after that, Raijuu stood up, sucked up the blood on the side of his lips, and while behaving calmly and relieved,

P313

shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't mind. Right now, all of you here in Tenjin-ya are not put under my custody, yet. So eventually, in the next Overnight Conference, you have no other choice, I own all of you. So I don't mind if you all go against me. Nobody else will be interested in taking charge and managing the inn, and after that everything will get filled with chaos, isn't that an amusing story that you just wanted to see?"

"..."

"But, there is still one more I am certain of. That Odanna...  is now forbidden to come back here."

Furthermore, if that guy even tries something like flapping the bedsheets and putting them on, he'll get taken out like fireworks running off and fizzling out. Instantly, he'll be grabbed quickly like a flash of lightning.

What the.. What on earth, why did that even happen?

The whole place got still, like a graveyard, everyone was confused, it was quite a huge shock.

"What are you whispering about? Upper management's aid is required for business operations. Everyone in the top management, assemble at the Great Conference Hall."

In that place, Byakuya-san was the only one who was able to keep his head together. With a deep resolve, he was the only one who tried summoning all of the executives together.

"Aoi-san, are you alright? You look pale."

"Ginji-san..."

"No, this isn't unjustifiable, ok? It has turned into something outrageous. But first of all, Odanna-sama's safety must be quickly confirmed, and all of us here at Tenjin-ya, we have no choice but to make sure that we take care of everything by all means necessary..."

P314

I felt like something got stuck in my throat, I couldn't breathe with all the anxiety, and everyone else was feeling it too. But Ginji-san was already having a stern gaze as he stood up. And amidst the silence he ordered the employees, and in a strong voice alerted Akatsuki and Chiaki-san who got flustered, and before anyone else did, he went to Byakuya-san to confirm what happened.

Time in Tenjin-ya stopped, before everyone started to move about hurriedly.

"..."

But, only my uneasiness, it never stopped. Odanna-sama's behavior that wasn't ogre-like, and his smile.

He was usually reasonable and calm everyday, but the haziness of that person has not vanished, and I had a really unnerving hunch.

In my bosom, the pendant's chain where the key is hidden, I held it closer in my kimono.

Tenjin-ya's master, Odanna-sama.

Odanna-sama's whereabouts...

Odanna-sama's... secret.

Where is the thing, that I must protect?

x-x-x-x-x

Afterword P315 Thank you very much for your support. This is Yuuma Midori. I am grateful that Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi series has reached volume 6. To tell you the truth, since Yuuma's** debut all of the five volumes had been the longest, and now Yuuma has reached the sixth! The season is autumn. For this volume, it picks up everyone in Tenjin-ya's everyday affairs, and the next volume is going to be about the new strife and issues. Kasuga has quit Tenjin-ya, the male army's pointless bath scene, you can easily find Odanna-sama on the cover**. There are so many things and spoilers I wanna tell, but this time, the afterword is just one page, and I can only say one thing about the lively momiji-gathering illustration.. Oh my, on the cover Aoi and Odanna-sama has drawn in closer together.. could it be that something has already started....? On the cover these two bit by bit has gotten a bit more closer**, and somehow Yuuma is filled with so much heavy emotions.

I hope that we can all meet again in volume 7.

Yuuma Midori

End of Afterword, Volume 6.

x-x-x-x-x-x

T/N: Yeah I know it's the afterword but wth this is an additional lesson OK? So.. rather than saying "I" or "me", it's even humbler to refer to one's self by the given name, or surname. Yuuma-sensei does this for all of her afterwords so yeah.. Maybe it's a thing IDK rly but yeah, politeness is deemed important in Japanese culture so it's a thing. Yeah here's the cover and I'mma gonna point stuff out lol

So yeah if you look at the covers of the first 5 volumes and the 6th, this is by far the closest that Aoi and Odanna-sama got illustrated, and that shows somehow a progress of their whatever it is.

Also, holy crap the previous chapter guysssss..... T__T I mean can you believe that, I mean, I had to read and reread that part before I started translating it because it made me cry so much, like holy sh** I wasn't expecting that T_T anyways... We did it guys, we finished volume 6. I hope you all enjoyed.

Hopefully, if I still have enough strength to finish it all (let's just say that I have other stuff to worry in the real life and doing the whole 7-10 volumes may take a while) I could improve more so I could deliver the next 4 volumes as soon as I could, like seriously I could only see juicy things from here on end. Once I feel like I can (if my strength allows) see you all in volume 7...?

End of Volume 6. Previous - Chapter 9

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations  and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.