July 06, 2014

Suzaku Ibun: Daijiin Temple, Prologue (Or, "Casin' the Joint")

Ni-hao and Happy Summer Festival Weekend! Like proper nerds, my friends and I celebrated both the Fourth of July and Tanabata in glorious fashion, not to mention that Summer Premiere Week just slammed into us, so my past few days have been rather packed. As such, I'm just doing the Daijiin Temple prologue this time around. We'll get into the long, meaty goodness of the Daijiin Arc next week.

On a slightly related note, I finally got around to getting a MyAnimeList account, so feel free to friend me. I'm itsthedee, of course. And don't forget that I'm blogging over at Josei Next Door and will have all kinds of Meet 'N' Greet posts for the summer season beginning tomorrow. So you can have fun with that and the translations this week. ^_^

Okay, that's enough chatter! Strategy and schemes below the jump!



DAIJIIN TEMPLE


==Scene: Desert==
…..
Hot sun, lukewarm moods. I think the Discomfort Index was getting pretty high.
At Chiriko’s suggestion, we kept our eyes peeled for the Sairou Empire’s most prominent structure, the Daijiin.
You: Shift change, Tasuki~
Tasuki: Wait, ain’t Tamahome up next?
You: Mm, but  I don’t want to be the only person who doesn’t have to stand guard.
Tasuki: Dummy. Then there’d be no one around to stand guard over you.
You: Oh... right... I hadn’t thought about that.
Tasuki: Yer totally defenseless. You could get gobbled right up an’ never know it.
You: Thanks. You’re sweet, Tasuki.
Tasuki: ...S-sure thing.
You: Any changes to report?
Tasuki: ...Nah, nothin’.
Tasuki: You don’t think Chiriko’s instincts are off, do ya?
Chiriko: …This has nothing to do with instinct! It’s conjecture!
Tasuki: {sweat} O-ohh... you were here, were ya...?
Tamahome: Well, y’know. We figured the priestess would be in danger if she was out here all alone with a certain someone.
Tasuki: Wha...! Do I really look like the kinda guy who’d do that?!
Chiriko: I think so, yes!
Tasuki: C’mon, that’d be a total waste of energy...
You: ...What exactly are you talking about?
Tasuki: Nothin’!
Tamahome: But Chiriko, is there really a Shinzaho out here?
Chiriko: ...I think it’s highly likely.
Chiriko: I’ve heard stories that the Daijiin’s Supreme Patriarch is here, and that he’s using a great many soldiers to search for something. (1)
Chiriko: From what I hear, he’s recently been making some conspicuous remarks that make it sound as if he’s allying himself with the Kutou Empire.
You: ...So it’s possible that he might be helping the Kutou Army search for the Shinzaho...
Chiriko: Yes. That’s exactly right.
You: But where in the world did you learn that...?
Chiriko: When I was in Konan, I met with a scholar who came from Sairou.
Chiriko: The gentleman was terribly anxious about Sairou’s future.
Tasuki: ...Oh, looks like he had good reason t’be worried.
You: Huh...?
Tasuki: Take a look... Kutou soldiers.
You: ...There really are... And they’re not even trying to hide their numbers.
Chiriko: …In this country, the Supreme Patriarch has tremendous authority.
Chiriko: If he’s given them permission to be here, then the Kutou soldiers would have no need to hide their numbers.
Tamahome: We’re on enemy ground, no question.
You: ...We don’t wanna stand out too much then.
Chiriko: …At any rate, we had better hold this conversation again with the others.
You: Mm.
…..
We moved away from the high ground and returned to where the others were resting.
You: Something might be happening at the Daijiin.
You: What do you guys think? Should we try to check it out?
Tasuki: I’m in favor of goin’ in.
Tasuki: We won’t know anythin’ unless we do.
Mitsukake: ...I’m against it. In addition to the Kutou soldiers who are coming and going, there’s a strong possibility that the Seiryuu Celestial Warriors are stationed there as well.
Mitsukake: If we’re not careful, we could collide head-on with them.
Nuriko: Fine by me.
Nuriko: They’re such slowpokes that I’m sure we’d knock ‘em flat. Whatever happens, happens.
You: I’m not sure we should do anything that crazy...
Chiriko: No... there’s no avoiding it.
You: R-really!?
Chiriko: Considering that any battles would likely take place in passages or narrow quarters, there’s little chance they could surround us...
Chiriko: Most importantly, we’re in the Sairou Empire.
Chiriko: Since the Supreme Patriarch has shown favor towards the Kutou Empire, then our enemy won’t keep their full strength confined to the temple.
Chiriko: Given that everyone is extremely strong in individual combat, we’d have to be quite inept for them to take us out easily. (2)
Tasuki: I don’t understand all these particulars. Try summin’ it up.
Chiriko: As things stand, I think we should devise a plan to infiltrate the temple...
Chiriko: This may be our best chance to obtain the Shinzaho.
Tasuki: That’s actually a great, easy-to-follow theory, Chiriko.
Chichiri: Hmm, Chiriko’s assessment isn’t wrong no da. That said, it does make things more dangerous.
Chichiri: Only a priestess, chosen by one of the four gods, is qualified to carry the Shinzaho.
Chichiri: [Your Name], we’d have to ask you to accompany us no da.
Chichiri: This plan may very well require us to put the Priestess of Suzaku in danger.
Chichiri: We ought to leave this decision up to her.
You: ...Up… to me...
Tamahome: That’s right. You, the Priestess of Suzaku, have to make the choice.
You: ...Okay, right. I’ll do it, then.
  • Break into the Daijiin
  • Don’t break into the Daijiin


Don’t break into the Daijiin
You: Let’s hold off for now. I don’t feel like we’re really prepared.
Chiriko: Right. I think it’s a good idea to be cautious.
You: We’ll be back, so wait for us, Shinzaho!
Chiriko: No, we still don’t know if the Shinzaho is actually...
You: Wait for us, Shinzaho-that-may-or-may-not-be-there!
Tamahome: ...Geez, talk about slapdash...


=>Go to world map


[...And we’ll start working on “Break into the Daijiin” in the next post ^_^ ]


--------------------


Translation Notes:
(1) “Supreme Patriarch” - The Japanese title is 法王 (hou’ou), which my dictionary tells me just means “Pope.” However, “Pope” in English refers specifically to the head of the Catholic Church, and Sairou is most definitely not a Catholic nation. I opted instead for “Supreme Patriarch,” as this is the English term most often used for the Sangharaja, or senior monk appointed as the head of a monastery (or in some cases as the head of the nation’s entire monastic community).
(2) “...we’d have to be quite inept for them to take us out easily.” - Original Japanese: 簡単にやられることはまずいでしょう (kantan ni yarareru koto ha mazui deshou). Literally something like “To be done easily would be unskillful,” but “yarareru” (to be done) is often used to mean “[they] got me/took me out/etc.,” so I’m working with that. Anyway, I’m not super confident with my version, so I figured I’d leave it here for anyone’s corrections and advice.

No comments:

Post a Comment