Novel Vol 6 Chapter 9 translation

Ōdanna-sama almost kissing Aoi, Ep 20 of anime (watch it here!)

There is no English version of the Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi light novel. However, there are at least two fan translations before I started working on this chapter: Kakuriyo Translation & Fan Translator By Choice. The first one covers Volume 1 of the novel, Chapters 1-4. The second one covers Volume 6 of the novel, chapters 1-8, plus Chapter 5 of Volume 1. This post is to continue the latter’s translation, i.e. Chapters 9-10 (there are 10 chapters for Volume 6). Click here to read Vol 6 chapter list. Click here to find out how to read this translation in other languages.

The first scene of the chapter contains Aoi and her friends doing the Autumn Festival at the Moonflower. There are 17 pages (pp 267-283) from the start of Chapter 9 to the point where Ōdanna appeared in this chapter. Because I’m impatient, for now I will just translate the part where Aoi had just finished her Autumn Festival business hour and Ōdanna arrived at the Moonflower to eat Aoi’s pumpkin dishes. In the previous Chapter 8 (which FTBC has excellently translated), having learned that Ōdanna actually disliked pumpkin dishes to the point of secretly placing pumpkin pieces onto Byakuya’s plates, Aoi invited Ōdanna to try her pumpkin dishes, made from Ōdanna’s home-grown pumpkins from his rooftop vegetable garden. 

Following Kakuriyo Translation & Fan Translator By Choice, I put the page numbers of the original novel volumes (the Japanese version) in the translation to enable any readers who can read Japanese and have the books to examine the related pages. If the last sentence of a page goes over the next page, I will put a combined page number as an indication. 

Because I don’t wish this content to appear elsewhere and to increase our chance to have an official English translation of the novel, I will delete this translation and replace it with just a summary of the novel per chapter if/when (“when”, I hope) the original novel is translated into English. Thus, please refrain from posting my translations elsewhere. If you need to quote it, please acknowledge my site for the quote, because translating from Japanese hardcopy texts to English is a really hard work.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I do. 

Chapter 9. The Autumn Festival at Tenjin-ya

P284-285

The Moonflower evening business will start soon. Because some customers were already waiting in line at the storefront, I hurriedly returned to the shop. 

As expected, that day’s business was a success. It wasn’t an unexpected success, though. Rather, it was a success born out of planning and because we didn’t run out of ingredients midway either. Although I was busy, with the help from Ai-chan, Chibi and from time to time Ginji-san, I was able to run around the shop till the end. Because we had a lot of customers, I wasn’t able to promote our new souvenir line. However, it was still a total success. 

“Ugghh… we’re done. We’re done. Even the tired Ai-chan and Chibi are sleeping now.”

In the quietness after the business hour, I cleaned up the Moonflower.

Ai-chan was laying on her back at the corner of the tatami room, sleeping like a log. I covered here with a blanket I brought from the inner room. Although she got sleepy as per usual, she hadn’t been able to easily return to the pendant as of late. Hence, I’d consider this a progress; her sleeping there at the tatami room. Next to her, Chibi was also fast asleep with little bubbles blowing from his nose. By this time, Ginji-san already left, surely to take care of the busy moments before the Autumn Festival ended in Tenjin-ya.

P285

The festival is still happening excitedly outside. Next to an oni fire, a gigantic pumpkin ghost is fluttering about the Tenjin-ya sky, no doubt putting off some kind of a show. It surely looks pretty. I wanted to see it, but I can’t see it clearly from here.

“…Aoi, you’ve been working hard.”

“Ah…”

Passing through the noren curtain at the Moonflower entrance was Ōdanna-sama, coming to visit.

It was just an imposed promise on my side, but he remembered it. 

“Why do you look so surprised?”

“Uh, no… but weren’t you busy? I wasn’t thinking straight when I asked you to come…”

“Oh no… It’s an invitation from you, so of course I’m coming. I actually wish I could’ve come earlier.^ I’m quite hungry.”

“Uh… I’m sorry then…”

But I’m happy that he came. Because I’ve been doing research on various pumpkin dishes to help Ōdanna-sama overcoming his dislike to pumpkin dishes.

P286

“Please sit at the counter. Ah…speaking of which, it’s very rare for you to come to eat at the Moonflower, Ōdanna-sama.”

“Yes, I think I finally am able to come here.”

“…?”

“There won’t be a lot of complaints if I’m coming over now.”

Yes… but…

Ah. If Ōdanna-sama frequented the Moonflower from the beginning, other employees would think that he played favourite and protected this place. Now that I think of it, at that time, although he didn’t say anything about it, and I was totally clueless, he’d actually been protecting me a lot. 

“Ah… umm… well then, would you like to eat menchikatsu with pumpkin, Ōdanna-sama?”

“Meat patty with pumpkin? Oohh… I have never heard about this dish before.”

Faced with the prospect of eating an unknown dish, made of pumpkin at that, Ōdanna-sama looked somewhat nervous. His pose remained nonchalant as always with his hands inside his kimono sleeves; only his sideline gaze betrayed him a bit. 

“If we’re talking pumpkins, pumpkin croquette is a well-known dish. Today I will make the menchikatsu with a secret recipe, exclusive for Ōdanna-sama. A spicy patty with a lot of meat.”

P287-288

“My wife is making a dish from an exclusive recipe for me? You make me happy.”

“Really? Really, truly?”^

“But… a spicy menchikatsu? Umm… I can’t quite imagine it…”

Ōdanna-sama made a face, which could only be translated as “Pumpkin is supposed to be sweet. How come it’s spicy?!”.

“Well, just wait, okay. I’ll make right away. Ah, and drink the potage first.”

I warm up the potage that I made earlier and then serve it in a small bowl. Earlier, Ginji-san had it with some white bread. However, for Ōdanna-sama, I sprinkle the potage with garlic croutons made of bread pieces. Ōdanna-sama holds a spoon and, with a slightly bewildered expression, takes one sip of the potage. 

“Hmm… it’s much easier to drink than I imagined. I thought it would be thick, but it’s actually quite smooth.”

“It’s because I’ve filtered the pumpkin soup several times. I put plenty of soy milk, but the seasoning is simple.”

“And what is that thing that looks like floating bread?”

“It’s crouton. Is this the first time you eat it? I seasoned frozen bread pieces with grated garlic and salt, cut it into small pieces and then baked it in a kiln as I baked the white bread. It’s quite salty, so I think it balances out the sweetness of the soup for you.”

“Ah… you’re right. This is good. I can drink it again and again!”

The crispy crouton with garlic flavour. It seems Ōdanna-sama is enjoying the fragrance and texture of the pumpkin potage. 

P288

As such, he drinks the potage quickly. Which means I must make the menchikatsu quickly. 

As I start cooking, Chibi – who was sleeping next to Ai-chan – wakes  up and approaches Ōdanna-sama. 

“Hey, hey, Oni-shaaaan… How come a pumpkin grow so big?”

“Hmm…?”

Chibi tucked and pulled Ōdanna-sama’s sleeve and asked about the way the pumpkin grows. That kappa, has he ever truly wanted to grow pumpkins that much?

As for Ōdanna-sama, he remains Ōdanna-sama. He looks happy to ponder about how pumpkins grow big. And thus a mysterious relationship of vegetable garden guardians^ is born…

As for me, seeing how I can leave Ōdanna-sama in Chibi’s hand, I continue making the pumpkin menchikatsu. The boiled and mashed pumpkin is already available because I made and used it for another dish earlier. I fry chopped onions then mix them with minced beef and pork in a bowl. I add the mashed pumpkin, egg yolk and edamame and mix them well until sticky. Now, the seasoning is salt, pepper, and the seven-spice blend, plus a spoonful of mayonnaise and ketchup as the secret ingredient. The rest is the same as ordinary fried food. Simply add flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs around the bale-shaped rolled patty and fry it in oil.

P289

While the menchikatsu was frying, I made the sauce. The sauce is basic: a mixture of handmade ketchup, handmade Worcestershire sauce, and some savoury toppings.

Now, the menchikatsu is ready and I’ve actually also made a small piece for Chibi. I place a good amount of shredded cabbage on a plate and then put two large pieces of the pumpkin menchikatsu side by side. I put the sauce in a separate bowl so that Ōdanna-sama can adjust the amount to his liking. 

The soup and croquette are already loaded with pumpkin, hence I go light with the small bowl of sauce. I have also prepared stir-fried Japanese mustard spinach and grilled eggplant in soy sauce with autumn turnips. Again, I used turnips and eggplants from Ōdanna-sama’s vegetable garden. For the soup of this set menu,  because Ōdanna-sama has finished the pumpkin soup, I put a bowl of matsutake mushroom soup that was used for the set menu at the restaurant this evening. 

“Ōdanna-sama, we have white rice and mugimeshi today. Which one would you like?” 

Mugimeshi is rice with boiled barley, by the way.

“Which one, I wonder… I haven’t had barley rice for a while.”

“That is true that fried food is best paired with mugimeshi.” 

Although the white rice from the newly harvested rice is also good, the barley, which was slightly crushed and mixed together with white rice, gives a very nice crunchy texture. 

P290

In addition to the mugimeshi is another pumpkin dish; the lightly pickled pumpkin this time. 

“Alright, Ōdanna-sama, pardon the wait! This is a set menu of a deluxe edition of pumpkin menchikatsu. Do enjoy the meat-loaded pumpkin menchikatsu!”

“…a dish that Aoi made herself…it looks good.”

“Yeah, you can say so, but I’m getting nervous here.”

Ōdanna-sama did finish the soup earlier… but I wonder if his dislike of pumpkin is too difficult to overcome. 

“Aoi-shan, I – I – I also want to eat menchikatsuuuuu…”

Repeatedly begging, Chibi is jumping up and down the counter. Giving up, I “yes sir, yes sir” him and hand him over a plate with a small piece of menchikatsu that I set aside for him earlier. 

 “Both of you, please be careful when eating, because the menchikatsu is hot and the hot gravy is oozing out as you eat it.”

First, Ōdanna-sama sips the clear matsutake mushroom soup. He then helps himself to a small serving of the sauce and then lightly cracks open the pumpkin menchikatsu.

“Oooohhh…”

First of all, as expected, the juicy gravy sets his heart aflutter. Steam rising, the soft and flaky pumpkin, with its beautiful yellow colour, is intertwined with the coarsely ground meat.

And then…

P291

“Hmm? Ummm… it’s indeed sweet, but spicy. Did you use shichimi, the seven spice blend?”

Although he originally just ate the patty as normal, he then looks surprised as he chews on it.

The sweetness of the soft and flaky pumpkin combined with the fair amount of gravy and onions in the meat patty and the added spiciness of the seven spice blend… all add up to an exquisite combination. 

“Although we have the flavour and sweetness of a pumpkin, there is also the spiciness of the seven spice blend, which locks all the taste up. And because the meat is juicy, you don't pay attention to the pumpkin, do you? Because it has blended together.”

“Aaahh… Having blended with the meat, the pumpkin taste has indeed been watered down. The edamame also adds a good texture. A perfect accent. There’s not a lot of trace of the pumpkin that I dislike eating.”

“Well, rather than forcing a person who dislikes pumpkin to eat it as it is, I think it’s easier to eat pumpkins by combining it with other ingredients. However, to overcome your pumpkin aversion, you can get used to the idea of eating pumpkin by eating it with other things that you find easier to eat, right?”

“Ohh… Aoi, you’re quite a tactician…”

Somehow finding it interesting, Ōdanna-sama chuckles.

And then, as he helps himself to the bowl of barley rice, Ōdanna-sama stuffs his mouth with the pumpkin menchikatsu. Although Ōdanna-sama eats the meal very elegantly, he apparently is still a man who eats with a mouthful… 

P292

“It’s as you said, Aoi. The barley rice improves the menchikatsu and its strong sauce.”

“Isn’t it so? Ah… Turns out, watching you eating makes me hungry.”

“Why don’t you eat here with me? You also haven’t had dinner, have you?”

“Umm… but today I’m supposed to look after you as my guest^…”

I turn my gaze away awkwardly. However, exactly at that time my stomach grumbles. Ōdanna-sama couldn’t help but laughing with his face turned away.

Aarrghhh!!! My uncouth worms in my stomach!

“What’s wrong with it? Eating with me is fine, isn't it? You don’t need to hesitate in front of me!”

“But I think Ōdanna-sama is the exact person that I need to have such a hesitant.”

Arrghhh!!! Whatever! Don’t care. I’m eating. 

Desperate, I prepare my own set menu and then sit next to Ōdanna-sama.

“Thank you for the meal.”

And after that, I wholeheartedly enjoy the meal. 

Mmm, it’s so true that autumn gives the best harvest and appetite. Especially when you’re hungry after a hard work, whatever you eat is delicious.

“Aoi, your cooked rice indeed gives me peace of mind.”

“…eh, mmm?”

P293

I respond with a muffled voice due to the menchikatsu in my mouth.

Ōdanna-sama is looking at the half-eaten meal in front of him. 

“Everyone would feel this way. Rice is indispensable in our life. I’m not talking about the high-class delicious rice that one occasionally enjoys. When I eat the delicious homely rice in order to live each and every day, why is it that I get a sense that my own life is affirmed somehow?”

“Wh…what do you mean, Ōdanna-sama? Such a grandiose sentiment...”

Ōdanna-sama chuckled. “Eating rice somehow makes me feel like I belong to a place. It can be a place next to someone, or a place where I can feel at ease. A place where I can be myself.”

“A place to belong…”

Somehow I feel like I’ve heard Ōdanna-sama saying that several times. I swallow what I am eating and stare at Ōdanna-sama’s profile. A boyish subtle smile is overflowing from that well-featured face. Still, that face is clouded somehow. 

“Hmmm… It’s true what Ginji said before, that your food can make ayakashi honest about their feelings. It’s indeed difficult to remain stubbornly closing one’s heart after tasting your cooking.”

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?” I candidly inquire.

P294

“I’ve just told you a bit, haven’t I? But I don’t want to disclose anything further. Ayakashi are secretive by nature, and I am particularly so.”

“I really don’t take your meaning, Ōdanna-sama.”

“Are you upset?”

“It’s not that I’m upset. I just want to know more about you.”

Just when I think that I can see and understand things, it becomes hazy and I no longer can see clearly. Irritated, I use my chopsticks to pick a whole piece of menchikatsu and stuff it into my mouth. Ōdanna-sama saying “Isn’t this just good food?” here and there while seeming to enjoy himself makes me even more frustrated. 

“Aoi…”

“What is it? If you’re asking for dessert, it’s in the refrigerator – ”

“It’s not that.”

Ōdanna-sama has finished his meal and the accompanying tea. His posture turns formal and he places something in front of me. What’s this… a key?

A beautiful obsidian key. The likes you see appearing in tales from overseas. A secret key that holds a secret story. 

“I’d like you to look after it, Aoi.”

“Me? Why?”

P295

“I am summoned to the Imperial Court of Yōto soon. I need to see the King. Well, it’s like a normal business trip, but it does include Kasuga’s case and other issues here and there. I don’t know what will happen in my absence.”

I blink in surprise. Why do I need to keep the key?

“This key…What key is it?”

“I’m not telling you about it. However, in case you^ really. Want. To. Know. About me, if you think you must know about me, find something that can be opened with this key. However… I actually hope you won’t need to open it.”

“...Yes…? Come again?”

Want to know. Don’t want to know. 

The two polar opposite emotions seem to compete in a complex fashion in Ōdanna-sama’s mind. He smiles bitterly, for the irony of his own statements doesn’t escape him. All of a sudden the colour of his eyes changed in an instant. Such an empty look that is neither warm nor cold. 

“Aoi, you said that you wanted to know about me. However,  I truly fear that, if you^ know about the real me,  you will somehow hate me. Because I am an oni, after all.”

“Ōdanna-sama…?”

P296

I heard the same thing as well before. Perplexed at what else to say, Ōdanna-sama said “It’s almost time for me to go” and rose from his chair.

Ah… the dessert… he’s going to give it a miss…

“Thank you for the meal, Aoi. Thanks to you, I was able to overcome my dislike to pumpkins. It seems that I can eat anything, if it’s your homemade meal. As expected from my wise wife.”

“What! It feels like you’re avoiding the important bits here^.”

And what’s with shifting from “newly-wed wife” to “wise wife”?

“Ahahaha…”

In the end, as he laughs, Ōdanna-sama pats my head in a “good girl, good girl” way. For a brief moment, he looks at my hair ornament… but he says nothing and lets go of me.

“Well then, Aoi, I’m off.”

With such messy hair, I see Ōdanna-sama off the Moonflower.

In front of the Moonflower’s noren curtain, he turns around. His back, wrapped in a black haori, is melting into the dark night…

His very large back. His very broad shoulders, burdened with the lives of so many ayakashi in Tenjin-ya. Nevertheless, how come at that time I see a touch of loneliness emanating from his back…?

“Wa – wait, Ōdanna-sama!”

“…?”

P297

Rushing with a mysterious impatience, I grabbed Ōdanna-sama’s kimono. Ōdanna-sama looks back. Raising my head, I stare at Ōdanna-sama and declare,

“I am fond of you^, Ōdanna-sama.”

“Eh…? Aoi?”

“I trust you, Ōdanna-sama.”

Slowly yet steadily, Ōdanna-sama’s eyes widen. Surprised, he tries to say something with his mouth half open, but it seemed that words fail him.

As for the meaning of “fond”, I still don’t know if it refers to a passionate love. Yet, I kept appealing. 

“You told me earlier, right, Ōdanna-sama? That everyone in Tenjin-ya now recognises me. That I need to believe it.”

To receive such words, how happy was I? How relieved was I?

“It’s the same with you, Ōdanna-sama. Right now, I believe in you, Ōdanna-sama, because you always support me from behind. Because you are always with me during important moments. Many times…”

I’m sure that he was also there, during my childhood.

However, even if it was not the case, even if he was not the ayakashi of my childhood, Ōdanna-sama has helped me so many times anyway, that it no longer matters.

P298

Everything is enough for me to trust this person.

“That’s why, whatever the truth I will learn about you will not make me hate you, Ōdanna-sama!”

I thought I have declared it as firmly as I could. 

Ōdanna-sama’s red pupils waver slightly in astonishment.

Say, Ōdanna-sama, why do you think that I would hate you?

I was about to ask that question. However…I couldn’t even utter a word.

Because Ōdanna-sama pulled the small of my back closer to him and sealed my mouth – which was about to say those words – with his own mouth.

“……”

It was a far cry from being passionate. It was light, borderline between touching and not touching, but it was so sudden that I blank out for a brief moment. When our lips got separated, the warmth of our own breaths heats up my face and the areas around my eyes before I can understand anything. I can’t even blink. 

“Whuh…wh-… Ōda…eh…?”

My heart beats faster. I would normally be angry now, but I’m more confused than angry.

P299

This thing gets bigger… and thus words are lost. Because… didn’t he say he wouldn’t touch me this easily?!

My face blushes and burns brightly like a red apple. Embarrassed, I immediately cover my cheeks with my palms. Regardless, Ōdanna-sama hugs me tightly and whispers to my ears.

“Aoi. I will definitely marry you.”

“…”

“I respect you… from the bottom of my heart.”

I don’t get it. 

Why did Ōdanna-sama say such a thing at this moment? Rather than being pleased by those words, they pierce really deep into my heart. 

However, it also gives me a vague apprehension. Because over Ōdanna-sama’s broad shoulders, I felt as if I saw the darkness. 

Unexpectedly, there in the dark blue sky, a shadow was concealing the moon.

-TBC in Vol 6 Chapter 10-

Note:

Following Fan Translator By Choice, I do not translate the honorifics; I instead keep them as they are. For instance, I do not translate Ōdanna-sama into “The Great Master” because I find the former giving more impact. Similarly, Aoi-kun (Byakuya-san’s way of calling Aoi) is also kept as “Aoi-kun”. Other honorifics e.g. -san (“Aoi-san” or “Ginji-san”) and -dono (“waka danna dono”) are kept as they are. I keep oni as oni instead of “ogre” because it’s just weird to think as Ōdanna-sama having the same “species” classification as Shrek…

I use mainly Jisho.org for Kanji searching, though at times Romajidesu.com and Nihongo-pro.com are used as well. I use Google Translator to have a rough guess of the meaning of phrases, but then I consult my trusted Japanese grammar book for the closer approximations of the meanings (the “Japanese the Manga Way” by Wayne P. Lammers – I would have otherwise tripped on nuances such as “kita”, “iku” and “okimasu”). 

Specific translation notes:

P285: Aoi invited Ōdanna to come to Moonflower after the business hour, which meant really late at night. It seems that Ōdanna actually wanted to come earlier, perhaps because he was hungry, or because he missed Aoi, or both. Thus, Aoi apologised for keeping him waiting. 

P287: ^ Aoi’s real words were「そこ！？そこなの？？」-- the literal translation was “There! There!”. However, I’m not sure whether she’s happy because Ōdanna said that his wife was making an exclusive dish for him… or whether she’s annoyed that Ōdanna brought up the wifey thing again. But since these days Aoi wasn’t even bothered with the “wife” label, I think she was actually happy that Ōdanna was happy. 

P288: ^ Check again Vol 6 Ch 8 to see how Ōdanna actually has a vegetable garden (with "My vegetable garden" as a signpost)... he's such a cute oni...

P292: ^ Aoi used the term “omotenashi” here, which is the Japanese hospitality where a host takes care of her guest in totality. This is why she was reluctant to eat with Ōdanna in the first place. 

P295: ^ the word “you” that Ōdanna used here was “kimi” 君, which is different from “omae” お前. Although “kimi” is also not used in a polite conversation, kimi has a closer meaning to the speaker than omae. In romance anime, “kimi” is usually used for “you” when someone says “I love you”. I’m not sure whether Ōdanna used “kimi” in the previous chapters, but prior to this moment in this chapter, he used “omae” to address Aoi (or just uses her name to call her). 

P296: ^ I translated 「大事な話を誤魔化されたような」to “It seems you’re avoiding the important bits” – or the important story about Ōdanna’s truth. 

P297: ^ Aoi’s historical statement is 「私、大旦那様のこと、好きよ」. “Suki” is a very difficult word to translate because it is context-dependent. It can be “like” or “love”. For now, I just translate it into “I am fond of you.”