Novel Vol 5 Intermission 2 (Raijū vs Ōdanna)

Anime Ep 26, Ōdanna vs Raijū

In Vol 7 Ch 2, we finally learned the primary reason for Raijū usurping Ōdanna’s “throne” at Tenjin-ya. However, I believe that it’s not Raijū’s only reason for doing so. He also wants to take over Ōdanna’s role in Tenjin-ya because he personally hates the Kijin, perhaps primarily for threatening him in Ep 26 of anime about the Thunder Beast’s treatment of Aoi. 

Therefore, I’m backtracking a quite bit to understand the feud between Raijū and Ōdanna. I found that Raijū actually narrated the novel Vol 5 Intermission 2, and this is the scene after he realised that Umibōzu was not going to wreak havoc; that Aoi & team has successfully entertained the Umibōzu. Although the anime of course depicted this scene (thus we know the existence of this interaction between the two VIPs), the anime didn’t go into details of their conversations. After reading Vol 5 Intermission 2, I think it’s worth back-tracking to understand the whole Raijū-Ōdanna dynamics. After this one, we’ll go back to Vol 7. Click here to find out how to read this translation in other languages. Click here to read the chapter indices of Volumes 6 onwards.

Warning though: This chapter, small as it is (only 5 pages in the original novel), contains at least one BIG spoilers. And I mean BIG. You have been warned…^_^

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...I will delete this translation when there is an indication that the novel will be translated into English and I will replace it with the summary of the chapter.  Meanwhile, thank you for reading! 

Volume 5 Intermission 2

P337 

“Ooh… Umibōzu has returned home, eh. As per usual, the colossal guy. What a poor ayakashi… carrying the darkness of the Land of the Deceased on his own…”

By the order of the King, I had to observe the ritual. So, this very prestigious me, Raijū, who carries with me the Four Wizards^, is now using my binoculars to observe the Umibōzu leaving Tsune Island until he’s out of my sight.

“So the ceremony is a success, eh? How boring. It also seems that Ranmaru-kun and Ginji-kun have increased their psychic powers, eh. The aura of the night kagura offering even drifts this way. Is this because of that girl’s meals?”

What a surprising development… How boring… so boring…

And then, I hear a soft thud from behind^^. 

“ Did you miss your star reading*, Raijū?”

“Ooh! How long have you been there, Kijin?”

Before I knew it, the Master of Tenjin-ya was standing behind me.

P338

Though the ceremony was supposed to be the responsibility of that clumsy dog, this oni also helped, as per usual.

“What are you doing here? I’m quite busy now.”

“Does your definition of being ‘busy’ amount to being a spectator with sake and premium dried squid?  Or are you thinking about your next sinister design now? I actually always think that, somehow, you’re just this lonely ayakashi.”  

“Yes… But I don’t like your ‘higher-than-thou’ attitude though…”

I said it while drinking my sake from the sake flask and munching the premium dried squid.

“Hmm, oh-ho… It seems that Tsubaki Aoi-chan is being engulfed by a big wave. I say, this is an interesting development. Well then Oni King… as the husband of that girl, aren’t you going to immediately rescue her? If so, just get out of my sight.”

“Ginji^ is there, so it will be fine.”

“Wow. Just, wow. Such composure… You can afford to leave your fiancée to another husband^^…”

“I am who I am. I have contingency plans. That’s the better way to run things, right, Raijū?”

I said nothing*.

Aaahhh…. I offended this guy that I hate! Although he smiles, his crimson eyes are so cold. He’s the same with that Umibōzu dude, a symbol of calamity.

“It seems that Aoi has her ability to taste blocked. How important is it, a sense of taste, for that girl, I wonder…”

P339

… Geez. It’s like stepping into the mud.

“Or perhaps you’re going to do something to me because of that?^”

However, not wanting to show the chink in my armour, I give a subtle smile, raise my chin and look back at him.

“For me, it’s such an anti-climax. I thought I’ll see more sufferings, but she’s such an impudent girl…”

“You fool. Aoi is not Shirō.”

Again, I said nothing.

“In her entirety, she’s different from Shirō. She doesn’t have his reckless strength. She is sentimental, fragile and so ephemeral. If she makes but one mistake with her interactions with an ayakashi, she’d easily die.  However, that girl, because of her unique upbringing, she can’t abandon any hungry ayakashi. She’d serve those ayakashi delicious meals. She survives by making the best use of her skills… She’s delicate. And those things have made her strong.”

"… What a surprisingly thorough statement. However, Kijin, if you can say those things to such an extent, apparently I should have eaten that girl then eh..."

Although I said what I truly thought, I also said it to gas-light him. At any rate, I thought that he’d just retort with his trademark aloofness. However, those crimson eyes seized me such that I couldn’t move at all. 

P340

“The moment you eat Aoi, I will eat you till there’s nothing left of you. From the bone marrow to the corner of your soul, there will be nothing left of you in this world.”

I couldn't speak.

“When you die, your ‘killing time’ activities will cease forever.”

The muddy chaos, my ultimate weakness. If it’s just normal fear, I can handle it in an instant. Yet, cold sweat flows from my forehead to my cheeks and chin before falling silently to the ground. 

Time seems to be passing by slowly for me. There was even that slight dread where I strongly thought that he’d surely eat me. 

In this silence, how terrifying is this………… Jyaki^. 

Bastard.

I chuckle. “Haha. Ooh… how terrifying. Turns out, even I don't want to be gruesomely eaten by you, Onigami-sama. However, you also need to remember this. Remember me, the so called Four Wizards ‘Thunder Beast’.”

I jump off from the headland and float into the air in a coil of purple lightnings. The gold ornaments that adorn my body make ear-piercing noise as my psychic power^^ charges on.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

“Well, now you, the Clumsy Cute One. Don’t cry. This land has no longer has any further use for me.”

“… going back to Yōto, are you?”

P341

“Well, yeah, since I think I’ve seen a wonderful and interesting thing, eh. I just need a bit more stimulus, just putting it on hold a little bit…” 

He said nothing.

“Ah, that’s right…Kijin. The King wanted to see you, you know.”

 I see a slight doubt in this Kijin. Without thinking, I spoke more. 

“That Ōgondōji, she’s been voicing her dissent towards the Central Government system. Seems like she’s been working to increase the influence and foundation of Hachiyō. However, many people in Yōto don’t like that, you know. Well then… what will happen from now on, I wonder… You guys already become characters in the story that I’m sketching now. Don’t forget it, okay?”

I will manipulate you with my own hands. Only I will decide all the comedies and the tragedies. And finally, I will crush you with a snap. 

The climax of my entertainment is just around the corner.

“Well then, see you later, Kijin…Next time, we’ll meet at Yōto, yeah?”

Again, he said nothing.

I chuckle after saying, “Take care of Aoi-chan for me, yeah?”.

Against the Kijin who coldly glares at me, I dutifully said goodbye. And then, I tore the dawn sky with a single lightning bolt and left the Southern Land. 

-xxx-

After reading this chapter, I suggest you read my translation plan to understand the context of the chapter orders…

Translation notes:

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. 

I use mainly Jisho.org for Kanji searching, though at times other sources like Romajidesu.com, Nihongo-pro.com, etc. 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”). I use The Jaded Network for SFX effect translations.

Specific translation notes:

P337: ^I don’t know why Raijū called himself as “the Four Wizards” 四仙. I looked up 四仙 on Google and found some information about four deities (or at least four heavenly beings). Does it mean that Raijū considered himself as having the powers of these four wizards? IDK.

^^ The Japanese sentence is 「…バフバフ」|| ん、背後から妙な鳴き声が。

バフ is ‘thud’ in the Jaded Network.  I interpret it as the sound of Ōdanna-sama landing softly behind Raijū.

*the sentence is 「お前の読みは外れたかい、雷獣」- I think Ōdanna-sama meant the star or astrological reading.

P338: ^ So, Ōdanna actually knew that Aoi was drowning. However, because he trusted that Ginji would protect her, he left it to him to rescue Aoi. In many ways, I want Ōdanna to be the hero again at that moment, rescuing Aoi, but Aoi needed that time with Ginji to sort things out. Hence, that’s fine too. Besides, it shows how much Ōdanna trusts Ginji.

^^ Raijū actually did say “another husband”. His original sentence is 「余裕〜。他の夫に自分の許婚を預けてるくせに余裕〜っ」. Also, please beware of the many nuances of  余裕 ‘yoyū’, which you can further read here. I suppose from the moment Ginji almost attacked Raijū after the latter drugged Aoi, the latter can tell how close Aoi and Ginji are, and that Ginji truly loves Aoi. Hence he casually use the words “another husband”. He can also use that word to irk Ōdanna, for the latter was actually angry afterwards.

*I now translate “…...” as something like "I said nothing" or "S/he/they said nothing" because “…...” translates well in manga pages, but not in novel pages, at least in English literature.

P339: ^ The Japanese sentence is 「もしかして、俺とやろうっていうのかい〜？」 and I have no idea how to contextualise it.

P340: ^ The Japanese sentence is「静かでいて、どこまで禍々しい ＿＿＿＿邪鬼め」. It seems that this is the second event in the novel in which the word ‘jyaki’ 邪鬼 was uttered. The first one was by Aoi in Vol 4 Ch 9 (anime Ep 20). There, Ōdanna and Aoi visited the Dragon Palace and Aoi was attacked by an oni. In the anime, Aoi just said “oni!”. BUT in the novel, she actually realised it was a jyaki (p 332). The kanji 邪鬼 is clearly written many times in that section. That 邪鬼  jyaki even said this to Ōdanna (p 334): 

「ふざけるなア！お前だって…っ、お前だって、”同族” のくせに！」

“Stop messing around! You, you’re actually the same tribe as me!"

When I watched the anime, I thought the oni referred to Ōdanna being the same with him, an oni. But the oni's words actually mean that Ōdanna was also a jyaki (that jyaki would recognise Ōdanna as another jyaki on the spot, being from the same 'species'). The anime purposely did not translate the jyaki as jyaki… so that when the jyaki said that Ōdanna was like him, people won’t immediately link it to the Master being a jyaki!

Coming back to Vol 5 Intermission 2, so it means that Raijū realised that Ōdanna was a jyaki. I don’t think he realised it beforehand, because he would have used it against Ōdanna, at least just for fun. But because Ōdanna stared at Raijū so intensely, I bet it triggered an ancient alarm in Raijū that is associated with a prey-predator sensory system. He recognised a predator when he received that intense gaze from Ōdanna. This intense alarm wouldn’t be triggered by a normal oni (because there are so many oni ayakashi in Kakuriyo). This intense alarm could only be triggered by a top predator like jyaki, hence Raijū recognising – or at least heavily suspecting – that Ōdanna was a jyaki. Fuelled by his hatred (either renewed or new-found) towards Ōdanna, from here on Raijū has been concocting a plan to de-throne Ōdanna, not just to dismantle the Hachiyō, but also for his personal vengeance.

To learn more about jyaki and this heavy spoilers about Ōdanna’s past, read this. By the way, the demon who almost killed Shizuna when she and Tokihiko-dono were looking for hot springs for Orio-ya was actually a jyaki. Have a look at the anime ep 11, it was the same 'species' with the jyaki who almost ate Aoi in anime ep 20.

^^ From now on, I’ve decided to translate ‘reiryoku’ 霊力 as ‘psychic power’. Translating it as ‘spiritual power’ seems to fit Ōdanna-sama and Aoi etc (those kind ayakashi and people), but putting ‘spiritual’ next to Raijū seems so…unbecoming.