Saiyuki Crossroaders 1/3
Hello! I'm finally done with my last semester of college, and slowly easing back into translating things (^_^) Please bear with me while I get back into the translate-y groove.
Here's the first bit of Saiyuki Crossroaders, the online novel Minekura Sensei is posting on the Zero Sum website.
Saiyuki Crossroaders
Image: Life, Pride, Trust, Perseverance, Peace, Exaltation, Past, Tomorrow...
“So, what would you gamble?”
Saiyuki Crossroaders
novel and illustration: Minekura Kazuya
Chapter 1: The Sleepless Town
The wind was incredibly dry. It mixed with the dusty sand creeping in small waves across the land, and the rust-smelling powder clung to the inside of his mouth and mucous membranes. He couldn’t breathe, and vomited only bubbling bile at his feet.
Breathing shallowly, he slowly raised his face. The blood flattening his blond hair had already begun to dry. From between that dingy curtain, the world he saw was covered with formless heaps of numerous, nameless bodies.
This was not hell.
Nor was it heaven.
...It was simply reality.
Violet eyes hollowly took in the scene, with not even a flicker of emotion at the tragedy.
He lifted his left arm in a sluggish gesture. His fingers, still boyishly chubby, were wrapped around a tarnished silver trigger. The strong smell of smoke was the only remains of the shots and reloaded shots already fired into the dark clouds. Placed against his temple, the gun mouth was hot enough to tear away the skin.
The gun held five shots. The last echoing shot fired was the fourth. Knowing this, he squeezed the trigger with no hesitation whatsoever.
What crashed fourth was nothing more than the click of the hammer hitting metal.
...That was not the explosion he wished for.
Again and again he pulled the trigger, like a mad man. A sound even drier than the wind echoed uselessly against his temple.
When he stilled, he opened the chamber and scattered the contents on the ground. Only four empty cartridges rolled around soundlessly, tracing the cracks in the earth.
The fifth bullet he had reserved for himself had never been in the gun.
Voicelessly, the boy laughed.
He laughed at his entire life.
~~~
Sanzo was pulled from a deep sleep by the combination of the regular vibrations of the engine and the minute bumps in the surface of the road. The wrinkle between his eyebrows deepened at the uninterrupted brightness of the blue sky. The wind blowing through his hair was not the unpleasant sort that sticks in the throat, but a nice breeze that gently dries beads of sweat from the forehead. And in the Jeep, the aura of complacent normalcy drifted over the four men.
After briefly reconfirming the boundaries of dream and reality, the extreme relaxation of the real world seemed ridiculous. Sanzo sighed softly as he stretched his back.
“Is something the matter?” Hakkai queried from beside Sanzo, never taking his eyes off the road.
“...You saying I can’t sleep?”
“No,” That’s not what I meant, went unsaid. Having caught the scent of a bit of Sanzo’s subtleties, he didn’t want to pry any further.
“What, you were sleeping too Sanzo?” A voice clearer than the skies above rose up from the seat directly behind him. “And I was trying super hard to stay awake ‘cause I felt sorry for Hakkai driving all by himself!”
“...That’s your problem, not mine.”
“Ahaha, you’re very kind Goku. Well, driving in weather this nice make me a touch sleepy too.” The handsome, personable young man said this scary line with a smile. Sanzo pretended to ignore it and closed his eyes again.
...Why was this moldy memory from so long ago revived so suddenly in his dreams? Sanzo had the barest of ideas.
These past few days, his beloved S&W handgun hadn’t been performing satisfactorily. It was faint, but the hammer action felt a little sticky. In cocking the gun, the cylinder would shift, and as the days passed the hammer would click more frequently.
Of course, he never failed to maintain it as best he could every day. It was, after all, the ‘companion’ that had shared his fate from the day he inherited the responsibilities of Sanzo Priest.
...That being said, piling on the hardships of daily battle as he did, periodic maintenance by a professional might also be essential.
“While you’re up, would you please wake the other cold-blooded person?”
“Sure!” With that exclamation, Goku swiftly knocked the elbow of the man stubbornly sleeping next to him. Suddenly deprived of support, the red haired head hit the lead piping in back with a dull thump.
“Oww...” Roughly pulled from the land of dreams, Gojyo held his head and groaned softly.
“We’ll be arriving shortly. Wake up.”
“...Huh? Oh... at ‘Maakou’?”
“Duh. You’re the one who was looking forward to it the most,” Goku said, shaking out his brown hair as he clasped his hands behind his head in a pretense of boredom. Gojyo tossed him a glare through his crimson hair.
“...Hey, Monkey. Was it you?”
“Was what me?”
“Don’t play dumb, you knocked my elbow out. It’s all red over here.”
“I dunno what you’re talking about. It’s your fault for oversleeping.” Goku lied unconvincingly, shaking his head a little.
Gojyo slapped his large palm over Goku’s face. “So how d’you expect me to oversleep, huh?”
“Ow ow ow ow! Quit it, stupid Kappa!!”
“I’d be too embarrassed to walk through town if someone like you could call me stupid, stupid!!”
“You are stupid, so don’t go walking, stupid!!”
“Shut. Up...”
“Oh.” As always, Hakkai raised his voice just as Sanzo’s patience reached its breaking point, but this was an unusual exclamation.
“...What’s up Hakkai?”
“Look, isn’t that it?”
The mountain range that had been running along the North for some time suddenly parted, and in that space, in stark contrast to the surroundings, was a large town.
“Woah, that’s so cool!”
“What is that? Hahaha! It looks ridiculous!”
The tall-n-small combo in the back cheered joyfully, half-standing in the still-running Jeep.
Even from far away, it was clearly far from a peaceful little village. ...It might be more accurate to call the place a theme park. It had a consciously gaudy appearance; what seemed to be entertainment facilities and lodging areas crowded the area; and even though the sun was still high, florescent-colored neon lights blinked everywhere.
“So that’s ‘Maakou Town’. ...It certainly exceeds expectation.”
A dragon-shaped electric sign hung from a building that mimicked the palace of the highest rank in authority, the emperor. Seven letters, ‘WELCOME’, winked on and off, beckoning travelers in.
TBC
Next bit
Here's the first bit of Saiyuki Crossroaders, the online novel Minekura Sensei is posting on the Zero Sum website.
Saiyuki Crossroaders
Image: Life, Pride, Trust, Perseverance, Peace, Exaltation, Past, Tomorrow...
“So, what would you gamble?”
Saiyuki Crossroaders
novel and illustration: Minekura Kazuya
Chapter 1: The Sleepless Town
The wind was incredibly dry. It mixed with the dusty sand creeping in small waves across the land, and the rust-smelling powder clung to the inside of his mouth and mucous membranes. He couldn’t breathe, and vomited only bubbling bile at his feet.
Breathing shallowly, he slowly raised his face. The blood flattening his blond hair had already begun to dry. From between that dingy curtain, the world he saw was covered with formless heaps of numerous, nameless bodies.
This was not hell.
Nor was it heaven.
...It was simply reality.
Violet eyes hollowly took in the scene, with not even a flicker of emotion at the tragedy.
He lifted his left arm in a sluggish gesture. His fingers, still boyishly chubby, were wrapped around a tarnished silver trigger. The strong smell of smoke was the only remains of the shots and reloaded shots already fired into the dark clouds. Placed against his temple, the gun mouth was hot enough to tear away the skin.
The gun held five shots. The last echoing shot fired was the fourth. Knowing this, he squeezed the trigger with no hesitation whatsoever.
What crashed fourth was nothing more than the click of the hammer hitting metal.
...That was not the explosion he wished for.
Again and again he pulled the trigger, like a mad man. A sound even drier than the wind echoed uselessly against his temple.
When he stilled, he opened the chamber and scattered the contents on the ground. Only four empty cartridges rolled around soundlessly, tracing the cracks in the earth.
The fifth bullet he had reserved for himself had never been in the gun.
Voicelessly, the boy laughed.
He laughed at his entire life.
~~~
Sanzo was pulled from a deep sleep by the combination of the regular vibrations of the engine and the minute bumps in the surface of the road. The wrinkle between his eyebrows deepened at the uninterrupted brightness of the blue sky. The wind blowing through his hair was not the unpleasant sort that sticks in the throat, but a nice breeze that gently dries beads of sweat from the forehead. And in the Jeep, the aura of complacent normalcy drifted over the four men.
After briefly reconfirming the boundaries of dream and reality, the extreme relaxation of the real world seemed ridiculous. Sanzo sighed softly as he stretched his back.
“Is something the matter?” Hakkai queried from beside Sanzo, never taking his eyes off the road.
“...You saying I can’t sleep?”
“No,” That’s not what I meant, went unsaid. Having caught the scent of a bit of Sanzo’s subtleties, he didn’t want to pry any further.
“What, you were sleeping too Sanzo?” A voice clearer than the skies above rose up from the seat directly behind him. “And I was trying super hard to stay awake ‘cause I felt sorry for Hakkai driving all by himself!”
“...That’s your problem, not mine.”
“Ahaha, you’re very kind Goku. Well, driving in weather this nice make me a touch sleepy too.” The handsome, personable young man said this scary line with a smile. Sanzo pretended to ignore it and closed his eyes again.
...Why was this moldy memory from so long ago revived so suddenly in his dreams? Sanzo had the barest of ideas.
These past few days, his beloved S&W handgun hadn’t been performing satisfactorily. It was faint, but the hammer action felt a little sticky. In cocking the gun, the cylinder would shift, and as the days passed the hammer would click more frequently.
Of course, he never failed to maintain it as best he could every day. It was, after all, the ‘companion’ that had shared his fate from the day he inherited the responsibilities of Sanzo Priest.
...That being said, piling on the hardships of daily battle as he did, periodic maintenance by a professional might also be essential.
“While you’re up, would you please wake the other cold-blooded person?”
“Sure!” With that exclamation, Goku swiftly knocked the elbow of the man stubbornly sleeping next to him. Suddenly deprived of support, the red haired head hit the lead piping in back with a dull thump.
“Oww...” Roughly pulled from the land of dreams, Gojyo held his head and groaned softly.
“We’ll be arriving shortly. Wake up.”
“...Huh? Oh... at ‘Maakou’?”
“Duh. You’re the one who was looking forward to it the most,” Goku said, shaking out his brown hair as he clasped his hands behind his head in a pretense of boredom. Gojyo tossed him a glare through his crimson hair.
“...Hey, Monkey. Was it you?”
“Was what me?”
“Don’t play dumb, you knocked my elbow out. It’s all red over here.”
“I dunno what you’re talking about. It’s your fault for oversleeping.” Goku lied unconvincingly, shaking his head a little.
Gojyo slapped his large palm over Goku’s face. “So how d’you expect me to oversleep, huh?”
“Ow ow ow ow! Quit it, stupid Kappa!!”
“I’d be too embarrassed to walk through town if someone like you could call me stupid, stupid!!”
“You are stupid, so don’t go walking, stupid!!”
“Shut. Up...”
“Oh.” As always, Hakkai raised his voice just as Sanzo’s patience reached its breaking point, but this was an unusual exclamation.
“...What’s up Hakkai?”
“Look, isn’t that it?”
The mountain range that had been running along the North for some time suddenly parted, and in that space, in stark contrast to the surroundings, was a large town.
“Woah, that’s so cool!”
“What is that? Hahaha! It looks ridiculous!”
The tall-n-small combo in the back cheered joyfully, half-standing in the still-running Jeep.
Even from far away, it was clearly far from a peaceful little village. ...It might be more accurate to call the place a theme park. It had a consciously gaudy appearance; what seemed to be entertainment facilities and lodging areas crowded the area; and even though the sun was still high, florescent-colored neon lights blinked everywhere.
“So that’s ‘Maakou Town’. ...It certainly exceeds expectation.”
A dragon-shaped electric sign hung from a building that mimicked the palace of the highest rank in authority, the emperor. Seven letters, ‘WELCOME’, winked on and off, beckoning travelers in.
TBC
Next bit