Saiyuki Crossroaders 3/3
Took be a while, but here's the last bit of what Minekura Sensei has up on the Zero Sum website
First bit of translation
Second bit of translation
“You wouldn’t think this was the same Shangri-la,” Gojyo whispered, fiddling with a lit cigarette.
Outside the window, the continually blinking, shining neon lights were so bright that even had the curtains been closed, it was unlikely that anyone would have been able to sleep. Although the entirety of Shangri-la was even now suffering the grave effects of the Minus Wave and the Sanzo Ikkou were currently engaged in a life-or-death journey to end it, here in this town the youkai insanity and the desertification of the land -- everything-- seemed little more than a pipe dream.
“...This town itself seems like a pipe dream,” Hakkai responded as though talking to himself. He was setting up the coffee service provided with the room.
Although they weren’t in what one would call a ‘suite’, they had taken two first-class twin rooms. The rooms were almost too spacious for only two occupants, and decorated in a relaxing sepia tone. Jeep lazily groomed himself on top of the dark brown bedspread.
Sanzo and Goku, sharing the neighboring room, were out. A letter arrived from the front desk as soon as the Ikkou had returned from dinner. Inside was a printed map to a gun shop, which spoke volumes for Ryojun’s efficiency. And though he wasn’t pleased with owing a debt to the yakuza, Sanzo had decided to visit the shop immediately.
It was still early evening. And, as though to say that the main event was still to come, the town had become even more boisterous as evening set in. This was what was meant by a ‘nightless city’※1.
“Goku’s gone with him, so I suppose they’ll be all right.”
“What’re you worried for? It’s not like our Sanzo-chan’s some barely-legal virgin.”
“It’s a similar worry. After all, there’s no end to the youkai who lust for his body.”
“...The way you say it is seriously misleading.” Gojyo made a face, disgusted.
Devouring the flesh and blood of the highest-ranking monk grants eternal, youthful life.
That was the folk tale that circulated among the youkai. Although this had been definitively proven to be a load of crap, youkai and humans were no different when it came to believing information from an unreliable news source.
“You must have realized it too, Gojyo. There are a lot of youkai in this town, not just humans.”
“...Yeah.”
Though the thought hadn’t been voiced in conversation, it was something all four of the Sanzo Ikkou had noticed. They were in the crowds of people on the street, in the hotel lobby, in the restaurant. They may not have appeared any different from a human, but every now and then the Ikkou would pass by someone who smelled faintly of youkai powers, unsuppressed by power limiters.
Most likely that man, Ryojun, was a youkai too. The rutile quartz and tiger’s eye bracelet that peeked out at his shirt sleeve was probably a youkai power limiter.
“I guess it’s ‘cause there were more youkai yakuza groups skulking around from before the accident,” Gojyo said, and smiled self-deprecatingly. An exhale scattered the gently drifting cigarette smoke.
”Back then and now, the only ones society recognizes are the humans.” Hakkai sipped coffee gone cold as he remembered something a drunken Banri had once said. Humans will always discriminate against youkai.”
“...You could say that, in a sense, this town is the reversal of Shangri-la before the accident.”
As before the Minus Wave spread, youkai here donned power limiters and mimicked the bodies of humans. However, they did so not to appease the humans, but as a legitimate tactic used to make humans underestimate them. Here, the ones holding the reins were the Snake’s Head -- the youkai.
In this post-accident world, what enabled both sides to maintain balance was a lust for money, not logic. As Ryojun said, this town was built on such a rule.
“You saying that either way, this place’s just a paradise on the surface?” Gojyo stood, slung his jacket over his shoulders, and drank the last of Hakkai’s coffee without asking. “...Well, since we’re here, I’m off to partake of the blessings of paradise.”
“Feel free, as long as you don’t gamble.” Bluntly hammering that statement home, Hakkai stole back his empty coffee cup from Gojyo’s hand.
“No worries about the safety of my body?”
“If you return with a strange disease, I’ll point and laugh.” With a careless smile he could only direct at a specific person, Hakkai tolerantly saw his friend off into the sleepless town.
~~~
The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
As though to illustrate that saying, behind the cheerful main streets and narrow employee roads sprawled intricate alleys, dark and dismal.
“...You wouldn’t think this was the same town...” Goku unthinkingly whispered into the quiet.
Although the alley was lined with simple, prefabricated shops, there were no street lamps and the only light came from the unreliable bulbs of the signs peeking out here and there. It was impossible to discern the types of shops from the outside. A glance through windows white with dust showed stores with everything from what looked like Chinese medicine laid out neatly on shelves, to tiny parts for some indiscernible purpose littered haphazardly about. There was absolutely no sign of life. Very rarely, one could make out the shadow of a person in the back of a shop, but one couldn’t tell whether they were employees, customers, or some sort of mannequin.
“This is the underbelly of the town.”
Sanzo proceeded to his destination with Goku in tow. He had the map he’d memorized as a guide, but there was only one road sketching out a gentle curve parallel to the wall that surrounded the town. Walking down this alley that stretched out like an endless, narrow cave created the illusion that one had been swallowed by a snake.
No, it was no illusion. This was the true face of Maakou Town, where the Snake’s Head dealt in black market slavery and drugs in their quest for wealth.
Peel away the shining scales that colored the skin, and within the snake’s stomach would surely be this dark place.
“...Here.”
Sanzo stopped walking and gazed up at a building that looked more like a deserted house than a shop. There was a silver plate affixed to the peeling walls with the single word “Correct※2” carved neatly onto it. Sanzo stepped into the suspicious-looking building without hesitating. Goku hurried after the white robe and golden hair, bright even in the darkness.
The inside of the shop was almost darker than the outside, and tall shelves like those in a library made the cramped area feel even more stifling. Dodging spiderwebs, Sanzo and Goku headed for the back of the shop. As their eyes slowly grew accustomed to the dimness, they noticed guns of every sort, from handguns to long rifles, lined up in neat rows behind the shelves’ glass doors.
A bare, brownish lightbulb hung in a corner of the dusty, oil-smelling store. Behind the counter beneath this bulb sat a human form. Without turning around to face his customers, the thin old man spoke over the metallic sound echoing from his unseen hands.
“...What do you want?”
“I want you to look at my gun.” Sanzo’s deep, no-nonsense voice rang out oddly in this quiet, back alley world.
The old man slowly turned to face the voice’s owner. “Didn’t think you’d be a monk.” He snorted and lightly shrugged his shoulders as though surprised. His yellow eyes, however, peering out from under the shadow cast by the alligator-patterned cap pulled down low, weren’t smiling in the least.
He was a dismal old man with a solitary aura, but as he didn’t exude any youkai power, he was most likely human. A hempen shirt, dirtied in places with oil, draped loosely around his small frame. Only his arms, extending out from sleeves encircled with bangles, were strangely robust with strength. Those were the arms of a man who had continuously worked with guns for many years.
Sanzo proceeded straight to the very back of the store and drew his silver handgun from his sleeve. He laid it down atop the padded mat on the counter -- the only place in the store that was clear of dust.
The old man glanced at Sanzo from beneath the cap’s brim, then silently took the gun in hand.
He opened the cylinder. There were no bullets loaded. Swiftly he spun the empty cylinder and scrutinized the sound and vibration, then snapped it back into place. He checked the front and rear sights, measured the stiffness of the trigger, and tested the give of the grip. Goku watched the fluid movements of the man’s hands with unabashed admiration.
After the last snap of metal, the old man extended his arm straight in front of him and sighted down the empty gun, then uncocked it and slid the hammer back into place.
“...You’re really rough on this gun, aren’t you.” In contrast to the curt words, the old man replaced the gun atop the mat as gently as thought it were something fragile. “But it’s got heart.” A tiny smile tugged at the wrinkled corners of his mouth.
Goku, standing at Sanzo’s back and ready to jump should anything happen, relaxed at the old man’s words. He felt that the old man might be of the same caliber as Sanzo.
“Can you fix it?” Sanzo, silent until now, asked without any preamble.
“Someone saying I can’t?” The old man arrogantly tossed back and narrowed cloudy eyes beneath his cap. “...I’ll have to replace some parts. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything bad to it.”
“Do it.”
Goku heard suppressed relief and earnestness at the edges of Sanzo’s inflectionless words.
For Sanzo, letting that gun out of his possession even temporarily was a bigger deal than a stranger would believe. When Sanzo was still a child, he traveled around the country on a pilgrimage and lived through unprecedented dangers with only that one revolved. And he did all that alone.
The image of Sanzo with his gun was such an integral part of normal life. Goku hadn’t realized before, but Sanzo had trusted his life to that small silver gun long before he had Goku, Gojyo, or Hakkai. If so, then...
Then this was an incredibly scary thing. No matter how safe the town, even if his companions were nearby... even if Sanzo himself didn’t realize how scary it was.
“Grandpa, is someone here?” Suddenly, a young voice wholly inappropriate to the scene was heard.
A boy peeked his small shoulders out from atop the simple staircase at the back of the dark store. He wore a large casquette cap low over his eyes as though mimicking the old man, but it was plain to see that he wasn’t even 10 years old yet.
“...It’s a normal customer. Don’t hide.”
In response to his grandfather’s curt words, the boy lifted lifted up his cap to peer suspiciously at Sanzo and Goku.
“...Hm?”
“Ah.” When Goku met the cat-like eyes of the boy, he felt as though they’d met somewhere before. Just then, the boy quickly withdrew into the second floor.
“...?”
“Pay me when it’s done. I don’t give out receipts.”
“Don’t need one.” Sanzo replied seriously to what might have been the old man’s attempt at a joke. “How long will it take?”
“It’ll cost more if you want a rush job.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“How about tomorrow around this time?”
Exactly one day. Goku didn’t know what would be repaired or how, and so had no idea whether or not this was fast. Sanzo, however, replied shortly “Got it,” and turned his steps to the door.
“Monk.”
He was stopped by the harsh voice. When Sanzo turned his purple eyes back over his shoulder, the old man continued speaking, reclined in his squealing work chair.
“I don’t know who told you about my shop, but you should get out of here as soon as your gun’s fixed. This town isn’t a place a man like you should be.”
“...It’s the same wherever I go.”
Humans and youkai, desire and karma. Whether it be the most prosperous city of countrified village, as long as there were people the things they did weren’t very dissimilar.
“It doesn’t matter where I am.” With that, Sanzo opened the shop door.
~~~
As soon as Sanzo and Goku returned to the hotel, they stopped in at the room next door.
“Welcome back. How did it go at the gun shop?”
“You didn’t get molested on the streets, did you Sanzo-sama?”
“...Why are you here?” Sanzo spit out with a sour face. He had assumed that Gojyo would be out walking the town at this hour.
“What, I’m not allowed?!”
“He did willingly step out once as expected, but he came back before even one hour had passed.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t have enough cash.”
“...Ha, how embarrassing!”
Sitting on the couch, caught between Hakkai’s knowing smile and Goku’s pitying face, Gojyo vented his anger by tossing his legs on top the low table.
“The prices in this town are insane!! I just ordered one whiskey and water at the bar, and they charged me for like 10 glasses!!”
“You won’t be able to buy a whore then.”
“Just pick someone up. That doesn’t cost anything.” Goku fluidly presented this cruel but true fact to the self-styled ladies’ man.
“...The girls here won’t look twice at anyone unless he’s got money. Do I look like I’m rich in these rags, huh?”
“Nope. And it’s got nothing to do with your clothes, either.”
Gojyo kicked Goku’s butt as hard as he could for saying that, and the usual monkey-and-kappa grappling session began.
Ignoring the fight, Hakkai turned to Sanzo. “Well, for the future we should definitely withdraw a large amount of cash.”
As they hadn’t used cash or even the gold card since entering this town, they hadn’t realized that prices were so high. Perhaps because their identity had been solidly proved upon entering, lodging fees were to be paid upon leaving, and the bill from dinner was included in the room price.
“I saw a cash machine on one of these floors.”
“Ah, that’s convenient.”
Even though they possessed the golden credit card, there were incredibly few towns in Shangri-la where one could use a card. If they didn’t withdraw a large amount here when they had the chance, even having the gold card would amount to the same thing as being penniless.
...Incidentally, a high interest rate was attached to withdrawing money using the gold card, but, well, that wasn’t the Sanzo Ikkou’s problem.
“I’ll go make sure. May I borrow the card?”
“Goku, get the card from the bag’s inside pocket.”
“Right. Gojyo, move.” At Sanzo’s command, Goku pushed off his grappling partner and flew to the rucksack that was the Ikkou’s one and only bag.
“...What is he, a dog?”
“Dogs are clever.”
“It’s better than being a cockroach that wanders out around town even though he doesn’t have any money.”
“I see, so you added to the roach population then.”
“Whaddya mean ‘I see’, huh?”
“Hey, the card’s not here.”
At Goku’s careless comment, the other three looked at each other, then turned as one to face Goku. He was crouched by the door, hunting around with his hand thrust into the pocket of the dirty rucksack.
“Did you put it somewhere else?” Hakkai walked toward Goku as he spoke.
Goku began to roughly scatter the bag’s contents across the floor. Crumpled receipts and coins, candy and magazines were strewn haphazardly on top of the expensive modern carpet.
“We sure got a lot of useless junk in here...” muttered Gojyo, squatting next to Goku as he hid a magazine beneath some other detritus.
“Sanzo.”
“No, I’m sure I put it there,” Sanzo gravely intoned after once again revisiting the memory of the last time he used the card.
Goku turned the empty sack inside out and shook it, but the only things that fell out were useless bits of sugar, candy crumbs, and tobacco flakes.
“...Uhh...”
The Sanzo Ikkou, hardened in battle and unfazed by death, were rendered speechless by the loss of a single credit card.
【to be continued】
~~~
※1 Nightless city [不夜城 ふやじょう]: Literally ‘no night castle’. A place with lanterns so bright that it looks like daytime even at night. Think, the Las Vegas strip.
※2 Shop sign’s “Correct” is the character [是 ぜ]
First bit of translation
Second bit of translation
“You wouldn’t think this was the same Shangri-la,” Gojyo whispered, fiddling with a lit cigarette.
Outside the window, the continually blinking, shining neon lights were so bright that even had the curtains been closed, it was unlikely that anyone would have been able to sleep. Although the entirety of Shangri-la was even now suffering the grave effects of the Minus Wave and the Sanzo Ikkou were currently engaged in a life-or-death journey to end it, here in this town the youkai insanity and the desertification of the land -- everything-- seemed little more than a pipe dream.
“...This town itself seems like a pipe dream,” Hakkai responded as though talking to himself. He was setting up the coffee service provided with the room.
Although they weren’t in what one would call a ‘suite’, they had taken two first-class twin rooms. The rooms were almost too spacious for only two occupants, and decorated in a relaxing sepia tone. Jeep lazily groomed himself on top of the dark brown bedspread.
Sanzo and Goku, sharing the neighboring room, were out. A letter arrived from the front desk as soon as the Ikkou had returned from dinner. Inside was a printed map to a gun shop, which spoke volumes for Ryojun’s efficiency. And though he wasn’t pleased with owing a debt to the yakuza, Sanzo had decided to visit the shop immediately.
It was still early evening. And, as though to say that the main event was still to come, the town had become even more boisterous as evening set in. This was what was meant by a ‘nightless city’※1.
“Goku’s gone with him, so I suppose they’ll be all right.”
“What’re you worried for? It’s not like our Sanzo-chan’s some barely-legal virgin.”
“It’s a similar worry. After all, there’s no end to the youkai who lust for his body.”
“...The way you say it is seriously misleading.” Gojyo made a face, disgusted.
Devouring the flesh and blood of the highest-ranking monk grants eternal, youthful life.
That was the folk tale that circulated among the youkai. Although this had been definitively proven to be a load of crap, youkai and humans were no different when it came to believing information from an unreliable news source.
“You must have realized it too, Gojyo. There are a lot of youkai in this town, not just humans.”
“...Yeah.”
Though the thought hadn’t been voiced in conversation, it was something all four of the Sanzo Ikkou had noticed. They were in the crowds of people on the street, in the hotel lobby, in the restaurant. They may not have appeared any different from a human, but every now and then the Ikkou would pass by someone who smelled faintly of youkai powers, unsuppressed by power limiters.
Most likely that man, Ryojun, was a youkai too. The rutile quartz and tiger’s eye bracelet that peeked out at his shirt sleeve was probably a youkai power limiter.
“I guess it’s ‘cause there were more youkai yakuza groups skulking around from before the accident,” Gojyo said, and smiled self-deprecatingly. An exhale scattered the gently drifting cigarette smoke.
”Back then and now, the only ones society recognizes are the humans.” Hakkai sipped coffee gone cold as he remembered something a drunken Banri had once said. Humans will always discriminate against youkai.”
“...You could say that, in a sense, this town is the reversal of Shangri-la before the accident.”
As before the Minus Wave spread, youkai here donned power limiters and mimicked the bodies of humans. However, they did so not to appease the humans, but as a legitimate tactic used to make humans underestimate them. Here, the ones holding the reins were the Snake’s Head -- the youkai.
In this post-accident world, what enabled both sides to maintain balance was a lust for money, not logic. As Ryojun said, this town was built on such a rule.
“You saying that either way, this place’s just a paradise on the surface?” Gojyo stood, slung his jacket over his shoulders, and drank the last of Hakkai’s coffee without asking. “...Well, since we’re here, I’m off to partake of the blessings of paradise.”
“Feel free, as long as you don’t gamble.” Bluntly hammering that statement home, Hakkai stole back his empty coffee cup from Gojyo’s hand.
“No worries about the safety of my body?”
“If you return with a strange disease, I’ll point and laugh.” With a careless smile he could only direct at a specific person, Hakkai tolerantly saw his friend off into the sleepless town.
~~~
The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
As though to illustrate that saying, behind the cheerful main streets and narrow employee roads sprawled intricate alleys, dark and dismal.
“...You wouldn’t think this was the same town...” Goku unthinkingly whispered into the quiet.
Although the alley was lined with simple, prefabricated shops, there were no street lamps and the only light came from the unreliable bulbs of the signs peeking out here and there. It was impossible to discern the types of shops from the outside. A glance through windows white with dust showed stores with everything from what looked like Chinese medicine laid out neatly on shelves, to tiny parts for some indiscernible purpose littered haphazardly about. There was absolutely no sign of life. Very rarely, one could make out the shadow of a person in the back of a shop, but one couldn’t tell whether they were employees, customers, or some sort of mannequin.
“This is the underbelly of the town.”
Sanzo proceeded to his destination with Goku in tow. He had the map he’d memorized as a guide, but there was only one road sketching out a gentle curve parallel to the wall that surrounded the town. Walking down this alley that stretched out like an endless, narrow cave created the illusion that one had been swallowed by a snake.
No, it was no illusion. This was the true face of Maakou Town, where the Snake’s Head dealt in black market slavery and drugs in their quest for wealth.
Peel away the shining scales that colored the skin, and within the snake’s stomach would surely be this dark place.
“...Here.”
Sanzo stopped walking and gazed up at a building that looked more like a deserted house than a shop. There was a silver plate affixed to the peeling walls with the single word “Correct※2” carved neatly onto it. Sanzo stepped into the suspicious-looking building without hesitating. Goku hurried after the white robe and golden hair, bright even in the darkness.
The inside of the shop was almost darker than the outside, and tall shelves like those in a library made the cramped area feel even more stifling. Dodging spiderwebs, Sanzo and Goku headed for the back of the shop. As their eyes slowly grew accustomed to the dimness, they noticed guns of every sort, from handguns to long rifles, lined up in neat rows behind the shelves’ glass doors.
A bare, brownish lightbulb hung in a corner of the dusty, oil-smelling store. Behind the counter beneath this bulb sat a human form. Without turning around to face his customers, the thin old man spoke over the metallic sound echoing from his unseen hands.
“...What do you want?”
“I want you to look at my gun.” Sanzo’s deep, no-nonsense voice rang out oddly in this quiet, back alley world.
The old man slowly turned to face the voice’s owner. “Didn’t think you’d be a monk.” He snorted and lightly shrugged his shoulders as though surprised. His yellow eyes, however, peering out from under the shadow cast by the alligator-patterned cap pulled down low, weren’t smiling in the least.
He was a dismal old man with a solitary aura, but as he didn’t exude any youkai power, he was most likely human. A hempen shirt, dirtied in places with oil, draped loosely around his small frame. Only his arms, extending out from sleeves encircled with bangles, were strangely robust with strength. Those were the arms of a man who had continuously worked with guns for many years.
Sanzo proceeded straight to the very back of the store and drew his silver handgun from his sleeve. He laid it down atop the padded mat on the counter -- the only place in the store that was clear of dust.
The old man glanced at Sanzo from beneath the cap’s brim, then silently took the gun in hand.
He opened the cylinder. There were no bullets loaded. Swiftly he spun the empty cylinder and scrutinized the sound and vibration, then snapped it back into place. He checked the front and rear sights, measured the stiffness of the trigger, and tested the give of the grip. Goku watched the fluid movements of the man’s hands with unabashed admiration.
After the last snap of metal, the old man extended his arm straight in front of him and sighted down the empty gun, then uncocked it and slid the hammer back into place.
“...You’re really rough on this gun, aren’t you.” In contrast to the curt words, the old man replaced the gun atop the mat as gently as thought it were something fragile. “But it’s got heart.” A tiny smile tugged at the wrinkled corners of his mouth.
Goku, standing at Sanzo’s back and ready to jump should anything happen, relaxed at the old man’s words. He felt that the old man might be of the same caliber as Sanzo.
“Can you fix it?” Sanzo, silent until now, asked without any preamble.
“Someone saying I can’t?” The old man arrogantly tossed back and narrowed cloudy eyes beneath his cap. “...I’ll have to replace some parts. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything bad to it.”
“Do it.”
Goku heard suppressed relief and earnestness at the edges of Sanzo’s inflectionless words.
For Sanzo, letting that gun out of his possession even temporarily was a bigger deal than a stranger would believe. When Sanzo was still a child, he traveled around the country on a pilgrimage and lived through unprecedented dangers with only that one revolved. And he did all that alone.
The image of Sanzo with his gun was such an integral part of normal life. Goku hadn’t realized before, but Sanzo had trusted his life to that small silver gun long before he had Goku, Gojyo, or Hakkai. If so, then...
Then this was an incredibly scary thing. No matter how safe the town, even if his companions were nearby... even if Sanzo himself didn’t realize how scary it was.
“Grandpa, is someone here?” Suddenly, a young voice wholly inappropriate to the scene was heard.
A boy peeked his small shoulders out from atop the simple staircase at the back of the dark store. He wore a large casquette cap low over his eyes as though mimicking the old man, but it was plain to see that he wasn’t even 10 years old yet.
“...It’s a normal customer. Don’t hide.”
In response to his grandfather’s curt words, the boy lifted lifted up his cap to peer suspiciously at Sanzo and Goku.
“...Hm?”
“Ah.” When Goku met the cat-like eyes of the boy, he felt as though they’d met somewhere before. Just then, the boy quickly withdrew into the second floor.
“...?”
“Pay me when it’s done. I don’t give out receipts.”
“Don’t need one.” Sanzo replied seriously to what might have been the old man’s attempt at a joke. “How long will it take?”
“It’ll cost more if you want a rush job.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“How about tomorrow around this time?”
Exactly one day. Goku didn’t know what would be repaired or how, and so had no idea whether or not this was fast. Sanzo, however, replied shortly “Got it,” and turned his steps to the door.
“Monk.”
He was stopped by the harsh voice. When Sanzo turned his purple eyes back over his shoulder, the old man continued speaking, reclined in his squealing work chair.
“I don’t know who told you about my shop, but you should get out of here as soon as your gun’s fixed. This town isn’t a place a man like you should be.”
“...It’s the same wherever I go.”
Humans and youkai, desire and karma. Whether it be the most prosperous city of countrified village, as long as there were people the things they did weren’t very dissimilar.
“It doesn’t matter where I am.” With that, Sanzo opened the shop door.
~~~
As soon as Sanzo and Goku returned to the hotel, they stopped in at the room next door.
“Welcome back. How did it go at the gun shop?”
“You didn’t get molested on the streets, did you Sanzo-sama?”
“...Why are you here?” Sanzo spit out with a sour face. He had assumed that Gojyo would be out walking the town at this hour.
“What, I’m not allowed?!”
“He did willingly step out once as expected, but he came back before even one hour had passed.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t have enough cash.”
“...Ha, how embarrassing!”
Sitting on the couch, caught between Hakkai’s knowing smile and Goku’s pitying face, Gojyo vented his anger by tossing his legs on top the low table.
“The prices in this town are insane!! I just ordered one whiskey and water at the bar, and they charged me for like 10 glasses!!”
“You won’t be able to buy a whore then.”
“Just pick someone up. That doesn’t cost anything.” Goku fluidly presented this cruel but true fact to the self-styled ladies’ man.
“...The girls here won’t look twice at anyone unless he’s got money. Do I look like I’m rich in these rags, huh?”
“Nope. And it’s got nothing to do with your clothes, either.”
Gojyo kicked Goku’s butt as hard as he could for saying that, and the usual monkey-and-kappa grappling session began.
Ignoring the fight, Hakkai turned to Sanzo. “Well, for the future we should definitely withdraw a large amount of cash.”
As they hadn’t used cash or even the gold card since entering this town, they hadn’t realized that prices were so high. Perhaps because their identity had been solidly proved upon entering, lodging fees were to be paid upon leaving, and the bill from dinner was included in the room price.
“I saw a cash machine on one of these floors.”
“Ah, that’s convenient.”
Even though they possessed the golden credit card, there were incredibly few towns in Shangri-la where one could use a card. If they didn’t withdraw a large amount here when they had the chance, even having the gold card would amount to the same thing as being penniless.
...Incidentally, a high interest rate was attached to withdrawing money using the gold card, but, well, that wasn’t the Sanzo Ikkou’s problem.
“I’ll go make sure. May I borrow the card?”
“Goku, get the card from the bag’s inside pocket.”
“Right. Gojyo, move.” At Sanzo’s command, Goku pushed off his grappling partner and flew to the rucksack that was the Ikkou’s one and only bag.
“...What is he, a dog?”
“Dogs are clever.”
“It’s better than being a cockroach that wanders out around town even though he doesn’t have any money.”
“I see, so you added to the roach population then.”
“Whaddya mean ‘I see’, huh?”
“Hey, the card’s not here.”
At Goku’s careless comment, the other three looked at each other, then turned as one to face Goku. He was crouched by the door, hunting around with his hand thrust into the pocket of the dirty rucksack.
“Did you put it somewhere else?” Hakkai walked toward Goku as he spoke.
Goku began to roughly scatter the bag’s contents across the floor. Crumpled receipts and coins, candy and magazines were strewn haphazardly on top of the expensive modern carpet.
“We sure got a lot of useless junk in here...” muttered Gojyo, squatting next to Goku as he hid a magazine beneath some other detritus.
“Sanzo.”
“No, I’m sure I put it there,” Sanzo gravely intoned after once again revisiting the memory of the last time he used the card.
Goku turned the empty sack inside out and shook it, but the only things that fell out were useless bits of sugar, candy crumbs, and tobacco flakes.
“...Uhh...”
The Sanzo Ikkou, hardened in battle and unfazed by death, were rendered speechless by the loss of a single credit card.
【to be continued】
~~~
※1 Nightless city [不夜城 ふやじょう]: Literally ‘no night castle’. A place with lanterns so bright that it looks like daytime even at night. Think, the Las Vegas strip.
※2 Shop sign’s “Correct” is the character [是 ぜ]