EVEN NEWER UPDATE: This page will act as my table of contents for Apocrypha Volume 1, I can't be buggered to keep editing this first post and that at the same time. The latest 'drafts' of the translation will be posted in this thread and linked on that page accordingly.
-----------------------
UPDATE: The completed Act 1 (edited, with inserts) can be found here.
------------------------
This was pretty much just out of passing interest, so far this is the first page out of 9. Probably will continue, eventually. As usual, please alert me to any issues.
EDIT: Fixed the weird formatting. Was going to post this somewhere else.
------------------------
The sage cries out. "Open, Gate of Heaven. Bless us and bestow miracles upon us!"
Act 1 - Unbirth
-- It was a place endlessly surrounded by cravings.
Gluttony and lust bring forth avariciousness and a hunger for fame, in turn bringing forth violence and cajolery. Everyone gladly threw themselves into this endless hell.
The women sell their bodies, the men sell their violence.
The men sell their bodies, the women sell their honor.
Laughing, and being laughed at; devouring, and being devoured; jeering, and being jeered at; harming, and being harmed; violating, and being violated.
This is Shinjuku.
A place that only truly shone in the darkness of night.
A never-before-seen, and never-again-shall-be, battle royale between magi who had attained the qualifications of 'Master' and heroes summoned as 'Servant' -- that is the Holy Grail War.
A magus who had qualified and was now preparing to join the battle was here in Shinjuku as well.
However, he still had a dilemma.
...He could not summon his Servant.
On the roof of a multi-tenant building, a magic circle was drawn in human blood.
The etched circle glittered crimson -- and abruptly, as though something had been cut off, the light was lost.
".........It's not working."
The man dropped his shoulders in disappointment.
Before his eyes were four strangely-shaped knives and two butcher's knives.
It was a symbol to summon the Servant.
Using the six blades favored by that 'serial killer', the magus attempted to summon the Servant -- and failed.
"This isn't enough. Yeah, it's totally not enough."
Generally, having an item with an affinity to the heroic spirit will suffice in summoning a specific Servant.
For example, the sheath of the holy sword once wielded by the King of Knights.
Or perhaps the fossil of cast skin from the first snake in the world to shed its skin.
If you could prepare something like that, drawing a specific Servant is comparatively easier.
However, there existed two points which led to the failure of the summoning this time.
One was the caliber of the man as a magus. In this Holy Grail War, entirely unlike the Fourth, there are fourteen magi who become Masters. By necessity, there are also fourteen Servants. It is double the norm.
Following this, the Grail that originally would support the summoning can only exert half its strength, and the rest must be made up for by the magus.
And regrettably, the man was nothing more than a second-rate magus.
Another point was how weak the heroic spirit the man had been trying to summon was.
He was weak, though merely in terms of belief.
The Servant the man had been trying to summon was an existence from merely one hundred twenty years ago.
Despite his fame, he was not one who could match those who were worshiped as gods and heroes.
In short, what was needed -- was a push, by any means necessary.
"Now, what should I do...?"
As he lamented, the man scratched his head.
After a moment, he thought of a good idea. These six weapons were specialized blades used practically for one 'deed'.
In that case -- when would these weapons exercise their most proper function?
The answer was, obviously, when they were being practically used.
He will create a situation where these lethal weapons can be practically used -- if he can do this, the connection with the Servant should become strong enough for a summoning.
"So basically, I need a woman."
The man picked someone suitable for the role immediately.
There was a woman who sold her body to make a living. That was exactly what the woman currently by his side did, wasn't it? She was originally just a woman on whom he had cast a suggestion when he infiltrated this city. He had no hesitations in treating her as something disposable.
"...All right, let's do it."
As he incinerated the magic circle and left the building, the man's eyes switched from cold ones belonging to a magus to ones reminding you of a warm and innocent young man.
A host was his profession, his working name "Hikaru". The magus, true name Sagara Hyouma, melted away into the city of cravings -- practically perfectly.
* * *
To Rikudou Reika, the sounds of the heart were strange.
As her heart thumped, she lived. Without this sound, her brain, organs and limbs would be dead.
This fist-sized organ, sounding as though this small sound was all that it could manage, allowed one to live.
Reika could not help but feel it strange.
One does not live, but is allowed to live by the heart.
Hazily thinking such things -- that was how she spent her life, simply being swept along.
She still did not know what its purpose was.
Perhaps it was because she did not have a family.
Perhaps it was because she had been abused before she was adopted.
Perhaps it was because she could not do anything when she was a child.
......Reika knew nothing.
However, even if she did not know, a human being cannot survive without making money.
Even Reika knew this, so for the present, she decided to live on by selling her body.
Fortunately, she had never had trouble with a client.
Why did someone like her, passed by and suddenly hit on by a host on the streets, so easily agreed to live together with him -- knowing that she would be exploited?
Reika did not know why she did that, but it hurt her head to think, so she stopped.
Sagara Hyouma was kind.
At least, he did not use violence against her. The most he had ever done was ask for small sums of money.
Even when he did this, he did not threaten violence. He simply requested.
For some reason, she could not defy his requests -- she could never even have the intent to.
She did not quite understand, but perhaps this was the thing called "love".
Reika would think of this in that way. She would think of this, and be happy.
One day, the man may wake up by himself.
Or perhaps he may continue their love.
Marriage? Childbirth? A family? Or perhaps, divorce?
Both being far off into the future, they were a bother for Reika to think about.
She did not know what will happen in her life during the coming days, but at least, she will be allowed to live to the next day -- so Reika thought.
And she knew that this was wrong.
(Continue.)
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by CanonRap
