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Silence of the Dragonrider, part 3.1
So once upon a time, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sincere translated the first half of the first Judith novel, which was pretty interesting. I recently picked up the ebooks and found they could be transcribed fairly easily in that format, sooo...here's the start of the second half.
I've put together a Chapter Index that includes all the parts translated bysincere as well as the novel illustrations. I'll add each part to this index as I go.
Disclaimer: I don't actually know what I'm doing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Feel free to point out any mistakes if you notice them. Although I made some minor edits to improve flow, this is still a little rough.
Part 3: Crushing Blow
1
Temza was receiving an unusual guest. A company of knights had come all the way from the imperial capital.
Hermes knew they were reinforcements that had been dispatched to defend the Fortress. As for why they were at the mountain's summit, and not the Fortress at the bottom, it seemed they had somehow misunderstood their information.
The knights were in high spirits. The more Hermes looked at the situation, the more his heart hurt. They still had no idea just what kind of foes they had made their enemies.
Rulers of the world. He was well aware that this description was no exaggeration. To oppose them would require unprecedented power. They shouldn't even be opposed in the first place. If the mission they claim is true, then we humans are literally poison to the world—
No. Hermes shook his head. As a human being, he could not accept those words. So Hermes fought. He fought in his own way. Yet somehow, it seemed that it would only result in tragedy.
The knights made camp right in the city streets—Temza's buildings were simply not able to accomodate everyone—and the next morning, they would likely head to the Fortress.
Since he would be returning to the Fortress with them, Hermes spent the entire day searching for Judith all over town. Murcy and the other residents helped but the city was unusually crowded because of the visiting knights, and it was therefore difficult to say whether they had searched thoroughly enough.
As the sun set and evening approached, Hermes continued to search alone. He returned to the house several times with a sliver of hope in his chest, in case she by some chance came home.
It all ended in vain.
Before dawn, Hermes wrote a letter. All the words and apologies he should have said, as well as nine years of love; without even the slightest scrap of falsehood, he spelled out everything there. When he finished writing, he gently folded the letter, placed it in an envelope, and sealed it.
Hermes could not act like a warrior, accepting his fate calmly with the thought that he had done all he could. He was a researcher, a mere scholar, and a father. In other words, he was a regular human being.
Sorrow and regret would forever weigh heavily on him.
Morning came.
Alone with the knights, Hermes left Temza behind.
---
"......I'm going back."
At Judith's words, Ba'ul raised his voice in protest.
"Dangerous? Why? I really think I'll go see Dad after all."
However, Ba'ul merely used the same voice again. Annoyed, Judith turned her back on Ba'ul and left the cave behind.
Judith had spent all night next to Ba'ul, but she had spent it wide awake from the confusion in her heart. She recalled the inner feelings she had seen in her father, recalled the words her father spoke in the cave, recalled every day up to now, and as she recalled it over and over, she thought about its significance.
The more she thought about it, the more her anxiety grew. She couldn't say that anything had really become clear. She was too young to see through it all, and even if she tried, her fearful mind stopped her.
And yet. Within Judith there was one unwavering truth. I love Dad. And yet.
By daybreak Judith had regained a little composure and even though she was still apprehensive, she felt like she wanted to talk to her father. She didn't understand the meaning of Ba'ul's warning. If they united their minds like before, or at least met face to face, she might have been able to understand. But such thoughts didn't come to her. She felt the faint sensation that Ba'ul was recoiling.
As soon as she made up her mind, her restless feelings from earlier just grew into frustration. Her feet began running down the mountain path without her realizing.
She wanted to get home as soon as possible.
She was completely unaware of the reason behind the fear that possessed her.
--
When she finally did reach Temza, it looked the same as always. It looked normal, like it had no idea what had happened between father and daughter. That was how it seemed to her, at least.
"Well, if it isn't Judith. Your dad was looking all over for you yesterday. What's the matter?" A young man from the neighbourhood, Omin, called out to her.
"Dad was? Where is he?"
"You didn't see him? He went down the mountain with the knights this morning."
"The...knights?"
"What, you didn't know about it? Where were you up til now? Wasn't your dad worried? You know, knights from the Empire arrived yesterday. A 'knight' means a person who fights against monsters or something. It's the first time I've seen so many people from below. Everyone else, too. Thanks to that, it's not been very quiet at all. Ah, but I guess it's settled down by now."
Judith asked about her father once more.
"If I remember, wasn't there a building your dad was using around the foot of the mountain? Since the knights seemed to have some urgent business there, they're probably together."
"Thank you." As she thought about what she should do, Judith suddenly had a strange, uncomfortable feeling.
Omin's behavior right then. She wondered why he was so relaxed, when she herself was so uneasy.
Something was strange.
Omin was already turning his back as if he wanted to leave. Judith reached out to him with her mind—or tried to reach out.
As soon as she did, it felt like her stomach flipped. She was dizzy, like everything had gone dark in front of her, and cold sweat slid down her back. Omin didn't seem to notice her condition and, just like that, he had left.
Judith covered her mouth to stifle a moan. What is this? This time, instead of narrowing it down to one target, she turned her nageeg towards her surroundings. But—
She couldn't find anyone.
Even if most of the people had gone to the fields, it was strange that she couldn't find them at all. To begin with, Omin was still in sight. But despite that...
She saw a middle-aged woman coming from another direction. She tried the same thing on her. This time, she tried to clearly picture the Circle's code.
Like she was bursting from the shock, Judith threw up. Tears blurred her vision.
'You can't sense me, Judith.' Her mind suddenly recalled her father's words. 'Your dad's been cut off from the Great Circle.'
Judith was shocked.
She had been cut off from the Circle.
Just the thought of feeling someone's mind brought a severe attack of nausea and chills.
Like the afterimage from a flash of light, a single silhouette came to her mind—it was her, hiding inside her father.
Even from the nageeg. Not just from Dad.*
As dark feelings pressed down on her, Judith ground her teeth. The Great Circle existed even at this very moment, with everyone sharing peaceful feelings within. Only I am different.
She alone had been isolated, and it felt like she had become a different being.
The middle-aged woman noticed her there. Worried, she rushed over. "Are you alright?"
Judith recoiled like a snapped string and, without a reply, turned on the spot and ran away.
--
Continuing to run single-mindedly, she burst into what was, of course, her own home.
"Dad?!" She all but automatically shouted from the front door, but there was no reply.
It fell completely silent inside the house. There was a peculiar stillness that indicated no one had been active for a while.
Judith restlessly roamed the house. It felt like a deserted home that didn't belong to anyone. Or like nothing more than a false decoration created just for this moment. She could not find any trace of her father in the study, either. Left in a state of unchecked disorder without its owner, the room itself was reminiscent of derelict ruins.
In the end, when she finally made her way to her own room, Judith sat down on her bed with a sigh.
Dad went to the Fortress.
I could still go after him now. Or I could get Ba'ul to carry me.
Take a deep breath.
It's alright. Judith tried to force a smile. He'll come back sooner or later. I just don't know if it'll be today or tomorrow. When he does, let's talk lots again. I'll do my best to make dinner for it.
Unable to form a smile, her expression only became twisted.
Lies. I'm all alone.
Separated from the Great Circle and from Dad, it's just me. Thinking of the solitude that meant, Judith curled up hopelessly.
There was something touching her fingertip, which she half-heartedly fumbled to pick up. It was a single envelope. It had been sealed, and on the back was her father's signature. On the front, a single phrase—"To Judith".
A letter from her father. Judith stared fixedly at the writing. Even without looking inside, she felt like she was being told goodbye for some reason.
Dad has left.
I wonder why I feel this way. Dad only went to the Fortress just like he always does. But this ominous feeling just won't go away at all.
The envelope she grasped in her hand was filled with power. She wanted to know just what her father had been feeling when he wrote it.
She suddenly felt warmth in her hand. The tightly-grasped envelope was emitting something, and although it wasn't real heat, she was certain she felt it.
She remembered this sensation. It was the same as the time she peered inside the practice orb and felt the mental image of the object placed inside—Judith understood that this feeling worked the same way as that. It meant her nageeg itself wasn't gone.
Above all else, a very familiar image was there. Like the spring sunshine, it slowly wrapped around her whole body and soaked in.
Dad. Judith closed her eyes. This is Dad.
It was filled with warmth, kindness, and sorrow. In the center, there was love. Feelings that were undoubtedly meant for Judith.
Hot tears flooded the space between her closed eyelids.
Unbidden, sounds escaped her lips. Judith fell prone on the bed while crying. In that state, she kept crying for a long time.
The letter was tightly gripped in her hand.
--
[END OF PART 3.1. It's relatively short compared to what I've transcribed for 3.2 and 3.3, so it'll be a while before the next one. In Empty Mask Ch5, it's apparent that the knights who came to Temza in this part included Casey and Damuron.
*I'm not entirely sure about this bit. The direct translation is simply Even the nageeg. Not just Dad. So it's not clear exactly what the verb/subject here is supposed to be.]
sincere translated the first half of the first Judith novel, which was pretty interesting. I recently picked up the ebooks and found they could be transcribed fairly easily in that format, sooo...here's the start of the second half.I've put together a Chapter Index that includes all the parts translated by
sincere as well as the novel illustrations. I'll add each part to this index as I go.Disclaimer: I don't actually know what I'm doing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Feel free to point out any mistakes if you notice them. Although I made some minor edits to improve flow, this is still a little rough.
Part 3: Crushing Blow
1
Temza was receiving an unusual guest. A company of knights had come all the way from the imperial capital.
Hermes knew they were reinforcements that had been dispatched to defend the Fortress. As for why they were at the mountain's summit, and not the Fortress at the bottom, it seemed they had somehow misunderstood their information.
The knights were in high spirits. The more Hermes looked at the situation, the more his heart hurt. They still had no idea just what kind of foes they had made their enemies.
Rulers of the world. He was well aware that this description was no exaggeration. To oppose them would require unprecedented power. They shouldn't even be opposed in the first place. If the mission they claim is true, then we humans are literally poison to the world—
No. Hermes shook his head. As a human being, he could not accept those words. So Hermes fought. He fought in his own way. Yet somehow, it seemed that it would only result in tragedy.
The knights made camp right in the city streets—Temza's buildings were simply not able to accomodate everyone—and the next morning, they would likely head to the Fortress.
Since he would be returning to the Fortress with them, Hermes spent the entire day searching for Judith all over town. Murcy and the other residents helped but the city was unusually crowded because of the visiting knights, and it was therefore difficult to say whether they had searched thoroughly enough.
As the sun set and evening approached, Hermes continued to search alone. He returned to the house several times with a sliver of hope in his chest, in case she by some chance came home.
It all ended in vain.
Before dawn, Hermes wrote a letter. All the words and apologies he should have said, as well as nine years of love; without even the slightest scrap of falsehood, he spelled out everything there. When he finished writing, he gently folded the letter, placed it in an envelope, and sealed it.
Hermes could not act like a warrior, accepting his fate calmly with the thought that he had done all he could. He was a researcher, a mere scholar, and a father. In other words, he was a regular human being.
Sorrow and regret would forever weigh heavily on him.
Morning came.
Alone with the knights, Hermes left Temza behind.
---
"......I'm going back."
At Judith's words, Ba'ul raised his voice in protest.
"Dangerous? Why? I really think I'll go see Dad after all."
However, Ba'ul merely used the same voice again. Annoyed, Judith turned her back on Ba'ul and left the cave behind.
Judith had spent all night next to Ba'ul, but she had spent it wide awake from the confusion in her heart. She recalled the inner feelings she had seen in her father, recalled the words her father spoke in the cave, recalled every day up to now, and as she recalled it over and over, she thought about its significance.
The more she thought about it, the more her anxiety grew. She couldn't say that anything had really become clear. She was too young to see through it all, and even if she tried, her fearful mind stopped her.
And yet. Within Judith there was one unwavering truth. I love Dad. And yet.
By daybreak Judith had regained a little composure and even though she was still apprehensive, she felt like she wanted to talk to her father. She didn't understand the meaning of Ba'ul's warning. If they united their minds like before, or at least met face to face, she might have been able to understand. But such thoughts didn't come to her. She felt the faint sensation that Ba'ul was recoiling.
As soon as she made up her mind, her restless feelings from earlier just grew into frustration. Her feet began running down the mountain path without her realizing.
She wanted to get home as soon as possible.
She was completely unaware of the reason behind the fear that possessed her.
--
When she finally did reach Temza, it looked the same as always. It looked normal, like it had no idea what had happened between father and daughter. That was how it seemed to her, at least.
"Well, if it isn't Judith. Your dad was looking all over for you yesterday. What's the matter?" A young man from the neighbourhood, Omin, called out to her.
"Dad was? Where is he?"
"You didn't see him? He went down the mountain with the knights this morning."
"The...knights?"
"What, you didn't know about it? Where were you up til now? Wasn't your dad worried? You know, knights from the Empire arrived yesterday. A 'knight' means a person who fights against monsters or something. It's the first time I've seen so many people from below. Everyone else, too. Thanks to that, it's not been very quiet at all. Ah, but I guess it's settled down by now."
Judith asked about her father once more.
"If I remember, wasn't there a building your dad was using around the foot of the mountain? Since the knights seemed to have some urgent business there, they're probably together."
"Thank you." As she thought about what she should do, Judith suddenly had a strange, uncomfortable feeling.
Omin's behavior right then. She wondered why he was so relaxed, when she herself was so uneasy.
Something was strange.
Omin was already turning his back as if he wanted to leave. Judith reached out to him with her mind—or tried to reach out.
As soon as she did, it felt like her stomach flipped. She was dizzy, like everything had gone dark in front of her, and cold sweat slid down her back. Omin didn't seem to notice her condition and, just like that, he had left.
Judith covered her mouth to stifle a moan. What is this? This time, instead of narrowing it down to one target, she turned her nageeg towards her surroundings. But—
She couldn't find anyone.
Even if most of the people had gone to the fields, it was strange that she couldn't find them at all. To begin with, Omin was still in sight. But despite that...
She saw a middle-aged woman coming from another direction. She tried the same thing on her. This time, she tried to clearly picture the Circle's code.
Like she was bursting from the shock, Judith threw up. Tears blurred her vision.
'You can't sense me, Judith.' Her mind suddenly recalled her father's words. 'Your dad's been cut off from the Great Circle.'
Judith was shocked.
She had been cut off from the Circle.
Just the thought of feeling someone's mind brought a severe attack of nausea and chills.
Like the afterimage from a flash of light, a single silhouette came to her mind—it was her, hiding inside her father.
Even from the nageeg. Not just from Dad.*
As dark feelings pressed down on her, Judith ground her teeth. The Great Circle existed even at this very moment, with everyone sharing peaceful feelings within. Only I am different.
She alone had been isolated, and it felt like she had become a different being.
The middle-aged woman noticed her there. Worried, she rushed over. "Are you alright?"
Judith recoiled like a snapped string and, without a reply, turned on the spot and ran away.
--
Continuing to run single-mindedly, she burst into what was, of course, her own home.
"Dad?!" She all but automatically shouted from the front door, but there was no reply.
It fell completely silent inside the house. There was a peculiar stillness that indicated no one had been active for a while.
Judith restlessly roamed the house. It felt like a deserted home that didn't belong to anyone. Or like nothing more than a false decoration created just for this moment. She could not find any trace of her father in the study, either. Left in a state of unchecked disorder without its owner, the room itself was reminiscent of derelict ruins.
In the end, when she finally made her way to her own room, Judith sat down on her bed with a sigh.
Dad went to the Fortress.
I could still go after him now. Or I could get Ba'ul to carry me.
Take a deep breath.
It's alright. Judith tried to force a smile. He'll come back sooner or later. I just don't know if it'll be today or tomorrow. When he does, let's talk lots again. I'll do my best to make dinner for it.
Unable to form a smile, her expression only became twisted.
Lies. I'm all alone.
Separated from the Great Circle and from Dad, it's just me. Thinking of the solitude that meant, Judith curled up hopelessly.
There was something touching her fingertip, which she half-heartedly fumbled to pick up. It was a single envelope. It had been sealed, and on the back was her father's signature. On the front, a single phrase—"To Judith".
A letter from her father. Judith stared fixedly at the writing. Even without looking inside, she felt like she was being told goodbye for some reason.
Dad has left.
I wonder why I feel this way. Dad only went to the Fortress just like he always does. But this ominous feeling just won't go away at all.
The envelope she grasped in her hand was filled with power. She wanted to know just what her father had been feeling when he wrote it.
She suddenly felt warmth in her hand. The tightly-grasped envelope was emitting something, and although it wasn't real heat, she was certain she felt it.
She remembered this sensation. It was the same as the time she peered inside the practice orb and felt the mental image of the object placed inside—Judith understood that this feeling worked the same way as that. It meant her nageeg itself wasn't gone.
Above all else, a very familiar image was there. Like the spring sunshine, it slowly wrapped around her whole body and soaked in.
Dad. Judith closed her eyes. This is Dad.
It was filled with warmth, kindness, and sorrow. In the center, there was love. Feelings that were undoubtedly meant for Judith.
Hot tears flooded the space between her closed eyelids.
Unbidden, sounds escaped her lips. Judith fell prone on the bed while crying. In that state, she kept crying for a long time.
The letter was tightly gripped in her hand.
--
[END OF PART 3.1. It's relatively short compared to what I've transcribed for 3.2 and 3.3, so it'll be a while before the next one. In Empty Mask Ch5, it's apparent that the knights who came to Temza in this part included Casey and Damuron.
*I'm not entirely sure about this bit. The direct translation is simply Even the nageeg. Not just Dad. So it's not clear exactly what the verb/subject here is supposed to be.]