“W-what about you two……!? Do you have any plans to get married properly!?”
“Do you think we could build proper families?”
“To think there are men who’d want us as wives……”
“……Sorry.”
Irias didn’t deny it.
She sighs, and a brief pause falls over the conversation.
“Haa~, the tea Irias made is delicious……”
“What about the meat I caught?”
“That’s delicious too.”
“Right, right?”
Drinking the still-warm tea, Aoi lets out a white breath from her mouth with a “fuu.” In the dimly lit room with only the lamp’s light, white warm breath wavers faintly.
“Hey, Irias, Verdi.”
“Hm?”
“What?”
The two respond to Aoi’s call.
“Say, how about we take a walk outside?”
“Eh? That’s fine, but this late at night?”
“Just for a bit. I feel like getting some night air.”
Saying this, Aoi stretches to loosen her body stiffened from research. When Irias looks out the window, the village lights are mostly out, with not a single sound. The three slowly open the room door and quietly go outside without making noise.
The night air caresses their skin, and the mountain’s coldness seeps into them. The only lights are the stars shining in the sky and the faint lamplight leaking from the homes of researchers who don’t sleep, but the three can walk outside without light. It’s a familiar village they could walk through even with eyes closed, and for the three, starlight alone is more than sufficient.
“Hey hey, just a moment……”
“E-eh……?”
“Oh, nice.”
Aoi shows a mischievous smile and sneaks into the village storehouse. Then she takes out some carefully preserved alcohol and three sake cups, plus one small container for the alcohol.
“T-this is bad, you know? Taking storehouse alcohol without permission……?”
“A little bit won’t be noticed, won’t be noticed.”
“Right, right, just as Aoi says!”
While Aoi and Verdi efficiently pour alcohol into the vessels, Irias timidly tries to admonish them. However, Aoi and Verdi’s hands never stop, and while Irias worries about what to do, the work finishes, and the two leave the dark storehouse carrying the alcohol.
Then, they walk up to the great tree over a thousand years old that is the divine tree. The three sit on the tree’s roots and lean their backs against the large trunk.
When they press their backs against the tree’s surface exposed to the night wind, coldness transmits from it. The rough, undulating tree trunk gives dignity to this great tree, and the branches and leaves spreading open toward the sky create a canopy over their heads.
“Well then, cheers.”
“Cheers~.”
“C-cheers……. I-is this okay……”
The three sake cups clink together, and the alcohol inside ripples. When they tilt the cups and drink the alcohol, their throats grow hot, and heat dwells in their heads too. Their body temperature gradually, gradually rises, making them feel the night’s cold air even more pleasant.
“Today too, the stars are beautiful.”
“They are~.”
In the sky, countless stars sparkle brilliantly. Because this mountain village is at high elevation, the stars appear to shine even more strongly than in the country’s urban areas. Numerous star grains scatter fine light, illuminating this village faintly and thinly. The three girls enjoy that wonderful starry sky while drinking alcohol.
“Ahh! Stolen alcohol tastes good!”
“The ultimate luxury!”
“T-that’s also questionable……”
At Aoi and Verdi breathing out pleasantly with “puhaa,” Irias is exasperated.
“If you keep doing such things, Shinju-sama will get angry, you know?”
“I don’t care, when we get scolded, Irias the accomplice will be with us.”
“Kuh……”
Having been pulled into the position of being scolded before she knew it, Irias pours alcohol for Aoi and Verdi with a completely troubled face.
“Shinju-sama won’t get angry. After all, it’s lived for over a thousand years, such a long life. Surely it’s patient too.”
Aoi looks up at the sky while drinking alcohol. Above her head, the great tree’s branches and leaves spread widely, and between them, countless stars are visible. And she sees the black mountains swallowed by the night’s darkness, with vast nature surrounding Aoi and the others.
“Shinju-sama has watched over this starry sky for a thousand years, huh. No, has the starry sky watched over Shinju-sama for a thousand years?”
“What a grand story.”
“A thousand years, can’t even imagine it.”
Verdi laughs quietly while speaking reflectively.
“Will this village still remain a thousand years from now?”
“That’s……no matter how hard we try, it’s something we can’t know……”
“That’s true.”
Saying this, the three pour alcohol for each other. With their backs against the great tree, though the tree’s surface is cold, while feeling that warmth in their bodies, the three gaze intently at the starry sky the great tree has continued watching. Both this divine tree and this starry sky have been unchanged since the three were born.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“Hey, Irias.”
“Hm? What?”
“Let me hear that song you made today that you mentioned earlier.”
“Eh? Ah, um……”
When Aoi says this, Irias’s face flushes red. Though she often made songs, she never got used to having friends listen to her works, and embarrassment welled up in her chest.
“Come on, come on, let us hear it, let us hear it.”
“Yeah, sing for us, sing for us.”
“U-uu……”
Irias looks down with a red face. Then looking at her two friends’ faces with just her eyes, she says in a faint voice.
“……B-because it’s night, I’ll keep my voice down, okay.”
“Alright, do your best.”
Then Irias raises her red face and takes deep breaths to concentrate. Tension rises in the cold night wind. Several seconds of silence are born, and the night’s stillness envelops the three. Aoi and Verdi silently gaze intently at their concentrating friend’s profile.
Then, Irias slowly begins to sing.
With a suppressed, thin voice, a beautiful melody is spun. Irias’s voice is beautiful like the starry sky, and shines quietly. Swayed by the small wind, the great tree’s leaves rustle gently. That sound becomes part of the music, supporting Irias’s song. Irias sings a song of quiet, beautiful melody.
Aoi listens to that song while drinking alcohol. Settling herself in the great tree’s shadow, listening to her friend’s beautiful singing voice, looking up at the village’s starry sky while drinking alcohol. What a luxurious time. Eventually Irias finishes one song, and just as she thinks it’s over, she begins singing the next song. This time it was a bright, bouncy tune.
After finishing about four songs, Irias lets out a big sigh. In time with that, Aoi pours alcohol for her.
“Good work. That was good, really good.”
“I-is that so……?”
“Yeah, we don’t understand what makes songs good, but yeah, it was good.”
“G-geez……”
As if hiding her embarrassment, Irias pouts. Then Aoi says.
“Sing a bit more. I want to hear more of Irias’s songs.”
“Eh? Ah, um……a bit more, how much?”
“About another thousand years.”
“I’ll die……”
Even while saying this, Irias begins singing again. While listening, Aoi remembers her dream. Her songs being passed to the next children, and then the next children, making many children smile…….
It’s as vast as the great tree behind them, as the stars in the sky, Aoi thinks. If Irias’s songs were sung for hundreds, thousands of years, surely they would become something precious like the great tree or the starry sky.
Beside her, the friend who’s lived together all along sings in a beautiful voice, drinking alcohol with that as accompaniment, looking up at the stars. For Aoi, it was a very luxurious moment.
I want to continue spending such peaceful times forever.
The night wind caresses her skin, and while thinking this, Aoi continues listening to her song slowly, slowly, always by her side.
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