Volume 1
Prologue Part
1
Memories of
Late Summer Are Still Vivid 1
Translator : PolterGlast
"―――― therefore,
it is decided that Ugetsu Akira shall be expelled from our land of
Ugetsu."
The cold voice of
Ugetsu Tenzan, the head of the Ugetsu family, echoed through the hall of the
Ugetsu mansion, without showing any emotion.
Ugetsu Akira, who had
the direct lineage of Ugetsu and would have been the heir to the clan, became a
mere Akira without a surname, just like a wanderer without a place of origin.
Akira, who was forced
to lie flat on the lowest position in the middle hall, rubbing his forehead
against the tatami, clenched his fingernails against the tatami and desperately
tried to keep his gaze fixed on a single spot, so as to keep his emotions under
control.
......... Because he
was not allowed to move.
Despite being born as
Ugetsu's legitimate heir, Akira was in a lower position than anyone else in the
room.
Disgust, contempt, and
ridicule. All of them were filled with malice beyond imagination.
The gazes of all of
Ugetsu's vassals gathered in the middle hall pierced his young body, which was
only a few months past the age of 10, with no restraint.
They became invisible
needles and tortured the small body of Akira with silent pressure that even
caused him pain.
......... He knew this
was going to happen.
He was prepared for
it. He was ready to be called upon at any time, not just at some time, but at
any time.
――In fact, it was as if
he had been planning it all along.
Even so, regardless of
his own will, Akira's body trembled as if he had caught a fever.
Everyone had given up
on him. Akira's subconsciousness could not bear this reality.
Even in the middle of
the afternoon, when it was still hot and sweaty even after the passing of
mid-summer, Akira felt nothing but cold, as if he had been thrown out into the
frozen field.
Even so, everyone in
the hall, led by the head of the Ugetsu family, accepted this harsh decision as
a matter of natural reason.
Akira was ostracized,
looked down upon, and scorned by everyone in the clan to which he belonged.
The time this happened
was the year 3996. It was the last day of the month of leaves*.
It was the fourth day,
not even past the seventh day, after the death of his grandmother, Ugetsu
Fusae, who had long protected and supported Akira.
*Hadzuki (葉月) / month of leaves is
the traditional name for the month of August.
――――――――――――――――
Those who are properly
born into this world will surely have a spirit in their body.
Most of them are
lesser spirits that do not even have a will, but even so, they always spend
their lives together with their spirits.
This is Takamagahara,
an island nation in the Far East Ocean. This country is an island in which five
gods oversee five different provinces. Perhaps because of this, people living
in this country are more likely than those in other countries to be blessed by
high-ranking spirits.
There are different
ranks of spirits.
Low-ranked spirits
cannot possess spiritual power, but middle-ranked and high-ranked spirits are
gifted with the ability to wield spiritual power, and the higher the rank of
the spirit, the higher the spiritual power it grants to its host.
Among them, Sannomiya,
the four clans, and the eight families, who are praised as the most prestigious
of the nobles, are naturally blessed with high-ranking spirits.
The Sannomiya, the
sovereign of the Central Land, the Four Clans, which governed the regions
divided into the north, south, east, and west of Takamagahara, and the eight
families that served them ruled their respective lands, backed by the immense
spiritual power of the high-ranked spirits.
The Ugetsu family is
one of the eight families that hold territory in the northern province,
Kokuten.
Its history is the
longest among the eight families, and it is renowned as the strongest of the
eight in terms of its military prowess.
In the Ugetsu family,
Akira was regarded with contempt as a disgrace that could not even be shown to
the public.
It was not that Akira
had done anything wrong.
He was a studious
person and tactful.
As for martial arts,
he mastered swordsmanship. If we look at his skills up to the age of 10, he
should have been considered a quick learner, although only in the basics, and
he practiced swordsmanship with sincerity.
Perhaps because he had
to endure an environment where he was shunned by everyone, he has a habit of
avoiding people's attention, but he has a reserved personality and has quietly
spent the years when he was in the prime of his life enjoying himself.
There was no issue
with that.
However, Akira had one
problem that could not be overlooked.
He did not have a
spirit in his body.
Those who are properly
born will always have a spirit in their bodies.
No matter who they are
or what kind of creature they are, there should be no exceptions.
Those who live in the
land know what happens to those who are not born properly.
Those who are born
into misfortune will fall into disgrace.
There was no issue
with that.
However, Akira had one
problem that could not be overlooked.
He did not have a
spirit in his body.
Those who are properly
born will always have a spirit in their bodies.
No matter who they are
or what kind of creature they are, there should be no exceptions.
Those who live in the
land know what happens to those who are not born properly.
Those who are born
into misfortune will fall into disgrace.
They deviate from the
rules of the Six Realms of Reincarnation, hate the righteous, and spread
misfortune. They fall into the demonic world of monsters, demons, and defiled
beasts.
Right after his birth,
it was known that Akira was not born with a spirit.
It was not actually
known how the defilement occurred, but it was concluded that the absence of a
spirit meant that he was defiled.
Abominable child.
Demonic child. He was called so and was supposed to be secretly disposed of on
the day of his birth.
The reason he was able
to live for so long was because of a series of overlapping fortunes.
First of all, it was
the Gioin, one of the four clans that govern Kokuten, that was more pleased
with Akira's birth than the Ugetsu family.
When Akira was still
in his mother's womb, the head of the Gioin himself went out of his way to
confirm his mother's pregnancy before summoning the head of the Ugetsu family,
perhaps having heard about the birth of Akira from somewhere.
Then, with
unprecedented persistence, he even arranged an engagement with the heiress of
the Gioin, who was expected to be born a few months before Akira, so anyone
could understand the magnitude of his joy.
The unprecedented
decision of Gioin even surprised the nobles in the other lands.
The reason for this
was that Sannomiya, the rulers of Takamagahara, were not mere nobles.
According to
tradition, they are the descendants of demigods and demi-humans who were born
in the age of the gods through a birth rite between a descended god and a human
being.
――Unlike the other
clans, who are simply human beings, Sannomiyas are, in the literal sense of the
word, a different species.
There are a variety of
characteristics manifested by the divinity of the Sannomiya.
One of the most famous
of these characteristics is that the gender of the unborn child is determined
to be female.
There are no
exceptions. Therefore, the Sannomiya must always take a son-in-law.
For this reason, the
marriage ceremonies of Sannomiya took a long time to decide, and the process
was always difficult.
The fact that Gioin,
one of the four houses of the Sannomiya, decided on the engagement completely
on its own initiative, without deliberation, became the talk of the island, but
the fact that it was with Ugetsu made the decision less surprising.
The Ugetsu family,
which had the longest history among the eight families, was said to be
unquestionably loyal to Gioin, whom they proclaimed as their master.
Until now, the Gioin
had never dared to take a son-in-law from the eight families in order to
balance the power of the nobility, but everyone in the other clans was
convinced since it was the child of Ugetsu, a loyal vassal.
For ten days in the
period leading up to the birth of the child, messengers made daily visits to
the clan almost every day, and finally, the previous head of Gioin was even
present at the birth, which was quite an accomplishment.
At the same time as
the birth, Akira and the heiress of the Gioin were declared engaged to be
married.
――When it was discovered
within Ugetsu that Akira was not having a spirit, the situation had already
progressed to the point where there was no turning back.
Although he is an abominable
child who does not possess a spirit, Akira's life and death are now in the
hands of Gioin.
Despite being in
Ugetsu, they must ask the Gioin about Akira's fate. In addition, if the
existence of the abominable child became known to the Gioin, it would become an
everlasting stain on Ugetsu.
When it became
impossible to kill him in secret, his grandmother, Ugetsu Fusae, stood up
supporting him.
A woman who had been
in charge of the family for a long time, and had been called
"Mistress" by her predecessors, she was very affectionate towards
Akira, perhaps out of pity for his situation.
......It was probably
because of his grandmother's presence that Akira was able to live without going
insane in his oppressive mansion.
With various support
and protection, Akira was barely allowed to survive, but the situation was only
getting worse.
First, the year after
Akira was born, a younger brother was born, and this time, the Ugetsu family
went into a frenzy of excitement.
The child, named
Souma, was one of the few in the history of Ugetsu to be born with a divine
spirit in him.
Rare among the
high-ranking spirits, a spirit that rests on the top of the divine pillar.
The birth of a child
who seemed to have been born to be the strongest made the existence of the abominable
child a hindrance.
If Gioin were to find
out, it would tarnish their reputation for having encouraged their engagement
to Akira, and although they did not outwardly ostracize him or plot against
him, no one could stop them from talking about Akira behind his back, even with
the support of his grandmother.
Then came the critical
moment that led to Akira being declared an abominable child.
When Akira was seven
years old, he failed the [Shrine Parishioner Lottery].
In truth, in this land
where divinity still resides, the role of shrines is greater than one might
imagine.
In order to be
registered in the household registry, one must first and foremost become a
parishioner of a shrine and be recognized by the gods as a member of the local
community.
However, after drawing
the [Shrine Parishioner Lottery], the ritual to be recognized as a shrine
parishioner, Akira was given only blank sheets of paper.
In despair and with
tears streaming down his face, he re-drew the lottery ten times in total. The result
was nothing but blank sheets of paper.
It was the moment when
they realized that even divinity could not accept the fact that there was no
spirit within him.
In the summer of her
10th year of age, with the death of his grandmother, who had been his greatest
guardian, Akira lost his place in this land.
――――――――――――――――
"I will not allow
a spiritless filth like you to roam the mansion any longer. You must leave as
soon as possible."
In the lowest
position, where those who are accused of crimes are supposed to sit, he accepts
his father Tenzan's words in a prostrate manner.
However, since
permission to leave was not given, the posture of prostration was never lifted.
This was the daily
routine of the public assembly in Ugetsu.
It was common knowledge
in the mansion that Akira would be allowed to leave only after all the
participants had left and when the others were out of sight.
"The spirit
abandoned you. Your studies and swordsmanship were below average. And even
though I gave you my only hope of learning talisman technique [Fuu-jutsu], you
could only barely get better at handling a brush. ......I'm getting tired of
you."
The words were hurled
with contempt as if they were being spat out.
――Since last year, Akira
had been learning the art of talisman under the instruction of Tenzan, but in
order to handle it, he had to master the manipulation of spiritual power.
Tenzan glanced at the
young man sitting in the second seat on the upper right.
"Naotoshi. As his
instructor, how did he actually fare?"
Naotoshi Fuwa, sitting
in the upper right seat and who taught Akira the art of talisman, gave his
honest opinion of Akira's evaluation after a short bow of the head.
The only thing that
helped was that Naotoshi had no ill feelings toward Akira and treated him with
pity.
――Still, as the one who
had taught him, he gave his honest opinion.
"...He could
write symbols for Fuu-jutsu skillfully. However, I could not feel the pulse of
the spiritual vein even after I had him write about 200 characters. I apologize
for my lack of ability, but I don't think Akira-kun is talented in the art of
talisman."
In order to manipulate
spiritual power, it is essential to be aware of the pulse of the spiritual
veins.
This is something that
one naturally becomes aware of by practicing the art of talisman, but Akira was
never able to become aware of the spiritual veins, even though he continued to
write many talismans.
Everyone scoffed at
him, but they were all convinced that he would never be able to master the art
of talisman.
The reason is that
spiritual power manipulation requires a medium or higher level of spirit.
Akira, who had no spirit, must have understood from the beginning that it was
an impossible task, but no one was there to point this out to him.
The fact that he had
no spirit was an abominable fetter for Akira, and it followed him around
forever.
"Hmph. This
confirms my conclusion that you are incompetent. We cannot send you to the
princess of Gioin as my heir. However, since you are still in the custody of
the Gioin, we cannot dispose of you. If you feel that you owe us a debt of
gratitude for raising you to this point, we would like you to at least choose
to take your own life, but that would be too much to ask. However, we shall
banish you before you expose our shame to the Supreme Being. From this point
on, Souma, who is standing here, will be the eldest son of Ugetsu. I trust everyone
has no objection to this."
Souma, seated in the
upper left seat, raises his head in a vigorous and lively greeting.
Behind him stood a
single-clothed female spirit with enough spiritual power to make her appearance
clearly visible, with a smile on her face.
"I am Ugetsu
Souma, and I have just been appointed as Ugetsu's lawful heir. All of my
vassals, I ask for your guidance from now on!"
The vassals, who were
all excited about Ugetsu's future, began to sing their congratulations.
The people present were
not thinking about Akira, who was prostrating himself so that his expression
could not be seen.
Akira simply continued
to prostrate himself in an effort to be unaffected.
――It was only after a
moment, longer than usual, that Akira was allowed to leave.
