This is the translation for the prologue of this Light Novel, which can be bought here.

Note: I don’t own this Light Novel, but the translation is my own and helped by my friend.

When I opened my eyes, I could see red light faintly seeping in through the gaps of the shōji. ‘What a beautiful sunrise glow’, I absent-mindedly thought to myself before immediately remembering that morning had long passed and got up in a hurry. A piece of wet cloth fell from my forehead, and it was still slightly cold when I touched it. Next to me was a pail filled with water, and a note was left beside it.

“Reimu, I’m going to go shopping. I will return before sunset.”

I was bitter about the fact that I had not been woken up despite only intending to take a short break, but I could feel that my sluggish body was grateful for the extra rest. I thought that it would be best to start making some preparations for dinner, but I could not think of what to do.

Returning to the futon, I closed my eyes. At times like these, I was told that I should try to not think about anything as much as possible, and so far, I had never experienced trouble sleeping when following this advice. Occasionally, the sound of the wind and faint footsteps would echo in my head, but during those times I use my hands or pieces of cotton to plug up my ears. There have also been times where the smell bothered me, and during those times I pinched my nose shut or stuffed it with cotton. It felt a little stuffy, but it was still more comfortable than having to feel this and that.

This time, just closing my eyes made me feel calm. Even the cawing of the crows that could be heard outside the house was almost unnoticeable to me. As I continued to lie still, I began to feel sleepy again, but suddenly the sound of a sliding door opening could be heard. I wanted to look over there in a hurry, but fear gripped me and I found myself unable to move. Lurking over there was something unknown to me, something that I should not glimpse. I was close to following through with the idea, but I strongly felt that there was nothing the me right now could do about it.

And yet I steeled myself and turned around, because I knew that eventually I would have to become a youkai extermination specialist. I could not just sit in fear of the uncanny. Because I understood this fear, it was thus necessary for me to confront it, even more so if this creature had stealthily creeped into this shrine. But when I turned to look, they had already gone somewhere else. However, it was certain that something had been there. I had felt their presence, and the sliding door was definitely opened. Through that gap, someone had been looking at me. And it was definitely not Teacher.

I wanted to call out. Who was this lady, if she was even actually there? Why were you looking at me? I stared motionlessly at the gap created by something unknown.

That uncertain something shrouded in darkness, however, never ended up showing its true form.

The sun had almost set completely by the time Teacher returned. A black board-like thing slightly protruded out of the basket, carrying with it an unfamiliar smell.

“I’m sorry for being late. I ended up visiting some shops I usually didn’t stop at. Are you hungry?”

Upon giving her a slight nod, Teacher smiled happily and hurriedly made her way to the kitchen. Shortly after, the smell from the black board-like thing seemingly burst out in an instant, and a scent that made my stomach rumble managed to even reach here.

Around five minute later, rice porridge with plenty of potatoes and topped with an egg arrived. It looked delicious, but I was surprised by the amount.

“There’s so much in the pot, I don’t think I can eat that much…”

“I made this much so we could eat together.” If that was the case, I was relieved and stood up.

I placed a tea table in the corner of the room, and Teacher set down a hot pot in the middle and gave me a set of tea and rice bowl. I was surprised by the smell, but it was nothing compared to its taste in my mouth. It was similar to a fish broth, but it had a thicker flavor to it.

“Judging from your face, i take it you are pleased with the kombu broth. It has a lot of nourishment, so eat as much as you can.”

Even if Teacher had not said that, I would have filled my stomach to the brim with such delicious food. Teacher seemed to be in delight as she watched me move my chopsticks like a madman, and it felt slightly embarrassing.

—

Within thirty minutes, the pot was empty and Reimu’s cheeks were warm in a different sense from a fever. She appeared a lot more energetic now, and tossed me a question.

“That was very delicious. You said it was a kombu broth, but what exactly is ‘kombu’? Can you get them from the river?”

“Hmm… that would be quite difficult,” She showed a troubled smile as I said that. “I want you to be able to eat it again, seeing as you are quite fond of the dish, but kelp can only be found outside.”

“By outside, I’m assuming you don’t mean outside the shrine. I’ve heard from Teacher that the village was located at a narrow, enclosed space, and I remember hearing the same thing from Terakoya, but I also heard that no one can leave town.”

“Yes, no one is allowed to go outside.” There were exceptions, but that would be better to tell her about them when they encounter the real thing. “But there were things that were brought in. Because this village has a practice of collecting various things. There are also people who pick them up and sell them. There was a person I was familiar with, and when I passed by them, it just so happened that kelp was being sold.”

“Is that so… But it was expensive, wasn’t it?”

“So that’s what happened… but wasn’t it expensive?”

“No, after explaining my situation to them he sold them to me at a low price.”

In reality, he was severely overcharging, and I had only been able to obtain a discount on the condition that I introduced Reimu to him, as well as on account of me being a loyal customer and having solved a case regarding a shady item he had picked up in the past.

He was someone who – despite his soft demeanor – does not hesitate to force conversations down others’ throats, and a man who could not control his avarice. But since that place was one of the few that dealt with the goods that Reimu needed, I decided to follow through with my promise this time.

“So, there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“I see, so that meant it was fine for me to not hold back on eating. Though the food’s already inside my stomach, so I couldn’t take it back out even if I wanted to…”

It was such a rare occurrence for Reimu to make a joke that I burst out in laughter after a moment of pause. Although she had been largely unable to comprehend even analogies shortly after arriving here, it seems that she has become able to understand such things to a small extent.

“It’s no laughing matter. I could vomit it out by reaching my finger down my throat, but what comes out would be a different, mushy substance instead.”

It appeared that Reimu had not originally intended to make such a joke, but I had simply decided to selfishly interpret her sentence as such.

If I really thought about it, back when I was Reimu’s age, I had always taken what the adults said literally, and I did not think that I needed to.

“Alright, let’s clean things up and head for the bath.” Realizing I was being stared at intently, I stood up in a rush and urged Reimu. “Please stay here until I call for you.”

Reimu threw herself down to the tatami, responding with a loud ‘yeeees’. It was a childishly innocent gesture that wiped away my anxiety.

—

I had only been allowed a short moment of relief after Reimu had entered the bath.

It was only after Reimu went to her bath that I could relax for a bit. I was watching the stove fire to control the water temperature when Reimu suddenly let out a startled shout.

“What’s wrong? Did an insect appear?” Although it was in the middle of spring, so those black and fast things would occasionally pop in and out of the warm and humid bathroom.

Reimu showed no hesitation when it came to catching insects, but those insects were her one weakness. “I’ll catch it for you if you’re scared.”

“No, that’s not it. Um… It felt like there was something in the gap between the doors.” From Reimu’s explanation, I had an idea of what happened. “I felt that same presence when I was alone.”

“Was it also within the gaps during that time?”

“I only felt the presence. It quickly disappeared, though. Could it be that you know what it is? Don’t tell me it’s the god of this shrine or something?”

It was an ominous being that was the polar opposite of that… I swallowed the words that surfaced inside my heart and replied with a cheerful tone.

“Perhaps so. However, it is said that long ago, there was apparently a saying that one should not create gaps between doors and windows. It might be a malevolent being, so you might want to shut the door just in case.”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if we just exterminate it if it comes out?”

No one except the first generation of the Hakurei would be able to exterminate that thing, I thought to myself. Reimu might become a vessel capable of doing such a thing in the future as well, but as she was now she would pose no threat. Even more so if that thing was the one I knew – although it had not harmed me or Reimu, it mattered not for Reimu who could not endure the nature of Youkai. This was because they were one of those things that Reimu was stubborn about.

“There’s no need to pointlessly sow the seeds of conflict. It’ll be coming from the other side soon enough.”

It would be unwise and unnecessary to stir a dormant, poison-spitting snake. Reimu was silent for a bit, but she seemed to have listened to me as I could hear the faint sound of a door being moved.

“After sixty more counts, you can come back up.”

As I continued to watch the fire, I could hear Reimu’s cute voice as she counted. The moment she counted to sixty she stood up, making a loud splashing noise as she rushed back up; it appeared that the temperature was a little too high. It was at times like these that I wished she would speak up without hesitation, but there was still this subtle distance between us in various places even after a year had passed. Although I was not part of her family from the beginning, I could not help but feel a slight sorrow toward that kind of attitude.

“‘To simply say nothing, not even an ‘I’m sorry’… should I think that such a response is acceptable…?”

I whispered as if to offer a prayer and extinguished the fire. As if to quell the anxiety that started to form from the heat. After that, I hurried up and prepared to bathe myself, as the water temperature would begin to drop steadily once the fire was no longer lit. As I prepared the towel and sleepwear, I took off my clothing in the narrow dressing room, then untied the cloth that wrapped around my hands, feet and chest, reflecting my bare appearance in the mirror. Around the time I came here, it looked like they had been completely kept in check, but now it had unintentionally become rounded and swollen. They were modest compared to other women of the same age who lived in the village as I had been training myself, but I still felt like my body movement was being inhibited, and occasionally also felt that my balance was horribly off. Although I knew that this change was necessary if I wanted to make and raise children, I could not calm myself, and I sometimes wondered whether I really needed them.

I was thinking that since I was a child, I had always been different. Rather than playing with dolls and beanbags like other girls, I had always enjoyed running around in the meadows and catching various insects and sometimes even small rats, surprising my family. As a result, when the little bit of freedom I had was taken away as they pushed cleaning and laundry duties on me, saying it was for the sake of my future, I pushed back considerably. Be it my older or younger brothers, the boys all went out and ran around, helping with field work or patrolling the village while basking in the sun’s heat. I was bitter due to not understanding why I could not do the same and began picking fights with boys of similar age both within and outside of the family. When I went to Terakoya, I even challenged three or four older children, and there was not a single day when I did not end up bruised and battered. I was an unbelievably tomboyish girl, but Terakoya did not see a need to kick such people out.

The overly unyielding me was forced into the village dojo, which was more than enough to make me realize how childish my actions were. The dojo owner imposed very harsh training on me, and after half a month I no longer had time to recover from my muscle pains, spewing out both vomit and saliva until there was nothing left and munching down on meat, vegetables and rice until my stomach was about to burst. But above all else, no matter how painful the training was, I was not allowed to go home without having properly eaten. As time passed, my body gradually eased up, and after a month I was no longer suffering. After that, my body was capable of such fine and nimble movement that it could not be compared to before. And that feeling – which was the minimum requirement for one to be able to learn martial arts – combined with the feeling experienced when competing with other people in the dojo, caused me to unknowingly stop displaying any jealousy or intense anger, as if it had stopped gushing out from within me. I willingly took on cooking and cleaning duties as a way to correct myself, and found that I unexpectedly had some talent in the culinary arts. After realizing that, I became in charge of cooking at home, and obtained a similar role in the dojo. I took on this responsibility not because I was a woman, but because I could make everyone happy this way, and I also studied voluntarily in an attempt to improve my skills. It was still regarded as a ridiculous path to take for a child of the village, but everyone praised me for it.

My family was not very wealthy, but we mostly never missed any meals. Of course, we suffered for a time during years with poor harvests, but more powerful houses were willing to open their warehouses. Though it was not solely due to their own goodwill, but also because the humans in this town had nowhere else to go – grudges born out of being left to starve would last for many years. There were even houses that went into decline because of such grudges, and even after being reduced to peasants those grudges did not disappear. For such a town where ‘elsewhere’ did not exist, any grudges – once born – would persist for ages to come.

The Hakurei that was my predecessor was born to a wealthy family, and was skilled at using their status to solve problems between other people. When I was ten years old there was a terrible harvest, but they took the initiative and sought for help, as well as supported the people by praying for a good harvest next year. The figure of the shrine maiden at that time, was one that I held a strong aspiration toward. However, back then I had never thought that that aspiration would come true in the form of me becoming the Hakurei shrine maiden. After all, that role was far from easy.

It had not once crossed my mind back then, that the Hakurei shrine maiden could become an outlet for the people’s hatred.

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