Wonder Game - outbreak 5

[bakemonoremy]

Location: Library

- Late Spring, 1 Year Ago -

Nagisa: ………..

Tsumugi: He~y, Nagisa-ku~n ♪

Fufu. You're hanging out at the library a lot lately. Actually, weren’t you sitting in the exact same spot just yesterday?

In fact, it looks like you didn’t move an inch since then. Did you go home at all?

That’s no good~, you should go back home properly. Hiyori-kun must be worried about you.

Nagisa: ………..

Tsumugi: Ah, I didn’t mean to scold you. I’m just concerned for you, Nagisa-kun.

Fufun. Now that we’ve finally become companions from the same “unit”, we should support one another.

...Huh?

Nagisa: ………..

Tsumugi: Nagisa-kun, could it be that you’re sleeping? Just like Alice in Wonderland~♪

Nagisa: ………..

Tsumugi: Hmm? But wait, his eyes seem to be just slightly open…? To be able to sleep with open eyes… Rather than Alice in Wonderland, that’d make you Zhang Fei from the Records of the Three Kingdoms*1, huh?

Nagisa: …...I’m, up.

…...Let me rephrase. I am awake.*2 And I don’t know Alice, but I know who Zhang Fei is.

…...I r-, read the Records of the Three Kingdoms the other day. I know of him because I have read them.

Tsumugi: Ah, I see. If Nagisa-kun is Zhang Fei, that’d make Hiyori-kun Guan Yu, since he’s always with you, and Eichi-kun would be Liu Bei?*3

Nagisa: …...Then, what is Tsumugi-kun?

Tsumugi: Me? Umm… Liu Bei’s army corps is full of admirable personages, so comparing myself to any of them would be kind of embarrassing~?

Errm, then let’s say I’m a nameless soldier!

Nagisa: …...There’s no human with no name. I mean, without a name.

…...Umm. Also, I’m sorry. The one who sleeps with his eyes open is, probably not Zhang Fei.

Tsumugi: Eh, is that so? Hrmm, I must have gotten him confused with someone else then?

Nagisa: …...M-, maybe that’s, in the novelization*4. I, haven’t read it yet, so maybe he does it there.

Tsumugi: Ahh… While they may boldly reorganize the historical facts from the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the novelization is actually more well-known, since it’s more enjoyable to read and interesting.

For fans of the novelization, the historical facts may actually seem false in comparison. I guess sometimes enjoyability triumphs over truth.

Nagisa: …...Truth, doesn’t exist. Does not.

…...Humans are, two-dimensional beings. Because, they live within their episodic memory*5.

…...That’s why they can neither perceive nor understand the truths that occur in this three-dimensional universe the way they really are. Probably.

…...Humans don’t have the faculty for it. Do not. That’s why.

Tsumugi: Ah, Eichi-kun said something similar before. I wonder if that’s some sort of famous saying~...

“People perceive reality as though it were a story, so once you become the author, you’re unstoppable!”...or something like that?

Nagisa: …...That, is history. Probably. Caesar would be a good example of it, since he wrote the “Commentaries on the Gallic War”*6, I suppose.

Tsumugi: Fufu. There’s no need to use keigo~, though I guess I’m not one to say that, since I’m always polite to a fault myself.

Nagisa: …...O-, okay. Keigo, tends to use more letters, after all. I mean it uses them, huh.*7

…...But. I, only just figured out how to use proper words, to hold a conversation, lately. 

…...Ke-, keigo, too. I only barely grasped the construction of it, finally.

…...Changing so suddenly, is hard, I mean, difficult. I am sorry, Tsumugi-kun.

Tsumugi: Aah, there’s no need to apologize, really! It may be a bit too formal to use with your family, but there’s nothing wrong with having good manners, generally speaking!

Nagisa: …...I-, I see. I, am glad to hear that.

Tsumugi: (Fufu. Nagisa-kun has a rather frightening expression and is usually taciturn, so he’s hard to approach, but…)

(Once you talk to him, he’s actually a docile, good kid. This is an unexpectedly pleasant discovery.)

(I might be able to get along well with him. No…-- We may even become irreplacable friends, who fulfill their dream together.)

Nagisa: ………..

Tsumugi: (.....Err, huh? I only took my eyes off him for a second, and Nagisa-kun disappeared!?)

Nagisa: ~..........♪

Tsumugi: Ah, found you! Geez, running off in the middle of a conversation with someone is a breach of etiquette, you know~?

Nagisa: …...Eh? Sorry, talking about it roused my interest, so I thought I’d go read the novelization of the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

…...Fufu. Libaries are great. To think that I can read as many books as I like, just like that.

…...It’s like, a dream. Truly, by the grace of God, fufufu ♪

Tsumugi: (H-, he’s a weirdo~! Well, he may act a bit strange, but I guess it’s fine since he seems harmless?)

(When you compare the negative influence he has on his surroundings with that of the “Five Oddballs”...?)

(Rather than Nagisa-kun, it’s his companion Hiyori-kun who’s a problem.)

(His family seems to have some sort of connection to Eichi-kun’s, and I was worried about the atmosphere between them getting a bit unfriendly.)

(But it’s even more critical than I anticipated… Uu, are we really going to be okay at this rate?)

Nagisa: …...Fufu. You look like you’re having fun, I mean like you’re enjoying yourself, Tsumugi-kun.

Tsumugi: Eh? No, no, this is a troubled expression!

Nagisa: …...Is it? I misread it. Even though I read a book on how to read people’s inner thoughts based on their facial expression, the other day.

Tsumugi: Ahaha. It’s impossible to completely understand someone else’s heart.

Nagisa: …...But, I want to understand. Because, the way I see idols, humans are the only living things worthy of them.

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*1 Records of the Three Kingdoms ; Zhang Fei

*2 TL Note: In his second year, Nagisa is visibly bad at speaking. He often says things in casual Japanese, just to correct himself a second later and say the same thing again but in polite keigo. He also uses lots of short sentences, or stutters, or has breaks in his sentences that are shown by commas. Sometimes he adds part of a sentence after he ended it already, which comes off as him being insecure of what he’s saying. I’ve tried my best to preserve this effect in my translation.

*3 Guan Yu ; Liu Bei

*4 He’s probably talking about Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which states that Zhang Fei always sleeps with his eyelids open.

*5 Episodic memory

*6 Commentaries on the Gallic War

*7 TL Note: Seeing Nagisa struggle with keigo makes Tsumugi take pity on him and give him an out, and then in the very next sentence Nagisa speaks in keigo first, and then corrects himself to use casual Japanese instead. But after one sentence he drops that and tries to use keigo yet again.