This one is long, and it reminds me of why I truly like this story.
Hope you enjoy it!
-Bard
(P.S. Please correct me on any possible spelling or punctuation mistakes, I proofread it two times but as it was a long chapter so I’m not entirely confident.)
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Intermission: The girl named Ferris.
A somewhat cruel representation.
To talk about a girl named Ferris, the general flow of suburban birth, growth and selling in this world should first be explained.
In this world, at least on this Northern Continent, the beastmen are treated as livestock. It’s a different thing if they are intelligent, as the knowledge of the wares is also included in the a.s.sessment of the price.
In order to compensate for missing personnel or to reduce labor costs, an adult beastman is available for purchase. But it would be a bad thing if they couldn’t understand the contents of their work completely, or for them to be unable to communicate while working. Especially those who have more knowledge will sell more likely, so it is necessary to educate them for ten years after being born, before selling them for work.
It’s all about the breeding, and this also doesn’t take the will of the slave into consideration. In order to breed, it’s common to collect females and males who are slightly older, to force them into a narrow hut and command reproductive behavior. (Also, these are still ‘good methods’. Those who are too old or unusable for their work, are usually culled. In addition, males are often killed when they are around 30 years old because that is said to be the most rebellious period of their lives.)
That way, the children are transferred from their parents to other slightly younger beast people for education.
Among the beast-people, mammal type-people are often suited for breeding because they lay babies, and affection and knowledge is often given by the mother because it is in their nature to care for their children, sparing some unwanted effort of the human buyer, so they are the most popular on the market,. (Also, their growth is somewhat faster than that of humans, and so they will be able to work sufficiently at the age of 10.)
What was born like this is a girl, later named Ferris. (TN: From here on Ferris is speaking about her memories.)
My oldest memory is of a small wooden shed where straw was laid out on the ground. My mother and some other children were there as well. A baby was still there too.
We’d normally have been a family with about 6 siblings, yet we had grown up without a name and not knowing of any knowledge, and were raised with affection by mother.
That mother had always gently cared for me. She taught Ferris words, carefully explaining farm work and animals, how to wash the dishes and how to clean.
Especially regarding words, she taught me every separate one carefully in her free time. I was taught about manners so much that my ears hurt. Especially, that I should never go against human orders.
Sometimes, a human boss like Ningen came to take mother away somewhere, and I felt it was a disgusting thing.
And mother, who came home after a while, was always tired and soon slept. The strong smell of somebody else, sometimes even a bad smell, could be noticed near her body. Ferris had asked what that was, but she was advised it was better for me not to know.
However, 4-5 months later, I understood. Mother’s stomach was growing bigger.
To me, it felt like my own history, so I abandoned thinking too deeply about it.
Several years later, I began to speak the language without inconvenience, and when my body grew to a certain size, a human I had never seen came.
“Here.”
“Heh, such a shabby b.i.t.c.h you are. It wouldn’t be a labor force like this.”
“With your suggested amount of money, this is your best choice.”
“But this bug! At least give me a male…..”
“If it were a male, it would double the price even if it was younger than this.”
“Wow…..double! You’ve got to be kidding me! I gave the maximum amount here….”
“Then give it up. Fortunately, her parent taught this one very carefully about the world and the work, so I could sell her for even more.”
“Kuh…..I understand! It’s fine!”
“Thank you for your purchase.”
So my ‘owner’ says, and tries to take my hand. You can understand by hearing that conversation. I was bought.
“Nooo…. mother!! Please help me mother!!”
“Cut…it out! Behave yourself!”
The man hit my cheek with his hand, and I felt a pain I had never known before.
“ah…..no……Mother…..Mom…..”
I fell unconscious and was taken outside. A woman who had long been called my mother just sat there with downcast eyes, not saying anything.
I was brought to a small village in the countryside. No family members were there, and I was just exposed to only violence each and every day.
Initially I tried to, amiably, get in a good mood, but it seemed to be counterproductive and made the humans only angrier.
“Livestock shouldn’t be so cheeky.”
I was beaten up being told so. From that day on I always worked in silence. Weeding the lawn fiels, drawing water from the nearby rivers, carrying harvested vegetables, and occasionally herding the farm animals.
I worked hard. Still, the effort of one girl, is nothing special. Therefore, the village wouldn’t become richer. The humans appeared to be angry about such an obvious thing, so they started using violence.
However, while I was closing my mind three years ago, that person came along. A person who had silver hair and blue eyes, a Dragunir. Even my mother, of a rural tribe, knew of such a legendary being.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});The person was called Georg Stanford in the beginning, after that Stanford, and then just Georg.
But I never saw his figure, because everyone there kept me away from him.
I peeked outside once, but I was found out and beaten with a stone. My ears were deaf, my body was filthy, and my tail was torn from being hit so many times.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please……”
It wasn’t long before I couldn"t endure the pain in my body anymore and lost conciousness.
Eventually, I was only given a meal and lived.
Maybe the village had gotten richer. The smell of fruits that normally only drifted around once a week, could now always be noticed. According to a conversation I overheard, it was because a Dragunir had planted several fields of them in the village.
Comparing the bad smell of blood and meat coming from my wounds to that wonderful smell gave me a miserable feeling. I did not even remember the faces of my brothers and sisters anymore. I wonder if that gentle mother is still alive? Suddenly I thought such a thing, and the tears overflowed.
And in a few days time, I did something I should absolutely not do. I had confirmed that n.o.body was watching that night, so I went outside. I do not understand why I did such a thing. Did I want to escape, or did I want to ask the Dragunir for help? Anyway, I wanted to go outside.
And I found it. It was an orchard with a sweet scent. The last time I saw this place, there was no such thing here. And that wasn’t all. The field that was originally distorted was now beautifully arranged and enclosed by a wall of soil to prevent vermin from entering. I thought about how life would change so much because of a single Dragunir visiting, but nothing had changed for me.
When noticing it, I picked up a fruit that was a little bigger than my height. Do you people not mind if I divide it a little bit? Such a rebellious spirit that had been lost somewhere was regained.
The result was terrible. The villager who first found me, beat me up. Then the next one who came running kicked my belly and my back. Those who came later had sticks in their hands, and strongly struck me. The women and old men who didn’t partic.i.p.ate in this were shivering.
The violence continued without interruption and without me even being able to apologize. But a voice sounded soon.
“What is going on here!?”
It was after a while that I understood whose voice it was.
“Did you wake up?”
Such a gentle voice sounded in my ears.
At first, I did not notice that those words were directed at me. I was more concerned about something warm beneath my head than that. It was the voice of that Lord.
“Ahh!!”
I hurriedly apologized for causing trouble and having thought of ridiculous things.
“That’s enough….”
When I heard that voice I thought I would be abandoned and killed. So I kept on apologizing.
“No more….stop, it’s okay.”
I heard such a voice, and my body was suddenly wrapped by something.
“Huh……no!!!….well….”
When touched by others, only violence was used in the last few years. Therefore, I feared this warmth and resisted. I scratched, bit and twisted my body. Nevertheless, this warmth did not leave me, and he continued to speak with a gentle tone.
Eventually, as I continued to hear his voice, I accepted it.
His warmth, it reminded me of my mother’s warmth that I lost somewhere. And even if those words had been a lie, that my tail and ears were healed beautifully was true.
And then he said, I could live freely from now on.
Freedom. Although it is sweet-sounding, that word also contains a certain cruelty. It’s too hard for a beastman to live in this world. Even if you can live freely, there is a low limit to it.
However, he said he would be a friend, family, a brother, whatever.
When I heard that, I felt like I could believe him. So I told him my shortcomings.
However, he dismissed such a thing. He told me to let him know my intentions.
“…..I want to…”
I could not even hear what I said with a small voice, but I was able to state my intentions.
“I can’t hear it.”
“…..I want to live.”
It is the basic desire of a living being.
“Just that?”
“I want to live together…. with you.”
I Instinctively mouthed my desire.
“Your voice is too quiet.”
“You and me!!! You, who saved me!!!! I want to go with you!!! Anywhere, together!…..Together…………..”
I want someone to live with. I want an equal companion. I want a family member to easily talk to.
“Hmm, you were able to say it well.”
That’s what he said….. my brother gently fulfilled my wish.
I think that was the second birthday of my life.
Thus, the girl who would become Ferris, left her history filled with pain behind with her new brother Georg.
In the future, this story would be used for many books and plays as one of the most inspiring stories ever, and many people would love it. But that is still a long time away.
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I didn’t specify the persons speaking this time to keep the feel(ing)s obtained while reading this.
If you would want me to never specify the persons speaking anyway (The author doesn’t do it either, by the way. I edit those in for ease of reading.), please say so.
Also, I’m soon making a poll on which other novel you guys would like me to translate as well. I have already received a good recommendation from one of you guys, and posting the recommendations in the comments is also welcomed for now. Because I’m still figuring out how this website works