Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle)

Tumblr for posting the English version of the Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) novel, and other content. *This is a machine translation done by extracting text from a .pdf of the Japanese novel. I have only minorly edited some of the more incomprehensible sentences.* If someone who knows Japanese is willing to do a proper translation, I am happy to be an editor for it! :) www.ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

The novel is receiving an official translation!!

Yen Press has picked up the Belle / Ryuu to Sobakasu Hime movie novelization for an English release! Now my crappy halfway-finished attempt at machine translating it will be obsolete, yay! :D

https://yenpress.com/9781975350956/studio-chizus-belle/

(also, the movie is out already on DVD/Blu-ray and Amazon Prime for anyone else who didn’t know yet)

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

The movie is coming to U.S theatres on January 14!!

GKIDS announced on Tuesday that it will begin screening the Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime anime film in the U.S. on January 14. The film will screen in English and in Japanese with English subtitles. (from AnimeNewsNetwork)

Trailers for the U.S Version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsxZvhZTwhc  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dse2mRVT4wE  And for those who don’t want to wait, take a look at my next post. ;)

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Official video that shows more scenes from the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6w_opp7Doo

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Here’s a video of 7 minutes of footage from the movie that aired on Japanese TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r9Nwtj_PRc

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 8

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

Note: The Angel Az, Dragon, and the mermaid A/I’s dialogue lines are written strangely in Japanese, so they aren’t able to be machine translated. I am pretty confident with what Dragon is saying, but I’m not sure about Angel Az and the mermaid’s lines, so I noted a (???) for those.

———————————————

Chapter 8: Dragon’s Castle

The elderly are buzzing. At "Fureai no Sato" in my neighborhood, a mobile supermarket is coming to the parking lot that day, and everyone is crowded for shopping. "Fureai no Sato" is one of the village activity centers in various parts of the prefecture, and is a place where local people voluntarily operate and sell and promote special products. Meals are also served. The menu on the whiteboard says "Rice and side dishes 400 yen". Hiro and I took the seat in the back. Hiro-chan has loved this place since she first brought it in, and she still raised her two fingers like a regular today.

"Tsutsui's grandmother. Two'rice and side dishes'"

"Yes!" Chiyuubo Tsutsui's grandma entered her kitchen with her bent hips. The food her grandma cooks is the best. She said she was eight when I asked her age when I was still in elementary school. She now says she is eight years old when asked. I don't wonder if she really is. That's how fine it is. While waiting, Hiro-chan showed me a news video on her smartphone. Jerinek speaks seriously in the heart of a large number of media outlets. "It's a rumor that it's a publicity stunt. I lost my loved one in an accident and I'm still in deep sorrow. I put a tattoo in the same place as my lover's wound."

Many cameras are pointed at him kneeling in front of the tombstone, covering his face and crying. I remembered the image of the graveyard on the website. It's the same place. It seems that the girlfriend who wore glasses died at the scene of the car's messy accident. My eyes widened on his surprisingly sentimental side.

"Hmm. Everyone has a secret that they can't tell."

She intended to give a straightforward impression. However, Hiro-chan is looking with dismayed eyes.

"Congratulations. There's a bigger secret that makes me think so."

"Suspicious."

"It's natural. What's really hiding the problem?"

"Everyone has a secret."

"It’s the same case with Suzu."

"Even Hiro-chan."

"Me? I have no secret."

"Because Hiro-chan's smartphone is notifying you."

Suddenly Hiro turned her face bright red and distraught.

"W-w-w-wai-"

"Mr. Terada, of physics"

"Stop here for a moment!" Holding her smartphone in her chest, Hiro-chan whispered. Tsutsui's grandmother just brought two trays. "Yes, rice and side dishes"

Hiro-chan's smartphone is showing Mr. Terada, who smiles in front of the answers and verifications of the physical problems written on the blackboard.

"Well, from the teacher's point of view, I'm a roadside stone." She put her hands on her red cheeks, and Hiro-chan turned down. "Never tell dad or mom, because you believe in me as a good girl."

"I won't say."

"If I get caught, my mom might blow up and die.” Hiro-chan stopped talking.

"Sorry."

"It’s fine."

I put my hands together in front of my mouth and say no.

"Really sorry"

"No. Hiro-chan, talk to your dad and mom properly.”

I stared at "rice and side dishes". Vegetable tempura, simmered beans and tofu, vegetable soup, and sardines. rice. "I’m the opposite. My mom is dead and I'm with my dad, but I rarely talk at home." We try not to meet each other as much as possible. My dad also cares about me and keeps a distance. But is it okay to keep it as it is? How about eating rice separately when there are only two people? Hiro-chan stared at me and said "Potsuri".

"... I know. That's why I'm dating."

Then I swallowed my chopsticks quickly and started eating fiercely. Let her make a rattling noise and let me hear. "Look, eat without being overwhelmed."

She was prompted to pick up her chopsticks and ate a little bit of rice. Hiro-chan turned around and raised two fingers, keeping her mouth full.

"Grandma! Two somen noodles added!" "Yes!"

Tsutsui's grandma came out of her kitchen. The somen noodles made by grandma are exquisite.

[……….]

Hiro-chan’s Az caught new information. If you move away from the mainstream like the big river of "U" and head toward the sea of ​​clouds, you can see many small islands floating. It is said to be the unit that was in operation in the early days of "U" that stopped operation.

It's the wreckage of an old closed Internet service. It is said that "Dragon’s Castle" is hidden in one of them. I put the hood on my head and headed for one of the suspicious units.

"Ah," I saw a figure and hid myself behind a pillar.

Members of the Justice Corps. He seemed to be looking for something, but eventually he went somewhere. They may have come to look for the same information.

I went out behind the pillar and looked around.

"... Is there really a "castle" in such a ruin?"

"There is no doubt this time!"

"Then why don't you follow me?"

Hiro-chan’s Az is not here.

"Terada-sensei's supplementary lecture. I'll watch the recording later. See you!"

"Jeeze…”

Like the mainstream, the unit was divided into two sections, a "skyscraper" and a "park." Even though it's a park, it doesn't mean that there is real greenery. It is a square with round parts lined with quadrangular pyramids like coniferous trees. It is also missing in places, and the solid is broken. I slowly proceeded through the wreckage and passed through the gate to the skyscraper group.

At that time, I suddenly heard a voice. Something is looking at me in the center of the main street through the valley of the abandoned building. A mysterious creature that looks like a combination of a beautiful girl and a white sea cucumber. It's fluffy. Should the body of a beautiful girl be a sea cucumber, or should the face of a sea cucumber be a beautiful girl?

"... Who?"

"I am an A.I. I know everything."

Her sari of cute starfish is attached to pink. Is she a "mermaid”? "... I'm looking for a castle." Mermaid AI shook the tentacles on her back like a swim and laughed.

"I see. I know it.”

"Eh ...?" The landscape changed in an instant, centered on the mermaid. Before I knew it, I stood on the edge of a stunning waterfall falling in front of me. ".....here?" Is there a castle?”

However, the mermaid didn't answer, and she shook her tentacles and went as it was. "Oh, wait" I followed, but soon lost sight of it.

"where……?"

The trunks and roots of the trees are intricately intertwined, making it very difficult to walk. Seems to be refusing to move on. I was completely lost while wandering through the deep forest.

"Hah ... hah ..."

I was sweating under my thick coat. The hood gets caught on a branch. There is no way. I don't even know where to get there. If it still doesn't work, you won't even be able to get out of this maze. Even if I didn't know, I had no choice but to move forward.

"Hah ... hah ..."

I came out in front of a strange tree where tree branches and trunks were intricately entwined with a large rock. I don't know if I'm holding a rock or trying to strangle the rock. I stopped there and was a voice, "Oh, I'm in trouble.

"..…ah”

A mysterious creature that looks like a combination of a beautiful girl and a mantis shrimp is looking here. It's a different mermaid. It has plenty of voluminous green curly hair and tutu-like frills on the waist. Is this child also A / I? I asked again.

"... I'm looking for a castle," the mermaid shook her six legs and laughed. "I see. I know it. Just for you, I’ll take you there."

"Um..." I was blown to another place at once without a chance to put the word in between. It was the beach.

It's a shallow, flat beach with nothing as far as the eye can see. The wind is strong.

The sandy beach got wet and I started walking on the water mirror where the clouds were reflected. Without knowing where to go. Even if you look around, you can only see the boundary between the horizon and the horizon.

"Huh ..."

I just walked. I don't know if I'm really moving forward. I felt like I was lost again. It's easier to walk here than the maze of the primeval forest, but the scenery doesn't change no matter how much you walk, and you're mentally cornered. I feel like I'm making a wasteful effort.

"Huh ... where ...?" Is there really a castle?

There was a sudden voice again. "Oh troubled redesca?" Colorful shells are piled up on the sandy beach. Behind the scenes, a mysterious creature that looks like a combination of a beautiful girl and an elongated sea anemone is looking at us.

"Huh?"

A small face appears from the end of the pink soft tube. There are four fingers on the other side, and the tips of the nails are colored with nail art. The mermaid said before I asked, as if she was attentive.

"The location of the castle? It’s a secret kept from others."

"Oh, wait!" I tried to stop her, but I couldn't make it in time. In no time, my eyes were covered with pure white clouds. "Ah! Where, here?" Everywhere is all white, and I don't know the top or bottom. This is far from getting lost. Strong anxiety strikes.

"I can't see anything! Oh ...”

Will I disappear at this rate? Fear rushed. There, "Idiot, you were tricked.” (???)

I heard a voice and turned around.

"……Huh?"

There is something fluffy floating in the sea of ​​clouds.

"……ah."

It was an angel Az. He sways his white, soft-looking wings.

"Well then, you’ll never find it.” (???)

"You ... do you know the castle?"

"Anyway, play with me." (???)

The clouds cleared little by little, and I could see the mountains over there. A narrow road extends all the way along the shining slope.

"Come on, follow this path." (???)

The Angel Az turned around to invite me and went.

"Ah ... wait!"

I set out to chase. Then I found something huge hiding above the mountains, behind the springing clouds. I stared at it. The clouds gradually clear up.

From the gap, you can see what seems to be a part of the building. What is that mysterious pattern? Strange form. That is- ... castle.

Is it really Dragon’s castle, as per Hiro-chan’s Az's information?

Uncertain, I opened the big door…

Angel Az slipped into the small gap that opened. Can I enter as it is? I didn't hesitate. However, I came to look for the Dragon’s castle and had a hard time getting to this point. Inspired courage and opened the big door. ... Is there anyone? There is no sign of people.

I squinted more. My eyes gradually get used to the darkness. The sound of my heels echoed on the marble floor laid out in a checkered pattern. In the center of the wide entrance, there is a large staircase like a medieval castle.

"Wow ..."

I looked up and suddenly heard a voice. However, if you look closely, the high ceilings and thick pillars are engraved with strangely shaped details. It looks like a medieval architectural style, isn't it really different? And you can see something like block noise here and there. The data may have been left corrupted.

"Hurry up."

Says the Angel Az on the stairs.

"ah…"

I chased him and climbed quickly. From somewhere, I heard the girls whispering.

"How did she get here?” (???)

"We did our best to interfere with her…" (???)

It was those mermaids who made me confused. Hidden behind the pillars on the balcony. no doubt. As I went deeper and walked down the long corridor, I heard a whisper. It's a terrifying statue.

"Dousho?" (???)

"Master will be angry ..." (???)

I pretended not to notice the voice and proceeded

I went out to the courtyard to be guided by the angel Az. A square pillar like an obelisk in the center is spinning in a cube from the middle. Again, the data remains corrupted. But I was fascinated by something completely different. It's a rose. It was a rose flower that bloomed in the ruins of digital.

"..…………beautiful"

It is exactly the same as the real thing. From white, red and pink to crimson and black, it gives off stunning colors. I took the hood off my head and approached. The unique sweet and fragrant scent of ruins spreads in the nasal cavity.

"I showed you." (???)

Angel As said irresistibly to brag. "These roses are a secret..."

"Secret?"

I listened back to the words. I pick up a rose.

"What is the secret?"

I asked, but I didn't get a reply. Instead, I heard something like a beast's growl approaching behind me.

"Huh!"

Looking back, a dragon appeared from the shadow of the pillar.

"Why are you here?!”

"Ah!"

Suddenly, I was stiff and couldn't move. The dragon swiftly wraps around me frustratingly and breaks in between me and the roses.

"Why did you just invite yourself in?!”

"I was ... guided by him ....."

"GET OUT!”

The dragon shouted out loudly.

"But..…"

“GET OUT!!”

The dragon walked away from the courtyard, emphasizing again. I stiffened on the spot and couldn't move for a while. My knees were shaking. But when he forcibly shakes his head and regains his sanity,

"……Wait!"

I quickly chased Dragon going through a long corridor.

"Actually, I have something I want to ask you!"

The dragon wore clothes that looked like a rag. Nevertheless, countless bruises are engraved in the same place as the red cloak at that time. The bruises seemed to appear even after exchanging clothes as data.

"Who are you? Are you ...?"

However, the dragon went on without answering, and went out of the corridor into a large space.

"Hey, answer me!"

Suddenly, the dragon turned around and threatened me with a terrifying look.

“If you don’t leave, I’ll bite into you!” (???)

The voice of Dragon echoed in the darkness of the crumbling dance hall. I trembled at the sharp fangs he was directing at me, wondering if I would really be eaten. However, I desperately built up  my courage so as not to lose my feelings, and looked back into the Dragon's eyes. And there,

"Koon, Koon ..."

There is a weak voice, like a puppy crying. It’s the Angel Az. It descends as if dead leaves were falling, and it goes fluttering as if it was blown by the wind.

"Where are you going…?”

The dragon chased the angel Az with a troubled voice. It's a completely different, worrisome voice. I have no choice but to be confused by the situation.

"Koon, Koon ..."

"Wait ..."

There were twelve gates lined up in a circle in the dance hall, and a characteristic pattern was drawn on each gate. From the gate with the Uzumaki pattern, Angel Az went out screaming. The dragon chases. I will follow after them. I climbed up the castle, looking up at the cracked spiral staircase. The data here and there was broken and cubed. There was a balcony at the end of the climb. The outer wall data is exposed as if the building was abandoned on the way. Angel Az screamed out of the balcony. "Wait ..." The dragon leans forward to the point where he is about to fall, and holds the angel Az I gently with his hands. And he gently pulled him in so as not to hurt him. As the dragon opened his hand, in his chest, held in both hands the Angel Az, was blinking with excitement. With a delicate voice that was about to break, Angel Az asked.

"Trouble..? Hey, trouble…?”

"No. It's okay. You’re okay now.”

The dragon replied with a gentle voice. He feels delicate compassion, the exact opposite of his aggressive appearance. I stared at his back. Unintentionally, a question came up.

"... Which one?"

..............

The dragon looks back at me with a keen eye. I posed a question frankly.

"Which one is your true self?”

............

The dragon left the place without answering anything. I quickly followed the dragon that went through the corridor.

"Wait!"

As the dragon turns the corner, he opens a large door and enters the room.

"Wait!"

Just before catching up, the door closed with a bang.

...........

I had no choice but to touch the door and be at a loss. Dragon: While thinking about his true self.

-------------------

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

hey howdy, I'm actually reading the ryuu to sobakasu no hime book right now in Japanese. my Japanese isn't super great, but I'd be willing to pitch in some help for translating

That would be amazing, thank you!! If possible, you could focus on translating the parts of the novel where the machine translation I posted is very off or incomprehensible? 😄

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 7

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 7: Search

I go for a walk with my dog every morning. I go down the slope from my house and walk along the banks of the Niyodo River. Looking back from the point where I crossed the subsidence bridge, the morning sun illuminates the village. I always see it, but I think it has a slightly different beauty every day. Fresh green, autumn leaves, amount of water, cloud position, fog condition, with or without a band of light, hot and humid.

It changes as much as you like depending on the cold weather. I am fascinated by its beauty. Suddenly, my dog is staring at me for more play. She runs, bounces, and puts her foot in the water. Seeing that makes me feel a little relieved. I go home, remove the leash, and give her some rice. Then I wipe her feet on the porch and put her in the house.

"I’m off to work.” Dad came out into the garage.

"Suzu, what about dinner?"

I shook my head without looking at him, with my bag on my shoulder.

"Let's make some tataki."

I shook my head again.

[............]

"I see... I understand."

Then my dad got in the car and went to work. Every morning I have such an awkward interaction with my dad. While crossing the subsidence bridge quickly, I scrolled the screen of my smartphone to read the news.

It says "Belle’s live, canceled due to an incident.”

"Ahh, everyone’s comments…”

I was looking forward to it, but I'm sorry I couldn't finish the concert. If I was thinking that, I should prepare more properly this time and do my best so that I can enjoy it ...

"Ah!" I stumbled upon a dent on the road surface of the bridge and stumbled. "Ah!" I fluttered my hands. But I couldn't make it in time, and I fell on my face.

“Ow! It hurts ...!"

My forehead was red and swollen. A red mark appears on my forehead, and my dropped smartphone device picked up an inflammatory response. The body sharing technology of "U" connects me and Belle with biometric information.

[………]

"It's not Belle's fault!"

Hiro-chan's high-pitched voice echoed down the hallway. "He’s a dragon, so he’s bad! I wish he had been unveiled, seriously!" The swelling of my forehead seemed to have subsided a lot in the afternoon. I say while checking it. "Why does everyone hate him so much?"

"You just put it in parentheses, right?"

Hiro-chan writes the answers to her physics questions on her whiteboard, as if to blow her anger. This problem was intentionally left by Professor Terada of Physics for the purpose of trying out the students. Hiro-chan is standing in response to the challenge.

"Maybe there is some reason…"

"It's perfect anyway!"

"Is that so?" I make a voice that is not convincing to the answer.

"Then let's uncover the veil, what kind of guy is he?"

Hiro-chan finished writing the answer and drew two diagonal lines next to it. She just said she would solve any difficult problem.

When I left the classroom, I came across Kamishin.

"Oh, Suzu-chan"

"Hm? Kamishin, isn't your backpack big?"

Kamishin carries a backpack that makes him feel like going camping.

"I’m going on an expedition.”

"Expedition?"

Hiro-chan, who carried a large baggage wrapped in cardboard on her back, passed through the exit of the classroom at the last minute.

"Oh? Another role?"

"Don't lump us together!"

Hiro and I left school and got on the train. Hiro-chan dropped the oversized luggage into her seat and immediately took the iPad out of her tote bag and began explaining. "Since the ‘U’ Az is linked to the biometric information of the person that the device constantly scans, for example, it is assumed that you cannot have two Az’s.”

"Yes."

"On top of that, I searched the entire internet, but there is no record of nationality, age, gender, or anything other than the fact that Dragon appeared at the ‘U’ martial arts hall seven months ago."

"Then, we can’t do anything?”

"As for the person himself, but if anyone has ever played against him, there is a record."

"I see."

<The dragon's seven-month record is 369 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws.>

Most of the opponents publish SNS associated with "U". “If you listen to each person one by one, you may see something.”

I got off the train and changed to a bus. After getting off at the bus stop and going along the Niyodo River for a while, there is an elementary school where I graduated in the mountains in the summer. It's an abandoned elementary school that the choir also uses for practice. Hiro-chan went up to the classroom on the second floor first. Even though my luggage seems heavy, I step on the stairs and climb up by myself. Schools that have been closed due to depopulation and population decline will be left as they are, or, it is often used as a storeroom and rusts. However, there are some cases where it is reborn as an experience facility or accommodation facility. Fortunately, it was converted to a local community center. At the reception, I filled out the classroom usage application.

"I will use the study room."

Then I received an explanation of the precautions. Equipment is basically free to use, but please share it with others. In the event of a disaster such as a large earthquake, each room is equipped with a disaster prevention helmet, so please wear it to evacuate, and so on. After that, I went up to the classroom on the second floor.

I looked at it with my eyes rounded.

Multi-monitors centered on large display monitors have been launched one after another. It's like a secret base. Hiro-chan connected these obsolete school equipment to her own high-performance, large-sized PC that was wrapped in cardboard and carried around. Within the short time when I applied for classroom use, the system environment in the drawing room of Hiro-chan's house was relocated as it was.

"Amazing……!"

I groaned unintentionally. Hiro-chan proudly turned her white teeth. "Hehehehe~!"

374 opponents were displayed on the world map on the main monitor. Hiro-chan’s Az asked them.

"I have a question for everyone who played against the dragon. Who is he?"

An icon popped up near Philadelphia. It's a tiger-faced muscle wrestler-style Az.

<< A mysterious existence. He is certainly not A / I >>

When the icon was turned over, a slender young man holding a cat appeared, which was completely different from the image of Az. He shows his true face and speaks openly. Near the Strait of Dover, France.

<< Relentless attack. Worst personality >>

Another person, her real face was a young, cheerful blonde woman. Near Mumbai, India, the god Garuda-style Az twists her neck.

<< I don't know why he goes so far >>

Another, her real face is a young doctor who looks good with glasses. According to Iwao Az, near Shenzhen, China.

《I'm the earliest opponent, but he didn't have as many bruises on his body as he does now》

Another, the real face was a kind middle-aged police officer.

"Then, did he fight and his wounds increased?" I asked the screen.

Hiro-chan picked up only three winners from all the opponents.

"Ask the few winners. How did you beat the dragon?"

"Suddenly, he was thrown away," replied a young man in Los Angeles.

"It seemed like he was distracted by something else," said a woman in her thirties in Moscow. Of course, not all opponents disclose their whereabouts. The icon of the third winner popped up in a group of people with unknown profiles.

"Oh, angel....."

It was that angel-shaped Az who encouraged Belle on a snowy night.

"How about you? Is there anything you noticed?"

In response to Hiro-chan's question, Angel Az gave a silent balloon.

(.........)

When I thought about it, the icons disappeared from the screen.

"Ah ..." Hiro-chan's tone was a little tight, so he seemed to be frightened and disappeared. Hiro is frustrated.

"Jeeze! Does anyone know even a rumor?"

《Come on》 《But someday》 《Atsuka》 《Aza is similar》

The conversations of Az and others who pop up and talk one after another are complicated.

"Who is he?"

Some links go up. Hiro-chan clicked on one of them. The browser started up and the image search results were displayed. A young Caucasian man glaring with a bad look.

"The name is Jelinek. An unnamed contemporary art artist." The long straight black hair with mesh seems to be an artist. Go to the website. On the top page, a photo of himself showing a tattoo carved on pale skin was posted as if it were his work. Certainly, the shape and color were surprisingly similar to the dragon's bruise, and the location was the same back. Images of SNS were also embedded in the site. His own paintings, a woman who looks like a girlfriend with glasses ………, but for some reason, there is a messy car accident scene, a graveyard lined with tombstones, and so on. Why do you show such things to people? It's creepy.

"It was six months ago that he put in a tattoo with a bruise on his whole body. It coincided with the appearance of the dragon. From there, the price of his work increased 20 times at once."

I groaned at Hiro-chan's research report.

"Suspicious……"

I definitely don't want to talk to or get involved with such a person.

"Ah"

"Hmm?"

"I have an agent contact"

"Huh?"

"I'll hit you directly"

"Eh? Seriously? Hey! Oh!"

Not waiting, Hiro-chan was pressing the call button in the video chat. A ring tone sounds. Oh, what should I do, I just thought I never wanted to talk to Jerinek, and Hiro went into a video chat with him. It’s late afternoon here, but it appears to be night where Jerinek is.

"I don't speak." Jerinek said moodily in his atelier. Annoyance is transmitted even through the voice of automatic translation. He wears an apron full of paint and holds a brush with paint in his hand. He seemed to be in production. The tattoo pattern peeking from under the peep sleeve of the T-shirt certainly looks like a dragon's bruise.

Hiro-chan, who changed her voice, heard it.

"What does that tattoo mean?"

"First, who are you two?”

"Where and what were you doing last night?"

Hiro-chan is calm even if Jerinek screams. It automatically switches to dual-screen mode, and a large copy of our figure is displayed on the screen. It's a mysterious and eerie duo with a disaster prevention helmet, a large mask, and bangs that hide their eyes and fold their hands in front of their noses. No wonder he’s upset. Jerinek, who shook his head from side to side as if he couldn't stand it, suddenly left angry and closed the screen with his palm.

"That's enough!"

"Why can't you answer me?"

"Shut up!"

The screen was cut off. The words "Left the call" are displayed. We lowered our masks. Hiro-chan murmured. "He’s definitely hiding something."

The previous replay is played in slow motion. The vicious expression of Jerinek that blocks the screen becomes a close-up. The next day, we searched the world in the closed school study room. I brewed the tea I brought from home and covered it with a pot cover to keep it warm. Hiro-chan asked Az all over the world while holding a plate and drinking tea.

"Do you think of anyone else?"

《Come on》 《But if you have similar qualities》 《Similarly irritating》"She said she was hurt right away" "Maybe she" "Woman?"

I looked up. Dragons are not always men. Hiro-chan searches for images immediately. A fat Asian middle-aged woman with a bad look appeared. Big sunglasses on her fur coat. She is intimidatingly laughing with her teeth out.

"Her name is 'Swan'. There are many account fights on various SNS, sticky writing, fighting, and crazy remarks. 'Hurt' is the usual habit. The obsession with brutally hunting down the opponent is just a "monster". "She would have written a series of SNS screenshots. English, Chinese, Malay ... I can't read it, but for some reason I can tell that it says something very terrible.

"Dangerous……"

"Oh, meeting ID discovery"

"Huh?"

"I'll connect," says Hiro, removing her uniform tie.

"Wait! Wait, wait!"

I hurriedly searched around as I laid down my tea to see if I could hide. There is no helmet within my reach today! Hiro-chan quickly puts her hair together, puts on her black-rimmed glasses, and even puts on her lipstick. I have nothing. It's dangerous! The ringing tone echoes. Oh!

Swan was projected on the video chat screen. An elegant atmosphere and politeness that is completely different from the look of the web image above

It was a woman with good wording. She even seemed rather modest. She has black hair and silver-rimmed glasses. The sleeveless dress is a flashy but sarcastic color. In the back of the large living room with a colonnade, there is a long dining table set that can seat 20 people, and glasses, tableware, and fresh flowers are lined up. Swan said with a soft smile on her face. "It was a birthday party on that day." Hiro-chan, disguised as an editor, said "Birthday party?"

"Yes, my husband’s. It was hard to prepare, but my daughters also helped me to bake the cake."

"Oh, I'm watching SNS now."

"Ara" SNS shows two little daughters showing a baked cake. Scrolling down, there is also an image of the daughters clinging to a dandy father with a mustache. "Being a close family" "Is it okay? I'm interviewed under the theme of" ideal housewife."

Hiro-chan was excited with a sticky business tone to Swan, who tends to be reluctant.

"No, I want the readers to share their happiness. Then I will contact you when the details are decided." The video chat line was cut off. I was relieved to look up as I was hiding myself with the pot cover on my head.

"She didn't look like a crazy person at all ..."

Hiro-chan untied her hair and said, removing her earrings.

"Everything she said is a lie. She has no husband or daughter. Cakes are delivered."

"What?"

"The live camera in front of her house hasn't seen her for months except Amazon and Uber Eats. She bought all her social media photos from stock photos. This, this, this, too."

A baked cake, two little daughters, a dandy father ... A rich woman who lives alone in such a big house disguises that she has a family on SNS. My back was horrifying. "Dangerous ... why are you doing this?" Swan continues to write "You hurt me" in various languages ​​on social media around the world. Hiro-chan calmly analyzed.

"There is no alibi and no aggression. If this writing refers to that bruise ... she is Dragon. Bruise on the back of a dragon ... Maybe ... In the anonymous bulletin board "Dragon's identity search thread", information whose authenticity is uncertain overlaps. 《Justice, how much do you need to pay to get an item that can unveil others?》

<<Are you stupid? Isn't it a system vulnerability, not a charge? >> But why do they have higher authority than the general public? >>

<< "Voices", please correct it as soon as possible >>

《After unveiling the dragon》

Anaheim Stadium, California. Wildebeests outfielder Fox, in his right batter's box, grabbed the aiming ball at the center of the bat and shook it off with a slight uppercut.

"Ooooooo!"

The audience cheered enthusiastically.

"MLB smasher Fox, who also appeared in last year's World Series. He's very popular, but there are rumors that he's actually hiding a ridiculous secret."

An old baseball critic told me to brag about what I had just purchased.

"Rumor?"

The host of the Bearded Longevity show listens to encourage.

A refreshing beard looking up at the sky of Fox who hit a home run is projected on a large monitor in the studio. The baseball critic said in a little whisper, as if to teach a secret story. "Always a gentleman, but underneath his mask is a rogue face." The monitor changed from a dynamic photo of Fox sliding and catching to a team practice scene. While teammates are chatting in shirts that expose their skin to the strong sunlight, only Fox wears a long-sleeved hoodie and runs silently alone without anybody. It's a very impressive photo of his heterogeneity. Baseball critics continued. "He never takes off his jacket while practicing because there are a lot of big scratches under it."

"Eh ~~~"

The audience at the studio raises surprises and anxieties. Big scratches? Surprising. I can't believe it. Why? Is he really dangerous? Why is he hurt? The moderator speaks for his voice. "Everyone who is popular is always behind the scenes, and every time we are disillusioned."

"Ah ~~~"

Customers give a voice of conviction and peace of mind. If you're a popular person, you can't help but have another face we don't know about. When the day comes when he will be arrested for assault, the guests nodding here will never be surprised. Oh, I would tell his family and friends that he was suspicious from the beginning.

Fox smiled like a pop on a large monitor. Hiro-chan, who recorded the program, showed me later. I stared at Fox's blue eyes. “Because there are many big scratches under it.” The words of a baseball critic replay. Field .... Maybe he ...?

"Thank you. I'm Taro Hitokawa."

"It's a good-looking circle."

Hitokawa Mui Taro is a character like a dog wearing a T-shirt.

Guttokoremaru is an egg-shaped character with a cracked head and cracks. We are doing YouTube together. Hitokawa Mui Taro asked Maru. Aileen "Do you know?" "What?" "There is an Az that is very popular with children now." "What? More than that? Who? Who?" "Are you a popular person?" You're since 1990, right? ”The image of the dragon appears as Dawn !, and the two turn over.

"Wow!" "The correct answer is a dragon." "Why is that hated person?"

Guttokoremaru punches the image of a dragon. Balloons are sent all at once from children all over the world. It's being streamed live. The selected child talks with them through a smartphone.

Hitokawa Mui Taro reads the names and ages of the children who appear. "Chan 3 years old, Omari-kun 10 years old" The children were excited and taught to them "The dragon's hideout is called "castle." "Who is competing to find “castle” first?” Hitokawa Mui Taro read the names of the following children. "Camille-chan, 16 years old, Jake-kun, 3 years old" "How do you find it?" "Take a picture together!" "Shake hands!" "Next. Charlie, 18 years old, Leo, 9 years old" "Isn't he a bad guy?" Next. Tomo-kun, 1 year old, Kei-kun, 4 years old. "Are you scared?" "The dragon is my hero.... " Tomo was a white-skinned child. He is tilting his head for some reason.

When asked, "Does your neck hurt?” Tomo’s eyes became hollow. It feels something unusual. Reluctantly, Maru, in another black outfit, called on Kei. "The child behind me, look over here"

[....]

Kei didn't look at until the end.

I was watching the video in bed. "Hero..." The dragon, which is hated by SNS, is also a hero for children. What exactly is the truth? If you stop the current live streaming video, related videos will be lined up. Among them, I found a video showing Tomo-kun, who had white skin. I pressed select. "Yes. Our family of three is very close and full of energy without a mother." The father, who holds the shoulders of his two children, has thick eyebrows and is imposing, and is likely to be reliable. Tomo also had hollow eyes and entwined the fingers of his hands. In black, Kei turned down and remained silent. There are various families in various circumstances. That's right for us. But we're not good friends and we're not full of energy. In the video, "Supporting each other and having fun every day," the father compared the children and smiled.

[............]

We don't support each other. On one chat site, a poor young man was broadcasting from his room.

"A dragon is an old friend of mine," he showed the image of a dragon on his smartphone to the camera. At another dark site, a young man wearing a costume head shook his head as if he was rallying.

"The dragon and I get along very well." On a dubious site, young women in sexy swimsuits lie down on a pink-lit king-sized bed and broadcast. In fact, dragons are very rich. If you want to know about the gorgeous mansion, click a lot, he shook his hips in a provocative pose. Comments are posted one after another at the edge of the screen. 《Everything they say is crap》 《Don't be fooled》 《The truth is from this link → The number of people who say that they are friends of dragons or know the secrets of dragons increases day by day. Information whose authenticity is uncertain is confusing. "Who is the dragon?" "Who?" "Who?" "Who?" Rumors about the dragon are growing. The buzz of Az continued to proliferate in the countless glittering streets of "U". "What is the dragon?" "Who?" "Who?"

-------------------

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 6

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 6: Encounter

The crescent moon shining on the equator moves and brings darkness to the world of "U". In the city of "U" that continues like a big river, Az and others were overflowing more than usual today. There is a mysterious feeling of exhilaration here and there, and it seems that everyone is restless. Countless net news is broadcast in various languages. "... Soon, at 20:25 standard time on 'U', Belle's biggest live concert will take place here at 'U's spherical stadium."

The city of "U" is basically a "skyscraper" and a "park."

It consists of repeating two types of modules, "(Park)". However, there are some other special modules. One of them is a spherical module called "Stadium". "..... The number of Az that can watch at the same time in the world is said to be 100 million or 200 million, which is unusual for a newcomer who appeared within 6 months ..."

As you approach the spherical stadium, you can see that many small units are gathered together to form a sphere. It passes through the gaps of each unit and enters the inside. Each unit has multiple windows. The shape of the window matches the shape of the screen of the smartphone, and you can see Az in it. That is the audience seat of this spherical stadium.

A myriad of Az are waiting for the start of the live. The start time has come. The space of the wide sphere gradually darkens with the driving sound. The units are getting closer to each other and the gap is narrowing. Eventually, a roaring sound was heard. The gap between the units was completely closed, and the space was surrounded by darkness. A red line like the equator emerges in the darkness. It's the beginning of the live. Music starts. A huge drop of water can be seen floating in the center of the space. In front of this mysterious sight, the audience grabbed a sight of what was about to begin.

The huge water droplets began to emit light from the inside, shaking the surface with surface tension. A number of glittering lights are generated and are stored in water droplets. Eventually, the water droplets filled with light burst like a big bang. When a large amount of droplets diffuse into the space, a mysterious object that reflects light appears behind it. A huge splash with a dozen meters, assembled from delicate beads.

At the tip of the dress is Belle, me.

"Woooooooooo ...!"

The cheers of Az and others like the rumbling of the ground boiled up. Mosaic-like light is emitted from the countless windows of the audience seats. In response to the light, the color of the beads that make up the dress changes in a complex way. These are special beads whose brilliance changes depending on the light. It's the best outfit, coordinated by the best designers, from headdresses to high heels. I swam in the space, changing to various colors in response to the light. The parts of the huge dress are separated like a multi-stage rocket. In the meantime, it will be separated. The beads swirled like the swell of the sea, transforming into a virtual fluctuation of the sea surface.

Three whales with headphones appear there and slowly snuggle up to me in the center. The whales are top-notch dancers hired for this concert. When one of the whales hits the surface of the sea with its tail fin to the music, a beautiful wave appears. The crest has spread. Another one also hits the surface of the sea. The ripples overlapped. The other one blew up the tide from his nose. Next is my turn. Like the whale I mentioned earlier, I surrendered myself to music, twisted my body, and hit the surface of the sea. Ripples spread beautifully. I twist my body again and hit the surface of the sea, ripples piled up. And, like the squirting of a baby whale, I rushed out of the sea. The whales come in again and swim and dance in the calculated combination. I sing at the center. The sparkling flash of the audience seats reaches the dress, changing the color of the beads one after another. What a beauty. The colors that would never appear without each of the light from the windows of smartphones are a collaboration between me, the designer, and the audience. And again, it's a one-time art that can never be reproduced in the digital world where reproduction is natural. I finished singing proudly.

"Ooooooooooooooooo!"

The roaring cheers of Az and others shook the spherical stadium. The flashes in the audience seats disappear all at once, returning to the darkness of the equator. The prelude of the second song begins, and the next set of graphical steel frames slides from above and below. During the blackout, the producer of this live, Hiro-chan’s Az, slipped in.

"Belle is the best. I'll go next."

"Yes."

Hiro-chan’s Az threw a piece of cloth in her hand. It fluttered around my body and turned into a patchwork dress. This is also the work of the same designer as the bead dress, and is woven with fibers that change when exposed to light. Suddenly, there was a strange noise.

"ah…"

The gap between the rugged stadium and the spherical stadium opens a little.

"Who? You opened the door without permission!" Hiro-chan’s Az yells.

Someone invaded through a small gap in the unit. A lone Az at the beginning.

And then a group of Az. They are moving at high speed just past the audience unit. I can tell that the audience in the window is upset by this happening.

Hiro-chan’s Az is very angry. "Get out of here, asshole!”

The lone Az appears to be escaping from the group chasing him.

"Is he being chased?"

They go around the perimeter along the equator of the spherical stadium. The group of chasers was divided into two.

"Jeeze! What is that guy?" Hiro-chan’s Az looks up in the air and asks. Avatars all over the world instantly raise chat balloons:

《Dreki》

《Long》 《continuar》 《naga》 《Dragon》 《lass》

《Ejderha》

"Dragon?"

<<It's an ugly monster-type Az that lives in “U.”>>

Two protruding horns. Long nose. Sharp fangs and claws. The characteristic is exactly the dragon itself, and the impression is like a violent beast. Still, the crimson cloak with a raised collar and the white frills peeking through the sleeves of the suit reminded me of something like a nobleman. A mysterious balance in which this opposite nature coexists. The thin, sharp look that I could see in the gaps between his long, curly hair seemed mysterious to me. On the other hand, all his chasers have the unified appearance of a white battle suit with a red line. It looks like a group of justice heroes. The dragon flipped the cloak and I thought that he had soared, but then he twisted and plummeted. With a tricky move, he tossed the chase and swung it off in a blink of an eye, and this time he headed for the other group, which was split into two. Really. The stone mask Az, who leads the fist chaser group, thrusts in without fear. The two collided violently at the front. A fierce spark is scattered. The dragon extended his fist at a speed that my eyes couldn't follow. The chasers flew like pebbles. As it was, it emitted light like glitter and ice crystals, and stopped moving. The data was corrupted by too much blow and it froze.

I watched the dragon in a daze.

"Amazing…"

"What is he?" When Hiro-chan’s Az asked, the balloons answered immediately.

<<A few months ago, he suddenly appeared in the martial arts hall of "U" "He’s been breaking the record of consecutive wins since then" "But he has the worst fighting style">>

"How?"

When Ryu landed on the unit on the wall and turned around, he attacked the other group that he had just shaken off. He does not give them a chance to escape, and defeats them one after another with a quick move. Iconography of crystals, showing freezes, floats here and there.

《Spoil the game》 《Attack until the data is corrupted and unusable》 《It's like trying to get rid of my anger》 I was stunned and stared at the dragon without words.

"Ah..”

I noticed a lot of patterns on his tattered back.

"That is……?"

<< This is a nasty guy who is like the bruises on his back >> Adds a balloon. I saw it to make sure.

"There are so many bruises ..."

The group of chasers is increasing in number before I know it. When the Az of the dreadlocks led by him points to go, more than 10 members scream and head for Dragon all at once. It is one versus ten, but he heads for the fight without hesitation. The dragon rolled out his knife at a blazing speed. The chasers are beaten one after another.

"Waaaaaah!”

Even the last one - bang, smashed down in a breath. The dreadlocks Az was shocked to see that his allies were wiped out in an instant. While making a strange voice, "Woooooo!", He headed for the dragon in the dark clouds. However, immediately after that, Dragon knee-kicked him in the face. Then the upper combo is decided. The dreadlocks Az was blown off.

Hiro-chan’s Az listens with interest. "Who is chasing him?"

《The Justices》

"Justice?"

<<They insist on keeping the justice and order of U.>>

There are Az looking down from a distance. Like the Stone Mask Az and Dreadlocks Az, they were the executives of the Justice Corps. They are strong people who seem to be allies of justice. Half are female. Hiro-chan’s Az made a convincing voice when she saw them.

"Hmm. That's why they look like heroes."

A large number of the justice corps surround the dragon with various weapons such as spears, hammers, and blue swords. The members screamed and attacked all at once. It seems that there is no chance for the dragon to win. The dragon slowly crossed his hands. And he slashed the space at a tremendous speed. He slashed the men as if he were really manipulating a sword. A dense army corps bursts out all at once. "Waaaah!”

At the same time, it gave off a glittering and crystal-like light. The overwhelming strength of the crowd is breathtaking. The dragon turned his back and slowly got up. Justice corps executives were stunned and said, "What a terrible thing ...!"

"What can they do if you hurt them that much?"

"Is it okay that you’re the only one who is not wounded?” With that as a trigger, some spectator Az and others booed.

"That's right!" "You messed up Belle's concert!" "How will you take responsibility?” The voices eventually spread throughout the spherical stadium.

"Apologize to Belle!" "Give us back the time you wasted!" "Get out of here!" "Get out!" I looked around the stadium in a kind of strange atmosphere. Most of the Az on the spot are throwing a fierce boo like a rumbling at just one person. A dragon standing alone in the center. The bruise on his back seemed to me like a wound that had been hit by countless boos. I asked him unintentionally.

"You…"

The dragon turned around slowly and looked at me with a keen eye.

[............]

"Who are you..…?"

I asked unquestioned questions at will. Then the dragon opened his mouth for the first time. It was a muffled voice, like a filter.

"...Don’t look.”

"Huh?"

"Don’t look at me."

The dragon's gaze peeking through his curly hair indicates refusal. I can't hear any more.

At that time, there was a sharp voice that echoed in the spherical stadium.

“Dragon!!”

A man is standing. "I can't forgive you anymore ... I can't forgive you! If I don't defeat the dragon, I can't keep the peace of 'U'!"

"Is that the leader?" Asked Hiro-chan’s Az.

<<Yes. He is Justine>>

It was a blue-eyed Az with blonde hair. His toned, muscular, majestic body reminded me of strength and courage, and the white battle suit that wrapped around him represented his noble personality. He deserves to be called a hero, a mighty man, an ally of justice, a savior.

Justine raised his right arm and pointed to the coat of arms on his wrist. "Look!"

The Metamorphose coat of arms was wrapped in light and became huge, transforming into a winged metal lion head. A jewel-like lens body pops out from the lion's mouth by bolt action. It's like a cannon. Justine raises the gun and shows it off.

"This is the true light that protects the justice and order of 'U'! We will definitely unveil the evil dragon!" He declared in a voice that pervaded the entire "U". Then, banners with the names of the companies came flying one after another and piled up behind him. It seems that these supporting companies support his activities. Hiro-chan’s Az pointed with her eyes rounded.

"Look, the number of sponsor logos!"

"What is Unveil?"

To my question, Hiro-chan’s Az answered "Unveil" with the gesture of Peek-a-boo. Justine holds his right hand to aim at him, and the inside of his lens body shimmers like a mosaic. The particles focused and emitted a green light. Pow! The light cut through the darkness and headed straight toward the dragon. The dragon barely avoids the light. The particles focused again on Justine's right hand and fired two shots in quick succession. The dragon kept a sufficient distance and avoided it carefully. It seems that he is very cautious about this unknown light. "Nuu ..." Justin groaned, lowering his right hand. A long, thin light that moves far away. There is too much distance to hit Dragon.

He signaled, "Door!" In response, the justice executives scattered in all directions. Soon, the gap between the unit and the unit begins to move, and the interval narrows.

"Eh ...?" As it goes on, the brightness disappears. The spherical stadium was engulfed in darkness, with a completely closed sound. Many searchlights owned by the executives turned on all at once. It illuminates a dragon at one point in the center of intersection.

"You can't run away anymore, dragon! I'll uncover your origin right here, you ugly thing!"

Justine's speech wowed the audience.

"Ooooooooooo!"

The field is in full favor of Justine. Hiro-chan’s Az also goes along.

"Good, do it ~~!"

Origin? Uncover? Can he do that? I wondered. Justine said earlier, "The true light that protects the justice and order of 'U'(that green light) will surely unveil the evil dragon." The meaning may be "to clarify who the real person who controls the dragon is.” It means that there is no privacy that should be equally protected by the security of "U". I understood that was what he meant by "unveiling." If it's aimed at the dragon, which is hated by all over the world, everyone will be convinced it’s the right thing to do. But what if I was in his position?

Then, the story is different. I don't want to be unveiled. Anyone wouldn’t. Shouldn't that be the case? Shouldn't security equality be maintained? Executives approach the dragon with a searchlight. The dragon blocks the light with his hands, as if he hates the dazzling lights. However, the executives continue to shine a strong light without mercy. The dragon moves because of the glare, looks like he can't get rid of it. Justine aims carefully from a distance. The searchlight is caught. It seems very easy to shed light on the dragon that has stopped moving. Kuun ……, and the inside of the gun lens shines brilliantly, and the light is focused.

"Get him!!” Hiro-chan’s Az screams with excitement. Next to that, I kept staring at the dragon.

[.............]

The dragon looked up at me as if he had noticed me. His eyes met mine and my heart pulsated.

"Huh?"

From the narrow center of the searchlight, the dragon jumped towards us. The search light suddenly loses sight of the dragon and sways in a confused manner.

"Uh!"

Once Justine lowered his gun in the situation, but quickly repositioned it, he fired two consecutive shots. However, passing through it, the dragon rises at high speed and heads straight toward us.

"Ahhhhh!"

I and Hiro-chan’s Az are upset by the oppressive feeling and cannot move. The dragon approaches at a tremendous speed. Collide!

"Kyaaaa!" We screamed. But the dragon barely slipped beside us. A violent gust of wind occurs with a slight delay. The dragon rose as it was, turned around, and landed on the steel frame of the set. Hiro-chan’s Az was angry and looked up. "You’ve got to be kidding me, you idiot! What if Belle had been injured?"

Dragon approaches us again. "Ah!" The dragon rubbed right next to Hiro-chan’s Az and I, who were shrinking tightly, at a tremendous speed. His goal is the executives of the Justice Corps.

"Waaaaah!” The executives screamed, throwing out searchlights and escaping in all directions. As soon as the dragon did not let them escape, he swung a steel frame over his head and approached.

The light of the searchlight went out, and the area was surrounded by darkness again.

Only the cruel hitting sound and the painful screams of the executives echoed there. What's happening in the dark? Invisible horror dominated the field. Justine shouted, unbearably. "Open the door ..., open the door!"

A gap in the spherical stadium opens to follow the instructions. When it got brighter, I saw the sad appearance of the executives who were knocked down and couldn't move. How many Az did the dragon beat in this short time? It was overwhelming and strong. Justine stepped back, stiffening his face.

"This ... this shouldn't be allowed ...!"

The dragon flew with recoil when he released the steel frame he had in his hand. I look up at him with my eyes. Justine shouted to swear revenge.

"I will be sure to unveil you!"

As if he couldn't hear such a voice, the dragon went out of the stadium through the gap between the units on the ceiling and disappeared somewhere. I kept looking at the empty space where he had disappeared into.

"Who are you……?"

-------------------

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 5

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 5: Flow

After that, there was no big change by registering Belle in "U". The number of followers did not increase. Every few days I received a follow-up notice, but left it unconfirmed. I was satisfied with the calm daily life, where nothing bothered me so much that I didn't have time to worry about the virtual world.

It's spring. I cross the sinking bridge in the morning. I can look ahead and walk steadily without looking down like before. The "Gutto Koremaru" plate attached to the school bag also sways with a bounce. My legs are so light that I think I can walk while bouncing. I can't say anything about it, it feels good. I'm surprised that just singing in "U" can change my mood so much. When I got to school, I finally felt like I was a normal high school student. I became a new second grader. I looked at the blackboard properly and took the class positively. During the lunch break, I met Hiro-chan and hurried to buy lunch. At the bread counter, which was crowded with students, we examined many types of side dish bread. In the classroom, as she goes back and eats, Hiro-chan evokes her impressions of her recently read book. An overview of human history and some important turning points. About the contradiction between free competition and equality. About the development of science and the imbalance of the human psyche. And so on. On my way home from school, I took a detour by myself while listening to the new music of my favorite band in my earphones. I arrive at the sweets shop I wanted to go to.

I ate candy. I crouched and stroked a white cat lying on the sun in front of the church. I went back along the river while looking at the evening sky. At night, I took a leisurely bath and relaxed. I dried my hair and changed into my pajamas, organized the notes for today's class, and prepared for tomorrow. Nothing happened and the days went by. Before I knew it, it was early summer. I ran on the ground where the sunlight was dazzlingly reflected.

Physical education class. Everyone is running lazily, saying "Dull", "It’s too hot,” "Let's vomit". However, I have no choice but to have fun in my heart. Physical education time was always depressing, but now it's different. I feel light. I think I can run forever. After sweating comfortably, I returned to the classroom and changed from gym clothes to uniform. This is the end of the class. Where should we take a detour today after school? A pleasant breeze is shaking the curtain. I put on my tie, put my gym clothes in my bag, and then looked at my smartphone. There is a notification that Belle has been followed. I opened the "U" app.

It says, "Belle: 32460428 followers.”

"Huh……?"

What's this?

The number of followers is over 30 million.

Moreover, it is increasing at a tremendous rate in front of me.

Why?

That night when the powder snow danced, the video of Belle singing a cappella was being played in large numbers all over the world in a short period of time. Moreover, there are many related videos linked to it.

"Related videos ...?"

The simple a cappella I sung as Belle was added with sound, and the chords were adjusted to create the perfect pop music. Who? When I wondered what I did, someone was amused and turned Belle's voice into a vocoder bot. Needless to say, it turns into a ridiculously elegant jazz band accompaniment, which is the exact opposite. Immediately after that, it was replaced by the heavy sound of a manly rock band. When I look at it with my eyes rounded, arrangements of various genres pass by in a hurry. Hip-hop, string quartet, reggae, folk songs, bossa nova, EDM, etc., crossed all music genres and applied Belle’s song by making full use of advanced musical instrument playing techniques. They gather and aggregate into one image like a collaborative work. It was like a magnificent opera suite by an orchestra.

Not only that.

Belle normally wore a simple white long dress, but in these videos Belle was dressed in a wide variety of costumes and spread all over the place. Every time she changed clothes, the impression of her changed rapidly. Pop idol, opera singer, 0's grunge, sporty, 20's flapper, mannish style, powered suit, cybergoth, riders, jumpsuit, special clothing, cycling, UFC fighting, blade runner vinyl, modern kimono , Baseball uniforms ... and countless Az who live in the endless "U" are speaking from all over the world.

"Amazing, what is this?" "I've never heard of it" "I'm playing with arrangements too much"

"Sing me seriously" "Unique beauty" "What is this song?" "Search even if it doesn't come out!" "The world view of the costume is pretty crazy" "I care, it can't be helped” <<Someone tell me about Belle!>>

As the number of balloons increased, so did the number of followers.

《Belle: 38641027 followers》

Dramatically, Belle was spreading. Then, as if to block it, Peggy Sue, a popular Az of "U", leaned against a high-class sofa and looked down at the junior students, saying, "Belle?” She spoke with a generous expression. This interview video was accompanied by Az who were critical of Belle, and suddenly came to life.

"That's right!" "Hearing" "Exaggerated beauty" "Do you want to sell sexy?" "Vulgar" Starting with the typical bad words of the net, balloons sprang up one after another and the place burned.

"The basics of composition are not" "Thanks to the arrangement of 100 pars" "The song and costume do not match" "The lyrics are too personal"

Shortly after appearing in "U", the critical Az struck Belle thoroughly.

<< Why do you want to appeal as a writer? >> << Even though you don't make an effort, by leaving it to others to finish your songs >>

Criticism balloons filled the screen and proliferated until Belle's video was no longer visible.

《Don't look at music lightly!》

The critics shouted out loud in unison. But in the end, it was only a small part of the event. "U" was bigger than they thought.

"But ..." "I'm curious about this song for some reason" "Why?" "Why?"

"U" is equipped with a unique and powerful verification system that does not exist in existing SNS services so that users can see their opinions fairly without being influenced by false news, malicious intent or prejudice, or opinions that are intentionally shown radically. To prove it, Belle's assessment, which initially seemed "critical," turned to "positive" over time.

"I feel like she’s singing for me" "I think only I’m listening to it" "No, for me" "Yeah, just for me" "Why?" "Why?" "Why?"

Various discourses, innumerable images, and innumerable videos related to Belle gathered together like parts of a mosaic picture, and multiple windows were combined to create one big picture. It is the very existence of "Belle" that the consciousness of the people who gather in "U" imagines as a whole. Large white wings spread on her back. Like a shining angel who landed in "U."

[......... !!]

I blinked my eyes many times because of too many events. The number of followers is over 38.6 million ...

The muscles of my face are twitching. "Do you know Belle?" I looked back at the classroom. The girls in the middle of changing clothes are talking happily.

"Of course."

"Who is it?"

"Isn't it the one from 'U'?"

"A great Az has appeared, right?"

Really? The response is approaching in real time. I'm really excited. I don't know what kind of face I should have. I lowered myself and tried to leave the classroom. It may have been suspicious. The girl pulling up the socks called out.

"Suzu?"

I left the classroom to escape. After leaving high school, I hurried to the busy arcade town of Obiyamachi. It's important. It's important. It's hard, Hiro-chan! I was in a hurry to walk fast. I couldn't take it by myself. I ran to the front of Hiro-chan's house, but I went too far. I turn back and run to the front door.

"Hello!"

Hiro-chan's mother welcomed me with a summer-like lace top. "Oh, Suzu-chan. Hiroka is in the drawing room." Hiro-chan’s family belongs to the local banker family. In the middle of the city, it was an old-fashioned one-story building, and it was a mansion with many tatami rooms and Western-style rooms. I slammed through the long wooden corridor and jumped into the drawing room.

"Hiro-chan! It's been a big deal! Belle ..."

The drawing room of Sukiya-zukuri was transformed into Hiro-chan's workplace. A large multi-monitor setup connected to a computer sits on a low table, and thick hardcover books and art books are piled up on sofas and rugs.

"I know."

Hiro turned around in a leather chair like a king and looked at me.

"Now, I'm on the global viral chart of 'U' music. As expected."

"No! You're being beaten incredibly!"

I screamed in front of Hiro’s monitors. In contrast, Hiro-chan, who is calm, looks back on the SNS that flows on the sub monitor. “That's as expected. The vested interests are just freaking out and making noise. Hmm. Evidence that only core fans are affirmed. Small and small. In "U", the pros and cons without lies train the real thing."

I held my head in agony and shook myself. "Are you half criticized? I'll die! I'll die! I'll die, I'll die ~~!"

"It means that the other half is evaluated. Be confident!"

Hiro-chan screamed at my dismay.

"What is the secret that was evaluated?"

"... looks just like Luka."

"And?"

"People who arranged it with fun."

"After that?"

"Produced by Hiro-chan. Costumes, dance, and ..."

"It's different! That's right, but it's different!"

Hiro-chan hits a large monitor and shows, "The biggest secret is that this is 'U'! The body sharing technology of 'U' forces the person's hidden abilities. If not, you couldn't sing for the rest of your life, and will keep crying like a child and staying buried. Oh, that's right. Look at this." The screen says "Who is Belle?"

"Bell's identity ... Wow! What are you looking for?"

"These guys laugh at their misguided reasoning. They're all lined up with world-famous celebrities, don't you think?" Hiro-chan laughed devilishly.

"It's not a laugh!"

"No one thinks that Belle's identity is a dainty little girl in such a remote countryside.

"So scary…"

I was horrified to hold my upper arm.

"There's no other shit-interesting game like this. I'll make a high school girl with freckles in front of me a big star in 'U'.

A world-famous designer Az brings clothes to match Belle's costumes and changes them. Hiro-chan’s Az with a round hat instructing it was in sync with Hiro-chan's movements. If Hiro-chan laughs on her shoulders, Hiro-chan’s Az also laughs on her shoulders.

"Oh, it might be a huge income, but don't worry. I'll anonymously put you into various charities without leaving a dollar."

In another window, articles on various social issues such as child poverty and child abuse were scrapped. Hiro is serious and she won't leave a dollar. In that corner, I noticed an article about a single father. You can see a gentle father and two boys, brothers, who look younger than me. Of course, I'm not the only one with a single parent. If Belle succeeds, will they somehow get the money?

Belle sang with an overwhelming voice, standing above the whale.

Lalalai Lalalai

Running through a nameless time

Unbeknown to anybody

To reach that crescent moon

Lalalai Lalalai

Want to get to know you

No matter how many times I awake

Feeling like I can't even make a sound

Even if this cruel fate, this Irresistible destiny

Rushes towards us without time to even think

And if you get blinded by the dust storm

I wanna try believing you

Don't be afraid, it'll be ok, just take a step forward

"Belle!" "Belle!"

The Az called out her name in their mouths, looking up at her.

《Belle is our new diva》

《Isn’t the name “Bell” more suitable for her than “Belle?”>

The spelling is "Belle", isn't it?" "Belle?" "It means" beautiful "in French" "It's perfect for her who isn't always perfect" "Belle" is the best, to say the least !》

The cheers of tens of millions of Az echo in the skyscrapers.

"Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!"

Belle crossed her hand in front of her chest and spread it all at once. At the same time, graphical flowers were emitted all at once from her body. The flowers spread all over the city from the top of the whale that swims leisurely. Belle sang from high, as if to bless every person, every event, every life. When the presence had grown so far, the balloons of the critical Az had completely lost their momentum. What you hear is jealousy and jealousy.

"Unacceptable as a music professional" "Belle is sloppy" "Too careless and overkill" "I don't understand why this much attention is paid"

Peggy Sue is on her own channel, "I'm not kidding! Why is such a child better than me?”

Disturbed her silver hair and shook her anger. However,《Peggie Sue》 (It's over.《People in the past》 《Are you still there?》

Spicy balloons proliferated one after another and eroded the window. Peggy Sue turned blue and tried to stop the growth. However, "Ah? What? Hey! Narrow! Stop! Wow ~~~!" The resistance was empty, and it was filled with balloons in no time.

As Hiro-chan’s Az was proud of, she didn't change.

"Jealousy, the frog in the well! The world has changed with Belle! More excitement! More! The highest Belle ~~~ !!

And burst into laughter so that I could see the back of her mouth.

"Ghahahahaha!"

And the real Hiro-chan also burst into laughter in front of the large monitor.

"Ghahahahaha!"

Then, "What are you laughing at, Hiroka!?"

Behind Hiro-chan, Hiro-chan's father with his arms folded was furious. Next to that, a troubled mother told me that she couldn't help it. "Don't use this room anymore."

[……….]

A relaxed female chorus echoes in the school building. This elementary school I graduated from has been closed down. The rough and grassy ground is a parking lot, and many cars are parked. There is nothing in the children's shoe box at the entrance. In the corridor, long desks for meetings are piled up, and the map of the Niyodo River drawn by the children is peeling off from the wall. There are no more study desks in the classroom, only a triangle ruler, a large monitor, and a disaster prevention helmet are left untidy. On the blackboard, the word "graduation" is left as it was, and it seems that time has stopped. The gymnasium was turned into a storeroom with musical instruments, pipe chairs, benches, etc. that were no longer used. A wooden relief with the face of the graduate is hung on the wall. There were many graduates in the 1990s, but few in the early 2010s. Then one year went on (one of them was me) and there are no more reliefs after that. Five women are singing in front of the gymnasium stage.

Alle psallite cum luya

Alle psallite cum luya

Alle concrepando psallite cum luya

Alle corde voto Deo toto, psallite cum luya

Alleluya

Five bullish women in their teens to 70s, with different professions and lifestyles. This is the chorus club. It is commonly known as the "choir.” The gymnasium is just like a church. The singing voices echo on the ceiling.

When they finish singing, each of them begins to examine the score, taking a breather. In other words, although I was practicing, people from some local government who happened to come to the inspection on that day tended to applaud. The guide of the town hall explained awkwardly. "We are also working on community activities that have been converted from closed schools in this way, and the next one to see is here ....", urging the visitors to the exit. Kita-san, wearing a tie-dye dress, saw them go out and fluttered with a fan to take them back. "I don't feel like practicing a Christmas concert in the rain. It sounds lenient, but the summer solo concert has just ended, and after that, I'm going on a business trip to a welfare facility to participate in a music festival, and the monthly schedule is unexpectedly filled.”

Each of them has a job, which means that they will do it and the next solo performance will be at the end of the year. Once upon a time, my mother was a member of this choir. After mother died, I became a member on her behalf. The members are just that the women who care about me have come to invite me to practice every time. I couldn't sing, so I spent all my time listening to their practice, hiding behind the pillars, and sneaking in with an unvoiced voice. That is how I participate as a "member" that I have been doing since I was a child. I sneaked under the marimba today and secretly sang with a whisper. Ms. Nakai, wearing an orange sleeveless-shirt, crouched down and looked at me, "Suzu! Go out and sing!" I was scared to poke my knees and crawl on all fours to escape.

"Impossible. I can't do it."

"There is no choir member whispering in the shadows. Is it Suzumushi?"

"I'm okay with Suzumushi," said Mr. Hatanaka, who wrapped the stall, as he appeared through the gap between the electronic piano and Tanaka.

"The youngest person should sing in the center."

“I refuse.”

Ms. Yoshitani, who has cute gray hair, sighed with her arms folded. Okumoto says, "I'm in trouble. I don't have a desire for my child now." "She’s turning her back on happiness," says Kita. Ms. Okumoto, who wears a denim jacket and a ponytail, has a habit of putting her hand on her waist.

"Your mom wishes you happiness, I'm sure."

"Happy? How?" I asked them. "How can I be happy?"

“Eh?” The women were stuck in words. "What should I do?" Okumoto blinked as she turned to lick her lips and thought for a moment.

"I'm happy ..."

Ms. Hatanaka was also stuck in words and wrinkled her eyebrows behind her glasses.

“Ah ... happy?"

Mikenre and Kita look up to the heavens as if they were in trouble.

"Wow, wow ..."

Ms. Nakai is trying to express something (happiness?) with awkward gestures. In fact, each of them had their own life. “I have lived with my partner for many years without getting married, I am a single mother of 2 rather than being single for a long time, and I am raising children while caring for my sick spouse.” Meanwhile, Ms. Yoshitani, the oldest person, looked around the other four people and put her hand on her chest and smiled, "Actually, even if I become such a grandmother, I do not know what happiness is."

That's right, Ms. Yoshitani said that we were not qualified to talk about happiness, and the other four were settled.

I was looking around each of these women through the gaps in the electronic piano. Then, ".......What are those eyes! Did you compare us?" Said Ms. Kita, raising her eyebrows. "Who had the most correct answer?" Ms. Hatanaka glared at the back of her glasses. "If there was a correct answer, I wouldn't be so fluttering!" Ms. Nakai screams.

Her eyes are scary. I shrank behind the electronic piano. I'm actually shivering.

[………..]

From the crossing corridor, I looked down at the basketball court where Shinobu-kun was doing 10N1. Nobody is here. Only the ball is on the court. If I look closely, unforgettable memories will come back. This is one such scene.

[……..]

Evening. No one approaches me, who is 6 years old and keeps crying while crouching alone. Shinobu-kun comes over with a ball in his hand. Shinobu-kun listens while standing. "Why are you crying?"

I don't answer anything and keep crying.

"Why don't you say anything?"

“……”

I don't answer anything.

[……..]

I can always remember this time. It's an important memory that I don't know how many times I've remembered. I will keep remembering it every time so that I will not forget it. Even if I grow up or become a grandmother like Ms. Yoshitani, I've always been all the time…

I didn't notice that there was someone next to me.

".....Suzu."

When I was called, I finally noticed and looked surprised.

“……… Shinobu-kun?” I sweat. What kind of face did I have? Cold sweat gushes out. I don't want to show him a strange face.

"How is your dad?"

"I-I guess he’s doing okay.”

"What's that? Suzu, are you eating properly?"

"I'm eating."

I felt overwhelmed and tried to leave the place. Shinobu-kun grabbed my hand as I was about to go.

"?"

I looked up. Frequent to the touch of the hand. Shinobu listened calmly.

"What happened?"

"... Nothing."

I turned my face down unintentionally. Please don't look at me making such a face.

"Something happened, right?"

"No."

I turned away. However, Shibobu-kun said, "Look at me."

"... I can't show you."

"It’s fine, show me."

I'm saying I can't show you ... He was at a loss, but he had no choice but to turn his face slowly.

............

Shinobu looked at my eyes with straight eyes.

"Tell me?"

......

At that time, I had such eyes. Young Shinobu crouched down and looked into my face,

I asked, "Do you want me to say it?"

Eyes that are the same as those days.

[.............]

I remember and get sick. Then, I felt multiple eyes on me, "Huh ...?" The girls are aware and rushing towards us. Terrible. After waving away Shinobu-kun's hand, I quickly left the place.

"……Suzu!"

I didn't look back when I was called by Shinobu-kun, and turned the corner of the corridor with a quick footstep. I have to say it properly. I put my back on the bent wall, checked the feel of the hand that held it, and practiced in my mouth. "Shinobu-kun. I'm different from me when I was in elementary school. I'm not the only child I've been worried about forever. I don't have ..." Let's say it properly. I made up my mind and went back the way I came. Beyond the crossing corridor, there was Shinobu-kun. I have to tell you. However, my foot stopped on the way.

[.......]

Luca was in front of Shinobu-kun. She pointed to the pages of the textbook and smiled happily at Shinobu-kun. There was a brilliant beauty that no one could enter. A perfect smile, blessed inside. Behind the scenes, the girls are looking at them with a smile. I used to be crazy, but now I feel relieved. I'm going to understand why they do that.

[........]

I swallowed what I was trying to tell Shinobu-kun, and it got stuck in my chest. And then Shinobu left the place as if nothing had happened.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Translated fanart from pixiv.

Original image: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/91359544

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ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) | Magazine Article Scans

Here are the scans for the Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime article from the Nikkei Entertainment August 2021 issue.

Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/qy1ksf88uog8d96/%255BBelle_magazine%255D.rar/file

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ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) | Picture Book Scans

Here are the scans for the Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime Anime Picture Book that came out a few days ago. It seems to be a summarized novelization of the story, with screenshots from the movie. I will try to machine translate this as well.

Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/aska4b3arxattyd/Belle_Anime_Picture_Book.rar/file

Sample:

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ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) | Novel Illustrations

Here are the images from the Tsubasa Bunko version of the Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime novel. I have also machine-translated+edited the Character Introduction and Chapters pages.

Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/f785hnkf6erwle6/%255BBelle_Tsubasa_Bunko_images%255D.rar/file

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ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 4

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 4: U

I went home and opened my MacBook. While shivering in the cold, I clicked on the link sent by Hiro-chan. The letter "U" slowly emerges on a pitch-black screen with a wave-like sound. ".......U?" My tattered face covered in vomit was illuminated by the light of the monitor. The invitation page will be launched and a message will be displayed.

[ "U" is another reality

"Az" is another you

Reality cannot be redone

But with "U" you can start over

Let's live another you

Let's start a new life

Let's change the world ]

I forgot about the cold and was looking forward to it. The smartphone placed next to it was linked and the app started automatically. A registration screen appears on my MacBook monitor. It says "NAME".

"Name...."

I hesitated. There was a feeling of resistance. However, contrary to my feelings, I reach out towards my keyboard.

"S" "u" "z" …….

I type in steadily.

"U".

At that moment, a strong anxiety arose. I impulsively press the delete key. I slammed the keys to erase it and closed my MacBook.

[............]

I curled up and sighed, shivering. "I'm next to Luka" I found Luka on the bench in the courtyard. The girls are gathering together and surrounding Luka-chan. The first grade is almost over, so it seemed like everyone was going to take a picture.

"Mr. Watanabe's Yokozaro"

"Eh~? No fair!"

"I like Luka-chan's soba." Ako was envious of the shining Luka-chan from behind the pillars of piloti. I was jealous of the girls who could be photographed with Luka.

"Mr. Watanabe, look over here. I'll take a picture," urged the girl who played the role of the camera, and Luka looked in front of her. Then she waved towards us as she suddenly noticed.

"Ah. Suzu-chan!"

"Eh?" Luca beckoned to me, who was scared.

"Suzu-chan is also included!"

The girls looked at me all at once. Why? Is written on the face. I'm in a hurry

I hid in a pillar, then I looked a little and turned my palm.

"No, no, I", but Luca continued to beckon me.

"It’ll be fast!” Later, the image was sent. A group photo of girls with cute V signs, centered on Luca. There is my face full of freckles mixed with it. The position just behind Luka. Like the spirit behind her, I have an awkward V sign. When I tried to register for "U" again, I was asked for a photo of my face. I don’t have a photo of my face. I don't bother to point the camera at myself.

So, I used the image at this time for registration.

Face recognition markers are displayed on everyone. Which one are you? I moved the cursor and selected the freckled face behind Luka.

The text "A / I automatically generates a new Az" appears. At the same time, there is an annotation, "What is Az?". << The name of the avatar in "U" and another you >>

Another you.

Soon, the rendered Az was displayed.

"That ...?" There was a terrifyingly beautiful Az, far from me. You can say it's just like Luka-chan, not me. "Luka-chan? Why ..."

AI was confused with Luca, who was right next to my image. If so, what an awkward artificial intelligence! While the difference must be corrected. I hit the back button repeatedly.

"No. Back, back. Cancel ...", but suddenly I stopped pressing the button. Red spot-like patterns were clearly drawn on both cheeks of the Az.

"Freckles ..." I put my hand on my cheek. Isn't it my freckles? "Maybe I .....?" I slowly typed in each character in the "NAME" field of the registration screen. This time it's not "Suzu".

"B" "e" “l” “l” “e”

"Bell" = “Suzu”

When I decide on the name "... Bell", the Az in front of me suddenly seems to be adorable. "Cancel" and "OK" buttons are displayed on the screen, prompting you to make a selection.

"What should I do..…"

To make this beauty Az me, I'm not courageous and I'm afraid. On the other hand, no matter how far she is from me in reality, I also think. Rather, it is the world of the Internet that is far away. There are many examples of flashy names and icons on SNS.

"U" is a virtual world and Az is a virtual personality. Privacy is strictly protected. It claims that anonymity is strictly guaranteed. Then no one should blame you. Then, at the next moment, I'm at a loss. In the first place, why did AI of "U" automatically generate such a beautiful Az for me? Is it just a coincidence created by uncertainty? Or is it deep inside my heart? Are you seeing through your true desires? Or ...

It's time to select "Cancel or OK".

A late-night study room with only desk lights. In front of the MacBook screen, I decided to take a slow breath and trim. --Now, let's live another you-in my head, the message of "U" was refrained. "Click" I clicked OK.

At that moment, as if you were preparing, the "U" app on your smartphone started automatically. You can hear the announcement of a calm tone voice.

"Please attach the device"

As per the instruction screen, take out the earphone type device from the case and take it out. I put it on my ear.

"I'm reading your biometric information ..."

The letter "U" on the device glows blue and shimmers. With just one vise, you can get all the information about human beings as living things. It seems that you can do it. And in a very short time. "Done," the announcement said. Then I continued as if I was checking.

"Start body sharing"

It sounds like something is spinning at high speed. Head circumference. There was a feeling that the surroundings were covered with dense air. It seems that it was brought about by the strong magnetic field developed by the device, and perhaps because of that, the hair lifts up softly as if it were in a weightless space.

"First, vision comes under control."

The feel of the magnetic field seemed to concentrate on the back of the head. I slowly open my eyes. "Ah!" A dazzling white light rushed into my eyes.

It's a cloth. White cloths that were more than 10 meters long overlapped, fluttering and fluttering in the wind. I looked at my body as if I were checking my body, and was shocked. My feet are floating in the air. The announcement echoes, as if it were an announcement from heaven.

"Other cognitive functions and deep limb sensations come under control."

What do you mean? There were no words in that unrealistic space. Sweat gushes from the whole body, and the heart beats.

"The feeling of physical independence and physical possession moves to your registered Az." Something slowly approaches from behind. Pink hair. It was the "shadow" of Az that I registered earlier. However, it’s face is flat and white like a plate with nothing on it.

[.........]

I'm just stunned. "Shadow" overlaps. The feeling that another body gets inside me is unpleasant. The shadow of Az was fine-tuned by moving the position back and forth so that it would be in focus, but it fits perfectly immediately. Immediately, the discomfort I had just disappeared somewhere. Beyond the fluttering white cloth, I saw a large white door. I reach out my hands as I slowly approach. The announcement announced. "Welcome to the world of 'U'"

I pressed my hands against the door and opened it vigorously. When I jumped out, I saw a group of skyscrapers that filled my view. "Ah!" On the bustling boulevard that intersects three-dimensionally, a large number of people, not humans, Az-- are floating in the air. Az that imitate animals, insects, marine life, vases and set squares, Az that imitate bicycles, half-beasts and goddesses that are likely to appear in fiction, Az that imitate warriors ... , Az in all kinds of shapes are flying around while chatting loudly. When I look up at the night sky, the lights of countless windows blink, not from the twinkling stars, but from the skyscrapers hanging upside down. Another reality. Another world. Is this "U"? Powder snow is dancing. It's a little chilly. When I opened my hands to take the powder snow in the palm of my hand, I saw a white arm and long, thin fingers in my eyes.

[...]

I was surprised at the difference in physical sensation and looked as if I was checking my body. Her slender body and long legs are wrapped in a white dress that looks like a newborn.

Is this me?

Let's live another you.

The message of "U" was refrained in my head.

[............]

There, I noticed multiple eyes and looked forward. Some Az in the crowd are looking at me. However, as soon as I glanced at it, I went there. You may be a little beautiful, but this is "U". To that extent, nothing is unusual here. That was convenient. No one cares. Then you might be able to do what you've always wanted to do. When I raise my face, I take a deep breath and try to speak out.

The voice was undeniably my own voice. It's much more relaxed than I expected. I tried humming so that the nasal cavity would resonate instead of stretching. Sounds smoother than I imagined. Is it conveniently corrected because the body is virtual? But I don't feel that the sound is far from my consciousness. Is it because the scanned biometric information is accurate? Anyway…

I can't believe it. "I could sing ...!"As the powder snow dances fantastically, my voice rebels against the skyscrapers. It is echoing. How many years has it been since you sung properly? It was irresistible that I could immediately make a voice as I imagined, even though there was a blank and I hadn't done any preparatory movements. It feels like I've got a lot of freedom, and at the same time I'm a little scared. How is biometric information transformed into this output? What is Az? Anyway,

"Oh, I finally sang ...!"

I was very happy about this. I decided to sit down and sing a song with the lyrics properly. Of course there is no accompaniment, but is it okay?

[ I want to see a world where such a small melody pierces through a happy song

I wake up every morning and look for a future without you

I don't want to imagine the unpleasant singing ]

The lyrics translated into various languages ​​around me. Many languages, it surrounds me as a belt. Gaelic, Thai, Persian ...

All languages ​​overlap. If a song is detected, will it be displayed automatically without any settings? In addition, the synthetic voice singing in some languages ​​sounds faint, although the types are limited. Maybe because of that, "Hmm ...?"

Az and others who should have ignored me, suddenly look back and look at me.

"Ah ...?" Many Az in the building area are standing in the air one after another. I didn't mean to do that. I was just trying to check the condition of the technology called body sharing. However, it seems that more Az are gathering and listening than I expected. It's very embarrassing to think of myself as a street musician in a virtual world. However, it cannot be stopped on the way. Let's sing to the end, for myself. I continued thinking so.

[But I don't know the correct answer anymore.

It seems that it's going well except for me. Will it still come tomorrow?

Song, guide me, whatever happens, song, beside me, love, approach ]

From the Az who were listening, balloons displaying comments one after another appeared.

"What is this?" "Who is singing?" "Mysterious song"

At first, the content was cautious, as if watching the situation.

However, it gradually became less reluctant. For some reason, the only people who made comments such as "noisy", "strange songs", and "don't be pretentious" were Az with a cute appearance that I couldn't say such a thing. Wearing a frilly pink dress, a little animal, or a baby holding a teddy bear.

"Her looks aren't bad" "What's that freckled face (laughs)" Various tweets fly while singing. I do not mind. I'm singing for me. However, I was hurt by the words thrown at me. It ’s hard to say that only a small number of people will say

You can see it from here as well. hard. It may have appeared on the face. Furthermore, the words escalated. "I feel bad" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" I managed to finish singing before my feelings broke down. The noisy Az sighed and sighed, sighing and leaving. I had no choice but to see them off with disappointment,

"Belle"

Called my name, I looked up.

"……ah"

Something slipped in, "Eh? ... Ah," once I sprinkled the glittering scales, and once I went all the way down, it slowly stopped on my hand. It was a mysterious Az, like a white fairy, like an angel, like a clionidae. If you look closely, you can see that the body is transparent with the delicacy of warabi mochi. While swaying the wings of both hands, he said in a slightly traumatic tone.

"You are wonderful. You are beautiful."

That said, I felt saved.

"....... Fufufu. Thank you."

When I woke up, it was morning. Before I knew it, I was lying on my bed. Was last night a dream? It still has a fresh feeling. I looked at my smartphone to make sure. I have a profile page for Belle. It wasn't a dream. If you look under the bell icon, there is a column showing the number of followers.

《Belle: 0 followers》

That number is zero.

"There are no followers ....." I muttered while staring at the screen. "The world doesn't change anything." I didn't ask for it, but I felt a little disappointed.

When I thought, a beep sounded. The number of followers became "1" in front of me. That angel Az. A comment balloon appears. It was a blank space with nothing written on it. I laid down my smartphone, lay on my back on the bed, and remembered last night. There were many unplanned things. However, "But I finally sang ..." Above all, my heart was refreshed. The light of the winter morning looked dazzling. It's been a while since I've had such a refreshing feeling. Then there was a second follow-up notice. It was Hiro-chan. A cute bird-shaped Az with a round hat.

In the comment of "Re: I tried it for the first time"

<< This is Hiro. Belle is the best. I'll do anything >>

-------------------

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 3

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 3: Memory

"Mother."

"What is it, Suzu?"

When I called, my mother turned around and replied.

Eleven years ago. The house was still new. There was no garage yet, and potted flowers were lined up all over the garden. "Do not cut my hair."

I told her that and ran down the slope in front of my house. Mom walked down the stairs opposite her, resting her hand on her waist and waiting. I ran away in the opposite direction, bouncing, saying that I would never let my hair be cut. But I was taken back without a hitch. She was seated on a bench in the garden and dressed in a haircut cape. “I’m going to make you look cute, Suzu.” After cutting my hair, I don't like the tingling of my hair. She shook her legs and sharpened her lips. But when she held the scissors without hesitation, she cut my hair all at once. "Because you’re going to be an elementary school student," I hope the hair on both sides doesn't stick to my shoulders. The bangs were far above the eyebrows. Even when I went to school, my neck was tingling for a while.

I played a lot with my mother. I took a sumo wrestling on the lawn of the riverbed in the evening. I pushed her by force and my mother rolled on the grass. I won, I laughed happily. Mother also laughed. I asked why? Won’t she cry if she loses? Mom shook her head. “I'm glad that the weak Suzu has become stronger.” Dad was laughing while lying on the grass. My mother often made salted seared meat. She lightly sprinkles salt and roasts the bonito stabbed on a gold skewer from her lenticel over an open flame on the stove. I was staring from the top of the chair. Since the fat drips, the microwave oven will not get dirty if you bake it while sucking it with cooking paper. When it gets burnt, dip it in ice water to cool it, and then drain it. It was a style. So as a kid, I had a hard time holding a thick piece of salted meat with chopsticks, and I had a hard time putting it in my mouth. Mom was waiting for dad's return, holding a mug and watching my struggle.

My dad was a salaryman at that time, and he wore a tie and went out to the city every day. Perhaps because of that, we had some money in our house in the old days. Mother bought a state-of-the-art smartphone at the time. I decided to try out the performance of the on-board camera, and on dad's lap, I pointed my smartphone at my mom. I asked dad to help put mom in the frame and pressed the shutter. She is dressed in white.

The smiling mother, she was beautiful. The photo of her was printed on paper and is still at the house. I was a cheerful child running around, unlike now. I definitely liked playing outside rather than inside the house. If there were trees, I climbed, if there were leaves, I tore them, and if there were insects, I chased them. But it didn't burn in the sun. I must have been such a constitution. Instead, my face is freckled.

I was often injured. My knee was also full of scratches. In the woods, on the riverbed, on the slope in front of my house, I often stumbled and fell. My mother ran up in a hurry and she hugged me tightly, crying in pain. Mysteriously, it hurts somewhere. That's when I was happy. I don't know how many times I fell because I ran around vigorously and wanted mother to hug me. Every time mother rushed in as if it was a big deal for her daughter and worried. Every day was like summer vacation. I clung to mother doing the laundry and cleaning and played. After lunch, she opened the tatami mat, laid a summer futon on the tatami mats, and we took a nap together. The smoke of the mosquito coil was rising slowly. When I woke up, most of the time, I couldn't see my mother sleeping next to me, and she was busy doing housework. In retrospect, she never been told me that she is busy. She was always with me when I asked for it. Since my house was in the mountains, I rarely went out to eat somewhere, and instead my mother cooked any kind of food. One day she saw it in a picture book, and she said she wanted to eat yakitori. She had never eaten it before. My mother made yakitori by sticking chicken on skewers one by one. For the first time in my life, I saw yakitori with the naked eye. I didn't know how to eat it, so I couldn't do well by chewing the meat and removing it from the skewers. Dad and mom were staring at me. Never missing what her daughter experiences for the first time in her life. The place where we, who live in the mountains, go out to play is not an amusement park or a shopping mall, but a campsite further in the mountains from our house.

On a sunny summer day, my mom and I wore a wide-brimmed hat and crossed the subsidence bridge. Dad was carrying a lot of camping equipment. The water crystal pool in the depths of the Yasui Valley was a breathtaking blue color even for us living in the area. The water is so transparent that you can clearly see your shadow on the bottom of the river. I feel a little scared as if I were floating in the air. My mother was an advanced swimmer. She boasted that her mother, who was once a local kid, swam like a kappa every day in the summer. She knew all about the fun of the river. At the same time, she never let her swim in dangerous places on dangerous days. Mom wraps around me, floating. She dived into the water to show her off her skills. Still picked up by her, I became anxious and called out. “Mom, don't go.” But mom, she swam in the blue water, as if she couldn't hear me.

One evening, I was playing with my mother's smartphone and saw a strange app. I put it on. When you launch the app, you'll see white and black horizontal stripes lined up. I pointed to what this was and asked my dad who was next to me. Dad looked it and twisted his neck, calling mother, who was preparing dinner. After dinner, mother's hand fixed the smartphone I was holding vertically. I laid it down and found it to be a piano keyboard. As prompted, I pressed one of the keys. There was a "do" sound. I looked at my mother's face. My mother also saw my face, saying that she had come out. It's mom’s music production app. Only then did I look around my mother's room and notice. Old records, cassette tapes, and CDs are lined up on the shelves to the end. And if you set them on a record player or cassette deck and pass them through an amplifier, music will be played from the left and right speakers. The collection was a brilliant one that accurately captured the main points of the history of classical, jazz and rock. I didn’t know at the time, the value and meaning of such a lineup being packed in a room at the end of the world.

In that room, I pressed the keys of the app one after another and recorded. When played, each sound sounds in the order in which they are arranged. Even if you enter an insane scale, it will play back in a lawful manner. I was so happy that I bounced on my chair. My mother was laughing too. Warm incandescent light was illuminating us. After that, I was crazy about this app. I had my mother lend me a smartphone and I was playing around with it day, night and morning. The operation was intuitive and easy to use. There were words that I couldn’t read because it wasn’t a children's app. And there were many functions I didn't understand. But I was absorbed in that kind of thing. I was completely absorbed in the exciting new experience of writing songs. I composed a number of songs and previewed them in front of my mother. The mother who finished listening gave me advice in short words each time. If you do xxx, it will be better, or the trick is to do xxx. She sometimes took out some of the records in the collection and listened to them for reference. My mother is neither a musician nor a composer.

I think each piece of advice is accurate even if I look back on it now. Over and over again, she listened to my melody, and she said she noticed something, and she sang herself to make sure it was. When I asked, she said it wasn't bad. She said she was smirking at me as she said. I put the sound in a place that I wouldn't normally put it. I'm sure this song was a failure, and all the work I've done so far will be ruined. But as it gradually takes shape, it seems strangely cohesive, she said. I felt as happy as I wanted to. I'm sure it's my parents' favor, but even if my mother added, I was happy. For me, I'm not making it with the intention of letting someone else listen to it. It would have been nice if only my mother could listen to it. My mother sings along with the song I typed in. Take the tempo with her right hand and sing gently. The voice of mother, who was also a member of the chorus made by her friends, echoed and was transparent.

She listened to my weird songs many times. I was happy and sang along with it. Anyway, it’s a song that is as nice as my mother.

I couldn't. Happy memories of me and mother suddenly end here. And that August has come. After this, all I have is a painful, painful memory. The voice of a little girl crying and crying echoed in the riverbank. A girl was left alone on a sandbar. Is she 4 or 5 years old? She looked smaller than I was. It was so sunny just a while ago, but I noticed it wasn't a blue sky, and it was covered with overcast clouds. The beautiful and calm river was cloudy, flooded, driftwood-filled, and surprisingly fast. I can imagine that it is raining heavily upstream. Before this happened, there were people happily making noise on the opposite bank when the flow was still transparent. They are now staring at the girl on this shore. She wore colorful outdoor clothing that made it easy to see that she probably came from the city, not a local. The girls' clothes were also bright colors that I had never seen. Why did people from the city overlook the girls' flashy colored clothes? Why did she forget her existence and she came back to this shore? What to do with friends, their families, and those who enjoyed fishing and canoeing on the riverbanks.

It seemed that she couldn't do anything, and she had no choice but to stand and look like a stick. It's no wonder you're standing. The violent flow of the river separated the girl from the people. Everyone realized that it couldn't be helped. One of the adults was talking to someone on his cell phone. However, everyone can see that where the girl is, is gradually narrowing. Everyone is aware that it is very unlikely that the rescue team will arrive in time. Therefore, I have no choice but to stand up without being able to do anything. Is it just listening to the girl's crying as it is? At that time, someone picked up the red life jacket beside the canoe.

I went forward while staring at the girl. She was a mother. Mommy, and I hurriedly clung to the hem of her mother's clothes. She realized that what her mother was trying to do was too dangerous. She wouldn't have been anxious. She screamed and pulled hard, trying not to let her go. Mom crouched down and squeezed my hand, and she told me something. At that time I can't remember what mother said. Maybe I was screaming and not ready to hear the words. Mom stood up to shake off my chasing and ran, locking the buckle on her life jacket. I fell down on a stone in the riverbank trying to chase her. Still, I got up and shouted at mother's back. Don't go. I think mom didn’t hear my words. While checking the girl's whereabouts, I went around the river, went into the water, and got in the stream to help. It started to rain.

How long has it passed since then? Suddenly the surroundings became noisy. The girl was rescued from the river. Adults are pulling the soaked and tired girl out of the river. I was staring at while getting wet in the rain. People running up. A mixture of joyful voices and crying voices. Are you okay? Open your eyes. I'm glad I was saved ... The girl was wearing the same red life jacket that her mother wore. At that moment, I understood at once what was happening. Mom isn’t here.

"Mother ..... Mother .....!"

I looked left and right, searching for her.

Not anywhere.

"Mother ...!"

In the distance, I heard an ambulance siren. The girl was wrapped in a blanket.

Carried by many adults, she leaves the riverbank. Everyone is crazy about it and realizes that my mom isn't there.

She isn't.

"Mom!" Only I raised my voice and kept calling. Many times. Many times. Many times. I don't remember much after that. When I heard that my mother was found all the way down the river, it seemed like a lie. It wasn't long before I realized that the mug that mother was using was missing. Dad put a picture of mother, which he took someday, in a picture frame and put it in a corner of the kitchen. He had to add flowers every day next to it. Neighbors bothered to talk to me every time I met them on the road, listened to me in a friendly way, and encouraged me with tears. Meanwhile, the Internet was flooded with anonymous posts about the accident.

"It's a suicide act to jump into a river flooded by rain"

"It seems that she was confident in swimming, but it's different from the pool."

《It is irresponsible for my child to help someone else's child and die》

《If there is an accident, playing in the river will be a nuisance and annoying》

《Because helping people is a good person, this is what happens》

The person who wrote it probably didn't know anything about the actual situation, and the day after he wrote it, he probably forgot what he wrote. However, the person who wrote it keeps sticking in my chest forever. Immediately after the accident, an acquaintance told me with resentment that it was terrible when I saw this. In front of these words, I was too young to understand all the meanings. However, as I grew up and became able to understand the meaning of the words accurately, I continued to suffer from the unconscious malice contained in them. Losing mother.

How should I pass on these writings as a bereaved family, even though I still can't accept them, as if the mother who helped me was all bad?

Aside from me, my mother just smiled in the picture frame in the kitchen. From that accident, I think something has changed decisively from what I used to be. One evening, in mother's room, where dust began to build up, I stood on her chair, hoping to return to her happy memories. And I sang the song I sang with mother. But when I started singing, I realized I couldn't sing at all. My voice became stuck in the back of my throat and couldn't get out of my mouth. I was confused. Something in my heart was suppressing me from singing. Why can't I sing? Tears came out.

Hey mom. Why can't I sing?

It was clear that the reason why singing was so fun and necessary was because my mother listened to it.

However, just because you can't sing... You don't have to worry about anything. Even if you can't sing, no one will blame you. Life just goes on. I went to a local junior high school. The jumper skirt uniform was stuffy. Many of the elementary school classmates went to the town as they went on to school, and there were not half of the students remaining in the local area, so even in junior high school, it became a compound class. Therefore, the chorus practice was accompanied by the vice-principal teacher, and it was decided to sing in all grades. There were three people in all grades. Because there were only three people, I quickly realized that I was just lip-synching without singing. I was asked why I didn't sing, but I didn't say anything. I thought they would get angry, but they didn't get angry. It means that only I can visit from the next practice.

I sat alone in a corner of the music class and watched everyone practice. I may have looked like a lethargic girl who was just silent. But inside that, there are things that can't be translated into words.

I think it was swirling. When I left school and returned home, I irresistibly entered mother's room in the twilight. The twilight light was shining through the window. Cardboard boxes containing tableware and seasonal home appliances that are no longer in use are piled up on the table. It was completely turned into a storeroom. It's been many years since then. It has passed. I listened to the large number of records there, one by one from the edge of the shelf. Days, days, days. By listening earnestly, I managed to calm my rough feelings. But one day, there was a moment when I thought I couldn't bear it anymore. Upon returning, I entered my mother's room, sat down in front of the keyboard, quickly opened the report sheet, and began to write fiercely with a pen to spit out the incomprehensible feelings in my chest. I was almost suffocating if I didn't spit it out. I turned over the paper and continued to write forever. -Why did mother leave me in the river? Why did she choose to help the child who she didn't even know her name rather than live with me? Why am I alone? Why, why, why – I added paper, supplemented with post-it notes, and wrote long, long lyrics. The scale that springs up is notated long and long. Those that were neither were spit out as pictures. It was a swirl of many kinds. It was like a whirlpool floating on the surface, like a black hole that swallowed everything, and like a hole in the top of my head. The floor of the room was filled with pieces of paper with a mixture of lyrics, pictures and sheet music. But suddenly..... I returned to myself and stopped writing. Right now, I've noticed the worthlessness, meaninglessness, ugliness, and helplessness of the words, pictures, and scales I wrote.

What are you doing? I broke the paper. Everything I've written so far.

I threw it in the trash can without hesitation. The bundle of paper looked like a vomit that I had just spit out. Then I became a high school student.

I finally found myself worthless. The uniform tie was stuffy. I crossed the subsidence bridge while looking down and went to school. I took an exam and passed the exam at a junior and senior high school in the center of the city, and transferred from high school. There, I met my childhood friend Shinobu-kun again.

"Shizu.."

"Shinobu-kun ..."

Now that I was in high school, Shinobu-kun looked tall and shining, all different. On the other hand, I didn't seem to have grown at all since then, and I was irresistibly embarrassed and couldn't even talk. What have I been doing so far? I started a new life going to the city from the mountains, but I couldn't get into studying. Even though I had a hard time taking the exam, I just looked out the window during class. Knowing that this shouldn't be the case. Club activities didn't go anywhere. There were very few such students. On the way home, you can see the students devoting themselves to club activities. The track and field club is jumping the training hurdle in a line in the courtyard. The volleyball club is running on the ground. A percussionist in the brass band with a metronome in his ear is striking a stick in the hallway. The Naginata club sits upright in the martial arts hall with a good posture, and thank you for your cooperation, saying before the practice. The first-year students of the baseball club, who have not yet been numbered, stand side by side and watch as if they are digging into the practice of their seniors. I didn't belong anywhere, so I left school quickly. It was already winter. There is a river called Kagami River that flows from east to west in the center of the city. Since the flow is often gentle, the TV tower and buildings on the opposite bank are reflected like a mirror. When I returned to the station through the road beside it, the girls of the light music club carrying the "Chahahaha" musical instrument case overtook me with a light step while laughing. A cute cat-shaped stuffed animal attached to the school bag is shaking. Attached to my school bag was a cheesy plastic plate of "Gutto Koremaru". "Gutto Koremaru" is an egg-shaped character who can poke his hand against the wall and endure the pain. I have a crack in my head, probably because I endured it too much. Of course, it's not cute.

In a dark and narrow corridor.

I resisted, "I can't do it! Hey!", But I was pulled into the room, saying "OK." The soundproof door slammed behind me. Shinboku "Ah!" There was a flashy room in a karaoke box, and the pink and purple lights were spinning mysteriously. It smells of incense. Only for girls in the class.

I heard that it was a social gathering, but when I saw the frenzy of the girls standing on the sofa and shaking their heads, I thought that I could not get into this tension very much.

"Peggie Sue is cute"

"This is the one that is popular in" U ", isn't it?" On the monitor screen on the wall, the popular Az of "U", Peggy Sue, was seen singing in a black rubber dress. Purple lipstick that shakes silver hair. An eccentric beauty with red eyes. Peggy Sue? "U"? Az? Is it popular? I don't know anything. It's like an event in a different world from me. Then, Hitomi suddenly offered a microphone, "Yes." Sing, and so on. "Huh?" Puzzled. Neither the coat nor the muffler is taken off. But "yes" the microphone was pointed again. Why for a child like me who is at the end of a class?

"Sing together?"

"Hey, sing."

The shadows of the girls press the microphones. What do you mean?

"Are you not going to sing alone?"

"Isn't it a lie that you can't sing?"

I see, so it’s this situation.

Dozens of microphones are forced against my face one after another. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

"Sing"

"Hey, sing?"

"Sing"

Those voices sound like a threat.

"You're telling me to sing."

"Sing!"

"Sing!"

Ahh!

Immediately, the microphone popped off and fell to the floor.

The girls dancing on the sofa suddenly saw me. It's calming down as if I was taken aback.

"What happened? Suzu-chan"

The mic and the shadows of the girls disappeared like a phantom.

"No, nothing. I'm sorry. Hey ..."

Without saying anything, I pushed the door of the karaoke box open by force and went out like crawling. Someone might have heard and told everyone that I couldn't sing.

When I got off the bus, powder snow was flying. I almost slipped down the slope from the bus stop. Even in Kochi, it usually snows in the mountains, aside from the city. When I crossed the subsidence bridge, I heard a crackling sound of thin ice. The surface of the concrete bridge is frozen.

Cold. It's not dexterous enough to get used to everyone, and it's not divisible. On the other hand, I’m not strong enough to be alone, not prepared, and have no idea.

I don't do anything selfish. Rumors that you can't sing, that's a lie. I'm just not confident in myself for a while. I want to get along with everyone. Really. I know. Of course I know. So "Ah ... Ah ..."

In the middle of the bridge, I impulsively exhaled my voice.

"Ah ... ah ... ah ah"

As I breathed in, cold air sank into my throat. Still, I sang towards the river. "Ah..”

Did I sing? It didn't match a song. It's just a growl. The bag slipped off my shoulder. Will you forgive me if I sing? Can I get along with everyone if I sing? It doesn't help to sing alone in such a place. It's like a scream of a dead end before being crushed. Still, I sang that song with my mother with a squeezed voice. I was happy back then. It's different now. Powder snow was swirling in the flow of the river. Suddenly, in front of me it became pitch black. Nausea swelled from the back of my stomach, and I held my mouth with both hands.

"Uuuuu!"

I crouched on my knees. However, I couldn't stand the momentum of the backflowing gastric juice. I pushed my body forward and vomited towards the clear stream under the bridge. The vomit that was about to kneel and vomit fell to the surface of the water, creating a number of ripples. I spit out everything in my stomach and fell on the bridge. My hair is messed up and my mouth is smeared with gastric juice and smells. It's already spicy. I want to get rid of everything. Shivering and crying as if groaning. Drops of tears ooze on my cold cheeks and tingle. I wish I were gone.

I could hear the slight sound of powder snow folding and piled up right next to me. A notification came to the smartphone that slipped off my bag. It was a message from Hiro-chan.

<< Look at this, Suzu. It’s so amazing that I’m seriously laughing. >>

There is a link to somewhere.

-------------------

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 2

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 2: Suzu

"Buhaa!"

I got up from a thin futon and took a big breath.

That made me almost hit my head against the low ceiling. This is a shabby attic in the countryside, with rafters supporting the roof approaching just above the bed. "Ah, ah .... ah ..."

It's morning. The sunlight is dazzling. The feeling of the glittering world up to that point remains. I close my eyelids because I want to reach for the residue. Certainly I was standing at the tip of the whale's nose and singing. Wearing gorgeous costumes, singing freely. When I open my eyelids, in front of me is a smartphone on the sheets with the display turned off. On the dark surface, you can see yourself illuminated by the sun. The faded pajamas I've been wearing since I was in junior high school. Messy hair from sleeping. Half-open eyes.

And the freckles scattered on my cheeks. It makes me very depressed. I sigh. Then, I heard my father's voice from the first floor, "Suzu? What's wrong?" I feel impatient. Of course, this isn't a soundproof room, it's just a miserable 7-year-old girl's room. The only way to prevent the sound from leaking out is to wrap it in a futon. Was my voice louder than usual? If so ... The cold sweat of regret floats on my back. "No, it’s nothing ...!"

I hurriedly reply that while crawling on all fours off the bed. What if he’s suspicious and comes upstairs? No, I don't think he’ll come. I changed into my uniform and went downstairs. I didn't see my father. He may be preparing to go to work. He opened the porch and left the window down to let in the cool morning air. He lightly cleaned the living room and dining room and cleaned up the magazines left on the table. While boiling the water, I put the flowers in the garden in a vase and placed it next to the photo frame in the kitchen. He puts a tea bag in a mug and pours hot water. Steam with the scent of black tea boils. My mother is still smiling in the picture frame today.

I'm eating rice. I was sitting on the porch, drinking tea. Dad, who wore a dark blue T-shirt on his tanned skin, came out to the garage with a backpack containing work tools on his shoulders. "Suzu, I’m leaving." I replied, keeping my mouth on the mug. "... Okay" "What about dinner?" "... I’m fine."

"... I see. Then, I'll go." Dad must have been in trouble. I could understand without looking. The engine of a four-wheel drive vehicle starts. After backing up, it turns back and goes down the slope. The sound of the tires travelling across the pebbles slowly drifts away.

I wonder how long I will not make eye contact with him. How long has it been since I stopped talking properly? I wonder how much time has passed since we stopped eating together. There was a notification sound. A balloon pops up on the screen of the smartphone. "Belle is the best beauty created by the virtual world "U." Languages ​​around the world are translated instantly.

"Very unique and rare song" "Belle's song is full of self-confidence" "The most notable presence in 3 billion accounts"

The text balloons went up one after another, competing for the lead, and in a blink of an eye filled the area around the bell icon. But I have no joy, no sense of accomplishment, no sense of exhilaration. No matter how much attention Belle gets, it doesn't matter. With my mouth in my rimmed mug, I shut myself in my shell. The balloon with one comment swells up significantly. It is one of the functions of balloons to enlarge and display the comments that attract the most attention.

Of the tremendous number of comments, the one that attracted the most attention was "Who is she?" I don't think most people in the world know about it, but Shikoku and Kochi are proud of their rich climate, where the steep mountains that cover them, and of the beautiful blue shining clear streams that flow through the valleys. More than 150 years ago, we produced a number of people who dramatically reformed the long-standing feudal society of Japan, which is also one of our prides. The daylight hours are top class in Japan. Alcohol consumption is also top class. Perhaps because of that, my city’s personality is clear, and is said to be friendly and cheerful. But even in such a situation, some people are dark and are always looking down. One of them is me. My house is in the corner of a village with about 30 houses on the slope of a mountain.

A river called the Niyodo River runs ahead of me, and is connected to the opposite bank by a subsidence bridge. A subsidence bridge is a bridge without balustrades, and is designed so that it will not be washed away even if the river rises and the bridge sinks. I cross it every day unless this bridge sinks. The flow of the Niyodo River is still quiet and blue today. Occasionally tourists come by rental car and take a number of pictures on the subsidence bridge, saying that it's beautiful. It's a nice village, isn't it? They do not know the truth of the area. With the school bag on my side, I go down the stone steps and walk on a steep slope. A neighbor's grandmother who was sweeping and cleaning used to call out to me, "Oh, Suzu-chan, good morning," and so on. But not now. The shutters of many homes are tightly closed.

The number of people who live here gradually decreased as they died or moved to the city. There are many such settlements in the Niyodo River basin. It is said that it is near here that a sociologist coined the term "marginal village" long ago. I've been told many times since I was little that adults say that the number of people has decreased surprisingly compared to the village’s peak population. It is at the forefront of a declining population, declining birthrate and aging society, faster than anywhere else in Japan. That is an unmistakable fact. There is a stop at the end of the national highway after going up the slope. The rusty timetable at the bus stop only shows times in the morning and evening.

It's not yet time. After a while, the bus came. I sit in the usual seat at the back of the bus. No one else is in the bus. Passing through the stops one after another. No one is on board. While the bus is shaking, I dimly look at the bulletin board near the driver's seat.

"This bus route will be discontinued at the end of September.”

I live in a place where no one wants to live. It stands right next to a steep cliff approaching the rough sea. I reach the end of the bus route and transfer on to a train.

High school and junior high school students in uniforms from other schools come in little by little at each station. The closer you get to the center of the city, the less visible the floor is, and the two-car train fills up with customers. An announcement in the car tells me the name of the station I should get off at. I see many students of the same uniforms on the way to school. Together we climb a gentle slope. I am one of them. That gives me a lot of peace of mind, maybe.

The summer sunshine is dazzling. Last fall, the brass band was playing in front of the symbol tree in the courtyard. Many students surround it and listen to it. The announcement of the brass band is always popular. It's not just about playing. All players take steps as they perform. It's a lively and fun dance. All the instruments have the steps perfectly matched, yet the performance does not get twisted or shaken. I and Hiro-chan (short for Hiroka) also listened to it from the veranda on the 2nd floor of the gymnasium. When the first song ended and the second song started, a slender tall, beautiful girl was holding the alto saxophone in front of her. She came out. She shook her long, loosely waved hair and played her solo without any disturbance, taking attractive steps from side to side.

"……Cute."

I instinctively say it aloud. Luca-chan - her full name is Ruka Watanabe – I am sighingly fascinated by the lively beauty of her. I can hear the voices of other girls watching on the same balcony.

"Luka-chan is the princess of our school, isn't she?"

"She’s slim and has long legs.”

"Even if she wears a uniform, she look like a model."

They nodded together, saying, "Right~?”

Hiro-chan has a voice that only I can hear next to me, "The jealousy of kids who are neither thin nor slender...,” turning the pages of her book. The girls' voices can be heard continuously.

"Luka-chan naturally acts as a coordinator for everyone."

"I'm sure everyone will come together like Ohisama," Hiro-chan frowned at the back of her silver-rimmed glasses. "They’re annoying. In that respect, Suzu is like the opposite of Luka, so it's easy for no one to come near us."

"Hi- Hiro-chan…"

"Hmm?"

"You have a poisonous tongue, I wonder if you can be a little kinder....."

"A poisonous tongue? Who?" At that time, a loud voice that interrupted the performance echoed in the courtyard. "Why don't you join the canoe club?" Everyone looks back. "It's Kamishin!" "Kamishin has arrived!"

Kamishin – full name Shinjiro Senzu - has a canoe paddle in his hand and a banner with "CANOE" written on his back, and appears randomly.

"Oh, senpai. What about the canoe club?"

"Wow! Stop, Kamishin!"

"Don't enter, that's it." He chased the boys, and then laughed and ran away. Then, he turned around and headed for the group of girls.

"Hey, why don't you do canoeing?"

"Kya ~~~!" The girls scream seriously and run away.

"Oh, hey, let's do some canoeing!"

"Dangerous, run away~"

He is serious, but the reaction around him makes the Kamishin look like a weirdo. He’s like a beast that jumps into beautiful women and rampages.

"Hey, canoe ..."

Watching the girls run away, I feel like defending the hard work of Kamishin.

"It's amazing to start a canoe club by yourself, isn't it?"

"But he's the only one in it."

"I wonder why.”

"I wonder~”

Hiro turned her eyes to Luka, who seemed to be anxious about the hustle and bustle while playing. Luka stiffened and turned her back to Kamishin as if she didn't want to see him. Hiro-chan does not overlook the gesture. She closed her book and turned her stern eyes to Luka. “You’re being looked down on.”

We left the gymnasium and wandered around the school. Chorus club, biology club, light music club, dance club. Various club activities. The activity was appealing to each. As I crossed the glass-walled corridor, I heard the cheers and applause of the girls from somewhere.

10N1 was held at the one-on-one outdoor basketball court. It is a solicitation performance of the men's basketball club. A ball is thrown into the court for the next game. You can see a boy in a hoodie who catches it with a lean hand.

"Ah ..." The game starts. Shinobu-kun, full name Shinobu Kutake, slowly dribbles and watches the situation. The opponent's senpai is raising his right hand as a checker, being wary of the jump shot. Shinobu lowers his hips. Shinobu tries to pull out with a low dribble, but the opponent's guard is tight and he withdraws. When he thinks he has stopped Shibobu, he suddenly shoots a jump shot from a short motion.

He’s fast. The senior hurriedly reached out with his fingers spread out, but he couldn't reach Shinobu. The previous move was a feint. The ball drew a beautiful arc and passed through the goal net. The girls lined up in the corridor on the 3rd floor gave an enthusiastic applause. But Shinobu doesn't even smile. His coolness is attracting attention from girls in school. Before the applause stopped, the court had already moved on to the next game. Shinobu-kun, while measuring the timing, dribbles low to push the defense away. As if to say that you can't win even with power. If you forcibly cut in and pull out the senior in a blink of an eye, you will definitely go to the layup. There is a pleasant sound of the ball slipping through the goal net. Again, the girls' applause echoed on the walls of the school building. I told Hiro-chan,

"........ Shinobu-kun, I didn't think he would be that tall."

He’s my childhood friend.

"He was your childhood friend?"

"Ohon. Actually, I've been proposed to by Shinobu-kun."

"Seriously? What?"

"[Suzu, I'll protect you], he said.”

"When was that?"

"When we were 6 years old."

"....... Even if such an ancient story is spoken…"

Astonished, Hiro sighed. Another goal was scored. In the applause, Shinobu-kun, who finished the game, went out of the court alongside his senior without even smiling. Shinobu-kun, my childhood friend. He’s no longer within my reach.

I came back from school and crossed the subsidence bridge. I was with Shinobu from kindergarten through the lower grades of elementary school. After that, Shinobu moved to the city and we were separated. He was in my high school and we became classmates again. But it isn’t like it used to be. At that time, I didn't expect to become a child who is always looking down like I am now. There is a reason why this happened. I saw the quiet stream of the Niyodo River. Yes. That is an ancient story. A white bird passed low on the surface of the water.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 1

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

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Ryuu to Sobakasu Hime (The Dragon and the Freckled Princess)

In the world of U, Belle met a dragon with a wound on his back.

“Who are you?”

Chapter 1: Invitation

A white line emerges in the darkness.

It slowly approaches. What is this line?

It gradually becomes clear. It's a series of units with intricate details. They are lined up regularly and repeatedly, like cells seen under a microscope.

Cells?

No, it's a "city".

This is a mysterious megacity called "U".

Created by the five wise men, the "Voices" who control the intellect of this world,

U is the ultimate virtual world.

The largest Internet space in history, which has surpassed 5 billion accounts worldwide and continues to expand.

You haven't played "U" yet.

It is displayed opposite to the shaped figure.

"We are investigating various shapes of U particles to embody this ethos, similar to the differences and peculiarities of each person in the world."

“Much like the difference and particularity that makes each individual in the world unique, this explores a variety of different shaped U particles to embody this ethos......"

One of the innumerable U particles is determined.

Authentication is complete.

"Welcome to the world of 'U'.”

U particles pop out from a myriad of smartphone-shaped windows.

Welcome to the world of U.

It's you, authenticated.

The U particle instantly turned into a pretty rabbit-shaped girl.

The announcement echoes.

"'U' uses the latest body-sharing technology so that everyone can relax, gather and enjoy."

Here, the avatar is referred to as "Az" (Az = Autonomous self).

Autonomous self. Az is your alter ego in "U".

The best AI that "U" is proud of is your Az.

Perform automatic generation.

U particles that also logged in are generated one after another in Az and fly from the window.

You can see it popping out.

Your Az - that is, a lovely girl with white, fluffy ears popping out of her sleek hat, descends like skydiving with your first friends.

The sea of ​​clouds, which had filled the field of vision, suddenly opened.

The brilliance of the skyscraper town reflected by the light of the twilight.

You will instinctively yell out in admiration.

The elaborately constructed geometric skyscrapers have no top and bottom, no left and right, and are layered on top of each other, creating an overwhelming evening view that has never been seen before.

A gorgeous shopping mall. Release that left the company while it was still bright in the evening

In the feeling, wander around Fifth Avenue, Champs Elysees, or Ginza.

It's such fun. Az dressed in colorful costumes are like a Venetian costume ball, and it's fun just to look at them. Graphical pieces of florets are spinning and floating like confetti. When you pick up one of them and smell the scent, a refreshing young scent lurks in the gorgeous and sensual. Perfect for the view of this city. You suddenly look up at the heavens while swimming like a bird on the rippling boulevard. Even in places that should be empty, upside-down skyscrapers are so crowded that they look like they are about to fall. There is a huge park that looks like a hollowed-out skyscraper town, and you can look down on the Az who play with it.

Is there a city that makes you feel so free?

You realize without a doubt, this is the center of the world.

The moon can be seen in the gaps between skyscrapers.

The announcement echoes.

<< "U" is another reality >>

《Az is another you》

<< Here is everything >>

The crescent moon that draws an arc below seems to be in the shape of a "U".

<< Reality cannot be redone. But if it's "U", you can start over. >>

<< Now, let's live another you. >>

《Now, let ’s start a new life》

"Now, let's change the world."

Suddenly, the noise of the city was cut off.

It's a song.

Someone is singing.

Where do you hear it? Many Az try to find the voice of the singer.

I'm turning. You, too, listen.

The song is magnificent and delicate. Intimate and powerful.

I'm drawn in unintentionally.

"Over there!"

Someone shouted. The line of sight of many Az gathers at one point.

A whale.

A huge whale dressed up with countless speakers is swimming leisurely between the upside-down buildings. At the tip of his nose, a small figure in a crimson dress can be seen. The song seems to come from there. The whale makes a roaring sound from the countless speakers it wears. She stands on the tip of the whale's nose and sings with an overwhelming voice that is comparable to the sound pressure of the whale’s roaring. What looked like a crimson dress was a flower dress made up of various types of red, such as dahlia, gerbera, and echinacea. She has unrealistically long pink hair. Blue eyes as deep as the sea. A beautiful woman.

And on her cheeks, there are freckles that look like they are engraved.

"Belle!" "Belle!"

The Az looked up at her and called her name from their mouths.

Her name is "Belle."

Lalalai Lalalai Running through a nameless time Unbeknown to anybody To reach that crescent moon Lalalai Lalalai Want to get to know you No matter how many times I awake Feeling like I can't even make a sound

"Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!"

You are among the wide variety of Az who call her name. I knew it. Unknowingly singing Belle's song. She turns her face and smiles in response to the cheers. For a moment you feel like her eyes meet you and your chest squeezes. Once you see her, you'll be attracted to her and you can't take your eyes off her anymore. You're already captivated by her, even though you've just met her.

"Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!"

Belle crossed her hand in front of her chest and spread it all at once.

At the same time, graphical flowers were emitted all at once from her body.

The flowers spread all over the city from the top of the whale that swims leisurely. Belle sings loudly, as if to bless every person, every event, every life. Who the hell is Belle?

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.