Summary: Lavi vs. Krory. Meanwhile, Eliade and Allen reveal their true colours.
Volume 4, Chapter 36
Vampire of the Lonely Castle ⑥: Repatriation
♦ 175
36th Night - Vampire of the Lonely Castle ⑥: Repatriation
♦ 176
sfx: DON BAAN gagah [various battle noises, as Lavi and Krory go at it hammer and teeth in the cemetery garden]
Lavi: ...In short, Akuma are weapons1 wearing human skin!
Krory: That so.
Lavi: So it's Akuma blood you've been sucking, okay?
Krory: That so.
Krory: But wait? If that were true, should I not be dead of its poison?
Krory: I find your tale hard to credit.
sfx: zah [he and Lavi break apart momentarily]
Lavi: Heh. Actually, I can think of others who've survived it.
Lavi: This is what I'm thinking:
Lavi: Akuma poison doesn't work on you because, like Allen, you're a parasitic-type Accommodator.
Lavi: And you've unconsciously only gone after Akuma...
♦ 177
Lavi: Those crazy-hard teeth of yours are Innocence, right?
Krory: ......
Lavi: You like hunting Akuma? Join up with us and you'll never run out.
Lavi, side: Red-carpet welcome!
Lavi: You're strong, so to make you listen,
Lavi: it looks like I've gotta go all-out.
Lavi: So tell me yea or nay when you come to, yeah?
sfx: zu [a ring of seals springs up in the air around the hammer 2]
Lavi: Krow. ♪ 3
♦ 178
sfx: baki baki baki [Allen's ribs creaking under the pressure of Eliade's tightening grip]
Allen: cough
Allen: hack
Allen: cough
Eliade: What's the matter? You were breathing fine a second ago.
Eliade: I'll crush your ribcage if you don't fight back, you know?
Allen: ——...
Allen: wheeze...
Allen: ——...
♦ 179
Allen: ?
Allen: It's hot...
Allen: I'm losing my grip...
Allen: It's like something is sapping the strength from my whole body.
Allen: My senses are fading...
Allen: I'm sleepy...
sfx: dokah [Eliade punches him hard in the face with her free hand]
Eliade: No? No reaction?
Eliade: Or don't you have the guts to fight?
sfx: bota bota [books fall from the shelves around Allen's shoulders]
Allen: ......
Eliade: Perhaps Arystar did you some real damage.
♦ 180
Eliade: Well, then.
Allen: I mustn't...
Allen: Mustn't fall asleep.
Allen: Can't feel the pain, or anything else...
Allen: My senses are numb.
Allen: If I fall asleep, I'm dead.
Allen: Talk.
Allen: Come on, think.
Allen: We have no... intention of... slaying Arystar Krory...
Allen: So there's... no reason to fight...
Eliade: Ah.
Eliade, side: It speaks.
Allen: He may... be neither vampire... nor monster...
Allen: but rather... one of us...
sfx: baki [Eliade hits him hard across the face, no longer smiling]
♦ 181
Eliade: Aha!
Eliade: Ahahahahaha!!
sfx: doka baki doka baki goki dogo goki dogo [vicious successive hits, sound changing as his face gets pulpy]
Eliade: Ahahahaha!!
Eliade: One of you? Don't make me laugh.
sfx: DON [she slams him back into the shelves with both hands]
Eliade: He is a vampire!
Eliade: You think I'll let you take him...?
♦ 182
Eliade: This is why
Eliade: I have to kill you.
sfx: dokan [impact]
sfx: dosah [Allen slumps bonelessly to the floor, prone]
sfx: nuh [Eliade produces a wood axe]
Eliade: Off with your head.
sfx: goh [she approaches]
Eliade: I'll drain the blood from your body and hang it it from the gate,
sfx: goro [she kicks him over onto his back]
Eliade: so that no one will ever come near this castle again.
♦ 183
sfx: nu [she lays the blade against his throat]
Eliade: I'll save some face if I offer his life in place of Krory's.4
sfx: ZAN [she swings]
♦ 184
Eliade: !!
sfx: gugugu... [she strains, but Allen holds the blade fast in his left hand and it won't budge]
sfx: gugu [still trying]
Eliade: Tch.
Eliade: Still got some juice, huh.
sfx: gugugu [his grip remains tight and unyielding]
Eliade: !!
Eliade: Wait, he's...
Eliade: unconscious...!?
♦ 185
sfx: gikin [the red hand tightens and the axe-blade shatters]
sfx: kah [a sudden light shines in Eliade's face]
Eliade: !?
♦ 186
sfx: DO [Eliade jumps back, wounded in the chest but not fatally]
sfx: zuzu [the arm makes the zipper noise]
sfx: haa haa haa [Eliade panting]
sfx: dokuh dokuh dokuh [Eliade's heart thundering]
Eliade: What is he?
Eliade: His left arm is moving on its own!?
♦ 187
sfx: zu zu zu [a black pentacle appears over his closed left eye in a slow, twisted knot]
sfx: ZU [it finishes unfurling, an ornate capital D forming in the center]
sfx: shu... [a wisp emerges from it]
sfx: shuru... [the wisp slowly takes the shape of a skull, black pentacle blazoned across the top and D written above its left eye socket]
♦ 188
sfx: kah [it stares at Eliade, sees her, and she feels it like a physical blow]
Eliade: !?
Mana?: I'm home, Allen.
Mana?: The darkness has returned...
sfx: zuuu... [the skull begins to retreat back into Allen's head without losing its shape, phasing through his skin and bone]
sfx: zubububu [there seems to be some resistance, an almost elecrical buzzing at the boundary being crossed]
♦ 189
Allen: My senses have returned...
sfx: kachin [the skull settles comfortably into place within Allen's, ghostly black tail dangling into his throat; Allen's cursed eye, healed, opens for the first time since Road stabbed it out, and it's pitch black]
♦ 190
Allen: So you're an Akuma.
sfx: sutoh [his left arm sets him lightly on his feet]
sfx: jujujuju [Eliade's wound churns with scales and little gears]
Eliade: Strange boy...
Allen: It's returned again.
Allen: This black-and-white world.
♦ 191
Mana?: Welcome home.5
Allen: I'll have to eat my words.
sfx: vuvu VU [Innocence thrumming, now in controlled cannon form]
Allen: Seems there is reason to fight.
Lavi calls Akuma "mechas", which is an interesting reversal; normally, with mechas, the squishy human bit is on the inside, piloting, and the metal is the outer skin being piloted, but Akuma are the perfect opposite.
[ ♠ ]
Original: クロちゃん kurochan "Kro-chan". Kuro also means "black", of course, so there's a bit of wordplay there I can't preserve. Opted to add a little to make up for it, playing on "black" and "has wings, or something like them".
[ ♠ ]
This is a reference to her mission as an Akuma; she hasn't killed Krory as she was supposed to, so she's hoping killing an Exorcist will make up for that somewhat.
[ ♠ ]
I'm pretty sure this is what the chapter title "Repatriation" is referring to; that word describes the return or restoration of a person to the country of their birth or citizenship, the return of an exile to the place where they belong. Here, the curse is welcoming Allen back to the monochrome world, which he was temporarily exiled from by his injury. (Will have to be careful when typesetting to make it clear through font which of them is speaking through this section. It's obvious in Japanese because the curse speaks mostly in katakana, while Allen's thoughts are normal, but English only has the one alphabet.)
Also, I know it's a bit awkward, but where I used the word "return" three times in short succession at the end there, those were (also somewhat awkwardly) all the same word in Japanese, 戻ってきた modottekita. I don't know how significant that is but it struck me.
[ ♠ ]
Summary: Road takes her leave. Allen and Lenalee convince Miranda to power down her Innocence, knowing their wounds will return. Lavi makes his entrance.
♦ 183
Road: Let's play again sometime, Allen.
Road: This time,
Road: within the bounds of our lord's Scenario.
26th Night - Snow Falls Over the Town
♦ 184
sfx: batan [the Wonderland doors swing shut behind her]
26th Night - Snow Falls Over the Town
♦ 185
sfx: gih [Allen clenches his fist]
sfx: DO DO [the room they were in suddenly begins to warp and break up violently, now that its creator has left]
Allen: !!
Allen: What's happening!?
♦ 186
sfx: bishi bishi bishi [cracks open in the floor]
sfx: go go go go go [the whole structure groans and splinters]
Lenalee: It's breaking down...!?
Miranda: Ngh....
Lenalee: Miranda?
sfx: bih [a crack opens under Lenalee's hand]
sfx: GO [the floor breaks up and collapses under her and Miranda]
Allen: Lenalee!! Miranda!!
sfx: doh [he reaches for them, but the floor breaks up under him, too]
♦ 187
Allen: !
sfx: gashaaaa [he and the tattered detritus of the room fall through space; as he falls, he catches a glimpse of what he's just fallen out of: a disintegrating room-sized Christmas present, one of many floating in this mysterious void]
♦ 188
Wall: Fuck you! Exorcist
Allen: Huh?
Allen: This is... Miss Miranda's flat....
Allen: How....
Allen: Where was that place we were just in...?
Allen: Was it also Road's power...?
Lenalee: Allen!
Lenalee: Something's wrong with Miranda!
♦ 189
sfx: hii hii [Miranda, sweating buckets and hunched over in apparent pain, breathing hard through clenched teeth]
sfx: gata gata gata [she's shaking so hard her teeth are chattering]
Allen: Miss Miranda...!?
Lenalee: Deactivate your Innocence! Your body can't handle any more than this.
Miranda: ...I can't....
Miranda: If it stops working....
Allen: They're coming for me!?
♦ 190
Miranda: It seems that the time it sucked out will all return.
Miranda: Your...
Miranda: wounds will all return....
Miranda: I can't...
Miranda: This was the first time I've ever been thanked....
sfx: hii [tortured breath]
Miranda: Wouldn't that make it all meaningless...?
Allen: Deactive your Innocence.
♦ 191
Allen: Let it go, Miss Miranda.
Allen: It's thanks to you we're all still here.
Allen: That's more than enough.
sfx: hecchara hecchara [blithe unconcern]
Allen: We'll bear our own wounds.
Allen: We're alive. They'll heal in time.
Lenalee: He's right, Miranda.
Lenalee: Please, let go.
♦ 192
sfx: go-n [the clock, once again in the form of a grandfather clock, tolls midnight; October 9th is over at last]
Superintendent: Midnight, eh? Let's call it a day.
sfx: dotatatata [Miranda thundering down the stairs]
Superintendent: ?
sfx: gashan [Miranda shoves her head into his office, frantic]
Miranda: Superintendent!!
sfx: haa haa [Miranda panting heavily]
Miranda: Doctor... call a doctor....
Miranda: People are hurt!
♦ 193
Miranda: Please, a doctor, quickly!!
Allen: While you live,
Allen: your wounds will heal,
Allen: but you may have to bear the scars.
♦ 194
Komui: This really went pear-shaped.
Komui: Lavi, watch the door. Don't let anyone in.
Lavi: Roger.
Komui: Oh?
Allen: ....
sfx: jiii [stares blankly up at Komui]
Komui: Hey.
sfx: GACHA [establishing the presence of the horrifying Innocence-repair drill]
Komui: Back with us, are you?
Allen: !!
Allen: K-Komui!?
Allen: Wait, where am I!?
Komui: Where? The hospital.
Komui: We received word from the Finders on standby outside the town that things had normalized.
Komui: Mission accomplished, well done.
♦ 195
sfx: gishi [Allen gingerly sits up]
Allen: The town is...!?
Komui: Miss Miranda was here until a moment ago, you've just missed her.
Allen: B-But why are you here, Komui...?
sfx: bishi 🖤 [Komui strikes a very dorky pose]
Komui: To look after you, of course! 🤍
Allen: ...Seriously?
Komui: The truth is, you won't be coming back to headquarters this time; I have to send you out on a long-term mission from here.
Komui: When Lenalee wakes up, I'll tell you both the details.
Allen: !
Allen: Lenalee still hasn't woken up...!?
Komui: No, because of the damage to her nervous system, but....
Lavi: Don't worry, gramps is having a look at her right now.
Lavi: She'll be right as rain in no time.
Allen: !?
♦ 196
Lavi: I'm Lavi. How do you do.
Allen: ...Pleasure.
sfx: niko [Lavi grins, but there's something off about it; it somehow lacks sincerity, rings a bit hollow]
♦ 197
Komui: Ah, by the way,
Komui: Miss Miranda left a message for you.
Miranda: Dear Allen and Lenalee, I'm sorry I can't stay until you wake up.
Boy 1: Apparently Miranda's moving.
Boy 2: For real?
Peter: Finally got run out of town, eh?
Miranda: The phenomenon affecting the town ended after I initialized the Innocence in my clock, for some reason.
sfx: batan [she pulls open her front door]
Miranda: The townsfolk don't remember living through October 9th thirty-four times at all,
Miranda: for which I'm grateful, considering I was the one responsible.
♦ 198
Miranda: The two of you say the Innocence caused that phenomenon in response to my wishes,
Miranda: but looking back, I have a feeling it was actually testing me.
Miranda: Is that strange to say?
Neighbour: Cheat on me again and we're through.
Neighbour's husband: I know, my love, you're the only one for me.
Miranda: It wasn't until I tried to shield Allen that it reacted, after all.
Miranda: Thanks for everything.
Superintendent: You take care now.
Miranda: Thanks to all this, though, it seems I may have found somewhere to belong.
Miranda: Um, here... please send the bill for replacing the ruined wallpaper to this address.
♦ 199
Superintendent: Oh, where's this?
Miranda: My new employers.
Miranda: I hope to see you again someday.
Miranda: By then, as an Exorcist, I'll be good for something.1
Vol. 3 - Rewinding Town {END}
♦ 201
Extra pages
Hoshino in Komui cosplay: ♫ Funfu~n ♪
Reever: Do your job.
Hoshino Katsura:
A fan letter mentioned that 桂 katsura can also be read つき tsuki "moon". 星の月 hoshi no tsuki "moon of another world"2... that's pretty romantic. Bit over the top, though; a little embarrassing to contemplate.
♦ 202
Art of Jeryy shaping a huge onigiri in their lap, "squeezing" "love" into it. There are mushrooms everywhere, even growing from the nigiri. I'm not going to say this is 100% a dick joke, but I'm like 95% sure it's a dick joke.
♦♥♦
FOOTNOTES
今度はエクソシストとしてお役に立ちます
konda wa Exorcist toshite o-yaku ni tachimasu
"This time, as an Exorcist, I will be helpful/useful."
Bit of an awkward line, but this is a direct reference to all the times she's been called a "good-for-nothing" (役立たず yakutatazu, "useless/unhelpful/incompetent"), so I had to make it "good for something".
[ ♠ ]
The word 星 hoshi means both "star" and "planet other than Earth". If you've ever seen a manga or anime translation have a character describe their homeworld as "this star", it's because that second meaning isn't as widely known.
[ ♠ ]
Allen: Believe me, Jan,
Allen: that boy is not human.
sfx: dah [footstep]
Allen: That is one of the Millennium Earl's weapons, wearing your friend's body.
Allen: An Akuma.
♦ 92
Earl: Who's this? ♡
Allen: Good evening, Millennium Earl.
Allen: I am your enemy.
Earl: An Exorcist!?
Earl: What a pleasure to...
Earl: ?
Earl: ...meet you...?
♦ 93
sfx: vun [Allen's cross initializing]
Allen: O cross,
Allen: destroy the Akuma!
Allen: Bring salvation
sfx: zazazaza [this sfx is always linked to Allen's arm moving, either at his will or its own; I can only imagine it's a sort of zipper-y buzz created by the overlapping scales rubbing over each other]
Allen: to this soul!
sfx: zazazaza [arm in motion]
sfx: ohh [wordless yelling as he closes in for the attack]
♦ 94
Allen: !
sfx: doku [lurching to abrupt halt]
Allen: Jan—
Jan: H-How?
Jan: How could Leo be an Akuma?
Jan: He's friends with me, remember?
Jan: He co-founded the Akuma patrol with me,
Jan: so we could protect our town together....
♦ 95
Jan: There's no way he could be an Akuma!
Jan: Where's your bloody proof—
sfx: don [the virus taking effect, pentacles blossoming all over Allen at once]
Jan: !!
Jan: Allen!!
sfx: doh [Allen hitting his knees]
♦ 97
Allen: Ngh....
Jan: Oh God, Allen's been hit!
Jan: There's a toxic virus built into Akuma bullets that destroys anything it infects.
Jan: If you get shot, it spreads throughout your body and breaks it down!!
sfx: bububu [pentacles kind of... bubbling as they chew on Allen's body]
Earl: Oho. ♡ How very brave of you, taking a bullet for him without a moment's hesitation. ♡
Earl, side: Oh my ♡
Earl: How does that feel, Jan?
Earl: You are very irritating, you know.
Earl: Entirely powerless, yet burning with righteous zeal,
Earl: insisting that we are the villain, we're the villain, ♡
Earl: when here we are only making Akuma for the good of all. ♡ 1
♦ 98
Earl: What do you think? Grotesque, is it not? ♡
Earl: It is a crystallized mass of the sins accrued by a human heart. 2
Earl: You seem to believe that Akuma are simply weapons of our manufacture,
Earl: but it is the human heart that brings them into the world. ♡ 3
Earl: This Akuma here
Earl: was made by your friend Leo. ♡ 4
Jan: By Leo...?
Allen: It's Leo's deceased mother.
Earl: !
Allen: He accepted the Earl's help to summon his mother's soul back into this world,
Allen: and made her into an Akuma.
Allen: I can see it....
♦ 99
Allen: The face of his mother, suffering within the Akuma she's become.
Earl: See it? ♡
Earl: What are you talking about, little coffin-dodger? ♡ 5
Allen: My body is host to an anti-Akuma weapon.
sfx: vu vu [cross waking up, pulsing]
Allen: If you're referring to the viral contamination, I can purge that.
♦ 100
sfx: doha [bulge and flare of power]
Jan: !!
sfx:zuaaa [contamination getting visibly scoured from his body]
Jan: The infection is retreating!!
Jan, side: !
Jan: A—
Jan: Allen....
Jan: You... Your.... What is that?
Earl: !! ♡
♦ 101
Allen: A curse....
Allen: A long time ago, I too made an Akuma of someone I loved.
Allen: This curse enables me to see the souls installed within Akuma.
Earl: Aha!!! ♡
Earl: We remember now....
Earl: We have met you before, once upon a time.... ♡
Earl: Allen Walker,
Earl: the little guttersnipe who turned his father into an Akuma!! ♡
102
Earl: Shall we
Earl: resurrect Mana Walker for you? ♡
103
Allen: We shared no blood,
Allen: but I'd been cast out for this disfigured arm I was born with,
Allen: and he took me in and raised me.
sfx: vuaha [eldritch light flaring around sorcerous body]
Mana: A...
Mana: llen....
Mana: How could you
Mana: make me an Akuma.... 6
♦ 104
sfx: DO [Mana slicing through Allen's eye]
Mana: Allen!!
Mana: How could you, Allen!?!
Mana: I'll curse you!
Mana: Curse you, Allen!!
♦ 105
sfx: bu bu BU [throb throb, cross waking up]
sfx: BAN [transformed arm slamming into Mana's Akuma skeleton]
Mana: GYAAAA
♦ 106
Allen: I didn't understand what had happened.
sfx: fuh [Earl fades into mist]
sfx: zazazaza [arm doing its thing]
Allen: What...!? How...!?
sfx: zazazaza [arm being extremely creepy]
Allen: On its own....
sfx: hah [horrified gasp]
sfx: gigi... [strained mechanical juddering]
♦ 107
sfx: za za [arm continuing to drag the rest of Allen towards Mana]
Allen: Mana...!?
Allen: Stop it, arm...!!
sfx: za za za [arm not stopping]
Allen: Run—
Allen: Daddy, run!!
Mana: Allen... I....
Mana: I love you so much.... 7
Mana: Please destroy me.
♦ 108
sfx: BAN [arm obliterating Mana]
Allen: WAHHHHHHHHH
♦ 109
Cross: A soul installed within an Akuma has no agency.
Cross: It's eternally bound, nothing more than the Earl's plaything. 8
Cross: There's no way to save them but to destroy them.
Cross: Born with an anti-Akuma weapon already infesting you, huh....
Cross: You've been dealt a shitty hand.
Cross: You're an apostle, just like me. God's got His hooks in you too. 9
♦ 110
Cross: How about becoming an Exorcist?
Allen: Ever since, I've been able to see the souls of Akuma.
Allen: At first, I thought Mana really had cursed me...
Allen: so I worked to become an Exorcist in order to atone.
Allen: But now that I've encountered many Akuma, I've realized:
Allen: They don't weep tears of hatred, but of profound love for those who called them back.
Allen: "You couldn't be strong for me?" 10
Allen: So I decided to become an Exorcist not to atone, but to live on.
Allen: This curse
Allen: is my lodestar.... 11
♦ 111
sfx: vu [cross wakes up]
Allen: Akuma are unbearably tragic creatures.
Allen: They should not have to exist.
Allen: So I am going to destroy them.
sfx: piki [onomatopeia for "blood vessels about to burst"; the Earl is furious]
Earl: It seems
Earl: we really ought to have killed you back then, Allen. ♡
♦ 112
MILLENNIUM EARL
This character is actually based on a person who really existed. I won't say who, but he was born in the 18th century. A world-class eccentric, he was said to have spoken every language, been an expert in every subject, been gifted in all the fine arts. He was also said to have possessed the gift of prophecy, and however many decades passed, he never looked a day over fifty, ageless and immortal. He called himself a "time-travelling alchemist". Perhaps he's still out there somewhere, even now. 12
♦♥♦
FOOTNOTES
This is a line we're going to want to remember. The original is みんなのために minna no tame ni, "for the sake of everyone". The Earl believes the Akuma serve a purpose that is beneficial not only to him, but to everyone, humanity seemingly included. Curious!
[ ♠ ]
This word, 結晶 kesshou, is pivotal, potentially for the entire series. It can be translated two main ways: 1.) "crystal" and 2.) "crystallization". The difference may not seem major at first glance, but consider how you might read "Bob's crystal" vs. "crystallized Bob". Here, it's pretty easy to infer which is meant: an Akuma is a mass of crystallized "sin". The word is going to recur, though... with regards to Innocence.
[ ♠ ]
The verb used here is not 造る "to build/create", but 生む "to give birth to". Akuma are born out of human grief and suffering.
[ ♠ ]
Mismatched kanji and furigana are a favourite trick of Hoshino's, so you'll see a lot of these. This one's related to footnote #3:
Kanji: 造った tsukutta "made by"
Furigana: 生んだ unda "born of"
Leo's grief gave rise to, birthed this particular Akuma. The combination of mechanical and biological terms is deliberate, because Akuma are always both.
[ ♠ ]
English doesn't have a direct equivalent to 死にぞこない shinizokonai, which describes a person who should really have died but miraculously scraped through, literally "missed their chance at death". A "coffin-dodger" in English is slang for a very old person who should probably have kicked the bucket years ago but keeps stubbornly chugging along despite their body falling apart around them. I think it's close enough to be parsable, and also, re-readers may get a kick out of it as applied to Allen, who is decades older than he looks.
[ ♠ ]
Interesting how both the Akuma we've seen made so far — Crea and Mana — knew the moment they awakened within the sorcerous bodies what had happened to them and what they were now. Considering that the existence of Akuma is, as established, top-secret in the living world... how? (My theory is that on dying, souls see "beyond the framework of the world" as the Noah and Bookmen do, and come back knowing a lot of things the Earl's will prevents them from telling anyone.)
[ ♠ ]
Most manga fans know that Japanese has a number of terms for "love", so in case you're wondering, this one is 愛してる aishiteru, the one that corresponds most closely to our own concept of the word "love": flexible, applicable to all manner of love from familiar to romantic to comradely so long as it's profound.
[ ♠ ]
Like 魅入られた miirareta in Night 001, what Cross uses here — 取り憑かれた toritsukareta — is an ambiguous past-tense passive term that can mean either "obsessed with" or "possessed by". Since Allen has no idea his arm has anything to do with God, however, "obsessed" wouldn't make any sense this time. Rather, it's clear Cross is saying that through the cross in his hand, Allen is possessed by God, in His thrall, as every Exorcist is. Just as every Akuma is possessed by the Earl, via the sorcerous devices within them.
[ ♠ ]
A tricky little sentence that could more literally be translated as "Why didn't you strongly live for me?", which sounds odd in English. The "for me" is implied by part of the conjugation, くれ, which is used when the speaker is receiving or wishes to receive something, a thing or a service or a favour. It does come off a bit accusatory, but clearly comes from a place of love. "You really couldn't go on without me? :("
[ ♠ ]
道標 michishirube, "guide" or "signpost", something that shows one the direction in which one ought to walk. I chose to exercise a little bit of poetic licence here and make it "lodestar" because a) in many English-speaking cultures, it's common to say a deceased loved one is "watching over one from the heavens" and b) the curse is literally star-shaped, it's the star that guides his steps, I'm poetically obligated.
[ ♠ ]
As long-time fans already know, she's almost certainly referring to the Comte de St. Germain, though I can't find a source for the "time-travelling" part outside of contemporary pop culture.
[ ♠ ]
Warning: the footnote links all go to AO3, but you can still find them at the bottom of the post if you scroll down.
♦ 5
Narration: Exorcists...
Narration: Those under God's thrall.1
Narration: They exist2 to lay rest to those ill-fated beings which arise from the darkness.
♦ 6 & 7
1st Night - opening
♦ 8
Townsperson 1: Hey, did you know? Apparently a load of people have disappeared from this church.
Townsperson 1: It's abandoned, so penniless travellers often spend the night there.
Townsperson 1: But come morning, they're nowhere to be found! Nought left but their clothes.
Townsperson 1: Some say it's cursed. There was that incident two years ago, after all, when...
Narration: At the close of an imaginary 19th century,
Narration: mysterious events had begun to move within obscuring clouds of steam.
♦ 9
Charles: Moa!
Charles: A-Are you really going in there!?
Moa: The locals have been flooding us with complaints about this church.
Moa: People disappearing and such.
Charles: I-I know... because of the curse, innit?
sfx: buruburu [Charles shivering in fear]
Moa: Charles... and you call yourself a copper?
Moa: Some lousy rumour making the rounds, that's all it is. We've just got to see for ourselves.
Moa: There's no bloody curse.
Charles: I-If you say so....
sfx: giii [the dry hinges of the church door creaking as it opens]
♦ 10
Moa: Good grief, what a wreck.
Moa: Do travellers really manage to sleep in here?
Charles: AAIEEEE
Moa: Huh!?
Charles: M-My leg...
sfx: munya [cat snuggling up, mrrp]
Moa: It's a cat, you twit.
Charles: H-Huh?
sfx: basasasasa [the flapflapflapping of many leathery little wings]
Moa:
What's that sou—?11
Moa: Whoa—
Moa: Ahhh!
sfx: zuh [Allen's hand reaching out from inside the cloud of bats]
sfx: basasasasa [the flappy flappy flock of bats]
Charles: Haa... Haa... Are you all right, Moa!?
Charles: ...Moa!?
♦ 12
sfx: babababa [thundering up stairs]
sfx: batan [door being thrown open]
sfx: DON [Moa getting slammed into a chair inside]
Allen: Got you.
Allen: You're not getting away again.
Moa: Cough, hack—
Allen: !?
♦ 13
Allen: What's this...
Allen: Hang on, a person!?
Allen: Why would anyone be here—
sfx: gachin [cuffs clicking shut]
Moa: How dare you—
Allen, side: ugh
Allen: And a copper, at that!!
Moa: Identify yourself!
Allen: I-I'm terribly sorry! I was just so intent, I didn't realize—
Moa: !
Allen: I only meant to catch this cat.
Allen: I'm, er
Allen: just
Allen: a traveller....
♦ 14
Allen: Goodness.
Allen: I had no idea this place had such a nasty reputation.
Allen: I arrived in town just this morning, you see,
Allen: but just as I was passing by this church, this stray cat happened to swallow something valuable of mine,
Allen: so I've been chasing it down all day...
sfx: pero pero pero [mlem mlem mlem]
Moa: ...
Allen: G-God's honest truth!
Allen: It's something my master entrusted to me, I absolutely mustn't lose it!
Moa: "Master"?
Moa: And where might that person be?
Allen: Er, he... scarpered on me, back in India....
Allen & Moa: ........
Allen, side: This is all your fault!
sfx: jih [cat mrrping as it looks up at him]
Moa: He's just a kid, isn't he.
Moa: Bit of an odd duck, though...
Moa: Well. I'm going to fetch my partner, so you sit tight now.
♦ 15
Charles: AAAAIIIEEEEE
sfx: dododododo [the blam-blam-blam of heavy gunfire]
Moa: Wh—
Moa: What's—!?
Allen: Um—
sfx: bah [Moa slams the door behind her, leaving Allen cuffed inside the room]
Moa: You stay put!
Moa: That came from downstairs!
Moa: Who goes there!?
Moa: !
sfx: bararara [bits of Charles thudding to the floor]
Moa: The rumours...
Moa: can't have been true....
Moa: urk
Moa: Why can't...
Moa: I breathe...?
Allen: BAH [Allen popping out of nowhere to clap a handkerchief over her face]
Moa: !?
♦ 19
Moa: !
Allen: Careful, now.
Allen: The fumes coming off that corpse are toxic.
Allen: This is an Akuma's handiwork.
Moa: A—?
Allen: Officer!?
Moa: A demon's...?3
sfx: hah [Moa sucks in a breath as her eyes fly open]
♦ 20
sfx: gabah [Moa sits bolt upright]
Officer: Oho! Moa, you're up!
Moa: Engh... Where am I...?
Officer: The station! And just in time, come quick.
Moa: Eh?
Officer: Inspector, Constable Moa has regained consciousness!
sfx: kon kon [knock knock]
Inspector: Get her in here.
sfx: hah [Moa flinches]
Moa: Wait, Charles is—
sfx: batan [door banging shut]
Officer: Yes, we're aware.
Officer: We're interrogating the suspect now.
Moa: You are!?
♦ 21
Inspector: Name: Allen Walker.
sfx: chi—n [chagrined silence]
Allen, side: Hullo.
Inspector: Place of residence: unknown. Stateless minor.
Inspector: You killed him!!
Allen: I did no such thing!!
Allen: Why am I under suspicion!?
Allen: All I did was haul your swoony constable home to you!
Allen, side: How unfair!
Inspector: You were there in the church, were you not? Suspicious enough!
Inspector: And besides, look at your hand! Isn't it red with blood!?
Allen: Er, no, that's how it always—
sfx: gui [yank]
♦ 22
sfx: bah [glove falling partly off to reveal the back of Allen's hand]
Moa: !?
Inspector: W-W-What in blazes...!?
Inspector: Faugh!
♦ 23
sfx: sabuibo [gooseflesh]
Inspector: What is wrong with you!?
Inspector: Didn't it hurt to jam a cross in there!?
Inspector: You're a real nutter, you are!!
Inspector: You oughta take better care of the body your parents blessed you with!
Inspector, side: You're all pasty-faced, too!
Moa: Um, sir—!
Moa: This boy was with me right up until the incident occurred.
Inspector: Come again!?
sfx: boribori [murmuring]
Officer: Sir, we found many large bullet holes at the scene of the crime,
Officer: but all he had on him was that cat.
Officer: We've searched the church, but found no firearm of such caliber anywhere.
Inspector: How could you faint at a time like that, Constable Moa Hesse!?
♦ 24
Moa: I-I'm terribly sorry, sir.
sfx: dosah [fuming]
Inspector: You've got to grit your teeth and bear it! Right there, an eyewitness to the crime, and you didn't even get a look at the culprit?
Allen: I know your culprit.
Moa & Inspector: !?
Allen: I didn't see it, but I do know what manner of thing it is.
Allen: Please allow me to collaborate with your investigation.
Allen: It's something known as an "AKUMA".
Allen: One runs into them quite a lot in my line of work.
Allen: They gain experience4 as they kill, and level up when they have enough.
♦ 25
Allen: This one will kill again. And again.
Allen: Unless we stop it soon, it will become unstoppable.
Allen: This cross of mine is an anti-Akuma weapon.
Allen: Have you ever heard of "Exorcists"?
Allen: If so, you may know that we are clergyfolk who specialize in Akuma extermination.
♦ 26
sfx: tak tak tak [bootsteps]
Townsperson: Heard a policeman got done in.
Townsperson: Dreadful scene it was, too.
sfx: teku teku teku [bootheels on cobblestones]
Townsperson: Were the rumours true, then?
Townsperson: The place has got to be haunted,
Townsperson: after that mess with Father Mark....
Townsperson: Oh? What mess?
Townsperson: Keep your voices down when discussing such things, yeah?
Townsperson: Well, two years back or so, there was a terrible accident involving the parish parson and his wife....
♦ 27
sfx: shuuu [fsshh, fumes hissing out of Mark's mouth]
sfx: koh [stamp of a boot coming down with jaunty finality]
sfx: shuuu shuuu [every time Mark exhales, the cloud of fumes rises]
Earl: Good heavens, you have given them all a fright,
Earl: our dear, darling Akuma.
Earl: We must have you do some more killing to level you up. A great deal more. ♡♡
♦ 28
Moa: Mark?5
Moa: I'm home, Mark!
Moa: How are you feeling?
sfx: suh [Earl sinks into the shadows and vanishes]
sfx: gaCHA [door opening]
Mark: welcome home Moa
Mark: you're back early today
♦ 29
Moa: Ah, you've left your dinner again!
Moa: You've hardly been eating at all, lately.
Moa: That's no good. You've got to eat properly.
Mark: ...I'm already... full....
Mark: ...sorry....
Mark: ...but I'll get hungry again soon...
Moa: Keep your chin up, all right?
Moa: I'm sure that's what my sister in heaven would want.
♦ 30
sfx: GACHAAAN [great clangor of things falling down and banging into each other]
Allen: Argh! Will you quit squirming!?
Mark: ...do we have... a guest...?
Moa: Er, well,
Moa: bit of a long story, that.
Allen: .....
sfx: kon! [bonk!]
sfx: PUGIII [the cat gives an offended screech]
Moa: Yooouu! What on earth are you up to? Didn't I tell you not to leave that room!?
Allen: Yes, but—
Moa: You were heading back to the church, weren't you!
Allen: Just for a minute—!
Moa: Absolutely not!!
sfx: shi [Moa's hand shoots out and catches the back of Allen's collar]
sfx: gah [Allen chokes on said collar]
Allen & Moa: Siigghh.
♦ 31
sfx: irah [irritation]
Inspector: "Exorcist"?
Inspector: Poppycock.
Inspector: I'll deal with you later!
Inspector: For now, I'm heading back to the scene of the crime. Constable, you take this rascal home with you and keep an eye on him, y'hear?
Moa, side: sigh
Moa: Put bluntly, I'm on house arrest.
Allen: The church is just over there, and yet....
Allen: I wonder if the Inspector and his men are all right.
sfx: sowa sowa sowa [Allen sweating bullets]
Moa: Allen,
Moa: do you really think a demon is responsible for this?
Allen: ...Yes?
Moa: But demons are only an idea our forebears came up with to cope with their fears of plague and disaster.
♦ 32
Moa: They only exist in word and thought, not in reality.
Moa: I can't abide all that nonsense, myself.
Allen: Ah... that isn't what I'm referring to when I use the word "Akuma", though.
Moa: Huh?
Allen: "AKUMA" is also the name of a weapon.
Allen: A malignant6 living weapon designed for use against humanity.
Allen: I refer to them.
♦ 33
Allen: They look just like ordinary people most of the time, so they can be quite difficult to spot....
sfx: BAN [door bangs open]
Moa & Allen: !!
Mark: Urgh...
sfx: buru buru [Mark trembling]
Mark: Unnghh....
Moa: Mark!?
Moa: What's the matter?
♦ 34
Allen: AKUMA!
Mark: I'm
Mark: I'm so
Mark: hungry
Mark: let me kill you—
Moa: What?
♦ 35
sfx: KIN [light bursting out as the human shell disintegrates]
Moa: Mark...?
sfx: kiiiiiiiii [high-pitched sound emitting from the Akuma]
♦ 36
Moa: What in the world.
♦ 37
sfx: DO DO DO DO DO DO [Akuma gunfire, blam blam blam]
sfx: bashu! [Allen & co. getting thrown through the wall out into open air]
♦ 38
sfx: gugigi... [bullet flying and suddenly stopping short]
sfx: hyrurururu [all of them still soaring but without the ugly buzzing sound of the bullet]
sfx: DOKAN [them breaking through the church wall on impact and sliding to a halt in the rubble]
sfx: DOOOON [the whompf of their impact heard several rooms away]
sfx: garagara gara [clatter of wall-bits continuing to fall]
Inspector: Hrm?
Allen: Ouch.
Allen: A— Are you all right, miss?
Moa: Mmph...
Moa: Where are we...?
Allen: Across the road, in the church....
Allen: We really went flying.
sfx: juuu [bullet offgassing]
♦ 39
Moa: Wh—
Moa: Did you catch that!?
Allen: Hands off.
Allen: It's made of the Akuma's blood,
Allen: which has a toxic virus built into it.
Allen: They turn their bodies into guns to shoot these.
Allen: If you're hit, the virus swiftly spreads throughout your body, until at last...
sfx: zu [pentacle stains blooming]
Allen: ...you shatter.
sfx: PAN [cat's body blows apart into dusty chunks]
♦ 40
Allen: Damn it all....
sfx: parara [crumbling]
Allen: I am so sorry I couldn't save you....
Moa: Wait, but what happened to Mark...?
Allen: Miss, Akuma wear the bodies of the dead in order to infiltrate society.
sfx: basa [rustle of Allen putting his coat over the cat's remains]
Allen: That was not your brother-in-law.
Allen: It was the thing that killed him and has been hiding in his skin ever since:
Allen: an Akuma.
♦ 41
Moa: It killed— Mark is dead!?
sfx: bah [yank]
Allen: Here it comes.
Inspector: Oi, you lot! What d'you think you're doing here, eh!?
Allen: !?
Allen: Inspector!?
Inspector: Eugh, what is that?
♦ 42
Inspector: Looks dodgy, whatever it is! Fire!
sfx: chuin chuin [pwing pwing of bullets bouncing harmlessly of the Akuma's armoured skin]
sfx: chuin [pwing]
Allen: Guns are useless, run for your lives!!
Moa: Don't—
sfx: DO DO DO DO [gunfire]
♦ 43
sfx: DO DO [blam blam]
sfx: PAN [all those bodies bursting apart at once]
Moa: Inspector...
Moa: Everyone...
Moa: You— You monster!! Why would you kill them?
Moa: Why!?
Allen: There's no point asking it, miss.
♦ 44
Allen: It isn't that it wants to do these things...
Allen: As a weapon, it's been programmed to pursue its own evolution.
Moa: So it's just a killing machine!!
Allen: No. Not quite.
Allen: Akuma have souls installed7 within them,
Allen: and those souls are ruled by their Maker.
Allen: Anguished by the sins they're committing, repulsed by their new bodies, they come to profoundly resent this world.
Allen: The "frustration" of the soul provides the energy driving an Akuma to evolve.
Allen: This one, too, has such a soul installed.
♦ 45
Allen: A woman.
Allen: She must have had a very deep bond with Mark, to have made him her skin....
Allen: The ingredients of an Akuma
Allen: are one "device", one "soul", and one "tragedy".
Allen: Everyone carries at least a little darkness within their heart.
Allen: When a tragedy deepens that for someone, the Maker comes to them, and an Akuma is born.
♦ 46
Allen: Mark must have gone through something terrible, for the Maker to be drawn to him.
Moa: A "tragedy"....
Moa: Congratulations, Crea!
Crea: Thank you, Moa!
♦ 47
Moa: My sister and I were still young when we lost our parents.
Moa: Father Mark always looked out for us and made sure we were all right.
Moa: Eventually, he and Crea fell in love and were married.8
Moa: They seemed so happy.
Mark: I hear you're on the outs with Moa?
Crea: I really don't want her joining the police.
Crea: I know she just wants to go after the burglars who murdered our parents.
♦ 48
Crea: God is spiteful, isn't he.
Crea: I've set aside my own hatred to focus only on giving her a happy life,
Crea: yet still He set her on this path....
Mark: Have faith, Crea.
Mark: Revenge isn't what she's after at all.
Mark: She only wants to keep us safe and happy all our days.
sfx: gusu [sob]
Mark: You and God have raised her together, haven't you?
sfx: buh [weight settling a fraction of an inch lower as the rope frays]
Mark: So have faith.
♦ 49
Mark: In Moa's heart,
Mark: and in God's protection.
Mark: He does not betray His faithful.
Crea: ...
Crea: You're right.
Crea: I will have faith.
sfx: buh [frayed rope finally lets go]
♦ 50
Mark: CREA!!
Mark: How could you, Lord...
Mark: Crea...
Mark: Crea...
Mark: CREA!!!
♦ 51
Moa: After the accident,
Moa: he became sick at heart...
Mark: The Lord God stole my wife from me!!
Mark: Is this what I get for trusting in Him!?
Mark: Curse His name!!
Allen: A priest cursing the name of God...
Allen: Yes, that must have been what drew him to Mark.
♦ 52
Allen: The Maker, I mean.
sfx: pyoko [flag pops out of pumpkin wand]
flag: PRO BONO
Earl: Why, good evening. ♡
Earl: This here is a sorcerous body we've9 made. Any soul put into it will come back to life. ♡
Earl: Let us steal Crea back from your detestable God. ♡
Earl: We shall need your cooperation, of course. ♡
Earl: As someone deeply bound to Crea, we need your voice...
Earl: ...in order to summon her soul back from the world beyond. ♡
♦ 53
sfx: vun [soul thundering down into body; interestingly, this is the same sound effect used whenever someone activates their Innocence]
sfx: su— [hiss of the mechanism beginning to work]
Crea: M—
sfx: gigigi [mechanical jittering]
Crea: Mark...
Crea: What have you done?
Mark: What?
Crea: How could you make me an Akuma!?
Crea: I'm trapped! I can't get out!!
Earl: Ohoho~ ♡ You belong to us, now, Crea darling. ♡
Earl: And here are your orders: kill this man and don his skin. ♡
sfx: gashuh [Earl seizing Mark from behind to prevent him from running]
Crea: Nnnghh....
sfx: bi bi bi bi bi [body crackling as the sorcerous body — the "device" — forces the soul installed within it to obey]
♦ 54
sfx: bushuh [blood splatting as the sorcerous body begins shoving its way down Mark's throat]
Earl: Happy birthday to you~ ♫♪
Earl: Happy birthday to you~ ♫
sfx: goku borin baki goki [crunch crack slorp etc.]
Crea: Stop it!
Crea: Please, stop!
Earl: Happy birthday, dear... ♪
Earl: Crea.
sfx: chi—n [Earl taps triangle]
Earl: There now, all done. ♡
♦ 55
Moa: You're not saying
Moa: that's Crea...
Moa: That thing is my sister!?
Allen: Thou divine cross that abidest within me,
Allen: lend me thy strength, for to destroy the darkness.10
♦ 56 & 57
Allen: Thou pitiable Akuma,
Allen: may thy soul find salvation.
♦ 58
sfx: gah [fingertips of Allen's transformed arm puncturing armour]
sfx: DO [Allen's whole body thumping into the Akuma after his arm passes all clean through it]
Allen: I am sorry... you must be in pain,
Allen: but I will ease your suffering now.
Allen: If you're able, Miss Crea,
Allen: please rest in peace.
♦ 59
sfx: BO [bwoom]
♦ 60
Crea: Thank you....
sfx: fuu [last bit of Crea dissipates]
Moa: I... wonder if they've found their way to God.
Moa: My sister,
Moa: and Mark....
Allen: I'm sure they must have....
sfx: gusu [sob]
♦ 61
Narration: The "Millennium Earl";
Narration: that is the name the Maker goes by.
Narration: He now directs his Scenario, which will depict the end of humankind.
Narration: Thwarting him is the duty of all Exorcists.
♦ 62
ALLEN WALKER
Nationality: English
Height: 168cm | 5'6
Weight: 58kg | 128lbs
Birthday: Unknown. 12/25 is the date he was adopted by his foster father Mana.
Age: 15 (approximately)
Author's notes: I usually like my protagonists on the cheerful, rambunctious side, so god only knows where this kid came from. I originally based him on the main character of an earlier work of mine, "Zone," who was a long-haired girl, but since he's a boy I had to think hard about what might suit him better. In the end, I considered how things would look with his Order uniform coat, and wound up going with this. Wonder what's going through that little head today?
♦♥♦
FOOTNOTES
見入られた miirareta is a vague term that can mean anything from "entranced by", "enthralled by" to "possessed by".
[ ♠ ]
在る aru is the inanimate form of "to be", implying that the Exorcists are not living creatures but objects.
[ ♠ ]
The word "akuma" is written in at least three different ways throughout the text: "AKUMA" (romaji), アクマ (katakana), and 悪魔 (kanji). When written in kanji, it refers to the actual Japanese word for "demon". When written the other two ways, it refers to the Earl's Akuma, the creature specific to this manga. Moa is confused because she only understands the word "akuma" to mean "demon". Other characters will be confused the same way later on, so I'm opting for this to improve future clarity:
AKUMA = AKUMA
アクマ = Akuma
悪魔 = demon
[ ♠ ]
Literally 経験値 keikenchi, experience points, the same EXP used in gaming vernacular.
[ ♠ ]
Honourific: 義兄さん niisan. This is homophonous with the more common niisan that simply means "elder brother", but the extra kanji makes it "brother-in-law"; this is her sibling's husband.
[ ♠ ]
悪性 akusei, which is specifically "malignant" in the cancerous sense, of something alive and eating away at its host body.
[ ♠ ]
All the computer-y terms used during this conversation and later on — "programmed", "installed", "EXP", etc. — are deliberate and relevant. The Akuma are technology as much or more than they are magic, technology far beyond that of the rest of the world this story inhabits.
[ ♠ ]
No, Anglican priests and nuns are not allowed to get married. I'd guess that the author hadn't put that much research into things yet, this being only the pilot episode and not guaranteed serialization.
[ ♠ ]
The Earl's first-person pronoun of choice is 我輩 wagahai, "our company/group", which is considered equivalent to the majestic plural or "royal we" in English. This is very important to the plot later on, as the pronoun is one of the only ways to tell whether the person speaking is Mana or the Earl.
[ ♠ ]
A note about Japanese grammar: when constructing a sentence in Japanese, the verb always comes at the very end. This means that if someone trails off or leaves out the end of a sentence, it renders the rest of the sentence ambiguous in a way that is mostly untranslatable to English, wherein the verb generally occurs earlier on. Leaving it out gives things a weighty, portentous feel, which goes well with all the Biblical themes and speech elements.
In this example, Allen actually says "Thou divine cross that abidest within me, ____ strength for to destroy the darkness", with that blank happening at the end, but there's no natural way to phrase that in English. The same goes for "May thy soul ____ salvation", as well as "____ in peace" a bit later on. Whenever this comes up, I'll generally fill in the most likely candidate, but make note that I've done so, in case I turn out to be wrong. (PS: "for to" is not a typo, it's an archaic construction meaning "for the purpose of" or "with the intention of", ie "went down for to harvest the grain".)
Also note that the verb I translated to "abide" is 宿る yadoru, which refers to something dwelling within something else, such as a parasite within its host or a fetus within its mother. To yadoru is to sit tight and bide one's time ("bide" being a version of "abide"), conserving one's resources until the opportune moment arrives. It's a very interesting choice of word.
[ ♠ ]
MISC NOTES
Avid manga-readers will notice the absence of honourifics here. I made that (painful) choice because according to the author (see vol. 3 Q&A), all the characters in the story she's telling are originally speaking English, so she's "translating" it into Japanese for her audience. When localizing something into Japanese, one has to add honourifics to make things sound natural, but it wouldn't make much sense to keep them when undubbing the work back into English. That said, they do often convey a lot of context clues that can't easily be gotten across any other way, so I'll put in footnotes whenever we come across an interesting one.
Narration: 《AKUMA》
Narration: Malignant living weapon; deceased soul fused into mechanism.
Narration: 《EXORCIST》
Narration: Akuma-destroying clergyperson dressed in black.
Narration: At the close of an imaginary 19th century,
Narration: strange things were happening night after night.
Allen: Timcanpy!
sfx: gara gara [wagon rolling over cobblestones]
Allen: Don't flap about so much,
Allen: can't have you getting eaten by any more cats.
sfx: jah [pulling curtain aside]
Clown: Whaaaa~~~? It got eaten~~?
Clown: Lucky to be alive, innit!
sfx: patatata [Timcanpy flapping its metallic wings]
Allen: Rose from its grave, didn't you.
Clown: Wassat?
sfx: gyuh [shove]
Yosshii: Here in England to sightsee, traveller?
sfx: yoji yoji [flup flup, sound of wingbeats changing as Tim comes in for the landing]
Allen: No, not exactly.
Allen: I've come to introduce myself
Allen: at Exorcist headquarters.
♦ 65
2nd Night - Full Moon Night
♦ 66
Narration: Three months earlier,
Narration: somewhere in India...
sfx: pao— pao— [elephants trumpeting]
Cross: Hey. Allen.
Allen: Yes, Master?1
Cross: You've been my apprentice for three years now.
Cross: Figure it's about time you graduated...
Cross: As of today, you may call yourself a full-fledged Exorcist.
Allen: !!
Allen: You really mean it!?
Cross: But that means you need to show your face at Headquarters.
Cross: I'll send my golem2 in my place, then,
Cross: and fire off a letter of introduction to Komui, the fellow in charge there.
sfx: jirih [shrinks back further]
sfx: pao— [elephant]
Cross: Get going whenever you wake up.
Allen: You don't mean to skive off!?
sfx: fuoh [raises mallet]
Cross: I can't stand that place.
sfx: GOH [BONK]
sfx: bah [jerks back to reality with a shudder]
Allen: Augh!!
♦ 68
Allen: Just a dream...
Allen: I keep reliving it...
sfx: shah [pokes out of curtains]
sfx: haa haa haa [panting]
Clown: All right there~? Sounded like a nightmare~
Jan: AKUMA!!!
Jan: It's an Akuma, we're doomed!!
Allen: !!
Clown: W-What's this now!?
Allen: Thanks for the lift!
sfx: bah [hup]
Clown: Oh my!?
♦ 69
sfx: dadadadadada [pounding footsteps, Allen running pell-mell]
Allen: Are you all right!?
Allen: Where's the—
Allen: —Akuma!?
Baldy: No demons round here, mate.
Allen: Sorry?
Baldy: Now look what you've done, Jan, crying wolf.
sfx: goh [bonk]
Jan: OUCH
♦ 70
Baldy: Sorry 'bout that. This lad's a prankster.
sfx: osu [unrepentant]
Jan: It's not a prank, blockhead!
Jan: The Akuma really are here!!
sfx: geh [pout]
Jan: They're slowly but surely spreading across the world! Dad said so!
Baldy: Yes, yes, we know. Here, have a sweet.
Jan: Don't treat me like a kid!!
Jan: I'm telling the truth!
Jan: Just now, over there, some big fellow in a top hat killed3 this homeless chap!
Jan: Stuffed an Akuma skeleton right down his gob—
♦ 71
sfx: pakoh [claps a hand over Jan's mouth]
Pigtails: Sorry, folks, just ignore him.
Pigtails: Kept pestering me to play with him, so I did, but he got carried away...
Jan: Wnghf!?
side, translation: "What!?"
Baldy: Yeah, s'what I thought.
Baldy, side: Let's all get back to work.
Baker: We won't come running next time, y'hear?
Jan: Nnn! Hnnn!
sfx: ponn [silence falling like a struck gong]
Jan: ......
♦ 72
sfx: pii [keen slicing sound]
Allen: You cannot fool my eye.
sfx: bu [skin unzipping]
Allen: You're an Akuma.
sfx: bubububu [outer shell disintegrating]
♦ 73
sfx: DON [bwoosh, whole body goes to dust at once]
Jan: ......
sfx: hyuuu [dust curling in the breeze]
Allen: "Jan", was it?
Allen: How do you know so much about Akuma?
sfx: pachin [snap of a rebuttoned finger glove]
Jan: WAHHHHHH
sfx: DOH [impact]
Allen: oof!?
♦ 74
sfx: DOH [impact]
Jan: An Exorcist! I've never met one before!!
Jan: Was that your anti-Akuma weapon?
Jan: Lemme have a look-see—
Jan: Oops?
sfx: biku [twitch]
sfx: sha [rrr of rollerblades]
Jan: Dad's a Vatican scientist.
Jan: He's aaaalways working, though, so I mostly have the place to m'self.
Jan: Started reading through his research when I was bored one day, and found out about the Akuma and whatnot.4
Allen: What odd shoes...
Jan: My dream right now's to become a great scientist like him and invent a weapon that'll wipe out Akuma like that!
♦ 75
Jan: Meant to ask, though...
sfx: chira [squint]
Allen: Yes?
Jan: Even a puny little squirt like you can make it as an Exorcist, eh?
sfx: GON [conk]
rock: PUNY
Jan: I always pictured a big strapping bunch.
Jan: Not... you.
Jan: So how many Akuma have you done for?
Jan: How'd you get your anti-Akuma weapon into your hand like that?
Jan: How'd you feel when you destroyed your first?
Allen: Jan...
Allen: You shouldn't stick your neck out so far.
Allen: You were lucky, this time,
Allen: but you should try to avoid attracting the Millennium Earl's attention.
Allen: It's dangerous.
♦ 76
Jan: Catch.
sfx: poi [toss]
Allen: An onion?
sfx: BON [explodes in his face]
sfx: uuuun [tears pouring down, moaning]
Jan: Heh heh. My own invention: the onion bomb.
Jan: I'm not just going to sit pretty while the Akuma invade!
sfx: kuru [turns away]
Jan: "Dangerous," my foot! Don't treat me like a kid, you milksop!
sfx: sha—h [rollerblades away at speed]
Allen: M-My eyes...
Allen: Pete's sake,
Allen: I give up.
sfx: shimiru [stinging]
♦ 77
sfx: zudodododo [engine-like rumbling]
sfx:goriririri, gago—, dori dori dori, zukyukyukyukyuu, ga— [whole cacophony of rumbling, squeaking metal, small explosions, etc.]
Maid: Young master!
Maid: Young master...!
Maid: Master Jan, you have a guest! Can you hear me?
Maid: Young master Jan!
sfx: gacha [door unlatching]
Jan: ......
Jan: Who is it?
Jan: Leo!!
♦ 78
Jan: It's been ages, mate!
Jan: Haven't heard from you since the funeral, been worried sick!
Jan: Are you staying with your folks now?
Jan: Losing your mum must've been hard, but I'm always here for you!
Jan: Keep your chin up!
Jan: He seems.... different, somehow...
Jan: His mum dying must've been a real shock...
Jan: Isn't there anything
Jan: I can do to cheer him up?
♦ 79
Jan: Oh, right!
Jan: I saw an Akuma for the first time today!
Jan: I've kept up patrolling while you were gone.
Jan: There really is a mechanical skeleton on the inside!
Jan: And! I saw the face of the Millennium Earl himself!
Jan: It was definitely him.
Jan: Hang on a sec, I'll sketch him.
Jan: Umm, like so... and so....
sfx: kaki kaki [scritch-scratch]
♦ 80
Jan: Ta-da!
sfx: baan [fanfare]
Jan: We should go out on patrol again and pass these around!
sfx: ton [Leo puts his hand on Jan's forearm with an odd sense of weight]
Leo: Jan
Leo: there's somewhere I'd like you to go with me
sfx: jiririri [brrring]
Allen: Just couldn't leave well enough alone, could I.
Allen: Ah, well. I'll straighten the boy out right quick, then make for HQ.
sfx: haa [sigh]
sfx: jiririri [brrring]
♦ 81
sfx: gacha [door opens]
Maid: Hullo?
Allen: Whoa, déjà vu.5
Allen: Er, I gather this is Jan's residence?
Allen: Is he in?
Maid: Young master Jan?
sfx: so~~~ [stealthy approach, palms out]
sfx: DOI [push!]
Jan: Why are you here?
Jan, side: pffft
♦ 82
Jan: Bet you've come to lecture me,
Jan: but you can stuff it.
sfx: keh [sticks tongue out]
sfx: shaaa— [rollerblades away, backwards]
Allen: J-Jan... you little....
sfx: shah [rollerblades]
Jan: Let's go, Leo.
Allen: Ugh—
On maid: [fainted]
sfx: piii [high-pitched whine; Allen's cursed eye spinning up]
Allen: !!
Allen: W-Wait a minute, Jan!
Allen: That boy is—
sfx: gachan [gate clangs shut]
♦ 83
Allen: T-This...
Allen: ...is a problem.
Allen: Timcanpy, go after them!
Allen: I'm right behind you!
sfx: patatata [flaps off]
Allen: Damn....
Allen: Headquarters will have to wait....
Allen: Seems there's someone else I need to show my face to first,
Allen: Master...
♦ 84
Jan: Oi, Leo...?
Jan: Is this really where you wanted to go?
Jan: It's a boneyard.
Jan: Oh, did you want to visit your mum's grave?
Jan: Should've just said! Don't be so vague—
sfx: DON [small face meet big belly]
♦ 85
sfx: suih [pat on the head]
Earl: Good evening. ♡
Earl: Pleased to make your acquaintance, young Jan. ♡
sfx: sui sui [pet pet]
Jan: What are you doing!? He's going to kill us!!
Jan: Leo—!!
Earl: Oh, dear little Leo has been dead for quite some time, we're afraid. ♡
Earl: Since his mother's funeral, in fact. ♡
♦ 87
Earl: This...
Earl: is an Akuma we made to punish you for getting in our way. ♡6
Jan: You're lying....
Allen: He isn't.
Allen: Jan,
Allen: that boy is an Akuma!!
♦ 88
Narration: And thus, his master departed.
♦♥♦
FOOTNOTES
Title: 師匠 shishou, "master" in the sense of a master of a trade mentoring an apprentice or journeyman until they're good enough to practice independently. Conversely, Cross refers to Allen as his 弟子 deshi, "apprentice" or "disciple".
[ ♠ ]
This word — "golem" — is written in katakana, ゴレム, as a direct loanword from another language: in this case Hebrew. A golem is a creature out of Jewish folklore which draws on deep symbolism specific to the Jewish people, but it shows up in Japanese fiction oddly often as some form of inanimate matter given temporary magical life according to particular parameters.
[ ♠ ]
Putting a note here for later reference, because this is a bit interesting: we learned in Night 001 that the Earl makes Akuma using a living person who's lost someone and the soul of the one they lost, yet here, the Earl seems to have killed the living vessel directly and put a (possibly pre-filled?) Akuma mechanism into him. If that's something he can do, the size of the Akuma population would make more sense.
[ ♠ ]
In light of the later arc in which an Order scientist tries to leave and has difficulty with the security measures in place to prevent this exact information from leaking out to the general public... who on Earth is Jan's father, and how did get a breach this spectacular past the Order?
[ ♠ ]
This is just an easy-to-miss joke: the maid looks like she could be closely related to the clown on the carny wagon he hitched a ride with.
[ ♠ ]
This is very interesting, as it implies that the Earl doesn't want information about himself or the Akuma released either, putting him in line with the Order on this front. Neither power wants the war between them to become public. It makes more sense for the Earl, at this point, because if people knew about him and knew his bargains weren't what they seemed, they might be less likely to willingly assist in the Akuma creation process.
[ ♠ ]
Summary: Lavi reminds Allen what the Order's uniform is really for.
♦ 27
28th Night - Uniform
Bookmen: That's all the evidence of the "Noah clan" I've recorded.
sfx: fu— [Komui blows out a long breath]
Komui: This is a great help, Bookman, really.
Komui: Sorry to make you tell a long story short.
Bookman: I don't mind, that's the job.
Komui: ......
Bookman: Let me guess what you're thinking, Director.
Bookman: The Akuma alone were bad enough. The addition of a group like the Noah is crushing.
Komui: For my part,
Komui: my heart aches
Komui: for you Exorcists.
♦ 28
Komui: All I ever do is pitch you into the deep end of the Earl's darkness.
Bookman: We all suffer.
Bookman: Suffering is the only equality in war.1
sfx: tatan [Bookman hops from stack to stack toward the door, apparently having heard something that bothered him]
Bookman: Conceal yourself, Director.
Bookman: You mustn't show the darkness your face.2
♦ 29
28th Night - Uniform
♦ 30
sfx: ohhh [wind blowing around Lavi's hammer]
Townswoman: Kyaahh!
sfx: zawa zawa [the crowd mutters, disturbed]
Townsman: Murder....
Townsman: There's been a murder!!
Lavi: Main street is dangerous, Allen. There're too many people.
Lavi: Akuma can get you from behind.
♦ 30
sfx: hyu [Lavi dismounts]
Lavi: You don't see Akuma when you look at people.
Lavi: Since your Akuma-spotting eye doesn't work right now.
Allen: I-I'm sorry.
Allen: How did you, just now....
sfx: shuuuu [the hammer shrinks down to a much more manageable size]
Lavi: Hm?
sfx: DON [impact that sends them both flying]
Allen & Lavi: !!
♦ 31
Lavi: Reinforcements!
On bat: SLUGGER
sfx: gogigi [L2 gurgles]
sfx: juuu [the ball that already hit the street smokes]
sfx: muwah [the air is thick with it, choking]
Lavi: Ow ow ow!
Lavi: That's hot!
sfx: kaki [the L2 hits another with its left arm, which is a teddy bear holding the SLUGGER bat]
sfx: goh [its bears down on them fast]
Lavi: Big hammer, little hammer,
Lavi: grow, grow—
sfx: vu [Innocence powering up]
♦ 32
Lavi: Grow!3
sfx: VU [Innocence throbs]
Allen: It got bigger!
Lavi: Watch your head, now!
Lavi: Hitting stuff into busy streets
sfx: ohhh [wordless wind-up yelling]
Lavi: is dangerous, Akuma!!
sfx: GOH [he hits the incoming ball with his hammer; it disintegrates into high-speed chunks]
♦ 33
sfx: ZUDOH [...as does the wall of the closest building, when the hammer hits it on follow-through]
Lavi: Oops—
Allen: He destroyed the building too!!
sfx: go go go [the building's facade continues to crumble around the point of impact]
Lavi: Haha.
Lavi: It's fine, it's fine, Komui will cover it!
sfx: shuuu [hammer shrinks]
Headband: HOME RUN
Lavi: Anyway, we'd better relocate—
Policeman: Don't move!!
Townswoman: It was them, the boys in black!
Townswoman: They're the murderers!!
Policeman: Don't move an inch, scoundrels!!
Lavi, side: Ugh, rozzer.
Policeman: I'm taking you in!
sfx: gui [he grabs Allen's arm to haul him off]
Allen: No, wait, we're not—
sfx: suh [the cross-end of Lavi's hammer is suddenly in the officer's face]
Policeman: W-What do you think you're—
Allen: Lavi!?
♦ 34
Policeman: Knock it...
Policeman: OFF!
sfx: bah [the policeman's body twists and warps into a gun and cannon]
Lavi: More reinforcements! Here for the shootout, I guess.
Allen: ......
sfx: dah dan [Allen and Lavi haul ass to draw the fight away from the main thoroughfare]
♦ 35
Lavi: You're really slow on the uptake, Allen.
Lavi: If you wait for them to show themselves, you're dead, y'know?
Allen: Sorry.
Allen: ......
Allen: How can you tell, Lavi?
Lavi: I can't. I suspect them all.
sfx: zah [high-speed landing; they're still running]
Lavi: Always, anyone who approaches me.
Lavi: People I met yesterday could be Akuma today.
Lavi: That's the kind of war we're fighting.
Lavi: You should understand, Allen.
sfx: zoro zoro zoro [people crowding, swarming]
Lavi: We're at an overwhelming disadvantage here.
♦ 36
Lavi: I don't have a handy-dandy eye like yours.
Lavi: Akuma could be anyone in the crowd.
Lavi: Other Exorcists and me,
Lavi: we look at people and see the Earl's allies.
sfx: hyuo [something in flight]
sfx: DON [another of the L2's smoking balls touches down]
♦ 37
Allen: Lavi!!
sfx: zazaza [sliding stop]
sfx: bun bun [Lavi twirling his hammer around, gaining momentum]
Lavi: I'm good, they're all small fry!
Lavi: Come on,
sfx: shakah [he waves the hammer and the smoke blows away, revealing a horde of L1s]
Lavi: bring it.
sfx: dododododo [Allen firing his gun-sword]
Lavi, flashback: We're not like you.
Lavi, flashback: Other Exorcists and me, we look at people and see the Earl's allies.
Woman: Kyaahh!
sfx: gah gah gah [her kicking legs dragging along the ground as the Akuma policeman hauls her around by the scruff of her neck]
sfx: zuri zuri zuri [the policeman marching robotically, face still a gun]
sfx: biku [Allen spots her and flinches]
Allen: !
Woman: Help meee!
sfx: bah [the policeman almost seems to be presenting her, shoving her in Allen's face]
sfx: giri [Allen grinds his teeth in miserable frustration]
Allen: I'm so stupid.
Allen: Learning that I have human enemies, in the Noah, threw me for a loop.
Allen: But what Lavi said reminded me.
♦ 38
Cross: Why
Cross: do I always wear my coat?
Cross: Because it stands out.
Allen: Doesn't the blatant cross make it too obvious that you're an Exorcist?
Cross: Pinhead prentice.
Cross: That's the point.
Cross: Put yourself in our shoes, dimwit.
Cross: What good would it do to hide from an enemy I can't see?
♦ 39
Cross: This is a target.
Cross: This way, I can be suspicious of anyone approaching me.
Allen: You just wait for enemies to strike at you...?
Cross: That's what the uniform is for, yeah.
Cross: But you...
Cross: don't have to worry about any of that,
Cross: Allen.
♦ 40
Allen: Master, Lavi... everyone who becomes an Exorcist
Allen: has to worry.
Allen: Has to see the people around them as enemies.
Allen: To draw the Akuma out of hiding,
Allen: they stand out in the open and make themselves bait.
Allen: To protect the people who need protecting.
sfx: DON [Allen shoots the policeman Akuma in the head]
♦ 41
sfx: gashan [the policeman's body crumbles into a dusty heap]
Woman: Ahhhh!!!
sfx: da da [she totters toward him, knees weak with apparent terror]
Allen: Are you all right?
Woman: Wahhh~ Wahhh~ Wahhh~
sfx: kachi [the barrel of the gun her face has turned into touches the center of his forehead]
sfx: DON [he shoots her through the midriff, miserable]
Allen: Too slow.
Allen: I'm the one who decided to keep walking down this road,
Allen: so I'd better find the resolve to wear this uniform.
♦ 42
BOOKMAN His real name was erased when he became a Bookman.
Like Lavi, his nationality is also unclear.
Age: 88
Height: 140cm, 4'7 (not counting his hair)
Weight: 38kg, 84lbs
Birthday: August 5th
Leo, blood type A
This old man too originally belonged to another manga I was planning. He's the simplest D.Gray character to draw, so I appreciate him. (Hey!)
I think I'd better parcel out the many secrets of the Bookmen gradually over the course of drawing this manga.
The black around his eyes is makeup, by the way.
♦♥♦
FOOTNOTES
みな辛い mina tsurai "it's bitter/hard for everyone"
It'd be easy to assume that he's just saying "All of us in the Order have it hard, including you", but I'm pretty sure that when he says "everyone" here, he means everyone, including the "enemy". We find out later on that Bookman was doing his observing and recording from Nea's side prior to the incident thirty-five years ago, so he's in a better position than anyone to know what this is costing everyone. The Earl and the Noah aren't in this for greed or giggles either; whatever it is they're trying to do, they're suffering and sacrificing for it, too.
[ ♠ ]
This line is odd until you read the rest of the chapter and realize that "showing the darkness one's face" is an Exorcist's job, in their capacity as bait. Komui, on the other hand, is not an Accommodator and cannot defend himself. He's away from HQ right now, terribly vulnerable, and well worth capturing for intel or outright assassinating.
[ ♠ ]
大槌小槌 oodzuchi kodzuchi "big hammer little hammer" is the name of Lavi's Innocence, but he says it like the opening line of a nursery rhyme or children's game.
満 man doesn't quite mean "grow"; it's closer to "fill (out)" or "become full". The implication is that it's in its true form when fully expanded and huge, and consents to shrink temporarily for portability.
[ ♠ ]
Summary: Allen and Lavi understand what's happening now, but that's only half the battle: now they need Krory to hear them out, and he's not in a listening mood.
Volume 4, Chapter 35
Vampire of the Lonely Castle ⑤: Eliade
♦ 158 & 159
sfx: DON [Krory slams into Allen, teeth sinking into the tip of his cannon-form Innocence]
sfx: zazazaza [scraping across the ground with the impact]
sfx: hyuo [bit hard to tell what's happening here but it looks like Krory's spun Allen around with his teeth so hard his feet have come off the ground and he's now spinning airborne]
sfx: BANH [after building up momentum, Krory lets go, hurling him away at great speed]
Allen: Guh—
sfx: doh [Allen manages to land on his feet atop the crumbling blocks of the cemetery wall]
♦ 160
sfx: BAN [Krory hits the spot where he just landed a split second later]
sfx: hyuo [Allen has luckily just vacated it, by the skin of his teeth]
Allen: He's so fast!
sfx: bah [he touches down lightly on what looks like a bundle of roots]
Allen: Krory!
sfx: gashaaaa [rocks and dust tumbling from the ruined wall]
Allen: We no longer mean to slay you!
Allen: Please listen—
sfx: babababa [Krory aims a flurry of bone-crushing blows at Allen's torso]
♦ 161
Krory: Cease your prattle.
Krory: Are you now afraid, having watched your comrade die?
sfx: gah [Allen grits his teeth, enduring the onslaught without retaliation]
Allen: !!
Allen: Every villager buried in that garden was an Akuma.
Allen: Were you aware of that?
Allen: Arystar Krory,
Allen: are you really certain you're a vampire?
♦ 163
Krory: Am I certain...?
♦ 164
sfx: gabuh [chomp]
sfx: zaza [Allen skids back instinctively]
sfx: botata [blood from his shoulder spatters on the ground]
sfx: haa haa haa... [Allen panting]
sfx: para... [severed bits of hair drifting away from the bite site]
Krory: Muahaha...
Krory: Akuma? I care not.
Krory: I only want to savour this thrill.
♦ 165
Krory: I wish to live my life to the fullest!!
Krory: To follow my instincts freely, bound by no one!!
Krory: I flatly refuse to let others dictate how I live.
Krory: And so, I kill.
Krory: Your turn.
♦ 166
sfx: DON [a brutal blow, which sends Allen through a wall back into the castle proper]
sfx: gashaaaa [rocks and dust falling from the new hole]
sfx: doh [Allen comes to a stop in a heap on the floor]
Krory: Hmph.
Krory: That should do it.
sfx: nu [straightens his back and lowers his chin in self-satisfaction]
♦ 167
Krory: !!
sfx: DON [Lavi and his hammer have re-entered the fray with considerable force]
Lavi: Peh, peh.
Lavi: Don't write me off, dickhead.
♦ 168
Lavi: Okay, little pissed off now.
sfx: nikoo [murder grin]
Lavi: You and I are going to have a talk, once I've beaten you pulpy.
Krory: Intriguing.
Allen: Ow ow ow...
Overhead: BLEEDING OUT
Allen: Nnngh, think that really rang my bell.
sfx: bota bota bota [blood splattering on the floor at his every move]
sfx: dara dara [blood pulsing steadily from his head wound]
Allen: I saw stars like these when Master got me with that mallet, too...
Allen: !
sfx: dara dara [gush gush]
Allen: Rather loud outside...
♦ 169
Allen: I need to get back out there.
sfx: zukoh [he's been leaning heavily on the wall to help himself along; one brick suddenly depresses under his hand]
sfx: uiin [a secret passageway blossoms open and he topples into it]
sfx: gon!! [he hits the floor hard again]
sfx: rororo dota... [and rolls a couple of times before coming to a lurching halt on his ass]
Allen: hgh
Allen: gah
Allen: nghf
Allen: A-A hidden door...?
sfx: bushuuu [blood spurts from his extra-wounded head anew]
Allen: Now where am I?
sfx: gi gishi [blood vessels burgeon across her face like roots]
Eliade: Ahh, it's fine. I'll just deal with you myself.
Eliade: I've always wanted to taste it at least once.
Eliade: Exorcist blood, I mean. ♡
Summary: Allen and Lavi dig up some graves and begin to realize they've misapprehended the situation.
Vampire of the Lonely Castle ④: Anathema
♦ 138
Krory: Grandfather.
Krory: I had already given up.
Krory: I am destined to live and die within this castle.
Krory: The townspeople hate me, and there is no one willing to be my friend.
♦ 139
Krory: ...It isn't as if any of that is new, of course.
sfx: boroh [tears well up and spill over]
Krory: W—
Krory: What am I weeping for!?
sfx: gushi gushi [grumbling and muttering]
Krory: My darling Eliade will be with me forever, after all.
Krory: Grandfather...
Krory: Is this your curse?
Krory: To bind me, when I'd always yearned for the outside world and seemed ready to defy your wishes?
Krory: Did you make a monster of me?
♦ 140
sfx: DON [the floor suddenly collapses under him]
Krory: !?
sfx: gogogo [chunks of stone falling all around him]
Krory: What's this!?
sfx: gara gara [stones clattering down]
sfx: gashih [two hands reach over the edge of a shattered wall and grip tight]
♦ 141
sfx: GABA [Allen and Lavi drag themselves up over the broken edge of the wall]
Allen & Lavi: GAHAH
Lavi: D-Damn, we're good...!!
Lavi: Thought we were goners. Really thought that was it for us.
sfx: zehh haa zehh haa [Lavi panting hard]
sfx: kuu itehh [Allen wincing, ouch]
Allen: Even from an explosion...
Allen: These special coats are really something...
Lavi: Mind if I hurl? Got hit in the gut.
sfx: oeeeehh [barfing]
sfx: gero gero [gagging]
Allen: !
Allen: Lavi!
Lavi: Ngyeah?
sfx: hyuuu [a view has opened up from their new position; they're looking out over a yard full of rough wooden crosses]
♦ 142
Allen: ...It's a graveyard.
Lavi: Pretty shitty graves.
Lavi: Pest in reace.1
Lavi: For pets, maybe?
Allen: ......!
Allen: Could this be... where the abducted townsmen are buried?
Lavi: Huh?
Allen: That woman, Eliade, said back there that she was on her way to bury Franz, didn't she?
sfx: saku [footstep]
Allen: Besides, look...
♦ 143
Allen: There are eight of them.
Lavi: Ew.
Allen: That's how many victims the mayor said there've been.
Lavi: Mm?
Lavi: Didn't he say there were nine?
Allen: The first one evaporated, though, right...?
sfx: pakin [he pats a cross with his hand and it instantly breaks into pieces]
Allen: Ah—
Lavi: Yikes, you broke it!
Allen: Oh no,
Allen: but I barely touched it!!
Allen, side: I'm so sorry!
Allen: !
Allen: Lavi, take a look at this!
Lavi: Hm?
sfx: zah zah [Allen scraping dirt off the grave with his hands]
Allen: Look...!
Lavi: !?
♦ 144
Allen:: There are pentacles rising to the surface!
Lavi: The Akuma blood virus.
Allen: Could it be...
Allen: that those buried here were Akuma...!?
sfx: zah [Lavi squats by another cross]
Lavi, side: Ah...
Lavi: More pentacles over here.
Lavi: Which reminds me: when those flowers ate Franz,
Lavi: there were pentacles there too, right...?
Lavi: Which means that maybe they...
♦ 145
Allen: ...were consuming an Akuma...!?
Allen & Lavi: ......
Allen: ...Let's dig them up, Lavi.
Lavi, side: Urgh.
Lavi: ...Only way to be sure, right?
Allen: We may have been labouring under a great misunderstanding here...
♦ 146
sfx: tsuka tsuka [Eliade walking briskly, chunky heels clicking on the marble floor]
Eliade: Those little cockroaches might have survived that.
sfx: butsu butsu [muttering to herself]
Eliade: I have to tell Lord Arystar right away.
Eliade: Let them live? Never.
Eliade, small: Especially that pasty brat!!!
Eliade: I can't let Arystar escape from this castle!!2
sfx: batan! [she throws open the door to with dramatic force]
Eliade: Lord Arystar!
Krory: !
Painting: FELL DOWN
Krory: Eliade?
sfx: uru uru [wibble]
Eliade: O-Ooh...
Krory: W-What's the matter?!
Eliade: Men calling themselves "Exorcists" have come to kill you, Lord Arystar...
sfx: wa-n [she throws herself into his arms]
Eliade: They attacked me...
♦ 147
Eliade: They've burned up the flowers in the central stairway...
Eliade: I was so frightened.
sfx: samezame [weeping bitterly]
Krory: What!?
Krory: Grandfather's precious heirlooms... How dare they...
Eliade: Please fight back, Lord Arystar.
Krory: Eh?
Krory: Er...
Krory: But if I...
Eliade: But they'll kill us!!
Eliade: You are a vampire. Humanity already sees you only as an enemy.
sfx: guh [she grabs his head and pulls his face down into the crook of her neck]
Eliade: Drink just a little of my blood. You must.
Krory: !!
♦ 148
Eliade: If you do, you can become a powerful vampire...
sfx: zawa zawa [Krory shudders, racked with chills]
Eliade: Just a little, all right?
Eliade: Not enough to kill me.
Eliade: So that we can live together in this castle forever.
Eliade: ...Please?
Townsman, flashback: The vampire!
Townsman, flashback: Any closer and we'll put a stake through your heart!
♦ 149
Townsman, flashback: Stay back!! Monster!!
Krory: Eliade is all I have left now, Grandfather...
sfx: gakon [a crude wooden coffin lies at their feet]
Lavi: Here we go.
sfx: fu— ha— [breathing hard]
Allen: Nothing for it.
Allen & Lavi: ......
♦ 151
Allen & Lavi: Rock, paper, scissors!
sfx: bah [they throw their hands; Lavi has rock, Allen scissors]
Lavi, side: Woohoo!
Allen: All right then...
sfx: PAM [he claps his hands together in front of his face, a workmanlike prayer]
Lavi, side: Gofrit!3
Allen: Please forgive me!
sfx: paki paki paki [wood groaning, creaking, splitting as Allen pries the lid off]
Allen: Huh. It's brittle.
sfx: gii [creak as the lid finally comes up]
♦ 152
Allen: ......
Lavi: The skin has all rotted off.
Lavi: It's an Akuma.
♦ 153
Lavi: They're all Akuma...
Lavi: When the skin rotted off, the stuff inside started leaking out.
sfx: garan [surrounded by open coffins]
Lavi, side: It reeks.
Allen: The Baron was attacking Akuma...
Allen: If he was only attacking Akuma, then...?
Lavi: We're not vampire-slaying at all.
Lavi: Krory's actually...
♦ 154
Allen: La—
Allen: Lavi!!
sfx: go [something hits Lavi from behind]
Lavi: !
sfx: BAAN [it's Krory, and he's thrown Lavi into the stone wall]
♦ 155
Krory: ...So it's you two.
Allen: ......
Krory: You've made me angry.
Allen: We aren't here simply to slay a vampire...?
Allen: Baron...
Allen: Baron Arystar Krory, the vampire,
Allen: might actually...
Krory: Die, Exorcists.
Allen: ...be one of ours.
♦ 156
『Lounge』vol. 5
Q. What do you think of Lenalee's peekaboo skirt, Allen?
Allen: Men love miniskirts, but I do sometimes wonder if she's warm enough.
Q. Every Exorcist's uniform has a different design. Are they made to order?
Allen: Correct. The Science Division makes them, but they do ask everyone what they'd like beforehand. In my case, Tim has been getting bigger by the day, so I asked for a hood he can hide in. It was fine when he was tiny, but we'd started to get a lot of strange looks from people on the road.
(※ It's actually more to hide Allen's white hair.)
Q. Regarding the author's note on volume 2, what is the name of the cat catching Timcanpy there?
Allen: Ah, yes, isn't it cute? A very cute kitty. [trumpet fanfare] That's Hoshino's beloved pet Koro-chan.
Q. How much chocolate came in on Valentine's day? Who got the most?
Allen: There were 115 of them. I got the most. [grin] Cheers very much.
Ahh, seems we've run out of time, so that's a wrap on the Lounge for now. It's been good to talk to you all. Talk again soon!
♦♥♦
FOOTNOTES
Reciting the nembutsu is a little ritual in Japanese Buddhism, generally done in times of stress to ask for strength or composure. You've probably seen a character say "Namu Amida Bu(tsu)" or something similar over a grave elsewhere in anime and manga; it's roughly equivalent in this context to "rest in peace".
Lavi, however, says "Nani Maida Bu", scrambling it like he's repeating something he's heard someone else say and misremembering how it goes.
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I believe some previous translations had this line as "Arystar mustn't let them escape from the castle", which does make sense in context but is not correct.
The line is アレースタアをこの城から逃がすわけにはいかない Arystar wo kono shiro kara nogasu wake ni wa ikanai. Krory is the object of that sentence, the one who must not be allowed to escape.
Like all Akuma, Eliade knows all about Exorcists and Innocence. She knows exactly what Krory's teeth are, and knows that if the visiting Exorcists realize that he's an Accommodator, they'll take him away from the castle, away from her.
It's very much a mashup of Beauty and the Beast and vampire folklore in the way that Lala and Guzol were a mashup of Koi no Omoni and Parsifal, with the roles similarly rearranged and subverted. Eliade is both a beauty and a beast, both serving him as his attendant and imprisoning him within the castle. He, too, is both the beast who owns the castle and the beauty yearning to escape it. All of it, of course, complicated by love.
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Similar to #1, instead of gamba(tte) "do your best/go for it", Lavi says gamuba, which doesn't mean anything. Perhaps the explosion scrambled his brains a bit?
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