4 "Residents in the basement"
Before Seina's eyes there was a large fissure spread beyond imagination. Although the width of the fissure wasn't so bad, the length of it was so long that the end couldn't be seen as if it went all the way to the other end of the planet.
There seemed to be air containing a slight amount of moisture, low shrubs and grasses grew around it.
"You go down here all the time?" the path sloped till it became nearly vertical but there was no indication that it was likely to get down very far.
"Onii-chan, over here!" The boy pointeed to a place where large and small holes opened like wormwood along the fissure. There was a cavity below.
"Quickly" They went into the hole and the boy took out a small flashlight from his luggage bag and lit it. It seemed that it was quite seemingly old, the metal here and and there was scuffed up and the light emitting element seemed to be considerably deteriorated.
Nonetheless there was enough light to illuminate the inside of the cave. Seina 's suit had a lighting function that would have illuminated the far away areas brightly, but it seemed unnecessary to use it.
"Your older sister ... is she okay?"
The girl seemed uneasy as she looked up at Seina and said, "I'll be fine, although it may take some time, I'll heal."
The young girl responded with ease, It made him remember when Yoshiko got her favorite clothes soaked with Seina's blood.
They went through a series of intricate caves.
"So .... How long is it to your village?"
"It's about 8 hours on foot, and were taking the long way around."
"Oh, so this isn't the normal way?"
"We live by hiding from them, so we can't go to the settlement directly."
"But we often walk this long of a distance."
"When we come out, we use a different route that's much shorter, but there are some shortcuts to get back down to the basement, so it's fine."
The boy pointed to the corner of the cave as he said that. At the bottom was a hole in the wall behind a stone that one would overlook at first glance.
"... ... Quite a lot of people have come and gone from here." the stone was worn from constant use. Behind it a stone pavement was laid on the floor, stones of different colors were arranged in a pattern in the central part. At first glance it looked someone had set up a simple residence in that part of the cave.
"Onii-chan, in the middle of that stone." Pulled by the girl, Seina stood in the center. The boy who followed later shined the light of the flashlight on one of the patterns on the surrounding walls. A few minutes later, the stone at their feet began to hum and soon they were transported to another place. The boy and girl led Seina by the hands out of the hall. Unlike the previous tunnels, plants that emitted light like those on Jurai were planted in places to light the way.
(That was a transfer gate ...... is it here from the ruins or did they bring it when they settled?) If they were naturalist, that kind of technology should have been disposed of. Needless to say it's not like their descendants would strictly keep to those ideals.
(If this leads to ruins of the oldest civilization, it's a great discovery.)
Nonetheless, that was no concern to Seina now.
"This cave system is quite extensive, isn't it?"
"It spreads around the area where those Shank guys are ... ..."
"Shank !? These are Shank's pirates?" Seina's blood boiled.
"Well, yes, I heard that Tarrant Shank is their boss."
"Really……" Anxiety overwhelmed Seina.
"Do you know him big brother?"
"He's a famous space pirate, you said these tunnel are centered around the area where Shank is?" "Yeah, there was a big opening there originally and there's an underground cave centering around it. Our clan originally lived in the center of it long before we were born, then suddenly The Shank guys came and built a base. "
"So you're hiding under the basement to the base?"
"Yeah, we can't go near there though."
"Aren't you worried that they'll find you?"
"The way in looks like a bottomless pit, so adults just assume its dangerous and never get close."
"Is that so? But why are there no guards?"
"Since the underground parts are completely covered with metal walls, there's no place for them to come in and go out, you can't enter from the base there's only an entrance from the outside."
"Okay ... ... so what if I wanted to go out near the base, can I manage that somehow ..."
"I'll show you if I want to go, I know the way because I often go to the playground."
"The playground?"
"It's a secret to adults, but there are lots of old ruins there and it's interesting."
"... I understand... it's a good thing I found you then." He had thought helping them was a detour but it had become a short cut.
"That's where our village is located" The boy pointed to an exit where a bright light came from. "Who is he!?" Two guards with spears were standing where the tunnel opened. The two guards pointed spears at Seina.
"It's okay! This guy helped us out." The boy immediately waved his hands and ran away in front of Seina.
"Kusuri! Acha!" The guards cried when they saw the boy and the girl next to Seina.
----------------------
The settlement was in a domed area of about 30 meters. It's was completely artificial like it had a dome made of ceramic. A vertical hole of about 5 meters was in the ceiling from which sunshine flooded in.
"I can't believe this stupid son of mine!" Most of the village adults who came running were female, one mother-like woman jumped out the crowd and suddenly grabbed the boy and started spanking him.
"I'm sorry, Mom!"
"Why didn't you stop him Acha!"
"Well..."
"Oh Acha! Not you too!" The woman then began to hit Acha's butt. Although it is not as intense as with the boy, the sound echoed inside the dome.
"I'm sorry" Acha said with teary eyes, but her facial expression was bright.
Unlike the boy who held his but and was crouched over with teary eyes.
"Thank you very much for helping my son and this girl." the mother's anger had passed and she finally ran to Seina and bowed deeply.
The other adults also approached Kusuri and Acha, and were pleased with their safety.
"Oh, no, it's my duty ... and also ... it might be my fault ...."
"Oh?"
"Well I heard that Acha's mother is sick is that true?"
"Yes ... ... It's bad, but if we had some medicinal herbs she could recover but there not safe to go harvesting... "
"So that was a dangerous place?"
"Yes, especially for Acha. She's her mother's only child."
"I understand why you were worried."
"To be honest, I was planning to go to get them myself. For us, Acha's mother is an important woman and she's important to our idol Because she is his shrine maiden. We can't let her die."
"She's the shrine maiden of the idol ...?" At that time, there were sounds coming from many people, the men came forward, and from that an old man of many years approached Seina.
"What do you think of him elder?" The Elder man came before Seina.
"Did you come from the sky?" He stared Seina's face.
"...........Uuhm?"
"Yes, that's right Elder, Big brother came from the sky ... ... and he brought a big sister ..."
"Oh! Okay! Then you're the legendary brave hero!"
"What?"
"The village is going to be saved!"
"Do you mean by me?"
"You shouldn't take the Elder so seriously, I'm sure he's say that to anyone." Kusuro said.
"...This time I mean it!" The elder said "Come now, let's throw him a welcome party !"
------------------------------
"There seems to be no doubt that this is his cruiser but there's no one in the inside. It's not going anywhere that's for sure. Should we bring it to the engineers?" A heavy machine like a large six-legged spider finished excavating Seina's cruiser.
"We don't know what kind of traps it has, it's a philosopher's ship after all. Destroy it! " Tarrant seemed annoyed and broke communication.
"Roger that!"
-----------------
"Chh! So these three saw Seina Yamada?" Tarrant asked
"Only signs of them, but we they saw him."
"What do you mean?"
"They were in the middle of hunting around that area, they seem to have found a golden Wau."
"How?"
"It was a frustrating chase, two young people who were chasing it seemed to have been killed by Seina Yamada ... and It seems that they encountered an older golden haired wau on the way ... ...." "That was obviously a decoy to let those children get away."
"Yes. It seemed that way." The operator looked at Tarrant and was relieved that he didn't seem too angry. He turned to Arga
"So did you catch it?"
"I lost sight of it, I chased after it but it disappeared ..."
"It disappeared ...!!" At that moment Tarrant's was reminded of the time Kirche transformed from NB.
"That's his NB! Scan the area it vanished in! We need to find it!"
---------------
"How about you, Kashak, how are you feeling?" The woman called Kashak was a golden Wau woman like Acha, but had brown hair mixed in some places and overall her hair seemed a bit dull because of that.
Still her coat was beautiful looking when the sunlight leaked in and hit it in the dimly lit room she was in.
"... ... Yes, thanks to the medicine I'm feeling much better."
"Well, you should still rest for a while, by the way I heard that you had some news for me." The elders restrained Kashak, who tried to get up.
"Yes, our guardian deity has awoken."
"... Was this around the time things started to get noisy above ground?"
"Yes, and then that brave man appeared.."
" And............?" Kashak looked at the elder with a strange look.
"And I'm saying he's the genuine thing, he even came from the sky!"
"You can see him in the morning but in your present condition you should ... ... wait... No way do you mean you want Acha to... !?" The Elder quietly acknowledged Kashak's implied question with confusion.
"Something like that ..." Kashak covered her face with both hands.
"That girl is meant to be the next generation shrine maiden, moreover, he helped her get the medicinal herbs and that just happened to be where the Space pirates attacked them."
"Is that so?"
"So I think what we should do is obvious, I hope you have no objection to letting Acha take on the priestess role?"
"……I see...I agree."
-------------
"Acha is going to become the new shrine maiden !?" Kusuro looked up at his mother in astonishment as she began cooking for the party.
"Oh, but it because Ms. Kashak is sick."
"No it's simply an honor thing, it's a bit early for her to go off to the gods ...." Another woman in the kitchen said Kusuro ran out of the house in a hurry.
"Kusuro! Wait! It is already decided... Acha ... ...." Another woman held his mother back from stopping Kusuro.
"They grew up like they were brother and sister since they were young, and the elder knows that."
----------
As the woman said, the elders was expecting Kusuro, he let him go ahead without saying anything. From there he was accompanied by a maiden who was there to take him to Acha.
"Wait a moment." She stopped him and sprinkled salt on him. They were entering a sanctuary so she was purifying him.
"I don't have much time." He said as he ran off and passed through the curtain.
"Kusuro!" Acha looked at him and showed the decorations that had been put in her hair.
"Do you like them? They're my mother's. It feels weird having them."
"Yeah ... ... it suits you." Kusuro narrowed his eyes to see past the the dazzling objects.
"Here take this!You've always wanted it haven't you?" Kusuro gave her a faceted crystal that was dark blue like a tropical sea, and it was an exquisite aquamarine gemstone. It was hung on a thin thread.
"Oh ... but isn't this your treasure?"
"Not anymore, it is a tribute to the shrine maiden."
"Thank you!" She took it with both hands and looked at its beautiful sparkles.
"We won't be able to play together any more."
"Yeah ... ... but ... as shrine maiden ... ... I'll pray hard to the universe for your happiness."
Although Acha's expression was slightly cloudy, the expectations of becoming the shrine maiden were still large, so she still said that with a smile.
"Thank you"
Even if he had a crush on her, he knew that someday Acha would become a shrine maiden, and he knew what that meant. Naturally, he had always known there was no chance of a love affair happening. So in a way it was as if he had came to see his best friend who was moving away somewhere else. Still he felt a strong loss as if Acha was now out of his reach.
"............" They couldn't continue the conversation any more. Kusuro just stood there.
"Come on, Acha, Kusuro, you must prepare soon, don't keep the brave man waiting." The maid said gently.
"... Yeah, well then, good luck Acha."
"I'm going to do the dance, please come and watch." They exchanged scratches, which was a sign of affection. This was the last time they could interact as children.
------------
"Have you made your goodbyes?" Kusuro who came out alone from the back room was shedding big tears. The elder gently but an arm around him.
"Do you dislike the brave hero?"
"...... No ... He helped us ... ... He's a very kind person." Remembering Seina's face made his sadness diminish. His fear of being chased by the pirates, and the frustrated feelings of desperation and being unable to protect Acha were a bother to him more than anything. So when Seina appeared, He saw him as a brave man. Besides, he had a gentle atmosphere that only old people had.
"Acha will be the shrine maiden for that brave man so you should be happy."
"……Yeah you're right!" Kusuro responded as he wiped his tears with his arms.
That brave man would surely protect Acha, Kusuro was sure of that.
"Normally children wouldn't be able to participate in the festivities, but this time is special, we should go watch Acha's dance while we eat the celebratory dishes."
"............" However, thinking about the ritual for Seina and Acha, Kusuro felt a bit embarrassed about going. He remembered though that he'd promised to guide Seina to the area near the pirate's base. Although it was a playground, preparations were necessary to get there. Now was the perfect time to acquire the needed items because all the adults were busy.
"Is Ms. Kashak going to participate in Acha's ceremony?"
"It seems she's doing better thanks to you and those herbs, but it's best that she refrains from doing anything strenuous for the time being. Oh right, she said she wanted to thank you for the herbs, you should go see her afterwords."
"What ... .... Oh yes... Right!"
The way to the enemy base was in the direction of the shrine of the idol statue. It was a great place to hide the necessary packages. In addition he'd get to see the beautiful now ex shrine maiden that he was actually longing for. As he thought about it his heart was moving like a ringing bell.
--------------
The village wasn't in a cave made by natural erosion but rather in a artificially made artifact like a dome. It was destroyed in some places, leaving cracks in parts of the ceiling and walls. What kind of facility it was used for originally was uncertain. In the center was a small river and an underground lake. Luminescent fruit trees covered the inside of the dome and it was considerably bright.
Around it were houses built by digging holes. They were lined up like a little apartment complex.
"This is a fantastic looking settlement." Seina said as he was surrounded by the elders and young wau women on a big terrace overlooking the underground lake. A variety of dishes were lined up in front of him.
"I bet there's more to see then there is to do"
"Ahaha, you're right about that ~ ... ... That's why we're so glad that you came here ...." The Wau women surrounding Seina were all shapely. If anyone he knew were to see the situation it would have gone south rather quickly.
"Celebrate brave hero, have all the food and girls you like!"
"... ... I'm sorry I think misheard you..."
"No, no, I said both meals and girls, or would you like a man?"
"No thanks I'm good!" Seina rushed to say. Otherwise it seemed like a man would come out.
"Ho ho ho, don't cry, It's time to celebrate!"
"It's just... I'm not used to such a thing ...."
"Our village is quarantined because of the Space pirates, people rarely come from other villages, so we need new blood or else our gene pool will get stagnant. Do you not want to help? "
"I thought you were supposed to be a brave man. at least that's what Kusuro said ... ...."
It made sense that they'd want to bear the child of a brave hero.
"There's no need to hesitate!"
"I'm reluctant! Generally I'm considered a minor."
"It's ok they know what they're doing... and there's no problem with it, the elder of the village has given permission." The elder smiled and nudge seina with his elbow.
"Isn't helping people, the work of a brave hero?" The women looked up at Seina as they and they hanged onto him .
"But……" He thought of Kiriko's face and shook off his evil thoughts, then he thought of Airi. Suddenly all of his urges faded away. After all he knew that if something happened here, Kiriko would be angry, and Airi would probably try even harder to pursue him. Few things struck as much horror into him as that.
"I can't, I need to think of the safety of my colleagues, I have work that still needs to be done." He said with a resolute attitude, "But thank you for the meal."
"We'll one should always think of their belly first ... ... then you can relax."
"Hahaha .... It's tasty." For the time being, He ignored the elder's words, but the women's hospitable handsiness didn't stop.
While pretending to recommend drinks and meals, several people from the left and right of him took the opportunity to push the plenty of breasts up against him to keep him from escaping entirely.
"Hey brave man, Are you sure you won't help us?" Seina's was embarrassed the women began begging. "Don't you want to help? ..."
"Oh,everyone get ready!" The elder said as everyone's eyes turned towards the small stage extending out to the underground lake.
"Oh is that Acha?"
The curtain opened behind it was Acha wearing a costume embedded with black stones. the hole in the roof was covered with a condensing lens so that the collected light struck Acha underneath it like a spotlight, making her golden hair shine.
The bustle of the banquet settled down into silence, a click clack noise echoed as a signal and Acha, who was staring at Seina, bowed deeply, and instruments started playing as a certain sound began. Acha began to dance quietly.
Clap Clap Clap!
The dance finished in about three minutes, but still it was wonderfully and deserved praise. Seina gave a generous applause to Acha who bowed and got off stage.
"Come, Acha. Over Here!" Encouraged by the elder, Acha embarrassed came over to Seina. She took a knee in front of Seina, and a her head dropped deeply. She raised her head back up with her hands up on her face with fright. "
Huh?"
"Did you like Acha's dance brave hero?"
"Uh, well yeah, it was great."
"Then take Acha's hands into yours brave hero!"
"Oh. Okay." Seina thought that it was a sign of praise for the dance.
"That was awesome, Acha." Seina put both hands in the middle of Acha's small hands.
Acha was still embarrassed yet she grasped Seina's hands firmly.
"Alright! With this, the contract between the brave man and the shrine maiden has been sealed!"
A roar of cheers came out of the surroundings due to the elders' declaration.
"What? Why do I feel like I've fallen for some kind of trap."
"……I'm so happy!" It was already too late when he saw Acha rejoicing with watery eyes.
-------End of chapter---------
---Not gonna lie I adapted this section very loosely because it is 100% creeperific in the original Japanese. Acha is way over sexualized during the dance scene because this is her coming of age ceremony basicly----
Before Seina's eyes there was a large fissure spread beyond imagination. Although the width of the fissure wasn't so bad, the length of it was so long that the end couldn't be seen as if it went all the way to the other end of the planet.
There seemed to be air containing a slight amount of moisture, low shrubs and grasses grew around it.
"You go down here all the time?" the path sloped till it became nearly vertical but there was no indication that it was likely to get down very far.
"Onii-chan, over here!" The boy pointeed to a place where large and small holes opened like wormwood along the fissure. There was a cavity below.
"Quickly" They went into the hole and the boy took out a small flashlight from his luggage bag and lit it. It seemed that it was quite seemingly old, the metal here and and there was scuffed up and the light emitting element seemed to be considerably deteriorated.
Nonetheless there was enough light to illuminate the inside of the cave. Seina 's suit had a lighting function that would have illuminated the far away areas brightly, but it seemed unnecessary to use it.
"Your older sister ... is she okay?"
The girl seemed uneasy as she looked up at Seina and said, "I'll be fine, although it may take some time, I'll heal."
The young girl responded with ease, It made him remember when Yoshiko got her favorite clothes soaked with Seina's blood.
They went through a series of intricate caves.
"So .... How long is it to your village?"
"It's about 8 hours on foot, and were taking the long way around."
"Oh, so this isn't the normal way?"
"We live by hiding from them, so we can't go to the settlement directly."
"But we often walk this long of a distance."
"When we come out, we use a different route that's much shorter, but there are some shortcuts to get back down to the basement, so it's fine."
The boy pointed to the corner of the cave as he said that. At the bottom was a hole in the wall behind a stone that one would overlook at first glance.
"... ... Quite a lot of people have come and gone from here." the stone was worn from constant use. Behind it a stone pavement was laid on the floor, stones of different colors were arranged in a pattern in the central part. At first glance it looked someone had set up a simple residence in that part of the cave.
"Onii-chan, in the middle of that stone." Pulled by the girl, Seina stood in the center. The boy who followed later shined the light of the flashlight on one of the patterns on the surrounding walls. A few minutes later, the stone at their feet began to hum and soon they were transported to another place. The boy and girl led Seina by the hands out of the hall. Unlike the previous tunnels, plants that emitted light like those on Jurai were planted in places to light the way.
(That was a transfer gate ...... is it here from the ruins or did they bring it when they settled?) If they were naturalist, that kind of technology should have been disposed of. Needless to say it's not like their descendants would strictly keep to those ideals.
(If this leads to ruins of the oldest civilization, it's a great discovery.)
Nonetheless, that was no concern to Seina now.
"This cave system is quite extensive, isn't it?"
"It spreads around the area where those Shank guys are ... ..."
"Shank !? These are Shank's pirates?" Seina's blood boiled.
"Well, yes, I heard that Tarrant Shank is their boss."
"Really……" Anxiety overwhelmed Seina.
"Do you know him big brother?"
"He's a famous space pirate, you said these tunnel are centered around the area where Shank is?" "Yeah, there was a big opening there originally and there's an underground cave centering around it. Our clan originally lived in the center of it long before we were born, then suddenly The Shank guys came and built a base. "
"So you're hiding under the basement to the base?"
"Yeah, we can't go near there though."
"Aren't you worried that they'll find you?"
"The way in looks like a bottomless pit, so adults just assume its dangerous and never get close."
"Is that so? But why are there no guards?"
"Since the underground parts are completely covered with metal walls, there's no place for them to come in and go out, you can't enter from the base there's only an entrance from the outside."
"Okay ... ... so what if I wanted to go out near the base, can I manage that somehow ..."
"I'll show you if I want to go, I know the way because I often go to the playground."
"The playground?"
"It's a secret to adults, but there are lots of old ruins there and it's interesting."
"... I understand... it's a good thing I found you then." He had thought helping them was a detour but it had become a short cut.
"That's where our village is located" The boy pointed to an exit where a bright light came from. "Who is he!?" Two guards with spears were standing where the tunnel opened. The two guards pointed spears at Seina.
"It's okay! This guy helped us out." The boy immediately waved his hands and ran away in front of Seina.
"Kusuri! Acha!" The guards cried when they saw the boy and the girl next to Seina.
----------------------
The settlement was in a domed area of about 30 meters. It's was completely artificial like it had a dome made of ceramic. A vertical hole of about 5 meters was in the ceiling from which sunshine flooded in.
"I can't believe this stupid son of mine!" Most of the village adults who came running were female, one mother-like woman jumped out the crowd and suddenly grabbed the boy and started spanking him.
"I'm sorry, Mom!"
"Why didn't you stop him Acha!"
"Well..."
"Oh Acha! Not you too!" The woman then began to hit Acha's butt. Although it is not as intense as with the boy, the sound echoed inside the dome.
"I'm sorry" Acha said with teary eyes, but her facial expression was bright.
Unlike the boy who held his but and was crouched over with teary eyes.
"Thank you very much for helping my son and this girl." the mother's anger had passed and she finally ran to Seina and bowed deeply.
The other adults also approached Kusuri and Acha, and were pleased with their safety.
"Oh, no, it's my duty ... and also ... it might be my fault ...."
"Oh?"
"Well I heard that Acha's mother is sick is that true?"
"Yes ... ... It's bad, but if we had some medicinal herbs she could recover but there not safe to go harvesting... "
"So that was a dangerous place?"
"Yes, especially for Acha. She's her mother's only child."
"I understand why you were worried."
"To be honest, I was planning to go to get them myself. For us, Acha's mother is an important woman and she's important to our idol Because she is his shrine maiden. We can't let her die."
"She's the shrine maiden of the idol ...?" At that time, there were sounds coming from many people, the men came forward, and from that an old man of many years approached Seina.
"What do you think of him elder?" The Elder man came before Seina.
"Did you come from the sky?" He stared Seina's face.
"...........Uuhm?"
"Yes, that's right Elder, Big brother came from the sky ... ... and he brought a big sister ..."
"Oh! Okay! Then you're the legendary brave hero!"
"What?"
"The village is going to be saved!"
"Do you mean by me?"
"You shouldn't take the Elder so seriously, I'm sure he's say that to anyone." Kusuro said.
"...This time I mean it!" The elder said "Come now, let's throw him a welcome party !"
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"There seems to be no doubt that this is his cruiser but there's no one in the inside. It's not going anywhere that's for sure. Should we bring it to the engineers?" A heavy machine like a large six-legged spider finished excavating Seina's cruiser.
"We don't know what kind of traps it has, it's a philosopher's ship after all. Destroy it! " Tarrant seemed annoyed and broke communication.
"Roger that!"
-----------------
"Chh! So these three saw Seina Yamada?" Tarrant asked
"Only signs of them, but we they saw him."
"What do you mean?"
"They were in the middle of hunting around that area, they seem to have found a golden Wau."
"How?"
"It was a frustrating chase, two young people who were chasing it seemed to have been killed by Seina Yamada ... and It seems that they encountered an older golden haired wau on the way ... ...." "That was obviously a decoy to let those children get away."
"Yes. It seemed that way." The operator looked at Tarrant and was relieved that he didn't seem too angry. He turned to Arga
"So did you catch it?"
"I lost sight of it, I chased after it but it disappeared ..."
"It disappeared ...!!" At that moment Tarrant's was reminded of the time Kirche transformed from NB.
"That's his NB! Scan the area it vanished in! We need to find it!"
---------------
"How about you, Kashak, how are you feeling?" The woman called Kashak was a golden Wau woman like Acha, but had brown hair mixed in some places and overall her hair seemed a bit dull because of that.
Still her coat was beautiful looking when the sunlight leaked in and hit it in the dimly lit room she was in.
"... ... Yes, thanks to the medicine I'm feeling much better."
"Well, you should still rest for a while, by the way I heard that you had some news for me." The elders restrained Kashak, who tried to get up.
"Yes, our guardian deity has awoken."
"... Was this around the time things started to get noisy above ground?"
"Yes, and then that brave man appeared.."
" And............?" Kashak looked at the elder with a strange look.
"And I'm saying he's the genuine thing, he even came from the sky!"
"You can see him in the morning but in your present condition you should ... ... wait... No way do you mean you want Acha to... !?" The Elder quietly acknowledged Kashak's implied question with confusion.
"Something like that ..." Kashak covered her face with both hands.
"That girl is meant to be the next generation shrine maiden, moreover, he helped her get the medicinal herbs and that just happened to be where the Space pirates attacked them."
"Is that so?"
"So I think what we should do is obvious, I hope you have no objection to letting Acha take on the priestess role?"
"……I see...I agree."
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"Acha is going to become the new shrine maiden !?" Kusuro looked up at his mother in astonishment as she began cooking for the party.
"Oh, but it because Ms. Kashak is sick."
"No it's simply an honor thing, it's a bit early for her to go off to the gods ...." Another woman in the kitchen said Kusuro ran out of the house in a hurry.
"Kusuro! Wait! It is already decided... Acha ... ...." Another woman held his mother back from stopping Kusuro.
"They grew up like they were brother and sister since they were young, and the elder knows that."
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As the woman said, the elders was expecting Kusuro, he let him go ahead without saying anything. From there he was accompanied by a maiden who was there to take him to Acha.
"Wait a moment." She stopped him and sprinkled salt on him. They were entering a sanctuary so she was purifying him.
"I don't have much time." He said as he ran off and passed through the curtain.
"Kusuro!" Acha looked at him and showed the decorations that had been put in her hair.
"Do you like them? They're my mother's. It feels weird having them."
"Yeah ... ... it suits you." Kusuro narrowed his eyes to see past the the dazzling objects.
"Here take this!You've always wanted it haven't you?" Kusuro gave her a faceted crystal that was dark blue like a tropical sea, and it was an exquisite aquamarine gemstone. It was hung on a thin thread.
"Oh ... but isn't this your treasure?"
"Not anymore, it is a tribute to the shrine maiden."
"Thank you!" She took it with both hands and looked at its beautiful sparkles.
"We won't be able to play together any more."
"Yeah ... ... but ... as shrine maiden ... ... I'll pray hard to the universe for your happiness."
Although Acha's expression was slightly cloudy, the expectations of becoming the shrine maiden were still large, so she still said that with a smile.
"Thank you"
Even if he had a crush on her, he knew that someday Acha would become a shrine maiden, and he knew what that meant. Naturally, he had always known there was no chance of a love affair happening. So in a way it was as if he had came to see his best friend who was moving away somewhere else. Still he felt a strong loss as if Acha was now out of his reach.
"............" They couldn't continue the conversation any more. Kusuro just stood there.
"Come on, Acha, Kusuro, you must prepare soon, don't keep the brave man waiting." The maid said gently.
"... Yeah, well then, good luck Acha."
"I'm going to do the dance, please come and watch." They exchanged scratches, which was a sign of affection. This was the last time they could interact as children.
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"Have you made your goodbyes?" Kusuro who came out alone from the back room was shedding big tears. The elder gently but an arm around him.
"Do you dislike the brave hero?"
"...... No ... He helped us ... ... He's a very kind person." Remembering Seina's face made his sadness diminish. His fear of being chased by the pirates, and the frustrated feelings of desperation and being unable to protect Acha were a bother to him more than anything. So when Seina appeared, He saw him as a brave man. Besides, he had a gentle atmosphere that only old people had.
"Acha will be the shrine maiden for that brave man so you should be happy."
"……Yeah you're right!" Kusuro responded as he wiped his tears with his arms.
That brave man would surely protect Acha, Kusuro was sure of that.
"Normally children wouldn't be able to participate in the festivities, but this time is special, we should go watch Acha's dance while we eat the celebratory dishes."
"............" However, thinking about the ritual for Seina and Acha, Kusuro felt a bit embarrassed about going. He remembered though that he'd promised to guide Seina to the area near the pirate's base. Although it was a playground, preparations were necessary to get there. Now was the perfect time to acquire the needed items because all the adults were busy.
"Is Ms. Kashak going to participate in Acha's ceremony?"
"It seems she's doing better thanks to you and those herbs, but it's best that she refrains from doing anything strenuous for the time being. Oh right, she said she wanted to thank you for the herbs, you should go see her afterwords."
"What ... .... Oh yes... Right!"
The way to the enemy base was in the direction of the shrine of the idol statue. It was a great place to hide the necessary packages. In addition he'd get to see the beautiful now ex shrine maiden that he was actually longing for. As he thought about it his heart was moving like a ringing bell.
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The village wasn't in a cave made by natural erosion but rather in a artificially made artifact like a dome. It was destroyed in some places, leaving cracks in parts of the ceiling and walls. What kind of facility it was used for originally was uncertain. In the center was a small river and an underground lake. Luminescent fruit trees covered the inside of the dome and it was considerably bright.
Around it were houses built by digging holes. They were lined up like a little apartment complex.
"This is a fantastic looking settlement." Seina said as he was surrounded by the elders and young wau women on a big terrace overlooking the underground lake. A variety of dishes were lined up in front of him.
"I bet there's more to see then there is to do"
"Ahaha, you're right about that ~ ... ... That's why we're so glad that you came here ...." The Wau women surrounding Seina were all shapely. If anyone he knew were to see the situation it would have gone south rather quickly.
"Celebrate brave hero, have all the food and girls you like!"
"... ... I'm sorry I think misheard you..."
"No, no, I said both meals and girls, or would you like a man?"
"No thanks I'm good!" Seina rushed to say. Otherwise it seemed like a man would come out.
"Ho ho ho, don't cry, It's time to celebrate!"
"It's just... I'm not used to such a thing ...."
"Our village is quarantined because of the Space pirates, people rarely come from other villages, so we need new blood or else our gene pool will get stagnant. Do you not want to help? "
"I thought you were supposed to be a brave man. at least that's what Kusuro said ... ...."
It made sense that they'd want to bear the child of a brave hero.
"There's no need to hesitate!"
"I'm reluctant! Generally I'm considered a minor."
"It's ok they know what they're doing... and there's no problem with it, the elder of the village has given permission." The elder smiled and nudge seina with his elbow.
"Isn't helping people, the work of a brave hero?" The women looked up at Seina as they and they hanged onto him .
"But……" He thought of Kiriko's face and shook off his evil thoughts, then he thought of Airi. Suddenly all of his urges faded away. After all he knew that if something happened here, Kiriko would be angry, and Airi would probably try even harder to pursue him. Few things struck as much horror into him as that.
"I can't, I need to think of the safety of my colleagues, I have work that still needs to be done." He said with a resolute attitude, "But thank you for the meal."
"We'll one should always think of their belly first ... ... then you can relax."
"Hahaha .... It's tasty." For the time being, He ignored the elder's words, but the women's hospitable handsiness didn't stop.
While pretending to recommend drinks and meals, several people from the left and right of him took the opportunity to push the plenty of breasts up against him to keep him from escaping entirely.
"Hey brave man, Are you sure you won't help us?" Seina's was embarrassed the women began begging. "Don't you want to help? ..."
"Oh,everyone get ready!" The elder said as everyone's eyes turned towards the small stage extending out to the underground lake.
"Oh is that Acha?"
The curtain opened behind it was Acha wearing a costume embedded with black stones. the hole in the roof was covered with a condensing lens so that the collected light struck Acha underneath it like a spotlight, making her golden hair shine.
The bustle of the banquet settled down into silence, a click clack noise echoed as a signal and Acha, who was staring at Seina, bowed deeply, and instruments started playing as a certain sound began. Acha began to dance quietly.
Clap Clap Clap!
The dance finished in about three minutes, but still it was wonderfully and deserved praise. Seina gave a generous applause to Acha who bowed and got off stage.
"Come, Acha. Over Here!" Encouraged by the elder, Acha embarrassed came over to Seina. She took a knee in front of Seina, and a her head dropped deeply. She raised her head back up with her hands up on her face with fright. "
Huh?"
"Did you like Acha's dance brave hero?"
"Uh, well yeah, it was great."
"Then take Acha's hands into yours brave hero!"
"Oh. Okay." Seina thought that it was a sign of praise for the dance.
"That was awesome, Acha." Seina put both hands in the middle of Acha's small hands.
Acha was still embarrassed yet she grasped Seina's hands firmly.
"Alright! With this, the contract between the brave man and the shrine maiden has been sealed!"
A roar of cheers came out of the surroundings due to the elders' declaration.
"What? Why do I feel like I've fallen for some kind of trap."
"……I'm so happy!" It was already too late when he saw Acha rejoicing with watery eyes.
-------End of chapter---------
---Not gonna lie I adapted this section very loosely because it is 100% creeperific in the original Japanese. Acha is way over sexualized during the dance scene because this is her coming of age ceremony basicly----