[SP-F1] Riona's Quest II

[Elyth 0]

[level 13; 29 HP]

 

Elyth goes up to Deacon Sherrard.

 

"Deacon, I’ve cleared the Church," Elyth said, gesturing to the church behind her. It was now empty of rats.

 

"Thank you. I have another request of you," the Deacon replied, bowing his head in deference. He points towards the northwest. "There is a young man in yonder house, who may be in need of assistance. I am needed here, so could I bother you to go in my stead? Take these pants with you." 

 

"Certainly," Elyth noted, and headed away after taking the pants from the Deacon. Deacon Sherrard nodded, and Elyth follows the direction that the Deacon pointed to. She sees a river, and guards near the entrance to a bridge to the north. Walking along the river, she happens upon two houses, and then a boy, who she stops to speak to.

[Elyth 0]

"Hail, adventurer. Would you care to listen to a poem?" the boy asked, smirking a bit in delight. He was dressed in a brown vest, which covered his white tunic. He was, for some reason, covering his brown tattered pants.

Elyth smiled. She liked poetry, and hadn't had a chance to appreciate fine literature so far. "Sure, but I have a condition," she bargained.

The boy tilted his head, and nodded, breathing deeply to begin his soliloquy.

Gion shouja no kane no koe 
shogyou mujou no hibiki ari. 
Shara souju no hana no iro 
jousha hissui no kotowari o arawasu. 
Ogoreru hito mo hisashikarazu, 
Tada haru no yo no yume no gotoshi. 
Takeki mono mo tsui ni horobinu. 
Hitoe ni kaze no mae no chiri ni onaji. 

"That," he said, eyes wide from the effort, "was the opening of the Heike monogatari."

Elyth was confused. "What does it mean? I don't know all that much Japanese. Could you translate it into English for me?"

The boy looked to Elyth sarcastically, almost as if he was thinking, really? You entered a Japanese world, and you still don't know most of what I just said.

It wasn't as if she could refute that.

[Elyth 0]

"The Heike monogatari was a story of war, the war between the Heike or Taira and the Minamoto or Genji clans in a different world called Japan," the boy continued, eyes now its normal size. "My translation's iffy, but it'll do for you."

 

What was that supposed to mean? Elyth wondered.

 

The boy didn't wait for Elyth to say anything, and began:

The knell of the bells at the Gion temple 
Echoes the impermanence of all things. 
The colour of the flowers on its double-trunked tree 
Reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall. 
He who is proud is not so for long, 
Like a passing dream on a night in spring. 
He who is brave is finally destroyed, 
To be no more than dust before the wind.

"So, how's that?"

 

"That's... pretty amazing, to be honest," Elyth admitted, and felt a little excited, though she didn't know why. "So, um, my condition. Are you the one who needed help from Deacon Sherrard?"

 

"Oh, yeah. I need better pants," the boy said, looking away a little in embarrassment. "My dad makes armor. He’s terrible at tailoring, though. That’s why I’m wearing these year old pants."