“Welcome to Yoshanka. ‘A town where the wind is cold, but the hearts of the people are warm.’ Make yourself at home,” says the gate guard, Sidorok, in a casual tone as he lets a traveling merchant through the gate. He then idly picks his nose.
It’s dull work, being a gate guard in a country town.
Indeed, it’s dull.
Once again, it’s become dull.
It’s turned dull after ‘that day’.
A month has passed since ‘that day’. The number of people visiting Yoshanka has gradually decreased, returning to its former state of desolation. The local businessmen who had hoped the good times would last, had invested in expanding their stores and exploring new business ventures. Now, with the decrease in visitors, they are unable to recoup their investments, turning pale and desperate. In a sense, things are worse now than before. Many of Yoshanka’s businessmen are on the brink of bankruptcy. If they go, the town’s population will dwindle even further. Yoshanka seems to be descending the stairs to ruin faster than ever.
“Well, it doesn’t really concern me. It’ll probably last until I die. Probably,” Sidorok muses as he pulls out a large booger.
‘That day’ refers to the day the cursed girl was banished from Yoshanka. It was also the day the branch chief, Dakkante, returned from his business trip, and the day Pirritza, the receptionist, was exposed for her numerous frauds. Ah, and also the day that silver-haired, brash Kamasse left town.
The girl’s banishment led to several changes. First, the supply of Saiyush grass to the Adventurers’ Guild almost stopped. It was revealed during the investigation of Pirritza that the “Saiyush grass from Kaise Forest” that had become a hot topic was actually harvested by the cursed girl and supplied to the guild. Sidorok remembers seeing the girl showing some similar-looking grass to Kamasse.
Pirritza had been exploiting the girl, skimming off the profits from the Saiyush grass for herself, keeping the truth hidden. As a result, the girl was banished without any reward for her efforts. This led to the disappearance of traders and physicians who had been visiting Yoshanka for the herbs, followed by the adventurers who found it too risky to search for the scarce Saiyush grass. Previously, adventurers could make a living by collecting Togord eggs, even if herb gathering was not profitable. However, the Togords, which used to inhabit the northern cliffs, have now vanished. Yoshanka has become a town with nothing lucrative for adventurers, who consequently left, taking the town’s liveliness with them.
“Boring days ahead, huh? It’s nice to relax, but…” Yozah yawns lazily next to Sidorok.
“It’s worrying for the town when it’s this quiet. All because of that black-haired, black-eyed curse… Unforgivable!”
Those who actively pursued the girl’s banishment, like Yozah and the business association’s bigwigs, always phrase it like this: the town’s decline is the girl’s curse. But it’s believed that if the girl had stayed, an even greater calamity would have struck the town. So, it’s an unavoidable situation. They did nothing wrong, they think.
(Just shifting the blame.)
Yozah, the one who catalyzed the girl’s banishment by claiming he saw her climbing over the walls, is essentially saying she must have had a guilty conscience. Sidorok had mentioned checking into it after Harinna’s urging but didn’t anticipate such a rough approach. The proper procedure would have been to report to the magistrate and follow orders. Yozah acted on his own initiative, and if his actions are deemed problematic, Sidorok will face repercussions for supervision failure. Fortunately, since the victim was the cursed girl, no reprimands have come yet.
“By the way…”
“What is it, Sidorok?”
“Just thinking… How could someone climb up the outer wall…?”
“Maybe she used her evil curse! Good thing we banished her before she turned it on the townspeople!”
“Right…”
With this attitude, Yozah would likely repeat his actions. Sidorok knows he should reprimand him, but it would indirectly criticize the businessmen involved. Being disliked by them in a small town like this would be disastrous. So, he stays silent, as does Yozah. It’s unfortunate, but unavoidable. Sidorok decides to prepare to deflect any responsibility from himself.
(So dull…)
Looking up at the cloudy sky, Sidorok sighs. The view is uninteresting. The cold sea wind blows relentlessly, and there are no prospects of profit. Will Yoshanka ever regain its liveliness from a month ago?
(Probably not.)
It was the last dream of the dying town of Yoshanka. A pleasant
dream, but dreams eventually end.
(If only…)
But what if they had accepted the cursed girl? Perhaps a new story could have begun in Yoshanka. Sidorok vaguely thinks so.
(But it’s too late now, and it doesn’t matter.)
They banished the girl, and Yoshanka began to decline again.
Speculating on the causality is not a guard’s job. So, Sidorok stops thinking about the cursed girl and, frowning at the unpleasant sea wind, begins picking his nose again, looking at the deserted wilderness road.
The same old routine continues in Yoshanka.
“Welcome to Yoshanka. ‘A town where the wind is cold, but the hearts of the people are warm.’ Make yourself at home,” says the gate guard, Sidorok, in a casual tone as he lets a traveling merchant through the gate. He then idly picks his nose.
It’s dull work, being a gate guard in a country town.
Indeed, it’s dull.
Once again, it’s become dull.
It’s turned dull after ‘that day’.
A month has passed since ‘that day’. The number of people visiting Yoshanka has gradually decreased, returning to its former state of desolation. The local businessmen who had hoped the good times would last, had invested in expanding their stores and exploring new business ventures. Now, with the decrease in visitors, they are unable to recoup their investments, turning pale and desperate. In a sense, things are worse now than before. Many of Yoshanka’s businessmen are on the brink of bankruptcy. If they go, the town’s population will dwindle even further. Yoshanka seems to be descending the stairs to ruin faster than ever.
“Well, it doesn’t really concern me. It’ll probably last until I die. Probably,” Sidorok muses as he pulls out a large booger.
‘That day’ refers to the day the cursed girl was banished from Yoshanka. It was also the day the branch chief, Dakkante, returned from his business trip, and the day Pirritza, the receptionist, was exposed for her numerous frauds. Ah, and also the day that silver-haired, brash Kamasse left town.
The girl’s banishment led to several changes. First, the supply of Saiyush grass to the Adventurers’ Guild almost stopped. It was revealed during the investigation of Pirritza that the “Saiyush grass from Kaise Forest” that had become a hot topic was actually harvested by the cursed girl and supplied to the guild. Sidorok remembers seeing the girl showing some similar-looking grass to Kamasse.
Pirritza had been exploiting the girl, skimming off the profits from the Saiyush grass for herself, keeping the truth hidden. As a result, the girl was banished without any reward for her efforts. This led to the disappearance of traders and physicians who had been visiting Yoshanka for the herbs, followed by the adventurers who found it too risky to search for the scarce Saiyush grass. Previously, adventurers could make a living by collecting Togord eggs, even if herb gathering was not profitable. However, the Togords, which used to inhabit the northern cliffs, have now vanished. Yoshanka has become a town with nothing lucrative for adventurers, who consequently left, taking the town’s liveliness with them.
“Boring days ahead, huh? It’s nice to relax, but…” Yozah yawns lazily next to Sidorok.
“It’s worrying for the town when it’s this quiet. All because of that black-haired, black-eyed curse… Unforgivable!”
Those who actively pursued the girl’s banishment, like Yozah and the business association’s bigwigs, always phrase it like this: the town’s decline is the girl’s curse. But it’s believed that if the girl had stayed, an even greater calamity would have struck the town. So, it’s an unavoidable situation. They did nothing wrong, they think.
(Just shifting the blame.)
Yozah, the one who catalyzed the girl’s banishment by claiming he saw her climbing over the walls, is essentially saying she must have had a guilty conscience. Sidorok had mentioned checking into it after Harinna’s urging but didn’t anticipate such a rough approach. The proper procedure would have been to report to the magistrate and follow orders. Yozah acted on his own initiative, and if his actions are deemed problematic, Sidorok will face repercussions for supervision failure. Fortunately, since the victim was the cursed girl, no reprimands have come yet.
“By the way…”
“What is it, Sidorok?”
“Just thinking… How could someone climb up the outer wall…?”
“Maybe she used her evil curse! Good thing we banished her before she turned it on the townspeople!”
“Right…”
With this attitude, Yozah would likely repeat his actions. Sidorok knows he should reprimand him, but it would indirectly criticize the businessmen involved. Being disliked by them in a small town like this would be disastrous. So, he stays silent, as does Yozah. It’s unfortunate, but unavoidable. Sidorok decides to prepare to deflect any responsibility from himself.
(So dull…)
Looking up at the cloudy sky, Sidorok sighs. The view is uninteresting. The cold sea wind blows relentlessly, and there are no prospects of profit. Will Yoshanka ever regain its liveliness from a month ago?
(Probably not.)
It was the last dream of the dying town of Yoshanka. A pleasant
dream, but dreams eventually end.
(If only…)
But what if they had accepted the cursed girl? Perhaps a new story could have begun in Yoshanka. Sidorok vaguely thinks so.
(But it’s too late now, and it doesn’t matter.)
They banished the girl, and Yoshanka began to decline again.
Speculating on the causality is not a guard’s job. So, Sidorok stops thinking about the cursed girl and, frowning at the unpleasant sea wind, begins picking his nose again, looking at the deserted wilderness road.
The same old routine continues in Yoshanka.
