Friday, May 3, 2024

Ourai no Gahkthun: Shining Night, Goddess of the Night A

 



(Note: Credit goes to the original video poster. I am just merely providing a translation)


Green...

There was a lot of green in the Governing Council Area.

A school rumor. One of the many rumors surrounding the Governing Council.

One of the few that matches the facts.


The Governing Council Area was of a higher altitude than the normal places in a western part of the Academia. 

It had a lot of greenery that was sometimes called as such.


The Hanging Garden, literally a garden in the sky. A green sky.


The parts exposed to the outside air had a slightly dull green tone similar to the small and large parks of the Academia. 


Compared to most cities in the world, it was closer to the green in its heyday.


Still. Even so. 

It was truly still grayish and dull.


However...

However, this was not the case for this place.


There was a man-made garden whose surrounding environment was completely controlled using Scholar-made glass. 

The green here was different.


It was fundamentally different.

It was real, old greenery.


The garden was essentially an advanced laboratory, where the plants grown there under a simulated sunlight environment that also used special Scholar-made glass were also different from those outside.


There was fresh, beautiful greenery here.


And in the center of it. 

There was a girl who spent a lot of her time there.


It was a girl...

A 5th year student in the Theology Department. 


The President of the European Research Society, she was even said to have earned a Master's degree in Natural History. 


She was the most talented girl in the Academia.

She was commonly known as the "Divine Lady".


A name that she herself didn't really like to refer to herself as.


Florence Ameghino Nightingale.

She was here...


She was spending her time here in this night.

It was in a private room with which she had spent a long time in without realizing it.


She was with the plants.

Spending a quiet night here.


She was smiling.

Like tonight, for instance...


Even on a night where she had a guest...


"...Oh my."


"If I knew you were coming, I would have granted you a warmer hospitality.

My apologies for looking like this."


"No, you're not bothering me.

Here, let me make you some tea."


"Do you prefer sencha, Master?"


"Yes. I just got them from Berta."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nightingale: ...Sorry to keep you waiting.


She said softly.

To a sudden yet expected guest.


It had been a few weeks since they met like this.

Up until then, they've had several telegraph conversations.

Even though they were there, she never seen him directly like this.


Someone whom she looked up to as her Master.

He who walks alone at the end of the world.


Someone whom she didn't notice the "look" until now, for whatever reason it was.


Master Nikola Tesla.

The only man to wield the Thunderbird's power.


Nightingale: What do you think? Sure, it is different. But I can also do a Far Eastern-style tea ceremony as well.

Nightingale: Yes, I've also boiled some red beans as well...

Tesla: Mamaen, huh?


It was placed on a small table nearby.

There were several sweets made with mamaen wrapped in mochi on a Far-Eastern ceramic plate, which was a rarity here.


She seemingly had a hunch that he'd visit her here.


So she gather everything from the Far East for something he may like.


Nightingale: Yes, it's called bean paste. Neon also enjoys them.

Tesla: Is that so?

Tesla: That's quite sweet of you. I would have assumed you'd like something more intense.

Nightingale: Like jelly beans? Ah, that too...

Nightingale: That child. She was quite pleased because she enjoyed the sweets.


That sweet child. Neon.

Her Radiance surely remained the same as it was back then. 


It's why he can be close to her.

That precious child. It was because of her that he was able to remain grounded in reality despite no one else being able to reach him.


Tesla: ...I see. The focus is different, just as I expected.

Nightingale: That's right. You remember...no. You don't seem to remember, do you? It's fine if you don't, I suppose.

Tesla: I grow old in vain. I don't know a lot of thing.

Tesla: You, however, are great in that regard. Despite your youth, you're fill with knowledge and consideration.

Tesla: Like this here. I'd say this is my first time having Mamaen.

Nightingale: Yes, I suppose so. If it's up to your taste.

Nightingale: Please enjoy your meal.


There were things that moved with her words.

It was light and shadow.


She did not even move an inch. 

However, the light and shadow beneath her feet writhed by themselves. 

They were carrying pottery and bowls with sweets in them.


They were servants formed from an Art.

She daringly displayed it like this.


Unmoved, he reaches out to the light and shadow.


He tasted the sweetness of the sweets. 

He quinches his throat with the tea.

He casts a gaze towards her.


And...


Tesla: ...Florence. Naturally, it's my fault for meeting you so late like this.

Tesla: But.

Nightingale: Yes?

Tesla: ...


She can tell from his gaze.

At what he was looking at.


She finally realized what it was that it wasn't out of criticism.


After all, it wasn't quite the appropriate look when meeting her Master like this.


It was certainly...


Nightingale: Ah, is it the way I dress? I'm sorry. It's quite unseemly of me.

Nightingale: It's just how I always look when I'm in my room.

Tesla: You make for good eye candy. You, too, have grown up beautifully.

Nightingale: My, thank you. Hehe. How embarrassing.

Tesla: But surely, you know it makes you look like a kitsune as you are.

Tesla: That's...

Nightingale: Truly, a yukata has to be worn properly. I'm aware of that.

Nightingale: ...However, I feel relaxed dressing like this as a nightgown.

Tesla: I see.

Nightingale: So about tonight?


It wasn't like she intentionally wanted to change the topic.

So she asked him the real reason for his visit.


Her prediction came true.

That's why she showed up like this.


The light and shadow...


Tesla: I have a question. It's about your Art.

Tesla: That's something which belongs to fantasy, not of reality. Is that right?

Nightingale: ...Yes. You're correct. My Art is called Other

Tesla: A projection?

Nightingale: Yes.

Nightingale: It's something powerful enough to be referred to as such. Though I can't quite them, I can grant it a form by gathering up my power.

Nightingale: A Critter.


Critter.

Remnants of fantasies that erode reality.


They are failed Cracking Beings, derived from a certain formula.


They are something that shouldn't exist.

In reality, it was impossible for them to remain here.


Many do not know of their name.

Like none of the regular students, for instance.


Only a handful knows of its name, such as those on the other side of the world.

Critter. Powerful fantasies.


Rumor has it that in Inganock, a city in the foreign land of Kadath, did such an instance occured.

The death toll there was in the hundreds of thousands.


Although extremely rare, they can cause extremely serious damage if they occur.


They are perhaps equal to the largest Engine Arm in terms of the destructive power they bring.

Such as a group of Mobile Fortresses, for instance.


They are something fearsome.

They are something that distorts and devours reality.

Critter.


Nightingale: After all, my power is but an imitation. The Other here is just mere light and shadow.

Nightingale: But by weaving them into a singular shape, that little one becomes an exception. They gain the functional ability of a Critter.

Nightingale: By obtaining basic skills such as being invincible and panic, that little one becomes a Critter.

Nightingale: An old fantasy that just so happens to be called Will-o-Wasp...

Nightingale: It fits with my Art over light and shadow. What I'm doing is merely paradoxical.


Tesla: Understood. I see. It all makes sense.

Tesla: I have one more question. Is the shadow side something similar to the Black King?

Nightingale: ...Yes?

Nightingale: Black King?


Indeed, it was true that she said something when summoning that little one.


That she muttered something when her Art was at its peak. 

It was something that leaked out of her lips.

A deep connection with the Phenomena Equation would certainly be possible.


The Black King. That word...


She tilts her head.

There was a mysterious ring to it.


Tesla: They were referred to as the Outer God in the old days. The Black King. The dark universe itself.

Tesla: Their name is Nyarlathotep. He is my enemy.

Nightingale: Nyarla...what is it? What is that? I don't quite understand.

Tesla: Hmm. Could this have something to do with Keziah's witchcraft?

Nightingale: Professor Keziah? Witchcraft?


Although she had some degree of interaction with Keziah Mason...


She didn't know a lot about the woman. 

She knew little about her, much less the point of knowing she was a witch.


Her true origins and techniques were something she knew nothing about.


Nightingale: Hehe. You're a strange one, Master. I wonder as to why all of your words are so strange.

Tesla: So you don't know?

Nightingale: Huh?

Tesla: Black King. Tick Tock Man. That's who I'm referring to.

Nightingale: No. I neither worship. the Black King nor the Tick Tock Man.

Nightingale: Please be assured. Master Nikola Tesla. 

Tesla: Mm...


I see.

The White Man lets out a sigh of relief.


Tesla: Guess I was just overthinking it. I suppose I've just been looking for a reason.

Tesla: It's a habit I picked up. Forgive me, Florence.

Tesla: What you're referring to is an illusion different from an Old One.

Nightingale: ...yes. It appears so.

Nightingale: Will-o-Wasp is a Critter. They're not an Old One, however. They are an illusion that "should not exist" in the world.

Nightingale: Running trains. Flying airships. Incoming and outgoing Telegraphs. Even System Wallace has been placed down.

Nightingale: Do not worry. I, as well as the others, won't leave them to the Critters.

Tesla: Hmm...


He nods vaguely.

She can feel a presence within him.


Even now.

His appearance seem to blur.


Nightingale: ...Master?

Tesla: No. Your words. I hope you never forget them.

Tesla: Your Art is a powerful one. Never falter when using them.

Nightingale: Yes. I will keep that in mind.

Tesla: ...Good grief.

Tesla: This is such an unnecessary hassle. It makes me wonder if you've truly become an illusion.

Tesla: Listen. Never become like me.

Tesla: I am an illusion. Something that will surely vanish one day.

Tesla: Keep that in mind. Of course, that also applies to me as well.

Nightingale: Yes. Although...

Nightingale: I don't think an illusion such as yourself should go away.

Nightingale: Because we...


She was smiling at him.

Please. Remain here.


She could not become a member of the Smilja's.

She could not become a part of his Radiance.

Even then. Nonetheless.


So long as her body remains.

She will become one of his anchors.

Yes, she strongly believed in it.


Nightingale: It's because we all love you.


...Yes. As much as that girl does herself.


Nightingale: Me and the others, as is that girl too.


...To you.


Nightingale: And so, Master. Don't stray too far from that girl.

Nightingale: It's no good making me cry. 

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