Chapter 4: Enjoyable Legend of Tanoshi Village

The Enjoyable Legend of Tanoshi Village

「Good? I’ll read it one more time 『The girl had some free time since the Bear wasn’t around, so she went out to the forest to gather fruits and nuts for when the Bear wakes up. However, as it is already winter, fruits and nuts are nowhere to be found. Nevertheless, the girl works hard to look for them』You understand? That girl is working reall~y hard for your daughter’s sake. You got it right? 」

After the second modification, all three of the stories had neither a happy ending nor a bitter ending. I’m in the middle of working on the third change with or without saying that I know what I’m doing right now. This time, I am coming from where the Bear’s mother is.

「『She went out to the forest to gather fruits and nuts for when the Bear wakes up』Yup, this point is important. It’ll be on the test. Please copy it down. For a ghost, don’t say this is for school or exams, but keep it as a memorandum. 『Around that time on the other side, the Bear daughter was sleeping with her stupid face exposed』Yup, this is also important. You understand, right?」

In front of me, sitting in seiza ¹ with troubled eyes was the mother who was mindful of the Bear. Although the world of witches is said to be vast, there is a rumor that no other practitioner besides me who can freely use the ultimate magic『Lecture』. The last part has put her in such a position.

“Kuun” The mother bear uttered a pitiful cry. I think it translates to『So then, what should I do? 』

「I don’t really know what you should do. Just do something」

“It’s not whether you can or can’t. Just do it.” I said something like that. I might have the makings of a Black Company² president.

「If you have any feelings of gratitude towards the girl who became friends with your daughter, then isn’t it humane to think that you want to do something? In this case, you would try to say something like “I’m not human” but I don’t wanna hear any excuses at all. Not even a little」

Because the story will become the worst the way it is now, I’m doing this sort of thing. As my shoulders have already become stiff, you do the final touches.

With that being said, the mother bear finally began to move after I continued my magic for around 2 hours. Ouh, you should’ve moved right away, he he he.

『However, as it was already winter, fruits and nuts couldn’t be found. Nevertheless, the girl works hard to look for them』

For the 3rd time, this is the girl’s situation. This is the start, so from here onward, changes are coming.

『One cold winter night, the girl entered the forest with the middle-aged hunter. At that time, the mother who was supposed to be dead appeared before the girl』

「…………………..What? 」

『The mother has returned. And the girl is very delighted. The girl became happy and approaches the mother to hug her. The mother’s body is freezing and has become slightly cold, but the girl isn’t concerned with such. She played, got tired, and slept, and the middle-aged hunter carried her back to the village』

『Afterwards, the middle-aged hunter would sometimes take the girl to the forest after the sun had set, and he would let her play until she became tired. As she is still a child, there is no need to keep her up that late, yet nevertheless, the girl becomes very happy when night falls』

『When it became spring and the Bear woke up, at noon the girl plays with the Bear. At night, the mother is included and the three of them play together. The mother immediately opened up to the Bear and the three became as close as a family. The mother could only be with them at night, but the girl lives a very happy life』

「Hap, happily ever after……?」

What’s with this sudden flip to a happy ending? On the contrary, it’s scary. What’s with this type of mother that suddenly appeared only at nighttime? And the middle-aged hunter’s actions are also a mystery. However, I actually like the way the legend ended, but it’s different from my previous frustrations; it’s a little scary. No, seriously, it’s a little scary. Like a fairytale〈Mr. Headshot Hunter〉? If such a thing existed, I’ll intervene.

If you ask if I’ve already accomplished my goal, then I’ve done so. But in order to resolve this doubt, I head towards the ghost’s place once again for the last time.

『And like that, it became winter, and when it’s winter time, the ghost mother decided to watch over her hibernating daughter until spring』

Aah, this part. The trick disclosed in the description.

『Nevertheless, the ghost mother was presented with words of violence, and had to look after the girl. She asked, “What should I do?” to only be replied with “Do something”』

Ooh, the mountain³ has moved. The connection between the beginning and end are a mess, aren’t they? Such a straight-man’s-remark⁴ is uncalled for. Flowing words, beautiful sentences like a poem, and such don’t matter in this case. If there’s a happy ending, then my stomach is satisfied. A third serving of rice.

『At night, the ghost mother beckons to the middle-aged hunter. “This way, this way,” she said. The middle-aged hunter crosses over the fence he made and heads towards the bottom of the waterfall. And there, he comes across the cold mother of the girl.』

「So, the hunter is going to get involved here, huh…..」

『Big sister!』

「Big sister!?」

This guy, I thought that it was weird how he shot his gun to protect the girl, but she was his niece!? 『The middle-aged hunter rushes over in surprise to the figure of his sister who had completely changed. The mother of the girl has already become a corpse and doesn’t move. However, the ghost mother enters that corpse in the next instant, and slowly stood up』

「Oi oi oi oi…..」

Did the fairytale’s writing style change? Although this is coming from me who had completely denied the original work, the original work trolls are gonna be angry.

『”Big sister. I thought for certain that you were eaten by that terrible, large bear, but it’s unbelievable that you’re in such a place,” said the middle-aged hunter. In return, the ghost mother answers』

『”Yes, the bear in the forest does not eat humans. I am that large bear that you killed in a misunderstanding. Right now, I am the mother of the bear who is friends with this woman’s daughter. I am borrowing her body to talk to you”』

「You had such a proper way of speaking?」

This has been the coolest thing so far.

『”Oh no,” the middle-aged hunter mutters, and after that he raises his head towards the ghost mother and says. “I was wrong. If this body is fine, I’ll offer it to you. But, please forgive and spare the village and my niece’s life.” In response, the ghost mother slowly shook her head』

『”Even if I take your life or such now after so long, it’s meaningless. I wish for my cute daughter to be happy. And now, my daughter’s friend is feeling lonely. I can become her mother in place of this woman only at nighttime. I shall borrow this body to relieve my daughter’s friend’s loneliness. Please cooperate with me”』

『The middle-aged hunter took a slow and deep breath, and nodded as he looked straight at the ghost mother’s face. Then he said. “I understand. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it”』

『And with that, the middle-aged hunter took the girl with him when it became night and went out to the forest. He let her meet the mother. The girl was very delighted and enjoyed the time with her mother. Before long, spring came and the Bear woke up. Each and every night, the three of them played around as close as a family. The ghost mother was very happy to be able to play with her own daughter, in addition to making the girl delighted. Like this, the happy times of these three continued for a long time』

「It’s a…..happy ending, right?」

Since everyone is looking happy, there’s no doubt that this is a happy ending. It’s just that, what is it, this feeling?

「Ah, I got it. It’s gross」

To be more accurate, it’s disgustingly gross. A bear, a little girl, and an undead. You would also think that any human who didn’t think that this combination is gross is somewhat weird, right? If those three appeared in the title of the three stories, would most of the humans view the little girl or bear as the undead? The three of them taking a walk together as friends at nighttime is somewhat disgustingly gross. However, just to repeat it, but it is a happy ending. That is the truth. If I consider that, then…..hm?

『Every story in Tanoshi ⁵ Village is full of fun』

Oops, looks like we’ve entered the ending roll. The village’s name has changed, hasn’t it? That’s nice. “Tanoshi Village”.

『The single, lonely bear is the favorite of the middle-aged hunter and villagers. The crying girl who lost her mother makes a friend in addition to her mother returning. The ghost mother who was looking for her child, learns that her child is living a happy and healthy life and she kindly watches over the people of Tanoshi Village. The fun, fun legend of Tanoshi Village』

「Fin!」

Well whatever. The girl’s dead mother didn’t come back because you can’t turn back time and such. But since everyone’s happy, I have no complaints. With this, I end my association with these five styles of stories. Let’s quickly close the book. Ummmm, I’m pretty sure the title of the book is

〈Fairytales from Zankoku⁶, 8th Collection, The Enjoyable Legend of Tanoshi Village〉

「Ei…eighth Collection?」

I took a volume besides the book I closed and looked at its binding.

〈Fairytales from Zankoku, 7th Collection, The Reluctant Legend of Yatteranai ⁷ Fountain〉

「What is Za, Zankoku? A Country?⁸」

When I thought that volumes composed of this kind of story existed, I was overcome with a great dizziness. I timidly pulled out the volume that was next next next next next next to the 7th Collection.

〈Fairytales from Zankoku, 1st Collection, The Cruel Legends of Zankoku〉

『Practically all the legends of Zankoku are cruel. The princess of the Shindeshima ⁹ Palace buys unnecessary things for her poor people, but as a result, she is seen as a selfish princess. She is held upside down and thrown to the hard ground, the bones in her neck and head break and she dies. The spirit of Yatteranai Fountain becomes reluctant as everyone’s wishes became too great in number. In the end, its heart falls ill and it hangs itself and dies. Only Tanoshi Village has people happily living, but the rest of the stories are sad, sad, all sad. The start of the cruel, cruel stories of Zankoku starts』

「I’ve done it now….」

I’m done physically, but I’m even more done mentally. I shouldn’t have looked. I shouldn’t have looked.

「Nope no, I’m going to bed! I ain’t gonna do something as troublesome as this ever again! Good night!」

『The strong-willed yet truly very kind witch saw that, and works hard to change all 108 stories into happy endings, but that story is for a bit later』

The End

Author’s Notes: This is the end. Thank you very much, everyone.

Spells used:
Kick〈STRONG〉= Violence
Sweeping Hips = Violence
Words of Violence

Translator’s Corner:

Translator: This was a tiny project that I wanted to translate as soon as it came out, but never got around to it. Now that it’s done, I can be proud of how it turned out. There are a bunch of puns and references stuck in, but I’m not sure that I conveyed it well enough (hopefully all the footnotes helped). Anyways, thanks for reading~

Editor: I thought this oneshot would be fluffy and cute (yes, my title reading skills weren’t present)! It didn’t turn out the way I thought it would turn out and the ending is just soooooo sad T^T

The witch was a good narrator and she clearly expressed our frustrations towards the storyline. Cae also did a good job translating everything to get the meaning across! Thank you for reading and Happy New Years everyone! Don’t eat too much!!!

1. The proper way of sitting on top of your feet on the floor
2. A type of company that exploits its employees with long hours and little pay. Like a sweatshop
3. I’m guessing this mountain refers to the ghost mother
4. A staple of Japanese comedy where the dumb-man (boke) would make a foolish comment while the straight-man (tsukkomi) would follow up with a remark to correct the dumb-man
5. Tanoshi resembles Tanoshii which means fun and enjoyable in Japanese
6. This is written as Zan Country, but pronounced Zankoku which means cruel, but it’s the same level of pun as Kanashi and Tanoshi village
7. Yatteranai, another pun means reluctant or unwilling to do something
8. As I mentioned in the previous footnote, the koku part of the name is written with the kanji for country
9. Shindeshima resembles Shindeshimau which means to die (regrettably)