Rakusho no Goku #2
2009.12.23(Wed)Juuni Kokuki — 十二国記
(The Twelve Kingdoms)
Rakusho no Goku — 落照の獄
(A jail of the declining Light)
By Ono Fuyumi — 小野不由美
Translated by o6asan
The capital of Ryu(柳) which is in the north of the world, is Shiso(芝草). Shiso(芝草) is the capital of the country and the capital of Saku-shu(朔州), has three more executive branches of Shingen-gun(深玄郡), En’i-go(袁衣郷) and O-ken(蓊県). Judicial officers of En’i-go(袁衣郷) captured Shudatsu(狩獺) in this early summer.
Shudatsu(狩獺) attacked a mother and a child in a pass near Shiso(芝草). He killed them and tried to take their money and goods from their luggage, but people who heard their scream and rushed to the crime scene arrested him, and people turned him over judicial officers, Shudatsu(狩獺) was considered the criminal as four more stabbing incidents that happened near Shiso(芝草). Because the presumed crime was serious, Shudatsu(狩獺) was sent to the executive branch in Shingen-gun(深玄郡). High Court that can judge the felony that is called five punishments(五刑) is only in the executive branch higher than the prefecture(郡)’s, though the court that can judge lawsuits and ordinary crimes is placed by the executive branch higher than the county(県)’s. Then, Shudatsu(狩獺) confessed his guilt of not only four cases as the criminal but also 11 cases, when he was sent to Shukan-fu(秋官府) of Shingen-gun(深玄郡) controlling En’i-go(袁衣郷). It reached 16 cases, including the burglar that caused him to be caught. All of them contained murders, and the victims were 23 in total. One of them is Shunryo(駿良).
Shunryo(駿良) was eight, he was born as a child of the couple running a small shop in Shiso(芝草). Very ordinary, cheerful, healthy child — It was the evaluations of surrounding people to Shunryo(駿良). About one year ago, such an ordinary child was found dead in the cover of the alley near his house.
Shortly before the incident, Shunryo(駿良) went out his house, which was also his parents’ store, to buy some peaches. A stall keeper around the place saw a man pulled Shunryo(駿良) into the alley. The man pulled Shunryo(駿良) close to himself by his casual manner, entered the alley, and came out alone immediately. There was no suspicious point in his behavior, but the stall keeper who had known Shunyo(駿良) since boy’s very young age wondered who the man was. A person around there came along and discovered Shunryo(駿良)’s body a little later. The pitiful child was strangled by the power of smashing his throat.
Nobody knew the man who pulled Shunryo(駿良) into the hide. In a strong decision, he murdered the boy as soon as dragging in, certainly, to pull the boy into the alley was to kill him. However, nobody knew the reason the boy, age 8, was killed. But, the money he held in his hand when he went out his house was never found anywhere. The amount, only 12 sen(銭).
They could never believe the boy had been killed for 12 sen(銭). So, why was Shunryo(駿良) killed? It seemed the purpose of killing is only to kill. Moreover, the place he was killed was very his neighborhood, it’s a bustling shopping area with a lot of small stores, in the daytime, besides with more people streets. To impossible violence, people in Shiso(芝草) seethed.
— In fact, Shunryo(駿良) was killed for only 12 sen(銭).
Accidentally, Shudatsu(狩獺) looked at Shunryo(駿良) holding money in his hand and going out. Shudatsu(狩獺) tailed him, pulled him into the hide, killed him, and took his money from his hand. He bought and drank a cup of sake for this 12 sen(銭). He had at least 10 ryo(両) that he took from an old couple he killed the other day.
When this was clear by the investigation of Syukan(秋官) in Shingen-gun(深玄郡), the people in Shiso(芝草) were shocked. Everybody was angry for too meaningless death of Shunryo(駿良). — For this, Eiko(瑛庚) had same thinking.
Eiko(瑛庚) wasn’t able to comprehend it. In Ryu(柳国), the incomes of the average people per month were about 5 ryo(両). Shudatsu(狩獺) had no reason he should take only 12 sen(銭), as he had money twice as much as the people’s monthly incomes. And, he was adult’s man. His physique and physical strength were totally opposite of the child, age 8. After pulling the child into the hide, it was enough for him to take money by threatening. If not, he’d better just take it by force. But, Shudatsu(狩獺) casually killed Shunryo(駿良).
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