SH Chapter 95: Grief (Part 1)

 

Translated by satellite of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

It was only a long while after Feisha took the feather-dying agent back to his room that he finalized realized what he had done.

“A black dyeing agent…” He looked down at the cylindrical container in his hand, then suddenly laughed in spite of himself. “If I bring this back to the human world, I’d only be able to use it on white pigeons.”

“Big news, big news….” The pitter patter of Layton’s footsteps sounded from outside.

Feisha instinctively tried to hide the feather dyeing agent, but his pockets were too small and he would only be able to stuff half of it in. Before he could think of another place to hide it, Layton was already hurriedly opening the doors and rushing in. “Big news!”

Feisha just held onto the dyeing agent naturally like he would a can of coke. He smiled and asked. “What’s the big news?”

Layton was just about to speak when he saw Gin sauntering over slowly, coming in to say “The dwarves launched high energy lightning missiles during the war, changing the fabric of space and sending shockwaves felt by every world.”

Layton’s face of panic changed to suspicion as he noticed what Feisha was holding. “What is that?”

“Umm……” Feisha hadn’t replied yet when Gin stepped in. “It’s a domino earpiece.”

Feisha stared blankly.

“……Domino earpieces don’t look like that.” As the inventor of the domino earpiece, he insisted on thin, “This looks like dye…”

Gin smacked him so hard he flew onto the bed, then said with a smile. “It’s a domino earpiece.”

Layton crawled back up and hid behind Feisha. He grabbed onto the blankets and felt rather wronged. “It really isn’t a domino earpiece.”

Gin’s lips pulled up, revealing two razor sharp teeth.

“…Maybe it’s a counterfeit domino earpiece.” Layton said, trying to maintain the last of his dignity after that show of power.

Although Gin was trying hard not to expose Feisha for some reason, Feisha almost felt as if being exposed now would have been cleaner. He laughed drily and tossed the dye into the trash bin. “So it was a counterfeit huh? No wonder it seemed like…it wasn’t really functioning.” He coughed. “Right, you were saying something about changing space and a lightning weapon…what exactly was that about?”

Layton replied. “It’s a high energy lightning missile, a  type of high energy weapon that maximizes that energy from lightning. Um, it’s kind of like…the human world’s nuclear weapons?”

Feisha looked at him incredulously. “You don’t have any kind of regulation on using that kind of weapon?”

Layton explained. “The Seven Great Angels, the Seven Demon Lords, and Isefel all have similar powers. What’s there to regulate?”

Human standards couldn’t really be applied to this world.

Feisha reminded himself of this again and spoke. “Okay, in that case, what’s with this whole changing space thing?”

Layton nodded and said. “We don’t know yet. We just know that a black hole has opened up in the Titans’ realm. If it’s a serious situation, it could affect all of time and space.”

Gin added, “Heaven and Hell have sent out both armies of Angels and Fallen Angels. I’ve heard Michael and Lucifer are leading the armies personally. They’ll be arriving at Noah’s Ark before 8PM tonight.”

Feisha’s heartbeat suddenly raced.

Layton asked rather curiously. “Why is your face so red?”

Gin stared at him impatiently. (1)

Feisha brought his hands up to touch his face a bit, then forced a smile. “Michael and Lucifer…they’re legends among legends. When I think of having the chance to meet them, I’m so…excited! Haha, I’m really too excited.”

Layton immediately dashed his hopes. “Lords Michael and Lucifer both have the ability to travel directly through the cracks in space. It’s unlikely they’ll be coming.”

Feisha whispered to himself, “The ability to travel directly through the cracks in space, so they’re not coming…ah, what a pity.”

Layton sighed along with him. “It really is. I wanted to see them in all their glory too.”

Feisha saw Gin’s pitying gaze and he felt his heart tighten. He sighed very loud and said, “Yeah. Noah’s Ark is going to lose out on another massive chance for profit. As living legends, they would have been more generous with tips too. To think that I was preparing to go meet them with a massive box at hand.”

Layton was unamused. “Didn’t realized you were thinking so far ahead.”

Gin spoke up. “If you need gold coins…”

“Damn bats, damn dwarves, and damn humans! Where did you guys go hide to laze around? Leaving me to prepare dinner alone, this is just unacceptable!” Borja’s screams came down from the skies.

Feisha rubbed his ears. “Are you guys sure that I’m going to have to stay with him for the rest of the year?”

“You’ve only got half a year left, at least you’ve got an out. I can’t even see the faintest sliver of hope.”

“Haha, that’s right, I’ve only got half the year left, quite envious.” Feisha made a face at him, then turned and walked quickly down the stairs.

Layton jumped off the bed and was just about to go catch up when he saw Gin grinning and pressing his fingers together. “What do you want?”

Gin’s words flowed gracefully. “Nothing much. I was just thinking of beating you up.”

“……” Layton took two steps back, not comprehending. “Why?”

“You’re too short and talk too much.”

Layton clenched his teeth. “That’s slander!”

“Don’t worry, there’s something even worse waiting for you.” Gin smiled and slowly extended his his hand…

It was very quiet inside the kitchen. It wasn’t a complete silence, but a silence where every individual sound echoed desolately. Feisha quietly washed the vegetables– the water sloshed about.

Gin quietly peeled the radishes– the blade hissed.

Layton quietly chopped the meat– the knife thudded against the board.

Borja stood on top of a stool and finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Have you all gone dumb? Do you know how to talk anymore?” It was so quiet it sent shivers down his spine, the hair on his arms standing straight up.

Layton turned to look at him, his eyes full of tears. His face was so badly swollen it was difficult for him to even open his mouth.

“With a face like that, don’t try to look anyone in the eye!” Borja’s face twisted in disgust.

Gin stretched out, then looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Staring at a face like yours makes people lose all will to speak.”

Borja’s fists tightened with an audible crack, and he turned to glance at Feisha.

Feisha stood up and smiled. “Are you sure you want to make rice porridge with pork, radish, and green vegetables?” (2)

Borja nodded proudly. “Of course. I’ve had this before, and it tasted pretty good.”

“Just because it tasted pretty good to you doesn’t mean it tastes pretty good to other people.” Gin carved the radish into a rose and placed it in front of him to examine his work. “I keep thinking that putting such work of art into your pot would be a tragedy.”

Borja clenched his jaw tightly. “If it’s such a tragedy then don’t bother eating!”

Gin’s eyes darkened. “Having a mighty member of the Blood Clan eat pork-radish-and-vegetable-porridge as a main dish, this is the greatest tragedy of all!”

Feisha suddenly spoke up. “Don’t you like eating raw steaks? Why not just eat that straight?”

Gin’s eyes twitched. “My steaks might have been raw, but they were also carefully processed and seasoned by Antonio. I’m not a savage that would be happy devouring any old piece of bloody meat.”

As soon as he was finished speaking, he noticed that the three other heads in the room were all nodding slowly up and down.

“What is that supposed to mean you guys?”

Feisha answered seriously. “We’ve suddenly understood.”

Gin’s eye twitched even harder. “So before this, you all those I was some raw, bloody meat-eating savage?”

No one answered. Everyone else was very busy.

“Stupid dwarf, your meat’s been chopped up so much it’s practically a paste!”

“Didn’t you say you wanted smaller pieces so the meat would be softer?”

“I said smaller pieces, not miniscule particles! Also, you ignorant human! You’ve practically washed all the leaves off! What are we going to eat? The water you’re washing it in?”

“Are you sure you don’t need to add the water you’ve washed the vegetables in for porridge?”

“….” Borja suddenly looked around and caught Gin’s eye. The look in his eye dared Borja to criticize him.

“You, hurry up.”

“…….” That was it? Gin was quite disappointed as he placed another radish rose into the vase.

“The Legion of Angels has arrived!” Layton looked out the window.

A flare of light swept across the pitch black horizon, and a white ‘cloud’ slowly drifted over. Feisha gripped the vegetables in hand, and his fingers slowly tightened around them.

“I’ll go welcome our guests.” Gin put the radish down and looked towards Feisha.

Feisha wiped his hands off exceedingly calmly with a piece of cloth. He then took his time adjusting his collar before finally walking slowly over to follow Gin.

Due to the state of his face, Layton didn’t want go out and meet anyone. He’d just lose face. He turned and realized Borja hadn’t left either and asked rather curiously. “You’re not going?” Didn’t he declare himself the general manager? If that was the case he should at least go out to meet their guests properly as the representative of Noah’s Ark itself.

“Do you think it’d be proper for me to go out and meet them as a representative of Hell?” He shot back angrily.

“Why not?”

“……Hmph! Some of them kicked me in the butt! I’m not going!”

Feisha and Gin stood at the reception desk, watching as the angels descended from the heavens one by one. It was truly a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Against the black backdrop of the sky, countless fair-haired, blue-eyed angels fanned their snow white wings, their halos glowing bright then dim. They landed gracefully on the ground. This scene before him was definitely more captivating than even a crowd of supermodels walking naked out on the streets. Feisha felt like he should be thrilled. But he wasn’t even the slightest bit excited. Instead, he felt a faint sense of defiance within his heart.

“Uziel.” (3) Gin, who was standing to the side, suddenly greeted a four-winged angel. “What about Lord Michael?”

Uziel smiled. “He has already rushed to the realm of the Titans.”

“How does the situation with the Titans look?”

Uziel shook his head. “I’m afraid it is even worse than we expected.”

Just as they were speaking, a large group of black wings flew over from the other side of the skies.

Uziel frowned. He didn’t want to meet the fallen angel armies directly, but if he were to depart now, he would seem far too petty. Thus he decided not to hurry inside.

In one pitch black mass, the flock of fallen angels landed, clearly not quite as stunning a scene as the arrival of the angel legion like snowflakes flying across the heavens. But their formless air of power weighed heavily and ominously on the heart.

Leading them was a fallen angel with one pair of wings, but his height and musculature showed that he was no weaker than Uziel.

“Abdar.” (4) Gin’s was clearly closer to the fallen angel, and they even gave each other a hug. “Lord Lucifer isn’t coming?”

“He has already rushed to the realm of the Titans.” After speaking, Abdar purposely looked over to the angel legion. As expected, he saw no sign of that one holy figure. Many things in Heaven and Hell weren’t actually secrets persay, but it was just that no one wanted to say it aloud.

Uziel nodded slightly towards Abdar as a greeting. Even though they had clashed countless times in Heaven and Hell, this time they were finally fighting on the same side so both of them were acting as amicably as possible.

Abdar managed to put aside his hostility and looked back at him.

Feisha smiled and led the way. “The rooms have already been prepared. This way please.”

Gin fell behind deliberately and grabbed Uziel before he could catch up. He lowered his voice and asked, “How is Isefel doing?”

Uziel sighed. “He was put under house arrest by our Father.”

—

1. There was a metaphor used to describe Gin’s expression in Chinese, but it doesn’t have a good English equivalent so I’ve chosen to leave it out. “恨铁不成钢”, literally “hating iron for not becoming steel” is an expression for being disappointed in someone and being impatient for them to improve.

2. The dish in question is not actually “porridge” but a sort of boiled dish with soggy rice and various vegetables. I don’t think there’s a good English equivalent. It’s funny because it’s usually considered a less…classy dish, it’s usually what you make when you have a lot of leftovers from dinner the night before or something.

Worth clarifying that the radish here is the white Chinese radish (or a daikon), not the little red radishes that the West has. Also carving roses (and other art) from radishes is actually a culinary art, you can look it up online.

3. This angel’s name is “尤瑟尔” (pronounced you se er), which as far as I can tell, isn’t actually the Chinese transliteration of an actual biblical angel. I went and picked the canonical angel name that is the closest in pronunciation, “Uziel,” but it’s possible that it could be a more obscure transliteration of a different angel or an original name made up for the novel.

4. The fallen angel’s name is “阿卜都” (a bo dou). I could not find any western-ish name that this could be the equivalent to, so I tried to make something up that sounded vaguely biblical.