Previous thread (Chapter 2):>>268080816
CHAPTER 3 - Loyal Wounds>Urgh!>Ouch! Aaah![Yotsui Shume's mansion]>Lord Shume!>Aaah!>Lord Shume, hang in there!>A...a ferocius beast!>Be calm, Lord Shume!>Uh...ugh...damned Keiji! You'll pay dearly for this!
[Kanazawa castle garden in full spring bloom...]>Lo-Lord...you've drunk too much...>Keiji has not yet arrived?>Well...>I...I think that he's coming...>How dare he arrive late to my cherry blossom festival that I've organized?!>Give me another cup!!>Y-yes!>Even if Lord Hideyoshi wished it...to let him see Keiji...>...it's a big risk for the survival of the Maeda family! I have to make sure they never meet!>Ah?!
>Who the hell are they?>Are they not street performers?>But no, look closely! It's Sir Keiji!>Hail, uncle! Today is an amazing day to admire the cherry blossoms!>Wha...>How frivolous!>Listen, uncle! Aren't these sounds beautiful?!>I brought you a banjo from Ryukyu! It's very trendy!Translator's Note #11 - Ryukyu is modern day Okinawa.>Silence!>I learned that the other day...you met a ronin!Translator's Note #12 - Ronin are samurai without a feudal lord.
BasatoWhen I read Keiji at 11 I hated it because I didn't like invincible characters who never struggle, but I kept reading because I liked the art.I re-read it at 16 and I finally realized Keiji was just the vehicle to narrate more interesting stories.Great manga, can't believe there's no ENG translation.
>What?>Uhm...I didn't hear you!>Don't you know what position you find yourself in?!>Even if you were adopted as though you were my real nephew, and you will become the Maeda family's guardian!>Are you ready?! Let's have fun!>Urgh...>Try to listen to me when I'm speaking!>Sassa Narimasa of Ecchu, a country bordering ours, has allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and is waiting for the right moment to attack Kaga!Translator's Note #13 - Tokugawa Ieyasu was founder of the Edo shogunate. The Edo Period, which lasted from 1603 to 1867, was the era of the Tokugawa family.>We must unite to repel this enemy attack, and be faithful to our Lord Hideyoshi, the commander of Chikuzen!>We will fight when the enemies attack us!>Sigh...>Very well...today I did not call you to tell you this...>Keiji, I'll give you a task!>So you will finally understand my struggle a little too!>Huh?!
>Look! This is the armor that Lord Hideyoshi gifted me!>It's the same armor that he received as a gift from Lord Nobunaga!>...>From now on you will guard it!>You will work together with Murai Jakusui!>What do you think, Keiji? Look at it carefully...>...it seems that the Lord Hideyoshi is staring at us...it seems that it's really him in person...
>Urgh...Brrr!>So Keiji, I suggest...>It doesn't look like anything more than simple armor to me...>Hey! You have to treat it with respect!>If you scratch it by mistake, I'll cut off your head!>Ah, yes?>Do you understand?! Guard it as if it were Lord Hideyoshi in person!>Ih ih ih...>Lord Toshiie is truly cunning...>He wants to make Keiji screw up!>...of course if something will happen to that armor, it will be an excellent excuse for him to not meet to Lord Hideyoshi...
>...>Uhm...>Eh eh eh!>Eh eh!>But Sir Jakusui, a samurai like you has to guard a suit of armor?>My uncle is really cruel!>But no...an old warrior like me can't be of help in war anymore!>They have done well to transfer me to a place of lower commitment...>Here is what's left over of the most capable spear thrower!>Ah ah!>Sir Jakusui, how about a cup to drink?>Eh?>No, I can't!>I can't accept it!>No! No! Don't insist!
>Ah ah ah ah!>I saw last year that my uncle fought against Hideyoshi at Shizugatake. Now he's looking to regain his trust!>But I don't think that Hideyoshi is interested in his efforts!>Oh...>Who knows what's my uncle's true intention...>I smell a terrible stench!>Ah ah ah!>Hic!>It's not absolutely necessary that our Lord has fear of Hideyoshi!>One sees that he no longer remembers our dream of conquering the whole nation!>Oh, excuse me, I think I drank a bit too much!
>Mh?!>Is that you, Shume? Is everything going well? You haven't left anything out?>Yes, naturally...eh eh eh...>We have to find a way for Keiji to make some mistake...>Yes! Leave it to me! Ih ih!>Hey, how come you don't show yourself?>Well...my appearance has changed due to an illness...eh eh eh...>What?! Your appearance?!>Yes!
>Mh!>Uh...yo...you won't get offended if I laugh?>Of course not! I would actually be very proud to amuse you!>Ah ah ah ah ah ah!>T-to me it looks like you were kicked by a horse!>Ah ah ah ah! You're joking?!>Eh eh eh...curse you, Keiji. I won't make you commit a single mistake, but you will completely destroy the armor and be forced to do harakiri!>I brought you a late night snack...>Uhm...
>I smell a strange odor.>Eh?>Eh?! B-but...>You try it!>Eh?!>I shouldn't be sleeping on the job!>Ugh!>Take this!>Up there!
>Aah!>Urgh!>What?!
>Da...damn! I have to at least scratch the armor!>Argh!>Aah!>Aaaah!>Urgh!>You again?>Aaah! You're going to pay dearly for it!
[The next morning...]>Eh?!>Oh!>Sir Keiji's hair has turned all white!>Mh?
>Urgh!>...>I'm really exhausted...>Last night I found a sewer rat who wanted to make a scratch on the armor, so I punished him!>Then Shume has failed!>Sir Keiji!>What happened to your hair?>Ah...>I became like this after just one night of guard duty...now I perfectly share your struggle, Sir Jakusui!
>Since we are warriors, we would like to spend our energy on the battlefield, not waste them guarding armor!>Ugh...>Damn you Keiji...you will see that this won't end here...[At the Enjuya Teahouse - at the site of Kanazawa castle]>So that's why you dyed your hair?>Well, now many vassals feel compassion for you guardians of the armor!>Keiji, your hair is really beautiful!>Thanks a lot, Ofu!
>...>The armor of Lord Nobunaga...who knows what were his dreams when he wore it into battle...>I want to wear it at least once...>Damn! But that white hair!>Keiji is behaving in a really exaggerated way!>Mh?!>Everyone, charge!
>What's happening, Jakusui?!>Ah!>Aah!>What?!>But you...but you...what...>Do you realize what you're doing?!>Oh...so...>Aaah!>Nooo!>Ah!>Uh!>Ah!>Aah!>You will commit harakiri!
>I should be decapitated, but you have ordered me to commit harakiri!>I am truly grateful to you all, it is a grand honor for me!>Uhm...unfortunately it is inevitable, after all that you've done...>Now kill yourself and satisfy your samurai pride!>Yes Lord!>It's not possible!>It's absurd to die for this...>Ugh...we know how much he wanted to die on a battlefield...>Mh?!
>Oh, excuse my tardiness!>How come you're wearing armor?!>For what reason are you wearing armor, Keiji?!>I came to punish the rebel that destroyed your very important armor!>Ah, it's this here?>What?!>Eh?!
>Uhm...it actually has a look of really bad taste!>I'll take care of it, leave it to me, Lord!>Aah!>Aah! Hey, you! Stop! What do you mean to do?!>Hun!
>Lord...I executed him!>But...>Have you gone mad?!
>Be calm and look at Sir Jakusui in the face!>Wh-what?!>He has a face full of wounds!>What?!>What's he saying?!>How dare he?!>But it's also really beautiful!>Eh?>It's precisely these wounds that make him beautiful!>Is he not a very faithful armor that has defended you up to now, risking his life?>Ooh!
>Eh eh eh...>Keiji...I'm really pround of you...>Luckily you understood well...>Jakusui!>I pardon you...I know that it has been tough, even for you...>Lo...>...Lord...>Keiji...you were truly commendable!
End of chapter 3.I'll be back in about 6 hours 20 minutes to post chapter 4. If the thread dies by then, I'll just start a new one.
>>268119163>>Keiji...I'm really pround of you...Whoops, meant to type "proud."
Damn this is some unappreciated effort.
I can typeset the first chapter just so the series gets at least some attention and shows up on aggregator sites. Are you OK with that, OP?
>>268121637He's dumping translation, I'd guess he's more than ok with it.
>>268119220Thank you for posting and translating, OP.
Thanks OP. I've been curious about this series for years.
>>268122822Fair point
>>268117837are we still Italian?
>>268125854Si
>>268125854Oui
>>268120886Yeah, flying under the radar here.
>>268125854Ja
>>268121637>I can typeset the first chapter just so the series gets at least some attention and shows up on aggregator sites. Are you OK with that, OP?I suppose that's fine, but is there any need to do that? I thought the guys from the Hokuto no Gun group already did that over 10 years ago. They covered the first 30 chapters. The stuff they did back then is still available.
>>268119220CHAPTER 4 - Burning Passion>Waaaah! Sob! Sob!>Waaaah! Sigh! Sigh!>I lost...I lost an armmm...>Sigh! Curse you, Keiji!>...>Lord Shume is still crying?>Yet his artificial arm is already ready...>Sigh! Sob!>Snif! Snif!>Eh!>Eh...eh...eh eh eh...>Eh eh eh eh!>You'll see that I will kill you!
Burning Passion
[In an autumn afternoon, at Keiji Maeda's house...][Even the expert ninja Hone takes a nap, holding his aura...]>Hey!>Hey, Hone! Come down a moment! I'm dying of boredom!
>Good heavens!>How did he know that I was here?>Ah!>Eh eh eh...>Hideyoshi?!Translator's Note #14 - Hideyoshi was called saru, or monkey, by Nobunaga when he was still one of his vassals.
>Ah ah ah! You took him for Hideyoshi?!>Come on, confess!>Sst!>What would we do if someone is listening to us? They will crucify us immediately if they hear that we called this monkey Hideyoshi!>Ah ah ah! What are you saying?!>That's what's fun about it!>Wha...[At the time, those who mocked Hideyoshi were punished severely, for example, when he saw the writing "Kanpaku Monkey" on the wall of the guardians' house of the Jurakudai palace, out of anger he punished all the guardians by cutting off their noses and ears and gouging out their eyes, without making any investigation to find the real criminal.]Translator's Note #15 - Jurakudai was a very large and pompous palace that Hideyoshi had built in Kyoto.>I can't laugh!>Nobody jokes if their lives are at risk!>Ah ah ah...
>...>Idiots!>It's too hot!>Iiih!
>Fo-forgive us!>Mh?!>Ah!>Oh!>Go away!>Yes Lord![This lady is Matsu, Toshiie's consort...]>It's been a while since I washed your back![In September of the KeichÅ period (1599), after Maeda Toshiie's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu planned to dispatch a large army to Kaga to overthrow Maeda Toshimasa (second son of Toshiie) and the Maeda family due to a suspected assassination attempt on Ieyasu. To save the Maeda family, Matsu offered to go to Edo castle, enemy territory, as the first hostage. She was a truly daring woman.]
>U-uhm...[Matsu never asks him questions. After ordering the servants to prepare delicacies and drinks, she bathes with her consort without unnecessary words.][Bathing with the husband is not worthy of a daimyo's wife, but this is an exception. Matsu and Toshiie have been telling each other everything since Toshiie was still a simple soldier in Nobunaga's red armor squad.]>Damned Keiji...>Keiji smashed the armor Lord Hideyoshi gave me in two!>Oh...>Oh oh oh...that sounds just like him!>It's no laughing matter!>If Lord Hideyoshi were to be offended, he would confiscate our territory of 560,000 koku!>Oh, my Lord...
>And what's more, recently the number of our men who side with Keiji have grown!>Grr! He angers me!>And then, who has worked so far to obtain that land, risking their life?>It was me!>Oh!>Ooh!>Lower your voice...let's pretend to exchange love words...>Aaah!>You're truly cowardly...>Lord! A serious thing has happened!>Ah...wh-what?!
>But...are you Shume? What happened?!>Listen! This morning, a troop of fifteen-thousand soldiers led by Sassa Narimasa of Ecchu has surprise attacked Suemori castle!>By now Suemori castle is going to surrender!>What?!>Sassa's troop is made of fifteen-thousand men...>Ours is five-hundred...and now we can summon only two-thousand five-hundred other soldiers...>They are not enough at all!>Lord!>Let's send reinforcements immediately!
>Calm yourselves!>Lord Hideyoshi has ordered me not to move my soldiers carelessly, falling into Narimasa's trap! We must reorganize our troops and wait for Lord Hideyoshi's reinforcements, so we will be sure of victory!>...>Lo-Lord!>Reverently I would like to advise you something!>Tell me, Jakusui.>Even if you have already decided to abandon Suemori, we cannot leave all its soldiers without sending even a reinforcement!>Otherwise shame will never leave the Maeda family! At least send this old man, I beg you!>Ugh...>I would like to impose my will as a samurai to the end!>Ugh...Jakusui...
>Ah...How dare he joke even outside the house? I don't want any responsibility anyway!>So what do you say to this?!>They laugh because they don't know what is Sir Keiji's true intention...>Ah ah ah!>That monkey is really cute!
>Hey, that's not stuff to eat!>Oh, but that is...>O-oh...>D-damn him!>L-Lady Matsu! Apparently, by dressing it in such a way, that scoundrel is comparing that monkey to Lord Hideyoshi!>But he does not call it Lord Hideyoshi!>Ah!>Damnation!>Come on, I'll give you this nut, spit out that piece!>...>Ah!
>Lady Matsu!>It seems like a very entertaining pastime...>Oh...>It's time for me to leave!>Stop, Keiji![Even Keiji has a weakness for Matsu...she charms him with her words that seem to hit his face softly!]>Ofu...>How come you have that expression?>Keiji has completely changed his attitude towards her!>Ih ih ih...hey, are you jealous of her, Ofu?>No!
>Eh eh eh...he doesn't care whose wife she is, he simply fell in love with her!>...>Oh, I did not know that Suemori...>...fell into Sassa's hands...>But our Lord won't send more us more reinforcements...>It's not befitting of a leader...if he doesn't come to the rescue at a time like this, who would want to respect him as a master?>But I also understand that he doesn't want to send anyone to their death...>Ofu, don't you think that a woman would be truly happy if a man like that were in love with her?>Eh?!>Eh eh...one day you will understand what I mean...>Mh?>Up yours!>Ah!>Oh! I've thought of something!>Eh?!>...
>Hey, Hideyoshi! If you cheat when I'm not looking, I won't forgive you!>Ah, he said it after all...>Eh eh eh...>Eh eh eh eh...>Can't you dress yourself in a more decent way, Shume?>Shut up!>Ah, but you are Shume!>Ih ih ih ih! I heard what you said with my ears!>Your luck ran out with that word!
>Lady Matsu is my witness! Even if you belong to the Maeda family, you can't escape the death penalty!>It suits you! You will be sentenced to death! Get ready to die!>Well...>I agree...>Ah ah! Don't boast!>Hey you! Take Keiji!>Eh?!>Ah!>Ninja aren't as skilled as they used to be once they find a master, eh?>You were paralyzed for a moment too long!>Urgh!
>Cu-curse you...>Da...da...da...damn it!>Ah ah ah!>Ah ah ah ah!>Take this! It's time for payback!
>Aaah! It burns! It burns!>Urgh!
>Urgh!>Shume! Tell uncle...>...that Keiji has been sentenced to death!>Urgh!>But since he's a samurai...>...he will die on the battlefield!
>H-hey, wait...>The enemies are fifteen-thousand strong...>...instead we have only five-hundred...uhmm...>It seems like a really interesting battle!>Eh eh...what a beautiful comedy!>He is willing to die for a woman he has fallen in love with!>I will never be able to understand his feelings, perhaps because I have always lived in the ninja way...>This will be the true kabukimono!
End of chapter 4.Chapters 5 and 6 tomorrow, at the same times I posted chapters 3 and 4 today.
>>268134045Thank you for posting and translating.
Anons gotta notice this.
OP is doing god's work.
>>268118029He kept the loli, huh.
>>268118064I think I've learned to appreciate non-underdogs more with time too.
>>268118167The armor had to have been a real challenge to draw, even with a reference.
>>268118336Hideyoshibros.....They're laughing at us.....
>>268118428>would you get offended if I laughWho'd ever ask this question??
>>268118583The scheming is like a weird mix of hyperserious bloodlust and Saturday Morning cartoon villain pettiness. "I have to put a scratch on that armor set!", is like a Looney Tunes villain tier plot, but people are actually getting murdered over it.
>>268141189Might be more relevant in a honor culture.
>>268118064I've had a similar experience.
>>268139954Yeah, it's a testament to his skill that it doesn't look weird or off.
See you next chapter.
>>268118757What a prankster.
>>268119107Sophism for the win.
>>268141189>Who'd ever ask this question??old culture thdt uses the honor system.
>>268119220Thanks OP
You are doing good job, anon
>>268133302more like seetheyoshi
>>268133506She's a master of the skin flute.
>>268133725Loli NTR?
>>268134045Thanks bud.
