CH 43.2

43.2 Japanese is Complex

“U-Uhm, is that really what was written? I mean, look at this letter. This is the same letter, right? And yet, the pronunciation doesn’t seem to be correct.” I said, pointing at the letters ‘Beloved’ and ‘True Love’. Both had ‘Love’ in their letter. And whether you read it horizontally or vertically, it would never change into ‘Nemesis’ or ‘Hate’!

“What’s strange about them? One of the features of these ancient letters is the fact that the same pronunciation could have different meanings. In addition, the pronunciation will become completely different when it’s lined up with specific letters. You might get confused by it, but there’s nothing we can do about it either.”

Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with it! ‘Love’ and ‘Beloved’ do have different meanings! And there’s also different ways to read kanji such as ‘Onyomi’, ‘Kunyomi’, or ‘Jukugo’, but it still won’t stray too far apart from the original meaning of the kanji itself! I mean, be real, the meaning of the words you just said is completely different from the base! Geez, Japanese is a complex language, alright! And there’s no way I could explain all these to them either!

What should I do now? How should I tell them that those pronunciation is fu*cking wrong?! How should I lead them to find the correct pronunciation? But… doing that might make them suspect me. What to do~? I screamed internally.

I had planned to tell them that those pronunciations sounded strange, but my hands were limited. I could only tell them that those pronunciations sounded like cursing. That’s it.

And how come Trevor-san came up with such a sinister pronunciation? What was his source?

“In fact, the mage department is about to do an experiment you see. The same goes for us, which is going to be led by Lord Goldberg. Do you want to see?”

“Eh? We’re allowed to see it?!”

Luke sounded really delighted by that. However, the same couldn’t be said for me because I just got this feeling that something really bad was going to happen when my father recited that curse.

“… Could it be that… Trevor-san really has ill intention?”

“What do you mean, Theodore-dono?” Count Sphene asked with a severe look in his eyes. Well, I couldn’t blame him. I mean, it’s natural for me who could read Japanese to doubt Trevor unlike them. After all, they couldn’t understand that the pronunciation Trevor came up with, while knowing that it was going to be used in the experiment, was enunciating a curse.

At that moment, the ground beneath us shook.

Is this… an earthquake?! Was what I thought at first. However, when I saw darkish wind particles coiled upward outside the windows, forming a vortex to the sky, I realized that it wasn’t one.

“That comes from the mage department… no way, is something happening to my father?!”

“Luke!”

While I was still frozen in place, Luke had already dashed out of the room. Not only him, but his escorts were also chasing him in a hurry. On the other hand, Count Sphene did not move as he looked at the darkish wind outside the windows. His expression was still the same severe one he showed before.

“So it’s Trevor’s trap, eh?”

Say what?! Is he referring to the experiment?!

My eyes widened and I hurriedly erased the mistake that was written in the paper Count Sphene read a while ago and wrote the correct pronunciation and meaning on the erased part. Then, I gave it to Oriana.

“Please help me pass this on to Luke. This is the correct pronunciation of the sentence. It’s not 『Kataki no(Nemesis)』 , it’s 『Itoshi no(Beloved)』. And the second one isn’t 『Zouo(Hatred)』, but 『Ai(Love)』. That’s the meaning of the phrase. COUNT SPHENE! DO YOU KNOW WHERE MY FATHER IS?! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS AT ONCE!”

After I saw Miss Oriana leapt out of the room to chase after Luke, I immediately approached Count Sphene and asked. And though Count Sphene looked at me with suspicion, he still took me to the testing ground without asking any question.

◇

The testing site was located in a separate building, and my father was right in the center of a spacious atrium there. By his side, there was a pedestal holding the tiara. The sides of the hall were lined with tools, which must be the experiment tools used, while several researchers were moving in a hurry around those machine-like tools.

“Theodore, what are you doing in this place?!”

“FATHER! THAT PRONUNCIATION IS WRONG. YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT SAY IT!”

My father’s expression shifted, becoming puzzled. However, he still waited for me and Count Sphene to explain.

Count Sphene immediately began to speak, explaining to my father that the previous pronunciation was dangerous since it might be the trigger behind the earthquake that happened just now.

“Your son seems to know the correct pronunciation for it, though. So, if possible, let’s continue the experiment by using your son’s version.”

No, the last part is totally unnecessary. Let’s just stop this altogether. I begged inwardly, yet my father agreed with Count Sphene without hesitation. I meant, he even accepted it easily when I had insisted that it was just my intuition speaking here.

“Well then, Theodore, let’s start the experiment.”

“… Okay, Father. Here you go… 『Waga aishi no Serendia ni, Gorudiaz yori shinjitsu no ai wo sasagu (I, Goldias offered my true love to my beloved Selendia)』”

“『Waga aishi no Serendia ni, Gorudiaz yori shinjitsu no ai wo sasagu』”

Thereupon, the tiara that was touched by my father unleashed a brilliant golden glow. Alas, just when I thought I had seen golden colored particles of light was rising, it vanished immediately.

“Father, are you okay?!”

“Yeah, no problem here.”

""

“A-Amazing! Even though it didn’t show any reaction up until now… the reaction from a moment ago is too amazing!”

While Count Sphene and the researchers were making merry from this development, the only thing I was concerned over was my father’s state of being. Hence, relief immediately flooded me when I saw my father’s usual gentle smile.

Anyway, after they were done celebrating, Count Sphene and the researchers straightaway bombarded me with questions about the pronunciation. Well, me being me, I insisted that it was just a coincidence since it sounds more like the love confession that I read in the ‘Saint’s Legend’ than the pronunciation Trevor gave.

Hence, despite my father being amongst those who asked questions, I shot them down with ‘Coincidence’ and ‘Intuition’.

… From the look of it, I might have failed to fool them, though. Oh well.

Anyway, it seemed that the particles that appeared in the mage’s department also vanished as soon as Oriana handed over my memo to Luke. Thus, ending these series of incidents without harm.