All rights reserved to Tokitou Kaname and comico.
To read the original novel:
This is NOT an official English translation.
Translated by Sayuri (Flower Moon Translations)
First Night: Welcome to the Mountain of Ubasute*
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※ This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person or organization that you may know is purely coincidental.
Moreover, there is no intention to promote human discrimination at all.
Old Maid
(RULES)
Without showing your cards to the person beside you, let them take a card from you.
If you get the same set of cards, you can set the pair of cards aside.
In the end, the person who has the old maid (joker) in his hands will lose.
Having the old maid be pulled out from your hand will evade your fate of defeat.
In this game, the old maid is, at its best, treated as a nuisance.
“Hey, did you know? It seems like that girl’s grandmother got taken away.”
“Seriously…?! I wonder if my grandmother’s okay?”
“Yours should be fine. More importantly…”
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Inside the mountain where the snow incessantly and deeply fell, a scream reverberated.
“Help… Help…”
Breathing heavily, an old woman ran around the snow storm trying to escape.
“Haa, Haa. If they come here……”
The old woman sat on the piling snow as she fell on her backside.
At that moment, the old woman clearly felt the sensation of her skin getting pierced, the sounds of ripping, and metal tearing up her body to pieces.
The old woman’s body was torn to pieces, a hatchet was stuck into the ground. The blood that spurted out from the old woman’s body dyed the snow with a deep shade of red.
Lumps of meat lay scattered around at the mountainside.
With nothing to eat, people wander around the mountain.
Even if you wanted to leave, you couldn’t leave.
A cold and humongous wall was frozen over, blocking the way out.
Slowly, blow upon your finger with your own breath.
Earnestly believing and walking in the mountains so that you don’t lose your humanity, everything began.
Old Maid Welcome to the Mountain of Ubasute.“I’m back!”
Kurata Nobihiko opened the front door with great force and entered in his soccer uniform before flinging tossed away his enamel bag with resignation.
Nobuhiko was an ordinary second-year high-schooler. He spent all his days doing nothing but soccer.
Nobuhiko’s parents died in a car crash before he was old enough to comprehend the things that happened around him. For that reason, he lived with his paternal grandmother, Kurata Mitsuko.
Reaching the age of 72, Mitsuko had stopped working and lived with Nobuhiko using the inheritance left by his mother and father as well as the little pension money she had.
Though his lunch box is plain compared to the lunch boxes made by other families, he felt proud of his grandmother’s exquisitely delicious seasonings. To Nobuhiko, the taste of Mitsuko’s home cooking was the taste of a mom’s cooking.
Nobuhiko opened the glass sliding door and sat at the dining table right away. Taking the remote control, he changed channels from a news program to a variety show.
The variety show was a popular talk show where a comedian would get private information out of the guest during a live broadcast.
Nobuhiko was a fan of today’s guest, Ishida Yuri. She was a popular actress in Japan and zealously supported by men and women in the 10s and 20s.
“Shouldn’t you at least say you’re back once you’ve come home?”
Nobuhiko’s grandmother, Mitsuko, came out from the kitchen.
“I did, though~”
While his attention was glued to the television, Nobuhiko replied to Mitsuko.
Mitsuko was heating up the meat and potato stew that she had cooked earlier as well as cooked rice inside the microwave. Coming from the microwave that was quite old, the sound of the microwave being used could be heard.
“Nobu-kun, how are you lately? Are you working hard on your studies?”
Mitsuko spoke to Nobuhiko while she stood in front of the microwave.
“Hmm, it’s the same as always I think~”
Nobuhiko was too engrossed with Ishida Yuri that he gave Mitsuko an absentminded response.
When Mitsuko made a resigned expression, the microwave finished heating up the food as it made a sound to signify its completion.
Mitsuko held the edge of the hot dish and carried it towards the dining table where Nobuhiko was sitting.
“Recently, has there been any worries that troubles you, Ishidsan? I’m sure there’s nothing worrying you?”
“No, it’s not like that. Recently, I think about the Unmanaged Elderly Migration Law quite frequently.”
“……”
In an instance, silence fell between the actress and the host.
“Elderly…… migration law? What’s that?”
Nobuhiko asked Mitsuko who was sitting opposite him and looked curious.
Just like the actress and the host, silence fell between Nobuhiko and Mitsuko as well.
“Eh? ……I don’t know. I, I wonder what is it?”
Mitsuko answered looking confused.
As she did so, Nobuhiko stood up as if he remembered something.
“AH! I have to pass up my homework tomorrow!”
He rushed out of the living room and his footsteps could be heard loudly as he climbed up the second floor.
When Mitsuko carried the tableware, that was cleaned up with only a single grain of rice left, to the kitchen, she took out a bankbook from an aluminum container that was placed at the side of the kitchen.
“Ha……”
Mitsuko flipped the pages of the bankbook before letting out a sigh.
The wind tonight was strong as usual. The sound of trees creaking could be heard within the Kurata house that was made out of wood.
As he closed the half-opened window that was clattering and rattling, Nobuhiko faced his study table so he could do his homework. The study table was from his elementary school days where stickers of popular characters were pasted all over.
Even during his elementary school days, there was never a time where he would use the study table seriously for more than 30 minutes. And today was no exception. While Nobuhiko rested his chin on his hands, he fell asleep.
“Snore……”
He did not know that currently, the evil law is seemed to be making its move.
(T/N *Ubasute literally means “abandoning old woman” and is the senicide mythical practice in Japan where they will carry the elderly or those with no hope to live up the mountains and left there to die.