minorarcane_01_02

This is the Nobunaga the Fool Minor Arcane novel translation by M@foolishtranslations. Any notes will be appended at the end of the paste.

Chapter 1: Ace of Wand ~latter part~

1
"Oh, you are that ‘Angel of death’! You are indeed far more beautiful than is rumoured."

Da Vinci couldn’t suppress his innermost thoughts and excitement at this important person.

For how much longer would the unifying King Arthur control this <Western Planet>? Foolish rebels who defeat the king won’t die out, but this woman named Charlotte Corday, who was influenced by dangerous thoughts and will try to overthrow the monarch, was an extraordinarily dangerous character.

"Murder, trespassing, war crimes, lèse-majesté… if you add it up, I am a woman who has done twenty-six crimes."

"But you are not ashamed of those crimes in the least. Am I right?"

"Yes."

In the eyes of that woman, who calls herself Charlotte, was a conviction of some kind of religionist or a person trapped into madness. Those eyes looked at something that was not here or now, but at another time.

"Please, draw one card."

The card her fingers spied out was the card of a goddess who possessed a sword in her right and and scales in her left hand.

It was the tarot which is called <Justice>.

"I see. This is what signifies your past. In your mind you embrace a firm justice, and therefore develops your existence. Is that right?"

"Yes, you are correct. Not to mention the card itself."

Charlotte Corday proudly heaved her chest. She also seemed to be a a person who craved the limelight, much like a child somehow. However, there was neither an indication of narcissism or foolishness like advocating revolution and scorning people who live in peace. Within her was a spirit that believed sincere justice.

Whether that justice is in agreement with someone else’s justice was another story.

"King Arthur may have brought unity to this planet. However, he brought no peace. By invading the Eastern Planet, the Western Planet will be revived. As a consequence, the tax will increase greatly, people become poorer, wars will moreover increase in scope and the planet will be exhausted from its cover."

2

"I see."

From his standpoint as a retainer of King Arthur, Da Vinci probably should have objected to that, but at the moment he is a street diviner. So even if Charlotte’s analysis was a one-sided viewpoint he didn’t think it was off the mark.

"Well then, another card."

"I wonder if this is alright?"

Once again Charlotte picked out a card from the mountain of stirred cards. The card was revealed on top of a table covered in satin.

A dignified man who is seated by himself in a throne. The card of <The Emperor>. However, the card faced Da Vinci. That meant the situation was reversed.

"This carries the meaning of your present. You are chasing after solitude."

"I won’t deny that."

Some might say that he had yet to make a prediction.

If she wasn’t chasing after something, Charlotte wouldn’t have expressed it in such a manner, and he wondered if she hadn’t spoken her mind out on that part of her thoughts to a man she met for the first time.

However, Da Vinci would say that it was wrong.

(She came here to receive a prediction from me. That’s because my star and her star pass one another.)

"However, I’ll show you that I shall accomplish the revolution I myself believe in without any fail. Because I am always at the side of that ideal of creating a world in which people can live in as people."

"You mean that the <Western Planet> of today is not such a world?"

"King Arthur may certainly have brought light to this star which was determined to be destroyed. However, the people who are bewildered by that light are running towards wars like insects leaping into light traps. As a result, that weapon in the shape of a gigantic man resembling the Ikusa Yoroi came forth."

"Indeed, my lady."

Ikusa Yoroi

It came forth from imitating humans, it fights like a human, but it is by no means a human. It’s a mechanic doll made in a far greater scale than humans.

He wondered if the fact that none other than Da Vinci himself is deeply involved in its development, was something that Charlotte Corday knew?

However, even if she knew, it had no relation to Da Vinci.

A diviner cannot interpose his personal feelings into his fortune-telling.

It’s just an attempt to talk about what kind of bad  and good omens there are.

"You cannot avoid war right? If that’s the case the Western Planet cannot exist."

"You have possibly been made to believe like that. To stop the war I believe I can justify it by any kind of means."

3

"You’re saying the end justifies the means?"

"Yes."

Her eyes were full of conviction.

Whether you can call this good or evil, wise or foolish, would differ for each person.

Da Vinci didn’t place any merit on it.

What was valuable is that emotion, passion, the elements of wind and fire sway her. He had a premonition that told him that those things will go on to change the times.

"Wonderful. I have waited for someone like you to come to this hut. One more card. Your future. If the courage is there."

"From the beginning I have chosen the future with my own hands."

Without hesitation Charlotte turned over the card.

A skeleton with a sickle in its hand. It was even a hesitation to speak of the thirteenth tarot card.

"Oh my… would that be <Death>?"

"You are correct. In the near future you and all that is yours shall be overturned."

"…I will?"

Charlotte wrinkled her eyebrows for a moment, then instantly snorted.

"Well. That will not be in the far future either. The elements which composite you as an individual will undergo a fundamental change. For many people that shall come in the form of death."

"What a mediocre diagnosis, diviner. Anyone can predict a death if they see the card of Death."

"You may be correct. Even then this is not yet the end. The last card shall give your omens."

"Very well, let’s become acquainted with it. It would be great if it isn’t so mediocre though."

"Your ardour will guide you, my lady."

Charlotte Corday was a little worried and pulled out a card.

Wouldn’t that perhaps have been a foreseen unease without herself being aware of it?

(She is about to do something big.)

Rather than calling it Da Vinci’s divination, that was a result of observation.

"Before revealing the card, I shall tell you this. No matter how I look at it, you are not an ordinary diviner, am I right? It doesn’t seem likely that you have need to earn your income from doing divinations in this kind of back-alley."

"You have a discerning eye."

"You told me that you were waiting for me here to obtain a predication through divination. Why?"

"My star fluctuated. I am looking for a person who possesses a strong will and fate. My lady."

"Bounty hunting?"

He could tell that Charlotte’s muscles were strained underneath her clothes. If something happened, would she attack with a dagger or a gun?

4

"No, I am an alchemist. I am a person who seeks the truth. It is my delight to grant a dinner to the owner of a strong spirit becoming the key of truth."

"Is that what you want to say with this divination?"

"Indeed. In the surroundings of a person who carries a strong fate, a quantum fluctuation is produced whether one likes it or not. By observing that I can obtain the omens regarding the world’s fate. This again is one divination."

"Nesting, hm? A small divination becomes part of a larger divination. I don’t believe in fate and the like, but it doesn’t feel bad to be called a revolutionary with a strong spirit."

Charlotte’s fingers touched the last cards.

"I once met a similar girl."

"Oh?"

"She was called the daughter of the devil. I was told that she could hear divine revelations. But she didn’t seem to have any interest in a revolution."

"Her name is?"

"If I’m not mistaken, she’s named Jeanne Kaguya D’Arc."

"I shall remember it. It’s a sentimental name. Well then, turn over the card."

"Oui."

An angel holding two wine cups, pouring a mix of water and wine. The card was named <Temperance>.

"…I see."

Da Vinci paused.

"Charlotte Corday. You will bring about a great upheaval to the world, which includes yourself."

"I wonder if it can be taken to mean that revolution will be realized?"

"It’s fine to think of it like that. However, it’s not in the form that you can understand. It’s because your world, again, will change by means of that revolution. Two elements which mutually contradict each other will mix and open a gate. The opened gate shall lead to a door towards a new world."

He didn’t know whether it was an answer to her liking, but at any rate Da Vinci finished his talk in one sitting.

"I see."

He didn’t know whether Charlotte Corday was satisfied, because her she wore her hood low over her eyes and stood up.

"I am going already. It seems the rain has stopped falling. According to the information, it’s time for the change of guards.

"So you’re going. Towards your revolution."

"Yes."

4

Charlotte turned around and passed through the curtain of the hut’s entrance. Only her hair glistened under the illumination of the street lights.

"Thank you. Indeed, a revolution won’t become something like that. Changing a governor isn’t a revolution. To whom it is concerned it’s a change of the world that does not adhere to predictions. That’s the revolution I desire."

"I wish you good luck, Lady Charlotte."

"I won’t need it, but I appreciate the gesture."

Charlotte threw a single gold coin over her shoulder. As a payment for a diviner the amount was too much.

"At dawn your world will undergo a great change. Whether it will a blessing unto you is something I cannot guarantee."

Those were Charlotte Corday’s final words.

(Her aim will be King Arthur, perhaps.)

Through the gap between the curtains the castle of the king and the knights of the round table could be seen. It was a gigantic castle of great splendour that is seen from anywhere in the imperial capital.

She will accomplish.

Da Vinci was convinced of this.

Those eyes, the look that draws in that fate would undoubtedly kill the king.

He thought it was fine as well.

Because the one who made such a decision was his own <dinner>.

Da Vinci had gotten nearer to yet another truth.

He didn’t regret any of it.

*

But the next day, while holding the extra edition of the newspaper in his hands, Da Vinci was greatly startled.

The hurriedly made newspaper of cheap paper had printed that Charlotte Corday had slipped into King Arthur’s bedroom, yet despite that she had regretted her own crimes and surrendered by hanging her head before the redeeming star king.

(Is this… revolution? And is this her death?)

To Da Vinci the spires of the enormous royal castle dropped a long shadow under the cloudy sky.

*

Without deep compassion or torture, Charlotte Corday was to be guillotined for high treason. The one who was permitted to interview her for the last time was something that Da Vinci achieved.

6

Of course, he didn’t say that he had been acquainted with Charlotte. As a consequence he explained that there was merit in observing a person who committed high treason regarding the currently advancing development of the Ikusa Yoroi,

The personal cells of condemned criminals were surprisingly clean. The people who are put on a death sentence aren’t being punished more than this, so at most it seems to be a warped kind of compassion in trying to preserve dignity.

"Ah, you were from back then…"

Charlotte Corday wore a plain prison uniform, but it didn’t overshadow her beauty even a little.

"Thank you for that time. Your divination was right on the mark."

"That is good to hear. So a revolution was made."

"Yes."

She seemed to be very happy. The small brightness of light pouring in from the three windows in the cell illuminated her as if she wore a bride’s veil.

"The me of yesterday was mistaken. King Arthur in particular, is a true leader who embodies a revolutionary spirit. You may call him a dictator, emperor, president or any other name. Only that person is the king of the redeemed star."

There was not even one particle of her that indicated she was speaking under obligation.

Her eyes possessed a strong will identical to yesterday and the radiance of firm reason. She had found it. The ideal shape she had been seeking out. The thing Da Vinci yearned for, but couldn’t acquire.

"With that person’s reign, humanity can without doubt embark towards a new stage. Not only the <Western Planet>, but the <Eastern Planet> as well. In order to make up for my own foolishness, I will take guillotine’s blade with pleasure. Lord Leonardo Da Vinci."

"It’s an honour to be recognized. Charlotte Corday. It’s an honour if you have taken a liking to my dinner."

"Yes."

Charlotte smiled sweetly at him.

It was a happy smile of a young lady who sacrificed just about everything.

That was the last time he saw Charlotte Corday.

*

He didn’t think of going to watch her moment of execution.

Neither did he think of wanting to watch the crowd gathering in order to see a criminal’s death with their own eyes, because the dinner had come to a close, and he thought it was fine like that.

As a diversion he pulled a card.

7

Where should he go, what should he do?

It’s a rudimentary divination to try and see fragments of that omen.

"So <The High Priestess> is in the correct position."

Two pillars that mean black and white, positive and negative, light and dark, man and woman. Moreover caught in between those pillars was the upright figure of a female clergy.

"Will the one I should meet, either man or woman, bring me wisdom?"

There’s no way he can predict things about himself.

This won’t go beyond the road of reaching towards the former world.

Charlotte Corday had what was before the revolution that revealed those signs.

He looked up at the quietly sleeping giant of steel in the hangar, <Vittoria Absolute>.

"Vittoria Absolute Mark Dieci. The fated owner who can make you move, may possibly be someone I should meet," Da Vinci muttered and closed the door of the hangar.

*

So that the past to remain like this, the future constantly fluctuates.
Any kind of divination cannot predict every possibility.
What kind of shape does the future he predicted depict at this hour?
A little more time is needed to show its shape.

The curtain falls.
some more darkness will spread until the next curtain is raised.
Until that time when the hour of fate arrives and two planets meet.

Continue to chapter 2 ~first part~.
______________________________________

Translator's notes:

Page 1
- Charlotte Corday was given the post-humous name “the Angel of Assassination” by writer Alphonse de Lamartine.
- Lèse-majesté is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.

Page 2
- The Emperor is the fourth Major Arcana card. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor_(Tarot_card)

Page 3
- Death is the thirteenth Major Arcana card. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(Tarot_card)

Page 4
- Quantum fluctuation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_fluctuation
- Temperance is the fourteenth Major Arcana card. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_(Tarot_card)

Page 7
- The High Priestess is the second Major Arcana card. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Priestess