Chapter 2- No Safe Zone
"Need somethin'? 'Cause from where I'm standin', y'all don't look dressed for survival. Far as I'm concerned, you're just dead weight. We ain't travelin' together."
Having finished gearing up, Natsume shrugged her pack back onto her shoulders and rose to her feet. Resting in her hands was a bargain-bin pump shotgun, its dull steel catching the pale light.
"You've got a hell of a mouth on you."
One of the men snapped back, but Natsume answered with nothing more than a derisive snort.
"Then laugh if you think I'm dead wrong. But tell me somethin'—how're you plannin' to make it through the night? No tents. No sleeping bags. You're standin' in a forest full of monsters.
Cooperation only works when both sides bring somethin' to the table. Y'all ain't got gear. Ain't got skills. Hell, looks like the only thing you've got plenty of is hormones.
So tell me—what exactly are you supposed to contribute?"
Her words cut through the crowd like a blade, slicing straight through their pride.
The campers stood barely six yards away—close enough to rush her if they wanted.
But something in the young woman's eyes stopped them cold.
She wasn't bluffing.
She'd shoot.
"Na-chan... maybe that's enough."
Kanon sighed.
"I don't think they've realized you're actually serious about pulling the trigger."
Still speaking, she smoothly drew her pistol from its holster.
The handgun came close to her chest, elbows flared naturally into a C.A.R. (Center Axis Relock) stance.
It looked like something straight out of an action movie—and it made one thing painfully obvious.
She wasn't just some sheltered rich girl.
"I'll keep an eye on them, Na-chan. Let's get moving."
To continue around the lake, they'd have to turn their backs on the stranded campers.
Natsume issued orders without taking her eyes off the group.
"Works for me. If you're headin' the same way we are, stay at least twenty meters back.
You crowd us, I'll shoot.
Wanna stay alive? Then stay the hell away from us.
Mako—you watch the lakeside.
I'll cover the treeline.
Kanon, your job's the campers. Every last one of 'em got one of those Gifts from the goddess, same as us. If anybody starts lookin' suspicious..."
She rested a hand on the shotgun.
"...don't wait for permission."
Kanon answered without hesitation.
"Roger that."
She looked toward the campers with an easy smile that somehow felt colder than Natsume's glare.
"So... you've already been warned.
If you don't want to get shot, don't try anything stupid.
And if you do..."
She shrugged lightly.
"You don't get to complain afterward."
Their gear stood in stark contrast to everyone else's.
Each of the three carried a full-size expedition pack, sturdy enough for extended wilderness travel. Military-grade tactical boots crunched over the forest floor beneath durable field pants and combat jackets, while shooting gloves protected their hands.
Natsume's setup was especially well thought out. Mounted along her battle belt were an IFAK, a flashlight, a multitool, and every other essential she'd considered worth carrying into the backcountry.
They had come prepared for serious bushcraft—not luxury camping.
Now, in this alien world, that preparation had become the only reason they still had a chance to survive.
After nearly an hour of hiking with Kanon keeping watch behind them, the group finally judged they'd put enough distance between themselves and the stranded campers.
They stopped to reorganize their gear.
"Kanon, let's sort the packs. Anything we won't need right away—sleepin' bags, spare gear—stash it in your Safe House."
"Right. Mine and Mako-chan's packs are mostly food, cooking gear, and our sleeping bags anyway."
"Good. Me and Mako'll keep security."
Natsume scanned the surrounding woods as she spoke.
"Call up the door, sort everything inside, then come back out.
Mako, keep your water and calorie bars on you. Everything else can wait."
Slipping the shotgun over her shoulder, Natsume settled onto a boulder without taking her eyes off the direction the campers would be coming from.
A shimmering doorway appeared beside Kanon.
Hoisting both her own pack and Mako's, she stepped through and disappeared into the room beyond.
The other side of the doorway opened into a modest one-room apartment in modern-day Japan.
After slipping off her boots in the entryway, Kanon drew the tactical flashlight from her chest pocket and swept the beam through the darkness.
Bathroom.
Toilet.
Closet.
She checked every corner before finally lowering the light.
"Figures... no toilet paper."
Passing through the kitchenette, she set an LED lantern in the middle of the room. Warm light spread across the apartment as she unzipped the packs and began neatly laying out the gear they wouldn't need for the immediate expedition.
...Another world, huh.
Sorry, Na-chan.
But... I think I'm actually glad.
As the granddaughter of the chairman of the Kuze Group, Kanon had spent her entire life inside a gilded cage.
Her relationship with Natsume was something her family despised.
Her grandfather adored her in his own way, but more than once she'd sensed him trying to remove Natsume from her life—whether through money, influence... or something far more permanent.
Money and power had a way of bending the law.
Kanon knew that better than most.
That was exactly why she'd chosen Natsume.
Natsume cursed.
She lacked what most people would call morals.
She could be crude, selfish, and brutally blunt.
But compared to relatives who smiled like saints while committing acts too vile to speak of behind closed doors...
Natsume felt honest.
She had never once pretended to be a good person.
She never hid who she was.
She never lied about what she wanted.
And that was exactly why Kanon trusted her.
More importantly...
If it ever came down to it—
Natsume would risk her life to protect them.
For now...
At least here...
No one can tell us we shouldn't be together.
A small smile found its way onto Kanon's face.
She picked up the now-empty backpack, placed the lantern on the shoe cabinet by the entrance, and opened the door leading back to the forest.
Then she stepped through once more.
単純な翻訳だけではなくアメリカ文化などを考慮した変更を多数入れてあります。
セリフなども日本の教育で身につくものではない私の大好きなテキサスの南部英語を棗のセリフを書いています。
以下意識した部分を参考までに。
"You're just dead weight."
お荷物を英語圏らしく自然に。
"bring something to the table"
「互いに補い合う」 をネイティブがよく使う慣用句へ。
"She'd shoot."
「本気で撃つ」を一文だけで表現。私の体感ですが英語小説ではこういう短文が非常に見受けられます。
"don't wait for permission."
「警告なしで撃て」を"Shoot without warning." より命令口調の英語として自然な軍事・警察系の表現に。
