1   Mt. Leikaku Wolf

The mountain looked like the figure of a wolf facing the heavens howling.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"This is Mt. Leikaku?..."

The boy grumbled a bit as he looked up the steep mountain surface. Though the setting sun had already gone down in the west, the boy took a step toward the mountain without any hesitation.

"Uhe...!" In that moment, a sharp strange feeling went through his body like a taut steel wire.

Suddenly several men stood before the boy who trembled in spite of himself. The boy opened wide his beady eyes. All of the men he saw were fierce and well built. Looking amused, one of the men in the middle spoke to the shabbily dressed approacher.

"Niichan, where're ya going?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"The city to the east!" The boy, standing ready, shouted out in reply, right and left canines abruptly sticking out. "Going to the city and make something of myself."

The filthy unshaven men laughed out simultaneously.

"Is he an idiot? A kid crossing a mountain alone at night?"

"I'm fine so outta my way." Trying to break through the wall of men, the boy's body was held back by several big arms and easily thrown ahead about 5 meters.

"What're ya doing?!" The boy quickly got up, raising his eyes more and more. He bared 2 fangs and clenching both fists, got into an attack pose. "You're Mt. Leikaku bandits, aren't ya?"

The men grinned as they surrounded the boy.

"A spirited kid, ain't he?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Make something of yourself in the city, you say?"

"Trying to make us laugh?"

"Well, at any rate, we'll just be taking a toll from ya, boy."

The boy's hair stood up in rage. "Ya think I'm gonna pay something like that? What a dirty occupation ya got ya stupid scumbag bandit bastards!"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Shaddup~!" The men attacked the boy all at once.
 
 

"Stop!!" A deep steady voice resounded in the place. The men, who were already finishing stripping their prey of his belongings, and the boy,  practically naked as his desperate resistance was unsuccessful, looked up at the owner of the voice with a start.

"Hakurou......!" Someone spoke his name. The man named Hakurou, still young, was standing before a small shrine located just to the side of the mountain's entrance. Through abundant hair that swayed in the wind, fearless eyes that let off a penetrating light were staring their way as if to shoot down an enemy.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Just like a wolf... The boy thought as he saw the man. An aloof wolf living in Mt. Leikaku... That's the kind of impression this man gave.

"Working in someone else's mountain? You really have guts."

Hearing the words of the wolf, the boy pointed at Hakurou and the men as his head went back and forth several times. "Huh? You guys aren't bandits from around here... Huh? So then, who are ya?..."

Hakurou slowly approached. Unlike his gait which was full of self confidence and style, the men who attacked the boy began to step back, looking pitiful, their knees shaking.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"You know what happens when ya break the law of the mountains, don't ya? When you return to Mt. Kaou tell Keiron. Next time ya act dirty you'll really be sorry."

Hakurou's hand slowly went around to his back  As soon as he did that, the men's faces contorted in fear. They turned tail and scrambled to get away.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Wait! You're not gonna keep this kid's clothes and money, are ya?!" At Hakurou's shout they threw the boy's belongings which landed with a thud.
 
 

And then-----------, only the boy and Hakurou remained there.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Y-you..."

It was when the boy approached Hakurou with a half spaced-out expression.

"Move it!" Hakurou threw aside the boy at the same time that his hand went around to his back and suddenly whipped out something.

"Lekka Shinen!!"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Buoooooo!

Suddenly a red blaze rose out into the air in front of him.

"Eee..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
The boy was paralyzed from seeing that and at his side several burnt bows and arrows pattered to the ground. The guys from earlier probably shot them in hiding. Hakurou vexingly crushed them under his foot.

"Wh-wh-what is this!? Fire, fire, ee~~~~e!"

Hakurou cast a glance at the boy who's mouth was opening and closing, arms and legs flailing, and his beady eyes bulging. "Boy, how old are ya?"

"-----------Fi-fif-fifteen."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Hakurou, seeing this crooked toothed boy, slight in both height and build for a 15 year old, huffed a laugh and indicated with his chin the direction of the village. "Your mom will be worried. Go home and suck on her breast."

"Breast...?" Hearing that the boy, suddenly returning to his senses, crawled over with a rustling to Hakurou's feet.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Wh-who're ya saying drinks that kind of milk?! When I was a baby I almost died several times when I was crushed under my ma's giant breasts. Even now I just hear about milk and I start to suffocate... Anyway I have a complex about milk that I can never talk about with anyone."

"Weren't ya just telling me?!" With an amazed look, Hakurou turned his back on the boy. "The bit about the milk was an allegory, ya idiot. Anyway it was about telling you to go home."

Seeing Hakurou begin to briskly climb up the mountain, the boy clutched his belongings and again ran in front of the man with a speed that couldn't be followed by the eye.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"What the?"

"I'm...not going back home."

"You gonna make something of yourself in the city?"

"........."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Forget it. If ya go into the mountain now, you'll only get yourself eaten by wolves. If ya really wanna go to the city, go in the morning."

"I'm not going to the city either. I..."

Hakurou shook his head. "You're not making sense..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Please let me join you guys!" The boy planted himself at Hakurou's feet and brushed his head against the ground. "You're the Mt. Leikaku leader, right? Please let me join with your men!"

"What? Weren't ya saying earlier that a bandit was a dirty occupation?" Hakurou said as he looked down at the boy.

"I did but...but...you're different from those other guys. I'm in the mountain now and you're not even going after any of my belongings!"

"Who'd steal your dirty clothes and small change?" Having had enough, Hakurou walked away and the boy grabbed his leg. "Hey. Would ya leggo?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"It's not that I wanna become a bandit. I wanna become like you. You were really cool! I wanna become a man like you!" As he exclaimed that, Hakurou looked at the boy's bare arm that clung to his own leg and he narrowed his eyes. It was faint but he could see a character on that right arm.

.........Wing?

Hakurou glanced at this rash reckless boy who had shook his fists at the 5 Mt. Kaou bandits a little while ago without flinching even a little bit.

"Alright?"

Hakurou faced the boy at his feet and distinctly told him, "What can I do with a greenhorn like you? Don't think so highly of yourself either!"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Hakurou shook the boy off with a slight kick and with a long stride dissolved into the Mt. Leikaku night.

*

Creak Creak Creak Creak Creak Creak Creak. The stronghold gate opened noisily.

"Welcome back."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Hakurou entered the stronghold and going in-between the 2 subordinates, headed for the living quarters.

"I went to the shrine at the base of the mountain. Nothing happened while I was gone?"

"Yes. Come to think of it, there was an insolent person who tried to infiltrate the stronghold but..."

"What!? A Mt. Kaou spy?" Hakurou grew agitated and looked at the subordinates.

"No, he doesn't seem to be... We don't really know but... he's persistent at getting to see you. At any rate, he's been captured."

"Hm..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Hakurou returned to the leader's room and just as he sat down in an armchair the door was heavily knocked on.

"Excuse me" "Who is it?" "It's the newcomer, Kouji, who came to show the leader his feat." "Well then you're very welcome. Please come in." "Thank you."

"Alright, come in already Kouji!"

Opening the door with a creak, one boy entered the room as his face flushed. In one hand he held a piece of rope.

"Earlier I caught him scaling the stronghold. What? Who'd you say caught him? I did. Kouji. What? Didn't you hear me?"

"Enough already."

"Idiot. It's your fault the leader got angry. Come on, would ya show your face." Kouji violently tugged the rope and the trespasser, who's entire body was tied up, tumbled out from behind the door. Even the great Hakurou's eyes opened wide at seeing that.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"......You!"

"About our earlier conversation..." Long, narrow, sparkling eyes on his beaten swelled-up face stared at Hakurou. "I'm not a greenhorn... I'd definitely be useful to you so..."

"............"

Hakurou and the boy locked eyes. Hakurou spoke first.

"You ran through the mountain after that?"

"...I'm the fastest in my village."

Arriving at the stronghold by an animal path through the mountain rather than the human path takes 3 times longer. And how many more times the danger? Arriving here before himself...
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Hakurou blew out a breath. "It's like seeing a phantom."

The speed, the fangs... He's like a wolf too... Hakurou thought.

Kouji seemed somewhat uncomfortable.  "Leader! Let's hurry up and skewer this damn conceited brat."

"Hold on, Kouji." Hakurou looked down hard at the captive boy who lay on the floor.

"Is it alright with you? A bandit is an occupation where you make your living by stealing other people's things. No one can take pride in it." And then Hakurou turned his eyes to the mountain top that could be seen from the window. "But, this Mt. Leikaku is a sacred mountain. The mountain instantly sees through the good and evil of people passing through here."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
The boy remembered the intense strange feeling that shot through his body when he took a step on the mountain.

"Our duty is to always go on protecting that Mt. Leikaku."

".........Right." He didn't really understand what it was all about but as he tilted his head to one side, the boy stuck out his canines and gave a slight nod.

"Stupid. In short, we're noble." Kouji nudged the captive with a foot.

"Put it as chivalrous robbers, Kouji" Hakurou stood up from the chair, stooped over, and lifted the boy's chin lightly. "I didn't catch your name."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Shun'u... Kou Shun'u..."

Hakurou grinned. "I'm gonna give you a name more appropriate to you. From now on you'll be Genrou."

"............!!" The boy lying on the floor jumped up like a spring. "Then, then, you're letting me join...!?"

"Kouji. Look after him for the time being. OK?"

Kouji stood vacantly, his mouth gaping. "How...how...did it get...like...this?..."

Hakurou walked to the window, placed a hand to his chin, and said to himself. "Hmf... Genrou, huh? I suppose it'll be alright..." Hakurou thought about the day his predecessor gave him his own name, "Spirited Wolf".

The full moon rose right above Mt. Leikaku.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
This is how Mt. Leikaku's Genrou was born.

*

"And when I was finally able to get a room to myself... Shit"

Kouji sulked and flopped down on top of the bed. At his side, Genrou, who had been permitted to join them, was still excited and was partying it up.

"Genrou! Genrou! Genrou! Uwaah, what a cool name. It's perfect for me. Don't you think so too?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Don't call me you!"

Bash. As he lay in bed Kouji kicked Genrou in the back.

"Call me Senpai, ya idiot. No, better yet, Kouji Aniki..."

"Hey Aniki, why'd ya join up here?"

Kouji started when Genrou's swelled-up beady eyes suddenly peered into his face.

"...M-me? I lost my parents to some disease... I was all alone and I figured I could probably live as I liked if I became a bandit..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Oh... So you were able to get them to let ya join without any objections?"

"Well, I'm already 17. And I'm taller, stronger, and smarter than you. The leader recognizes my prospects so let me join the group. Hmph."

"It wasn't cause they took pity on you since you're an orphan?"

Smack! Kouji rose up in rage and hit Genrou squarely on the right cheek with his fist.

"Damn, you're a brat who can't keep your trap shut, can ya? ...So, what about you...!?"

"I ran away from home. I couldn't stay in that home any longer. Couldn't take it and so today I took off." The result was joining the Mt. Leikaku bandits that night.

"Hmf... Fate is a mysterious thing, isn't it Aniki?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Don't talk like ya know, you brat."

"Hey, but the leader is awesome, isn't he? I really like him. He seems like, how is it, a man among men. I wanna hurry up and become that kind of man too..."

Bonk! Kouji snubbed the top of Genrou's head.

"You're 50 years too early. Peabrain!"

"Oh, oh yeah. What the hell is that fire spewing halisen like thing? It scared me. How'd it become a device that spews fire?" Genrou's eyes blazingly lit up and he edged toward Kouji.

"Hmph. That isn't a device, ya know. It's a tessen that spews fire by the leader's will."

"By will..."

"Right. The leader took over the tessen from the previous Mt. Leikaku leader. In other words, it's a tessen that can only be used by a skilled man who can become leader. So only someone who can make the tessen spew fire can become leader."

"So, if I can make it spew fire I'd be leader?"

"Idiot!"

Whap! Kouji's knee kick hit Genrou in the stomach.

"It becomes so only one person can use it. If just anyone could make fire spew from it, it wouldn't settle anything, would it? Geez."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Oh..."

Kouji said in a displeased voice. "What? You saw that your first day?... It's been 3 months since I came here and I've only seen it once so far." Remembering the time he was rescued by Hakurou's Lekka Shinen when it looked like he was going to be attacked by wolves in the mountain made Kouji's heart pound even now.

"Aniki, it must have been fated for me to come here after all, don't ya think~?"

"Don't get carried away. I'll hit you, ya little!"

Bonk! Kouji met Genrou's already battered enough head with a head butt and looked at the newcomer coldly.

"Hey you. Now's your chance to quit. There aren't any women around here. When it comes to women there's the rice cooking old woman, Beika. I can't stand it anymore..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"It's paradise!"

Suddenly looking at Genrou who began to jump for joy, Kouji reflexively clutched at the front of his chest. "You...can't be..."

"I've had enough of women. My ma's giant breast attacks and my 4 taskmaster older sisters. What kind of miserable life have I lead up 'til now?..."

"What? Is that it?" Kouji breathed a sigh of relief. "Didn't ya have a pop?"

"Pop...? Well, come to think of it, I did... He's unimpressive so I didn't realize it. Anyway, if you lived in that house I think you'd become just like that kind of pop. From morning to night it was drawing water, chopping wood, cleaning, laundry, and running errands... I've had enough of that kind of life already."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Genrou still wouldn't leave Kouji alone. "Hey, what do bandits do? The leader said being noble and protecting the surrounding mountain but, what should I do tomorrow? Will I even get to collect tolls?"

"Don't get conceited~!! Damn you!"

Whap Bap!! Kouji showered Genrou's jaw with a barrage of hits.

"First you'll be drawing water and chopping wood. Next cleaning and laundry. After that, running errands. Hmph, too bad. Exactly the same as you've been doing up until yesterday."

"............No way."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Life isn't so easy. Fool." Kouji reprimanded and hit Genrou's head a last time. "I'm going to sleep. Ah, after tomorrow I'll be graduating from the odd jobs. It'll be a relief. Oh yeah, lie on the floor and go to sleep." Kouji pulled his covers up as he gave a sideways glance at Genrou who hung his head.

It's good that at last a newcomer joined and he'd be released from the odd jobs. Was he unusually immune to blows or clueless to scary things? How long will this runty brat who was simpleminded, a dolt, as well as hates women, stay in Mt. Leikaku?...

He really is just an idiot... Kouji thought.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
It doesn't even matter that Genrou's got a better name. Even the leader isn't a good judge of people, is he? Well, at most he'd last one month... Kouji estimated.

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Copyright Watase Yuu/Nishizaki Megumi/Shogakukan   Translated by Tasuki  no Miko