This is a rough translation of Owari no Seraph Light Novel Vol.3′s Prologue, “Mahiru and Shinya”. This short chapter tells us about Shinya’s past and his first encounter with Mahiru.
Shout out to Shinya, whose presence graced me, lightened up my life, and provided me the motivation to translate this short prologue.
I have not done any editing past the initial translation, so there might be
Typos
Slightly-adjusted-translations to better fit the context
Present tense has all been changed to past tense (I think)
If you have any questions or find any mistakes, please contact me at my twitter (@ibyrn).
Warning: If you are a Shinya fan like me, it might hurt. I warned you.
Volume 3 Prologue “Mahiru and Shinya”
The first time Shinya was allowed to meet his fiancée was when he was 10 years old. It was indeed a strange feeling to have your fiancée and your life’s partner be chosen for you at the mere age of 10, but Shinya remembered his heart beating from the excitement when he found out that he was finally allowed to meet her. The girl – his fiancée – what is she like? Is she cute? Is she kind? Will the two of them be able to get along well?
To say ‘such sweet thoughts resembling love did not float around in his head’ would be a lie. He thought of them. Of a happy future. Of fun times with his lover. Such dreams filled his mind.
“……”
But, with that being said, these dreams were not going to make his heart pound and throb. After all, an intense feeling of love for a girl he had never met before – this kind of thing doesn’t really happen.
Rather, there was another reason for his heart beating and pounding.
There was another reason for his excitement.
He was allowed to meet his fiancée – when he heard that, what shook him was this sort of feeling: “…Ah, I lived, I survived without dying.”
Ten years old.
By the time he had reached that age, he had already killed several times. Those who he killed were in the same boat as him. Fiancé candidates of Hiiragi Mahiru, young lady of the Hiiragi house. Fiancé candidates to eventually mate with Hiiragi Mahiru and to provide another child with excellent and superior DNA for the Hiiragis.
This selection process began when Shinya was 5 years old. In the beginning, though, the process was neither cruel nor harsh.
Are you a fast runner?
Are you a fast learner?
Are you gifted with talents in spells (jujutsu)?
Shinya attended one of the few kindergartens in the nation that were run by “Mikado no Oni”, a religious cult led by the Hiiragi family. Among many kindergarteners, he was chosen to be part of a select team comprised of children gifted with talent. At first, Shinya was simply, truly, and purely happy. He was more talented than others. He was superior to others. Remarkable. Excellent child. Very excellent child. By being told so every day, his heart was beating with anticipation of how he would become even better and would defeat the other children. His pleasure came from learning and remembering many spells and from training his body. But one day, the headmaster told him,
“Shinya-kun has been a very hard worker and is an excellent student. As such, the main house has called you up to Tokyo! Great job! You are transferring to Tokyo tomorrow, so be prepared!”
And from that day, he was not allowed to go back to his home. He heard that his parents would receive 300 million yen from the Hiiragis, and that their rank within “Mikado no Oni” would rise several steps. He heard that his parents were ecstatic that they were commended by the main house. But, he was also told that he was no longer allowed to meet his parents, ever again. Shinya cried, yelled, and said he hated this, didn’t want any of this, but no adult would listen to him. Rather, they said that this was an honor. They said don’t say selfish things. But his life from then on was extremely harsh and cruel.
Tokyo.
Shibuya.
Once he was transferred to the facility there, he no longer had any time to cry. In the test held once every three months, you were disposed if you didn’t make the top 30%.
In the competition held once every year, where killing each other was allowed, you were disposed if you didn’t win.
If you don’t win, you die.
If you don’t win, you die.
If you don’t win, you die.
Moreover, one and only one person can survive.
He no longer rememberd how many people were there at the start.
He just desperately tried every day.
To learn new sorcery spells (jujutsu).
To learn new illusion spells (genjutsu).
To obtain new physical abilities (taijutsu).
Once every now and then, he befriended someone. A friend to celebrate their survival together.
But that friend got disposed for not being in the top 30%.
That instilled fear in everyone, and they all put in more effort than ever.
Met a friend.
That friend died.
Met a friend.
That friend died.
He stopped befriending others.
Regardless, many people were disposed.
He remembered that he began to smile indiscreetly in order to deal with the extreme stress. Perhaps this was the b