| Full Translation |
This article contains a full translation of the novel What is the power to end conflicts? .
Part 1[]
An old batting center sat undisturbed in the quiet neighborhood.
It caught Chise Asukagawa's attention, and she abandoned her leisurely stroll to stop by the place.
It had been a while since any Kaiju appeared. Ever since Kaiser Gridknight, who was born by combining everyone's power, defeated a powerful monster, these days of peace have continued.
And perhaps Chise had been taking more and more long walks because of that.
Chise entered the batting center and rented a bat off the receptionist, and prodded the coin machine for some loose change.
As she passed through the netting and entered the batting box, she puts two 100-yen coins into the rusty fare box.
The speed of the slowest ball was approximately 80km/h. She picked this option for her warm-up, but...
"Hmm?"
She either missed the ball entirely or continued to make fouls. Even if it was her first time in a while, this was still quite unbelievable.
As if to round off her series of losses, the last pitch launched straight into the net behind her without so much as a sound. Her bat had yet to see any action.
Chise pouted her lips slightly and looked up at the clear blue sky where the white ball was supposed to fly.
Before long, the azure blue that spread out through the green ball-proof net was engulfed in a golden glow.
It was the golden dragon Kaiju, Goldburn, who recognized Chise's appearance and flew over.
"Goldburn!!!"
As Chise waved hello, Goldburn stared at her while levitating in mid-air.
Thinking that Goldburn could perhaps be interested in what she was doing, Chise slots a coin into the fare box again. To show her best friend what she's made of, she regains her grip on the metal bat with renewed determination.
"Ahhhh....."
However, the result is almost the same as before. Even today's best hits fell to the ground without drawing a modest arc.
She awkwardly looks back up at the sky, but sees Goldburn with its beak opened wide.
That gesture reminds her of a chick waiting for food, and she couldn't help but giggle. After all, this "chick" had grown up to be quite strong.
"Goldburn, you can't snack on the balls I hit, okay?"
It'll be a problem if it tore through the ball-proof net with its beak and got inside to eat the launched baseballs, so Chise said that just in case.
While she doesn't think that it fully understands human language, she was still somehow able to communicate naturally with Goldburn.
Just then, Chise stopped to ponder.
It surely can't eat baseballs. However, the thought of Goldburn eating human food has never crossed her mind either.
If so, how did Kaiju sustain themselves?
Even though she became friends with Goldburn, she doesn't know much about Kaiju.
"You can actually communicate with that Kaiju."
Hearing a sudden voice from behind her, Chise turned around in surprise.
Across the safety netting and at the doorway stood a tan boy with a uniform cap over his eyes.
There stood Sizumu, a member of the Kaiju Eugenicists.
"Ah... the Kaiju Eugenicists'-"
"....I see, so it was you...."
It seemed that he had called out to Chise without knowing who she was, but when he saw Chise's face, Sizumu seemed strangely satisfied and muttered to himself. Chise, on the other hand, recognized him instantly.
Gauma was very conscious of him, so Sizumu left the second-biggest impression on Chise among the Kaiju Eugenicists.
What's more-
Chise remembered when she met him standing alone in the passageway of the Beach Land facility. Well, she only thought of him as a strange person back then.
It was at that time. It must have sensed Chise's confusion.
Goldburn, who was floating in the sky, let out a menacing roar and rushed straight toward Sizumu.
A sudden descent from initial speed to maximum speed that surpassed the laws of nature. An assault that left sound behind. No normal person could have reacted appropriately in time.
".....N-....."
-NO! GOLDBURN!-
Chise's attempt at stopping Goldburn, which she thought couldn't have possibly worked--- somehow worked.
The tip of Goldburn's beak made point contact with the ball-proof netting, which swayed lightly.
Goldburn had stopped its movement at the very last moment.
Rather than braking suddenly, it suddenly stopped like a movie where the stop button was pressed.
Unlike Chise, who was visibly unnerved by the entire ordeal, Sizumu did not even move an inch, even as the hem of his uniform fluttered from the wind pressure.
Rather, he was looking at Goldburn, who held such hostility towards him, with interest.
"That Kaiju, is certainly amazing... You can say that the Kaiju has reached its perfect form ."
"...Perfect?... Could it be, you're going to do something strange to Goldburn?"
It wasn't something that could be done simply by covering it up, but even so, Chise stood in front of Goldburn, using her child-like frame to protect it from Sizumu whilst shooting an intense glare at the boy, with her grip instinctively tightening on the metal bat that was leaning against the fare box.
"Nope. I tried to control that Kaiju before, but I couldn't."
"Huh? Control?"
Nevertheless, Chise brushed the comment aside and strengthened her resolve to protect Goldburn.
"And now I finally understand why. That Kaiju was born and raised by you..."
"Born... raised...?"
She directed her gaze to Goldburn, then pointed to herself. Am I a mommy?
Goldburn howled back, confused. It didn't think of Chise as its mother.
She then turned her attention back to Sizumu, who stared at the airborne Goldburn.
"And even now, that thing is tied to you... not only can I not control it, the monster is clearly rejecting me... for that sake?"
Sizumu quietly narrowed his eyes and smiled somewhat happily.
"The fact that the emotions of a single human being could bring such a powerful Kaiju into existence, is..."
And with that, he turned on his heel and left with his words unfinished.
Chise, who was somewhat bewildered by the boy who had muttered nothing but strange, vague remarks until the end, saw him off into the distance. He was a strange person after all.
"Well, I guess he's just at that age."
She pulled herself together and sacrificed 200-yen yet again to resume her batting ― but perhaps she was distracted, because her swings didn't hit any more balls than before.
She sighed, and looked up towards the sky. But before she knew it, Goldburn was already gone.
Part 2[]
Shortly after leaving the batting center, Chise sees something strange on the side of the road.
A yellow ball the size of a dodgeball was swinging against the block wall on the sidewalk. She knew what it wasright away.
"A Kaiju..."
Without questioning, she concludes it and gently lifts the sphere with both hands. This is not the first time she saw a Kaiju this size.
Red, green, and purple lines run across its bright yellow body. The eerie body color without a sense of unity is the same as the monsters she had seen so far.
Except for a pair of short antenna-like parts attached at the top of the head (probably?), it looks like a sphere, and if she let go of her hands, it looked like it'll roll away and go somewhere.
If it does its best, maybe this thing will transform into an Chibi (style) baby chick.
While observing its entire body changing the way it is held, she wonders if she should contact Gauma and the others.
"Chise Asukagawa"
But before she can do that, two people walk to her side.
As she turns around to her callers, she sees a young man with a silver hair, a woman with outstanding style wearing glasses, and they're both wearing business suits.
Those two are the Gridknight Alliance.
"Knight-san! Nidaime-san!"
Sensing what Knight is looking at with a stern look, Chise twitches her cheeks.
"You two went on a date at the batting center... or something like that, right?"
Nidaime smiles wryly at Chise's joke, but Knight standing next to her glares at Chise without moving an eyebrow.
"Give us that Kaiju."
He confronts her in a straightforward and cold-hearted manner.
Chise instinctively hides the spherical Kaiju behind her back as if to protect it.
"Hold it, are you trying to kill it... even though it didn't do anything yet?"
"Don't you remember... that time when Gauma's negligence caused the Kaiju to be released into the city? You're in danger too."
Back then, the Gauma Team found a small Kaiju that only makes mischievous harm and adopted it for treatment.
Gauma declared that he took care of it in the end, but the Kaiju escaped before he realized it. Not only that, it became huge and strolled around the city, and the commercial building where Yume and Chise were at was also damaged.
Knight cites that matter as well.
"I'm not really concerned about that. After all, I did befriend Goldburn, so it's probably okay."
Seeing Chise rejecting the request with a look in her eyes, Nidaime shrugs her shoulders in embarrassment.
"Chise-san, that's not the problem. Goldburn is special..."
"Don't use "specialty" as a masurement. A Kaiju is still a Kaiju. It's too much for a person to handle."
Those two who were forcing her to listen became terribly annoying.
She hates that Goldburn is thrown out of the circle as a special exception, and that all other Kaiju were lumped together.
"No one will criticize you, but it's not normal for Knight-san to be able to transform like that. Isn't he special enough?"
"Right now, my case isn't related to this."
"It does! Dynazenon, Gridknight, Goldburn and the other Kaiju... what's the difference between them?!"
Knight and Nidaime are at a loss for words for a moment in front of Chise's emotions.
Knight is hidden by his bangs, and Nidaime is covered by the light reflecting her glasses, making it impossible to see their expression.
Seeing the opening, Chise runs at full speed. In her desperation, she doesn't realize that the Kaiju she's holding in her hand unleashes Chaos Bringer/カオスブリンガー... an infinite number of particles from its vibration wave generator/振動波発生器官.
"Wait......!"
Sensing the Kaiju's ability being activated, Knight jumps and at the same time pulls out his sword from the scabbard on his waist.
Of course, with Knight's skill, it shouldn't be difficult to slash a Kaiju without hurting Chise, but----
"Wait! Knight-kun!"
Nidaime stops him and he forcefully lands in the middle of his action.
"Nidaime..."
Behind Knight, who looks slightly taken aback, Chise run without stopping.
"...you don't need to chase it. That Kaiju is weakened..."
Nidaime lowers her voice and head slightly.
"Your voice was a bit loud. Sorry."
"Not really."
After sheathing his sword, Knight looks at his left palm.
Nidaime's gaze also wandered as if it wasn't there.
Even if it's weakened now, there's no denying the possibility that it'll regain its strength at some point. There is also concern that it will run wild at the last struggle. Kaiju are creatures that you can never let your guard down on until you see them disappear.
Even though that was Nidaime's remark, Knight is not the kind to go against his own beliefs. Also while she is soft spoken, Nidaime doesn't show half-hearted feelings to a Kaiju.
Why did Nidaime abruptly stop an attempt at attacking the Kaiju, and why did Knight agreed to her?
Both of them seem puzzled by their actions.
Both show minor discomfort at the thought of acting differently from what they wanted to do.
She's curious about that too, but there's also another thing that Nidaime is curious about.
"...Chise-san..."
Because she was able to thoughtlessly connect with Goldburn, Chise has become emotionally attached to Kaiju.
She doesn't know that it won't be long now that the Kaiju she works so hard to protect is weakening.
And moreover, how sad she will be when she faces a bigger farewell that will soon to come...
Part 3[]
After returning home, Chise rushes into her room without looking away. Her room is spacious with high ceilings and windows that are almost full-length windows.
She drops the Kaiju she was holding onto the floor and quickly run to the wall. She looks out the window to see the road below just in case, and when she see that no one was there, she quickly closes the blinds.
She knew that Knight had stopped chasing her after halfway through. Although she heard Nidaime scold him, it seemed too easy for Knight to give up.
"Time to consult this matter withcaptain Gauma........"
If it's the current Gauma who acknowledges Goldburn, he's not going to neglect the Kaiju he picked up. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, she decided to go to the riverbed where he's at his bed.
Having made that decision, Chise finally releases her tension and let out a sigh of relief. She lets her hair down, takes off her clothes and throws them on the bed.
On her way to the closet to pick up her loungewear, she happens to see the Kaiju on the floor.
It's hard to tell where he Kaiju's eyes are, but she wonders if it's reckless to change clothes in front of it... she's a little concerned, but-
"!? Uh...uhhh, why is it..."
Before she knew it, the Kaiju loses all its colors and has a stone-like texture.
Chise begins to panic, but the Kaiju starts to crumble like a piece of sugar with just the slightest wind pressure. There's nothing she can do for it but to stare at the crumbling Kaiju with a sorrowful expression.
"...How can you die just from having me changing my clothes...."
Chise is doubly shocked that the Kaiju ends its life at the perfect timing.
Part 4[]
The next afternoon, Chise visits the place where she picked up the Kaiju again. Her expression isn't a good one.
Even when the dust from the weathering of her body vanished, there's no traces of the Kaiju ever existed.
Just staring at the inorganic block wall like this, it almost feels like meeting that Kaiju was just an illusion.
Chise suddenly looks behind her, as if she's guided by something.
Sizumu stood a few steps away.
"You're here again."
Unsurprised by the boy who appeared without a sound of footsteps, Chise sighs with a dubious look on her face.
"I knew it died, that Kaiju. Did you take care of it in the end?"
"I did. But by "I knew it" means... eh, could it be that you already knew that Kaiju was here?"
"Yup... but, it's a pretty weak one. That's why I left it alone."
Chise is so horrified to hear that without thinking.
The Kaiju Eugenicists had already knew about its existence, and Chise wasn't the one who happen to discover it first.
If the Kaiju was healthy, could this boy manipulate it without hesitation into running amok?
The batting center and the surrounding houses could all have been trampled.
"They're a dangerous gang who manipulate Kaiju into running rampant." ---- That's how Gauma use to describe the Kaiju Eugenicists. She now feels that it's just the right description.
Even though he's just a normal boy who doesn't feel bad when he talks...
"If you guys can control a Kaiju..... don't that make you know how to turn a Kaiju healthy as well or something?"
"Kaiju heal their wounds on their own and take their rests. If they can't do that, then their life expectancy will be over."
That doesn't sounds like an answer. It sounds like they were manipulating the Kaiju as they please, but they don't make any effort to help them during emergency cases.
"In any case, that ecology wouldn't have lasted long, but----"
Sizumu is alone, nodding repeatedly as if he's convinced by something.
"I felt that there were fewer Kaiju than I thought... but that's what it was."
"What do you mean?"
"Could it be that (yesterday's) Kaiju's presence was hindering the growth of some other Kaiju?"
"How so?"
Chise listens intently, but Sizumu stands still with a thoughtful face and isn't trying to make an eye contact.
Chise calmly and reluctantly dismisses his statement.
"If you're only trying to talk to yourself, can't you do it somewhere nobody else would hear you?"
Then Sizumu finally throws back his ball of words.
"Maybe the Kaiju you saw yesterday had the ability to erase conflicts."
"The power to erase conflict...?"
"Can't you feel it, the moment when your golden Kaiju suddenly loses its intent on hostility...... I believe that might happened because the Kaiju was here to erase any form of hostility."
He's right, it was too sudden. The reason Goldburn stopped attacking before it could hear her voice was because it was probably forced by the Kaiju's ability.
The reason Knight stopped chasing her was probably because the Kaiju she was holding with her hands did the same thing.
Conflict arises because living things clash with each other's animosity. A supernatural ability that erases the concept itself, which has no form――It was a trick that could only be done by a Kaiju.
"Then, if it's because of that Kaiju yesterday... then there's a possibility that a fight between Dynazenon and a Kaiju can be prevented from happening again?"
"If that Kaiju had matured properly, then that might have happened."
"Sorry to say this but.... that could've been a problem. For the Kaiju Eugenicists at least."
"Why? If Kaiju create a world without conflict, I think that's fine."
She can't understand. Then why are these guys..... the Kaiju Eugenicists, manipulate Kaiju to destroy the city? Aren't these guys determined to destroy the world with Kaiju no matter what?
"But...as long as something is alive, big or small conflicts will continue to arise. In order to erase all of them, it is necessary to change this world itself... but that Kaiju couldn't do it. I can only sense weak emotion from it."
"The birth of a Kaiju..... from a human heart?"
"True. It doesn't want to fight----that's why its emotion isn't strong enough."
There's no way that's true, if it eats more of naïve righteousness or so, Chise wouldn't have lived in a blessed world.
Any Kaiju that are born from the righteousness of a human heart are weak..... that's also the truth of this world.
"Can I ask you one thing too? What kind of emotions did you pour into it (Goldburn) to raise such a powerful Kaiju?"
As expected, this boy seems to be interested in Goldburn.
However, he can't explain the details to Chise in the first place.
"I don't know. It appears as soon as I just realized it, even though I don't ever remember praying for it."
"Because you're not aware of it, huh? I knew it that was the possible case."
Just when she thinks that he's going to hold back again, Sizumu easily agrees. He might have had some expectations.
"Of course, I want to know it too..... what are Kaiju anyway?"
"Kaiju are Kaiju (monsters). I can't say anything other than that."
Is their level of interpretation, even for the Kaiju Eugenicists who were always in contact with the Kaiju?
On the contrary, us (Gauma Team) try to learn more about Dynazenon by reading the instructions.
"The Kaiju are who they are because nobody can understand them. The moment their full picture is released, the Kaiju ceases to be a Kaiju. They're nothing more than animals."
"You can just end it with "I don't know", but it becomes a sort of circulation."
As expected, Chise becomes tired and expresses it bluntly, but Sizumu raises his lips slightly.
"You're kind of interesting."
"What an outdated pick-up line...."
Chise cracks a bitter smile. Is he starting to get interested with her after Goldburn? Perhaps he's also trying to be outspoken.
"Then I want to know too. We thought it wasn't necessary, so we don't have to... but you really do want to understand the Kaiju even further, right?
There is no need to listen to the opinions of those who think they don't need to know about Kaiju. It's up to them to do whatever they want.
Chise's eyes widened at an unexpected proposal.
"You should've had the curiosity too, in regards to the Kaiju."
After she shows a slightly friendly attitude like that, he thought he would ask her more about Goldburn, but Sizumu simply walks away.
To say the least, he doesn't seem to be willing to cooperate.
"That's fine by me."
Chise hunches up and smiles without thinking ahead.
In the end, neither of them know each other's names. However, she knows was she's not in a bad mood talking to that boy.
If they meet again someday, even during a walk, then maybe they'll just ramble it out without looking each other in the eye.
Or maybe they'll never meet again.
Taking one last look at the block wall where the Kaiju was laying, Chise walked her way home with light steps.
Part 5[]
Just by surfing the net for a bit, she can collect a mountain of pictures and videos of Kaiju that have appeared so far.
However, all of these are not enough for the information she actually needs.
She knew it that it's best to ask people who have direct encounters with the Kaiju.
So she goes to the house of her cousin, Koyomi Yamanaka.
In order to get along better with Goldburn, Chise asks Koyomi about the Kaiju he has fought so far.
Lying on the bed, Koyomi ponders for a long time before turning his neck.
"Sorry, but I don't remember.... could it be when all of us jumped out with our swimsuits and floats to get into the fight against those Kaiju."
"It's not like I forgotten everything, it's just that my memories of them are all mixed up."
She underestimated how small this NEET's memory is. It seems that the information that suddenly flows into the synapses have degenerated from spending too long a period of time without stimulus and became mixed up.
She knew it at this point, she needs to rely on the captain, who is the most enthusiastic and piloting the Dynazenon.
With crab-shaped sweet buns as a gift, Chise heads for the riverbed where Gauma set up his tent.
"Chise. If you really want to be a Kaiju User/怪獣使い..... then I'll train with you."
"Can you, please listen to me properly?"
Gauma, who misunderstood Chise's desire to learn about Kaiju, changed from being a captain to a master.
Although there is a bad effect of trying to teach the secret of Instance Domination, he is able to obtain information about Kaiju as far as he knew.
However, most of it seems to have been what Chise had already heard from Nidaime's explanations.
Surprisingly after that, she turns to Yume Minami, who has an abundance of memories.
She has a perfect memory of what Kaiju she had faced prior and how they were defeated by Dynazenon.... even to the point of the Kaiju's attacks and abilities.
"Minami-san, you really do have a good memory of them."
"Mmm... maybe. Come to think of it, I've always remembered things.... that people said or did to me."
For some reason, Chise can see Yomogi going through a lot of hardships in the future.
There's a mystery that concerns Yume, who remembers Kaiju in precise detail but cannot remember the name of the beam cannon mounted on the Dynawing, but it was thanks to her that Chise is able to gather a lot of information about Kaiju.
Finally, Chise catches on to Yomogi, who is on his way home from school.
"...I can quite understand that. I couldn't bear to shoot at it either...that colorful Kaiju."
He is also one who has faced Kaiju while suffering. Chise's consultation is answered empathetically.
"I can agree with Chise-chan's way of thinking. It seems that Knight-san and the others said that Goldburn is special... I think that by being "special" has a lot of definitions."
"....Isn't that right!"
"It would be nice if you could understand a lot of things. Things like Goldburn... or Kaiju... ah!"
"What is it?"
"Excuse me, someone's calling me on the phone.... Minami-san. What's up?"
Yomogi runs away while still holding the smartphone. Since it's going to be long, Chise decides to call it a day.
Yomogi's words in particular gave her encouragement, so Chise decides to return home with all the information she gathered about Kaiju.
It's not like she wants to know all about Kaiju.
Still, she's able to deepen her bond with Goldburn.
Far from being hostile, she met a benevolent Kaiju that continued to erase hostility from the world.
Even so, she didn't think of it --Kaiju No. 9/怪獣9号-- as an existence different from any Kaiju that Dynazenon fought before.
Just like when she traces her pen on her desk in the classroom with all her might.
She draws the Kaiju in a notebook that she hasn't opened in a long time, and archives the Kaiju's information into the rarely-used computer that her parents gave her.
While glaring at pictures and letters, she feels like she is able to find something like a faint rule.
Then she suddenly remembers about her opinion regarding what Kaiju live on.
A Kaiju that is said to grow from human emotions — will it move again by absorbing human emotions even after it has already grown huge?
She also understands what Knight and Nidaime have to say. They must have fought more Kaiju than the Gauma Team ever did, protected many things, and faced countless tragedies.
If their current stance on Kaiju is established at the end of that, no one will complain.
But their beliefs aren't everything in the world.
It was the little girl's best objection and resistance to face the existence of a Kaiju seriously.
The days where Chise investigate Kaiju continue, and the days when Kaiju do not appear continue.
She even thought that maybe that Kaiju really died out after wiping out all conflicts.
However, such faint hope is brittle and crumbles away.
As the boy named Sizumu said, conflict is a phenomenon that accompanies the act of living.
As long as there are living things in the world, they will continue to be born.
The fleeting peace is just the calm before the storm.
As the true battle begins — one encounter will come to an end.
Part 6[]
Chise enters the batting booth through the ball-proof net and threw two coins worth of roughly 100 yen into the rust-marked fare box.
She recently fund out how.
Instead of hitting the ball high because she lacks physical strength, it's better to set the ball at a faster speed.
She still misses a lot of balls, but the distance when hitting the bat is increasingly close.
Compromising and not striving for acceptance can go farther. She can do this to reach even farther.
When she's able to burst through like a defiant, she hit the ball as it launched higher.
She stretches to look up to the sky while holding her bat.
The golden dragon waiting for the white ball with its beak open is no longer there.
It's getting dark. Chise pulls her lips together as if this is the last time.
The bat that she swung with all her strength caught the hardball at its core as if it was attracted by magnetic force.
A pleasant sound echoes, and the white circle is sucked into the amber of the setting sun.
The circle is dyed bright yellow for a moment, and the net separating the sky and the ground vibrates.
"Ooh!"
With the bat swung all the way, Chise raises her spirits.
The cool breeze that blows in her heart seems to carry her white ball to the sky.
Gently exhaling, she removes her arm cover on her left arm and exposes it to the open air. It's been a long time since she had less time to put the cover on like she used to.
She smiles at the memories drawn on her left arm, folds her hands behind her back and looks up at the sky again.
Even if the sky is empty now, she looks at the golden sun still shining brightly in her memory.
She struggled to find out more about Kaiju... but it was only for a short time.
However, it definitely helped her to move forward after experiencing a farewell.
She feels that the days when she decided to face all those Kaiju have stretched her back a little today.
She feels like hearing a roaring growl from far away in the sky.
Will the ball she hit earlier reach that little (creature)?
"Don't eat that thing, okay!"
Chise smiles innocently and sends her reminder to the sky.