WeD - V1C04 - Tooru: Drew the Short Stick

My name is Tooru Sagaram, age 10.

In my previous life, I was Saiga Tooru. Moreover, I was the Black Demon King, ruling over the north of a very different Maydea.

So, how did a Demon King end up here?

It’s all the fault of that Hero. Because he killed us, I am reborn once more into Maydea.

Right now I am a chimney sweeper of the Harbour City Karted, in the Southern Continent. Although this is the southern part of the world, it still gets cold during winter.

Narration over, the young boy puts his tiny body to use and dove into a chimney and begin to sweep it.

Well, whatever.

I am sure you want to know why I am doing this.

I was born on the Eastern Continent, rather far away from here.

The people in the Southern Continent take their peace for granted, what they don’t know is that the Eastern Continent suffers from very real horrors of war. The Hermedes Federation from the North, [1] for some reason or other, suddenly decided to invade the Eastern Continent. My father of this world died as a soldier, doing his best to earn money to move me, his son, and my mother to the much safer Southern Continent.

However, after coming to the Southern Continent, it’s not like things miraculously became better. My mother’s body had always been weak. After being stressed by war, long travel and news of my father’s death, she broke down mentally and physically and became sick. Even now she’s lying in bed, unable to move.

The only way for me to earn money honestly was to become a chimney sweeper.

Well, I guess you can say I had become a better person?

Anyway, I learn quite fast for my age and my boss treats me pretty well. Also, I know what to say and do to please grown ups. [1] In short, I was pretty good at getting people to like me.

School?

I don’t have enough money for that. Anyway, I’m smarter than those ordinary aristocratic chuckle heads.

I’m still a kid, but my looks ain’t bad. After all, I was a Demon King and even had my own harem. I’m guaranteed to grow up to be a handsome guy with jet black hair and piercing black eyes.

Case in point, each time I approached an older sister, she would fall for my cute boy charm and ended up giving me all kinds of nice things.

Easy targets the lot of them.

[1] In short, life is pretty great.

[1] “... …”

“Of course noooooooooootttttt!”

I screamed unconsciously right in the middle of the harbour city street lined with stalls on both sides.

I can’t help but scream. This life is horrible. I can’t stand it anymore!

Isn’t my standard of living falling too rapidly?

Why am I a chimney sweep? [1] This is child labour! Child abuse!

I was the Demon King! The Demon King, you hear me?!

The legendary Demon King of the North, the most legendary and most evil Demon King!

It’s not like I’m suffering from an [2] early chuunibyou phase, I really was the Demon King!

I used to feel like my life on earth was unbearable but after running away from falling cannonballs and sneaking through destroyed towns, I’m starting to feel that life back at boring earth was much better. I could eat whatever I want and don’t have to wear rags to work

“.. haaahh…. Isn’t there a better way to make money?”

I was trudging through the street when I heard someone complaining about their stuff being stolen. I looked around and saw a rugged, pirate-ish looking man thumping towards my direction with a bag under one arm. A dandy-looking man attempted to chase him but fell pitifully to the floor and… wow, looks like he twisted his back?

“Ha haann… isn’t this a good way to get money? Should I go for it?”

I don’t know if it’s because I have lived for a long time, but my intuition is pretty good. That noble man surely has something that I need.

I spun the broom once and deftly hook the leg of the large man, causing him to lose his balance. [1] While he was off kilter from the weight of the bag and having been tripped by me, I kicked out his knee and he crashed into a stall filled with oranges.

Oops, sorry about that, pops from the orange stall.

The noble man who had hurt his back is being helped over here by his companion. There is a strangely peaceful look on that companion’s face.

“Hey, old man, is this yours?”

Fufunn, I’m a good kid after all. It’s not good to steal.

Also.

If I can get on the good side of this aristocrat I’m sure I could get something much better in return.

“Yes. Were you the one who took down this person?”

“You look like a noble. I’ll let you in on something, in this city, keep whatever you find important inside your clothes. That carefree-looking brother over there doesn’t seem to be sharp enough to handle incidents like this.”

Well, it is the truth.

Thieves instantly target fools from peaceful areas like Delia Fields. It’s easy to tell from their stupidly vacant faces.

Still, this uncle looks like a pretty good guy. This way, I’ll get him to notice me. More importantly, for me, is that this guy has the potential of becoming a money-growing tree.

“What’s your name?”

Here we go, hehe. He took the bait. But I’m a very calm man, the very epitome of cool. The bait should be set up properly and reeled in slowly.

“I’m Tooru Sagaram. If you have a chimney that needs sweeping, just call me, yeah?”

Now let’s take off.

After all, I can’t let him thank me and forget about that little chimney sweep immediately afterwards.

Now, go ahead and nurture your interest in me and come find me later.

[Gumihou: Nice, long term goal!]

[1] Filling in the ‘Unspoken’. Often, when it comes to Japanese novels, the translation might be a bit lacking since the author deliberately chooses to use less words and let the reader fill in the blanks through a preset cultural understanding.

If the missing info looks too sparse, Gumi will fill in some of the blanks. This is not to imply that the writer’s craft is lacking, but we do have a cultural gap. Gumi will try to fill in these gaps unobtrusively.

[2] ‘early’ chuunibyou: The direct meaning of chuunibyou is ‘middle school sickness’ or ‘second year middle school sickness’, the stage of life where they believe they are the special, capable of mystical powers or was the descendent or reincarnation of some fantasy figures. Japan’s middle school age is from 12-15.

Tooru’s current physical age is 10, hence ‘early chuunibyou’.