Media

Part 2, Episode 1: Hazard Tree (Tree?)


Translated by Arctic Passerine

Scene: The amphitheater in Muusa.

Judge
W-What are you doing, Little Tsubomi!?

Mio
No! That isn't Little Tsubomi! Shiburin! Shimamu!

Rin
Yeah! That... must be!

Three
"Little Ueki"!?!?

A brief recap.

Rin
Uzuki, Mio, and myself, Rin. The three of us are the guild New Generations.

Uzuki
We'd been living as adventurers, but one day, we learned about these people called idols... And then, we decided that we wanted to be idols, too!

Mio
Everyone from the Gourmet Palace guild, along with that green ugl... I mean, Pinya Colata, worked together with us. We decided we were going to participate in the New Idol Audition Exhibition!

Rin
We took lessons and gave surprise concerts. The time we spent on becoming idols was difficult... But it was more fun than I'd expected.

Uzuki
But... Becoming idols was just as easy to do as it was to say. We thought there was something strange about it... As we thought, we felt like we were finding more and more things that were off.

Mio
And then, at the audition, there was the moment when we sang a song we shouldn't have known.

Rin
Those faint doubts were becoming more and more certain.

Uzuki
We really had forgotten something important, somehow...!

Back at the auditorium.

Three
"Little Ueki"!?!?

Uzuki
Waaah!?

Kyaru
Cough, cough! What is this, a smokescreen!?

Pecorine
Achoo! That's not it, Kyaru!

Mio
Achoo! I can't stop sneezing...!

Rin
This... Is this pollen?

Uzuki
Even when I cover my mouth with a cloth, it's still coming through... Achoo!

Uzuki
... Huh? The spot where Little Ueki had been facing us before... There's something weird... The environment looks different...?

Uzuki
... Hyaa!?

Kokkoro
Lady Uzuki, be careful! There's something there, in the direction of this pollen cloud...!

Kyaru
Achoo! What is it now!?

???
Rustle... rustle...

Mio
Is that... a giant plant bulb!?

Rin
And not just one, but a lot of them...

New Idol 1
W-What's going on with them!?

New Idol 2
Kyaaa!? Don't touch me -- someone, help!

Pecorine
I can hear screaming from all over! Achoo!

Uzuki
The townspeople are being attacked, aren't they!? But... Achoo!

Mio
I can hardly see anything with all this pollen... I can't tell who's under attack!

Rin
They're weak individually, but... Achoo! Everyone's going to be in danger at this rate!

Kyaru
Achoo! Ugh! If that's how it is... I'll use my most powerful magic to blow away this pollen, and Little Ueki too!

Kyaru
Pecorine, Koro! Until I'm done reciting the spell, protect me!

Pecorine
Yes, Kya... Achoo!

Kokkoro
Lady Kyaru? Where are you, Lady Kyaru?

???
Rustle, rustle, rustle...!

Kyaru
Huh? ... Kyaaaaa!

Pecorine
Kyaru!? Kya-choo!

Later.

Rin
We were in the middle of a dense fog of pollen...

Kokkoro
We fought hard to allow the townspeople to escape.

Uzuki
But we couldn't find Kyaru anywhere...

Scene: The town square in Muusa.

Pecorine
We should be safe from this far away...

Girl
A-Anyone! Has anyone seen my partner!?

Judge
Those bulbs...! They've abducted all of the budding idols! What's the meaning of this!?

Mio
It looks like Kyaru-kyaru isn't the only one who's gone missing!

Kokkoro
I have heard that those bulb-shaped monsters were seen capturing people and carrying them into the interior of the now-giant "Little Tsubomi."

Uzuki
No way! Then... Has Kyaru also been captured by Little Ueki!?

Kokkoro
"Little Ueki"...

Pecorine
Um... I'm a little curious. Why did all of you know the name of that monster?

Mio
Well... I don't really know -- it was like the words came out on their own. Shiburin and Shimamu also called it that, I think.

Rin
I did, too. I feel like there's something so familiar about it...

Rin
Hmm... I feel like I just need a little more to jog my memory. If we get the chance...

Uzuki
U-Um...! I accidentally caught a glimpse of something earlier. That might end up being the chance we need...

Pecorine
What did you see, Uzuki?

Uzuki
I don't know if you'll believe this. But under that cloud of pollen... Below the base where Little Ueki was growing, I saw scenery from a different world from this one.

Uzuki
I only had a glimpse, but I thought it looked really, really familiar.

Uzuki
As a result... I had this thought. We might have forgotten about it now, but that place could be... the world that we came from originally.

Rin
A different world...

Mio
Our original world...

Pecorine
That would be a surprise, if true!

Pecorine
... Now that you mention it... Haven't we also met people who came from different worlds before? Kokkoro.

Kokkoro
Hm... Indeed, something like that has happened. Which means...

Kokkoro
Members of New Generations. It is only speculation, but I think the chance of this being true is not low.

Mio
Why do you think so? Korokoro.

Kokkoro
According to the old woman who was serving as the judge, "Little Tsubomi" had been watching over this town since very long ago.

Rin
She did say that. That old woman...

Kokkoro
There must have been some reason why Little Tsubomi grew so rapidly into Little Ueki.

Kokkoro
And I dare say, the reason was... because it heard the three of you singing, I think.

Mio
Ehhhh? Does that mean it's our fault!?

Rin
No, that's not what she means. Little Ueki came from the same world that we did, which is why it reacted to us... I think that's what she's saying.

Mio
Oh, I see! Sorry, Korokoro!

Kokkoro
No, no need. I should apologize myself for speculating.

Uzuki
Umm... I still can't remember much. Was our world one where such weird plants grew?

Kokkoro
I wonder... I think Little Ueki may also have morphed from its original form.

Kokkoro
Just as the three of you came here and forgot about your original selves, as well...

Mio
Our original selves...

Rin
It's true, I'm not sure when in the past we gained the skills to live as adventurers.

Pinya Colata
Pinya! Pinyanya!

Pecorine
Ah, Pinya Colata! So you were all right!

Pinya Colata
Pinya, piinya!

Uzuki
Huh? What're they saying...?

Yuuki
1. "It seems like they've also been altered from their original form."

Mio
Huh, are they like a shapeshifter!?

Rin
So Pinya Colata was a shapeshifter all along...

Pinya Colata
Pi!? Pinya, nyaa pinya!

Mio
Ha ha, sorry, sorry! We were only joking!

Rin
It might be that Pinya Colata came from the same world that we did. ... I do feel like I have an impression of them from somewhere.

Uzuki
Yes, that must be it!

Pinya Colata
Pinya, piinya!

Pecorine
Okay, now that we've verified that Pinya Colata is all right... We've got to go rescue Kyaru from her captivity inside of Little Ueki.

Mio
Not to mention those new idol girls! I don't fully understand the situation, but we can't just leave them there!

Kokkoro
Yes, indeed. However...

Uzuki
However?

Kokkoro
Why would Little Ueki... have abducted all of these people...?

Scene: Inside of Little Ueki.

Kyaru
... Oh, oh... Ooh...

Kyaru
Ugh... My head hurts... Huh?

Kyaru
... Did I pass out? Like, where is this? It's pitch black, and I can't see a thing...

Kyaru
Heeey! Yuuki! Koro! Pecorine! Rin, Mio, Uzuki!

Kyaru
... There's not here, huh. Ugh... My head is still spinning...

Kyaru
I must have breathed in too much of that pollen... Before I pass out again, I've got to find an exit...

Kyaru
First off, let's use some night vision magic. ... Seriously, where is this?

Kyaru
Huh?

Singing Voice
Laaaaa...

Kyaru
Singing...? It's coming from over here...

New Idol 1
I've got to practice more... I've got to do better!

New Idol 2
Yeah! To send Little Ueki back to his original world!

Kyaru
Ack... What are those two up to!? They're talking nonsense -- there's something wrong in the head with them!

Kyaru
I've gotta get away quickly! ... Huh?

Kyaru
... Achoo!

Kyaru
Hey! This is the pollen from before...!

Kyaru
Ahh... I'm getting dizzy...

Little Bulb
Rustle... rustle...