--MANGA TRANSLATIONS--
--TRIGUN MAXIMUM WOLFWOOD SPINOFF--
--"Freed Bird" Part 1--
Printed in Young King Ours, September
1999 (reprinted in May Special 2001)
Translation by sumire
Page 144
A hawklike bird in the sky.
Wolfwood sits in the back of a truck, carving a bird out of wood.
- Wolfwood (thinks): Mankind...
- ...looks up at "them" from the earth
and voices admiration.
But perhaps "they" look back down at us and call us fools.
On this earth, with its rocky nooks where one can shelter one's body, without the pain of endlessly beating one's wings...Page 145
Driver: We're here.
- Wolfwood: Thanks, mister.
- Here... Take this.
- Driver: Hey, this is a nice piece of work.
- Thanks. Now, about the money...
Wolfwood double-takes.
Wolfwood walks up the hill. A group of men draw guns as he approaches.
Page 146
- Wolfwood: What's this?
- For a welcome party, it sure reeks of gunpowder.
- Henchman: There's nothing this way except an old run-down mansion.
- The hotel and saloon are in the opposite direction.
Go on, scram.Wolfwood: What if I said I had business at the mansion?
They point their guns at his head.
- Henchman: Listen, stranger.
- We've got other ways of settling this besides talking.
Mayleen: Are you... the minister?
Page 147
A young woman approaches them.
- Mayleen: I thought so... With that big cross...
- I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm Mayleen.
Henchman: A minister!?
- Wolfwood: Huh?
- Yeah...
Henchman: Mayleen, if you let a man into your house like this, the boss will...
- Mayleen: What are you talking about!
- I haven't given him my answer yet!
Mayleen: I want to give my father a funeral service.
Mayleen leads Wolfwood away.
- Henchman: So you hired some scruffy traveling minister!?
- The boss could arrange a better service for you!
Page 148
Henchman (calls after them): You better know what you're doing!
At the mansion. Mayleen makes tea for Wolfwood.
Mayleen: I'm sorry... They upset you, didn't they.
Wolfwood: It's nothing...
Mayleen: Orekano... He's the only son of the richest man in town. Those were his men.
- Mayleen: .....
- I don't know what they were doing hanging around again...
Page 149
Mayleen: It's like they're watching me...
- Mayleen: I lived here alone with Grandpa--it's his funeral you'll be performing.
- It's because he owned a Plant--a small one--that we were able to live like this.
But once, the Plant nearly "died"...
and we borrowed a lot of money from his family to pay for the Plant's "adjustment."Wolfwood: Then you mean...
- Mayleen: Oh, that's not it at all.
- The "price" of just one girl wouldn't even begin to cover the amount.
Orekano...Page 150
- Mayleen: ...He's saying he wants me to turn over the deed to the Plant that Grandpa left me. Or else,
- just keep the deed and marry him.
Wolfwood: ...Well, congratulations.
Mayleen looks out the window at a circling hawk.
Page 151
- Mayleen: ...I... was an orphan.
- ...All my life...
...I've depended on the charity of others.
- Mayleen: Reverend...
- When you live your life deciding your own future,
what does the world look like?Page 152
Wolfwood: Give it up.
- Wolfwood: ...Take a good look.
- That bird...
He's ragged and worn.
- Wolfwood: What he must long for most--from the bottom of his heart--
- is a place where he can rest in security...
food enough to fill him...
a quiet, peaceful life.
- Wolfwood: If the cage is splendid enough,
- how is that any different?
Page 153
That evening. Wolfwood sits alone in a saloon.
- Wolfwood: .....
- She doesn't remember, does she...
Page 154
- Wolfwood: I don't even know why I remember.
- It must have been some 18 years ago...
Flashback to Wolfwood's childhood.
- Matron: See?
- She stops crying when Nicholas holds her.
Young Wolfwood scowls at the baby in his arms.
Young Wolfwood: Come on, give me a break...
- Matron: Would you look after her, Nicholas?
- I'll take your name off kitchen duty, all right?
Page 155
- Wolfwood (thinks): I know the matron was busy...
- But that doesn't change the fact that it was hard work.
Young Wolfwood pushes a baby carriage past the other children.
- Young Wolfwood: Hey, aren't I an orphan too?
- Isn't this exploitation?
We see him taking care of baby Mayleen, feeding her and changing her diapers.
With the baby sleeping beside him, he gazes up at a hawk.
Page 156
Young Wolfwood carves a bird and gives it to her. She tries to eat it.
- Wolfwood (thinks): We went on like that for just over a year.
- She was pretty, so I always figured someone would take her eventually.
A well-to-do couple comes to adopt Mayleen.
Page 157
- Man: So you're young Nicholas?
- Don't worry.
We'll make sure she has a happy life.As they take her away, Mayleen cries and reaches out towards Wolfwood with his wooden bird clutched in her hand.
End flashback.
Page 158
Orekano bursts into the saloon.
- Orekano: Where is he!?
- Where's the minister!
Everyone turns.
- Orekano: Perhaps you've already heard of me?
- My name is Orekano.
I'd like to thank you for what you've done for her.
Get up!To be continued next issue...