reserved for sense
Night 206: an evening at an old friend’s house\
1
Inserted text: what is the current appearance of balbadd…?\
Box: port of balbadd\
Mor: i-is this really balbadd!?\
Olba: is something wrong?\
Mor: yes… the… appearance of the city is totally different than before…\
Toto: that’s quite a view.\
2-3-4
TLN: Balbadd looks like a chinese city\
5
ali: well, I wasn’t thinking that it would retain so many traces of its original form.\
mor: I wonder… why is alibaba not surprised?\
toto: in the past toto went together with her master in the kou empire.\
toto: yes, this street is just like…\
ali: there was something that worried me when I heard the rumours about the countries conquered by the kou empire. That is…\
6
ali: “the countries that become part of the kou empire…”\
ali: “are the kou empire itself”\
?: they are all wearing the same clothes, I wonder why…?\
toto: that’s looks creepy.\
7
ali: golden clothes and…\ brown clothes…\
attendant: welcome prince. or I should say ambassador…\
attendant: to think that you, the one who was banished and dethroned from this country, would walk on its soil once again…\ this is not your nation anymore. Please don’t make any unnecessary ruckus…\
ali: … I understand, I will be careful.\
attendant: well then, please wait until tomorrow in that estate.\
attendant: his excellency the general governor will be back tomorrow morning. He is really busy you see…\
toto: what!? That ren kouen was the one who called alibaba here, he is a ill-mannered ba-…!!\
ali: I understand. Then there is one thing I would like to do before that…\
attendant: ask anything you want.\
8
ali: I want to visit someone I know alone…\ could you tolerate my absence for tonight?\
attendant: I see, you want to talk with someone you know, right?\
box: former slum district\
ali: *look*\*look*\
ali: ah!\
ali: hey, you quite look like a family now!\
?: ah…? Impossible, you are…\
ali: hey,\
ali: long time no see!\
9
box: former fog troupe’s cadre\ Hassan\
both: alibaba!?\
box: former fog troupe’s cadre\ Zaynab\
10
?: dah!!\
ali: hahahahah gyahahaha, t-this guy he is not cute at all…\
ali: his face is just like his father, it’s a real pity!\
zay: alibaba!\ you appear out of the blue, and then you make fun of my husband and son’s faces, what’s wrong with you!!?\
ali: s-sorry…\ but…\
ali: what is his name?\
ha: zassan*.\
TLN: basically it is the fusion of his parent’s names…\
ali: nahahahaha\
ha: you didn’t change at all alibaba!\
ali: it’s not like that. A lot of things happened to me!\
ha: I see, that’s great! So I guess that you finally found yourself a woman! I was really worried, you were unable to find one no matter how much time passed after all…\
11
ha: eh…?\
zay: could it be… that you…\
ali: s-shut up! I’m living by following the way of the sword after all!!\
zay: geez, this guy collapsed!\
ha: humn~~\
zay: in any case alibaba, I’m so glad that you are still alive!\
zay: and I’m happy so see that you are doing great as well.\
zay: we are fine you know, the way we live now is the best!\
zay: the government gave us everything, food, clothes, an house, everything!\
ali: Really?\
12
zay: yes. His excellency the general governor is a person of great mercy.\
zay: he is way better than ahbmad.\
zay: ah… sorry…\
ali: it’s alright.\
ali: more importantly, can you ask about…\
ali: what happened after that…?\
zay: sure…\
zay: after that… what do you think that the kou empire did to us?\ after they gained complete control of the royal palace and the army, they didn’t kill anyone…\
zay: instead they repaired the streets of balbadd in such a beautiful way…\
13
zay: they didn’t make any distinction between nobility and poor people,\
zay: and took everything from everyone.\
zay: and remade everything anew.\
zay: they made the streets all the same, they supplied the water to everyone, and made everyone change clothes.\
zay: the scenery, the way of live and the laws…\
zay: became all those of the kou empire.\
zay: they changed every single thing with such a frightening speed that we didn’t even have the time to think if…\
zay: it was a good or bad change…\
ali: zaynab…\
14
zay: but you know!\
zay: if you work well and you get paid from the government, you are able to gradually become free!\ there are even people who have left the slums…\
zay: and one day I will have my own little shop as well, and be sure to make my subordinates work hard!\
zay: that’s my dream!\
ali: a dream, huh… I see!\
ha: hey alibaba~~ I’m so happy~~ you are the only one who didn’t change after all~~\
ali: hey Hassan, you will wake up zaynab and your son like this. They are sleeping now, you know?\
ha: stop talking and listen…\ about this stinking green clothes…\
15
ha: they are called “citizen clothes”.\
ha: that’s the name of these awful green things.\
ha: the law imposes that all the people of balbadd have to wear these clothes.\ and we have to bow and serve the other people which clothes are of a different colour…\
ha: they told us that we cannot wear white clothes because only those from the nobility can.\
ha: that’s something a great guy I never heard about… of the kou empire’s royal family decided ages ago.\
ha: but, you now the white was…\ the colour of the clothes made of linen wore by the sailors who went around the canals…\
ha: it was the colour of the clothes left to dry and wore by the poor people of the slums…\
ha: it is the same colour of the sand smeared clothes that we of the “fog troupe” wore…\
16
ha: wasn’t like our balbadd…\
ha: just like that…?\
ali: Hassan…\
ha: we cannot choose our work. I’m just a simple porter. They allow the people of balbadd just to do simple labour works.\
ha: we never use our heads when we have to do things.\
ha: everyone is becoming more and more stupid.\
ha: weren’t we supposed to…\ maintain our independence as balbadd and not become part of the kou empire?\ and how was our country… to begin with…?\
ha: maybe is a few dozen of years from now…\ balbadd itself…\
17
ha: will forgot that there was a country called balbadd once.\
ha: and then it will become something unfamiliar to itself…\
ha: do you think that’s a good thing?\
ha: alibaba…\
ha: is that really fine to let them make you into anything they want…\
ha: as long as you can eat… and you are allowed to live…?\
18
ali: Hassan…\
ha: zaynab always says that now we live better than before.\ but I am a man, I think things differently from her…\
ha: … did you know already about this, alibaba? You don’t seem to be too much surprised.\
ali: yeah I knew. There are institutions in the reim empire that allow the sons of wealthy people to request the teachings of intellectuals and scholars.\
ali: and I was able to slip into those lessons thanks to certain connections I have…\
ha: I see…\
ha: let’s go, alibaba.\
ali: where?\
ha: you want to talk with him, right?\
ha: let’s go to kassim’s grave.\
inserted text: what will happen in front of kassim’s grave!?\
Mangahelpers Translations