Clockwork 5

*For use by 13th Hour Translations

p2:
Red text: Here stand two warriors who have inherited the will of the end of the Edo era
[title]: Shot: 05 – Reward for Dedication / Reward of Dedication

p3:
<blank>

p4:
box: What is reflected in these children’s eyes?

Girl: …Onii-chan, it’s cold.
Boy: Then c’mon, get closer to the fire.

Girl: … Wah! Onii-chan, it’s a full moon tonight!
Boy: Huh? But… / Something’s covering up the moon…

p5:
(?): It got eaten up.

--Meanwhile, in Ginza—

(?): Saigou Takamori, I don’t need a pillow. / Of course you don’t; you don’t even have a neck…. huh? / <aside: Wahahaha! >
(?): You bastard! / What time do you think it is?!

p6:
Policeman: You’re pissing everyone off, singing in such a high voice so late at night.

(?): You’re so full of yourself, just ‘cause you’re a cop. / You’re all just pretending to be loyalists.

Policeman: Wha—what was that, you punk?!

(?): Wait—what was that? / It… It can’t be…
Policeman: Huh? What are you so worked up about?

Policeman: You tryin’ to trick me or something?
(?): Just shut up and look!
Policeman: At what?
(?): Do it already!

Policeman: What—

Policeman: …..! / Wait—is that…

p7:
<no text>

p8:
Policeman: Gyahhhhhhhhhh!

Cloak: At any rate, / it’s hard to believe the military has to rent space from the Academy.
Fujiwara: Well, it’s because the Aquatic Department is mostly concerned with surveying and investigation. / It makes good cover for the Fifth Division. / That reminds me, Cloak—as Katsu Kaishuu’s son, you must know Sakamoto Ryouma, right?

p9:
Cloak: Do I know him? / I played with him ever since I was little, and he saw me off when I left for America…

Cloak: Do you know Ryouma-san, Fujiwara-san?

Fujiwara: Ah, yeah… way back when.

Cloak: Ryouma-san was assassinated the year I left for America. / He told me to come back after learning about <Freedom>…

Ryouma-nii….

p10:
Cloak: Uh…. / Uu

Cloak: Uuh…..

Cloak: Uh… / Uh

Ryouma: Cloak, / you cryin’ again?

p11:

Cloak: … Of course not.

Ryouma: ….. / Did some mean guy say something to you?

Ryouma: That your father loves the West more than his own country? / Or that I’m just running away to America?

Ryouma: Let them say what they will. / There’s no one else in this country with as much vision as Katsu-sensei. / Sending you to America is also preparing for things ten years down the road.

Cloak: Ten years?

p12:
(Ryouma: Funi
Cloak: Gobuah! )

Cloak: What… What was that for, Ryou—

Ryouma: However, / if you don’t get stronger, you’ll never be able to accomplish anything.

Cloak: … But I… / I’m so weak, and I have no physical strength at all…

Ryouma: Cloak, if you aren’t strong, you can’t be kind, / nor can you protect what’s important.
Cloak: Ryo… / You’re hurting me…

p13:
Ryouma: Someday, you’ll find them. / You’ll find something you’re really good at, and something to protect.

Ryouma: Grow strong, / Cloak.

p14:
---Strong, / like Ryouma-nii……!

p15:
Cloak: --But there was no <freedom> in America… However,

Cloak: If there is none, we can create it. / If we’ve lost it, we can find it. / And if its light ever starts to die,

Cloak: We can protect it.

p16:
Fujiwara: … You sound so young. / I wonder what Ryouma would think if he could hear you now.

Cloak: If Ryouma were alive, he’d say exactly the same thing.

Fujiwara: “If he were alive”, / you say.

Cloak: Fujiwara-san, why did you join the Fifth Division?
Fujiwara: Well, I don’t have any lofty ideals like you, but… / At any rate, here we are: the Fifth Division.

Cloak: Here? But isn’t this just a storage room, or something?

Fujiwara: Well, why don’t you just see for yourself?

p17:
Fujiwara: … Not her again.
Cloak: Her? / It looks like someone’s still around, even though it’s so late…

Fujiwara: Her name’s Kawana. She’s got a couple of screws loose. / … This way.

Cloak: So there’s a person even you can’t deal with, Fujiwara-san.
Fujiwara: Kawana isn’t a person–she’s a loon.

Cloak: <aside: Below the academy…?
SFX above Fujiwara’s head: Dejected
Fujiwara: … I was right.

p18:
Cloak: …. A loon?

Cloak: A giant tank of water?

p19:
Kawana: Shunsei-san, get down! Get down!

Cloak: Huh?! / You’re…
(?): Gueh…

Kawana: Ohhhhhh!

Cloak: What do you mean, “Oh”?! What the hell’s wrong with you?! / <aside: Are you trying to kill me?! >

Kawana: It’s just, I heard the order had come in, and I just couldn’t sit still! / <aside, top> : The newest sea mine… / <aside, bottom>: Pahhh

Kawana: Such good German design~

Kawana: <aside: Teeheehee> The tank is great, too~
Cloak: <aside: Err> Um…
Kawana: Oh, where are my manners?

p20:
Kawana: I’m First Engineer Kawana Mio, and I’m in charge of the Fifth Division’s machines!

Kawana: You must be Lieutenant Katsu Cloak. It’s nice to meet you!
Fujiwara: That’s enough—go put some clothes on!

Kawana: …..Cl-what?
Fujiwara: Clothes, I said. Clothes!
Kawana: Aw, quit it! So what brings you here?
Mizuhara: Excuse me / Uhyahhhhhhhh!)

Mizuhara: … What’s going on / over there?
(off to the left: Ahh!)

p21:
Mizuhara: It seems most people are all gathered up in town for some sort of festival. / And yet here we’ve all gathered.

[sign]: This is the Meeting Room

Mizuhara: Well, that saves me the trouble of gathering you all.

Mizuhara: A corpse was discovered skewered atop the clock tower in Ginza.

p22:
Cloak: …Skewered?

Mizuhara: The corpse is a soldier from the Army. We suspect it was Nakanuki. / It happened shortly after you left.

Cloak: For now, I’m going to go confirm the scene.

Mizuhara: Ah, Cloak-kun…

Cloak: Hey—Fujiwara-san, what the—
Fujiwara: Dammit.

Fujiwara: Wear that when you go, newbie.

p23:
Fujiwara: That’s Nakanuki, all right… No one else has that rat-face.

Fujiwara: It’s probably a punishment from the Maison company for what he told us.
Cloak: Would they do something this overt? / Hm…..?

p24:
Policeman: This situation is under police jurisdiction! / No outsiders are to be let in!
Army officer: The victim was one of ours!

Cloak(?): It’s the man from the red-light district…

Cloak: He seems really built. / And that’s….

Cloak: And that’s the policeman who tried to kidnap Isadora yesterday…
Fujiwara: <aside: Ahh.> / That’s Fujita Gorou—he used to be Saitou Hajime, the captain of the Shinsengumi’s Third Squad.

Fujiwara: Right now, they’re no better men… / than those Satsuma henchmen you defeated.

(?): Well, look at this. I never imagined you guys were that close.

p25:
Ryouma: How are your injuries?

Ryouma: You’re like four peas in a pod. / Looks like you’ve gone and gotten your good arm all broken. / You must have gotten your clocks cleaned.
(?): It’s the difference in guns. That man’s weapon is the legendary gunsmith’s…
Ryouma: And here I thought there was no one who could use that gun!

p26:
(?): … So why are you here?

Ryouma: I thought Margaret was supposed to be here.
(?): How many times do I have to tell you—don’t call her by her first name. She’s Miss Mason to you!

Ryouma: Even if you say that, / she told me to call her Margaret herself, so… / At any rate, if she’s not here, there’s no point in me being here.

(?): That guy’s too familiar with her.

(?): He’s been that way since the day I met him.

(?): So, you have a reference from Glover?

p27:
Ryouma: Yes, sir; I’ve made some good deals with Glover-san.

(?): Hm….. Hmm?

(?): Ooh, careful! What do we have here? / How’d this get in here?

p28:
Girl: … A dragonfly!

(?): Oh? You know, the characters in my name (龍馬) mean “dragon” and “horse”. / That makes me and it practically brothers!

(?): …He curried favor from the master, and started working on his own initiative. In no time at all he was making deals on his own… / And that disgusting blond monkey became his business partner… / He’s good at seduction—I’ll give him that.

p29:
(?): And he’s got good instincts.

Ryouma: Oh, Ton-chan! / Did you meet up with Jime-kun? How’s Dora-chan doing?

Ton: … I encountered Saitou. Cloak took Isadora away. / Now the Navy knows all about the Mason Company.

Ryouma: Which means that Cloak will be drawn to Souchin. / That’ll be a tough one…

p30:
Ryouma: I’m having Saitou stay on as a policeman. / He’s used to that sort of thing.
Ton: I’ll trust your judgment on that.
Ryouma: So what of Margaret? She must be planning something.

Ryouma: American women are strong-willed as all hell. / She must want to show her hand soon.

Ton: Don’t let it bother you. She’ll just let you do what you want in the end, anyways.
Ryouma: You mean she’ll let me go free?
Ton: Something like that.
Ryouma: I get it…. Well, that’s good enough.

Ryouma: …However.

Ryouma: I will stop you, Ton-chan.

p31:
Kawana: The meeting at Kajibashi is beginning!

Cloak: Kajibashi?

Fujiwara(?): We’re listening in on the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s investigation meeting.
Cloak: … So what’s the machine?

Kawana: Ah! / This is a telephone machine invented in America just last year! It’s really amazing! / You see, it uses an apparatus to change the sound of a person’s voice into an electrical current and then transmits that voice along an endless network wires strung throughout the entire city and then allows someone far away to hear exactly what you said, / and of course the police have one, and the Army and Navy managed to secretly get one installed at their main office…

<asides: I can’t understand a single thing that genius says. / Huh? Yeah. >
Meeting: The victim was Nakanuki Chuujirou, age 42. Until last month, he was involved in the army’s acquisition of weapons.
Mizuhara: It’s starting!

p32:
Meeting: A merchant has many sources of discord, such as bribery and black market deals, which may have led to someone holding a grudge. / There are several rumors flying around about his little demons.

Meeting: He died of a gunshot wound to the chest. / The round was fired at close range, and by a large-caliber weapon. / He was placed atop the clock tower post-mortem, / and was discovered having been speared by the tower’s spire all the way from his back to his stomach.

Meeting: The initial discovery was made by a couple of drunk houseboys and a policeman who had gone to speak with them. / At the same time as the incident, wasn’t it reported that, in the sky above Ginza, the moon was covered by something? / That is nothing more than the nonsense of a few children living in Kawara. / We have yet to find any suspects. On the whole, it seems like a dangerous case, done strictly to draw attention, almost like one out of a story.

Mizuhara: Looks like the police know no more than we do.

Cloak: So how did they get the corpse up that high…? / And why place him in such an obvious location? / … And there were no witnesses…

Kanawa: But you know, what if I told you that, in Kawara where that strange event was witnessed, a small fire just broke out?

p33:
Fujiwara: How is this a “small” fire? / <aside: The whole place is burned down…

Cloak: This smell…
Fujiwara: … You, go over and see if those kids know anything.
Cloak: Huh?

Cloak: You’re closer to them.
Fujiwara: No, no, no, no! And besides, we’re too old to settle things based on who’s closer! / So, let’s have a match to settle this!
Cloak: What?!

p34:
Cloak(?): Even if you say bugs ate the moon, well…
Cloak: <aside: I can’t understand anything kids say! And he’s like a kid, too… >

Boy: It’s not like you’d believe us, anyways! No matter how many times my sister spoke to that policeman, he never actually listened to a word she said!
Cloak: I was listening. And you said the bugs would be back, right?

Cloak: And besides, I’m not a policeman—I’m from the Navy.
Boy: Everyone who wears a uniform is the same! / You all smell like roses and act all high-and-mighty.

Fujiwara: Onii-san’s not high-and-mighty at all~!
Boy: Who the hell are you?

Fujiwara: What was that, punk?!
Cloak: <aside: You’re like a little kid… >
Isadora: Look’s like they can’t stand you at all.

p35:
Cloak: Isadora?! / Why are you here?!

Isadora: All I had to do was watch the Naval Academy, and I knew exactly what was going on. / So what were the bugs that ate the moon like?

Isadora: See, Onee-chan really wants to kill those bugs.

Girl: Really?! / You’ll really get rid of them?

Isadora: Just leave it to me! Onee-san’s really strong, you know!
Girl: Well, the ones that ate the moon were black and round.

p36:
Isadora: So they came before, right?
Girl: Yeah… We thought they were in the sky, so we tried to burn them all. / Those ones were square.

Fujiwara: ….Blimps?... / They were developed for military use, but they should still all be on the ground.

Isadora: Thank you.
Fujiwara: So why are you here, anyways?

Isadora: Hey, they were asking me for help, not you!
Cloak(?): <aside: What do you mean, “not us”?! > / … This is our job!
Isadora: Don’t worry; if it gets dangerous, I’ll protect you.
Cloak: <aside: What?!>
Fujiwara: OK, OK, I get it—wait, what did you just say?!

Isadora: I said, I’ll protect you.

(?): <aside: Umm… >

p37:
Cloak: So, what’s a blimp? Is it some sort of weapon?

Isadora: … You came all the way here, and you don’t even know what a blimp is?
Cloak: … What’s the big deal?

Fujiwara: <aside: OK, OK, stop flirting, you two. > / It’s a vehicle that takes a large balloon and fills it with hot air so that it can fly.

Fujiwara: Right before the end of the Satsuma Rebellion, when Kumamoto Castle was surrounded by Satsuma forces, the military began planning the creation of a blimp squadron in order to deliver supplies. / The job was handed to the Navy’s R&D department, and they managed to successfully produce a fleet. / However, just before the blimps could be delivered to the Army, the war ended, and there was never a chance to use them.
Cloak: And now someone’s taken them.

p38:
Isadora: But why would anyone want them?

Cloak: The culprit probably had some grudge against the arms acquirer. / Since the weapon wasn’t adopted, I mean.

Cloak: So that’s why he speared the corpse…

Cloak: A freight car…

Cloak: Isadora, get down!
Isadora: Huh?
Cloak: Someone just cocked their gun!

p39:
Fujiwara: Thought so.

Fujiwara: It is the Mason Company that’s trying to sell them.

Fujiwara: It’s a M1865 Spencer repeating carbine. It can fire seven rounds… / Lincoln personally caused the weapon to be widely used in the American Civil War. Pretty cool, huh?

Cloak: Maybe I could appreciate it better if there wasn’t one pointing right at me!
Fujiwara: Though compared to blimps, well…

p40:
(woman): Ah, so you know about the blimps. / Now those were amazing weapons.

(woman): It was quite efficient for putting that traitor on display, / and it’s also useful for cleaning up loose ends.

(woman): And yet, the Army refused to adopt such a useful device, just because the war ended. / But if that’s the problem, all I have to do is start a war back up, right?
Isadora: I’ll make you pay for that…

(Woman): Watch the way you speak to me, Isadora. / Not that you’ll be able to talk when I’m done with you.

Cloak: I won’t let you do that!

(Woman): You lot can’t lay a finger on me. / That’s what I got in return for helping the country’s Westernization.

Cloak: What?!
Fujiwara: Look there!

p41:
(Woman): We brought you this piece of culture, too! / So keep taking more and more culture!

Isadora: I won’t let you get away!

Cloak: Isadora?!

Cloak: You idiot! What do you think you’re doing?!

p42:
Butler: The goods we spoke of are waiting for you in Shiodome.

(Woman): Well done. / I’m looking forward to them.

Fujiwara: There’s a horse hitched up over there. / We’re borrowing it!
Cloak: Yes!

Cloak: You’re…

p43:
Hajime: To think you’re Katsu Kaishuu’s son.

Hajime: Looks like the situation with the foreigner has gotten complicated.
Fujiwara: What brings the police to Navy grounds?

Fujiwara: I thought I heard gunfire. Who—

Hajime: Hm?

Fujiwara: Cloak, you go after the train car. / I’ll take care of him.

p44:
Cloak: Yes, sir!

Hajime: Wait! I’m not through talking with you!

Fujiwara: Hajime, you’re mine.

Hajime: That voice…

Hajime: It can’t be… Are you…

Hajime: Souji?!

p45:
Fujiwara: Even you’re using a gun now, Hajime? / Did Hijikata-san give that one to you?

Hajime: ….Dammit. / I’m sick of everyone talking about a “new era”.

Fujiwara: So, I take it you’re finally over your sickness?
Hajime: Thanks to you.
Fujiwara: Well then.

p46:
Hajime: Then let’s settle this with these!

Fujiwara: Fine by me.

p47:
Fujiwara: I’m good either way!

Fujiwara: Looks like swords suit the two of us better.

p48:
Fujiwara: It’s been a while since the last time I did this, but this isn’t bad. / This isn’t the time to fool around, but I can’t deny the temptation.

Hajime(?): I’ve already spoken plenty with the Vice Captain, / but there’s plenty I want to ask you, too. / But first,

Hajime: Let’s let our swords do the talking!

Fujiwara: Sounds perfect.

Hajime: Why won’t you side with the Vice-Captain?
Fujiwara: If I were, we wouldn’t be able to fight. / The reason I’m with the Navy—

p49:
Fujiwara: is because I want to fight against the strongest!

Fujiwara: Cloak… Shame I won’t be able to fight you.