CGBTS Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – Kazuo’s Concern

Novel Title: あの夏から戻れない (Can’t Go Back to That Summer)

Author：宮緒葵 (Miyao Aoi)

Illustrator：笠井あゆみ (Kasai Ayumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 櫛原夏生 (Kushihara Natsuo -MC) & 四辻柊 (Yotsutsuji Shuu -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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For a curious boy like him, the topic of a world different from this one—the world where Shuu had grown up—seemed to be a source of great interest.

“Twenty years old? That’s already an old man. Why aren’t you allowed to drink until you’re that old?”

“Um… I guess… because alcohol can interfere with your body’s growth, and if you drink too much, you can become dependent on it…”

“If you’ve lived for twenty years, you’re already fully grown, and it’s not like you can drink enough to get addicted anyway.”

Watching Kazuo repeatedly tilt his head in puzzlement, Natsuo was once again made painfully aware that the common sense he knew from his own world simply didn’t apply in this village.

In his original world, alcohol was something that could easily be obtained as long as you had money. But in Odamaki Village, which had no choice but to rely on Odamaki-sama’s blessings, alcohol was a precious commodity. According to Shuu, any alcoholic beverages that washed up in Odamaki Village were strictly managed by the village chief and were only served during the weekly drinking parties or on special occasions. It was probably meant to maintain public order in the village. It was also possible that by monopolizing one of the few forms of entertainment available, the village chief was aiming to strengthen his authority.

Today was the first drinking party since Natsuo had wandered into the village. Frighteningly, in Odamaki Village, drinking alcohol was permitted from the age of thirteen, so there would have been no problem with Natsuo participating. But Shuu had firmly declared that it would be better for him not to go.

‘There’ll be countless people like Kasuya-san at the drinking party. If a single, unmarried wanderer like you casually shows up, they’ll keep making you drink unless you accept a marriage proposal.’

Natsuo wanted absolutely nothing to do with that either, so he saw Shuu off as he headed to the village chief’s mansion to prepare for the drinking party and decided to stay behind and watch the house.

However, Kasuya came over in Shuu’s place and repeatedly tried to persuade Natsuo to meet his niece, even just once. Natsuo somehow managed to keep refusing and eventually drove him away, but he was completely exhausted afterward and had been resting.

……If there hadn’t been a drinking party, he might still have been here.

For the villagers, who had so few forms of entertainment, the drinking party at the village chief’s mansion was the greatest pleasure they had. For Natsuo, who had never even experienced drinking alcohol, it was a pleasure he simply couldn’t understand.

“Here you go, Big Brother Natsu.”

While Natsuo was hesitating over whether he should bite into the large, glossy apple, Kazuo skillfully peeled it with the small knife fastened to his belt and cut it into pieces for him. The name ‘Kazuo’ was carved into the wooden handle.

In his original world, many schools prohibited children from using knives because they were dangerous. But here, apparently, it was perfectly normal for children to carry blades once they were around seven or eight years old. Natsuo was shocked by the culture gap when he was told that they also used them to gather nuts and berries in the mountains, or to cut open a wound when someone had been bitten by a snake.

“…Hey, Big Brother Natsu. Has my big sister been coming over here lately?”

Kazuo wiped his hands with the dishcloth Natsuo had handed him as he glanced over at him.

“Etsuko-chan? She hasn’t come by…”

In fact, even though Natsuo spent almost every day together with Shuu, he hadn’t even caught sight of her. Etsuko had made no attempt to hide her attachment to and romantic feelings for Shuu. Natsuo had secretly been nervous that she might come barging over all the time, so he felt almost caught off guard by her absence.

“I see. Then that’s good, but…”

“…Did something happen?”

“The other day, Dad asked my sister what she thought about Big Brother Kiyoshi from Kasuya-san’s place. He told her that if she didn’t give up on Big Brother Shuu already, she was going to end up an old maid.”

Being considered an old maid at fifteen was unthinkable in Natsuo’s original world, but it was normal in Odamaki Village. In fact, apparently more than half of the girls around Etsuko’s age had already left school and gotten married. It was only natural that Etsuko’s parents would be worried.

“…What did Etsuko-chan say?”

“That’s the thing… I thought for sure she’d cry and scream that she didn’t want to, but instead she said something like, ‘That might be okay, too’… Dad and Mom are happy, saying she’s finally getting married, but… I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about it…”

Natsuo didn’t need to hear the reason for that bad feeling to understand it.

―――“……I’ll take my leave for today, then, Big Brother Shuu. But I absolutely will not give up.”

When Etsuko had declared that, she hadn’t looked like an innocent young girl, but like a woman obsessively in love. Even when Shuu had warned her not to make a move on Natsuo, she certainly hadn’t looked as though she was convinced. And yet, being told that she had suddenly accepted marrying another man was something Natsuo simply couldn’t believe.

“Could it be that you’ve been coming over every day because you were worried about me…?”

“That’s part of it, but… more than half the reason is because I want to see Big Brother Natsu. Your stories are really interesting.”

Kazuo grinned broadly as he drained his mug of barley tea, his large eyes shining with anticipation.

“Tell me what happened next in that story about the pirate king you told me yesterday. I was so curious about what happened next that I could hardly sleep.”

In Odamaki Village, there were picture books and textbooks for children, but there were no manga, novels, or anything of the sort that adults could enjoy. Shuu had said it was probably to prevent people from acquiring unnecessary knowledge.

So when Natsuo told Kazuo the story of a hugely popular manga from his original world, Kazuo was delighted and began coming over every day under the pretext of bringing him a share of their crops. Thanks to that, they had become quite comfortable with each other, so Natsuo had to give all the credit to that hugely popular manga.

“Sure. Um, where did I leave off yesterday?”

“At the part where the protagonist stormed into the bad guys’ hideout!”

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*Translator’s Note: Come on… We all know we never waited until 20 to actually drink any hahaha. -K

Next update: 2026.10.27

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