CGBTS Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – ‘Acting’ Village Chief

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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Natsuo was a man, after all. No matter what Etsuko plotted, she wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.

“You’re too naive.”

Shuu let out a sigh.

“There are countless men who want Etsuko as their wife. If Etsuko asked them to do something about you, they would gladly grant her wish.”

“Huh, ……Something like that, like in some kind of drama…….”

“That girl is capable of doing it.”

To begin with, young women were precious in Odamaki Village, and Etsuko also possessed that extraordinary beauty. Her parents had raised her as though she were the most precious thing in the world, indulging her in every way and never reprimanding her even when she behaved somewhat spoiled and insolent. The people around her had spoiled her greatly as well. As a result, she had grown into a girl who would incite the men infatuated with her and have them harass anyone she disliked.

“The thing is, over here there’s no child guidance center, no police, and no criminal law even if someone tries to do something bad, so there’s nothing to hold them back. If the people around them just brush it off, then that’s the end of it. Kazuo said he’d have his father scold her, but I doubt it’ll have any effect. Her father is the one who spoils Etsuko the most, after all.”

“…Even so, she seemed to be afraid of the village chief.”

“If her misdeeds go too far, then even a precious young woman like her will be put on trial. But when I say ‘trial,’ it isn’t anything fair like the ones in our original world. The village chief serves as both the judge and the prosecutor, and there’s no such thing as a defense attorney. In practice, the village chief simply hands down judgment according to his own discretion.”

Apparently, the relatives and other people connected to those involved are also summoned to the trial, but the village chief has no obligation to listen to what they have to say. Even if it is objectively obvious that the defendant is innocent, if the village chief declares them guilty, they will be condemned as a criminal.

“That’s scary… So nobody complains about that?”

“They don’t… No, they can’t. The village chief is Odamaki-sama’s priest. In other words, the village chief’s judgment is Odamaki-sama’s judgment. If you defy the will of the god, you can’t survive in this village. No matter how dissatisfied they are, they have no choice but to swallow their complaints.”

The damp wind blowing through the rice fields clung to Natsuo’s sweaty skin.

“Divine… will? What the hell is that? If someone opposes what the village chief says, does that mean Odamaki-sama will punish them with divine retribution or something?”

“Well, you’ll understand when you see it. ……Let’s go.”

Still holding Natsuo’s hand, Shuu pulled him along, and Natsuo began walking.

The villagers were hard at work farming in the fields again today, but unlike yesterday, they did not stare at him so blatantly and rudely. Perhaps because of yesterday’s meeting with the village chief, Natsuo had also been accepted as one of the villagers rather than an outsider, a person who had washed ashore from another world.

……So that means if I do something wrong, I’ll be judged by the village chief too.

The bizarre mask with its eyes and mouth sewn shut, and the altar bound tightly with ropes. The purple flowers that had been displayed there came to mind, and goosebumps prickled all over his skin.

“…Natsuo, what’s wrong?”

Perhaps Shuu had felt his trembling, because he intertwined their fingers. Not wanting to make him worry, Natsuo shook his head.

“Ah, no. I noticed the old men and women were putting their hands together and praying toward you, so I was wondering what that was about.”

“Probably because I’m the acting village chief. The elderly are especially devout.”

“Come to think of it, Kazuo mentioned that earlier too. But what do you mean by ‘acting’?”

“The village chief is quite old, and he lost his wife and children at an early age, so he has no successor. His legs and lower back have also grown weaker recently. So, as his deputy, I handle things like making rounds around the village and various small administrative tasks.”

Does that mean Shuu would become the next village chief? When Natsuo imagined Shuu wearing that mask and shuddered, Shuu laughed lightly.

“You don’t have to worry. I’m only acting in the position. Someone distantly related to the village chief will probably become the next village chief.”

“Then why doesn’t that distant relative serve as his deputy too?”

“The village chief dislikes dealing with people, and I’m probably more convenient and easier for him to use than some distant relative who rarely comes around. Since I’m under his guardianship, I used to be summoned to the village chief’s residence from time to time.”

Natsuo wanted to point out that, for someone who was the village chief, wasn’t it a bit odd to dislike people so much? But then again, it was somewhat difficult to imagine a sociable village chief.

Once again, Natsuo thought that Shuu was amazing. Natsuo did not even have the confidence to carry on a proper conversation with that village chief, yet Shuu had managed to build a relationship of trust strong enough to be entrusted with acting in his place. …Though, of course, that was probably partly because Shuu had wandered into the village when he was still young…

As they walked with Shuu leading him by the hand, Natsuo heard various things about the village.

The village had a small school where children from six to fifteen years old apparently studied. Shuu had attended it in the past as well. There was no distinction between elementary and middle school; instead, villagers serving as teachers taught the children reading, writing, arithmetic, and so on according to each child’s academic ability.

There were no institutions equivalent to high schools or universities in the original world. Most of the men in the village worked in agriculture, while the women married and entered domestic life by the age of sixteen at the latest, so advanced education was unnecessary. Etsuko and her younger brother Kazuo apparently attended the school as well, but eventually, they would follow the same path. There was no one in Odamaki Village who, like Natsuo, was eighteen years old and still a student.

…………Should I help out with the farm work too?

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Next update: 2026.10.18

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