The Great Proposal Plot in Syrup Village

The man who moved to Syrup village aiming for Kaya

When you go to the mansion, the one to receive you is a butler with an appearance reminiscent of a sheep. And to this butler, called Merry, a man asked for permission to court Kaya-ojou-sama with the hopes of marrying her.

"I would like to meet with Kaya-ojou-sama…" the man continued.

However, Merry replied, "My apologies, but Ojou-sama is quite busy with her studies, so I'm afraid you can't meet with her."

Seeing as that was the expected answer, the man wasn't shocked.

"If that's the case, then might you give this to her for me? It's a present from me." The man offered a wrapped item.

"And this is…?"

With his hands full of the wrapped item, Merry gave it a suspicious look.

"A medical book," the man said. "It's a fairly famous book, so I don't know if she already has the same book, but this book is rather highly valued academically."

"A medical book…"

Since he now knew the contents of the gift, the suspicious look disappeared from Merry's face, becoming an expression of interest instead.

"If that's settled, I'll try calling again another day."

Having said that, the man bowed and left the entrance hall.

o-o-o

After the young man left, Merry stood in the entrance hall for a while.

What a strange young man, he thought to himself.

He was a tall young man with chestnut brown hair that was longer than normally acceptable.

Unlike the men who normally came to court Kaya-ojou-sama who had to be convinced to not return anytime soon with many glares, the young man from just now had quickly taken his defeat and retreated.

And the gift he was entrusted with, instead of the usual flower bouquet or piece of jewelry, it was a medical book.

As he was thinking about this, he heard Kaya call out, "What's wrong, Merry?"

"Ah, Ojou-sama, you see, there was a man who showed up for you like in that example, but…"

After handing the medical book over to the butler and leaving the mansion, the man took a walk through the village.

Just looking at the peaceful countryside calmed the heart. Walking on the banks of the river, he could view pastures and hear the unconcerned voices of workers in the fields.

Breathing in the scent of sunbaked earth seemed good for the body and heart.

Just as he passed a small forest, three boys came out of that forest.

The butler of the mansion he'd left was like a sheep, but these three had figures he wanted to compare to vegetables. So in his mind he arbitrarily nicknamed them Tamanegi, Piiman, and Ninjin.

"Hello" he greeted them, and they returned the greeting.

"Hey mister, you're not from this village," said Piiman.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then did you come to Syrup Village for something?" asked Ninjin.

"I did. You know about Kaya-san who lives in the big mansion up that way, right? I came to court her."

"To court Kaya-san?" Tamanegi said in a raised voice.

"Yes, but it's such a shame I couldn't meet her."

"Well of course you couldn't! Right now, Kaya-san is in the middle of fiercely studying so she can become a doctor," said Piiman.

"That's what I heard."

"Well, Kaya-san already has a person she likes too. So there's really no chance for you," said Ninjin.

"A person she likes?" He hadn't known that. "Who is it?"

"Captain Usopp," Tamanegi said, puffing out his chest. "He's a pirate from this village and is currently the sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates."

"And the bounty the Marines gave him is 200 million beri!" said Piiman, holding up two fingers.

"His epithet is 'God' Usopp!" said Ninjin.

"'God' Usopp, 200 million beri…" he said, a little frustrated. "What is this? He sounds really impressive, but does Kaya-san really like a person like that?"

"Nope. He's not that impressive," Tamanegi said with a bitter smile.

"That's right! He's actually a scaredy-cat and has a negative personality," said Ninjin.

"There's also all the 'diseases' he has too. Like 'If-I-don't-eat-a-snack-I'll-die disease.'" When Piiman said this, his nakama laughed. Usopp's storytelling really seemed to have amused the three kids.

"More than anything though, he was a liar." The other two nodded along in agreement when Ninjin said this.

"But he's going to come back one day a brave warrior of the sea." Their nods of agreement got bigger with Tamanegi's addition.

That can't be right, he thought and crossed his arms. Whether he was amazing or not, the man could not connect it all to figure out this Usopp person.

"A person like that Usopp-san is really what Kaya-san likes?"

"Well, we're not actually sure, but…" Tamanegi's speech suddenly got softer, "with the mood between them, we think it's probably, maybe, headed that way."

What? That's not clear at all, the man thought, but it wasn't like he particularly hated that either.

"I see. However, I'm not going to lose either," the man said with a smirk. "I'll still try to get Kaya-san to fall for myself."

"But I really do think that's impossible," said Ninjin.

"Yeah, me too. I think countless guys have failed until now," said Piiman.

"And isn't it really troublesome to pass through the village over and over again?" said Tamanegi.

"Sure, it's really troublesome. It was a long way today too, coming from the village inn to here," the man said, "but don't worry. I've decided to live in this village."

"Live here?!" the trio said at the same time.

"Yeah. You see, I like the feeling I get when walking through this village."

His words were no lie.

The three boys watched as he was introduced to the owner of an empty house, as he prepared that day to rent it, and three days later he moved his things into that empty house.

On his move-in day, as he was adjusting the position of a chest of drawers, three vegetables were lining up near the window.

"Oh man, I didn't think he really was going to start living here," said Piiman.

"This guy must really like a proper girl like Kaya-san," said Ninjin.

"But I don't think all his effort is going to get him anything," said Tamanegi.

"I'm the type that wants to sit down and think things through," he said as he wiped sweat from his forehead. "It's no good to give up just because you've been rejected once. But anyways, if you guys are free, why don't you help me move the bed?" he said, pointing to the partially moved-in bed.

"Geh! Help you out?"

"It looks heavy."

"We'd have to jiggle it in."

The boys complained as they happily entered the house.

It was the lively beginning of a new life style, and he was satisfied.

o-o-o

Although, the village people seemed overly cautious of the man who had suddenly moved into the village.

If they met the man and stopped to say hello on the road, he'd always return the greeting, but he often wouldn't meet their eyes. After many villagers had this misunderstanding, it wasn't uncommon for gossip behind his back to be about what this action might signal.

However, after another month passed, such gossip was done and gone as he was interacting in a positive with the villagers.

After all, it was because the villagers didn't know him that they were on guard, so if his identity was revealed in a positive way, their nature and this attitude towards him would soften.

His job was that of a playwright, though he'd just finished a big production and was now taking a break.

He originally studied to medicine, but his body couldn't handle it and he gave up on it.

The villagers he met while walking and the places he stopped by to shop came up with that profile and as they discussed it, the villagers could feel their wariness receding beneath their skin.

To the people thinking about Kaya-ojou-sama, elements that would normally be considered negative he made seem unimportant, or rather it seemed to lead to an evaluation that he was the favorite contender since he knew moderation.

As evidence of that, during his second visit, the butler, Merry, said, "I'm afraid I can't advise you on how to approach Kaya-ojou-sama, but how would you like some tea?" he all but invited.

It was a breakthrough event when Merry, who was guarding the gate to all the proposing men, took such an action.

He happily accepted the invitation of course.

The black tea the butler brewed had the same nice flavor to it as the village landscape.

"I finally get to see you face to face."

Upon hearing him say that, Kaya came to a stand still with a small gasp. They were on a road not far from the library.

"I'm sorry. You surprised me," the man said, walking over to Kaya. "I just left the library, but to think I'd happen to run into you here."

"Um…"

In response to Kaya's confused expression, he bowed his head and introduced himself.

Soon, Kaya smiled at him and said, "Oh, you were the one who gave me that medical book…"

"That's right," he said, returning her smile. "I thought it was probably a book you already had, but…"

"No, it was the first time I'd seen it. Thank you very much," Kaya said, bowing her head, her beautiful hair swishing around.

"Shall I accompany you on your way back to your mansion?" he asked. If the man was honest, he wanted to ask her if they could have tea together, but that really would have been too soon, he thought.

Kaya responded to as much as he did say.

"As you heard from Merry, I'm studying medicine."

"Yes, but you're still in the teen years of your life…"

In the personal history the villagers spoke of, they always spoke respectfully of Kaya.

"Because my body got weak, I had to quit studying medicine, but Kaya-san, you continue to do your best. I respect that."

"I have my rough days too. But… if I think of that person, my strength comes back. That person is surely fighting out on the seas, so I too… well, something like that."

"Usopp-san, right?" he said, and Kaya smiled and nodded.

"What a fortunate guy, that Usopp-san," he said with a shrug, "that even now you would think of him."

Kaya gave her head a small shake.

o-o-o

Watching the young man and Kaya walk side by side from the shade of a distant tree were Piiman, Ninjin, and Tamanegi.

"Oi, Kaya-san laughed," said Piiman.

"You're right. Those two make quite a picture," added Ninjin.

"What are you guys saying?" said Tamanegi with a pout. "It has to be Captain next to Kaya-san."

"I know that, but─" said Piiman.

"But Captain is out at sea right now," said Ninjin.

"Uuuugh…" said Tamanegi.

The trio didn't think that Kaya-san and the young man would become lovers. However, even if they weren't worried now, they didn't understand what just happened. As Captain's return wasn't to be for a long while yet, the time he and Kaya-san wouldn't get see each other face to face would be long too…

The three boys looked at each other.

"It can't be, right…?"

In the middle of the night, he opened his eyes while in bed.

He wasn't sleeping. He was just laying down.

Slowly, he moved, leaving his bed and opening the window curtains.

The village was sleeping under a moonless night. He thought back over the last two months.

As he was a stranger, the villagers had been wary of him at first, but now they fully accepted him as one of them.

Truly, the people of Syrup Village─

"…they're all naïve."

In the dark room, he gave a low chuckle.

Country folk were truly simple. Fooled by smooth looks and soft manners.

His job as a playwright? A lie.

His old desire to be a doctor? A lie.

Wanting to marry Kaya-ojou-sama? A lie.

He had but one goal in coming to live in Syrup Village─ it was so that he could enter Kaya's mansion as a burglar.

Kaya's mansion was big and it had gatekeepers too. To quickly enter, steal, and leave, to do all that in way that he couldn't get caught. For that, he decided to make it a long-term heist. He infiltrated the village, taking the approach of watching for a chance.

However, just staying in the village for no reason would be suspicious. So he decided to use being one of Kaya's rejected suitors to explain his situation. For the sake of attacking Kaya, he stayed in the village and being a suitor was a fantastic reason for outward appearances. The Great Proposal Plot─ that was the name he gave his current plot.

Two months. For two months he thoroughly and carefully prepared.

That was how he went into it, but of course, it wasn't just sprinkling sociability before the villagers. To ease the warry villagers, he had to do more than just interact with them a little.

When he saw an old man making a dog house in his yard, he stopped to help.

Thanks to his efforts, they completed a wonderful two-story dog house. The old man was moved by his workmanship and asked about adopting him or the like. But of course he politely declined.

When he came across a girl crying because her balloon flew away, he gave her his balloon that he had with him because of his hobby. And it wasn't a normal balloon either, but a balloon animal. He made her a "Dancing Peacock" and a "Fire breathing Dragon," moving the girl to applaud him for about three minutes.

Another time, he witnessed a mother heatedly arguing with a boy. Stepping in, he patiently listened to both sides of the story. As a result of that, he understood that the true cause of the argument was the boy's excessive surplus of energy. So he invited the boy to run to the beach with all his strength, and there they screamed together, "You idiot!" Since then, the boy and mother's relationship has been very good and they listen to each other.

As he continued these interactions, his value in the village gradually rose, and with these three events, he managed to receive an invitation to tea from the butler, Merry. Thanks to that, he was able to perfectly acquire the important floor plans for the inside of the mansion.

Dawn was coming, he judged. If he'd been acting until now, it was more than enough.

After two months of running away, tonight he was going to make the jump.

This was his first time trying such a mountainous heist. Thinking about the hours he'd spent preparing, failure was unforgivable.

He took a big breath and closed the curtain. Well, it was time to get started.

o-o-o

Picking his way through the dark, he arrived before the mansion.

And there was a suddenly unexpected development waiting for him. He couldn't see the gatekeeper's forms.

How lucky! He had brought medicine to put them to sleep and tools, but apparently he'd be able to do this without using them.

He easily scaled the fence and dropped down to the mansion grounds. The room where the safe should be was marked with a star.

For a moment he tried to run in a crouch.

Something hit him in the face. A stone─ no, some unknown item. It hit his nose and burst. As it hit, dust swirled through the air. "Ack!"

As his vision was stolen, he let out a big sneeze, "Ha-achoo!"

"Yosh! Hissatsu Koshou Boshi** hit!"

The kid's voice cane from somewhere. Shit. Had he gotten careless since the gatekeepers weren't there?

As he went to stand up, he was solidly struck on the inside of his leg. "Agh!" he clutched at his leg in pain and this time he was solidly struck in the head. "Mgh!" Just one more─

It was at about this time he lost consciousness.

o-o-o

When he opened his eyes, he was tied up with rope and had been rolled into the garden like a stick bug.

Looking into their faces, he saw Kaya and Merry and the three vegetable boys.

The boys were holding a bat, shovel, and fry pan. Hit with crushed pepper wrapped in a cloth, beat up with those items, it seems. He flushed at being so humiliated by the kids.

"Oi, he's awake," said Piiman.

He turned to look at the five people's expressions.

The vegetable boys all had anger in their eyes, Kaya and Merry made sad faces.

"… since when did you begin to suspect me?" he asked.

"Since we first met I suspected you!" said Piiman.

"Really?!" Tamanegi and Ninjin said at the same time.

"No. If it was the Captain, that's surely what he would have said, you know," Piiman said with a bashful chuckle.

"You really…" Kaya spoke up. "For all the villagers' sake, since the time you started to take care of various things, these boys have seemed doubtful."

Piiman continued, saying, "Well, everyone in the village seemed to be fooled by a nice guy like you, but to us something seemed off."

"That's right! 'This guy is way too nice, so there should be a darkside there' we thought," said Ninjin.

"Anyways, it was the two-story dog house that you overdid it on," said Tamanegi.

"So this past week, we alternated between the three of us in following you around," Piiman proudly explained.

He stuck his tongue out a bit. Shit, they were saying his performance was his enemy. Really, he thought they were just normal brats, these vegetables you can't eat.

"These boys spent so much time around Usopp-san, listening to him lie every day, that they've surely developed a good sense for sniffing out lies."

As Kaya said this, thinking of it as praise, the boys seemed to happily thumb their noses.

They stuck out their tongues at him again. Usopp-san, Usopp-san, they kept repeating that name and it was like he was losing to a guy who wasn't even there, causing more anger to well up in him.

Merry quietly asked, "Were the stories you told in the village all lies?"

"…yeah, they were lies," he spit out. "Being a playwright was a big lie. I've never studied medicine. When I was little, I was an actor in a theater troupe, but I couldn't earn enough to eat, so I changed jobs. I fooled people, stole their money, things like that."

Merry sighed, bringing in a fog of silence.

Ninjin jabbed a finger at him.

"Your job's a lie, liking Kaya-san is a lie… your lies are cunning and nothing like the cowardly lies of Captain Usopp!

"Exactly, you're right," his nakama continued.

The three showing their anger might have regretted helping him move into his house.

But what did he know? He snorted. "Lies are good and bad? A lie is a lie, you know."

"No," Kaya firmly said. "Usopp-san's lies were lies that brightened people's moods, they were lies that carried happiness… they were different from your lies."

"…"

'Lies that carried happiness,' those words stirred some part of his memories.

A long time ago, when he was part of the theater troupe, there was a senior actor that he looked up to as his master. And that person said, Get it? A play is basically a lie. It's not real. But it's a lie you put your soul into. By putting our souls into these lies, we fool the audience, moving their hearts and leaving behind happiness. Can you put your soul into whatever you do? That's all you have left to study.

That was the burning senior actor who liked the theory of plays. A strict, scary, and kind master.

But that senior actor is no longer in this world. They caught a serious illness and passed on.

By the time they knew the cure to the senior actor's illness required a lot of money, the man put all of what little money he had accumulated towards that and solicited more from relatives and people he knew.

The campaign collected plenty of money, but it wasn't enough to entirely cover the treatment expenses.

At that time, a moneylender introduced himself through one of the people he knew and told the man, "If you leave that money with me just once, I'll return it once it's at the targeted amount."

Several figures were issued and it was a difficult story, but it didn't matter as all that was on the man's mind was making money, so he left the collected money with the moneylender. And that was all that happened.

When not even a single beri was returned, he lost the trust of those around him and his important master passed away.

He became despised and his life was rough. The actor lost his business and had not a beri to his name.

The first person he fooled, he stayed and ate for two full days he couldn't afford, leaving when it would be three days in a few hours.

In the business area of town, he asked an old couple, pretending to be a traveler in trouble because he'd lost his wallet and he'd definitely return it, so could they please lend him some money, though his real goal was for them to hand over the money. He gave the old couple his contact information, but it was fake.

If he stopped after that one time, maybe he wouldn't be here tied up with rope right now.

But he didn't stop. After that, he pretended to be bothersome people like a monk out collecting or pretending to be a construction worker to gain access to houses and steal from them. At those times, his cultivated skills as an actor were ironically used.

Just thinking back seemed to call up frustration at the trajectory of his fall. As he just grit his teeth and bore the pain, Kaya came into his sights. Looking directly at her, there was no blame, no pity, nothing he could figure out in those eyes.

"Kaya-san, hurry up and call the police," said Piiman.

But Kaya didn't answer, staring up at him with that bothersome gaze of the same color.

After a while, Kaya said, "Let's untie him."

"EH!?" the boys shouted.

"Is there something wrong?"

"But he's a thief, right?"

"He hasn't stolen anything yet. He hasn't hurt any of us. And," her gaze went back to him, "… you too understand that you shouldn't live like this, right?"

"…!"

Without saying anything, he tightly closed his eyes. Those words pierced him deeply.

I get it. I get it, okay? The truth is, I want to return to being an actor. But my soul has already been dirtied… but still, I really, truly want─

Kaya continued, "Fooling someone isn't good. However─ I think fooling yourself is no good either."

A strangled sound left his throat as he tried to swallow down his rising frown.

She's absolutely right. I… I fooled myself, continuing to live that rogue life, I really was already heartbroken, already tired─

He looked back to Kaya's face and quietly nodded. "Yes," he said, voice wavering.

Kaya looked at Merry. Merry gave a small nod and moved towards him. He began to untie the rope.

After a moment, the boys started to help.

o-o-o

"Even though you said that, I'm still not sure if it's a lie or not…"

Untied, he said to Kaya and the rest, "To make up for my sins until now, I will try to return to being an actor. In a small theater, with just a small audience is fine, as I'll be returning to the stage to try to express myself."

"You can do it," said Kaya. "If it's you, you'll surely be able to tell lies that will make people happy."

Merry also gave a small nod.

There, Piiman cut in. "Mister, if you're going to say stuff like that, do it better."

Ninjin followed it up with, "He's right. It's not 'in a small theater,' but 'filling a theater for 10,000 people!' Something like that."

"Right. If it was our Captain, it would be on an even bigger scale," continued Tamanegi.

"Yeah, he was the kind if man to say 'I have 80,000,000 subordinates!'"

As Piiman said this, Kaya and Merry sighed.

He gave a thin smile and shrugged his shoulders.

No way. 80 million subordinates was a really grand scale.

But, if he was going to make someone happy, he probably shouldn't be afraid of such a big entrapping.

Usopp-san, huh…

He muttered that name in his heart.

A master for acting was lost, but a master for lies was newly acquired.

Translation Notes

About the title

Some of you may have noticed that "in" is italicized, this is because that was in English in the actual novel while the rest of the title was Japanese.

About Piiman, Ninjin, and Tamanegi

I went with the Japanese version of the vegetable boys' names because I don't feel that people's names should be translated to another language. The meanings of their names could/should be stated if relevant.

Piiman=pepper (the yellow/green/red pepper kind)

Ninjin=carrot (keeps from being confused with bunny mink Carrot)

Tamanegi=onion

The * point

Japanese numbering is a little weird in what they have for number denominators, particularly the ten-thousands and hundred-millions, which is why translating bounties and other big numbers can and does tend to get messy. In Japanese, Usopp's bounty would be said ni-oku, which is 2 and the denominator for 100 million, thus Piiman holds up two fingers. It still makes sense in English, but more so in Japanese.

The ** point

Sure Kill: Pepper Star

I like to generally leave attacks in their given language, but I think a translation for the meaning should also be provided.