Illusion of Gaia Translation Commentary Part 13: City of flowers and slavery

Our protagonist is definitely going to hell

Disclaimer time!

• I’m an amateur. My advantage over the original translation is that I have no deadline pressure, and I have the modern internet to help me. I’m assuredly wrong about some of my translations.

• Translation is hard. When I point out a mistranslation, it’s not a judgment of the original translator(s). They had a deadline and poor resources.

• Please no jokes in the comments about Karen being a Karen. I really hate that trend.

Notation reminder:
JP: Original Japanese
T: My translation
OE: Original English

Since I’m trying to capture almost all dialogue, that means I have to get all the Red Jewels. To get all the Red Jewels, we’re going to do something pretty evil in this city.

JP: 花の都 フリージア
T: Freesia, City of Flowers
OE: City of Freejia

JP: カレン：　うわあ　すてきっ！ さすが　花の都って　いうだけ あるわよねっ！！
こんな　きれいなところに 住んでる人たちは　きっと　心も きれいなんだろうな．．．
T: Karen: Wow, it’s so pretty! Exactly what you’d expect from a place called the City of Flowers.
The people who live in a place this beautiful must have beautiful hearts too.
OE: Kara: Oh, it’s nice!! What a great city!!!
People who live in such a pretty place must have beautiful hearts…

This line seems like it’s here for repeat playthroughs. It will turn out that, uh, no. The people who live here do not have beautiful hearts.

JP: 男：　こりゃまた　ずいぶんと かわいい　旅人さんだこと。 今夜の宿は　おきまりですか？
カレン：　ううん。 決ってないわ。　それに　あたしたち 人を　さがしてるの。
T: Man: Oh my! What an incredibly lovely traveler. Have you decided where you’re staying tonight?
Karen: No, not yet. We’re looking for someone.
OE: Man: What a cute couple. Have you decided where you’re staying tonight?
Karen: No. Not yet. We’re looking for someone.

Things are complicated once again by the fact that nouns are usually not inflected to indicate count in Japanese. This man says that 旅人さん (tabibito san) is cute/pretty/lovely, with no pluralizing suffix.

I think he’s talking about Karen alone, for one primary reason: He starts off with こりゃまた (koryamata) which is an exclamation of surprise. Dictionaries list I say and oh goodness as common translations. I think this guy is taken aback by Karen’s looks. (Or is at least pretending to be.) Maybe I’ve misinterpreted, dunno.

JP: 男：　それは　それは。 なら　うちの宿を　きょ点にして 人さがしをしたら　どうですか？
カレン：　決ーまりっ！ あたし　もう　くったくたっ！！
T: Man: Well, well. In that case, why not use our inn as your base during your search?
Karen: Aaaaand sold. I’m exhausted!
OE: Man: Well, well. Why not base your search here?
Kara: It’s settled! I’m exhausted!!

OE leaves out the mention of the inn entirely. The man says うちの宿 (uchi no yado). In this context うちの must mean either my or our. It’s probably not singular because that use is more common to women and children. When meaning our it often means our company or our organization. This guy works for (or owns) the inn.

Since he’s trying to sell you on his inn, I’m ok translating Karen’s 決ーまり (kiimari) as Aaaaand sold. Literally she says deeeeecided. OE ignores the fact that she draws out the vowel—which is probably wise. I wanted to indicate the personality in the text.

JP: カレン： テムも　それで　いいわよねっ。 さっ　いこいこっ！！
T: Karen: That’s ok with you too, right? Come on, come on!
OE: Kara: Don’t you like it, Will!! Let’s go!!

We have no choice. After following them to the inn:

JP: さあ　どうぞ　どうぞ。
カレン： ここの　宿屋さんが　そうだって。 さっ　はいろっ！！
T: Please, please, go right in.
Karen: Looks like this is the inn. C’mon, let’s go in!
OE: Well, come in.
Kara: This is the hotel! Let’s go in!

She says 宿屋さん (yadoyasan) which, unless I’m misunderstanding, means Mr. Inn. (I’m pretty sure she’s not talking about the man, because this isn’t the JP word for innkeeper, and she modifies the word with ここ (koko) which means here. There’s no reason to talk about the innkeeper’s location.) You can add さん after inanimate objects as a politeness marker. It’s supposed to sound cutesy and childish. I think Karen is supposed to be over the moon that she finally gets to rest somewhere proper and it’s making her act chipper.

JP: リリィ： いらっしゃいま．．．
テムに　カレン．．．？！
T: Lily: Welcome!
Tim and Karen!?
OE: Lilly: Come in…
Will and Kara…?!

Oh, my pals are right here. Well, that’s convenient.

JP: カレン： リリィ？　リリィなのっ？！
リリィ：　心配したよおっ！ ひと月近くも　はなればなれだったん だもんね！！
T: Karen: Lily? Is it you!?
Lily: Aaaah, I’ve been so worried! It’s been almost a MONTH since we got separated!
OE: Kara: Lilly? Is it Lilly?!
Lilly: I was worried! It’s been almost a month since we separated!

Lily indicates anger or dissatisfaction in her JP speech. I’ve indicated it by adding Aaaah and making it like she’s yelling a word in the second sentence. OE leaves it out, which is a valid choice.

JP: この宿屋で　住みこみで　働かせて もらってたんだよ。
右のおくの部屋に　ロブがいるから 行ってあげてよ．．．
T: I’ve had to live and work in this hotel.
Rob is in the room to the right. You should go see him, he’s…
OE: I’ve been working and living in this hotel.
Lance is in the room on the right, go in there…

JP: カレン： せっかく　無事に会えたっていうのに こんなのって．．．
T: Karen: We went through all that to meet again safely, but… he’s like this.
OE: Kara: I am glad everyone is safe, but…

Grammar lesson time! せっかく…のに (sekaku…noni) shows disappointment. It means something like even though went through great pains… Adding っていう (tteiu) or という (toiu) here might make you think there’s a quote involved, since that’s its normal use, but it really means something like the fact that. というのに can be found as its own dictionary entry to mean despite.

In JP she doesn’t say everyone is safe, which is good, because Morris was eaten alive. Everyone is most certainly not safe!

JP: ロブ： 自分が　だれだか　わからないって なんだか　不思議だよ．．．
オレが　だれだか　わからないのに オレは　なんで　ここにいるんだろ。
T: Rob: It’s kind of strange not knowing who you are.
If I don’t know who I am, why am I here?
OE: Lance: They say I don’t know who I am. Kind of strange….
If I don’t know who I am, how did I get here?

Speaking of という, it causes trouble for OE here. It can be abbreviated as って (tte) and frequently means X said/says or called/named X. But it can also be used to highlight a certain topic; for example, it can be translated as that which is X. (Maggie Sensei oh so frequently comes to my rescue to understand this game. Unlike many other sites, she explains less common or secondary usages.) Rob doesn’t need other people to tell him that he doesn’t know who he is.

Another issue is 自分 (jibun). It can be used as a personal pronoun, like I. Literally it means oneself. I’m pretty sure Rob isn’t using it as a personal pronoun because he always uses オレ (ore), including in the very next sentence.

Edit: There are other times in the game when he uses 自分 so I was wrong that he always uses オレ. I think this analysis is correct regardless, based on the fact that Rob doesn’t need to be told that he doesn’t know who he is.

Instead of They say I don’t know who I am… It’s strange he’s saying That which is [not know who oneself is] is strange. I struggled with this sentence until Google Translate of all things sent me on the right path. Often its translations are pretty bad, but it’s getting better over time.

I’m not confident in the second sentence, but I don’t see any other plausible translation.

JP: リリィ： ロブは　インカ船からにげだすときに 頭をうって　そのまま．．．
お医者さんに　みてもらったら 一時的な　きおくそうしつだって。
T: Lily: Rob hit his head as we escaped the Incan ship.
The doctor said he has temporary amnesia.
OE: Lilly: Lance hit his head escaping from the Incan ship…
The doctor said that he has temporary amnesia.

JP: とりあえず ロブが　よくなるまでは この町にいようと　思うんだけど。
T: I think it’s best that Rob stays in this town until he recovers.
OE: Meanwhile, I think Lance should stay here until he recovers.

That was Lily’s unprompted speech. When you talk to her she says:

リリィ：　それとね。 エリックのすがたが　夕べから 見えないんだよ。
どうしちゃったのかな．．．
T + OE: Lily/Lilly: Also, I haven’t seen Erik since last night.
I wonder what’s happened?

The man who brought us to the inn says:

JP: 最近　この町には　旅人が　すっかり よりつかなくなって．．． 商売　あがったりですよ。
T: Recently travelers have completely avoided this town. Business is terrible.
OE: Recently tourists have avoided this town… Business is terrible.

Inside the far right building:

JP: 別に　どろぼうが　入ったわけじゃ ないんだよ。
こんなふうに　少しは　ちらかって いた方が　落ち着くと思わないか？
T: It’s not like a burglar broke in.
Don’t you find it calming when it’s a complete mess?
OE: It’s not like a tornado came through here.
Maybe you’d be more comfortable in a place not quite so neat?

In OE it sounds like this person is saying, yeah, this house might be a little neat for your standards. Maybe you’d be better off somewhere even messier?

The next house over is locked:

JP: テム： うちがわから　カギがかかっている ようだな．．．
T: Tim: Seems to be locked from inside.
OE: Will: It’s locked from the inside…

Dang it, game. Tim’s talking. This text should be yellow, not white!

In the next house over, from outside you can see two people staring at each other in the window. The man in the lower floor says:

JP: まったく　2階のやつらときたら．． かたみがせまいよ．．．オレは。
T: I swear, those people on the second floor… I’m ashamed.
OE: The upstairs is a mess… I’m ashamed…

This line is weird in OE, because the upstairs is not a mess at all. I don’t know if this is censorship, or if they misread やつら (yatsura - those guys).

When you approach the two upstairs, they’ll turn away from each other. They each try to pretend they weren’t making out or… whatever it was they were doing.

JP: 彼の　目に入ったゴミを とって　あげていたのよ。ほほほほほほほほ。
か　彼女に　ゴミに入った目を とってもらってたのさ．．． はははははははは。
T: I was just taking something out of his eye. Hohohohoho.
Sh… she was just getting something out of my eye. Hahahahaha.
OE: He had something in his eye… Ha ha ha.
She, uh, was just helping me… Ha ha ha.

The woman in the next house over gives a warning:

JP: 悪いことは　言わない。 裏通りには　いかないほうが 身のためだよ。
美しいバラには　トゲがあるように 美しい町には　裏の顔があるものさ。
T: Take my advice. For your own good, don’t go to the back streets.
Just as a beautiful rose has thorns, beautiful towns have a dark side.
OE: Listen to me carefully. You’d better not go on the back streets.
Just as a rose has thorns, a pretty town has another side.

I popped by Gem’s to turn in red jewels and collect a Defense, HP, and Strength upgrade. I won’t bother translating, since it’s the same text as when he gave me the herb at the start. When you jump down the roof from where Gem is, you’ll land in a flower bed. The person in the window (the man who said he was ashamed of the couple upstairs) will say:

JP: びっくりした．．． 屋根から　人が　ふってくるとはね。
身のちぢむような　ダイビングを 見せてくれた　お礼に　いいものを あげよう。
T: Oh my god… someone just came down from the roof.
As thanks for giving me that frightening diving show, I’ll give you something good.
OE: I was startled…. Someone dropped from the ceiling.
Thanks for showing me that impressive dive. I will give you something.

Ooh, what is it? What’s my present? Is it a Red Jewel?

JP: バシッ！！！！！！
この　ガキっ！ こんど　そんな　あぶないマネして みろっ！！ ただじゃ　すまないぞっ！！！
T: *Whap*!!!
You brat! Just try pulling such a dangerous stunt again! Simply inexcusable!
OE: “Slap!!!!!!”
Kids! If you do something this dangerous again, you’ll be in big trouble!!!

Oh. That’s not a Red Jewel at all. That’s red text.

I love that the one time the OE actually uses quotation marks is when someone is not saying something.

JP: フリージアっていうのは 町のしょうちょうに　なっている花。 すてきな　かおりでしょ。
T: The flower called the Freesia has become the symbol of our town. It smells lovely, right?
OE: The Freejia is the city flower. Smells good, doesn’t it?

The woman in the house on the far left:

JP: 母親って　ほんと　気苦労が たえないものよ。
悪い人に連れていかれたんじゃないか どこかで　ケガしてるんじゃないか とかね．．．
T: A mother can’t help but worry.
Like, worrying their kid has been kidnapped or injured.
OE: Mothers are always worrying about things.
I was afraid you’d been kidnapped by someone, or had been wounded…

The pronouns were left out in JP. OE tried to infer a pronoun and ended up implying that this rando is Will’s mother.

JP: あたしの　お母さんも　同じように 苦労を　してきたんだろうな。
T: I think my mom worried like that.
OE: My mother suffered like that.

It’s time to go to the town’s SEEDY UNDERBELLY, which is precisely one street down from the nice part.

JP: ういー．．　ひっく．．． まじめに　生きるのも人生。 飲んで笑って生きるのも　人生さね。
T: Wheeee. *hic* You can take life seriously, but you can also live your life drinking and laughing.
OE: A life lived honestly. A life of fun and laughter.

Yeah, this guy’s drunk and lying around in an alley. I took the OE to have rewritten him as a hippie, but really it tried to translate the original line while censoring the alcohol.

I’m not sure on my translation here. I’ll explain the whole sentence. まじめ (majime) means serious, まじめに　生きる (majime ni ikiru) is live seriously, and の (no) nominalizes it: living seriously. Both sentences use the particle も (mo) in parallel. X も Y も usually means both X and Y, or neither X nor Y if the verb is negative. He ends the sentence simply with 人生 (jinsei), which means one’s life. There’s no verb, which usually means there’s an unspoken copula. Literally: living seriously is life. The second sentence has the same structure, except the verb being nominalized is a compound verb: 飲んで笑って生きるの (yonde waratte ikiru no) which means drinking and laughing and living. So he’s saying drinking and laughing and living is also life.

In English this sounds repetitive and silly, but wouldn’t as much in Japanese because the word for live (生きる - ikiru) and the word for life (人生 - jinsei) don’t sound similar.

Given the context that this is a drunk in an alley, I think he’s saying that there’s nothing wrong with being a lush. If I’ve gotten it wrong, feel free to explain.

JP: 男の声： 命がおしければ　かえんな！！
T: Man’s voice: Scram, if you value your life!
OE: Man’s voice: If you don’t want to lose your lives, go home!!

JP: まったく　どこへ　いきやがった．．
T: Argh, where’d he run off to?
OE: Where’d he go…

JP: ドレイが一人　にげだしたんだ。 どこかで　見かけなかったか？
>はい
>いいえ
T: A slave has escaped. Have you happened to have seen him?
>Yes
>No
OE: A laborer escaped. Have you seen him?

We haven’t (yet) but I’ll say Yes for fun.

JP: なんと！　その場所を教えてくれたら 赤い宝石をやろう。
>場所を教える
>笑ってごまかす
T: What! If you tell me where he is, I’ll give you a Red Jewel.
>Inform on the location
>Laugh and lie
OE: Tell me where and I’ll give you this Red Jewel.

I don’t know where the slave is, so what happens if I try to tell anyway?

JP: しかし　テムは ドレイのかくれ場所を　知らない。
T: But Tim doesn’t know where the slave is.
OE: But Will doesn’t know where the laborer is.

Then it will show another dialogue box, which is the same one that shows if you choose laugh and lie:

JP: 男： こらっ。　ぼうずっ。 大人を　からかうんじゃないっ！！
T: Man: Hey, boy! Don’t play jokes on grownups!
OE: Man: Hey! Don’t play jokes on an adult!!

If you tell them you don’t know where the slave is, he says:

JP: そうか。 見つけたら　知らせてくれよ。
T: I see. Let us know if you see him.
OE: Hmm. Tell me if you see him.

We’ll come back to this slaver later, to do something evil. I want those Red Jewels!

JP: 火を使った　芸を　得意とする者で おれの　右に出るヤツは　いない。 いいか　みてろよっ！
T: I’m the best fire breather in the world! Watch this!
OE: No one can put on a show like I can. Have a look!

He then proceeds to set his own hair on fire.

JP: ドレイの収容所
T: Slave internment
OE: Labor Camp

JP: 私たち　これから　売りに 出されるところ．．．
T: Soon we’ll be taken to the market to be sold.
OE: Soon we will be sent away…

Oof.

JP: 私　物ごとを　考えないように しました。 考えれば　考えるほど　むなしく なるだけです．．．
T: I’ve tried not to think about everything. The more I think, the more hopeless I become.
OE: I’ve tried not to think. The more I think, the more empty I become…

OOF.

JP: 私は　神を　信じません。 もし　神がいるなら　世の中に 身分など　存在しないはず．．．
T: I don’t believe in God. If there were a God, stuff like social classes wouldn’t exist.
OE: I don’t believe in the spirits.
If there were spirits, things like status wouldn’t matter….

OOF. Jesus f***ing Christ, game.

This seems like a good time to tell a story. I was raised as a fundamentalist Christian, and my parents were into a group of thinkers associated with dominion theology. In high school I got interested in economics, and my dad lent me a book called Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators by David Chilton, which was a right wing response to Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald Sider.

I never read all the way through the book. I got to the chapter about slavery, which more or less argued that slavery is fine, actually and provided a Biblical argument for such. I couldn’t find any flaws with the arguments, based on the way I’d been taught to think about the Bible.

I think this planted some of the first seeds that caused me to leave Christianity. I put the book down and didn’t think too hard about it for years, but in retrospect, I was obviously bothered or I wouldn’t have stopped reading.

There’s a saying in philosophy: One man’s modus ponens is another man’s modus tollens. Here’s a fun page with numerous examples.

In context, it would go something like this. Modus ponens:
1. The Bible is the word of God.
2. The Bible condones slavery.
3. Therefore, slavery is ok.

Modus tollens:
1. The Bible condones slavery.
2. Slavery is F***ING EVIL, obviously.
3. Therefore, the Bible is not the word of God—OR, the God of the Bible is evil.

I was telling my partner about this at dinner, and it came up that there’s a part in the Bible saying fugitive slaves are not to be returned to their masters—though typically interpreted as only applying to fugitive slaves from outside the borders of Israel. “Ah, I see. Slaves for me and not for thee,” my partner said.

My daughter, who was 3 or 4 at the time, said: “Mommy, that’s not fair! You have to share the slaves.”

I’m glad she understands the importance of fairness, at least.

The man outside says different things whether you approach him from the front:

JP: ここは　子供のくるところじゃない。 帰った　帰った。
T: This isn’t a place for children. Go away.
OE: Children don’t come here. Go home.

Or from behind:

JP: この　ガキんちょはっ！ どこから　入りこんだんだっ？！ さあ　帰れ　帰れっ！！
T: Brat! How’d you get back here? Go back home!
OE: This kid! Where did you come from?! Go home! Go home!!

He’ll then eject you back to his other side. But you can always get around him by going in the internment camp, ascending to the roof, and jumping off. Further to this man’s right:

JP: もうじき　きょうふの大王が　天から 降りてくるんだと．．． そして　人類は　死に絶えるんだと。
だれが　予言したのか　知らないが ウソっぱちも　いいところだぜ。 バカバカしくって　飲まなきゃ やってらんねえや。　ヒック。
T: Soon the great king of terror will descend from the sky. When it does, mankind will be wiped out.
I don’t know who made that prediction, but good thing it’s a complete lie. It’s so ridiculous it drives me to drink. *hic*
OE: Soon a great power will come from above… Then mankind will die out.
I don’t know who made the prediction, but it’s all a lie! I do this to forget.

More alcohol censorship leaves a baffling line in OE. He does what to forget?

There’s a slave market further to the right, but first I’m going to detour back to the nice side of town. There are some NPCs only accessible from the back street.

JP: 女の子：　宿屋で 住みこみで　はたらいていた男の子が ドレイ商人に　つかまったみたいよ。
T: Girl: A boy who was living and working at the inn was caught by a slaver.
OE: Woman: A man working at the hotel was caught by a labor trader.

She’s talking about Erik, but it’s not obvious in OE because it translated 男の子 (otokonoko) as man rather than boy. Who would call Erik a man?

JP: 見つかったものは　しかたがないな。　ここにいるのは　昨日　にげだした　ドレイだよ。
ドレイ商人たちに　このことを　話すがいい。　かくごの上で　やったことさ。
T: I guess it was inevitable we’d be found. The person here is the slave who escaped yesterday.
It’s ok to tell the slave traders. I was fully aware what would happen when I did it.
OE: There was nothing he could do about being found.
He’s the laborer who ran away yesterday.
I should tell the labor traders.
I was prepared for the worst when I did it.

It says good if tell the slavers this thing. It doesn’t say whether he or Tim should tell the slavers, but I’ve taken it to mean that Tim should, because he’s surrendering to his fate after having been found.

JP: おねがいです！ 見のがして下さいっ！！
わたしは　どうなってもいいが この人に　めいわくが かかります．．．
T: Please! Please don’t tell!
I don’t care what happens to me, but this man will get in trouble.
OE: Please! Don’t tell!
I don’t care about myself, I just don’t want to get him in trouble…

Before we betray this nice man, there’s a secret path leading to a robed guy who will give a Red Jewel:

JP: ほっ　ほっ　ほっ。 よく　ここが　わかったのぅ。
どうでもいいと　思っているものが 実は　大切なものだったりする．．． 世の中　そういう　ものじゃよ。
T: Hohoho. Good job finding this place.
What you think doesn’t matter may actually be important. That’s the way of the world.
OE: Ha ha ha. You understand this place.
Sometimes what you think is unimportant is the most important thing. Life is like that.

わかった (wakatta) probably means was understood 80+% of the time. But here it more likely means was discovered. He’s not saying Tim understands this place—although finding this hidden path does mean you’ve figured out something about how the town’s structure works, so it still makes sense.

JP: これは　オマケじゃ。 とって　おきなされ。
老人は　テムの　持ち物の中に そっと　何かをいれた！
T: Here’s a prize. Please take it.
The old man gently put something in Tim’s belongings.
OE: This is a gift. Please take it.
The old man secretly put something in Will’s bags!

Right, now let’s turn in that escaped slave.

JP: テムは　ドレイの かくれている家を　考えた。
男： ありがとうよ。 これは　お礼だ。　とっといてくれ。
T: Tim told them the slave’s hiding place.
Man: Thank you. Here’s something as thanks. Please take it.
OE: Will tells where the laborer is hiding.
Man: Thank you. Here’s a present. Please accept it.

Now I’ve collected all the Red Jewels in this town. And the only thing I had to pay was my soul!

JP: ドレイ市場
T: Slave market
OE: Labor Market

JP: 自分が　彼らの　立場になったらと 思うと　ぞっとするよ。
でも　今の　オレは　人の気持ちを 考えるより　自分が　生きることで せいいっぱいなんだ。
T: I shudder to think about being in their shoes.
But for now, rather than think about the feelings of others, I’m focused on living my own life.
OE: When I think of myself in your position, I shudder.
I’ve no time to worry about what people think, it’s hard enough just taking care of myself.

I think the idea here is that this guy knows slavery is messed up, but he’s gonna be selfish and maybe buy one anyway. He’s definitely shuddering thinking about being in their position, not Tim’s.

The man on the right says:

JP: このドレイたちは　ちょうど 君と　同い年くらいだよね。
おぼえておくんだな。 世界には　同い年でも　こういう 生活をしてる人が　いるってことを。
T: These slaves are about the same age as you, aren’t they?
Always bear that in mind. That in this world, there are people your age with this kind of life.
OE: These laborers are the same age as you.
Remember. There are people everywhere who live this way.

JP: こら　ぼうずっ！ ここは　子供のくるところじゃない！ さあ　かえった　かえった！！
それとも　あんたも　ドレイを 買いにきたって　いうのかい？
>はい
>いいえ
T: Hey boy! This is no place for kids. Get out of here!
Unless you’re saying you also want to buy a slave?
>Yes
>No
OE: Hey, boy! Kids can’t come here! Go home! Go home!
Or did you come to get a laborer?

If you say yes, he moves out of the way and says:

JP: その　どきょうが　気に入った！ 本当に　買うのかどうかは　知らんが 見ていきな。
T: I like your grit! Whether or not you’re really buying, you can have a look.
OE: I like your courage! I don’t know what you’d do here, but have a look around.

You’re actually required to tell him yes, because we need to talk to these slaves to progress the story.

If you say no:

JP: さあ　かえった　かえった！！
T: All right, get lost!
OE: Go home! Go home!

JP: ぼくは　イムス。 遠くはなれた大陸から　船で この町へ　つれてこられました。
ぼくらは　しゅりょう民族。 おなかがすくと　カリをして 生活してたんです。
T: I’m Imus. I was brought to this town by boat from a far-away continent.
We’re a hunting tribe. When I was hungry, I used to eat wild goose to survive.
OE: I am Imas. I was brought here by boat from far-off Asia.
We are a hunting tribe. When we’re hungry we hunt for food.

Interesting that OE inserted mention of Asia.

JP: このところ　動物たちが　つぎつぎと 原因不明の病気で　バタバタと 死んでいって．．．
T: Recently, animals have been dying horribly, one after another, from an unknown illness.
OE: All of the animals here have fallen victim to an unknown disease..

OE takes このところ (konotokoro) to mean this place. That’s what you’d think it means literally, but in practice it means recently. I always wondered how this slave could know anything about the animals here.

I translated that the animals are dying horribly. I got this from バタバタ (batabata), an onomatopoeic word that means noisily. They’re dying in a kerfuffle, apparently.

JP: ぼくは　レムス。 動物がいなくなり　ぼくらは 食べ物が　なくなったんだ。
そして　生きるために　しかたなく ドレイに　なったというわけさ。
T: I’m Remus. The animals disappeared and our food was all gone.
We had no choice but to become slaves to survive.
OE: I am Remus. Our game disappeared and we had nothing to eat.
We had no choice but to become laborers.

JP: ぼくらは　いったい　どんな人に 買われて　どんなところに 連れていかれんだろう．．．
T: We didn’t know what the heck kind of people would buy us, or where we would be taken.
OE: We didn’t know where we would be taken or what would happen…

JP: ぼくは　サムス。
夕べ　宿屋で　はたらいている エリックという男の子が　ぼくらを 助けにきてくれたんです。
T: I’m Samus.
Last night, a boy who works in the inn named Erik came to help us.
OE: I am Sam.
We were rescued last night by a man named Erik who was working at the hotel.

It’s Samus! Tim doesn’t tell him, Hey I found your message in a bottle, but I couldn’t possibly help because I was stranded on a raft. Hahaha, funny stuff!

JP: でも　ドレイ商人たちに見つかって 連れていかてちゃった．．．
たぶん　町の裏通りの　はじっこの 家に　とじこめられているはず。 どうか　助けてあげてください。
T: But slavers found us and took us back.
I think he’s locked up at a house at the end of the back street in town. Please help him.
OE: But we were caught by the labor traders…
He’s being held in a house on the corner of a back street in town. Please save him.

Now that we know where Erik is, there will be different dialogue when we approach the sketchy house at the end of the street.

JP: 男の声： 命がおしければ　かえんな！！
テム： そこに　エリックっていう　男の子が いませんか？
T: Man’s voice: Scram, if you value your life!
Tim: Isn’t there a boy named Erik in there?
OE: Man’s voice: If you don’t want to lose your lives, go home!!
Will: Is a man called Erik there?

JP: 男の声： そんな　名前は聞いたこともないな。 何を　しょうこに　そんなことを 言うんだね？
テムっ？　その声は　テムだねっ？ たすけ．．．． ボコッ
T: Man’s voice: I’ve never heard such a name. What evidence do you have for saying that?
Tim? Is that Tim’s voice? Help! *bonk*
OE: Man’s voice: I’ve never heard of such a name. Why do you ask?
Will? Is that Will’s voice? Save me… Bonk!

JP: 男の声：　しっ．．． ぼうずっ　静かにしないかっ．．．
テム： （しかたない　ドアをやぶろう．．）
T: Man’s voice: Shh. Quiet, boy!
Tim: (Guess I’ll have to break the door down.)
OE: Man’s voice: Shhhh… Hey, boy, be quiet…!
Will: (I’ll break down the door..)

Hit it with your flute and the door will amusingly explode. Inside, Erik has a lot to say:

JP: エリック： まさか　テムが　助けにきてくれる なんてっ！！
しかし　ドアをやぶって　入ってくる とは　思わなかったよ。
T: Erik: Wow! You’ve come to help me!
To think that you would break down the door to get in.
OE: Erik: Impossible! You’ve come to rescue me!!
I didn’t think you could break down the door!

JP: さっきの男は　びっくりして にげちゃった。
ボクね　収容所に　しのびこんで ドレイの3人兄弟を　助けようと したんだ。
T: The man just ran away, scared.
I tried to sneak into the internment camp and save three slave brothers.
OE: The man ran away, scared.
I tried to sneak into the camp to rescue three laborer brothers.

Lookit Erik, here! While Tim’s off selling out the location of escaped slaves so he can get a shiny, Erik is risking his life to free some slaves at no benefit to himself whatsoever. Looks like Erik is the real hero.

JP: そしたら　見つかっちゃって こんなことに　なっちゃって
ドレイたちは　みんな ダイヤモンド鉱山で　働かされて いるみたい。
T: Then I was discovered, and this happened.
Seems like the slaves are all forced to work in the diamond mine.
OE: I was discovered, and now I’m like this…
The laborers were forced to work in the diamond mine.

JP: 場所を　教えるから 助けにいってあげてよ。
テムは　鉱山の場所を　聞いた！
T: I’ll tell you where it is so you can save them.
Tim learns the location of the mine!
OE: I’ll tell you where. Please save them!
Will learns the location of the mine!

Sweet, we get to take a break from cruelly betraying slaves to actually rescuing some of them.

Erik goes back to the inn, where we can talk to him once more:

JP: エリック：　テムたちと 無事に再会できたっていうのに うれしなみだも　出てこないや。
ぼくの　なみだってば かれちゃったのかなぁ．．．
T: Erik: Even though we were able to reunite with you and Karen, I can’t cry tears of joy.
I wonder if I’m all cried out.
OE: Erik: It is good to be among friends again. If only I wasn’t so sad.
My tears have all been cried…

Aww. The JP is a lot sweeter. And sadder. Erik’s saying he wants to weep with happiness that you’re safe, but he’s cried so much that he can’t.

There’s one more line in Freesia before the story has properly progressed. If you leave for the Diamond Mine, then return to the market, Imus, Remus, and Samus will be gone and there will be a single slave in their place.

JP: 神よ．．　どうして　あなたは 身分というものを　作ったのですか？
T: Oh God, why did you create such a thing as social classes?
OE: How can things like this happen?

This game’s writers are like: Hey God, j’accuse!

On the bright side, in the next entry we’ll be freeing some of the slaves. See you next time!