Illustration Novel 10

**The Future I Believe In** is the tenth release of the Illustration Novel series and features the Musicart Daphnis & Chloe.
The Novel was published on April 15, 2022, featuring **tef** as the Illustrator for this story.

Read here... (Official Website)

## Translation

   Today is calm, a change from last night's intense battle. Sitting on a gentle mountainside, I watch the wind brush the short grasses and flowers across the mountainside.

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "Such nice breeze...."

   The dry wind ruffled my long pigtails, which reached my waist. The alpine plants, such as pretty alpine roses, buttercups and forget-me-nots, which are blooming a little in the area, seem to have bowed in unison, and my lips loosen. On days like this, I wish I could blow my pan flute and chase the sheeps. When I close my eyes, scenes of peaceful times float behind such indications.

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "*Fufu*."

   It was so much fun just to imagine it, I couldn't help but smile. But it was an illusion. I inhale and my nose smells not of bread and cheese, but of burnt trees and faint gunpowder smoke. I can't even play the pan flute now. Because the beautiful sound of it would attract the D2s.

   A small village could be seen below. A deserted village, already uninhabited. I'd only been here a few times before, but the Christmas trees and wall swags on the houses were still there, but looking so old it was painful to see them. I wonder if the people who lived there were able to celebrate Christmas with those decorations.

   Did they leave the village with the ornaments intact, thinking they would be back again soon? If so, the little feelings they entrusted to that ornament have already passed decades without being fulfilled.

   Unbeknownst to me, a tear drops from my right eye. The red right eye was a crybaby.

   I would walk a little and find a stream flowing and reflect my face on the surface of the river, my right eye was as red as a ruby and, in contrast, my left eye was as clear and blue as an aquamarine. Odd eyes, I suppose you could call them. People who meet me for the first time usually tell me that I "look pretty" or that I "look unusual".

   The red right eye was still slightly moistened with tears. The red eye always sees only sad stories. I force myself to smile and chuckle to myself.

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "*Ehehe*...... If Miss Belkis sees me like this, she will scold me yet again."

   If Miss Nutcracker saw me, she would probably be worried, and if Miss Air saw me, she would probably start crying even more than me, saying things like "I'm in the mood to cry more than you....". Thinking about this made me feel a little amused, and I wiped the area around my eyes with the back of my right hand.

   .......I'm alright.

   Unlike the red eye, which reflects "tragedy", my blue left eye reflects "hope". People don't believe me, but sometimes I can see the future. It's not as clear as a vision, but it's more like a vague picture or intuition. I think it must be a mysterious power given by the score to such a withdrawn person like me.

   In the past, the red eye have sometimes shown only "tragedies". In fact, it was all about that. And in reality, it turned out that way, for example, the big war against the D2s..... I even thought that I would have left this eye behind. But this time it was different.

   The "hope" my blue left eye saw was the shadow of someone I had not yet seen, carrying a single conductor's baton.

   That shadow will soon shine a bright light and illuminate this tear-stained world. And it will lead us to a world of peace and smiles. Last night, between morning and night, in my battle-weary slumbering consciousness, I did indeed see that light. I'm sure that person will wake up soon, as I concluded from such a premonition.

   I felt that the blue eyes reflected on the surface of the river were shining brightly. Before the tears that had spilled had dried, my lips loosened. Should I tell someone about this? Will they say I'm starting to sound weird again? Still, this premonition seems special and....

   *Hmm*...

   *Hmmm*.....

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "I've made up my mind! Let's go!"

   Because it's good news, and I want to tell people about it! I don't care if they make fun of me and say, "*She's saying weird crap again!*"

   I look up and start running. Flipping up my long skirt and swinging the two braided pigtails. I run down the slope, stepping on short, dead grass and jumping over exposed rock faces. But— halfway down the slope, I stopped dead in my tracks. Suddenly, I noticed that my right hand feels cold.

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "Eh....?"

   When I touched my right hand, my fingers were wet. Are these raindrops? I thought so and looked up at the sky. Before I knew it, the sky was dark and covered with thick clouds. The sky looked as if it might snow or rain at any moment, but it hadn't started yet. But the wetness I felt made me understand that it was tears. Before I knew it, my red eye was tearing again.

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "What are these tears...?"

   What is the red eye trying to tell me?

   **Daphnis & Chloe** "......!"

   Then, in a split second, a dark shadow crossed my mind. Many images of separation, pain, suffering and difficulty came and went...

   Why? My blue eye should have shown me "hope". But at the same time, does it say that it's the beginning of a "tragedy"? Someone I haven't seen yet, carrying that baton. Who are you? The sky darkened further and the wind became more humid. I felt a chill, probably due to the drop in temperature.

   **Daphnis & Chloe** ".....Nuh-uh!"

   But I shook my head and started running down the slope again. I squeezed my red right eye shut. I looked straight ahead with my blue left eye.

   It didn't really matter whether I could see the "future" or not. I didn't care whether what I saw was real or not, I just didn't want to be at the mercy of a "future" that I didn't know would come. I wanted the strength to carve out my own future. I would run and wait. I will wait while being strong. May that someone's baton, whom I have not yet seen, will point me correctly to a future I believe in.

**Unofficial translation by Rara**

Source: Illust. Novel 10 translation

## Trivia

* It is implied that the shadow that Daphnis & Chloe sees with her blue eye is Takt Asahina, as he will be awaking soon from his cryogenic sleep.

## External Links

1. ↑  https://twitter.com/ishihara\_sola?s=20&t=dwxhDf6OLtjo7EAZfBFfZw
2. ↑  https://twitter.com/ayatakaha
3. ↑  https://twitter.com/tef\_tech?s=20&t=F08rFFfiRfe99G-nXVrJhg