DLBF Chapter 1

Count Hachigaya Family’s Mansion

Posted by April Fox, ? Views, Released on October 20, 2024

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Chapter 1 – Count Hachigaya Family’s Mansion

Chapter 1, Part 1.1

Novel Title: ルーデンドルフ公と森の獣 (Duke Ludendorff and the Beast of the Forest)

Author：かわい有美子 (Kawai Yumiko)

Illustrator: 周防佑未 (Suoh Yuumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 藤森賢士 (Kenji Fujimori -MC), ユリアンルーデンドルフ (Julian Ludendorff -ML)

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

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“You know, the grocery and butcher shops near the station have recently started delivering various items like meat and canned goods here. They said they could tell right away that the people living here aren’t Japanese.”

The elderly taxi driver, navigating through a narrow path in the dense forest of Y Prefecture’s mountains, was talkative and friendly.

“It used to be the estate of the former Count Hachigaya family, isn’t it?”

Kenji Fujimori, who was twenty-seven years old this year, responded from the back seat.

“Yes, before the war, it was the mansion of the former Count Hachigaya family. I’ve heard it was a really large and grand mansion.”

“Have you ever seen it yourself?”

“No, I’ve never seen it. I was born after the war, so the mansion has been empty for as long as I can remember. You see, the noble system was abolished after the war, right? And then the heir, I think, died in the war. My grandfather used to go there to work. So I grew up hearing about how magnificent the Count Hachigaya family’s mansion was.”

“So, it was that amazing?”

“Yeah, Count Hachigaya was known for his extravagance in construction. I heard their mansion in Tokyo was also incredible. But it was damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake. They moved here for a while, expanding the mansion to make it as grand as the one in Tokyo. It remained in the hands of the descendants of the Count Hachigaya family for a long time. But at some point, it ended up in the hands of foreigners.”

“The Ludendorff family.”

“Ah, Luden? Are they French?”

“No, they’re German.”

“Oh, German. So recently, are those people Germans? Anyway, people say you can tell they’re foreigners just by looking at the food they order.”

“Is it that obvious?” Fujimori asked, his natural curiosity piqued.

“They’re very particular about the ingredients, especially the cuts of meat, which they buy in specific quantities. And they don’t buy rice at all. For Japanese people, rice is a staple, you know. Instead, they have detailed orders for flour, like wheat and rye, just like with the meat.”

“Ah, meat dishes and rye… that does sound very German.”

Fujimori replied while occasionally glancing at the trees lining the road, which seemed to stretch out as far as the windows and roof.

The road was paved. But it was not wide enough for cars to pass each other.

Apparently, the taxi was already on the Ludendorff family’s private property. Unlike public roads, the trees here seemed to be haphazardly trimmed.

The rough condition of the road surface was likely not due to lack of maintenance but rather the significant snowfall in winter.

The vast private property of the Ludendorff family extended into the neighbouring prefecture, where there was a ski resort on the N Prefecture side. The snowfall in this area was probably considerable as well.

“And the amount of food they order is just staggering.”

“Well, they normally have big stature. So they must eat a lot. Germans do eat a considerable amount,” Fujimori recalled a towering man he met at a hotel in Tokyo last winter.

He was enormous. It wasn’t just that he was tall. He had a solid build. Fujimori was 175 cm tall, quite average for a Japanese adult male. But he had to look up at the man. He must have been close to 2 metres tall.

In fact, German men average around 180 cm in height, and some are well over 2 metres. When Fujimori visited Germany, most of the men he saw walking around were taller than him. There were hardly any shorter than him.

Moreover, their shoulders, waistlines, and overall bulk were impressive. Their waist sizes were easily three or four times that of Fujimori.

In any case, Germans were big both vertically and horizontally. They seemed even larger than Americans to him.

So, it wasn’t that Mr. Ludendorff was abnormally bulky. However, the beard covering his face from his cheeks to his chin made him look even bigger.

No, actually, among Japanese people, he certainly stood out as exceptionally towering.

“Have you met this Mr. Luden? I heard he’s a man. But is his wife with him? I haven’t seen them around here.”

“I don’t know if he has a wife, but I met Mr. Ludendorff once. He seemed to be over forty, though not quite reaching fifty yet. People from abroad often don’t mind being older and single, so he might not be married…”

Julian Ludwig Hachigaya von Ludendorff is a middle-aged man with a name that seemed dauntingly long if he were to write down his signature. He had left an impression of an old-fashioned gentleman, perhaps because he was wearing a long coat resembling a frock coat when they met.

Yes… that’s how Fujimori recalled seeing him.

Mr. Ludendorff, despite his rugged appearance, exuded an intellectual air. It was likely because he came from a family of stature where a daughter of a former Japanese royalty had married. This contributed to the impression of him being a gentleman. The ‘von’ in his name indicated a noble title, and he mentioned being a descendant of a regional noble family in Germany. However, due to his large physique, his voice was abnormally deep, making it difficult to interpret even for the professor.

He wasn’t unfriendly. But he was certainly reserved.

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*Translator’s Note: Hmm… He’s not over 40, Fujimori-san. He only looks older because of his beard hahaha. If he really is 40-50 years old, the initials for this translation won’t be DLBF. It’ll be DILF🤣🤣🤣.

Ehem! Dirty mind aside, let’s get to the serious parts: This light novel consists of 3 chapters in 1 volume (239 pages). But each chapter was divided into several parts (commonly 4-5 parts), making each chapter around 80+ pages. Hence, I have to cut them into several pieces to be posted here. So, the numbering for my chapter will be different from the original novel. It won’t be only three chapters. I don’t wanna divide my chapters into parts as well so we’ll just go slowly as chapter 1, 2, 3 until whichever number of chapters we’ll get to. I’ve divided it so that each chapter that I’m posting here will probably come from three to five pages from the physical copy of the novel. However, I will mark at the beginning of each chapter with ‘Chapter 1, Part 1.1’ and so on so that if you get your hands on the novel, you can still find which is which. There are also illustrations from the novel which I will scan and post on the site. With that being said, hop on and enjoy! -K

*P/S: The first page of the novel is an illustration. But it is NSFW so please click on the link to see = Illustration 1. Thanks!