Chapter 40: Happy Birthday, Taiga

This scene... If it weren’t for the fact that Taiga Ultraman is a tokusatsu show aimed at children, Yuxing would have almost let out a string of curses! Is this really suitable for kids? Aren’t they afraid of leaving lasting psychological scars on the little ones? It wasn’t just that person’s face that had been burned away… If that person’s face was currently the “visual center” of Taiga, then even at the periphery of the visible world, those previously neglected landscapes began to yellow and curl up…

A trail of fire followed steadily and unhurriedly behind the two of them. With every step they took forward, the flowers, grass, and trees behind them ignited and began to burn. The verdant plants didn’t erupt in flames; instead, like incense sticks set alight, they quietly sparkled with embers as they were slowly devoured by nothingness, until nothing remained.

They hadn’t walked far before Yuxing heard the gentle sound of running water.

There were no oceans on this planet.

Back in the great catastrophe 270,000 years ago, the planet’s geology had undergone earth-shattering change—the oceans vanished. Yet, although the seas were utterly destroyed, some freshwater resources remained inland. Except for a few river systems that once flowed into the sea and disappeared soon after, some inland lakes and self-contained water systems adapted to the new planetary environment and began to flow once more.

The creek before them was one such survivor.

This forest, this brook, the words of the Blue Tribe—so many clues came together that “Yuxing” finally recognized where he was—

He grabbed the other person’s hand and began to race along the crystal path into the depths of the woods!

The other person was clearly startled by this sudden change, but only managed a surprised “eh?” before being pulled along.

“Yuxing” could feel his own strength—despite the Blue Tribe being a head taller and clearly having the advantage in physique, Yuxing was still able to drag him along at a run. Judging from the resistance in his hand, the other tried to resist, but his strength shattered instantly, leaving him no choice but to be led away.

Should he credit Taiga’s strength, or blame the Blue Tribe’s lack of it?

They sped across the brook and dashed through the pitch-black forest whose treetops formed a canopy overhead. In the distance ahead, Yuxing saw what looked like a sunken circular plaza.

It was a sunken plaza paved with pure white stone. These stones were clearly not native to this planet; they had probably been transported from another world. Around the sunken plaza, layer upon layer, stood all manner of obelisks.

At a glance, the dense array of obelisks radiated out from the plaza, stretching in every direction until they seemed endless.

This was the Cemetery of the Land of Light.

Every obelisk was a gravestone.

Without another word, Yuxing pulled the person beside him into the sunken plaza. He didn’t wait for questions; speaking rapidly, he said:

“Wait here for me!”

That was what Yuxing meant to say. But before the words could leave his mouth, he was struck by a wave of dizziness. Then, the world around him began to expand rapidly—or rather, he himself was shrinking.

Thus, Yuxing found himself with the third-person perspective of a tiny figure who had wandered into the land of giants, looking up to see Taiga standing shoulder to shoulder with a Blue Tribe member whose body had been burned away, leaving only half remaining...

…This was something children should never see. It was utterly sanity-shattering.

Taiga and the Blue Tribe member continued their conversation—Taiga complaining about things at school, and the Blue Tribe member listening quietly, perhaps nodding from time to time.

Yuxing paid them no further mind. He turned and ran toward the entrance of the sunken plaza. Thankfully, he had separated from the others after only a couple of steps—otherwise he would have had to run a much greater distance.

He reached the entrance and gazed out.

The landscape had almost completely burned away—woods, stream, all gone. Now there was nothing but a boundless void.

Even though he was far away now, Yuxing could still hear the two Giants of Light conversing behind him, as if they were right beside him, as if their voices were overhead.

“Thank you for coming here with me.”

“It’s nothing. I’ve already turned in today’s report. I was planning to go out anyway... Still, coming here on your birthday is... well, not out of the question, but perhaps not quite fitting?”

“It’s fine.”

He was just here to find a little peace.

The aura of his illustrious parentage meant many people remembered his birthday—everyone except his father... Maybe his father did remember, but he was always too busy to celebrate.

Taiga understood—completely, deeply understood, and bore no resentment toward his father. On the contrary, he deeply envied a father whose work kept him so busy.

Because in the Land of Light, the greater one’s ability, the greater the responsibility. By implication, if someone bore immense responsibility in some field, it meant they were exceptionally capable.

Taiga hoped that one day he could become a warrior, busy for the sake of the Land of Light, just like his father.

And yet, even so, he couldn’t deny that his birthday was a day apart from the ordinary; he didn’t want it to become special, didn’t want to trouble “others” because of it—he just wanted to hide away alone.

“This is good enough. Looking at the gravestones of our predecessors brings a feeling of calm, and...”

“Eh? Taiga, can you actually read the inscriptions?”

“Uh... a little?” His tone was filled with guilty uncertainty. The Blue Tribe member understood and chuckled softly.

“In any case, happy birthday, Taiga.”

“Thank you, (__). Then, can I celebrate my birthday like this from now on?”

“It doesn’t have to be your birthday. If you ever want a quiet place, just come find me at the museum. Over there, if nothing else, you’ll certainly find peace and quiet.”

As the void consumed the last image of the Blue Tribe member, his words, like an old, worn-out cassette tape, became distorted and fragmented.

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

“Don’t forget, you have to keep your word.”

“Of course, you can count on it.”

This voice came from somewhere within the emptiness, reminiscent of the synthetic voices of early VOCALOID programs, and poorly tuned at that—shrill, indistinct, almost impossible to understand.

“Great, thank you! (__ )!”

Taiga remained blissfully unaware of the strangeness before him, still cheerfully thanking the void burned into being beside him.

“This is the best birthday present I received today.”

Of course he couldn’t notice—because this was a memory from the past, Taiga’s memory. It was a scene from one of the birthdays during Taiga’s 4,800-year-long life, the year he received the best gift from his best friend.

It was the happiest memory.

And yet, this memory had already been...

Yuxing took a deep breath, then—

Let loose a string of expletives.

“Grimud, you [expletive]!!”

Don’t tell him about how Taiga is a kids’ show and he shouldn’t curse—things had gone so far off the rails that he was starting to doubt whether he really was the protagonist—here it was, already the third episode, and the main character was still under wraps.

What do kids want to see? Ultraman fighting giant monsters, not some crime investigation or psychological horror!

Would kids be happy watching this kind of story?

It wasn’t that Yuxing wasn’t trying his best to promote the show—at this rate, with performances like these, how was Bandai supposed to sell toys?

Since the story had already gone beyond being for children, Yuxing might as well let himself go.

Thinking this, he felt a wave of long-repressed anger surge straight to the top of his head. Driven by fury, he shouted at the approaching line of fire, “You [expletive], come at me if you dare! Picking on a minor—do you have any shame?”

Yuxing was 23 years old, an adult in any country on Earth. But Taiga, at 4,800 years old, was about the equivalent of a 15-year-old, just starting high school!

As an adult, Yuxing felt it was his duty to protect minors!