The Story of Gothic Lady Who Met a Grave Keeper in Another World - Chapter 1

Filthy gravedigger.

 He digs graves to keep corpses and takes money from weeping people.

 He is lowly and ugly, the king of those worms that gather in the graves.

 He is a born guardian of death.

 His clothes, the knives he wields, and everything he touches is tainted with the presence of death.

 Oh, how heartbreaking.

 But the last thing we have to take care of when we die is none other than that creature.

With her perfectly coiffed black hair, she wears a small silk hat at an angle and holds a beautifully embroidered parasol up to the sky over Leipzig, Germany.

 She wears a tight-fitting bodice and a lace collar that is pulled up to her neck.

 At twenty-eight years old, I think it was a good decision to try the ladylike bustle style.

 Ah, at last.

 The day has finally arrived.

 The day I would stand in this place wearing this dress.

 A place I had longed to visit ten years ago when I was still a little girl.

 A place I suddenly realized I could go to as an adult.

Yes, I have finally come to the “German Gothic Festival,” a festival of sultry fashion!

 I pumped my fist high in the air in the corner of Agra Park, Germany’s Agra Agricultural Park. The flash of my phone blinked, and a pleasant German gentleman in a plague mask gave me a thumbs-up and a sign saying, You got a good shot.

 I happily accepted the phone with my reflection and bowed again and again.

I said, “Thank you! Well, I’m very happy! I’ve always wanted to come here. Oh, I mean, that plague mask is of amazing quality! I wish I could ask you in German, “Did you make it yourself? I wish I could ask you in German! I wish I could at least speak English a little better!”

 I wish I could ask him in German!

 Ah – truly, everywhere I looked, it was all Gothic.

 I wonder if this happy space is real.

 I’m glad I pushed myself to come. I’m glad I came here even if I was alone.

 I was worried about travelling alone to Germany, but there was no way I could ask someone I knew at work, “I want to go to the Gothic Festival in all black bustle style, and I’ll make the costumes. I’ll make the outfit for you.”

 Of course, there are festivals like this in Japan, but the atmosphere is completely different between Japan and Germany. German Gothic festivals are, how should I put it, very serious.

 The men and women are all so powerfully built that I felt like a child, even though I am 165 centimetres tall.

 In Japan, I am considered a tall person, but being treated like a short person is a little refreshing.

 Last night, when I wanted to buy some alcohol to cheer myself up, I was asked to show my passport to verify my age.

No way! I thought Germany allowed drinking at the age of 16.

 I’m twenty-eight, remember?

 I showed him my passport and he looked at me like I was a monster.

 Well, I was wearing no makeup and a tee shirt, so maybe all Asians are like that.

 Now I’m wearing a lot of makeup with fluttering eyelashes to match my dress, but I have my doubts about how I look in real life.

 Well, I don’t really care about my baby face.

 Anyway, it was the Gothic Festival.

I got my souvenir photo at ……, and now I’m going to go around taking photos of the performers, who are of superb quality and can only be photographed there. 

“Everyone’s concept is amazing! Well, I’m so excited that I’m talking to myself! I may be the happiest I’ve ever been in my life!”

 The glittering social scene that I longed for in a movie I saw a long time ago featuring a marchioness.

 I love Anna Karenina, not to mention Marie Antoinette.

 My interest in the history of clothing led me to work in a fashion museum. I also became interested in making my own clothes and started attending gothic lolita cosplay events.

 My hobby led me to research the history of medieval Europe, and I started to think, “No way! Marie Antoinette was from the early modern period? Not in the Middle Ages?” I was also surprised.

 Yes, I like early modern European clothing.

 The robe à la française is representative of 18th-century France, and the bustle style that was very popular in 19th-century England.

 I like the stonier silhouettes of medieval European dresses, but it is the fluffy dresses with lots of embroidery and lace that tickle my feminine fancy.

 I especially love the “Gothic” genre, which has a dark atmosphere.

 If there is a bit of steampunk added to it, I can’t get enough of it.

 The accessories I’m wearing today also have a bit of steampunk in them! This is exactly what steampunk is all about.

 I take out my pocket watch, which I bought at great expense, and smile.

 Then I looked up from the watch and was startled.

I look up from my watch and say, “……? Where is everyone? What? What is this, a forest?”

 Perhaps it was because I was walking aimlessly while looking at my pocket watch, but before I knew it, I seemed to have left the venue of the Gothic Festival.

 But still, what’s with this lack of popularity?

Oh no! Overseas! 

“I’m lost! I’m dying!”

 I took out my phone and started up the map app – but the signal was bad or something, and it was completely useless. I didn’t know which way I was facing or where I was standing.

“For now, I’m going the way I came: …… the way I came: …… the way I came.”

It is a forest.

 There is no “the road we came from” anywhere. I was completely in the forest.

 Leipzig is rather rural – even if it is not rural, Germany is full of forests – so if you are careless, you can get lost in the forest.

 No, no, no, but I was supposed to be in a park just now and suddenly wandered into the forest, such a miracle illusion, how careless and directionless I am.

 It’s all right. Calm down. If you take a short walk, you should be able to find the road soon.

 Then, as long as I mention the words “Gothic Festival,” a friendly local will give me an “Oh dear, you’re lost,” look and show me the way.

 Ah, yes. People. I just need to find someone.

 It’s a little embarrassing, but you can’t help it if you can’t help yourself.

“Oh, um..! Excuse me! Excuse me! Somebody!”

 I shouted as I started walking.

 Even though it was May, it was a little chilly.

 And yet, I was still dripping with sweat, and my heart was pounding.

 It doesn’t matter who it is, I just want to meet someone.

 –No, wait, I want to meet someone other than a criminal.

 What if I meet a mugger in the woods? Or rather, what if someone was following me as I wandered away from the festival site alone?

 Suddenly scared, I started to walk faster.

 I’m wearing high heels to match my clothes, so my feet hurt in no time.

 I walked and walked, but the forest was endless. Am I heading deeper into the forest by any chance? Should I turn back?

 Or should I sidestep?

 Oh, God, I don’t know.

 I don’t know what to do.

 There’s no way someone is going to help us if we just sit there with no way to get to the hotel. If I don’t go back to the hotel, will the officials worry about me?

 Why can’t I get through to my phone?

 Oh, I’m starting to cry.

 I was having such a good time just now, but–.

“–. —–?”

 I heard a voice.

 From somewhere.

 I stood up with a start.

 I ran toward where I heard the voice.

“Excuse me! Excuse me! I’m sorry, I’m Japanese, I don’t understand German, and I speak only a little English.” 

I ran, babbling on and on in English.

 I ran, and just when I thought I was going to make it, I bumped into someone.

 Oh, I’m going to fall.

 Just as I thought that someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I fell into the other person’s chest and was held in place by his wide chest.

 I stopped moving for a while because of the smell of rough earth.

I stopped moving for a moment.

” —-. —“

 Words I could not catch at all waved in my ears.

 What? Is this German? It’s not English, right ……, but it doesn’t sound German either.

 I looked up.

 What’s that? I looked up, but I couldn’t see his face.

 Oh, the other person is tall – very tall.

 Huh? Around 190? That’s massive!

 I can’t quite make out his face with his bushy beard and long bangs, but judging from his clothes, he’s probably a participant in the Gothic Festival.

 I can’t tell if he’s wearing a black hooded robe, a dirty cravat, long studded boots, or carrying a huge shovel.

“Oh! Um, I’m lost! Um, I’m at the Gothic Festival–“

“…..?”

 The man tilted his head.

 What’s that? I can’t get through. Am I pronouncing it wrong?

Gothic Festival! Gothic Festevo!

 I tried to pronounce it in a way that sounded good, but the guy just tilted his head.

 When I looked like I was about to cry, the man took a quick look at me from top to bottom, and suddenly his expression became stern.

 Then he suddenly kneeled down and kissed my muddy shoes.

What?

 I jumped up and down.

 The man was also startled and froze without raising his voice.

 What was that? What was that? Is this a common greeting at Gothic festivals?

 Kissing shoes, didn’t he mean absolute obedience?

 I see, it’s a bit gothic! Oh, I’m dressed as a noblewoman, so you’re role-playing for me! 

 But I reacted so stupidly, how embarrassing after all this time.

 As I was fretting, the man slowly stood up.

 He turned his back to me and started to walk away, and I followed behind him. 

I followed him, and asked, “If I follow you, you can get me back to the Gothic festival, right? Even if the worst happens, we can return to the street or the town, right?”

 But aren’t you walking a little fast? Wait, I’m already getting sore feet from my high heels.

 The man turned around and looked at me suspiciously.

 He must have noticed my dragging my feet and somehow trying to catch up with him because he walked back to me.

 The man pointed at my shoes.

 I think he was asking, “Does it hurt?” I think he’s asking me. Maybe so.

 I nodded my head.

“—-? —–.”

 He kept asking me questions, but I couldn’t catch any of them.

 When I silently turned my head, the man looked up at the sky as if he was in trouble.

 Ugh, I’m sorry …… for bothering you …….

What is wrong? The man asked something in a strong tone.

 He realized that I couldn’t understand his words, so he tells me in gestures.

 –Can I hold you up?

….. yeah?

 That’s how it reads, right?

 You’re going to pick me up? Me? It’s true that you’re this burly and muscular and I’m 53 kilograms, so I think I can handle it.

 I mean, wouldn’t it be a better solution if I just took off my shoes?

 Change of mind!

 I hit my hand with a snap and immediately began to take off my shoes, which were like restraints.

 The man stares at me for a moment, and when he realizes that I am going to take off my shoes, he clearly starts to get upset. He is rambling on about something, but unfortunately, I can’t understand what he is saying.

 Oh well, I’ll take them off.

 Just as I was about to take off my shoes and put my feet on the ground, he firmly grabbed my ankles.

 I was held sideways, and I opened my mouth and was ready to say something.

Then I finally noticed that the man was red up to his ears.