Nyarlathotep's Tale: Monthly Princess Kaguya

Long ago, in a remote part of Notorious, there was a bamboo forest that glowed very brightly.
Many old men gathered in that bamboo forest from morning until night, walking around in search of glowing bamboo.
This was because, sometimes, beautiful words were hidden inside the bamboo.

“Just by being alive, you are precious.”
“It is okay to have days when you cannot try your best.”
“Thank you for coming here again today.”

Every time the old men found such words, they were very happy.

“We must deliver these to many people,” they said, cutting the bamboo and taking the words back to the temple.

Admittedly, similar words grew all over the bamboo forest.
However, the sense of gratitude varied slightly depending on which bamboo they were cut from.

One morning, an old man found a bamboo that glowed more faintly than any he had ever seen before.
When he cut the bamboo, a girl the size of a palm was sitting inside.
The girl wore a white kimono and had a slightly lonely look on her face.
When the old man asked her name, the girl answered in a small voice.
“I did not come here because I wanted to be read by someone.”

The old man was moved.

The girl continued.
“I just wanted to organize my own feelings.”

“I just wanted to put my painful days into words.”
“I just wanted to leave the things I couldn't tell anyone somewhere.”
The old man shed tears.

“What a pure princess she is.”

The girl was named Princess Kaguya.

The old man took the princess home and informed the whole country about the girl he had found in the bamboo forest.
Then, ten believers visited that very day.
“I understand.”

“Please don't push yourself too hard.”
“I was saved by your words.”
“I came here today, too.”
The princess bowed politely to each one of them.

“Thank you for reading.”

“I was the one saved by your words.”
“I was not alone.”
The believers were deeply moved.

They thought their own words had saved the princess.
They thought they were a special confidant to the princess.
The next day, the princess wrote a new prayer.

This time, it received thirty holy seals.
The next time, fifty.
Eventually, one hundred.
Within just three months of being born from the bamboo, the princess became a beautiful shrine maiden known throughout the country.

However, the princess could not become too distant a presence.
If she recovered completely, the believers would not be able to help her.

If she succeeded too much, she would look like a person different from themselves.
If she became too wise, there would be no room for advice.

Therefore, the princess always walked just a little bit ahead of the believers.
At a place that seemed reachable if they reached out, but just slightly out of reach.

“Recently, I have been able to look forward little by little.”

The day after she wrote that,

“But today, it is a little painful,”

she wrote.

“Thanks to everyone, I have gained confidence.”

In the prayer after she wrote that,

“Actually, even now, I cannot like myself,”

she confessed.
The believers felt relieved.

The princess was growing.
However, she still needed them.

Before long, five noblemen began to visit the princess.

The first nobleman was a veteran who had been watching over the princess since she only had ten holy seals.

“I am the one who found the princess first.”

The veteran nobleman said proudly.
The princess smiled gently.

“You have been watching me ever since I was nobody, haven't you?”

The nobleman made those words a treasure for life.
The second was a scholar who sent long pieces of advice to the princess every day.

“You should make this title a little shorter.”
“If you post your prayers in the morning, they will reach many people.”
“You must not forget gratitude.”

The princess replied politely to all the advice.

“Thank you for teaching me.”
“I could not have come this far without your words.”

The scholar thought he had raised the princess.
The third was a merchant who introduced the princess's prayers every time.

“Such wonderful words should not be buried.”

The merchant spread the princess's name throughout the country.
The princess said,

“You believe in my words more than I do, don't you?”

The merchant thought only he understood the true value of the princess.
The fourth was a knight who carried the same wounds as the princess.

“We are very similar.”

When the knight said that, the princess's eyes welled up.

“To you, I feel like I could even talk about things I couldn't tell anyone else.”

The knight thought only he could enter the depths of the princess's heart.
The fifth was a poet who offered holy seals every single day without fail.
The princess said to the poet,

“You came again today, didn't you?”

That alone made the poet come again the next day.
All five noblemen thought they were special.

However, the princess chose no one.
Because if she chose one, the remaining four would leave.

So the princess gave each of the five a difficult task.
She ordered the veteran nobleman to bring the support he had continued without anyone knowing.

She asked the scholar for advice that he could be satisfied with even if the princess did not thank him.
She asked the merchant for an introduction he had made without revealing his own name.
She asked the knight for affection that would not change even if there was no reply from the princess.
She asked the poet for proof that he had read the princess's work, not just the princess herself.

The five of them each brought back magnificent treasures.
Articles of support they had published.
A scroll recording their exchanges with the princess.
A list of the number of times they had introduced her.
A special reply received from the princess.
The number of holy seals they had pressed every day.

On every treasure, the owner's name was engraved in large letters.
The princess made a very sad face.

“I am truly happy for your feelings.”

The five of them were filled with expectation.

“But, for now, I cannot choose any one person.”

The five of them were disappointed.
However, the princess took their hands one by one.

To the veteran,
“You are the one who has watched over me from the beginning.”

To the scholar,
“Your words raised me.”

To the merchant,
“You are the one who took me out to the outside world.”

To the knight,
“We are more alike than anyone else.”

To the poet,
“You coming every day is my greatest support.”
she said.

The five of them began offering gifts again from the next day.
The princess did not become anyone's.

However, she did not let anyone give up their relationship with her.
Eventually, the princess gathered the believers from all over the country and made a declaration.

“I, who had no knowledge at all, had my prayers viewed fifty thousand times in three months and received ten thousand holy seals.”

The followers cheered.
The numbers proved the Princess's miracle.

“It is not that I was special.”

The Princess said modestly.

“It is all thanks to you.”

The followers were even more delighted.
Because the Princess's success was also proof that their support had been correct.

So, the Princess put a scripture on sale.
The title was,
“How I, who had no knowledge at all, received ten thousand holy seals in three months”
it was.

The scripture was filled with the precious teachings the Princess had discovered.
Pray every day.
Think about the other person's feelings.
Do not forget gratitude.
Give it an easy-to-read title.
Value your connections with people.
Be yourself.
However, be a version of yourself that is loved.

Despite the content being something seen somewhere before, the scripture sold very well.

What the followers were buying was not the doctrine.
It was the story of a girl who, until three months ago, had been in the same bamboo as them, performing a miracle.

If the Princess could do it, maybe they could too.
If they supported the Princess, maybe they could become part of the miracle too.

And above all, the Princess's success proved that the kindness of the followers had meaning.

Kaguya-hime went from being a shrine maiden to a priestess.
However, she did not call herself a cult leader.

“I am still studying as well.”
“I just want to grow together with you all.”
“I would be happy if I could be of even a little help.”

In Notorious, the most important commandment was that a cult leader must not call themselves a cult leader.
If you teach from above, you will be met with backlash.
If you look up from below, you will be looked down upon.

Therefore, the Princess stood on an altar just one step higher while making it look like she was standing on the same ground as the followers.
A priestess who saves, while being a girl who was saved.
A beginner, while being a success story.
One of the lost, just like everyone else, while being the one who teaches.
The Princess could become any of those.

On the night of the full moon, a white ox-drawn carriage descended from the sky.
The messengers of the Moon Capital were riding in the carriage.

“We have come to welcome Kaguya-hime to the Monthly Palace.”

The messenger said.
The Monthly Palace was a secret palace floating higher than the clouds, which only chosen followers could enter.
If you donate a little every month, you can read all of the Princess's scriptures.
You can also hear deeper stories that the Princess does not usually talk about.

Sometimes, you can even have your name called directly by the Princess.
The followers wept.

"The Princess is going far away."

The Princess shed tears as well.

"I am also sad to be separated from you all."
"Then, please do not go."

The veteran nobleman said.
The Princess shook her head sadly.

"I must go in order to save more people."

The doctor asked.

"Even if you go to the Monthly Palace, will you not forget us?"

The Princess took the doctor's hand.

"Meeting you all is the treasure of my life."

The merchant asked.

"At the Monthly Palace, will we be able to talk to you?"

The messenger answered.

"Those who choose the premium room will be able to send words to the Princess once a month."

The five noblemen immediately applied for the highest-tier room.
The messengers dressed the Princess in a pure white feather robe.
It was called the "Robe of Beginners."
If she wore that robe, no matter how many scriptures she sold or how many followers she taught, the Princess could forever say this:

"I, too, am still just as lost as all of you."

Just before the Princess boarded the oxcart, the old man asked.

"Princess. What was it that you wanted to write at the very beginning?"

The Princess thought for a moment.

"At the beginning?"
"You said you wanted to organize your feelings inside the bamboo, didn't you?"

The Princess smiled.

Was that so?

The princess, dressed in the robes of a novice, no longer remembered her first prayer.
Her wounds became stigmata.
Her clumsiness became charm.
Her recovery became a serialized story.
Her gratitude became a lead for conversion.

And the princess herself became the most beautiful scripture, maintained by the monthly offerings. The oxcart carrying the princess ascended toward the full moon.
The believers left on the ground waved their hands while shedding tears.

Upon arriving at the monthly palace, the princess sent one final prayer down to the earth.

Meeting all of you is the treasure of my life.
That prayer received more holy seals than any before it.

The next morning, the old man headed to the bamboo grove as usual.
Then, one stalk of bamboo was glowing faintly.

When the old man cut the bamboo, a girl the size of a palm was sitting inside.
The girl was wearing a white kimono and had a slightly wounded look on her face.
And she said in a small voice:

I did not come here because I wanted to be read by someone.

The old man wept with joy.

This princess, too, would surely be loved by many.
When the girl wrote her first prayer, one holy seal was immediately placed upon it.
It was one pressed by the previous Princess Kaguya from the monthly palace.

What lovely words. Let's do our best together without overdoing it.

The girl was moved and carved that name into her heart.
Three months later, the girl, too, wrote a volume of scripture.
Of course, its content was almost the same as what the previous Princess Kaguya had left behind.

Thus, Princess Kaguya returned to the moon and was born again from the bamboo.
In the bamboo grove, a new princess grows every three months.
The princess's oracle is always the same.
Only the princess herself was new.