Part 49: Episode 34: The King's Picture Book

Once, there was a poor little quail.


One day, the quail was tricked by a bad bird and killed.


The quail was put onto the train through the night sky, along with all the other birds who had died.
Where is the train going? There must be a terrible place at the end of the line.
The quail was so scared, and so afraid, it thought its little heart would burst.


But the train stopped, for a little while.
Apparently even galactic trains have to wait for signals.
The quail was too scared to stay on the train, so it jumped off.


There was a dark, dark room there.
There was nothing in it but a chair and a little candle.
There was no one else there.


The quail sat on the chair and cried.
Why did this happen?
It was betrayed by its friend and forced onto a strange train.
What would happen next?


The quail thought, and thought, and made a station.
Maybe if there’s a station, someone will come by to play.
The quail made a station, and lit the candle, and waited.


Time passed. Birds came.
The dark room became a beautiful kingdom.


The candle became a grand lighthouse.


The chair became a royal throne.


And the quail became The King.


Those who come to the kingdom become one with The King.
The King is all, and all are The King.
No one is hurt, and no one has any sad thoughts.


The birds of the Holiday Star lived happily.
Happily, ever after.
How nice.
How very nice.









The music stops.



Slowly, the darkness at the end of the throne room began to light up. Are those… eggs? I couldn’t quite be sure.

Unfortunately, the room was not the only thing changing.



So little by little, The King absorbed everyone on the Holiday Star. And now we are one.
I don’t feel like I understand you at all, even after that huge monologue!
He’s lonely, so he wants friends. But he doesn’t want his friends to quarrel. So he absorbs them all.
You’re quite a storyteller, Your Highness, to use a few hundred lines to express what I just did in three.

In other words, this whole place is basically a cult of loneliness and crazy peer pressure!


What’s good about having everyone together, Mr. King? No one gets to play their own part!
If Okosan were here he’d say something like “Everyone is different and everyone is good!”, Mr. King! And then he’d slap you!

I suppose you are right. If everyone is one, no one gets hurt.
But there’s no one on this fake star, but you, Your Majesty. As long as you stay here, you’ll be alone.
The King said, it’s not The King’s fault.












A spotlight shined on the middle of the royal chamber, where a small, umoving, scribbly quail lay.

All who came here accepted it gladly.
Even the ones like you, who were angry at first. In two days, you will be The King’s best friends.



You are the ones who are wrong. It is you who are wrong. You’re not right.

The ground began to shake. The quail scribble in the middle of the room began to move and distort uncontrollably--
A heartbeat is heard.










--until finally, a horrible creature burst forth from it.

The King, and That King, and This King, and all These Kings, are so happy.
But you want to hurt The King, and This King, and That King.
Everyone has to be good on this star. If we are not one, then someone will surely hurt someone else.
The King said--

The hydra of Kings let out a horrible scream.
The music stops.



The room went black.
Nageki and I were in big trouble.