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闇に蠢く光の蟲 |
A Bug of Light Wriggling in the Dark |
---|---|
能力: 蟲を操る程度の能力 |
Ability: Manipulation of insects |
危険度: 中 |
Threat level: Medium |
人間友好度: 普通 |
Human friendship level: Normal |
主な活動場所: 草むらなど |
Main place of activity: Bushes, clumps of grass, etc. |
人間にとって気持ちの悪い妖怪と言えば、やはりこのリグル・ナイトバグである。 |
If you want to talk about a youkai that humans find unpleasant, Wriggle Nightbug is a good example. |
何故気持ちが悪いかというと、蟲の大群と共に現れ蟲を思い通りに操る事に尽きる。 |
As to why she's considered unpleasant, she always appears with a large number of bugs and can control bugs at will. |
例えば百足、毛虫、蛾、蜘蛛、竈馬が一斉に襲ってくる事を想像してみればよい。 |
Just imagine being simultaneously attacked by centipedes, caterpillars, moths, spiders, and cave crickets. |
身の毛が弥立つ。 |
It makes your hair stand on end. |
この妖怪の姿は、人間の子供位ある。 |
This youkai appears similar to a human child. |
幸いな事に、完全な蟲の形をしている訳ではなく、触角と羽が見える程度で、他は人間と変わらない(*1)。 |
Fortunately, she doesn't look completely like a bug; she has antennae and wings, but other than that doesn't look any different from a human (*1). |
リグルは蟲の妖怪であるが、正確に言うと蛍の妖怪である。 |
Wriggle is a bug youkai, but to be exact she's a firefly youkai. |
蛍は、蟲の中では珍しく、人間に人気のある蟲である。 |
Fireflies, unlike most bugs, are popular with humans. |
こういった蟲は人間に退治されにくく、妖怪まで成長しやすい。 |
Since this type of bug can avoid extermination by humans, it's easy for them to mature into youkai. |
蛍の他には、蝶も同様に人気が高く、妖怪になりやすい。 |
In addition to fireflies, butterflies are similarly quite popular with humans, so it's easy for them to become youkai. |
古来、蟲の妖怪と言えば、鬼や天狗と並ぶ恐怖の対象だったが、最近はその威厳を失って久しい。 |
Since long ago, bug youkai have been the equal of oni and tengu in terms of inspiring fear, but lately they've lost that feeling of dignity. |
蟲たちのリーダーとも言える蟲の妖怪が、幼い少女の姿をしているのも、それを象徴していると言える。 |
The fact that this bug youkai, who could be called the bugs' leader, has the appearance of a young girl could be considered a symbol of this. |
何故、急激に蟲の力が弱まっていったのかは、調査が必要である。 |
The reason why the bugs' power has suddenly declined needs to be investigated. |
目撃報告例 |
Eyewitness Reports |
・大きな石を持ち上げたら蟲がびっしり居た。気持ち悪い (匿名) |
"I lifted up a big stone and there were a whole bunch of bugs under it. It was disgusting." (Anonymous) |
余りこの妖怪と関係ないかも知れないが、一応蟲の報告という事で。 |
This may not have much to do with this youkai, but it's technically a report regarding bugs. |
・軒下に百足がびっしり居た。勘弁して欲しい (匿名) |
"There were a whole bunch of centipedes under the overhang of my roof. Give me a break." (Anonymous) |
余りこの妖怪と関係ないかも知れない。 |
This may not have much to do with this youkai. |
・お勝手口に竈馬が居た。呪いたい (匿名) |
"There was a cave cricket at my back door. I hate those things." (Anonymous) |
この妖怪と関係ないです。 |
This has nothing to do with this youkai. |
対策 |
Countermeasures |
蟲の恐怖は、なんと言ってもその数にある。 |
The thing that makes bugs frightening is their numbers. |
一匹当たりの力は低いが、大量に来ると対処は難しい。 |
Individually they don't have much power, but when they come in large groups they're hard to deal with. |
特に、一匹や二匹退治した所で、何の意味も無いと言うのに、スズメバチなど人間には一発で致命傷を与える蟲も居る。 |
This is particularly true for bugs such as hornets; while killing one or two means nothing, if they land one sting it can kill a human. |
最も有効な対策は、火を焚いたり、燻したりして広範囲に虫を寄せ付けないようにする事である(*2)。 |
The most effective countermeasure is building a fire and using fumigation in order to keep bugs away from a large area (*2). |
また、総じて寒さに弱い。 |
Also, they're generally weak to the cold. |
春から秋にかけて活動するが、冬は殆ど出てこない。 |
They're active from spring through fall, but they almost never show up during winter. |
ただ、蟲を操る事が恐怖なだけで、リグル・ナイトバグ単体と対峙してもさほど恐くはないだろう。 |
While her ability to control bugs is frightening, there isn't much to fear in facing Wriggle Nightbug on her own. |
もし妖怪退治をするのなら、冬、この妖怪が一人で居る時を狙うと良いだろう。 |
If you're trying to exterminate youkai, your best bet is to go after this youkai during winter when she's alone. |
また、この妖怪が遣う蟲の中で最も気をつけなければいけないのが、恙虫である。 |
Also, among the bugs that this youkai controls, the ones you need to be most careful of are the harvest mites. |
恙虫は人間の目に映らない悪魔の蟲であり、剌された事にも気付かない。 |
Harvest mites are devil bugs that can't be seen by the human eye, and you don't even notice that you've been bitten. |
後日、小さな黒い刺された跡が出るが時は既に遅し、高熱を出して倒れてしまい、かなりの確率で死に至る。 |
Later, small black bite marks will appear, but by then it's too late; you'll get a high fever and collapse, and there is a high probability of death. |
有効な治療法は無い。 |
There is no effective treatment. |
リグルが蟲を携えて居ないのに自信たっぷりで居たとしたら、その時が一番危険である。 |
If Wriggle doesn't seem to have any bugs with her and yet looks really confident, that's the most dangerous time. |
周りに恙虫を集めているかも知れない(*3)。 |
She could be gathering harvest mites (*3). |
*1 人間の形を取る事が、退治されにくくする事には必要なのだろう。 |
1: She needs to take on human shape in order to make it more difficult for humans to exterminate her. |
*2 最近は殺虫剤と言う便利な薬もある。 |
2: Recently, there's also a convenient chemical known as insecticide. |
*3 蚤かも知れないが。 |
3: Or maybe fleas. |
- Return to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense
- Previous: pg. 35-36 Letty Whiterock
- Next: pg. 39-40 Mystia Lorelei