una and the black mountain

A small group of travelers was making their way through the desert under the blue sky.

A very small horse is pulling an equally small carriage.

The creatures traveling are called una , which are about 25 centimetres long.

It was a small creature.

For some reason, this creature has the habit of not settling in one place.

It was common to travel a long way before finding a place that you liked.

This time, we continue our cheerful journey singing, dancing, and dozing off.

 

However, this does not mean there are no problems.

The group had been in the desert for more than 20 days.

Food supplies and water had all run out.

 

At that time, one of the una who had climbed onto the hood of the carriage,

Unusually for him, he didn't doze off, but just stared out into the desert.

There was a pitch black mountain like I had never seen before.

Una rubbed her eyes and then looked more closely in that direction.

There were many trees growing at the base of the mountain.

The una got excited and said, "Kida, Kida."

If there are trees, there must be water and not just barren land.

The other Una members noticed and started making a fuss.

Everyone was overjoyed, and the group changed course towards the black mountain.

****

At the foot of the Black Mountain, there are not only trees and grass,

There were even rivers and springs, and there were even fish swimming in the rivers.

There were lots of red berries growing all around.

The hungry Una devoured the fruit.

It was very sour, and although the unas kept saying it was so sour,

I ate until I was full.

 

Once their stomachs were full, the una began to become wary.

If there is such abundant water and trees in the desert,

This was because there were often ferocious animals present.

However, there is no sign of this anywhere.

 

Then, one of the una said this:

"Let's create a land of eels"

The other unas liked the idea too.

 

One of the unas set up a pot on the ground with leaves tied to it.

It's meant to be a flag.

The Una were so happy that they all ran happily around the flag.

 

After walking around for a while, Una raised the flag and said:

 

"Let's decide the roles."

 

Una , who likes to speak up and make decisions, answered immediately.

"I want to be a gichou."

Everyone nodded yes. The chairman was elected.

 

Una , who loves fishing, also raised her hand.

"I want to go fishing"

Everyone agrees with this too.

 

Una , who loves singing, raised her hand.

"I want to sing"

We all nodded in agreement to this as well.

 

Una , who is good at cooking, is in charge of cooking, and Una , who likes digging holes, is in charge of construction.

Gradually, roles were decided.

However, there was one girl who refused to raise her hand until the very end.

The chairman asked, "Is there anything?"

I tried my best to think about it , but I didn't know what I was good at.

I couldn't think of anything.

The chairman asked again if there were any, and I had no choice but to answer "no."

He said, "Well, it's fine since there's no role for me."

The una nodded dejectedly.

****

As soon as the sun rose, the Una all got up and worked hard.

Una , a fisherman, goes out fishing, and Una , who loves flowers, creates a flower garden.

Una , who loves digging holes, and Una , who is good with her hands, work together to build a tent.

 

Una , who has no role to play, approaches everyone and

I'll let you help me

No matter what I did, I couldn't do it well and ended up getting scolded.

Even so, I tried various things to see if there was anything I could do as Una , who had no role.

I ended up covering the food with salt and letting the fish I caught escape.

The tent I had worked so hard to set up was destroyed.

The other Una members are also annoyed, saying, "You don't need to come anymore."

 

As the sun went down, the chairman appeared and everyone gathered in a circle.

We will take turns presenting today's results.

 

"I caught three fish."

Everyone will be delighted.

"A bed is ready."

"I planted the seeds"

 

Una , who had no role, said, "It didn't work."

But no one blames them for that.

Everyone nods in agreement.

 

The brave Una said, "Something big was sleeping on the other side of the mountain."

The chairman asked, "What is that?"

"I don't know, but I was sleeping," answered the shy Una .

One day, Una , who had no role to play, was walking proudly with a large pot in her arms.

This has never happened before.

The fisherman, Una , was heard.

"Where are you going for fun?"

The useless una answers.

"I found something good"

 

I'm Una , who loves flowers.

"Is it pretty?"

The useless una answers.

"I've never seen anything like it."

 

The chairman will listen.

"What are you going to do with such a big pot?"

The useless una answers.

"I'll get some for everyone."

Una , who had no role to play, went deep into the forest singing flower songs.

 

In the evening, the usual briefing session began.

Una , who had no role, was excited.

For the first time, I can say something other than "It didn't work."

 

"I caught a fish."

Everyone will be delighted.

"We have a monitoring system."

"I got it"

 

Finally, it's Una 's turn, who has no role to play.

"I found some good grass!"

He is breathing heavily and looks very proud.

 

The chairman looked at the grass and said:

"This is poisonous. If you eat it, you'll die."

The other una were surprised.

"I'm going to die."

 

Una , who had been in high spirits just a moment ago, now had no role to play and was dejected.

The mountain of grass they had collected was poisonous.

Una , who had no role to play, went home holding the pot full of poisonous plants.

Unusually for una , I cried a little.

****

It was a full moon that night.

Even though it was night, it was faintly bright and the surroundings were completely quiet.

 

Suddenly, an eerie , whirring sound rang out.

The una woke up at the sound and huddled together, trembling.

I was trying to figure out what was going to happen.

 

I heard a loud thud, and then...

The ground shook and Una and the others were thrown out of the tent.

There was a strong smell in the air.

 

One una held up a small torch and looked at it.

 

A huge monster with a cow's head was roaring.

He lets out a low growl and turns his emotionless eyes towards Una and the others.

Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed an una that was nearby, along with the ground, and threw it into his mouth.

Those that are too scared to move are eaten first.

It seemed like there was absolutely nothing I could do.

 

"I cook for you every day, so don't eat it."

Una , who is good at cooking, asked this with a bunch of nuts in her hands.

The monster threw the una , along with the nut, into his mouth and ate it.

 

"I'll sing it every day, so don't eat it."

Just as I was about to sing, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed me.

It was eaten.

 

A brave una with a burning pot

"If you don't go over there, I'll kill you," he said.

The brave una was also eaten along with the fire.

 

The una that were still alive were hiding in the shadows, shivering.

The monster let out a terrifying gurgle,

I looked around to find the hiding una .

 

Suddenly, the useless Una walked right in front of the monster.

"Eat this."

Una said that she had no role to play.

On his head he had a pot full of poisonous plants.

My eyes are watery from stress.

The monster, without any hesitation, took the una and the pot.

I swallowed it all in one gulp.

 

The monster was trying to eat all the remaining una ,

It suddenly became dull.

The monster's eyes were wide open, and a large amount of saliva was dripping from its mouth.

He was breathing with difficulty.

With a loud "gulp" sound, the Una that I had just eaten

I threw up.

The Una that were spat out were all dead.

 

The monster began to rampage, as if trying to escape from its pain.

Destroy the mountains, uproot the forests, and then...

He let out a death cry and collapsed.

The monster never got up again.

He died from the poison of the poisonous plant.

Una and the others looked at it dumbfounded,

Seeing the monster dead,

And seeing his friends dead,

I began to sing a sad song.

The singing continued until morning.

 

The Una soon began to rebuild their destroyed village.

The first thing we made was a grave for the Una who had passed away.

The useless una were buried in the best place.

The pot he was carrying was also buried.

****

Something strange happened in the spring.

Beautiful flowers bloomed from the grave of the useless Una .

It is not a poisonous plant.

The flowers had a very nice smell.

The una and the others thought that they really liked the flowers.

[End]

This picture book is included in HobbyJAPAN's "Dollybird vol.2".