The Malice coming from the ✻ is getting stronger.
I've searched, and there is no record of it getting this strong in the past.
Recently, poor harvests and deaths have begun to increase.
The time of repentance for Tachibana's failure to perform the ritual is drawing near.
Half of the Mourners were driven mad by the Malice and jumped into the ✻.
We must prepare more Mourners, we'll use the sinners.
If we don't do something, the ✻ will overflow in a few years.
I must use my daughters in the ritual.
Sae and Yae must be cleansed.
For the village!
Translation Note
A line has been omitted from this translation, in which Ryokan writes, "Offerings have been delivered from other villages wishing for the ritual. We must hurry." (In Deep Crimson Butterfly, this line was mistranslated as, "We have started looking for offerings in other villages, but we must hurry.".) 'Offerings' (供物) in this context implies goods and supplies rather than sacrifices, and is not the same word as is used later to refer to Yae and Sae (紅贄). This is notable, as it shows that other villages in the region were aware of the ritual and benefited from it, even going so far as to petition Minakami Village to perform the ritual in difficult times.