Year of the Wildest Boar Prologue Part 1

Things start with narration from Gullinbursti as he says he lost the master he was to protect in a far away battleground. He seems to have dissociated with the sense of loss since he says it felt unrealistic, comparing it to drifting in a nightmare.

He talks about being born from a furnace, and he delighted in staking his life for his master. He believed that when he’d die, it’d be when he used his own body to shield Freyr. But in reality, Freyr died and he was left to live in the moment with no direction or goal. He went on recklessly like an empty chariot.

He didn’t know how to turn himself around and he didn’t know how to stop, so he just went looking for the next war ground. He looked for somewhere to die. He asks that if he were stronger that day, would Freyr have taken him along to battle?

Gullinbursti was left with Freyr’s sword and says it’s too much for him. He wonders if things would have been different if he were better at wielding it. Gullinbursti then says he’s gotten stronger, feeling that as he is now he wouldn’t have helplessly watched Freyr leave alone.

He hears a voice calling to him, and to his shock he says it’s Freyr’s. He’s sure than even if something changed like even his voice, he’d never change masters. Gullinbursti calls back saying he’s there, and the summoning light takes him though he doesn’t understand what’s happening.

Title card pops up, and the chapter title is Prologue: New Year! The Great Slime Cleanup!

Things tune back to the Summoners guild house as you comment about finishing the cleaning and saying it’s suddenly the new year. Shirou says last year was rough and tells you you did well.

Kengo says that when you’re around he doesn’t have the time to be bored or pick fights. He suggests going wild this year again. You can then either say you want to relax with Shirou or agree with Kengo.

Going with A, Shirou is surprised but says he feels the same way. He hopes there’s at least a little bit of time to enjoy the quiet. In any case Agyou pretty literally jumps into the conversation to bring up Japan’s first shrine visit of the year custom.

Agyou says that Touji lives at a shrine, so you guys should go greet him too. And since Kengo and Shirou are always with you while he holds the fort, he suggests that you spend the day with him. You can either agree or try to back out of it.

Going with A in case it matters, Kengo shrugs and tells you to come hang with him later when that’s done with. Shirou thinks it’s a good idea for you to go for the shrine visit, and by the time you get back he’ll have the New Year’s food ready. Speaking of which...

Tsathoggua is literally rolling around on the ground, saying spring cleaning sucks and complains he’s worked enough to last the whole year. Then he says he’s hungry. Shirou begs you to take Tsathoggua with you because he’s worried he’ll snarf everything up as soon as he brings anything out otherwise.

Tsathoggua is shocked by this remark, then flops down and says he won’t budge an inch. During Christmas he was dragged to everywhere by Someone from Akihabara and forced to attend a bunch of things, and this is a total disgrace to his reputation as a shut in. The personality may differ but he can’t oppose against that face. Then he says he remembers the time when he got a lot of tributes.

Tsathoggua then says he won’t go to Akihabara’s first sale of the year and that he’s staying home this New Years. Agyou snaps at him to not be so lazy right off the bat. Then he asks why he’s hanging out at your place even if he’s part of another guild.

Agyou then stops himself and says he should at least listen to the other party, so after a bit of thinking he tries some reverse psychology and baiting him with the fact that there’ll be sweet sake at the shrine. This gets his full attention.

Agyou makes a show of saying the honey sweet sake goes out quick and asks if you want some too. You play along and say you do, maybe even take Tsathoggua’s portion of it too. By then Tsathoggua is already up and telling you guys to hurry and go. Kengo is shocked Tsathoggua is already getting pretty far out there.

Agyou is surprised at how faithful Tsathoggua is to his desires, then tries to shrug it off and says you two should go too.

Later, you head to the shrine that Touji apparently lives at according to Agyou. He’s impressed with the place, and Tsathoggua says he smells something sweet. He tries to hurry you guys to get some and offers to pay.

Touji walks over in his priest outfit and asks if you guys really came to a holy shrine to blow off the customary visit and drink sweet sake. You can either greet him with Happy New Years, say you’ll do it after, or say he looks cool so early in the year.

Going with A, he greets you back and says it’s admirable to go shrine visit first day of the year. In any case Agyou notes he’s in the middle of cleaning and says he wants to do it too. Touji says they’ll get along and says cleaning is a purifying ritual, a way to bring quietness to the heart.

Agyou says his grandfather used to say the same thing, which is why he can’t stand messes. Touji says a lot of visitors came by yesterday with no sense of decorum. He doesn’t have issue with them celebrating, but they’ve tossed litter everywhere. Then he yells and asks if Tsathoggua is listening.

Tsathoggua is shocked, then says he’s throwing his trash away. And even if he doesn’t, his minions will do it. As you take a look, he’s dumped several paper cups around himself and his slime minions are indeed picking them up and putting them in the garbage cans. You can comment on this being convenient or comment on his laziness.

Touji sighs and says you guys should get on with things, because the shrine will get crowded if you hang around too long. Tsathoggua passes on the actual shrine part since he finds being in long lines tiring. Touji is about to object but then thinks it’s not something you can force someone to do. So instead he tells him to wait there and tells you and Agyou to come along.

Some time later, you’re almost near the front of the line, and Agyou says the line wasn’t as long as he thought it’d be. Touji says this is one of the dead hours, and more people will be around in the afternoon. Agyou fishes out some offering coins, then asks if you’ve thought about what you’ll wish for. Touji then tells you guys to go ahead now.

You and Agyou walk up to the offering box and toss your coins in. As you prepare to make your wish, you think about your painful defeats. You pray for either everyone’s safety or for no more sad times, then you pray for new friends to join you or for new encounters.

A bright flash blows up in front of you, and you and Agyou both remember the time he came in last year like this. Agyou calls out, and Touji asks if you guys recognize what’s happening as he realizes what the light is too.

When you can see again, Gullinbursti appears in front of the offering box asking what the light was and what the voice he heard was. Narration describes him as firmly built and wearing an animal headdress, clearly dressed like a warrior. He’s looking around, hand on his sword, not understanding what’s happening.

Touji says it is a summoning, but asks why it just happened now. You can either say the summoner must be in the crowd of visitors or say Gullinbursti has a nice bod. Either way he snaps to attention and looks at you in wonder, asking if you’re his master.

His face immediately falls though thinking you’re someone else, but he’s still not sure. Agyou asks if he’s confused and says he understands the feeling. Gullinbursti says he’s used to unexpected things happening, and that he was tempered to the point this isn’t going to blow his mind.

Agyou is baffled by this and asks if he understands that he came to another world. Gullinbursti thinks that’s not something to be surprised about. He heard his master’s voice and thinks answering it may have been a misunderstanding. Touji thinks being summoned through a misunderstanding is next level stubbornness.

Anyways, Touji says the summoner doesn’t seem to be close by, but maybe you guys can find them on the shrine grounds. Agyou says he’s good at taking care of people and thought he’d be scarier. Touji says he can’t brush away anything that happens at the shrine, then compares this to helping a lost child. Agyou agrees and says you guys should start searching.

Gullinbursti objects and says you guys don’t need to mind him. He wants to solve his own problems, but you tell him it’s faster to work together, and that he’s already too far in to stop. *Nobody stops.*

Gullinbursti relents, then thanks you and tells you his name. He also describes himself as a protector of one of the governors of Yggdrasil, who is also the one responsible for harvests. He frowns when he gets to the part where he’s Freyr’s protector though, then decides there isn’t time to talk about Freyr more and asks you to forget all that.

Agyou protests that cutting out midway through will just bug him, though Touji says introductions can wait while they go look for the summoner. Touji also reasons that Gullinbursti being summoned by mistake means the summoner likely doesn’t know they summoned him. Agyou suggests looking everywhere then.

Some time later Touji asks if you had any luck. Agyou says no and that the summoner may not be nearby. They expand their search radius, but still no luck. Gullinbursti asks if there’s any other way to send him back besides finding the summoner.

Agyou says so far there isn’t, and he’s in the same boat. He talks about how he came in last year and tried to go back but couldn’t manage to find a way. But still, he’s managed to have some fun and decided to find a place to belong here. He tries to cheer Gullinbursti up, though he interrupts to ask what what he sees is.

He points to a trash bag that’s fallen next to a bench, which seems to have been filled with garbage and left there. But then there’s some slimes pulling the trash out and throwing it around. Touji yells at them to stop, and Agyou says he sees more around.

Some of those slimes are drawing on things around the shrine, so Agyou says he’s going to clean them up. The slimes are capable of some speech as they run up and tell him he can’t clean, moving to prevent him from sweeping things up with a broom and attacking.

Since they’re so focused on the broom Touji asks if they hate cleaning tools, then names the things Dust Slimes. He’d rather there not be a ruckus at the shrine but that seems unavoidable, so he says it’s time to clear them out. Gullinbursti doesn’t understand what’s happening, but he asks if you need manpower, then offers to help fight. You either comment on his drive or ask him to hold back against the slimes. Then the episode half ends.