I've finally gotten to some action in the story! Luckily the text is a lot less dense once you get into the pictures. On the other hand, some of the characters speak in very non-standard, old-fashioned Japanese, so I had to ask some people for advice on how to read the grammar. In my English translation, I haven't really gone overboard making the characters sound old-fashioned. I tweaked a few phrases, but I just wanted to stick as much as possible to the gist of what they're saying and not add in something that sounds cool in English but might not fit the text.
Anyway, here's the chapter:
この物語はフィクションであり、登場する人物など名称はすべて架空のものです。
This story is a work of fiction. All persons and names
depicted are fictitious.
話の一 "もみじ姫と火鬼八"
Chapter 1 “Momiji Princess and Kakiya”
（姫さま）Princess
うーんこのあずきは悪かろう
Hff. I wonder if the red beans are spoiled…
(in plaque) (プラーク)
安芸の国厳島
Itsukushima of Aki’s Country
（姫さま） Princess
今日の天気では煮あげる時刻は短き方がようかろうに
As in today’s weather you would do better to cook them for a
shorter time
（姫さま） Princess (2?)
生地が微妙に固くないか？
Did the dough harden correctly,
のう？
Do you think?
（姫さま） Princess
まこと、これでは三つ四つと食えんわな
In truth, I’ve eaten three or four
（きよら） Kiyora
今日のまんじゅうおいしくない？
Are today’s manjuu no good?
姫さま方
The princesses
（姫さま） Princess
まこと美味しい ＜３
Truly delicious!
（きよら） Kiyora
おばあちゃん今日も姫さま方お気に召したようよ
Grandma! It looks like the princesses eaten happily
today too!
（おばあさん） Grandma
じゃ、このままお店に並べようね
Well, let’s put these out in the shop as they are then.
（おばあさん） Grandma
あいかわらず文句いいながら食べとるようじゃの
As usual they gobble everything down even while griping
（きよら） Kiyora
うん、あれ５つ目
＜３
Yep, today’s the fifth time!
Notes:
For some reason, I have trouble finding which speech bubble is connected to which person, so while I think I have all the lines right, there was one that could go with either Kiyora or the Princesses. There are panels that don't show characters' faces and panels that show one character reacting to lines from another character off screen. Sometimes bubbles represent what someone's thinking even if they're not saying it out loud. I think it's just easier to figure out exactly who's talking when you're reading in your own language.
Aki is an old word for Hiroshima Prefecture.
