KATANAGATARI 2

Ever westward─

“It sounds like he knows we’ve gotten some of the swords.”

“At the very least, he knows about the Leveler and the Razor. And it’s been a month since Izumo─I wouldn’t be surprised if he had heard about the Legion.”

“Word gets out one way or another, huh.”

“Everywhere you go, some guy14 is running his mouth. And a swordsman the caliber of Sabi has no shortage of admirers, eager to be of service. Alliances are dangerous. His reputation as the Strongest Swordsman is enough to win their blind devotion…but Sabi is no master in name only. Frankly, I had hoped to see you face him at a later date…but no matter. I’ll cook up some kind of a scheme─just keep fighting, hard as you can.”

“You said Hakuto the Whisper was forged to be the lightest, thinnest sword around, right? One false move…an inch off course, and the blade shatters to pieces, making it impossible to block.”

“The Whisper is invisibly thin. It’s no use trying to explain. Until you see the blade yourself, its shape defies comprehension─as you say, it is extremely fragile…but that’s what makes it beautiful.”

“Beautiful? If it were a decoration, I could understand─but does it need to be so thin? It sounds like it was made to break. How am I supposed to capture it without a scratch─”

“I know that saying this I risk offending you─but this time around, I think you need to look beyond the sword. Hakuhei Sabi must not be underestimated… Even wielding the Whisper, his powers are unbridled and unfettered. Calling him the Strongest Swordsman in Japan is not a matter of opinion or infatuation─but a matter of fact. His swing and thrust are always sure, and I mean always. Dare I say that his attacks have never missed the mark, or even lapsed into the defense.”15

“And that makes him─the Strongest Swordsman?”

“At first glance, his ponytail almost makes him look like a girl. A pretty boy, for sure. But by his own account, he could even slice the noonday sun in half… Sabi was born too late. If he could have taken part in the Rebellion─but no. Even had he been born in the Age of Warring States, he would have been the greatest.16 He is a natural-born swordsman.”

Hakuhei Sabi was born after the Rebellion─and today, at barely twenty, he was still a boy, but to the bakufu, quite frankly─he was a terror. Perhaps the Onmitsu, who had seen their role usurped, felt up to the task, but they may also have been happy to unload this particular burden on Togame.

Then again, Togame had an interest in personally dispatching the scoundrel who betrayed her─so tasking her with the extermination of the Fallen Swordsman made the most sense. The problem was the timing.

This was not─the ideal time.

She had hoped to allow Shichika to accrue more experience first.

Experience─thus far on their Sword Hunt, Shichika had only battled three opponents to the death. While Togame had long stopped doubting his abilities, the idea of pitting him against Sabi for his fourth real fight… Well, let’s just say no amount of scheming would improve his odds.

But this was a chance she could not miss.

She could not let Sabi get away…not so long as he held one of the Twelve Possessed. And for that matter, Hakuto the Whisper. While she did not doubt Sabi’s skill, a sword that fragile─could easily be snapped in half, if things got even slightly out of hand. If Sabi so much as stumbled, the sword could be forever lost. It was a miracle the Whisper had remained intact for all this time. Togame had hoped to make it hers before any of the other Twelve Possessed.

“Judging from the wording of his challenge, it would appear that Sabi launched a Sword Hunt of his own. The venom of the blades has got the better of him. And yet the Onmitsu make it sound as if he’s only managed to obtain the Whisper. Assuming that he’s heard the talk about us, he can hardly be amused. His prowess17 will be hard enough to handle, without getting him worked up… Our best bet is to take advantage of the sort of swagger he can get away with, as Grand Master Swordsman, since after all, he─”

“Togame.”

Shichika cut her off. Having shed layer after layer, Togame was down to her slip18─he let her tresses gather on his forearms, and rested his hands on her shoulders, gripping her collarbone.19

“I know you’re excited, but stop complimenting other swords in front of me─I’m not sure how strong Sabi actually is, but I thought the Kyotoryu was supposed to be the strongest. As your katana, I have my pride. And I don’t need you prodding at it any more than necessary.”

“Ah, I see.”

Jealousy laid bare.

When Shichika was acting childish, he was difficult to handle. For Togame, it also made him easy to manipulate─at some point, however, she would have to fix his tendency to flare up when something rubbed him the wrong way.

But there was no time for that now.

They were underprepared.

After all the care she put into determining their order of attack─

“…No, not my collarbone. I’m weak there.”

“?”

“Ha-Hands off my collarbone. I’ll fall to pieces.20 Stop stop stop!”

“…? I was barely grabbing it. I was practically caressing you.”

“Even worse… No, nuhn, nuh.”

“Nuhn Nuh?21 Is that some rare, black-and-white beast from the continent? Are you okay? You’re kind of scaring me.”

“I’m fine, okay? Hold up my hair like a good boy. Seriously. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Okay? I’m sorry.”

Shichika found this strange, but did as he was told.

No skin off his back, but someone was grumpy.

“I don’t get it, Togame.”

“Like you can judge. You’re just as puzzling…but maybe I can find a way to put that part of you to use, when you fight Hakuhei Sabi. His comely22 mien holds even men in thrall.”

These willowy looks made his opponents let their guard down. None who saw him would reasonably assume he was the Strongest Swordsman in Japan. Even Togame, in their first meeting, assumed the stories she had heard must have been fabulations.23

She could not have been more wrong─

Sabi was without a doubt the Strongest Swordsman in Japan.

And barely twenty years of age─

“But Togame─isn’t this kind of a good thing? If Sabi is the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, and I beat him, that means I’ll be the Strongest Swordsman in Japan.”

“Yes, I suppose you would…but are you sure you want that title?”24

“As a swordsman─as a sword, what title could be better? All the more if it helps you.”

“Hmm…you surprise me. But know this,” Togame said. “No shortage of men have lost their lives to Sabi, after saying the same thing─so before getting too ambitious, you better figure out a way to stay alive.”

“Stay alive? How can I stay alive, unless I win?”

“That may be true─”

But winning was the problem.

The question of winning or losing was inextricable from that of life and death.

The fact that Shichika had not even considered fleeing was a sign of his dedication, or his stupidity. Hard to say.

Despite his foe being none other than the Fallen Swordsman─

“…”

While it may have been rude of Togame, or even insulting, to think these things─she was ill-equipped to stop herself.

She couldn’t help it.

After suffering the betrayal of Komori Maniwa of the Maniwa Clan─what if her second hire, Hakuhei Sabi, had not betrayed her or the bakufu─but become her loyal partner on the Sword Hunt? By now, how many of the Twelve Possessed would they have reaped?

The Strongest Swordsman in Japan─paired with her unparalleled intellect.

Three swords?

Would they have less─or more?

“…You can let go of my hair.”

“Okay.”

“Tie my obi.”

“Sure thing.”

When Togame had finally changed into her nightdress,25 they returned to the straw mats and resumed their earlier posture, with Shichika lending his arm for a pillow. For him, physical proximity was all about protection.

“So, what’s the plan? Do we accept the duel?”26

“We have no choice, at least provisionally. I have a handful of schemes in mind…that is, I hatched a few while I was out, but our only consolation at the moment is that one of them might work.”

“Might work…”

“I’ll work the details out along the way. I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“You’ll think of something, huh… What do you mean by on the way? How far are we?”

“We aren’t exactly close─and we’ll need to take a boat.”

“A boat?”

“To Ganryu Island.”27

“Ganryu Island…”

“You’re the swordsman, whether you use a sword or not. Surely you’ve heard about the duel28 which took place on that island, over a hundred years ago, between a man bearing a great sword29 and another bearing two. He could not be any more old-fashioned.”

“…Or any more of a creep?”

Shichika sounded none too pleased to hear her picking up her praise of Sabi. Seeing his acid words to be a breaking point, Togame left it at that and resigned herself to sleep, but Shichika waited for her to fall asleep before letting himself relax.

And just before he did, he had a thought.

Hakuhei Sabi─Strongest Swordsman in Japan.

Does that make him stronger than sis?

■　■

Four tough months─and so much fun!

And now we end the introduction to this stage of their journey!

Thank you kindly for your patronage…but do I speak too soon?!

What about Hakuto the Whisper?!

And Hakuhei Sabi, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan?!

How will Shichika and Togame fare against this sudden turn of events─but then again, what turn of events is any less than sudden!

Ganryu Island, that romantic destination!

A one-off horror of a move!30

Behold, this purely odd piece of a period piece!

Tale of the Sword: Book Four ♪

1 卯月 UZUKI “rabbit moon” fourth month in the Japanese lunar calendar named for 卯の花 UNOHANA, a hollow-stemmed deciduous flower which blooms at the start of spring

2 筵 MUSHIRO woven matting which, unlike tatami, can be rolled up for storage

3 持ち主 MOCHINUSHI owner

4 しちりん SHICHIRIN -rin, like -chan, is affectionate homophonous w/ 七輪 SHICHIRIN charcoal grill

5 野宿 NOJUKU “sleeping in the field”

6 根を張る NE WO HARU “take root”

7 くたくた KUTA KUTA onomatopoeia for exhaustion

8 ひらがな HIRAGANA the cursive wing of the Japaense syllabary

9 腑抜け FUNUKE “deprived of viscera”

10 劣情 RETSUJŌ “inferior sentiments”

11 同性 異性 DŌSEI ISEI same gender different gender

12 朗報 RŌHŌ “delightful information”

13 全権 ZENKEN “complete rights” plenipotentiary powers

14 輩 YAKARA generally derisive reference to a group

15 受け太刀 UKEDACHI “catch a sword” parrying

16 頂点 CHŌTEN “summit” the epitome

17 剣威 KEN’I “sword might” puns on 権威 KEN’I power, authority

18 襦袢 JUBAN undergarment similar in shape to a kimono

19 鎖骨 SAKOTSU “chain bone” supposedly once used for shackling prisoners

20 くてっと KUTETTO onomatopoeia for crumpling

21 やんやん YANYAN agitated repetition of いや IYA no can begin to sound like a panda’s name

22 たおやか TAOYAKA delicate cognitive of 手弱女 TAOYAME graceful maiden

23 尾ひれがつく OHIRE GA TSUKU “with a tailfin tacked on” embellished

24 称号 SHŌGŌ appellation

25 寝間着 NEMAKI “sleep-room clothes”

26 果たし合い HATASHI AI formalized one-on-one battle

27 巌流島 GANRYŪJIMA “Isle of the Craggy Straits” famed site of duel between Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki

28 決戦 KESSEN “decisive fight”

29 長刀 CHŌTŌ long sword

30 禁じ手 KINJITE “forbidden hand” banned action (in sports)