KATANAGATARI 2

■　■

Namely, the whereabouts of three of the six Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki whose owner and location she did not know─but there was more.

That woman was up to no good at Owari Castle.

Shichika was there at the time and could not help but hear their conversation─thanks to a subsequent incident,1 however, the memory had been entirely expunged.

Togame certainly remembered.

How could she forget? This woman─had been her arch-nemesis.2 Had been─when Togame departed on her Sword Hunt, she was confident that she’d drubbed the woman out for good. But then Hohoh told her otherwise.

This always happened. Each time she thought she finished her, the woman just popped up again.

Almost like she was invulnerable. Almost like she was indomitable.

Almost─like another me.

Hohoh had referred to her as Princess Negative.

Because nobody knew her actual name.

Just as Togame was known as the Schemer, that woman was known within the bakufu by only one name─Princess Negative.3

■　■

On the Sword Hunt, it was rare for things to go as planned and preconceived─more than rare, it was perhaps unprecedented─but this may as well have been a sign of pre-established harmony.4

Soto the Twin─one of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki.

Owned by Konayuki Itezora, of the House of Itezora.

Now Shichika was facing Konayuki, taking Kyotoryu Form One, the Suzuran─and Konayuki, as you may have guessed, was ready with Soto the Twin. The way that she held the sword, whose length was not so different from her height,5 was not exactly graceful, in polar contrast to the equipoise with which Hakuhei Sabi had handled the Whisper─and yet the blizzarding conditions suited her quite nicely.

Finish diplomatically, without a fight.

A nice idea, but no such luck─this episode would not be wrapping up so easily.

The sword known as Soto the Twin, while unbeknownst to little Konayuki, had been closely guarded by the House of Itezora.

Entrusted by Kiki Shikizaki.

Designated the veritable sheaths of the Twin, the clan would bestow the sword upon the chosen one6 when he or she finally came to the village.

Chosen one, huh?

Shichika thought this sounded pretty fishy, but then again, Kiki Shikizaki had believed the sword would choose its owner, and not the other way around. So maybe there were chosen ones.

But in that case, Shichika could not see how Soto the Twin had chosen anybody but the Itezoras.

The girl’s strength was monstrous.

Unparalleled7─no other word sufficed.

Konayuki had thought nothing of carrying Shichika back to the cave.

And evidently, her monstrous strength was not unique to her, but shared by the entire Itezora family. In fact, Konayuki (still a child) said she was on the low end of the spectrum…

Thus, it would appear that Kiki Shikizaki had bestowed Soto the Twin upon the House of Itezora─no one else could handle the Twin, not in the entire world.

At least it was impossible for Shichika.

And thus impossible for Kanara Azekura.

Even Hakuhei Sabi, once the Strongest Swordsman in Japan, would have found this sword impossible to wield. However deft with Hakuto the Whisper, the most difficult sword to handle, he could not so much pick up Soto the Twin.

Even Meisai Tsuruga, to whom every sword was fair game, would have met her match8 against the Twin.

But not this girl─Konayuki Itezora held it like a stick.

As if the thing was not even remotely heavy.

Held it in one hand, ungracefully.

Horrifying.

Honestly, he was horrified. According to a family rule, Konayuki was to use the sword to test whether they were “worthy”─child or not, this fight was not going to be child’s play. Mistake this for a game of Let’s Play Samurai,9 and he would get more than a skinned knee.

If she comes at me with her monstrous strength─

“…”

Hold on. He could not lose sight of the fact that it was all she had─after encountering so many swordsmen thus far on their journey, Shichika could tell that Konayuki had no idea what she was doing with the Twin.

She was just imitating the way she’d seen it wielded. Her lack of grace could not be blamed exclusively on the clunky sword, or on her height. She was a total amateur.

“Are you ready, Mister Shichika?”

Her carefree tone and cheery grin suggested that for Konayuki, this was in fact a game of Let’s Play Samurai.

None of the outrage or gravity you would expect─from someone following a family rule.

The blizzard had calmed a bit.

While snow pummeled the Level One Disaster Area of Mt. Odori the entire year, it varied in severity10 depending on the time of day─the choice to fight during a calmer period had been made to accommodate Shichika, who was not used to fighting in the snow.

He sank up to his knees.

But the conditions were the same for Konayuki. In terms of height, she may have had a disadvantage (standing waist deep in the snow), but because this was her home turf, it was six in one, half-dozen in the other.11

By the way, Shichika was not in his usual battle mode, shirtless and barefoot, armguards off─not even he was dumb enough to go out in the snow like that. Just yesterday, he almost died of frostbite.

He looked outfitted for a polar expedition.12

A little hard to move. Whatever, no big deal.

Maintaining the Suzuran, Shichika answered Konayuki.

“Hell yeah, I’m ready─but it sure is cold. Let’s get started. You good, Togame?”

“Yep.”

Standing between them, Togame (who had borrowed furs from Konayuki when she insisted they’d be much cozier than her many layers of silk) nodded slightly─and raised one hand high, serving her function as the referee. Between Triad Shrine and the Basket, the Schemer was starting to have a side career in refereeing.

Togame winked13 at Shichika.

Shichika winked back, to show he understood─indeed, this battle had its own restrictions.

Beat the superhuman little girl, Konayuki. That was a given.

But on top of that, Togame had stressed to Shichika that he must not kill Konayuki.

“Can you do that?”

Asked this question by his owner, he couldn’t exactly answer no, but his face must have betrayed his lack of certainty.

“For basically the same reason as last month,” Togame explained. “Actually, this time the stakes are even higher. Shichika, do you remember our quandary after acquiring Sento the Legion?”

“Yeah, we had to figure out a way to send all thousand swords back to Owari. We ended up accepting Meisai’s offer…but now there’s only one sword…oh, okay.” Once Shichika had spelled it out himself, he understood. “Right, that sword’s too heavy for anyone but an Itezora…”

Konayuki was the sole surviving sheath of Soto the Twin, the last of her kind.

He must not kill her under any circumstance.

“This must be why the Old Shogun failed to take away the Twin. They could try as hard as they wanted, but a sword this heavy isn’t going anywhere, which explains why no one knows what kind of sword it is. No wretched failure like that is going to wind up in the annals.”

“Makes sense. Anyway, I’m glad it isn’t just two swords in one…but hey, why is it called the Twin? Does it have to do with how much it weighs?”

“Not that I’m aware of. If I had to say, it’s probably just the way it’s written14…in which case I might have an idea.”

“Still, Kiki Shikizaki was full of surprises. What good is a sword this heavy?”

“Notwithstanding her monstrous strength, she’s just a little girl─no need to go all out on her. Reel it in enough so that she doesn’t die or get cut up or even wounded. You’re a grown man, twenty-four years old. You can afford to go a little easy on a kid.”

This notion was fraught with the carelessness of a strategist who never actually set foot into battle─or maybe she was only showing confidence in Shichika, her sword.

The swordsman who would actually be setting foot into battle, however, was ready to do as he was told and make sure that he did not kill, cut up, or even wound the child.

But go easy on her?

He could not treat this like a game simply because she was a kid.

And yet─Shichika was careless in his own right.

Komori Maniwa, one of the Maniwa Bosses.

Ginkaku Uneri, the Lord of Gekoku Castle.

Meisai Tsuruga, the Mistress of Triad Shrine.

Kanara Azekura, the Captain of the Armored Pirates.

And countless challengers not worth mentioning─in every fight, Shichika had been the victor. Who could blame him for being a little careless toward Konayuki Itezora, half his height and less than half his age, even if she was the owner of a Mutant Blade?

But this time, he would pay a price.

For being careless.

“Fight!”

Togame dropped her hand, making the signal.

The Suzuran was a passive stance that at this point needs no explanation─Shichika would let Konayuki make the first move. A precaution against wounding her.

Dad used to do this when I was a kid.

He could afford even this reverie─Konayuki was so slow in making her first move.

“Okay, here I come!”

Without a running start, or any feints, Konayuki leapt─then came dashing through the snow, heading straight for Shichika.

Running over freshly fallen powder, carrying the heaviest sword in existence─and yet her legs barely sank halfway.

She wound up Soto the Twin, and slashed at him across the body.

Bumbling like a total amateur.

Konayuki must have got the distance wrong; the Twin missed Shichika entirely, not even grazing his hair. He saw an opening, but as he raised his hand to counterattack, he knew that it was more than strong enough to leave her with a mortal wound, and thought twice at the final second.

Instead, he shot backwards.

This is harder than I thought!

Her monstrous strength was still a menace.

Shichika felt his body move by spinal reflex.

Go easy on her, huh?

“Kyotoryu─Bara!”

He kicked his toes at Konayuki, but she leapt dramatically and flopped down─dodging the blow.

A total amateur.

Then again, she was the scion of a clan who had lasted centuries in this harsh climate─there must be something there.

Konayuki’s face slipped into view.

She was having fun. Honestly having a blast.

Like a kid playing in the snow─

“…Nkk.”

Shichika could not afford to play around. While Konayuki seemed to see her attack as playful, it could have easily left her “earthling” playmate in fatal condition.

This was the opposite, the exact opposite of his battle against Hakuhei Sabi, on Ganryu Island! From the sword, to its owner!

“Rah!”

Konayuki raised the Twin to take another swing, but Shichika saw his chance and charged at her─tripping her with his right leg and swatting at her upper body. A throw, rare in the Kyotoryu…

“Kyotoryu─Sumire!”15

He landed the move just as Konayuki put her weight onto her heels, rendering her monstrous strength immaterial. In fact, by using it against her─he sent her tiny body flying!

“H-How about that?”

Having spent her whole life on the mountain, Konayuki had naturally acquired the ability not to sink all that much when she was walking on snow. She could close the height difference between them in that manner, but the gap was hurting Shichika, not helping him.

It’s hard fighting someone bigger than you, he griped, recalling his fight with Kanara Azekura, but it’s hard fighting someone smaller than you, too!

His throw move, the Sumire, had not worked out as planned. Just when Shichika hooked her leg, Konayuki squirmed free─his swatting hand had barely hit her. Sure enough, thanks to the shock-absorbing16 properties of the deep snow, Konayuki was acting like nothing had happened─jumping like a hare and getting back on her feet. Drawing circles in the air with Soto the Twin, with one hand.

“Heheh. This is fun, Mister Shichika.”

“…It is, huh.”

Konayuki smiled, but Shichika showed no sign of smiling back.

It was time to quit messing around and finish her off with one of his secret moves… If he dialed it back a little, he could knock her out17 without killing her.

But his awareness of her monstrous strength made it hard not to overdo it…

Whatever.

Still─an order was an order.

Frankly, if he could not so much as lift Soto the Twin, he saw no way he could be deemed a “worthy” owner (especially since he felt like a sword carrying a sword would be a walking contradiction), but the Schemer had employed him on her Sword Hunt, and as her sword, he had to do her bidding.

How about Fatal Orchid Three, Hyakka Ryoran, which he had used on Hakuto the Whisper? But since he was dialing it back, maybe Fatal Orchid Five, Hika Rakuyo… No.

Both of them took too much time.

Above all else, he must not fall victim to her monstrous strength─thus he would counter force with speed.

He would need to use the fastest move in all the Kyotoryu, and launch from Form One, the Suzuran, into Kyoka Suigetsu…

But just when he had decided─

As though to say he’d opted too late to combat force with speed, Konayuki came at him with her next strike waving Soto the Twin.

Crap.

This made Kyoka Suigetsu less ideal─if he tried it now, he would risk killing Konayuki. But her second slash attack was looking right on target. His only choice was to dodge the vertical arc by stepping to the side, to get out of her way.

He thought this through in an instant. In other words, there was enough difference between his skill and hers for Shichika to be able to─or so it seemed.