KATANAGATARI 2

But then─something he hadn’t thought of happened.

He dodged the slash alright.

When Konayuki swung Soto the Twin, Shichika leapt from its path, with room to spare.

Out of its way, but then─

“…!”

The Twin─came after Shichika.

“Wha…ugh…”

Monstrous strength.

A girl with monstrous strength─Konayuki Itezora.

Having witnessed her casually toss his body on her back, and brandish Soto the Twin in one hand, when he was unable to even lift it up, Shichika thought that he had grasped the scope of Konayuki’s monstrous power─but in truth, his grasp was ever so tenuous.

Thinking she was a kid─he had been careless.

The Twin was heavy, but so is any sword. This heaviness is why the Kyotoryu forsook the sword and began its tradition of the Swordless Swordsman.

But weight has obvious merits. Weight can be thrown into an attack, and combined with centrifugal force, weight has the power of a wrecking ball.18 Shichika need not doubt whether Soto the Twin, the heaviest sword in existence, had weight working in its favor.

Yet.

Konayuki Itezora did not rely on weight or centrifugal force.

She defied the laws of physics, with brute strength.

Relying purely on her monstrous strength, and using it perfectly, to full advantage19─

She thought nothing of changing the path of her sword mid-swing.

Thanks to her monstrous strength, the centrifugal force caused by raising the Twin and letting its weight drop was not even a factor─Konayuki Itezora!

Lo the Itezoras!

Veritable sheaths, of a sheathless sword!

“Whuh…whoaaaaaah!”

There was no dodging this one. Shichika crossed his arms in front of his chest─which was not a secret of the Kyotoryu, but merely a defensive reflex.

The inelegant blade of Soto the Twin.

Laid into his left arm.

It had been years since Shichika had heard the sound of his own bones breaking. The sound was swallowed by the falling snow─but without delay…

“Stop, stop!” he heard Togame crying out.

In that instant, Shichika’s scorecard─saw its first X20 since they set off on the Sword Hunt.

■　■

A woman stood in the middle of the room. As if waiting for something─

“After all, Mt. Odori in Ezo was made a Level One Disaster Area just after the Owari Bakufu was established,” she said suddenly, without any context whatsoever. “Are you aware of the real reason?”

She spoke off into the air, as if talking to herself─but a voice answered.

It came from the ceiling.

“Real reason? Is it not because it has the harshest snow in all Japan?”

“So the story goes. I’m sure that nasty woman─the Schemer, is under that impression. But that has not always been the case. Mt. Odori was written off as a Disaster Area not because of the mountain itself, but because of those who call it their ancestral home, the Itezoras…” The woman laughed sadistically. “Hence why the Old Shogun was unable to capture Soto the Twin. The reason is nothing so innocent and idiotic as the Twin being too heavy to lift.”

She spoke dismissively. From the comforts of her home in faraway Owari, this woman had grasped the special powers of the Twin, and even of the Itezoras, things which Togame the Schemer had not been able to grasp in her excursion to the place in question.

“The House of Itezora…” The voice coming from the ceiling…struck a grave tone. “What sort of people are they?”

“Forgive me, but isn’t it your job to figure that out? People say they hail from Izumo, land of the gods, and that their ancestors were titanic deities21…but that sounds like hogwash to me. Either way, they’re too much for a single sword to handle, even this Kyotoryu. Not in one fell swoop, or even two─I wonder what that Schemer plans to do.”

Again she laughed sadistically. “It’s just like her to do something as unpredictable as jump from Satsuma to Ezo. By now she must have heard of my resurgence in Owari. Does she fancy herself safe? What say ye?”

“I must demur.” The voice from the ceiling was graver than ever. “All I know, speaking from personal experience, is that oftentimes the Schemer has no scheme at all. She has a way of going with the flow, of going in without a plan.”

“I can see why someone of your caliber would feel that way. To be sure, she has a history of making things up as she goes along. But that is what makes her so…fearsome.22 She certainly has put me through my share of tribulations. I may not fear her─but she is fearsome.”

“What exactly…do you mean?”

“Go with the flow─we say that all the time, but how many people in this world are truly capable of going with the flow? Once things start going poorly, most people go against the flow, and once the flow is going their way, they take great pains to keep it that way.”

“…”

“That woman takes no pains at all. She accepts things the way they are.”

“Accepts?”23

“Let me give you an example,” said the woman. “Imagine the heaviest sword in existence─if it was you, what would you do?”

“When you say do…”

“Look. In and of itself, this sword would be a wonder─distinction, excellence, whatever form they take, are wonderful. However, wouldn’t a sword like that be hard to use?”

“…”

“If only an Itezora can wield this sword, it should be useless to any other party, in which case, having it or not should make no difference. This goes beyond Soto the Twin. Think about Zetto the Leveler, Zanto the Razor, Sento the Legion, Hakuto the Whisper, Zokuto the Armor, the five swords that the Schemer has managed to capture and ship back to Owari─would you want to use any of them?”

“Uh…” The voice sounded reluctant to respond, and the woman appeared satisfied by this reaction.

“The answer is no,” she said. “An unbreakable sword? If one sword breaks, just get another. A sword that cuts through anything? Cutting through a person should be plenty. A slew of identical swords? Who needs their swords to be exactly the same? Brittle sword? Who needs one of those at all? And a sword shaped like a suit of armor? How is that even a sword…”

The woman was talking her head off.

“She thinks that having all the swords of Kiki Shikizaki will make her rule over the land, but what makes her so sure? The tide of war cannot be significantly altered by the presence of a single sword. And the venom of the blades? This idea that owning one will make you want to kill─why else would anybody own a sword!”

She had the most magnificent smile on her face.

“…”

“But this woman sees things differently. She treats the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki like they were just a bunch of swords. She sees them as a means24 of furthering her career. Which to me is foolish, knowing their true value, but on the other hand─correct. That woman, like I said, accepts things basically the way they are. All this stuff about that bizarre swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki? She sees no issue there. She accepts reality at face value, and faces up to it. Which is why a person like you would think she has no plan. But were the Schemer so guileless, this would have ended when the Maniwa betrayed her─nay, it would have ended when she antagonized25 me.”

“However,” said the voice in the ceiling, “don’t you think the Schemer…is in peril against the Itezoras? That boundless, monstrous strength…as you say, not even the Kyotoryu─”

“I am not unconcerned.”

The princess─used a double negative.26

“And yet, I have a feeling she will pull through. We cannot have her dying now, and besides, in due time, I will come out on top of history. But regardless…”

The woman spun around.

To face a pair of swords─displayed in the alcove.27

A pair of swords, yet at first glance, it was hard to tell they were that. In fact, back then, probably not a single person could tell, or even guess, what on earth they were.

But someone from our time would identify the pair instantly.

One was a revolver.

The other was an automatic.

Indeed, this pair of weapons should not, could not exist in this time or place─its presence was inconceivable. But it was here alright! One of the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki, Ento the Bead!

“As long as I have this at hand, I’m on the proper side of history. Which is why─we wait.”

“…”

“Unacceptable,” the woman said, “unacceptable. Unlike the Schemer, I accept absolutely nothing. Rejection is my policy. I do not even accept myself. I reject realism, reason, and reaction28─resolution, restriction, and resistance,29 every aspect of reality. They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and fiction shoots straighter than truth. But I don’t buy it. It only riddles beauty with its ghastly words. But the world will hear me─Princess Negative. Rejecter of all.”

Princess Negative.

Seeing her as the greatest obstacle, Togame the Schemer had tried finishing her off time and time again─and had no idea her nemesis had risen30 this far.

1 騒動 SŌDŌ flurry (of action)

2 宿敵 SHUKUTEKI longstanding rival

3 否定姫 HITEI HIME “Negation Princess”

4 予定調和 YOTEI CHŌWA “planned accord” Japanese translation of philosopher Leibniz’s term

5 刀身と頭身 TŌSHIN TO TŌSHIN “sword body” (portion above handle) vs. her “head & body”

6 選ばれし者 ERABARESHI MONO the selected/elect

7 無双 MUSŌ “no twin”

8 白旗を揚げる SHIROHATA WO AGERU “raise a white flag”

9 ちゃんばらごっこ CHANBARA GOKKO pretending to be swordsmen, using e.g. sticks

10 強弱 KYŌJAKU “strong (or) weak”

11 五分五分 GOBU GOBU “five-tenths five-tenths” an even match

12 寒冷地仕様 KANREICHI SHIYŌ “cold-terrain specs”

13 目配せ MEKUBASE eye signal

14 当て字 ATEJI transcribing a word using phonetically equivalent characters

15 菫 SUMIRE “The Violet”

16 緩衝 KANSHŌ “lessen impact”

17 峰打ち MINE’UCHI “strike with the spine (of the sword)” analogous to the modern pistol whip

18 破壊力 HAKAIRYOKU destructive force

19 自由自在 JIYŪ JIZAI freely

20 黒星 KUROBOSHI “black star” denotes a loss

21 だいだら法師 DAIDARA BOCCHI a hulking, mythical monster as big as a mountain

22 手強い TEGOWAI “strong-handed”

23 肯定 KŌTEI affirm vs. 否定 HITEI negate

24 道具 DŌGU tool

25 敵対 TEKITAI “confront as an enemy”

26 二重否定 NIJŪ HITEI “two layers of negation”

27 床の間 TOKO NO MA recessed space in a room, reserved for prized possessions

28 現実も現状も現象も GENJITSU MO GENJŌ MO GENSHŌ MO reality, situation, phenomenon too

29 限界も限定も限外も GENKAI MO GENTEI MO GENGAI MO limits, delimiting, excess too

30 台頭 TAITŌ come to prominence puns on 帯刀 TAITŌ carry a sword