KATANAGATARI 3

“In fact, it does. You are to catch and─if necessary─finish the butcher. It would appear this butcher also has one of the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki you’ve been hunting─so essentially, you’re being asked to do your job.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” said Togame, “but as you well know, that is exactly why we’re in Shikoku. We were just about to try to find that monster─or, as you say, the butcher.”

“No need─finding the butcher won’t be necessary. I know exactly where to find the butcher… That’s why I’ve come here. That I might save you from going to the trouble.”

“Impressive… Fast as ever.”

“No dice─flattery will get you nowhere, Madame Schemer. I won’t soon forget the countless times that you’ve besmirched the Princess’s credibility.”

“Fair enough─in that case, why not kill me off? Assuming you can take on Shichika.”

“As much as I admire his allegiance─not this time. I’m not confident enough in my abilities to confront the swordsman who disposed of Hakuhei Sabi.”

The barbed formalities continued.

Shichika was getting pretty bored.

It seemed as if Togame had something of a history with Princess Negative and Emonzaemon─but he was not about to ask her to elaborate.

─Still.

Between the Maniwacs, Hakuhei Sabi, and Princess Negative…

Togame sure has her fair share of enemies.

Did everybody hate her?

Considering what she was trying to accomplish in the bakufu, it wasn’t that farfetched.

“So, where’s this butcher of ours hiding?”

“Not hiding─the culprit is in plain sight. Out in the open─that flagrant murderer is on Mt. Sayabashiri, staying at Seiryoin Gokenji Temple…having commandeered56 the temple.”

“C-Commandeered?” Togame asked. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said,” Emonzaemon answered. “Having cut through half the warrior monks that call the temple home…and when I say cut,57 I mean it─the butcher is pretending to be some guest of honor.”

“I suppose that isn’t beyond a monster who blew the top off of Mt. Shirei in no time,” admitted Togame, “but Gokenji Temple…that makes it even worse.”

“Worse? Why is that, Togame?”

“I mean, Gokenji is a place of worship. Women are forbidden58 from a portion of the compound. If the butcher is behaving like a guest of honor─he must have access to the innermost reaches of the compound, which as a woman I do not.”

“No need─don’t worry, Madame Schemer. At this point, their custom of barring women past a certain point is moot.59 For the butcher whose might has brought Gokenji Temple to its knees, this monster─is a woman.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Nanami Yasuri.”

With these words─Emonzaemon Soda turned.

Leveling his gaze on Shichika.

“She is the one who plunged Mt. Shirei, a Level One Disaster Area, into ruin, the one whose fist has closed around Seiryoin Gokenji Temple, holy land of swordsmen─and the owner now of Akuto the Eel.”

“Huh?”

This news baffled Shichika Yasuri.

At any rate.

In three more days─he would have his moving60 family reunion in the Fifth Hall of Gokenji Temple.

1 清涼院 SEIRYŌIN “Cooling House”

2 鞘走山 SAYABASHIRIZAN “Sharp Blade Mountain” 鞘走る SAYABASHIRU to slip out of a sheath 鞘 SAYA sheath 走る HASHIRU run

3 揺るがす YURUGASU shake

4 九分九厘 KUBU KURIN nine and nine-tenths (out of ten)

5 札付き FUDATSUKI “tagged” notorious

6 護剣寺流剣法 GOKENJIRYŪ KENPŌ the Gokenji school of swordplay

7 道場破り DŌJŌ YABURI “dojo busting” challenging the strongest members of a school

8 僧兵 SŌHEI “priest soldier” warrior monk

9 法衣 HŌI “holy garb” 法 HŌ law; dharma, i.e. 仏法 BUPPŌ Buddhist teaching

10 手ぶら TEBURA unequipped; also, visiting a host without a gift or souvenir

11 右衛門左衛門どの EMON ZAEMON DONO “Sir Righty-Lefty” a joke on archaic male suffixes どの DONO (honorific) lord; rendered as “lieutenant” for this character

12 洋装 YŌSŌ Western (i.e. European) clothing 洋 YŌ ocean, i.e. overseas

13 不忍 SHINOBAZU “un-enduring/hiding”

14 不要 IRAZU unnecessary archaic syntax and a verbal tick echoing “Princess Negative”

15 枯れて KARETE dried up; lifeless

16 身じろぎ MIJIROGI flinch

17 相槌を打つ AIZUCHI WO UTSU to chime in while another person is speaking; literally: (an apprentice) getting in hammer blows between the (master) smith’s strikes

18 嘘つきは泥棒の始まり USOTSUKI WA DOROBŌ NO HAJIMARI “Once you lie, you start to steal”

19 すぅ、と SUU, TO onomatopoeia for smooth, silent movement

20 仕切り直し SHIKIRI NAOSHI poising anew, in sumo

21 緩急自在 KANKYŪ JIZAI readily changing speed

22 戦闘技術 SENTŌ GIJUTSU “battle technique”

23 好対戦 KŌTAISEN good match

24 切り取った KIRITOTTA sliced out

25 運動神経 UNDŌ SHINKEI “motor nerves”

26 成功した SEIKŌ SHITA succeeded; pulled off

27 ぶん投げる BUN’NAGERU toss violently

28 腕力 WANRYOKU “arm strength”

29 ご明察 GOMEISATSU “bright observation” a polite way to confirm a correct guess

30 童 WARASHI (archaic) child

31 ぴしゃり PISHARI onomatopoeia for slapping shut

32 閑話休題 KANWA KYŪDAI “nix the chit chat”

33 戦火を潜り抜け SENKA WO KUGURINUKE “dove through the fires of war”

34 無茶苦茶 MUCHA KUCHA a total mess

35 毒づく DOKUZUKU spit venom

36 能力 NŌRYOKU talent

37 大人げなかった OTONAGE NAKATTA “not grown up” childish

38 未熟 MIJUKU unripe

39 混成接続 KONSEI SETSUZOKU interlinked

40 沈丁花 JINCHŌGE “The Daphne” small, fragrant evergreen shrub

41 腹筋 FUKKIN stomach muscles

42 持久力 JIKYŪRYOKU staying power

43 強制的に癒される KYŌSEITEKI NI IYASARERU coerced into healing

44 苦無 KUNAI a joke on how the characters for ninja knife literally mean “pain” and “none”

45 死角 SHIKAKU “dead angle” puns on 視覚 SHIKAKU “sense of sight,” Nanami’s strength

46 顔を洗って、出直して KAO WO ARATTE, DENAOSHITE wash your face, then come back

47 最短距離 SAITAN KYORI shortest distance

48 復権 FUKKEN return to power

49 左右田 SŌDA “left right field” another joke on name conventions echoes the affirmative そうだ SŌDA “that is so” despite all the motifs of negativity

50 腹心 懐刀 FUKUSHIN FUTOKORO GATANA “belly heart” “pocket katana” both mean “confidant”

51 ただごと TADAGOTO commonplace occurrence

52 庇う KABAU protect

53 左遷 SASEN “send leftward” relegate to a lower position

54 大小二本 DAISHŌ NIHON the customary combo of a long and short katana

55 上意 JŌI the will of an authority

56 乗っ取った NOTTOTTA taken over

57 惨殺 斬殺 ZANSATSU ZANSATSU murder savagely murder with a blade

58 女人禁制 NYONIN KINSEI “no girls allowed”

59 あってなきがごとし ATTE NAKI GA GOTOSHI “there, but as good as not”

60 感動の KANDŌ NO emotional sounds no less sarcastic in original