KATANAGATARI 3
■ ■
But before long, they were only fifty.
Times changed with the generations.
And yet their ranks diminished without hope.
From fifty down to twenty-five.
From twenty-five to thirteen.
From thirteen to seven.
From seven to four.
Then four to two.
Until finally─the two had been reduced to one.
Only one of them remained.
It took a hundred and seventy years─but all of them was dead but one.
It took a hundred and seventy years─but all of them was gone, save one.
You didn’t need a crystal ball to see1 that one would soon be zero, a fact of which the last one standing was painfully aware.
Everything they had inherited.
Everything they had succeeded.
Everything they had been tasked with.
Everything they had been saddled with.
Everything would soon be lost.
His generation─would be the last.
He knew this─understood this more than anyone.
Nevertheless, he had to stand his guard─even if it was the death of him.
He was the last one standing.
Which made it his responsibility─to stand guard until the bitter end.
In practice, this meant doing nothing─but as the sole survivor, it was the best that he could do.
Call him lazy or embarrassing.
But he called this his life.
Living on─to see tomorrow.
He saw this as his obligation and his mission.
No other motivation.
No interest in revenge.
Simply─living.
Simply─waiting to die.
For someone disappointed with himself and disenchanted with the world, this way of life was torture─and yet he chose this life without a moment’s hesitation.
He would let the wind and rain destroy him.2
Letting the snow and summer sun devour him─that was the sort of person he’d be.
And yet─
“Unacceptable!” the woman told him. “Unacceptable─I cannot accept this way of life. I reject your choice to live this way. I reject it as disgusting, disgraceful, and deplorable. Diffident, despondent, and delinquent. What, you think it’s cool?3 How’s that working out for you? You make me laugh.”
Uninhibited, unending.
Like a runaway rapid─the woman deluged her subject with contempt and ridicule.
“Know what you are? A textbook lazy bum─I could watch you, like a specimen, all day. What a horrible waste of life. Seriously, nice job wasting your life away. Don’t you think it’s time you died already? Acting like some kind of mighty guardian. Well guess what─no one cares!”
She let this one sink in.
“I sure don’t. I reject your whole existence─I cannot accept a single thing about you. Zero. Zilch. Nada.4 People like you are the worst─the embodiment5 of complacency and narcissism.6 The very sight of you pisses me off.”
She continued:
“But that’s all well and good. Because you’re not without your usefulness.”
There it was─
The double negative.
“I grant you the prefix NON.”7
■ ■
In the first moon.
On Haphazard Island in Tango─
They dispossessed8 Komori Maniwa of Zetto the Leveler.
In the second moon.
Inside Gekoku Castle in Inaba.
They dispossessed Ginkaku Uneri of Zanto the Razor.
In the third moon.
At Triad Shrine in Izumo.
They dispossessed Meisai Tsuruga of Sento the Legion.
In the fourth moon.
On Ganryu Island in Suo.
They dispossessed Hakuhei Sabi of Hakuto the Whisper.
In the fifth moon.
By Dakuon Harbor in Satsuma.
They dispossessed Kanara Azekura of Zokuto the Armor.
In the sixth moon.
Atop Mt. Odori in Ezo.
They dispossessed Konayuki Itezora of Soto the Twin.
In the seventh moon.
Within Gokenji Temple in Tosa.
They dispossessed Nanami Yasuri of Akuto the Eel.
Out of the Twelve Possessed, those masterworks of legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki, who effectively reigned over the Age of Warring States─the twelve Mutant Blades not even the Old Shogun, who had managed to unite the nation, had been able to collect, despite exerting every effort─Togame the Schemer had now managed to round up seven.
Five swords remained!
Bito the Sundial!
Oto the Cured!
Seito the Garland!
Dokuto the Basilisk!
Ento the Bead!
Saving these targets for later, the Schemer finally made her return to Owari─but before she had a chance to rest was thrust into the fray!
That sums up just about everything thus far!
Let’s unroll the remainder of this scroll of swords!
Are you rip-roaring and ready to go?
Sword Tale, Book Eight, long past the point of no return ♪
1 簡単に予測 KANTAN NI YOSOKU easily predict
2 雨にも負けて、風にも負けて AME NI MO MAKETE, KAZE NI MO MAKETE losing to rain, losing to wind this and the next line parody a famous poem by Kenji Miyazawa about not ever succumbing
3 いきがってる IKIGATTERU show off feigning nonchalant elegance, i.e. 粋 IKI
4 一切合財わずかたりとも ISSAI GASSAI WAZUKA TARITOMO not even the minutest aspect
5 権化 GONGE avatar
6 自己満足 自己陶酔 JIKOMANZOKU JIKOTŌSUI self-satisfaction self-intoxication
7 『不』の一文字 “FU” NO HITOMOJI the single letter (kanji character) “non”
8 蒐集終了 SHŪSHŪ SHŪRYŌ “collection complete” phonic repetition of original is conspicuous