KATANAGATARI 3

Following suit, the Princess stood as well.

In a succession of footsteps, they closed the distance between them.

Before Shichika was able to exhibit a reaction, the two of them were in the center of the chamber, on the verge of colliding─staring each other down.

Their faces all but smooshed together.

In sooth, their noses rubbed.

In contrast to the petite Togame, Princess Negative was quite tall (─At least as tall as Meisai Tsuruga, probably taller). This meant that Togame was glaring up at her, and Princess Negative was glaring down.

Togame with her arms crossed─Princess Negative with her hands clasped behind her head.

Practically shooting sparks.

Inapproachable.

Yikes.8

Shichika was genuinely terrified.

That the both of them─the two of them were smiling, at least outwardly, was scariest of all.

“I thought I’d crushed you for good─your stubbornness is absolutely stupefying. Why can’t you go and die already?”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not so weak9 as to be killed off by the likes of you─I’ll keep coming back to life until I’ve spilled10 your guts and found out every deep, dark secret that they harbor.”

“Just go ahead and try. The abyss inside of me is far too deep and dark for you to handle. You’ll just keep coming back into the same scenario, until one day I’ll crush you once and for all─but why not end things now, once and for all?”

“Unacceptable─I refuse. I’d wager that you’ve lost your chance to take me down─I wager the tables have turned, so that it’s me who crushes you. Without a trace─unlike some people, I don’t make mistakes.”

“Be my guest─I’ll gladly put you in your place.”

“Please, allow me. Once you’re in hell, you can hatch all the schemes and rotten eggs11 you want.”

“Quit running your mouth. It’s over. Give it up, you nasty woman.”

“Ditto that. I’ve got you where I want you. Nasty, nasty woman.”

Princess Negative produced a metal fan12 from her kimono─and snapped it open.

Almost involuntarily, Togame backed up and took her seat by Shichika, while the Princess returned to her place of honor.

“Well then, shall we talk business?”

“Sure, why not.”

…

Huh? Was that their way of saying hello?

Shichika looked back and forth between Togame and the Princess, who to his astonishment were carrying on like nothing happened─talking business.

Business.

In other words, about the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki─

“First off─I have to say you’ve done a fabulous job. Truly. No wonder they call you the Schemer. In seven short months, you’ve captured seven of the Twelve Possessed. Astonishing.”

“I started the Sword Hunt a little before I got the first one, so it’s seven months only if you start counting from the first moon─”

“Or from the point where Mr. Kyotoryu became your sword,” the Princess brought Shichika into the conversation.

She closed her fan and pointed at him with its tip.

“Hello, Shichika─I’m Princess Negative.”

“Howdy.”

He bowed perfunctorily.

“Shichika!” Togame’s angry voice rang out beside him. “Don’t bow to scum like her.”

So strict.

“Heheheh,” Princess Negative couldn’t help but laugh seeing this.

He was so different─from what she had imagined.

She hadn’t thought the sword would be so affable.

Then again, the Princess got her mental picture secondhand from Emonzaemon Soda, so it was bound to be a little biased─

“By the way, where did that guy go?” Shichika asked the Princess.

Not fearful in the least.

Thanks to his sheltered upbringing.

“Emonzaemon─the Lieutenant. Isn’t he your confidant13 or something?”

“Oh, him. He’s in the ceiling.” Using her fan, the Princess pointed upwards. “He has an awfully dismal mug on him. Just looking at him is enough to get you down─so when I need him, I have him stay behind the ceiling, and not show himself.”

“…”

Poor guy…

Shichika took pity on him earnestly.

“That mask,” explained the Princess, “is there for his own good, but he’s so hopelessly gloomy14 that no mask can conceal it.”

“…”

That’s enough…15

“Bah.” Togame puffed out her chest exultantly. “I’ve never forced Shichika to do something so silly.”

“…”

Except for when you forced me to use that silly catchphrase, Shichika mused─but he kept his mouth shut.

He wouldn’t want to make his owner look bad.

No use having a spitting contest about that sort of thing.

Anyway─it would appear that Emonzaemon was hiding in the ceiling. And unclear as his thoughts were on this exchange between Togame and the Princess─they could assume that he was listening, and Shichika needed to keep that in mind. For Togame, this was no less than an unspoken premise of the meeting, no doubt─

“So there. I just felt like lending you a helping hand. I couldn’t sit back and watch when you were doing your damned best to round up those swords, not after everything we’ve been through─hence sending Emonzaemon to find you.”

“Quit putting me on─I know you’re just trying to do away with me.”

“Perhaps. But remember, I am Inspector General of the Yanari Shogunate. In my position, I can’t let a character16 like you run rampant.”

“Character? Try looking in the mirror, Princess.”

“Me? I’m no such thing. But we digress─I caught wind of something interesting that you should know. I’ve been waiting.”

“Waiting, huh. That’s just your style,” Togame took the Princess’s remark in stride. “Go on, I’m all ears. You happen to have caught us at a standstill─for now, I’m learning everything I can. If you have some valuable information, I’d be absolutely thrilled to hear it.”

“Sounds like you’re not expecting much.”

“’Course not. From you I expect nothing. But let me warn you, out of kindness: If whatever you’re about to tell me turns out to be bogus,17 even if you think it’s true─I’ll use it as an excuse to crush you.”

“Scary stuff─but you don’t need to remind me. I remember just the other day─the last time you pulled that one on me and crushed me. Splat!”

The Princess cackled.

She sure laughed a lot.

Even laughing off being beaten─Shichika thought, dumbfounded.

“Make no mistake, this tip is solid18─trust me, I’d be upset if something disrupted your Sword Hunt.”

“Upset? How come?” Togame sounded genuinely perplexed. “You belong to an entirely separate branch of government. What do you care whether the Sword Hunt is a success?”

“Because your work portends all kinds of political implications for me─or not so much implications, but complications.19 I hope to capitalize on your success, think of it that way. That must be clear to you, now that you’ve returned to the castle. The lords of the keep are paying close attention to your progress─at this point, no portion of the bakufu is truly separate from your quest to track down all the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki.”

“…”

In other words, they had tasked Togame with the Sword Hunt─though for the record, it had been her own idea─without actually believing it was realistic.

No way she’ll succeed.

That had been their thinking.

But now that she had landed more than half the swords, possessing seven of the twelve─the scheme was a reality.

No longer merely a fancy─they could practically taste it.20

It was happening.

“I had been waiting for you to gain traction─I’ll admit that the appearance of that monster Nanami Yasuri was more than I had bargained for, but once you started heading for the eighth sword, the mood inside the bakufu changed entirely. I knew that I was free to make a move. Able to step up and assist you.”

“I don’t recall requesting your assistance. Are you trying to take credit for my work?”

“I can’t reject that idea entirely. I’d have no chance in the Sword Hunt with Emonzaemon─but I’m sincere about lending you a hand.”

“Are you about to tell me where I might find the five remaining swords, and who owns them?”

“Sadly, no,” said Princess Negative─shaking her head.

Negating Togame’s expectations.

“Oh. You aren’t?” Togame did not sound even slightly disappointed. “No offense, Princess, but I could care less about your info if it’s not─”

“Not even if it concerns Kiki Shikizaki himself?”

These words─were unexpected.

Togame had been interrupted in the middle of her sentence, but let it go.

The Princess giggled.

“Lake Fuyo in Edo. You know the place?”

“Yeah─of course I do,” Togame answered carefully, trying to feel out her rival’s motive. “The Level One Disaster Area, like Mt. Odori in Ezo and Mt. Shirei in Mutsu─right?”

“Exactly,” said the Princess. “But were you aware that Lake Fuyo─is the place Kiki Shikizaki kept his workshop?”21

“Wha…?!”

Togame leaned forward, stupefied.

“That’s where he had─his workshop?”

“Correct. In that uninhabitable terrain, the only of the three Level One Disaster Areas devoid of human life, the legendary swordsmith built his base of operations. Although,” the Princess corrected herself glibly,22 “I suppose Mt. Odori and Mt. Shirei are devoid of life by now as well.”

Workshop─the word set Shichika thinking.

Did it mean that Lake Fuyo─was where Kiki Shikizaki made his swords?

“Of course, there were exceptions, like Soto the Twin. It isn’t where he made all of the Twelve Possessed. But evidently, he crafted the majority of the thousand Mutant Blades at Lake Fuyo in Edo.”

The forge where Kiki Shikizaki made his swords.

Locating the workshop of swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki, who despite being so legendary, or perhaps due to his legendary status, was essentially an enigma─would be most valuable indeed. If they perused his forge, surely they would find some information on the five remaining swords.

Hearing this made Shichika remember something.

The same thing that Togame recalled at the mention of Lake Fuyo: when Hohoh Maniwa proposed his alliance with Togame back in Satsuma, he had dropped23 some information.

A sword at Mt. Shirei in Mutsu─which Nanami Yasuri had captured.

A sword in Tendo, in Dewa─whose presence they had yet to verify.

And another sword─at Lake Fuyo in Edo.

“Apparently this, evidently that…not at all what I would call reliable information.”

“That’s just my way of speaking. The leads are solid. Although I can’t tell you who tipped me off.”

“But you said so yourself, Princess…that place is uninhabitable.”

“Which makes it the perfect setting for producing the secret and elusive Mutant Blades! But remember, Kiki Shikizaki made his magic swords hundreds of years ago, during the Age of Warring States. Needless to say, Lake Fuyo had not as yet received its designation as a Level One Disaster Area, since the Owari Bakufu who came up with that designation didn’t exist either. That’s how long ago we’re talking. I suppose that means Lake Fuyo was far better off than it is now. You’d think so, anyway.”

“But─Skytron is still there.”

“Well, it probably wasn’t before Shikizaki─it can’t have existed since prehistoric times.”

Skytron?24

Naturally, Shichika was flummoxed by the appearance of this strange word in Togame’s conversation with the Princess─but the ladies made it sound like the most natural thing and carried on before he had a chance to get a word in.

“Chew on this, Miss Schemer. Remember when the Onmitsu got laughed at for their wacky intel25 on Lake Fuyo? You know, the Onmitsu you took your anger out on when the Maniwa betrayed you.”

“That wasn’t my intention. Bad luck for them.”

“Was it? You certainly did nothing to save them.”

“Because I owed them nothing.”

“Hahaha.”

“Well, what was this intel of theirs? I can’t seem to recall.”

“My dear, your memory is full of holes. They came back saying Skytron had been installed at Lake Fuyo to protect something─ring any bells?”

“Ah, I remember that.”

Togame slapped her knee.

Like a cliché26 of a person recollecting something.

“In that case, I was probably laughing with the rest of them. There’s nothing to protect out by Lake Fuyo─”

“But what if it’s protecting Kiki Shikizaki’s workshop?”

“…”

This time, Togame was left speechless.

It took the words right out of her mouth.

“Hundreds of years after Kiki Shikizaki reigned over the Age of Warring States, I dare say Skytron is still out there, protecting the old workshop.”

■　■

Though called a lake on maps, it hadn’t been one for at least a thousand years─from a time dizzyingly far into the past, it was what you might call a garbage dump.

A place, as the name would suggest, for disposing27 of unnecessary things─nay, the word dispose suggests waste management, which is far from applicable─since people simply tossed their rubbish in the water.

Over the years, discarded rubbish sank into the bottom of the lake, then piled ever higher through its depths─until finally the lake was filled.28

Overfilled.29

A lake filled in with unnecessary rubbish.

A badland made from scraps of wood and metal.

This is how Lake Fuyo looked today.

As it turned out, Shichika and Togame barely had a chance to catch their breath in Owari. Wasting no time, they took leave of Mansion Negative, packed up their things, and headed straightaway for Edo─which brings us at long last back to the present moment, with Togame the Schemer and the Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, Shichika Yasuri, newly arrived at Lake Fuyo.

Emonzaemon Soda, who had led the way, had just made himself scarce─announcing that his work was done, he bid the two of them good day. Shichika was slightly miffed, since after leading them to Tosa the lieutenant had stayed on to make sure they got their bearings, but Emonzaemon insisted that he had another order from the Princess to fulfill.

He declined to mention what this order was, but being from the Princess, it was bound to be a tall30 one.

Shichika had plenty of sympathy for Emonzaemon.

It was almost like he was sympathizing with himself, in a way.

They were in the same proverbial boat.31

In any case, after about a week, Shichika finally had Togame to himself again─although as luck would have it, not for long.

Crossing the field of rubbish, at this point only nominally a lake, they took great care in choosing where to step (sharp pieces of metal threatening to slice their feet), and a little ways ahead─this thing came into view.

“…”

At first─he thought it was a person.

Another human being.

Or at the very least, something designed to resemble one─but upon closer examination, it became all too apparent that this thing was not a person.

For starters─it was made of metal.

It had four arms, two on each side of its body.

Its head was complete with a face, eyes, and a nose; and hair, or something like it, had been planted in its scalp. It even wore a tattered kimono─but it was clearly not a human.

Because it was─

“A robot.”32

A life-size─mechanical doll.

On their journey, he had seen a doll that served you tea33─was this like a deluxe34 version of that?

“That’s it,” Togame said. “That thing is Skytron.”

Why had the bakufu made Lake Fuyo a Level One Disaster Area?

In part, of course, because it was extremely hazardous, filled to the brim with rubbish no one wanted─but the main reason? Lake Fuyo was inhabited by Skytron.

Which is the same reason that nobody lived here, unlike Mt. Odori and Mt. Shirei.

Because of Skytron.

Indiscriminately and automatically felling anyone who so much as neared Lake Fuyo─

Skytron.

Each of its four arms─held a sword.

Like the Katana Buddha they had seen in Tosa─

“Are we okay?”

“We’re safe back here,” Togame said. “I’m pretty sure as long as we stay far enough away, it can’t pick up on us. I know it looks like it’s a person, but those eyes are merely decorative. It uses some kind of a sensor35 to make sense of its surroundings.”

“So, if we go closer─it’ll make a run at us?”

“Yep.”

“Uh, well, what’s next? From this far back─I can’t tell.”

“That’s fine, stick with the plan,” Togame said. “Okay, Shichika? Let’s go through this again─we’re just scoping things out. We’re not trying to finish anything today, right here, right now.”

“I get it.”

“I’ll admit I had my doubts, but I think that Princess Negative’s intelligence is sound─at this juncture, giving me false information would endanger her far more than me. In which case, the workshop of Kiki Shikizaki was somewhere in this lake bloated36 with rubbish, and the continuation of our Sword Hunt is dependent on pinpointing exactly where. To do so, we must get rid of Skytron, essentially the guardian of Lake Fuyo─but before we do, there are some things I must investigate.”

“I said I got it, Togame.”

“Alright,” she nodded. “Go have a look.”

Before she finished speaking, he sped off.

Though not straight for the machine─Skytron. Taking advantage of its inability to notice him, so long as he maintained the proper distance, Shichika made a grand circuit around Skytron as it marauded the field of trash on its four legs, until he caught it from behind─and pounced.

As soon as he did.

Skytron’s head─spun 180 degrees.

Turning to Shichika.

From this distance he could tell.

Skytron had been made─in the likeness of a young woman.

“HUMAN DETECTED”

Its mouth worked as the words came out.

“EXTERMINATE NOW”

Its four arms, wielding four swords─turned on Shichika.

In that instant, Shichika understood.

This verified what Togame had suspected.

The hunch she had, on top of what the Princess told them─Shichika was confident that Skytron was not simply here to guard Kiki Shikizaki’s workshop.