KATANAGATARI 3

■　■

Togame the Schemer and Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, were sojourning at the closest inn to Lake Fuyo─incognito,2 of course. And since Lake Fuyo was a Level One Disaster Area, closest was a relative term. The inn was a good distance from the nominal lake, and the facility itself, on account of its remoteness, was a melancholic affair; but after over half a year of slumbering in all kinds of different places, it struck the both of them as half-decent, no reason to complain.

In fact, the lack of people was ideal.

That gave them space to hatch their plan without concern for lookers-on.

Their strategy for Skytron─Bito the Sundial.

Together with their strategy for Princess Negative.

Both posed a heap of puzzles─

■　■

You may be surprised to hear that Togame the Schemer wrote in a gorgeous hand and had an artsy side.3 At the moment, she was sitting at a desk, composing something with a brush. She must have known what to say, because her hand proceeded effortlessly, the brush flowing across the page.

“Hnn…mm…ah.”

Occasionally taking a brief pause.

A little bit more ink4 and she was on her way again.

Sitting still, Shichika Yasuri glanced down over her head─he had no idea what she was writing, but he figured it was probably another one of those reports she sent to her superiors. Her accounts, which seemed to take all kinds of liberties5 with the facts, apparently had quite the readership inside the bakufu…

Either way, he thought it best to let her do her thing and keep to himself.6

Keeping to himself─though as you may have guessed from the description of him sitting still and glancing down over Togame’s head while she wrote fervently at her desk, the two of them were not exactly sitting in a way that made them look like they were keeping to themselves.

To put it plainly, Togame was sitting in his lap.

Using Shichika, cross-legged behind her, for a chair, she was leaning back on his chest as she ran her brush across the page. Shichika, in typical Shichika fashion, had drawn his arms around Togame’s skinny waist and idly stroked her sides. To say the least, the scene was not fit to be witnessed by young children.

So perplexing… Like the bridal carry on the staircase up the mountain or the piggyback ride in the blizzard, there was no need for them to be combined so shamelessly, but this was just their way. Neither of them had proposed to sit like this. It happened naturally.

With Emonzaemon gone, they were free to be as physical as they wanted.

Now, if we were to be generous, Shichika was just trying to fill the void left after losing Nanami, his only sister, at Gokenji Temple in Tosa, by hanging onto Togame more than before. For her part, Togame the Schemer showed a special tenderness toward Shichika, feeling no small sense of responsibility, aware that if she hadn’t taken Shichika away from home Nanami would never have died, or at least not died that way─but all in all, they were their usual selves, comfortable and hopelessly inseparable.

If Princess Negative could only see them now─she’d have laughed hysterically.

“Here’s the thing, Shichika.”

Still in that embarrassing posture, Togame made a serious face and addressed her human chair.

“This time around, your special sense was absolutely indispensable. Without it, we never would have ascertained that Skytron was in fact one of the Twelve Possessed.”

“I hate to feel entirely responsible─besides, we only know for sure that it’s Bito the Sundial because it said so, right?”

“For this sword, we’re working under the aegis7 of that nasty woman, Princess Negative, which makes me doubt there’s a mistake.”

“Yeah, but all the Princess said was that Kiki Shikizaki built his workshop at Lake Fuyo, and that Skytron was probably left there to protect it. You’re not saying that she actually knew that Skytron was one of the Twelve Possessed, are you?”

“I am. I think she did─or at the very least she guessed as much.”

“Then why didn’t she say so?”

“Probably because she thought it would be funny if we destroyed Skytron without realizing what it was.”

Correct.

Equally evil-minded,8 the Princess and Togame could surmise each other’s motives with extreme precision.

The two she-devils of the bakufu─

The first with hair of white.

The other with hair of gold.

The Schemer─and the Princess.

“Still, though, I’m kinda lost… Why play games with us like that, Togame, if she’s supposedly cooperating with you on the Sword Hunt?”

“Supposedly being the keyword… I’m not positive, but she could be planning to take credit for our efforts…or perhaps she’s simply waiting for me to fumble. Though I suppose I’m not so different in my schemes.”

“That makes me curious about what kind of an order Emonzaemon is fulfilling for the Princess. Where’d he go? What’s that guy up to?”

“Who knows. It’s good to have him out of our hair.”

Togame had of course been referencing his interference in the Sword Hunt, but as she spoke, she nuzzled her little head into Shichika’s shoulder blade, making the phrase sound quite suggestive, although she didn’t seem to notice.

“Skytron,” mumbled Shichika.

His thoughts returning to the machine.

Four arms, four legs.

A robot─capable of spinning its head 180 degrees.

“Finding out that armor was a sword was weird enough. At this point I give up. I’ll never understand the Twelve Possessed.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“Hold on, let me finish. The whole katana thing is totally arbitrary.9 What about Konayuki’s sword, Soto the Twin? How is that thing a katana if it doesn’t even have a blade? And Akuto the Eel? That thing is obviously a kunai. Different weapon altogether.”

“Hmm. I guess they’re all katana because he made them in Japan?”

The word meant everything and nothing.10

The rest aside, thought Shichika, a robot sword is going way too far.

Things had clearly crossed a line.

“I hear you, but think of it this way, Shichika─you’re both sword and human, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I think that’s well established. That’s the definition of the Kyotoryu. Swords that have lives of our own─and you’re looking at one, Shichika Yasuri.”

“Right. So, along those lines,” explained Togame, “Skytron is both sword and robot─if that makes sense.”

Both sword and human─Kyotoryu.

Both sword and robot─Skytron.

“People don’t use swords─swords make them who they are. If that was Kiki Shikizaki’s basic premise,” theorized Togame, “then Skytron, by design, is the most mutated of all the Mutant Blades.”

“You said it.”

Shichika was done.

At this point, why bother being snide.

“So then, that sword’s characteristic must be its…”

Just as the first sword, Zetto the Leveler, boasted hardness.

And the second sword, Zanto the Razor, boasted sharpness.

And the third sword, Sento the Legion, boasted numerousness.

And the fourth sword, Hakuto the Whisper, boasted fragility.

And the fifth sword, Zokuto the Armor, boasted armor class.

And the sixth sword, Soto the Twin, boasted heaviness.

And the seventh sword, Akuto the Eel, boasted vitality.

The eighth sword, Bito the Sundial, boasted─

“Humanity,” Togame finished his sentence.

Shichika did not appreciate her word choice.

“You call that humanity? I sure as hell don’t think so─that thing is programmed to fire at you, whoever you are,11 the second you come into range. Automatically, whoever you are. That thing is a total─”

Total.

Oh, wait─thought Shichika.

When Shichika Yasuri first left behind Haphazard Island to join Togame the Schemer on her journey─was he not guilty of the same behavior?

Search and destroy.

Follow orders.

Like a total─machine.

No agenda─

“Ah, makes sense.”

“I mean…we can’t honestly claim that killing people is inhuman, sad to say. Not when our history as a nation is essentially a list of who killed who and when.”

“I guess this is a pretty dangerous place… Are countries overseas this bad?”

“Not sure. I couldn’t tell you. But I dare say it must be pretty much the same.”

“Oh, right. I’d been meaning to ask you. I couldn’t earlier with Emonzaemon breathing down our necks12… Princess Negative, is she a foreigner?”

“Well, well. Looks like you’ve learned to be subtle─but if you were curious, you could have asked her pointblank. Honestly, who knows. As I believe I mentioned, her past is shrouded in obscurity, like mine. They say that in rare cases Japanese can have that color hair and eyes…”

“Hmm…really.”

Past shrouded in obscurity, like Togame.

That said, Shichika knew all about Togame’s past.

She was the daughter─of Takahito Hida.

Once Kaoyaku of Oshu─but known today exclusively as Mastermind of the Rebellion.

The man behind the only major conflict to take place under the Yanari Shogunate, in these times of peace and order─but his Rebellion had ended in failure.

Takahito Hida had died in battle.

And his entire family─was massacred.

They killed them all─the sole survivor being a young girl who’d come to be known as Togame the Schemer.

The girl saw everything.

Saw her father’s head lopped off his neck.

Saw Mutsue Yasuri─Sixth Master of the Kyotoryu, beheading Takahito Hida with the blade of his hand.

The sight of which─had made her lose the color of her hair.

Nay.

She had abandoned it.

Abandoning color.

As she had abandoned everything else, apart from her revenge.

Togame was not about to apprise Shichika of what she went through after that─but it wasn’t difficult to imagine she had lived through hell on earth.13 Even after scheming her way into the bakufu by hook or by crook,14 she could not possibly have had an easy time. Especially not with an Inspector General like Princess Negative.

“…”

Yes─Princess Negative.

How had that woman climbed the ranks so high at her young age? Seeing that she hadn’t ceded the seat of honor at her home, it would seem in terms of status she ranked even higher than Togame.

Togame said that she had finished her off multiple times.

Which could only mean that she had made multiple comebacks.

Even Shichika was well aware that climbing up the ladder after a fall from grace was much easier said than done─

Now obviously, Princess Negative was not imaginary.

She was real.

And as long as she existed, she had a past, just like Togame had a past.

─What about Emonzaemon?

Does he know about her past, just like I know about Togame’s?

Shichika had to wonder.

“Why all this talk of Princess Negative? What makes her so interesting… W-Wait! Have you had a change of heart?! Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her, of all people!”

“Togame, stop worrying so much…”

Was she actually that insecure?15

If you keep worrying like crazy, I’ll start worrying myself you don’t believe in me.

“She’s your sworn enemy. That’s why I’m interested in her.”

“Oh. In that case, fine.”

“Just like I’m interested in what the Maniwacs are up to─although I guess they’re honoring16 the alliance. They didn’t show when we were down in Tosa, and like Hohoh told us when we met him in Satsuma, one of the Twelve Possessed was at Lake Fuyo in Edo.”

“Well…in any case, don’t let down your guard. Come what may, you can never really trust a ninja.”

“I wonder what they’re doing, as we speak.”

“Hard to say. But wherever they are, they’re still the pushovers of this tale.”

Correct again.

Although in terms of time frame, that’s a little down the road.

“The Maniwacs aren’t really complicated as enemies go,” Shichika said. “All we gotta do is watch our back─Princess Negative, on the other hand, seems hard to handle, Togame, what with her working in the bakufu with you and all. Isn’t that tough?”17

“It sure is. But there’s no use getting all worked up about her. She’ll just have an easier time pulling the rug right out from under you. But this is something altogether different from the Maniwa and Princess Negative─the situation at hand, I mean.”

“At hand?”

“I’m talking about Skytron. Who cares about the thing being both sword and robot. I’m not surprised. There’s something odd about the word Sundial, though.”

“Huh? What makes you say that?”

“Out of all the Twelve Possessed, Sundial is the only name consisting of two words.”

“Two words?”18

“Leveler, Razor, Legion, Whisper, Armor, Twin, Eel, SUN-DIAL…then Cured, Garland, Basilisk, Bead.”

“Oh…I get it,” nodded Shichika. “Hadn’t notice that before. Two words, huh.”

“The only one of the Twelve Possessed. Stuff like this is used for secret codes all of the time. I figured something about the Sundial must set it apart from all the other swords.”

“Hmm…”

This was not exactly an epiphany─but the fact of the matter was that Skytron was odd, so in that sense Togame’s reading was spot-on.

“Since it’s called the Sundial,” reasoned Shichika, “I thought that it would actually be a sundial, the way Zokuto the Armor was literally a suit of armor.”

“Rehashing19 stuff wouldn’t be fun.”

“…You’re talking about Kiki Shikizaki, right?”

A tricky exchange.

In any case.

“Alright, I’m done.” Togame lay her brush down on her inkstone─and holding the corners of the paper raised it high, to make it easier for Shichika to read. “That should work. What do you think?”

“Think? I can’t even read it─”

“Idiot. It’s not a letter. It’s a map.”

“A map? You were drawing a map?”

“Indeed.” Togame rested the piece of paper on the desk. “It’s a map of Lake Fuyo.”

“Huh…”

Now that she mentioned it, if he looked closely─he could see it.

Following their encounter with Skytron, the two of them had spent three days exploring Lake Fuyo (obviously, taking care not to fall into Skytron’s range of fire), during which time they got a sense of its entirety.

The fruit of their labor─being this map.

“Wow, so that’s what it looks like from above… How can you see this in your head? It’s not like you’ve ever seen it from above, in real life. Is it to scale?”

“Though I’m sure it has its flaws,20 aren’t you impressed at my superb artistry? I’m quite proud of my spatial orientation skills.21 Without them, we would never have a chance of finishing this Sword Hunt.”

“Huh…”

When she put it that way, while traveling with Togame over the course of the last eight months, Shichika had almost never felt them stray off the trail. Even in Inaba Desert, where there was no trail to speak of. The only time they didn’t make it to their destination was on Mt. Odori in Ezo, and that was as good as inevitable.22 Apart from the Itezoras, only a handful of people could go up and down that mountain as they pleased. It would take a ninja like the Maniwa, or a Nanami Yasuri.

It went beyond─not needing a guide.

Because she never got lost, her competence had gone unnoticed, but at this point it was evident that Togame had a special knack for reading maps─and by extension, she excelled at creating maps from the landscapes she beheld─apparently.

“Yeah…this thing is great. Makes me glad I carried you on my shoulders.”

“Yep,” Togame nodded, showing her satisfaction.

In the third moon, when they climbed the thousand steps to Triad Shrine, Togame had been appalled by the idea of doing something so indecent as riding on Shichika’s shoulders, but that detail had been conveniently forgotten.

“No offense to your cool map…I mean, I get this border marks the general shape of Lake Fuyo, but what’s up with this skinny line─wiggling through the lake itself?”

“Can’t you tell? It’s Skytron’s orbit.”

“Its─orbit?”

“The path it makes across the terrain,” Togame restated.

Shichika was stunned─how had she locked that down in just three days?

“Orbit… Are you saying that it follows some kind of rule? I figured it just bumped around until─”

“It only looks that way because its stops and starts are so aggressive. In actuality, its movements are incredibly precise, so exact that I might even call them stubborn23─in other words, it follows a fixed path.”

“Yeah. Just when it’s acting like this busy bee, wandering all around, it stops and sits still for a minute, like it’s basking in the sun. That totally confused me.”

“So, Shichika. Looking over this map, does anything stand out?”

“I guess─actually, no.”

“Sometimes you’re so incredibly slow I feel like I can’t take you anywhere… Lose the yokel24 act before I get upset. See this?”

Togame pointed at the map.

The ink seemed dry by now, but Shichika worried unnecessarily that if it wasn’t, it would make Togame’s finger black.

But as it turns out, his worry truly was unnecessary.

Togame was pointing at a portion of the map where she had never touched the brush.

“If you consider Skytron’s orbit as a whole─you’ll find that it essentially revolves around this zone.”

“Are you sure? What about this part of the─”

“Like I said, essentially. With all that rubbish piled up, it’s no surprise it can’t move in a perfect circle.”

“Ah, right.”

That made sense.

Taking another look─Shichika recognized that Skytron’s movements did indeed follow a clear pattern. Like Togame said─it revolved around that zone, in a roughly circular path.

“Have I made myself adequately clear?”

“Uh, I’m not sure what you’re driving at…”

“Shichika, once we round up Bito the Sundial, let’s do a little studying. I’ll teach you.”

So it had finally come to this.

But why try? It was over his head, and he wasn’t getting any taller.

“Get this─if Kiki Shikizaki’s workshop was in Lake Fuyo, and Skytron a.k.a. Bito the Sundial is its guardian, I would deduce that this zone here is where the workshop used to be. Any questions?”

“Uh, no, thank you.”

So polite.

For whatever reason, Togame thought it was uncool to spell out every single detail. She liked to leave things unsaid─but expecting Shichika to catch on?

Coolness was not his forte.

“Wow…I’d thought that it would be next to impossible to figure out where in that sea of trash the Kiki Shikizaki workshop was, but this makes so much sense─now that you’ve mapped out Skytron’s movements. The Schemer strikes again.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled to get a compliment from you. Besides, this has nothing to do with schemes. It’s just an inference.”

“An inference25…” Shichika echoed Togame. “And how reliable is this inference?”

“I’d say eighty percent. Of course, only if Kiki Shikizaki’s workshop was in fact in Lake Fuyo, and if Skytron is in fact Bito the Sundial, one of the Twelve Possessed.”

“But this area…it’s hard for me to tell, just looking at the map, but have we seen this zone already?”

“From afar.”

“Okay, but I don’t remember seeing anything that could have been26 a workshop─”

“It’s centuries-old. I’m sure the workshop must be buried under rubbish.”

“Ah…right. Sure.”

Of course.

Shichika really should have seen this on his own.

“So─I guess we’ll have to dig?”

“Seems that way.”

“Wish we had some help.”

“I’d rather not rely on outside parties. Someone might spill the beans.”

“…”

In other words, since they could hardly expect Togame to engage in manual labor, Shichika would have to excavate the workshop on his own…

Not a nice surprise.

“Still─even though we have a high chance of finding valuable information upon excavating the workshop…nothing is guaranteed. All our work may end in vain. Nevertheless, we can’t pass up the chance to plumb the depths of that elusive swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki─”

“Yeah, but this whole excavating thing…can’t be treated lightly, not with Skytron on the move. Halfway down, I might get chopped to bits by its four arms.”

“I see. In that case, even if we know exactly where the workshop was, before we commence digging, we must defeat27 Skytron.”

“Yeah,” agreed Shichika.

Whether by inference or scheming, it would seem this ludicrously difficult conversation was finally over─to be honest, his head hurt.

But now the rest was up to Shichika.

In the ensuing battle─

“Last time, I was just trying to identify Skytron, so I couldn’t go all out28─but this time, I’m gonna give her everything I’ve got.”

“Whoa, everything?”

“Yeah, everything.”

“And what does everything entail?”

“I’m gonna totally dest─”

“Cheerio!”

Crying out, Togame pinched at Shichika’s inner thigh.

For such a spirited cry, it was a fairly bland29 attack.

“Is your brain unable to retain things? If Skytron is Bito the Sundial, you can’t simply destroy her! I’m sure even that nasty woman doesn’t actually expect us to destroy Skytron!”

“Ah, um…okay.”

He forgot.

They had only just discussed the matter, but transitioning to his field of expertise had made him feel a little too relaxed.

“Right…this time, unlike all the times before, the sword and owner are the same. So weird…but I guess it’s not far off from when I fought Kanara Azekura for the Armor.”

Zokuto the Armor.

A katana shaped like armor, and unparalleled in armor class.

Facing that seamless panoply, cast in the Western style─he felt like he was fighting another sword. But in the end, Shichika capitalized30 on Kanara Azekura, bearer of the Armor, being a human being after all─and thereby proved victorious.

But this was different.

Skytron─was a sword in and of itself, and at the same time.

It was a robot.

It was─not human.

“Also,” Togame noted, “the fact that the Sundial is in all likelihood less durable than the Armor will function as a disadvantage. The Armor could withstand the majority─no, any kind of attack, but the Sundial must be treated differently.”

“I think I get the picture.”

Protect the swords─right.

The first rule that Togame set forth at the beginning of the Sword Hunt.

But what was he supposed to do, now that the enemy and sword were one? Togame said that she wasn’t surprised, but surely this was more than she’d bargained for.

“Hold up, Togame… If you ask me, all of that aside, this fight is gonna be really tough.”

“Tough? Come on, you weakling.”

“Weakling─I mean, that’s not what I was saying, but then again I’m not sure that I can disagree. Weakling or not, I’m whining,31 but just listen to me for a second─there’s almost no place out there where I can find a proper footing.”

“…”

Lake Fuyo, Level One Disaster Area.

A lake no more─filled in with rubbish.

“Those scraps of wood and metal are the product of civilization. For a wild boy32 like me, it’s probably the toughest battlefield on earth.”

“I hadn’t─thought of that.” Togame nodded, acknowledging her oversight. “I see…I took for granted that you’d have an easy time as long as we fought out of doors, but come to think of it, a garbage dump sounds like a difficult place for you to fight…”

“Give me a desert or a mountain any day33─but I almost hurt myself just walking around on that field of rubbish. It’ll be challenging.”

“Meanwhile, Skytron has it made. I mean, that thing has four legs. It’s quadrupedal.34 No one could ever be that stable on their feet.”

“Right. Exactly. And the only thing worse than the fact that it has four legs,” Shichika continued, “is that it has four arms. Four legs, four arms.”

“That’s easy enough to see.”

“I’m not an idiot─or maybe I am, but I’m well aware of my responsibilities, and since I first approached─or first encountered35 Skytron, I’ve been obsessing over what I’d do when it came time for us to fight.”

“You mean obsessing over your strategy for destroying Skytron…”

“Yeah, sure─but seriously, those extra arms and legs are really making my life miserable… Just think about the Sumire, the Kyotoryu throw move I used on Konayuki─the whole idea is kicking their legs out, which isn’t gonna happen if they have four legs.”

“Oh…”

“Also, it has four arms, and each of them has a katana. I can tackle a dual wield, but in all the Kyotoryu there isn’t any move for the quadruple wield.36 Even if I could take on four guys with their own swords, fighting one person swinging four swords─is something that I never thought I’d have to do.”

“Of course─why would you.”

“Plus, if I try coming at it from behind, its head does a one-eighty. This thing is not built like a human being─but the Kyotoryu is made for fighting humans. I never thought I’d have to fight a robot.”

“Hmm…”

He had a point─even Nanami Yasuri, whose genius eyes and limitless capacity to watch and learn, acquiring any kind of move, regardless of the enemy─would likely be unable to acquire moves from Skytron, whose physicality was simply too unlike her own.

“I mean, if this thing isn’t seeing with its eyes, I’m not sure that I understand what made it spin its head around.”

“It was expressing the humanity bestowed upon it by its maker, Kiki Shikizaki.”

“Is that what people looked like in the eyes of Kiki Shikizaki? The guy was broken.”

“Sure was,” Togame agreed. “I’m not sure what Bito signifies, or what makes this thing a Sundial─but Shichika, I understand why you’re concerned.”

“It’s not exactly that I’m concerned.”

“Sounds like we’ll be relying on my schemes, as usual. Well then. Allow me to drop some knowledge on that stupid37 noggin of yours, Shichika. If you need help, just ask me instead of beating around the bush, you silly boy.”38

“Um…”

Shichika shook his head; Togame was preening even as she chewed him out.

“About the schemes. This time, well, I guess maybe I’m concerned after all. This thing─is a machine. A robot. A mechanical doll.”

“Uh huh.”

“Well─that means it has no will, no feelings, no thoughts…none of that stuff.”

“Spit it out, Shichika.”

“I noticed this the first time we made contact. I know we were just scoping things out, but when I see a sword, I don’t take any chances. So I made some feints as usual, on my way in,” Shichika said, recalling the details of the fight. “But─Skytron showed no reaction whatsoever to my feints.”

“She didn’t─react? What exactly do you mean?”

“This wasn’t like my fight with sis, where she saw through all of my feints─the thing didn’t even seem to notice39 them. Which makes sense─since Skytron is a robot or a doll, that means it doesn’t think. There’s no use feinting, trying to make it jump or catch it by surprise.”

No reaction to his feints.

Responding solely to his last attack.

As if it didn’t see his movements.

The polar opposite of his sister’s Watch and Learn─but yielding an identical scenario.

It may have been a robot─but it acted like a total monster.

“Hmm…I see. In that case, the element of surprise afforded by your school’s obscurity means nothing against Skytron. Your moves can be standards or oddities, in your face or out of nowhere. To Skytron, it makes no difference─”

“Right,” Shichika nodded. “And another thing. If we can’t catch it by surprise, I wonder if your schemes won’t get through either.”

“…”

Shichika had done his best to sound as casual as possible, but what he said still made Togame grow quiet. He instantly regretted it, certain that he’d made a gaffe40 or said something he shouldn’t have, but it was too late now. Before Shichika could try and clear things up, Togame made a sound.

“Heh heh heh.”

She was laughing─in a really creepy way.

“Heh heh heh heh heh.”

“Uh, Togame?”

“Mwa ha ha ha ha─you take me for a fool? Even if there were an enemy who my schemes didn’t work on, you think I need you worrying about me? No longer the silent one, are you.”

“Y-Yeah, but…this enemy is different. It’s a robot. It doesn’t think.”

“So what?” Togame said.

She had stopped laughing.

“Human or robot─regardless of what the circumstances do or don’t entail─my schemes have gotten me this far. Faced with adversity and hardship,41 I see a normal day. Alright─to make sure these off-base concerns are gone for good, we’re going to stop everything and have a little lesson.”

Togame took up her brush.

“Since you can’t read hiragana─how about I draw a simple picture.”

“Anything that I can do to help?”

Knowing he was already in too deep, Shichika declined to utter most of the things that came to mind, opting instead for this diffident42 offer.

“Yeah, actually,” Togame answered, turning slightly back toward Shichika. “Just sit right there and hold me while I work.”

1 接触 SESSHOKU contact

2 身分素性を偽って MIBUN SUJŌ WO ITSUWATTE falsifying one’s name and background

3 絵心 EGOKORO “picture heart” a turn for drawing

4 墨を磨った SUMI WO SUTTA ground an inkstone in water to produce ink

5 捏造されている NETUZŌ SARETE IRU fabricated

6 大人しくしていた OTONASHIKU SHITE ITA “acted like an adult” behaved, staying quiet

7 仕切り SHIKIRI partition, screen; guidance, direction

8 腹黒 HARAGURO “black-gutted”

9 匙加減 SAJIKAGEN “teaspoon adjustment” discretionary

10 滅茶苦茶 MECHA KUCHA gobbledygook; shitshow

11 問答無用 MONDŌ MUYŌ “no need for debate” unquestioningly, on sight

12 ぴったり PITTARI onomatopoeia for “close fit” here, never letting them out of sight

13 途炭の苦しみ TOTAN NO KURUSHIMI suffering mud water and charcoal (fire)

14 手練手管で TEREN TEKUDA DE willy-nilly

15 自信がない JISHIN GA NAI lacking in confidence

16 守る MAMORU protect; observe

17 やりにくい YARINIKUI hard to do

18 三文字 SANMOJI three letters in the original, this is about びとう BITŌ being written with just three characters in hiragana, while all the other sword names require four

19 同工異曲 DŌKŌ IKYOKU “same make, different song” practically identical

20 誤差 GOSA margin of error

21 三次元の空間把握能力 SANJIGEN NO KŪKAN HA’AKU NŌRYOKU “3D space grasping ability”

22 不可抗力 FUKA KŌRYOKU “not possible to fight back” force majeure

23 融通が利かない YŪZŪ GA KIKANAI inflexible; unable to play things by ear

24 世間知らず SEKEN SHIRAZU being ignorant of the world; naive

25 推理 SUIRI deductive reasoning 推理小説 SUIRI SHŌSETSU mystery fiction

26 らしき RASHIKI resembling

27 打倒 DATŌ “hit and cause to fall” overthrow

28 不完全燃焼 FUKANZEN NENSHŌ “incomplete combustion”

29 地味 JIMI “ground taste” plain

30 突破口に TOPPAKŌ NI use as a breakthrough; (exploit) a breach

31 弱音 YOWANE “weak sound” (making) feeble noises

32 野生児 YASEIJI “feral child” usually hyperbole for being outdoorsy, rambunctious

33 お手のもの OTE NO MONO “something one is handy with” specialty

34 四脚 YONKYAKU four legs vs. 三脚 SANKYAKU tripod 二足歩行 NISOKU HOKŌ bipedal locomotion

35 接近 接敵 SEKKIN SETTEKI close in make contact with an enemy

36 四刀流対策 YONTŌRYŪ TAISAKU “four sword-style countermeasure”

37 愚昧 GUMAI slow-witted

38 可愛い奴 KAWAII YATSU cute fellow

39 気を取られない KI WO TORARENAI not be distracted by

40 失言 SHITSUGEN inappropriate remark

41 逆境も苦境も GYAKKYŌ MO KUKYŌ MO “antagonistic border or painful border”

42 遠慮がち ENRYO GACHI shy; standing on ceremony