KATANAGATARI 1

“Well, young lady. To be frank, I know what you have come here to discuss─the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki, yes?”

Sento the Legion.

“…What makes you think that?”

“Factually speaking, the authorities have imposed upon this self-governing territory only once in history─during the Great Sword Hunt of the Old Shogun, needless to say.”

“…”

“When I was a brigand, my seniors often spoke─or bragged, of the commotion of that era. As if they themselves had contended with the Old Shogun…”

Meisai let her eyes fall shut, returning to her brigand days.

“You announced yourself as the Grand Commander of Arms, did you not? The odds are good you came here for Sento the Legion.” She turned to face Togame. “Have you launched another Sword Hunt? In that case, I’m not so sure an army of two is going to cut it─”

“Close, though not exactly─but you have the right idea. If my intentions are that clear to you, I can skip the preliminaries.”

When they were ascending the stone steps, Togame thought she was the one feeling out her hostess, but it was mutual─if the subtle interrogations hadn’t begun at the opening stage, Meisai would not have perceived their aim so accurately.

“Our objective, as you have surmised, is to gather the remaining Shikizaki blades─to round up the Twelve Possessed that even the Old Shogun could not capture.”

“To what end?”

“Domestic tranquility,29 naturally.”

“Ahh.”

Meisai answered the shameless claim with an equal share of shamelessness.30

Duplicity─deception filled the air.

Togame knew this would not proceed like her negotiations with Ginkaku Uneri─or with Shichika and Nanami Yasuri back on Haphazard Island─obviously. Meisai Tsuruga was a leader with a thousand people working under her. But Togame the Schemer expected the difference to make diplomacy more viable.

The truth is that she had not entered this meeting with any kind of ironclad plan─her strategies were not nearly as developed as Shichika trusted them to be.

It would even be fair to say she had nothing in mind. On the contrary, how could she engage in diplomacy any other way?

Otherwise─how could she be responsive?

Meisai was the owner of a Shikizaki blade.

Like the others─she was surely broken.

Togame had to allow for any outcome.

“To date, we have obtained two of the Twelve Possessed.”

“Oh?”

Finally, something that was news to Meisai─and her reaction demonstrated clear interest, exactly as Togame hoped. This teaser of information would come in handy later.

“We seized Zetto the Leveler from Rairaku Namida31 of Mino─and Zanto the Razor from Ginkaku Uneri of Inaba,” she continued. “As owner of Sento the Legion, I’m sure you must have heard of them.”

“The Leveler, endowed with the absolute durability of a perpetual motion machine, and the Razor, able to sever anything in existence─of course I know them. Well done.” Meisai seemed genuinely impressed. “Two swords even the Old Shogun couldn’t catch─that’s quite the feat.”

By the way, Rairaku Namida was the original owner of the Leveler, at least during their era. In truth, Togame had obtained the Leveler from him with the help of Komori Maniwa─but she declined to mention that she had temporarily lost the sword thereafter, when Komori double-crossed her. Such information would not help her case. Then there was Hakuto the Whisper, captured from Senryo Kizuki32 of Echigo but pinched not long after by Hakuhei Sabi, the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─in another episode she was not about to mention.

They had pursued two swords, and two swords they had captured.

Image was important.

“Your sword, the Legion, would be our third,” Togame said.

“Indeed it would─but young lady. I can’t imagine you and your boy picked them up legitimately. What went down during the Great Sword Hunt─”

“We would never resort to such barbarism.33 Times have changed─and while I cannot wholly disagree with what you said, please understand that we intend, if possible, to go about our business peacefully.”

“If possible.”

“That’s right.”

Togame ignored Meisai’s sardonic remark.

Her sights were set.

“I remain a servant of the bakufu─and the affairs of Izumo, regardless of its extraterritoriality, are not unfamiliar to us. That includes everything happening on Mt. Taizan and at Triad Shrine─both on the surface, and behind the scenes. Madame Tsuruga─if you would be so kind as to relinquish Sento the Legion, the bakufu could potentially be of service, behind the scenes.”

“Ahh.”

Meisai could not have sounded more dismissive.

Was she just bluffing? It was unclear.

A former brigand─ministering to the divine.34

Either way, she did not seem the type to respond to elementary diplomacy. Or rather─the people of Izumo, an independent territory since ancient times, had never kowtowed to authority─be it the bakufu or the shogun’s clan.

Autonomous─that made it sound like a good thing.

But in actuality, the nation had essentially abandoned Izumo.

Saying it was for the best─let sleeping gods lie.35

Only during the Great Sword Hunt had the authorities imposed upon Izumo─the Old Shogun had been fearless, indeed.

He lived so long before Togame was ever born, but she had to wonder.

What kind of a man was he, in person?

“Not a bad deal─if you ask me.”

“I’d call it a bargain,” Meisai agreed. “But it’s too simple─and that ruins it.”

“What makes it too simple?”

“In my book, nothing is obtained in the absence of resolve─but young lady,” countered Meisai, “you said earlier, On principle, if whoever I am speaking with is not carrying a sword, I leave my sword behind.”

“…”

“You did say that.”

“And?”

“You were half correct─and half mistaken. But in being mistaken, too, you were a half part correct─which renders you totally correct at the end of the day.”

“…You’re not making any sense.”

Meisai grabbed the carafe from where it sat before Togame and took yet another swig. “It’s gobbledygook. Let me ask you.”

“What about?”

“Your boy, what else? Clearly you don’t have a sword yourself. You’re not built for fighting─it looks like you don’t have a muscle on you. But what’s up with him? You called him your sword─yet from the looks of him, he’s unarmed… Where’s this sword of his?”

“It’s just in his nature.”36

Togame felt uneasy but decided to disclose who Shichika really was.

“His name is Shichika Yasuri. Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, Shichika Yasuri.”

“Seventh Master…Kyotoryu.” Meisai, who seemed to know of the school, echoed the words. “The Kyotoryu,” she did so once again after a pause. “Of course─that’s why you called him a sword.”

“Almost too good37 of a sword,” noted Togame─as a flourish of diplomacy, but there was truth in what she said.

“And with this sword, you cut down Rairaku Namida and Ginkaku Uneri?”

“That’s right.”

These questions were meant to test her mettle, but Togame answered without skipping a beat. Out of the two personages, the Kyotoryu had been responsible for only Ginkaku Uneri; Rairaku Namida had been offed38 by Komori Maniwa, but since Shichika had subsequently killed Komori, it was no great falsehood.

In terms of sowing terror─it was more effective.

“But make no mistake. In both cases, it was a proper duel. To be honest, I have my qualms about what transpired─but swordsmen, as a species, can speak only through the sword.”

“Proper duel…that’s one way to put it. Abuse of authority is another. But who knows─when you are squabbling over Kiki Shikizaki’s swords, perhaps that is the most appropriate course of action.”

“I want to proceed peacefully. That is the honest-to-goodness truth.39 You have my word. I want you to believe me.”

“…Hero of the Rebellion, Kyotoryu. The Swordless Swordsman,” Meisai muttered. It was not clear if she had heard Togame. “I’m interested─no, I’m riled up about it. I just have to know. In a clash between your boy’s Kyotoryu and my Sentoryu─who would win?”

“Huh?”

Sentoryu?

What─the heck?

“To go back to what I was saying─about you being half-right, half-wrong, half-right elsewise, and hence totally correct. Still, you are fundamentally mistaken. Which means─I’m the one who actually benefitted by it.”

“…You’re not making any sense.”

“Because it’s gobbledygook,” Meisai said. “Alright, that settles it. Young lady─or, if you please, Togame the Schemer. As the Mistress of Triad Shrine, Mt. Taizan, Izumo, I would be fine with handing over Sento the Legion…as long as you’ll abide a few conditions.”

■　■

Shichika awoke to approaching footsteps.

Togame stood right by his head.

Meisai Tsuruga was behind her.

It seemed like their diplomacy was over.

“How’d it go?” he asked─and meant it.

But Togame sounded disappointed.

“Worse came to worst.”

1 漆黒 SHIKKOKU the color of black lacquerware

2 気さく KISAKU good-humored, in contrast with 奇策 (士) KISAKU(SHI) Scheme(r)

3 煙 KEMURI smoke (also said to favor heights per a Japanese saying: cats, and fools)

4 ごたぶんに漏れず GOTABUN NI MOREZU not being an exception (see above note as to what it implies)

5 社 YASHIRO Shinto shrine proper

6 権現造 GONGEN ZUKURI style of shrine architecture incorporating stone

7 八棟造 YATSUMUNE ZUKURI style of shrine architecture involving many rooves

8 本殿 HONDEN inner chamber of a shrine, closed off to visitors

9 拝殿 HAIDEN chamber of the shrine where prayers are made

10 折り紙つき ORIGAMI TSUKI “folded paper attached”

11 抜き身 NUKIMI bare blade

12 尼寺 AMADERA Buddhist nunnery

13 断頭台 DANTŌDAI “head-severing platform”

14 映像化 EIZŌKA to cinematize

15 左利き HIDARIKIKI “favoring the left”

16 魂 TAMASHII spirits

17 一目散 ICHIMOKUSAN “leave at one look”

18 八幡神社 YAHATA JINJA the actual shrine is written the same but read 八幡 HACHIMAN

19 座布団 ZABUTON “seat futon”

20 正座 SEIZA “formal sitting” legs folded underneath to maintain proper posture

21 お嬢ちゃん OJŌCHAN a term of endearment used when addressing younger women

22 自由闊達放蕩無頼 JIYŪ KATTATSU HŌTŌ BURAI liberated from society and prodigal with resources

23 浮世離れ UKIYO BANARE to exist at a remove from the affairs of others

24 とっくり TOKKURI a tall vessel, narrow just before the pouring spout

25 お神酒 OMIKI “god sake”

26 供物として KUMOTSU TO SHITE as offerings

27 坊や BŌYA kid; male counterpart for お嬢ちゃん young lady

28 失点 SHITTEN “lost score”

29 国家安寧のために KOKKA AN’NEI NO TAME NI for the peace of the nation

30 白々しい SHIRAJIRASHII bald-faced

31 涙磊落 NAMIDA RAIRAKU 涙 NAMIDA tears the characters in 磊落 RAIRAKU visually suggest many 石 ISHI stones 落 falling also part of the stock expression 豪放磊落 GŌHŌ RAIRAKU (manly) openness

32 傷木浅慮 KIZUKI SENRYO 傷木 KIZUKI “wounded tree” not a real surname homophone of 気づき KIZUKI noticing (yet, ironically 浅慮 SENRYO imprudent)

33 横暴 ŌBŌ sweeping violence

34 神職 SHINSHOKU “god profession” usually, Shinto priest(ess)

35 触らぬ神にたたりなし SAWARANU KAMI NI TATARINASHI “no retribution from untouched gods”

36 質 TACHI disposition pun on 太刀 TACHI, progenitor of the katana

37 斬れ過ぎる KIRESUGIRU cuts too well

38 屠った HOFUTTA butchered, slain

39 本心 HONSHIN “main heart”