"The Warring Age"
"On the battlefield, there were samurai."
"On the land, there were peasants."
"Beyond the flames of war, the merchants watched."
"It was the samurai who held the era."
"The merchants bought the era, and put an end to the war."
"The samurai, having lost the era, became bandits."
"The peasants still remained on the land."
I have accepted that you have placed your resolve in my skill.
I will go to your village.
I shall not eat this rice uncaringly.
Thank you so much!
Come on!
Kirara-dono, forgive me!
Katsushiro-sama...
I was unable to protect you. Despite telling you not to let go of my hand,
I was the one who let go of yours!
No, we're not taking either of them to the village.
Sensei!
What we need are samurai.
You must be joking.
Well done!
Being able to understand each other,
and to share with each other,
are both as short-lived as a bubble on the water.
Obscured by the sands of time,
unable to hold on,
I gave up, until I saw you again, asking
"How much pain
have you been carrying, all alone?
And how much loneliness
is hidden behind your eyes when you smile?"
Embrace this miracle of an encounter now,
By gazing upon each other, we can become stronger.
And if this isn't what you call love,
then what is it you call love now?
Would you guys like to make a wager?
A wager?
Yes. The stakes will be our lives. You there, archer, I will not move from here.
Try to shoot me with one of your shots.
One shot would be boring. How about five shots?
Five shots, you say?
Are you saying you can't do it?
Not at all. I accept.
He's out of his mind!
Let him do this.
If even one of your arrows pierces my body,
then I will offer you my head without hesitation.
Not good enough.
We will take your lives-- samurai, peasants, and all.
What?! Five shots, he said! Five shots!
Are you sure we should entrust our lives to that performance artist?!
Sensei...!
Okay then, let's do it this way...
If the arrows miss me, then you will allow all of us to go.
I see no reason to take your lives as well--
That bastard!
I thought I said you would let us go!
I never accepted the wager!
Don't!
You must be joking!
What recklessness!
Uh-oh.
Everyone, outside, quickly!
Mikumari-sama, hurry!
You dirty bastard!
Hold it!
Damn!
I told you to let us go, did I not?
To think that instead, you would intentionally choose to die...
You dummy!
If you had kept yourself out of it, I could have stopped them sooner.
I was just trying to lend you a hand!
That's enough, both of you. Kikuchiyo, what are you going to do about that?
That's amazing and all, but now we're all in a fix.
Fine, all right, all right! I just have to clean this up, yeah?
Just clean this up?
Finish whatever it is you've started, and all.
Now then, what are you going to do? If you have caught Maro-sama's eye,
then this is the wrong time to be looking for samurai.
No, we will continue.
I will take seven samurai-sama back to the village, no matter what it takes.
Want to come over to my place?
Wow, it's filthy!
Now, now, Komachi!
Whoops. Sorry.
Hey, don't worry about it.
It may be tight in here, but make whatever use of it you like.
We appreciate it.
Us warriors have to stick together, right?
You go next. You heard what happened, didn't you? To Tessai's two men?
They got cut down by samurai. What else could they do, though, you know?
Ukyo-sama...
They aren't right.
Sir?
What I want is Kirara-kun. Kirara-kun is so fine, you know?
Young Lord, she's a peasant girl.
Your station is different from hers, and so you must not come in contact with her.
For some reason, things have been quite tumultuous among the commoners
these last few days, haven't they?
I'm terribly sorry you had to witness such a disgrace.
This sort of thing shouldn't happen in the city.
It is at the lord's discretion as to how to deal with such impure factions.
You should remove such blemishes at once.
Who is it?
Kyuzo, as well as the young lord.
Ooh, you can sense their presence? Impressive.
Father!
The emissary is before us!
Did you tell them to kill Kirara-kun, too?!
Of course.
Why?!
She is a peasant. You understand what Maro is trying to say, don't you?
She is a peasant girl!
Honored son, this is a city of merchants, which your father has established.
That means that samurai have their place as samurai,
and peasants have their place as peasants.
And, since you are the child of a merchant,
you will follow the ways of the merchants.
I wasn't speaking to you, you know.
Do not show the emissary such disrespect!
For all of your big talk, the samurai and the peasants are still alive.
It is said that only a samurai can cut down a samurai, huh?
That is the talk of the old, warring age.
Knowing you guys, you could cut them down.
I will not permit you to use Hyogo, or Kyuzo!
They are my stout guardians.
Tessai's men weren't up to the task. Father, these guys are strong.
Then, what do you think about using bandits?
Bandits?
Yes. Samurai who made themselves anew in order to battle in the old wars.
Those who, following the war,
continue to inflict unparalleled terror unto the peasants.
Don't you think they would be perfect for this?
The bandits are machines!
Still, they used to be human. They just converted themselves into machines
in order to further distinguish themselves.
They are still renowned patriots.
I hate mechanical samurai!
Sir, the Shikimori have arrived.
I will be there soon.
I'm not done talking to you!
Ukyo, do not let those people get the better of you.
Let Maro take care of everything.
Emissary, if you will briefly excuse me...
Gentlemen of the Shikimori, well done.
Raise your heads.
Very soon, the ears of rice will bow their heads.
Then, we don't have any time, right?
Kirara-dono, you are full of nothing but surprises.
I am?
You know that we are being targeted,
and yet you went to that place earlier by yourself.
Plus, you perform some strange sort of sorcery.
It isn't sorcery.
This pendulum has been passed down for generations through the Mikumari family.
And then there's my mind.
Through the water, I am able to sense different things.
The look on your face says that you don't believe me.
No, that's not so!
Even in the village, I can vaguely tell what's happening
in the outside world through the water.
And so, I have long yearned to see the outside world.
I think it's a fairly dangerous place for you to have come to out of yearning.
Still, I'm glad I came here, since Kanbe-sama...
...since I was able to meet all of you.
I- I see...
Even though it might be dangerous, there are many things here
that I would never see if I just stayed in the village.
Nothing will ever change if we do nothing but fear the bandits.
Move it! Move it!
Katsushiro-sama...
Like I said, I'm never going to let go of your hand again.
Pardon us.
I'd like to have this letter delivered to Kanna Village.
As you wish.
Inform the lord at once.
Ups-a-daisy!
Okay then, if you'd be so kind...
I will take good care of it.
Um... Samurai-sama?
Oh, you want to look?
Nah. Er, how are we gonna hail any other samurai-sama?
What Masamune said about that concerns me.
If it's going to cause trouble with Maro,
I proposed that we try to sound him out a little.
If it was up to you, what would you do?
What would I do, you ask? I have no idea.
Hmm. Indeed...
Um, what is it?
Truly, he is a samurai.
Kyuzo-dono, we will deal with the girl.
Are you going to cut down the samurai? We have not received any orders to do so.
Kyuzo-dono!
Hyogo-dono, are you sure about this?
Let me help you.
No thank you!
Let it go, Kanbe-san. The girl is incensed.
You gave Kiku-noji the cold shoulder, and all.
Mister, why do you have to pick on Nunky Kikuchiyo?
Each person has a path they must follow in life.
Mister, what you say is too hard for me to understand.
All right, finished.
It's still nice and sharp, huh?
Thank you.
You take particularly good care of it.
It's a beauty to behold. Listen, Kanbe-san...
The wars were a long time ago.
But looking at your katana,
it would appear that you are ready to leave for battle at any time.
Is that how badly you desire to do battle?
Once you cut a man down, they say his ghost possesses you.
I'll be back soon.
Five more to go...
Insolence!
There's no way I would accept such a request!
Katsushiro-sama?
It's nothing. I just felt like we were being watched.
Kanbe-sama!
Sensei, not much luck finding any samurai...
No, wait.
Are you a samurai?!
So, he was there after all?
You were followed, Katsushiro.
I am Shimada Kanbe. What name do you go by?
Kyuzo.
I would like to speak to you as a samurai.
Draw.
I see, you are a samurai indeed.
Here goes.
Kanbe-dono...
I am enamored...
...by your skill!
For certain reasons, I am looking for experts like you.
Will you lend me your strength?
To face the bandits, right?
If you already know, that speeds things up. How about it?
I decline!
That's too bad!
Sensei!
I am no match for you. However, before you cut me down, there is something...
...that I must accomplish, no matter what.
Forgive me, but I must turn my back to you.
Kyuzo, wasn't it? Once I have cut down the bandits,
I will confront you again. Wait until that time.
Or would you cut me down here and now?
I'm scared.
I'm finally finished.
Watch out, Kanbe!
Nunky!
Hey!
Ee-yow!
I changed my mind. Another time, then.
I want him.
The old man merely gazed off into the distance
from the hideaway in which he lived.
The baby cries, seeking only
for the warmth of his mother.
We are born paying the price
for someone's punishment, for someone's sins,
but there is no such thing as a future without salvation,
and the present slips quietly into the past.
We string together nothing but hollow ideas,
and tell nothing but hollow lies.
And as the rain falls down upon us,
something appears and then fades away.
Okara-chan, this is my fourth letter.
Every day now, it's one surprise after another!
Thanks to the feudal lord's degenerate son falling for Sister,
every day is exciting.
These scary guys keep coming after us to attack. It's awful.
However, the samurai-sama that Sister hired are terribly strong!
They cut, and cut, and cut them all down!
Knowing them, they should be able to vanquish the bandits!
And what's more, today, Kanbe-sama had a swordfight with this amazing samurai.
If you ask me what was so amazing about him, I'd tell you it was his colors.
His clothes were deep red, and his hair was all flashy, and he zipped all around.
It made my eyes sting.
I've figured something out. Strong samurai are weird. They're all weird.
Okara-chan, I'm sure you'll understand when you see them.
Well, I'll write again soon. Bye now!