I want to shine on you, and always like that dazzling sun.
I will defend you from all the darkness.
This is the truth from my heart.
If only our hearts could connect, I could get you to believe me.
Even if you can't see it now, don't lose it.
Your kindness won't be in vain.
You'll be carried aloft by the wind to somewhere that isn't here.
You'll cross the sea and cross time, and I know you'll blossom one day.
Whatever the day, I'll be there for you.
I hope I can watch over you like the sun for all time.
This is the truth from my heart.
Moribito Guardian of the Spirit This is the truth from my heart.
Good morning.
Finally awake, huh?
Go and wash your face. Then we'll have breakfast.
After that, there's a place that we need to go today.
Plus, you need to learn how people in the town live.
I'm going to have this looked at, so come with me to Ogi no Shimo.
Very well. So, where does one go to have a spear serviced?
To a swordsmith.
Episode 8 The Swordsmith
I had no idea that there were this many smiths to be found in Kosenkyo.
That's because Yogo steel is famous in Rota, Sangal...
...and even in my home country of Kanbal.
Don't tell me you didn't know that?
I have been taught that Yogo steel is a vital trade commodity for our country...
...but also that I should not view the steel actually being melted and worked.
Now that you mention it, it's ancient tradition among the Yogo aristocracy...
...that warriors who see a sword being forged can never become powerful.
Well, you're on your way to see a blade being forged...
...so I suppose you'll never become powerful now.
What about you, Balsa?
Have you never seen a sword being forged?
Ever since I was little, I've loved to watch steel...
...that's been heated red-hot and see sparks flying everywhere.
I've seen it countless times by now.
Then again, I'm neither from Yogo nor an aristocrat...
...so maybe it doesn't apply to me.
You still don't speak like a town child...
...so sit and watch silently once we go inside.
Very well.
Balsa...
I've been away from Yogo for a while.
As usual, I've been living dangerously...
...but perhaps by the luck of the devil, I've managed to survive.
You don't say.
If I may get right down to business... would you mind taking a look?
It looks like I will have to forge you a new one.
I see. In that case, I'd like to have it made as quickly as possible.
Before I start, there is a question that I must ask you.
Yes?
You've heard the rumors around town, I take it?
More or less.
I don't want to believe that these rumors could be true.
But if you have indeed taken up arms against the court, then as a man...
...who supplies the court with swords, I cannot ally myself with you.
If you can explain your actions, I'd like to hear it before proceeding.
No, it is true that I have taken up arms against the court.
In that case, I must inform them that you are still alive.
I suppose that would be the right thing to do.
What will you do, now? Strike me down to silence me?
If you intend to report me, I'll have no choice.
But until I get you to forge a new spearhead for me...
...I'm going to stay right here.
You're putting me in an awkward position.
I'm well aware how stubborn you are, but I'm even more stubborn than you.
I can't do what you ask until I know the full story.
Who is the boy?
For various reasons, he's been left in my care.
By the way...
Do you know what the town's gossip mongers are saying about Balsa?
Not really.
That she's a miscreant who will do absolutely anything for money.
They're spreading rumors that the prince...
...actually died at the hands of a certain female bodyguard.
How dare they!
Balsa would never do such a...
Enough.
The truth is, I have other clients scheduled to arrive soon...
...to pick up their finished swords.
If you insist on staying here...
...would you at least do me the favor of waiting in the other room?
I will hear both sides of the story.
Hello?
Come in.
Excuse us.
You are right on time.
It looks like we interrupted you while you were working.
I know that neither of you pay any heed to superstitions...
...but I thought it would be good manners.
That's quite all right. Please, continue.
The recent manhunt must have been a difficult business.
Why do you think that?
The swords you left with me were notched quite badly.
I see. But we serve in the imperial guard in the palace.
As I hear it, she was killed by the farmer soldiers who were scouring the mountains.
The wear and tear on those swords is due to constant use in training sessions.
Oh, so that's it.
Judging from their condition, there would appear to be...
...skilled swordsmen in the guard that I am unaware of.
It is for that reason that we requested that you forge new swords with edges...
...of jewel steel, which absorbs impact better than normal steel.
I don't mean to sound abrupt, but we would like to see the swords right away.
Of course.
Your swords are waiting in that room over there.
Wait a moment.
Moribito Guardian of the Spirit
Before you look at the swords...
...there is something that I must ask the two of you.
What is it? Why the sudden formality?
What makes a Yogo sword so special?
Surely you would know the answer to that better than anyone.
It is my understanding that Yogo blades are swords that are rarely seen...
...that successfully merge two normally contradictory qualities.
Suppleness that prevents breaking, and sharpness of edge.
To go further, it is their shape, heft, length, and curvature...
Each of these factors has been refined over 1,000 years...
...and has already been perfected for their wielders.
After all this time, we warriors see them as simply weapons.
Both of your opinions are perfectly reasonable.
What is your opinion on the matter? What makes Yogo swords special?
Here is what I think.
In other countries, swords are thought of as nothing more...
...than tools meant to wound or kill others.
But in Yogo, our tradition is that their creation and use are to be based...
...on a foundation of mutual trust between warrior and blacksmith.
I believe that in this relationship there is the potential to create an ultimate sword.
Ultimate sword?
Yes.
I see. Every sword you forge is praised as a masterpiece among masterpieces.
Masterpieces? Far from it.
They say that when someone grips the hilt of a sword I've made...
...he is suddenly consumed by the urge to kill someone with it.
So they are no more than instruments of calamity.
But a sword that kills no one, severing only the bonds of karma...
That is what I consider to be the ultimate sword.
To forge such a sword one day... That thought is always on my mind.
However, it is no easy task.
A great sword is achieved when both warrior and blacksmith...
...have reached the pinnacle of their craft.
When that balance has broken down...
...that is when a so-called cursed sword is born.
It is for that reason that I am selective about whom I forge a sword for.
Or rather, that I must be selective.
Perhaps, but how many warriors are there in this world...
...that might inspire you to forge such a sword?
Let me think... In all my years, there has been exactly one.
Only one that I felt may have achieved the pinnacle of his craft.
You are saying that this warrior met your standards?
I used all of the skill that I had at my disposal at the time...
...to forge a sword for this person.
What sort of man was he?
As a fellow student of the sword arts, you have piqued my curiosity.
Will you tell us about this person?
It was 24 years ago.
This person was a warrior of a distant land...
...constantly on the road, traveling from country to country.
His mastery of his weapon was such that I had never before witnessed.
And although completely at odds with his appearance, there was a child...
...who was constantly at this warrior's side.
A child?
Apparently, a friend who had fallen victim to some sort of palace intrigue...
...had entrusted his child to him.
It was because of this that the warrior was driven out of his home country.
Immediately afterwards...
...several assassins were dispatched to kill the warrior.
And so he came to me...
...saying that he wanted me to forge him a sword to fight these assassins.
At first, I turned him down.
I said that I had no interest in forging a sword for some foreigner...
...who didn't know the first thing about Yogo swords.
But then, something made you change your mind.
Yes. He told me of the assassins who were sent to kill him.
Told me what sort of men they were.
When he told me this story, my heart was moved.
They gathered the land's bravest fighters and sent the most skilled assassins?
No... Although indeed they were the bravest...
...the men sent to kill him were all dear friends of the warrior...
...people with whom he had shared both sadness and joy.
As he kept the child safe...
...the warrior was forced to slay his former best friends...
...one by one with his own hands.
The man who sent the assassins must have thought a great deal...
...about what would cause the warrior the most suffering.
And the assassins had just as little desire to hunt down the warrior.
But each of their families was being held hostage.
And so, left with no choice, they came to kill the warrior.
What a despicable act...
When I heard his story, this is the thought that struck me.
That I wanted to forge the ultimate sword for this man.
I wanted him to cut himself free of his cruel fate...
To sever the bonds of karma...
And so I forged him a sword, suffused with special passion...
So, was this warrior able to free himself from the fate he was burdened with?
Looking back on it now, my skills had yet to fully mature at that point.
In the end, he cut down each of the men who had once been his dearest friends.
Using the sword that I had forged for him.
What of the warrior? Where is he now?
He is no longer among the living.
Even on his deathbed, the actions that he took continued to break his heart.
And what about the child?
He raised her with care until she reached adulthood...
...and she is alive and well to this day.
I see...
But why would the warrior go to such lengths to protect the child?
The warrior would be signing his own death warrant...
...by fleeing the country with the child in tow.
And even if she was the child of a friend, she was no relation to him.
Couldn't the warrior have simply refused his friend's request?
Yes, that certainly is a mystery.
It certainly strikes me as odd.
To tell you the truth, by some coincidence I know of someone...
...who reminds me a great deal of that warrior.
This person also fled from pursuers after being suddenly entrusted...
...with the child of a total stranger one day.
And when the child had been taken from her at one point...
...she took him back, putting her own life at risk in the process.
And what is most surprising is that she didn't kill a single one...
...of the many pursuers who were trying to take her life.
As for what made this person agree to take the child of another into her care...
...I cannot even begin to guess at her motivations.
Perhaps it was just because she didn't have it in her to turn a blind eye...
...to a helpless life that was about to flicker and die in front of her.
For that reason, she employed masterful techniques that would not prove lethal.
That is a most fascinating story.
Out of curiosity, what became of this person?
It pains me to say it, but she left this world some days ago.
Oh, I see.
As I listened to your story just now...
...it occured to me that perhaps this warrior might have been worthy...
...of wielding your ultimate blade.
Forgive me for subjecting you to such idle talk.
Not at all. It is I who have detained you for far too long.
We will take our leave now. You have done us a great service once again.
Was there another customer here before us, by any chance?
Why do you ask?
Ah, you mean that.
Yes, a spear was left here with me.
I'm surprised that a smith of your caliber...
...would stoop to working on a weapon as lowly as a spear.
I work on whatever strikes my fancy, even spears.
Of that I have no doubt.
Excuse us.
For a moment there, I thought that my luck had finally run out.
Please feel free to go home.
I have heard both sides of the story now.
Come again in seven days.
As I sat huddled and alone, holding back the tears on those nights...
When it felt like I was about to succumb to my doubts...
...there you were, at my side before I knew it.
It was none other than you who was there for me.
I keep wishing, "I want to be strong." I stumble and hurt myself again.
But because I have you to believe in, I can get back to my feet.
I simply want to tell my dear one, "Thank you."
At the top of my lungs, again and again.
I call out to my precious loved one.
Is my voice reaching you?
In this world that always changes, human warmth never does.
I'm certain I sensed the presence of the one that I hold dear.
Next Time
Feelings of Chagum's loved ones...
...drive a certain young star reader to take action.
Next time, "Shuga Thirsts."
Episode 9 Shuga Thirsts
A fallen one will arrive at an answer.
Episode 9 Shuga Thirsts