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.
Looks like he's settled down.
So...what are we going to do about this?
Episode 19 Escape
I can hardly believe that Shin-Yogo's second prince...
...would end up being the Nyunga Ro Chaga.
If you like, we can protect him here in the village until spring.
Certain circumstances won't allow us to accept your offer.
What should I do? Look at what I did to the prince.
It's all right. It's not your fault.
It happened because we were careless, not you.
He's asleep. It looks like the shock has started to wear off.
I see.
Nimka, please tell us the rest of that story.
We already knew that the egg-eater would be coming.
The reason we hadn't told him anything...
...was that we'd intended to do it after we'd found a way to drive it off.
Please.
You said that the egg-eater couldn't be seen or touched.
What did you mean by that?
I don't know. That's just what I was taught.
But she said that it was clearly visible when...
...it was tearing the Nyunga Ro Chaga apart.
They said they saw many claws coming out of the ground.
Many claws?
It sounds like trouble, whatever it is.
Nimka, did your great-grandmother tell you anything else?
What the egg-eater didn't like, for instance?
Not surprising...
If they knew anything, they would have tried it a hundred years ago.
I'm sorry. I wish I had something encouraging to tell you...
...but she said that the Nyunga Ro Chaga is destined to be devoured by it.
So it seems that the Yona Ro Gai spoke the truth...
But if it ate him, egg and all...
...we wouldn't have been blessed with water like we have been.
That means that the egg hatched safely a century ago.
So why not the Nyunga Ro Chaga also?
I think... the Nyunga Ro Chaga can only deposit the egg here in Sagu...
...by being ripped open by Rarunga.
The say that Nyunga Ro Im is a spirit born in Sagu's oceans...
...that makes its way upriver, and lives at the bottom of Nayug's deep waters.
That's why it's necessary for the egg to be deposited here first.
Maybe this egg-eater Rarunga...
...is one of the forces of nature that allows Sagu and Nayug to interact.
If that's true, how does the egg travel from the headwaters of the Aoyumi...
...all the way to the sea once it's deposited here?
Does it travel down the river on its own?
It's like it says in the rice-planting song.
A nahji bird picks up the egg in its beak and carries it to sea.
Rice-planting song? The one that goes "Nahji, fly, fly"?
The third verse of the song goes...
..."Go, nahji, go, take the ball in your beak and fly up above the claws," right?
Did the lyrics really say that?
That verse isn't sung much around Yogo farm villages anymore.
People thought it was a bit vulgar.
But that is certainly how we used to sing it back in the old days.
So the line "If you fly to the sea, the rains will fall and the seedlings will grow"...
...was actually the fourth verse, then?
Taken as a whole, it could mean that a nahji will rescue Nyunga Ro Im's egg...
...from the egg-eater's claws and carry it to the sea...
...where it will grow into a spirit and cause rain to fall.
Of all the luck... That just leaves us with an even bigger problem.
The nahji!
You people are so slow to catch on...
When was the last time any of you saw a nahji?
Now that you mention it...
...I used to see the sky filled with nahji as they flew south.
Lately, though...
They've become even rarer since Yogo started working steel.
Even bones for charms against evil spirits are hard to come by these days.
At this rate, we might not be able to...
...carry the water spirit safely to the sea, let alone protect the boy.
It looks like we lost more in the past hundred years...
...than just our customs and oral traditions.
Commander!
Taga? Where is Master Shuga?
He is about six nan away from here.
In that case, we should reach Toumi sometime before noon.
Yes. Master Shuga appears tired, but he should make it.
Jin, travel on ahead to Toumi and scout the area.
Understood.
Taga, Sune. Go with him.
Yes, sir!
Well, then, we'll be in the main house across the way.
Look, Balsa...
Not even you can fight something that you can't see.
Plus, if Chagum has to be killed for the egg to be deposited here in Sagu...
...we should just run someplace far away.
We can't. Even if we run from here...
...there's no escaping the destiny he's been burdened with.
Not unless we fight to find another way.
Also, I gave my word that I wouldn't let him die.
I'll do whatever it takes to save him.
Torogai, can you think of anything?
Some way to both save Chagum and allow the water spirit's egg to hatch?
I don't know.
At any rate, we still have some time before spring comes...
...so let's come up with something else.
Besides, if the palace has sent out pursuers...
...we can't assume that we'll be safe here.
We should move somewhere else as soon as possible.
How about Hunter's Hole, then?
Good idea. We might be able to prepare for things if we go there too.
Um, I'm sorry about earlier.
I didn't mean to tell you such a terrible story.
That's all right. If you hadn't told us the story then...
...I'd still be completely in the dark.
It's allowed me to make up my mind.
I'm going back to the palace by myself. Back to my mother.
The spirit's egg has made me suffer one terrible ordeal after another.
I can't take it anymore.
Wait!
I'll take you there.
It's no wonder that you're scared.
Even if you are the guardian of the spirit, I'm sure you don't want to be eaten.
So I'll take you there.
What do we do? Infiltrate the village and get confirmation?
No, people will come out to the fields once the sun comes up.
When they do, we'll ask them about the goings-on in the village.
We don't want to alert the spear-wielder to our presence.
Master Shuga, we've been awaiting your arrival.
I've sent Jin and others on ahead.
Please get some rest now, and we'll set out at dawn.
Very well.
But I doubt there'll be much time for rest...
Excuse me.
Is Nimka still with you in your quarters?
Nimka? I think she and the headman went back to the main house last night.
When I checked on her earlier, it looked like her bed hadn't been slept in.
I thought that perhaps she was telling you more of the stories that she knows.
Moribito Guardian of the Spirit
Only the people of Toumi know about this path.
If we follow this, we can reach the Yashiro village area in two days.
I'm sorry. Those two left the village, and we had no idea.
Well, the area is like Nimka's backyard, so I'm not worried about her.
But if anything happens to the Nyunga Ro Chaga...
So, did you figure out when they left?
Yes, a man said that he noticed the dogs barking at daybreak.
It must have been sometime around then.
Balsa is out looking for them...
...so I expect she'll bring them back soon enough.
As for us, we need to get ready to leave.
Nice day, isn't it?
I'm sorry if I startled you, but I'd like to ask you some questions.
I believe that an outlander woman and a Yogo boy are visiting the village.
Do you know where I might find them?
Yes, they're staying at the village headman's place.
It's the furthest building from the village entrance.
You'll be able to tell which one it is right away.
Ah, I see. There wasn't anyone else traveling with them, was there?
There was a Yakoo man and a magic weaver who looked like his grandmother.
But they were talking about possibly leaving the village this morning...
...so they might have left for wherever they were headed already.
This grandmother you mentioned...
...was she an old woman about this tall carrying a strange staff?
Yes, that's right...
Commander, we should hurry.
What's the matter?
For a moment, it was like I was somehow looking on a different landscape...
Are you all right?
Balsa?
Chagum, we're going back to the village.
I won't go.
Why did you keep everything from me?
About the egg-eater... About me dying...
You knew all along, didn't you?
Yes.
The reason I kept it from you until now...
...is because we didn't know anything for sure.
I didn't want to worry you needlessly.
Liar!
The egg is more important to you than I am, Balsa.
That's not true.
You and the egg are both precious things that deserve to be protected.
Deserve to be protected?
Balsa, you don't need to worry about me anymore.
I'm returning to the palace.
You aren't my mother, so you can't...
You have no idea how I'm suffering, so you don't...
I see. If you want to go back that badly...
Use that to kill me first.
Once I've set my mind to do something, nothing can make me budge.
I won't let you go back to the palace.
If you insist on going anyway, pick that up!
All right...
Now then, run me through with it!
Balsa, no matter how tough you are...
...you're no match for some monster with gigantic claws!
I'm going back to the palace to have Shuga and my mother protect me!
How dare you raise a weapon against your parent!
We're all trying our hardest to protect you, Chagum!
What were you thinking, running off on your own?
I'll protect you no matter what.
Plus, you're the guardian of the spirit.
So even if you're scared...
...you have to keep fighting to the bitter end to protect the egg!
Even if it costs me my life, I won't let you die!
So please, I'm asking you to have faith in me!
Why me?
Why does it have to be me?
Is the village headman here?
We believe the second prince of the Shin-Yogo empire is in this village!
We are envoys of the mikado sent here from Kosenkyo to retrieve him!
We request an immediate audience!
Wouldn't it be faster to follow this river?
Yes, but if we take the prince into consideration...
...a slightly more level route would probably be better.
You have a point.
Soya!
A man with warriors in the square says they've been sent by the palace...
He says they've come for the prince!
Torogai?
We slipped up... They're here already?
I'll go and hear what they have to say.
You hide yourselves and wait here.
Goodness gracious, what a treat to have visitors from so far away!
Are you the village headman?
Yes, I have that honor.
Good, that simplifies matters. Bring out the prince at once.
I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't do that.
What's the meaning of this?
You see, just as he is precious to you as your prince...
...to us Yakoo, he is also the guardian of the spirit...
...he who nurtures the protector of the water within him.
If the egg he bears within him fails to hatch...
...these lands will never again be blessed with water.
So you see, this is why we can't bring him to you.
We are also aware of these facts.
As such, none of us wishes him any harm.
On the contrary, we are here so that we may keep him safe and sound.
My people cannot live without the blessings of water, either.
If your people care at all for this land, or for Shin-Yogo...
...will you entrust both him and the spirit's egg to our care?
You speak of country, but that has little bearing on the lives of the people here.
Besides, we Yakoo have protected...
...the Nyunga Ro Chaga ourselves for generation after generation.
Just as we did when one of our own was the Nyunga Ro Chaga a century ago.
So I ask that you allow us Yakoo to see to this...
Bring out the prince while we're still asking politely.
Otherwise, this village will be wiped off the map.
That's not a very civil tone to take, is it?
Spear-wielder! Are you listening?
You won't get away like you did before!
We'll do everything in our power to bring you down!
I don't know what your motive is, dragging the prince around with you...
...but your work is done!
Come out peacefully!
Quiet, you noisy brats! What's all this shouting about?
Wait a minute, isn't he...
I am Torogai the magic weaver!
The prince and the spear-wielder are no longer here!
If you have something to say, say it to me!
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.
His heart filled with unavoidable emotions, Chagum walks on.
And on... And on...
Next time, "To Hunter's Hole."
One man's fate can't be shouldered by another.
What would you do in his place?