The Fall of Daigo
Book 3 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 2 - Nomitadani Fortress
Chapter 3
Hyakkimaru fled alone and on foot as the house near the lake burned to the ground. He avoided the Togashi Clan retainers prowling along the lake and the roads nearby, cutting around them before heading northeast toward Nomitadani Fortress.
Hyakkimaru skirted the small city of Nōmi at around the same time Dororo fell from his horse and was picked up by Ochika. He was headed upstream along the line of the Nabetani River. He caught a glimpse of Kaga Province's main Judicial Office from his lofty height in the mountains and stopped.
Hōichi had taught Hyakkimaru a lot about Kaga’s history, which was long and bloody. The samurai lords of the northern provinces had used Kaga as a battleground for centuries beyond count. The howling of the wind was like the sound of vengeful spirits.
Kaga was caught up in the Ōnin War like all the surrounding provinces were, but that wasn’t the only war Kaga was embroiled in. The Togashi Clan ruled the province, but they were currently in the middle of a succession crisis that pitted brother against brother. Hyakkimaru knew that Daigo Kagemitsu served Togashi Masachika. Given what little Hyakkimaru knew about Kagemitsu’s character, he assumed that the man was using the succession crisis to leverage his own influence and seize power.
Currently, the most prosperous and influential samurai clans in Kaga Province were the Togashi Clan and the Hayashi Clan, but that wasn’t always the case. In 1181, the provinces of Kaga, Noto, and Ezichen opposed the Taira Clan, which was attempting to dominate the provinces by use of force. The Taira Clan opposed the local authorities and plunged Kaga Province into civil war. The clans left standing at the end of it were the Taira, Togashi, Hayashi, Tsubata, and several others.
In 1183, The Battle of Shinohara occurred not far from where Hyakkimaru was standing. It was a conflict in the Genpei War between the Taira and Minamoto Clans. Minamoto no Yoshinaka caught up with the retreating Taira Clan army engaged the enemy. Victory went to the Minamoto Clan, though they suffered heavy losses. Feeling ashamed at the number of casualties, Yoshinaka decided to beat his cousin Yoritomo to Kyōto, defeat the Taira Clan on his own, and take control of the Minamoto Clan.
Yoshinaka defeated the Taira Clan army at the Battle of Kurikara and marched to Kyōto. The Taira Clan retreated out of the capital, and the Emperor gave Yoshinaka the title of shōgun.
Yoshinaka became power-hungry and attempted to set up an independent government in the northern provinces, including Kaga. He was killed by his cousins before he could seize control of the provinces, and Minamoto no Yoritomo was made shōgun afterwards.
After the collapse of the Kamakura shogunate founded by Yoritomo, the Togashi Clan switched their allegiance to the new Ashikaga shogunate and took over control of Kaga Province. The Togashi Clan still controlled the province, but it was splintered, with half the province supporting Togashi Masachika and the other half supporting his younger brother Kochiyo. Masachika’s uncle Yasutaka had maintained relative peace in the province in previous years, but he was retired. Masachika was still a very young lord and could be easily influenced by others.
That the province was divided along Eastern and Western Army lines was no great surprise. Masachika’s faction supported the Eastern Army while Kochiyo’s supported the Western Army. Fighting was fierce on both sides, and there seemed to be no end in sight.
Hyakkimaru stepped into this active warzone in the same way he had Ezichen Province and the capital at the start of the Ōnin War. The war had nothing to do with him. He ran along the edge of a river, Mount Hino looming over him. The river was swollen with snowmelt and almost overflowing. It flowed toward the Sea of Japan in the north, and north was where Hyakkimaru was headed.
Hyakkimaru was a stranger in a strange land. He had no direct connections to the Togashi Clan, and the Togashi Clan and other clans in Kaga had no reason to help him. They couldn’t even trust their neighbors, let alone someone who was from a completely different province. He ran toward Nomitadani Fortress, but he wasn’t entirely sure he was going the right way.
Is dad safe? Dororo had a horse, so I should see her by now, but... Hyakkimaru shook his head to clear it. Please let her be all right.
He’d never regretted letting Dororo follow him before. They’d fought many dangers together, from samurai to monsters and demons. There would undoubtedly be more battles of the same kind in the future. Dororo was a good fighter, fast and very brave; Hyakkimaru had no doubt that Dororo was as good at defending herself as most adults in this violent world. And yet, he was worried--because his perspective of Dororo had changed.
Seeing Dororo in the hot spring had made Hyakkimaru realize that she was no longer a child. He didn’t know her exact age, but she must be around twelve or thirteen. Samurai became legal adults at fourteen. Hyakkimaru knew that Dororo was a girl now, but he didn’t know how he was supposed to react to this information. Dororo had never expressed any desire to be female. She had always acted like, spoken as, and presented the face of a boy.
Hyakkimaru remembered waking up the morning after seeing Dororo in the hot spring. Nothing about Dororo was different at all.
Dororo hasn’t changed. Dororo is Dororo.
It was Hyakkimaru’s perspective of Dororo that had changed, albeit briefly. Dororo had always been a girl wearing the face of a boy, and Dororo’s competence as a fighter and a survivor had nothing to do with gender. Thinking in these terms helped Hyakkimaru feel a little better about the current situation.
He still didn’t like that he, Jukai and Dororo had been separated near the Judicial Office.
I wonder if dad knows that Dororo’s a girl...
He probably did, since he was a doctor. Sakuzō probably thought that Dororo was a boy, though, unless Jukai had told him.
Hyakkimaru suddenly remembered how strangely Dororo had acted around Mio. Mio knew, too. She must have, though she never told me. She kept Dororo’s secret.
Hyakkimaru smiled sadly. If Mio were still alive, he might have stayed in Ezichen Province with Dororo and made a home at the temple there. Dororo could certainly have stayed after Hyakkimaru had left. There was no reason for Dororo to follow Hyakkimaru save for her deep sense of loyalty.
Dororo hadn’t just followed him: she’d tricked him and Jukai and risked her life to sneak in to the Judicial Office to get the information they needed about Daigo Kagemitsu. He hadn’t asked her to do that, and he didn’t like the idea that she would put herself in more danger for his sake.
The sky was cloudy late in the afternoon . There was nothing Hyakkimaru could do for now except camp. He hoped that both Dororo and Jukai would be waiting for him at Nomitadani Fortress when he reached it.
Hyakkimaru scanned the edges of the ravine, looking for a natural cave carved by a waterfall to take shelter in. He saw people ahead of him, all monks. They were on the mountain path, so they were probably practitioners of mountain worship, also called shugendō. Shugendō was an ancient practice that had fallen in and out of favor over the centuries. People who practiced shugendō believed that gods and spirits dwelt in mountains that were capable of granting blessings--or bestowing curses. The most devout traveled in large groups climbing many mountains, one after another.
In very ancient times, people climbed sacred mountains like Mount Yoshino, Mount Kumano, Mount Haku, Mount Haguro, and Mount Hiko to offer sacrifices of wood from the plane tree, wearing sacred shawls embroidered with the design of a ring of swords connected by lines and ringed with chrysanthemums. They also wore helmet-shaped hoods, long leggings, straw sandals, and wooden boxes carried on their backs to store items for long pilgrimages. They climbed mountains while chanting prayers with rosaries hanging around their necks and walking sticks to help them so that they wouldn’t lose their footing.
The founder of shugendō was En no Ozonu. Ozunu lived on Mount Katsuragi and was acclaimed for his magical abilities. His abilities drew envy, and rivals accused him of trickery with his weird magic. The Imperial Court banished him far from the capital. Rumor had it that he was able to manipulate demonic spirits, making them draw water and gather firewood. When they disobeyed, he bound them using sorcery.
Hyakkimaru was close to Ataka, the site of a famous shrine where Moritomo no Yoshitsune, the warrior monk Benkei, and the warlord Togashi Saemonnojō set aside their differences and joined forces in 1187. That was probably where the monks were headed. The shrine was a famous place to pray for peace.
The monks saw Hyakkimaru approaching behind them and stopped. The leader of the procession came forward to meet him and bowed.
“We are pilgrims from Mount Haku,” the monk said. “My name is Hōkaibō. Would you honor me with yours, since you are also passing through these mountains?”
He spoke politely, which was to be expected for the leader of a group of very pious monks.
Hyakkimaru bowed deeply. “My name is Hyakkimaru. I’m a traveler. I recently left the main road to search for a campsite in the ravine.”
“That’s sensible,” Hōkaibō said. “There are shrines and temples in this region, but none of them are close enough to reach before nightfall. You are welcome to accompany us to a nearby cave. I can’t promise comfortable accommodations, but it will at least be drier and warmer than sleeping out in the open.”
This was an unexpected stroke of good luck. “Thank you,” Hyakkimaru said, “but I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”
“It’s no trouble,” Hōkaibō said. “Please feel free to follow us.”
The monks stopped at a small village to distribute talismans and buy food. Their gentle manner with the poor farmers put Hyakkimaru at ease, so he kept following them. They descended a steep cliff to a riverbed, then entered a cave behind a waterfall. The waterfall flowed down from a great height, so it sprayed water everywhere. The area around the cave was misty and growing dark. There were large stones scattered near the waterfall, worn smooth by the river.
Hyakkimaru looked up at the sky. It had been clear for much of the day, but thick gray clouds blotted out the sun now. The mist around the waterfall gave him an uneasy feeling. He wasn’t sure if he should enter the cave or not.
Hōkaibō noticed his hesitation and smiled. “Hyakkimaru, do you suspect a trap? Well, you’re right.” He nodded, which served as a signal for the other monks to surround Hyakkimaru, brandishing their climbing sticks threateningly. They glared at him, no trace of the mild-mannered innocent monks he’ d met earlier left in their faces.
There was definitely demonic energy in the air, but no matter how Hyakkimaru looked at this situation, these monks were all human. He had no reason to attack them, and they had no reason to attack him. If he had to guess, he would say that the Hall of Hell demons were behind this ambush somehow.
But the monks didn’ t appear to be demons. All of them retained their human shape. And the Hall of Hell demons had always used lightning in their attacks. The sky was cloudy, but there was no storm. The demons had never revealed themselves to him in this way, either. They had always attacked him from cover or concealed their true nature.
Could the Hall of Hell demons use their cursed energy to influence ordinary people? It was possible; Daigo Kagemitsu had made a deal with them and was almost certainly being controlled by them in some way. Still, Daigo Kagemitsu had a deal with the demons, which implied that he ’d entered an agreement with them willingly. Hyakkimaru couldn’ t imagine any circumstances for sincerely believing monks to make a pact with demons.
Hyakkimaru had sworn that he would not use psychokinesis on human opponents. The demons had found a chink in his defenses. It was typical of them to exploit it.
“You’ re devout men, believers in the mountain gods that protect this place from evil,” Hyakkimaru said. “Aren’ t you ashamed of selling your souls to demons like this?” The waterfall made his voice echo.
Hōkaibō laughed: a strange sound that sent a chill up Hyakkimaru ’s spine. “ We rarely enjoy the use of living flesh that is so well-maintained. I highly doubt we’ ll lose to the likes of you.”
Hyakkimaru blinked.
The monks raised their climbing sticks as one and attacked.
Hyakkimaru jumped back, avoiding all of the monks’ blows, though it was a close thing. He didn’ t know how to fight them without killing them, especially if he couldn’ t use psychokinesis. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The climbing sticks hadn’ t hit him, but he could tell the monks were exceptionally strong. Taking even a single hit could damage his limbs.
Hyakkimaru didn’ t even consider using psychokinesis or the cannon in his arm. If his opponents were human, he would fight them on human terms, fair and square. He wasn ’t about to let the demons make him break his vow.
The waterfall contacted the monks’ weapons, shooting spray upwards with the speed of monkeys jumping from tree to tree. Most carried simple climbing sticks, but militant monks trained with all kinds of weapons as a matter of course. Even if the demons weren ’t behind this attack, it wouldn’ t be an easy fight. He could probably handle one on his own without much of a problem, but fighting all of them at once?
He couldn’ t rely on psychokinesis. There was no one here to help him. He would have to defeat these men with swordsmanship alone.
Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword. The monks closed in, waving their weapons wildly. Hyakkimaru managed to avoid most of their blows, but Hōkaibō struck him hard in his right leg. Hyakkimaru managed to absorb most of the blow with the Muramasa sword, but the impact was so jarring that he lost his balance. He fell, but that was better than having his leg crushed.
Hyakkimaru had no desire to kill these monks. His sword was sharp enough to cut most of their weapons in half. He decided to focus his efforts there. The monks wouldn ’t be able to damage him as effectively if they had only their hands.
The monks kicked at Hyakkimaru’ s legs and tried to jab him with their climbing sticks. Hyakkimaru gripped his Muramasa sword in both hands, jumping over or deflecting the monks ’ climbing sticks.
Hyakkimaru fought until he was drenched in sweat and gasping for air. If his opponents had been ordinary humans with normal human limits, they would almost certainly be exhausted, too, but Hōkaibō and the others showed no signs of slowing down.
“Die!” Hōkaibō lunged at Hyakkimaru with his climbing stick.
Hyakkimaru was exhausted from fighting. Hōkaibō’ s climbing stick struck him roughly in the gut. His sword bit air as he tried to deflect it. He collapsed to the ground and rolled, trying to avoid other hits.
Hōkaibō started laughing. Hyakkimaru rolled into the feet of one of the other monks and realized that he was completely surrounded. There was no place for him to run. The monks regarded him with identical smiles and raised their weapons.
Hyakkimaru had a choice: he could use psychokinesis to save himself, or he could allow himself to be killed. If he died here, all of his long years of training and travel and discovery would be wasted. He closed his eyes against the gleefully triumphant monks and tried to think.
There was a flash of lightning in the sky. Hyakkimaru opened his eyes wide. Lightning flashed again. The Muramasa sword seemed to absorb the illumination from the lightning: it was glowing, and pointed at Hōkaibō. Hyakkimaru watched a beam of light from his sword cut through Hōkaibō ’s weapon. The moment the light touched Hōkaibō , he completely disappeared.
The other monks fled in a panic, scattering like the wind. Hyakkimaru was left alone on the riverbank.
He had used psychokinesis against a human. He got up slowly, Muramasa sword in hand, scarcely able to believe what he had done. He hadn ’t consciously chosen to use psychokinesis; he felt like he’ d acted purely on instinct. He had acted to defend himself from being killed by a demon, not a person.
“Yōkai, ” he called out, “ fight me in your true forms, with your real faces! Cowards!”
The monks stopped fleeing and turned. The skin of their faces blackened and feathers sprouted from their foreheads. They looked like a murder of crows--giant, demonic crows. Their eyes shrunk, dark and beady, and dark wings sprouted from their shoulders.
Lightning flashed in the demons’ eyes. They took to the air, planning to attack Hyakkimaru from the sky.
The wind became a violent gale. The sky darkened as the thunderstorm grew worse. Lightning struck just behind Hyakkimaru. As he dodged, he remembered that Hōkaibō had cast no shadow during their battle. The failing light should have cast his shadow plainly across the river ’s surface, but Hyakkimaru hadn’t seen it at all.
Hyakkimaru wanted to verify what he’ d seen. The demons intended to kill him with lightning. He assumed that these were yō kai that had taken human shape to deceive him, but he knew better than to make assumptions about a demon’ s nature. They also seemed to have forgotten that Hyakkimaru could attack them with lightning, too.
Hyakkimaru had a plan, but he couldn’ t let his guard down before he could put it into practice. The transformed demons retained the same brute strength and combat skill of the militant monks they ’ d disguised themselves as. One bad hit might cause Hyakkimaru to lose. He felt the rage of the Hall of Hell demons radiating off the transmogrified crow demons in waves.
Tengu often assumed the shapes of birds. Hyakkimaru was familiar with tengu because of his early life on Mount Kurama, which was said to be where the king of the tengu lived. Some people believed they were demons and harbingers of war, but others believed they were auspicious or even benevolent beings. Yoshitsune had learned the sword from tengu on Mount Kurama, according to legends. Hyakkimaru had learned the sword in the same place, and his weapon was specifically made to kill demons.
Hyakkimaru knew about legends of evil tengu. They were supposed to have power over the weather and were known for kidnapping people. He had no doubt that the crow demons were evil tengu.
Drizzling rain misted in the air, making dewdrops on budding spring trees. One tree was struck by lightning and caught fire. The rage of the Hall of Hell demons shook the earth. The crow demons took to the sky with spears and naginata, surrounding Hyakkimaru again so that he couldn ’t flee.
Hyakkimaru’ s hair was blown back by the wind. Rain and cold spray from the waterfall stung his eyes and made it harder to see. Hyakkimaru blinked to clear his vision and counted eight attackers. He assumed a fighting stance on the ground and waited.
“Caw!” One of the demons hurled their spear at Hyakkimaru while they were in the air. Hyakkimaru released his Muramasa sword into the sky, moving so fast that it cut off the demon ’s head before any of the other demons could react. Blood gushed from the demon’ s wound for a few moments. The mortally wounded demon changed into a bright white flame, then vanished.
Hyakkimaru would not be able to kill demons with the Muramasa sword alone. He needed his psychokinesis for that.
Another demon wielding a naginata sprang on Hyakkimaru from above. Hyakkimaru was pushed back by the demon’ s dive, sword held out defensively in front of himself. The demon’ s naginata cut into his prosthetic leg from the side.
Hyakkimaru reacted on instinct, beheading the demon before it could damage his limbs any further. The demon gasped, gurgling blood, then turned to white fire and disappeared.
The other six demon crows threw away their weapons. Lightning reflected off their glossy black wings. They perched on a large boulder above the riverbed and glared down at Hyakkimaru with hatred in their eyes. The tips of their wings glinted: they had transformed into sharp daggers. They were planning a coordinated attack from up high.
Hyakkimaru was exhausted, physically and mentally. He took a deep breath, then gathered his remaining energy into the Muramasa sword and focused on defense.
A cloud of arrows cut through the sky, aiming for the crow demons. The arrows pierced their wings and their eyes. Some struggled to fly away, but another volley of arrows finished them off. The crow demons changed into white fire, then vanished like smoke.
The wind died down. Hyakkimaru looked for his rescuers and identified a cavalry unit riding along the mountain path above him. The crest on their banners was three japonica flowers, indicating that the cavalry unit served the Asakura Clan. The archer leading the riders had the bald pate of a monk.
“Asakura Mitsuhisa...”
Asakura Mitsuhisa was the younger brother of the warlord Asakura Takakage, and his staunchest supporter. Hyakkimaru and Dororo had met both Asakura Mitshisa and his brother in Ichijōdani the year before.
“Aha, is that you, Hyakkimaru? It’s been a while.” He laughed hugely.
Hyakkimaru was stunned. He bowed his head politely, as a loss for what else to do. “That was close,” he said. “Thank you for saving me.”
Asakura Mitsuhisa’s family seat of Ichijōdani was in Ezichen Province. What was he doing in Kaga Province?
Mitsuhisa frowned at the crow demons. “What are those things, anyway? Monsters?”
“Yes,” Hyakkimaru said.
“How odd. I’ve never seen anything like that before. But I don’t really think we saved you. I saw you take out the first two, no problem. You probably could have won without our help.”
Mitsuhisa fixed Hyakkimaru with a curious stare. “You’ve been attacked by these things before, haven’t you?”
Hyakkimaru held Mitsuhisa’s stare. “It seems to be my lot in life.”
“Hm. Where’s that kid who follows you around like a dog?”
“We were separated at the province’s Judicial Office,” Hyakkimaru said.”I’m not sure where Dororo is now.”
“Well, I’m certain he’s not dead,” Mitsuhisa said. “That one’s unkillable. And I’m equally sure he’ll catch up to you eventually. Are you still looking for whatshisname, Lord Daigo?”
“Yes,” Hyakkimaru said. “We found out that he’s at Nomitadani Fortress.”
Mitsuhisa nodded in understanding.
“What about you? Are you heading for the fortress?”
“A fortress, but not that one,” Mitsuhisa said. “We were resting a bit tonight, but we should reach it in the next few days.” He loaned Hyakkimaru a horse and invited him to accompany the riders to their camp, which was at an old temple. The watchfires were lit when the sun went down. Soldiers and ashigaru patrolled around the camp in shifts.
Mitsuhisa and Hyakkimaru drank and ate their dinner together in the same tent. Mitsuhisa had very refined taste in sake and an amazingly high tolerance, considering that he was supposed to be a temperate monk. They discussed news from the capital and the recent goings-on of the war in Kaga Province. Hyakkimaru also told Mitsuhisa a little of what he’d learned from Itagaki and Kaga’s Judicial Office.
“I know that Daigo Kagemitsu is the military commander of Nomitadani Fortress,” Mitshuhisa said, “but you’ve never revealed your connection to him.”
Hyakkimaru looked into his sake bowl. “He abandoned me and sent me down the river the day I was born.”
“Down the river?” Mitsuhisa asked.
“He’s my father.”
Mitsuhisa blinked.
“He sold my body to demons for the sake of his own power.”
Mitsuhisa appeared mightily interested. He looked like he was trying to see straight into Hyakkimaru’s soul. “Did the monsters who attacked you have something to do with that?”
Hyakkimaru looked down at his left arm and nodded sadly. He removed the arm and held it out to Mitsuhisa. “All of my limbs are artificial,” he said.
“You fight monsters like that...with a body like this?” Mitsuhisa’s curiosity was far from being satisfied. “You’re even stronger than I gave you credit for. Can I ask you more?” Mitsuhisa forgot about his sake entirely and focused on Hyakkimaru.
Hyakkimaru told Mitsuhisa about his past in fits and starts. The surgeon Jukai found in him the Takano River near Mount Hyōtankuzure. Both of them had been attacked by demonic lightning that day. Jukai had raised him and helped him function. When Hyakkimaru started having nightmares about the Hall of Hell, he discovered that his limbs had been stolen by demons just after his birth. He climbed Mount Monju and discovered how to kill demons with his sword.
Hyakkimaru’s past was a strange tale to hear, but Mitsuhisa listened patiently and didn’t interrupt or ask for clarification.
When Hyakimaru finished speaking, he couldn’t conceal the hatred he felt for Daigo Kagemitsu. His prosthetic hands shook with rage.
“What you have said strikes me as miraculous,” Mitsuhisa said. “ I understand completely why you would wish to find your father. What about your mother? Do you know anything about her?”
“Not much,” he said, “but if she went along with my father in abandoning me, then she’s just as bad as he is.” Hyakkimaru spoke quietly, but he was agitated.
“Hyakkimaru?” Mitsuhisa asked in a tone of concern.
Hyakkimaru took a deep breath to calm himself.
“You’ve never seen your parents,” Mitsuhisa said, “and all you know about them is that your father sold your limbs to demons when you were a baby. I think you need to decide what you intend to do now, before you meet them. There’s a lot about this situation that bothers me.”
“I agree,” Hyakkimaru said. “I want to meet them so I can learn the truth.”
Mitsuhisa nodded. “If your father is a samurai general, I can easily imagine the lengths he’d go to for the sake of his own ambitions. But there’s one thing I truly do not understand.”
“What’s that?”
“Your mother,” Mitsuhisa said. “How was she persuaded to abandon her own child? I can’t imagine she wanted to, no matter what your father wanted.”
“She must have seen me limbless and deformed and panicked,” Hyakkimaru said. “Maybe she didn’t want to raise a child like me.”
Mitsuhisa looked Hyakkimaru in the eye and said, “My own mother left this world many years ago, but we called her Kannon, goddess of mercy.”
“Kannon?”
Hyakkimaru knew a little about the Asakura Clan. Mitshisa’s older brother was Takakage, and they had siblings and half-siblings that they worked closely with, like Asakura Tsunekage and Asakura Kagefuyu. He knew nothing about Mitsuhisa’s mother.
“She treated us fairly and loved us all equally,” Mitsuhisa said. “Every child raised with a mother thinks of her in the same way. No mother would willingly throw away their child. She must have had a reason.”
Hyakkimaru remembered Mio’s kindness to all the abandoned children at the ruined temple. She had been their mother. He found himself longing deeply and painfully for something he’d never had.
“If you were stillborn, she might have sent you down the river as a purification ritual to put your soul to rest. But you were alive. Is it possible that she made some kind of mistake?”
Hyakkimaru faced Mitsuhisa squarely. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think about it all the time. I’ll never find out unless I ask them.”
Mitsuhisa nodded, then picked up his sake bowl. “I think I understand. What will you do to the father who used you and cast you aside?”
The strength of Hyakkimaru’s hatred for Kagemitsu Daigo was a fixed constant in his life. “I’ll make him look the same way I did when I was born.”
Mitsuhisa’s eyes took on a sharp cast. “Do you intend to do the same thing to your mother?”
“I’ll cut them each into five pieces and leave them for the beasts and birds.” Hyakkimaru covered his mouth with his hand. He hadn’t meant to say such a thing—had he?
Silence fell. Hyakkimaru heard the other men in the camp talking and laughing outside the tent. Unburdening himself to Mitsuhisa gave him a great deal of relief. Mitsuhisa was a perceptive man and a good listener. These were probably skills he’d honed while walking the narrow path between being a monk and being a warrior.
“Mitsuhisa,” Hyakkimaru said, “have you ever met Daigo Kagemitsu?”
“No.” He leaned forward a little in his seat. “Daigo Kagemitsu was made commander of Nomitadani Fortress in the summer of last year. He manages affairs for the Eastern Army in southern Kaga Province. Whenever there’s a large assault, the Western Army pauses to collect their injured and dead and hold funerals. So does the Eastern Army. It’s during that time that military commanders are most active with preparations for the next battle. Nomitadani is a strong fortress, but it’s small. My guess would be that there are between fifteen hundred and two thousand men stationed there at any given time. It has been built up considerably since the Daigo Clan took it over. There’s a moat now, and the walls have all been built taller and thicker. The fortress was attacked recently, so I’d expect the watch to be especially vigilant.”
Hyakkimaru was impressed at how much Mitsuhisa knew about the inner workings of Nomitadani Fortress. He hadn’t learned any of this when he’d met Mitsuhisa at Ichijōdani before. All of this news was relatively recent.
“Do you intend to enter the fortress?” Mitsuhisa asked.
“Yes,” Hyakkimaru answered without a scrap of hesitation.
“I see you won’t be dissuaded.” Mitsuhisa looked thoughtful. “Though I wish you’d reconsider. The fortress has as many as two thousand men, but the area surrounding it is a battlefield where many thousands more are constantly patrolling and mustering. All the soldiers gathered there will view you as an enemy. Daigo Kagemitsu himself has bodyguards and personal protection. You’ll need someone local to get you in safely and introduce you to the right people.”
Hyakkimaru had no interest in subterfuge if going in the front gate would work just as well, but he did listen to Mitsuhisa, because his information seemed good and he was obviously an ally.
“It’s an idea,” Hyakkimaru said, “but I really always planned to go in alone.”
Mitsuhisa drained his sake bowl, then set it slowly aside. “Do you know much about Hōnen?”1 he asked.
Hyakkimaru frowned at him in puzzlement. “I’ve heard of him. He’s the founder of the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism. Shinran was one of his followers.”
“Yes. After his father was assassinated, he entered his uncle’s temple as an initiate at the age of nine. It is believed that his father’s last words to his son were, ‘Don't hate the enemy, but become a monk and pray for me and for your deliverance.’”
Hyakkimaru’s desire to kill Daigo originated four years ago, when he’d learned the truth about his birth from Sakuzō. All of his plans for the future had changed then. The strong bonds that had kept him on Mount Kurama had weakened. It was no exaggeration to say that finding—and killing—Daigo Kagemitsu had become the goal of his entire life.
“Well, I’m spouting platitudes again,” Mitsuhisa said with a weak smile, more than half to himself. “It’s an old monk habit.” He scratched his bald head, then chuckled.
Hyakkimaru understood what Mitsuhisa was trying to say. He had once come across the grave of a monk, Semimaru, who had been abandoned by his parents. He hadn't hated his parents for what they'd done. Hyakkimaru had found it difficult to understand him. Maybe that was what it was, to be a monk: to set aside worldly concerns and engage in a sort of all-encompassing forgiveness.
Mitsuhisa regarded Hyakkimaru with a solemn expression. "Hyakkimaru, the world is larger than we know. Directions are not fixed, and the path of one's life can change in an instant. There are no nations without war, and war is unceasing. The strong survive, though it is hard to say that they live. Survival is the goal for those who name themselves warriors. A man strikes down his enemy, and is struck down in turn by his enemy's son. The cycle of hatred perpetuates forever unless we stop it."
The last time Hyakkimaru’s life had completely changed was when he’d decided to chase down Daigo Kagemitsu on his own. Looking at that decision now, it was hard for him to say why he’d decided to risk so much for the sake of something that had so little relevance to his life up until that point.
But Hyakkimaru had always lived for the truth. Understanding what was true and real had always been important to him.
His life had also changed dramatically when he’d learned the Seven Stars Demonic Exorcism, since he’d used it to kill demons for the first time. Jukai, Hōichi and Sakuzō had all radically altered his life’s path and goals by what they had taught him, told him, and done for him. The demons had forced him to learn how to defend himself. It was largely because of them that he was a warrior at all.
The Hall of Hell demons wanted to eradicate psychokinesis from the world. Hyakkimaru thought about his current situation and frowned. Did the demons tell Daigo Kagemitsu that I was dead, and that’ s why I was abandoned? Or maybe he assumed I would die quickly? But I’ m alive, and the demons want me dead. Have they told him that I’m still alive?
“If you’re bound and determined to go to that fortress, I can’t stop you.” Mitsuhisa shook his head. “But if you’re alive at the end of all this, come back to Ichijōdani.” He chuckled, but he sounded worried. He wanted to suggest making Hyakkimaru an officer in Asakura Takakage’s army, but this didn’t seem like the best time to make such a proposition.
The next morning, Mitsuhisa and his army pulled up camp and made preparations to return to Ezichen. He gave Hyakkimaru a horse, and they parted ways.
Nomitadani Fortress wasn’t far from Mitsuhisa’s camp by horse. He’d seen no sign of Dororo or Jukai yet, but he hoped to meet them as he got closer to the fortress. He saw it in the distance after a few days. It was larger than he’d expected and posted a strict guard, day and night. Mitsuhisa had told him the truth.
Translator's Notes:
1 Hōnen (1133 – February 29, 1212) was a religious reformer and founder of the first independent sect of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. Hōnen became a Tendai initiate at an early age, but grew disaffected and sought an approach to Buddhism that anyone could follow. After discovering the writings of the Chinese Buddhist Shandao, he undertook the teaching of rebirth in the pure land of Amida Buddha through the recitation of the Buddha's name.↩
No comments:
Post a Comment