The Fall of Daigo - Part 3 - Cursed Family - Chapter 2

The Fall of Daigo

Book 3 of the Dororo Novel Series

Toriumi Jinzō

Part 3 - Cursed Family

Chapter 2

    Although the trees in the mountain forest were sprouting new green buds, the cold wind at sunset carried a hint of snow. Hyakkimaru rode through the forest on horseback. Just before the light failed, Nomitadani Fortress came into view in the distance.

    Hyakkimaru looked up at the fortress, frowning in disappointment. The fortress was less than half an hour away  from Asakura Mitsuhisa’s army camp at the temple, but it had taken Hyakkimaru three days to get here, avoiding patrols and the eyes of the fortress’ lookouts.

    Despite the delay, Hyakkimaru didn’t see Jukai or Dororo anywhere. He had consoled himself during the too-long, frustrating journey by thinking that he would find them again, but they still weren’t here.

    Sometimes, Hyakkimaru saw lines of armored troops leaving and entering the fortress, but he had never seen any of their commanders or generals.

    Does Daigo Kagemitsu not show himself openly in front of his men? Why?

    Daigo Kagemitsu was one of Togashi Masachika’s most honored and trusted generals. It made sense that he wouldn’t agree to see someone insignificant with no clan name like Hyakkimaru, but if he was a military commander, he should ride out with his troops at least once in a while.

    But he didn’t, and Hyakkimaru still didn’t know how to get inside the fortress. It was always kept under strict guard. If he went in the front gate with merchants and travelers, he would still have the problem of getting inside the fortress where the Daigo Clan lived. If he was caught sneaking inside the fortress, he’d be killed on the spot.

    He could probably use psychokinesis to get in, but he refused. He never used psychokinesis on humans if there was any other choice.

    Hyakkimaru dismounted near the rear gate of the fortress, still in the woods.  He looked up at the high, smooth stone walls in the gathering darkness.  This was probably the easiest place to sneak in. Merchant traffic went in and out of the gate, which would allow him to blend in with other outsiders once he was inside. The wall itself couldn’t be easily scaled. Hyakkimaru could use psychokinesis to jump over it, but the guards on the other side might see him. If things went wrong, he’d be shot down--and he had no news of Dororo or Jukai yet.

    Hyakkimaru shifted his weight from foot to foot, caution warring with impatience within him. He was about to turn around and go back to the woods to think when he saw a shadow moving along the wall of the fortress.

    A guard? Here?

    Hyakkimaru emerged from hiding. His impatience had curdled to rage. He needed an outlet for his frustration. He drew his sword and slashed out at the shadow.

    The shadow sprang back suddenly and crouched down without making a sound. Whoever it was wanted to hide.

    Hyakkimaru smiled a little. An ashigaru or a guard wouldn’t hide from him...but he also thought the person he’d attacked was familiar with combat. It was dark and they were still crouched, so he still couldn’t see their face.

    The shadow drew a sword from their back and slashed outward. Hyakkimaru jumped back toward the wall, then jumped over the shadow and grabbed them from behind to restrain them.

    “Ah!” Hyakkimaru let go. His hands had brushed against his attacker’s breasts: it was a woman.

    The woman faced him, slightly out of breath. “Are you--Hyakkimaru? Sir?”

    “You know who I am?” He used psychokinesis to enhance his vision briefly to make out more details. The woman wore a white cloth over her head, concealing all of her features except for her eyes.

    “I never wanted to attack you. My name is Ochika.” She bowed her head. “I heard your name from Dororo.”

    “You know Dororo? Do you know where sh--he is now?”

    Ochika removed her face covering and stashed it inside her clothes. She looked very pale in the thin moonlight. “Dororo sneaked into the fortress.”

    “What?” Hyakkimaru took a step forward. “Is he alive?”

    “I hope so,” Ochika said. “He wanted to sneak in no matter what. He never would have made it in without my help, so really, it’s all my fault. He was supposed to come back this morning, but he hasn’t.”

    Hyakkimaru shifted his gaze toward the wall of the fortress. “Idiot,” he muttered. “He should never have gone in without us.” His tone was scolding, but also affectionate. “He must have gotten caught.”

    Hyakkimaru approached the wall.

    “Wait,” Ochika said. She told Hyakkimaru how she’d come to meet Dororo. She’d saved Dororo after he fell from a cliff trying to evade pursuers from Kaga’s Judicial Office. As she spoke, Hyakkimaru noticed how sincere Ochika’s concern was for Dororo’s safety. It was almost like Dororo was her own child. He stared at her like he was trying to figure her out.

    Ochika stared back.

    “I can’t leave Dororo alone in there,” Hyakkimaru said. “I’m breaking in.”

    “Then I will, too,” Ochika said.

    Hyakkimaru looked at her in alarm. The fortress was too dangerous for a woman to sneak into, even if she was armed. Besides, it was harder to sneak two people over a wall than one.

    “Don’t give me that look,” Ochika said. “It’s not like I haven’t been in there before.”

    Hyakkimaru tilted his head a little, but then he nodded. There was no time to ask for details. He saw the benefit in her coming with him: she had been inside and knew the lay of the land. He could stay out ahead of her to protect her. He knew she could fight, at least a little, but his prosthetic limbs would work better to shield them both from archers.

    “All right. We’ll go together.”

    The base of the wall was very rocky, so it was difficult to find good footing. Ochika seemed to know the place well and was able to move without making a sound. Hyakkimaru followed her, trying to match her and not always succeeding. She moved like a mountain monkey, slightly crouched down and light on her feet. He didn’t hear a single one of her footsteps. There was obviously more to Ochika than met the eye.

    They passed beside a forest grove near the wall. Hyakkimaru saw many guards patrolling on top of the wall, carrying torches that bathed the surrounding area in illumination.

     Hyakkimaru stumbled over a rock and snapped a tree branch in half with his foot.

    “Who’s there?”

    An ashigaru sprinted toward Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru hesitated. Failing to deal with this man quickly would bring the other guards down upon them, but he wasn’t sure what to do.

    Ochika rushed up beside Hyakkimaru and kicked the ashigaru hard in the chest, sending him flying into a huge cedar tree. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

    Ochika’s eyes sparkled with mirth. Hyakkimaru smiled at her and waved in thanks. She was full of surprises. Though she hadn’t revealed that she was a bandit, Hyakkimaru could guess at the kind of life she’d lived to acquire the skills she had. He didn’t judge her, though. Those skills were useful now. They shared a goal: rescuing Dororo from the fortress.

    There were storage sheds close to the tree line. Ochika darted behind one, followed closely by Hyakkimaru. Wood boxes and storage crates were piled up high around the shed. Hyakkimaru smelled something like perfume or a spice; he couldn’t quite place the scent.  It was sweet and somehow familiar, like being held in his mother’s arms.

    “They’ll spot us if we stay together,” Ochika whispered. “This is where we split up.”

    Hyakkimaru nodded.

    “The residence is to the west, surrounded by trees. There are more guards there than anywhere else.”

    “I’ll search there,” Hyakkimaru whispered. “You search the barracks and outbuildings.”

    Ochika nodded. “Be careful.” She put her face covering on again.

    They separated, each running to separate ends of the shed before they took off in opposite directions. They were both used to moving in darkness. Ochika ran from fence to fence, waiting for openings in the watch so she wouldn’t be spotted. Hyakkimaru kept to the shadows and went more slowly so he wouldn’t be heard.

    Ochika knew exactly where to go, but her path was blocked by guards. Impatient, she ran toward the merchant stalls near the barracks and looked for a likely-looking target. One man was walking alone with his goods strapped to his back. Ochika attacked him from behind, putting her hand over his mouth and the point of her blade to his throat.

    “Scream and I’ll kill you,” she whispered.

    The merchant trembled, but he didn’t cry out.

    “There must be someplace where they keep prisoners,” Ochika said. “Do you know where that is?”

    “All I know is that they bring people to that big building in the middle there for questioning,” the merchant said. “Please, spare my life.”

    “I won’t kill you,” Ochika said, “but you can sleep for awhile.” She struck both fists into the merchant’s solar plexus. The merchant groaned a little, then lost consciousness. Ochika turned toward the large building the merchant had described and started running.

    Ochika prayed to Amida Buddha as she ran. Dororo, please be safe.

    Dororo might be pretending to be a boy, but she was still a girl. She and Hyakkimaru had injured or killed many guards and ashigaru during their escape from the men at Kaga’s Judicial Office. If the men here found out that she was involved with that incident, she could be charged with a serious crime and executed.

    Ochika pressed her back to the wall of a building and peeked out at her destination, which was getting closer. The courtyard outside the largest building in the area was thick with people: mostly ashigaru going in and out. When she slipped around the crowd and looked inside one of the building’s windows, she saw only two men patrolling the hallways.

    Ochika climbed silently through the window. She knocked out the first patrolling guard the in the same way as the merchant, then approached the second guard stealthily from behind before seizing him by the throat with both hands.

    “Where are the prisoners kept?” she hissed in his ear.

    When the ashigaru realized his attacker was a woman, he twisted in her grip and tried to slam her to the floor, but she bucked her hips up, rolled over and pinned him instead, clamping  down on his throat again. He tried to get her off, but her legs were uncommonly strong.

    “If you don’t tell me, I’ll spill your guts all over this floor.”

    The ashigaru gasped for air. He tried to free himself from Ochika’s grip again, but it was hopeless. He pointed down the hallway.

    “Go to sleep,” Ochika muttered, venting all of her anger in her fists as she knocked him unconscious. The ashigaru sprawled out, unmoving, on the ground. Ochika went where the guard had pointed and discovered a door that led to a dimly lit staircase. She went down the stairs, being careful not to make a sound.

    The bottom of the staircase opened out onto a narrow corridor that was made narrower by the presence of prison cells built to either side of it. Some of the people Ochika saw had the look of dispossessed merchants. They sat in their cells with their faces in their knees, weeping.

    Many prisoners were kept in a shared holding cell, but Dororo wasn’t in there. It was likely that Dororo had an individual cell. Ochika searched the prison in the half-darkness.

 

***

 

    Dororo was, in fact, in a cell all to himself. That spoke to the severity of the crime he was being accused of. It was possible that some of the ashigaru he’d injured while fleeing from Kaga’s Judicial Office recognized him. It was surprising that he hadn’t been executed yet. He’d likely been spared because of his youth--or because the guards weren’t finished interrogating him yet.

    Dororo’s darts had been confiscated after his capture. The guard captain came to question him every so often, but he hadn’t said a word about Jukai or Hyakkimaru to anyone. The cells were always lit, so it was impossible to tell if it was day or night.

    The guard captain stopped outside of Dororo’s cell. Dororo faced the wall, refusing to look at him.

    The guard captain rubbed at his long beard and cracked his whip. “You’ll talk this time, or you won’t get any more easy treatment.”

    “You call this easy treatment?” Dororo snorted.

    “If you don’t talk, you won’t eat, brat.”

    “Ch.”

    The guard captain leaned in. “You won’t be let go until you tell us where your friends are. Strip,” he said.

    When Dororo refused, he grabbed Dororo’s arms and forced him down.

    “Stop it, you moron! Let me go!”

    Dororo struggled valiantly, but the guard captain managed to hold him in place. No thirteen-year-old was strong enough to overpower a grown man.

    “Stop! Get off me!”

    “Shut up, brat!”

    Ochika heard Dororo’s shouts. She came up behind the guard captain and kicked him in the knee, causing him to stumble.

    “Who are you?” the guard captain called out. He drew his sword and was about to yell for help, but Ochika’s sword cut off his cry before he could make it. She slashed his stomach open so fast that he didn’t see it.

    The guard captain collapsed to the floor, gurgling blood.

    “Auntie Ochika!” Dororo couldn’t believe his eyes.

    “Dororo, we have to hurry.” She took Dororo’s hand and was about to lead him out of the cell when Dororo stopped.

    “Wait,” he said. He stooped down and retrieved the cell keys from the guard captain’s belt. He tossed the keys to the prisoners inside the shared cell and said, “Run, now! Escape!”

    The prisoners unlocked the door of the cell and ran down the narrow hallway. The prison and connected guardhouse descended into chaos as prisoners fled and guards gave chase. Ashigaru brandished spears and managed to surround some of the escapees, but many more managed to get free.

    Ochika and Dororo ran safely all the way to the storage shed where Ochika had separated from Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru noticed the ashigaru shouting and running around the barracks and retreated to the storage shed as well, guessing that something must have happened.

    “Aniki!” Dororo kept his voice down, but he was almost crying.

    “Dororo.” Hyakkimaru put his hands on Dororo’s shoulders and smiled. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

    Ochika watched Dororo and Hyakkimaru grinning at one another and felt a tightness in her chest. “It’s dangerous here,” she whispered. “We need to get away.”

    Hyakkimaru shook his head. “Leave, now, with Dororo.”

    Dororo grabbed the sleeve of Hyakkimaru’s kosode. “You’re not going to beat Daigo Kagemitsu without me.”

    “You can’t go with,” Hyakkimaru said. “You need to get outside and wait for dad. He’s still coming.”

    “How are we supposed to get out?” Dororo asked. “We’ll have to fight the whole way, anyway. We might as well stay.”

    Hyakkimaru removed a small handheld bomb from his pack and handed it to Dororo. “This is the last one, so use it wisely. If you’re fast and smart, you might be able to bluff your way out.”

    The sound of the soldiers’ footsteps was getting louder. Dororo went quiet. They couldn’t be found here.

    Hyakkimaru was sacrificing something significant by giving up his last bomb, but he wasn’t totally without firepower. There was gunpowder concealed in a hollow portion of his prosthetic leg.

    “Daigo Kagemitsu’s residence is to the west, surrounded by a stone wall,” Ochika said.

    Hyakkimaru nodded in thanks.

    Ochika broke into a run, followed closely by Dororo and Hyakkimaru. “There’s a hidden settlement in Eguri Valley,” she said. “That’s where we’ll be.”

    “Right,” Hyakkimaru said. He waited until they were  all some distance away from the ashigaru, then separated from Dororo and Ochika.

    Dororo and Ochika fled into a stable where they found the horse they’d used to ride here. They mounted up quickly, but they could hear the ashigaru closing in on them.

    “Stop them! They’re trying to get away!”

    Ochika urged the horse into a gallop toward the main gate, but she didn’t intend to pass through it. There were more guards stationed there than anywhere else. Instead, she had the horse pick up speed and leap over the wooden fence near the gate so that they landed on the other side.

    Ashigaru swarmed onto the road near the gate and started giving chase. “Halt!”

    Dororo threw the bomb Hyakkimaru had given him at the wooden fence. There was a loud boom as the fence splintered. The men in front of it stumbled and fell, concussion-deaf.

    Dororo laughed. “Serves you right!” 

    The horse got onto the main road, where it could make the best time speeding away from the fortress. There were no immediate pursuers, since the bomb had spooked the ashigaru defenders at the gate.

    Hyakkimaru used the confusion to sneak back over the wall and jump down the cliff into the woods dotting the western portion of the fortress city. He waited a while, listening to verify that Dororo and Ochika were safe, then sprinted closer to the castle that served as the Daigo Clan’s residence. There were guards patrolling around the fortress, of course, but most of them had been called away because of the ruckus outside. Hyakkimaru pushed himself to run as fast as possible, so fast that he was difficult to see while he was in motion.

    It was eerily quiet after Hyakkimaru was past the main perimeter. He crept forward silently until he reached a window, then opened it and climbed in.

    The interior of the castle was brightly lit, likely to protect against intruders such as himself, but he saw no one. The pervasive stillness of the outside permeated the inside, too. Sneaking into the Daigo Clan’s castle and taking it all in for the first time filled Hyakkimaru with an uneasy feeling that was difficult to describe. He tried to think of a reason why it would be so quiet.

    Is Daigo Kagemitsu away? The family should still be here somewhere…

    There were no signs of life at all, aside from the lamps lit in the hallways. Hyakkimaru turned a corner and saw light bouncing off the back of someone’s blade. There were guards in here, like he’d expected. Instead of hiding, Hyakkimaru strode bravely down the hallway, acting like he owned the place. None of the guards were looking his way, so he was able to advance further into the castle without resistance.

    Hyakkimaru was sneaking outside into another courtyard when he caught sight of a building right in front of him that was built higher than all the others in the area. The walls and steps leading up to it were all made of solid stone. He stepped into the courtyard, avoiding the light of the torches. He slipped through another window and immediately set eyes on a delicately painted folding screen. The other furnishings in the room also appeared expensive. He must be in the family’s living quarters, then. Retainers wouldn’t likely live in such luxury.

    He saw people coming down a hallway through one of the room’s bell-shaped windows and crouched down. He peered out the window as the people passed and saw a woman carrying a candle. She was walking behind another woman who was more finely dressed.

    The lady of the castle?

    Hyakkimaru’s heart beat faster. His mind made the connection that the lady of the castle would almost certainly be his mother, if she wasn’t dead.

    There was a low fence between the hallway and the courtyard that Hyakkimaru hid behind. There were no guards that he could see in this part of the castle. He wanted to see the face of the lady of the castle—just once. He enhanced his vision with psychokinesis, though it made his artificial eyes hurt. He ignored the pain and willed himself to focus.

    Hyakkimaru was too far away to distinguish faces, and the lady and her attendant were moving farther away from him. He watched them turn at a corner and disappear. He followed the line of the fence in the direction the lady had gone, still determined to see her. She entered a room with windows, so he was able to glance in.

    “Is that…my mother?” He hadn’t intended to speak, but the words slipped out. The backs of his eyes felt hot. The mere thought that this woman might be his mother made him want to cry. He felt warm all over, like he’d finally come home after his long journey. The lady of the castle appeared kind.

    But she threw me away, too. She must have. Why?

    Hyakkimaru’s old hatred warred with his more tender feelings. He guessed that his mother was like the demon woman he’d encountered at the Hall of Hell, presenting a gentle exterior and only transforming into her true shape when threatened. He didn’t know if he was supposed to love her or hate her. He had no control over how he felt.

    “Is there someone there?”she asked.

    Hyakkimaru rose from his crouch and saw guards in the courtyard that he hadn’t noticed before. He sprinted in the direction of the courtyard garden, which was full of trees and places to hide.

    His flight was noticed.

    “Intruder! Halt!”

    Hyakkimaru sprinted through the garden and back to toward the outer walls of the castle, where he’d been before. He kept running with his pursuers hot on his heels. He looked for a path that led to an exit. He had no desire to be cut down here.

    Only one of his pursuers managed to track him all the way to the forested area near the castle’s outer wall. “Stop!” he shouted.

    He was too close for Hyakkimaru to evade, at least without a path to run on. He stopped.

    Hyakkimaru’s pursuer was a young man with a drawn sword. It was difficult to make out his features in the moonlight. “Are you one of Dororo’s allies?” he asked.

    How did he know Dororo’s name? Was he responsible for Dororo’s capture?

    Hyakkimaru faced the young man silently and waited for him to speak again.

    “He’s locked up. We’re waiting for him to tell us more about the people he was with when he broke into the Judicial Office…but it seems his friends care more about him than we thought.” He snorted. “Tell me your name before I kill you, stranger.”

    “You don’t need my name,” Hyakkimaru said. His eyes darted frantically around, searching for a way past the young man.

    The young man chuckled. “Fine, then. At least tell me why you’re here.”

    “Why should I tell you?” Hyakkimaru asked in a tone of clear irritation. The more time he stayed in place, the more guards could muster up and block his escape.

    “Wouldn’t you be curious if someone broke into your house?”

    “I’m after Daigo Kagemitsu’s head,” Hyakkimaru said.

    “What?” The young man frowned. He slashed out with his sword. “Bastard. Who are you?”

    Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword and blocked the strike so strongly that the young man collapsed backwards.

    “Lord Tahōmaru!” Guards rushed to the young man’s aid. Hyakkimaru fled before the guards could surround him.

    Tahōmaru got to his feet and yelled, “Kill him! Don’t let him get away!”

    The guards chased after Hyakkimaru, shouting and drawing their swords. Hyakkimaru sprinted to the rear of the castle and found himself near a heavily guarded gate. He wouldn’t be able to get through here.

    Shit. 

    He couldn’t leave, and he couldn’t go into the fortress again, where they were already looking for him. All he could do was wait to be caught. A narrow band of white light shone on the eastern horizon: it was almost sunrise.

    As Hyakkimaru was desperately thinking of a way out, a shadow beckoned to him from the trees. “Hyakkimaru,” a man hissed, “this way!”

    He didn’t recognize the voice, but the fact that the man knew his name was reassuring. He followed the man cautiously into a small building along the edge of the forest path. An old man was sitting inside. He was a samurai general, judging by his equipment.

    “It’s not exactly safe here, but it’ll do for now.” The old man chuckled. His light and easy way of speaking reminded Hyakkimaru of Asakura Mitsuhisa. “What did you think you were doing, sneaking in? It’s dangerous in there, you know.”

    The old man invited Hyakkimaru into an interior room with a kitchen. He ladled hot soup into a bowl that he passed to Hyakkimaru. “This should help warm you up. Eat it, then get some sleep.”

    “Are you Mitsuhisa’s--?”

    “Hush, youngster. Don’t give out names unless you want people to know yours.” His eyes sparkled. “You can call me

Ōgawara for now.” Morning light seeped through the window. “Now rest.”

    Hyakkimaru was asleep the moment he hit the floor. It had been an extremely long night. Meeting Ochika, rescuing Dororo, breaking into the Daigo Clan’s castle and encountering the woman that might be his mother had completely worn him out. The brief fight with and escape from Tahōmaru hadn’t helped matters. He was relieved that Ōgawara had saved him, though he didn’t really understand why. He assumed that Ōgawara was a spy for the Asakura Clan. Ezichen Province and Kaga Province were next-door neighbors, and they were on opposite sides of the war. It made sense that the Asakura Clan would have spies here.

    Hyakkimaru wanted nothing to do with the war, the Eastern Army or the Western Army. He’d gotten into enough trouble fighting in the Eastern Army near Kyōto. Daigo Kagemitsu was a general in the Eastern Army. If he found out that Ōgawara was working for the Western Army, it would be all over for him, too. 

    Hyakkimaru spent the remainder of the night and part of the next day in dreamless sleep. When he awoke, he remembered his fight with Tahōmaru and frowned. Tahōmaru was rude and immature, but Hyakkimaru might act the same way if the circumstances were reversed. Hyakkimaru was glad he hadn't been forced to kill him, or anyone else.

    Was it really my mother that I saw?

    Hyakkimaru glanced out of the partially open window and noticed that it was near sunset. He got up and thanked Ōgawara for concealing him for so long.

    "You're not leaving yet," Ōgawara said. "Are you?"

    It seemed that Ōgawara had guessed his intentions. "No," Hyakkimaru said.

    "This place is full of samurai. You'll be found and questioned if you stay here much longer. I don't want any trouble, and I'm sure they don't, either. I helped you when there was no great risk to myself, but now, I don't know..." Ōgawara considered for a full minute. "I do know another place you could hide, but it would only be for a few days."

    "Tell me where it is," Hyakkimaru said. "Please."

    Ōgawara nodded, then summoned his house servant. It was the man who had called out to Hyakkimaru in the dark the previous night. Like Ōgawara, he was very likely a spy. He handed Hyakkimaru clean clothes, then said, "Change."

    The clean clothes were a carpenter's uniform. Hyakkimaru put it on on top of his own kosode. Anyone who saw him would assume that he was just another worker on the grounds. He wrapped his Muramasa sword in a straw mat along with a hatchet and saw.

    Hyakkimaru bowed politely to Ōgawara. Then the house servant led him outside. Watchfires lit in iron baskets dotted their surroundings. Ashigaru and archers stood guard atop the reinforced earthwork walls. Most stood still in fixed positions, though there were some that patrolled back and forth. Hyakkimaru thought that there were more guards now than he'd seen the day before. News of his breaking in had put the castle on high alert.

    The house servant led him to the back of an old warehouse where several other carpenters were already working. No one looked twice at them. While work on the main fortress had ceased some time ago, there were constant improvements and adjustments being made to the buildings inside the city.

    There was a large troop of soldiers gathered in a courtyard near where the carpenters were working.

    “There’s a public feast being held tonight,” the house servant whispered to Hyakkimaru.

    Hyakkimaru blinked in surprise. The fortress was always under heavy guard, and the province was at war. It didn’t seem like the time for Nomitadani Fortress to be inviting outsiders to a public feast.

    “Only people inside the fortress will be able to attend, of course,” the house servant whispered. “I heard Kagemitsu invited certain people specially.”

    The house servant referred to Daigo Kagemitsu casually, without his clan name or honorific. It really did seem like the house servant and Ōgawara were spies for the Asakura Clan.

    “Do you know what his wife’s name is?” Hyakkimaru asked quietly.

    “Nui no Kata,” the house servant said.

    “Nui no Kata…” Hyakkimaru frowned. This banquet had likely been planned far in advance, if Daigo Kagemitsu had invited special guests. The sheer number of ashigaru gathered in the courtyard alarmed him.

    Isn’t it a bit…much?

    He found the timing for a feast inappropriate, especially since the Daigo Clan didn’t intend to share with anyone outside the walls of the fortress. Is it because he’s a valued retainer of Togashi Masachika? Him and his wife get to do whatever they want, whenever they want?

    Hyakkimaru was overwhelmed with the desire to see the true faces of Daigo Kagemitsu and Nui no Kata beneath their human disguises. He guessed that they probably looked like demons or monsters on the inside. He no longer felt any sympathy for his mother. She was simply Daigo Kagemitsu’s wife. She had an extravagant lifestyle and didn’t care about the suffering of the outside world. She didn’t deserve any consideration from him.