Dororo: A Novel
Tsuji Masaki
Part Two:
The Tale of Yarokamizu,
the Water Demon
Chapter 3
“You? Steal? My swords? How?” Hyakkimaru was dumbstruck.
“Sure. I’ll knock you out with a rock, then cut ‘em right off! I’m Dororo, the world’s greatest thief! D’you think I can’t manage to steal a sword arm or two?”
“Give up,” Hyakkimaru said. “It’s impossible.”
“Impossible? There’s no such thing! You obviously have no idea who I am. I’m Dororo, the world’s greatest--”
“--Yes, yes, you’ve said that already. Don’t say it again. You should get away from me, right now. And don’t follow me. If you do, nothing but disaster will befall you.”
“What? Why?”
“I said it before,” Hyakkimaru said wearily. “Demons hunt me.”
“Demons?” Dororo sounded mightily interested. If he was a more ordinary boy, he might have scoffed and said, “Stop making up stories! Everyone knows that demons aren’t real. You’re just saying that so I don’t follow after you!”
But Dororo didn’t. He’d just seen a demon with his own eyes, after all. The place where Hyakkimaru’s sword arm had cut through the boulder was obvious, and obviously abnormal. Dororo was usually a chatterbox, but Hyakkimaru’s otherworldly aura was making him much more reserved and serious than usual--not that Hyakkimaru had any way to know that.
“Why do the demons follow you?” Dororo asked.
“I hunt them, just like they hunt me. It’s what I do for work.”
“Why hunt them, then? If you stopped, would they leave you alone?”
“Shut up, kid,” Hyakkimaru said, sounding annoyed.
“Uh... I mean, why not tell me a little more about your work?” Dororo asked. “There’s no harm in that, is there?”
Dororo was as attached to Hyakkimaru--or at least his sword arms--as a live sharksucker was to a shark. He would not easily be dislodged.
When Hyakkimaru said nothing, Dororo said, “C’mon, you’ve gotta know that I’m gonna stick with you no matter what you say. Stop trying to scare me and open up a little.”
Hyakkimaru finally lost his head. “Go! Now!”
“Go where? I don’t got no home or inn room or nothin’.”
“Then go down a different road than the one I choose.”
“Why? No one owns the road. Not even me, and I’m the world’s greatest thief.”
“Shut up!” In the blink of an eye, Hyakkimaru removed one of his prosthetic arms, revealing a naked blade that he pointed straight at Dororo’s chest.
“Ah! Dororo gasped “So this is what one of the swords looks like up close! It’s fantastic! How sharp is it?”
Hyakkimaru thought that Dororo would run away, but instead, he was practically drooling at the sight of Hyakkimaru’s sword arm.
“So how did you get swords in your arms, anyway?” Dororo asked. “I bet that’s an interesting story.”
Hyakkimaru was silent.
“You won’t tell me?” Dororo pouted. “Why not?”
Hyakkimaru sighed in defeat. He didn’t want anything to do with Dororo. He hoped that by giving in, he’d be able to convince Dororo to leave him alone. “Fine. But I’m only going to say it once, so you’d better pay attention.”
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