Dororo: A Novel
Tsuji Masaki
Part Four
The Tale of Nihil, the Demon Sword
Chapter 1
Hyakkimaru and Dororo kept traveling as the sun rose high in the sky. In that time, there was no smog or pollution. They walked along under a clear, clean blue sky. They were passing by what is now modern-day Nara.
"What happened while I was unconscious, aniki? Why did we run off?"
Hyakkimaru's footsteps were measured and slow, and he gave Dororo no answer except silence.
"Can't you hear me? Of course you can! You killed Bandai and got your ear back."
That was correct. As they'd left the village, Hyakkimaru's ear had grown back. It was painful; Hyakkimaru had clenched his hand over it as it came in, raw and red and angry-looking. Dororo came to in time to see the false ear fall off and gaped in astonishment. The fact that the ear had grown back was proof of Hyakkimaru's quest to destroy demons: he'd killed one, and his stolen ear had returned to him.
Because Hyakkimaru had both an ear and his voice back, he no longer had to rely on telepathy to communicate. Hyakkimaru should be able to hear Dororo's voice without any difficulty. And yet, as they walked, Hyakkimaru often pretended that he couldn't hear what Dororo was saying. Dororo might as well have been talking to himself.
“Don’t think I’ve given up on getting that sword arm of yours,” Dororo said. Dororo didn't have the skill to remove Hyakkimaru's sword arms, but he wouldn't have to if he waited for one or the other of them to fall off after a demon battle.
Hyakkimaru said nothing in response. His expression was as clear and still as the surface of a mountain lake. He found it difficult to express his emotions at the best of times, and what he was thinking about was the cruel way the villagers had treated him and the injured Dororo. They'd kicked them out of the village as it started to rain. Ever since Hyakkimaru had carried Dororo out of town, he'd been in an unrelieved black mood.
From that old man's perspective, Bandai wasn't the demon. I was, Hyakkimaru thought. He'd walked with Dororo all night until the sun came up and cast his long shadow behind him.
In contrast, Dororo seemed to be in a cheerful mood as he skipped along in the morning sunshine.
"Oh! I forgot something," Dororo said. "Before I steal your sword arm, I need to pay you back. You jumped in to save me from that demon when you didn't have to, and you carried me to safety, after all. Don't say there's no honor among thieves! Since we're traveling anyway, I've half a mind to go seafaring on one of those big boats. Have you seen those? But anyway, we should eat first. I'm starving. Why don't we rest in that temple over there?"
Hyakkimaru said nothing.
"Well then, it's settled. Let's go!"
Dororo was the only one talking, and he was the only one who made the decision to go to the temple.
The temple was situated in a grove of trees just off the road. Its wide sloping roof was visible from where Dororo and Hyakkimaru stood, but little else. As they drew closer, Dororo and Hyakkimaru realized that the temple was in ruins. The roof was mostly intact, but several walls were collapsed, and many wooden support beams had fallen. The neglect was so severe that it was a wonder the place was still standing.
"It's so rundown," Dororo said with a little frown. "There are no houses anywhere around here. It's a perfect place for demons to live! Aniki, do you sense anything?"
Hyakkimaru must have been thinking along similar lines. He examined the temple closely for a few moments, then shook his head. "I don't think there are any demons here."
"Really? Ch," Dororo said in an irritated tone. It was strange, but the sun seemed to shine brighter on him than anything else. "Brrr." Dororo looked up at a passing cloud. "Looks like rain." Then he looked again and gaped.
Far above them, there was an enormous pink demon formed of thick clouds. "Gah!" Dororo cried out. Who knew how long the demon had been there spying on them? It still hadn't made a single sound. “D-d-demon!”
Dororo’s declaration caught Hyakkimaru off-guard. Perhaps because the creature was in the sky, his senses hadn’t registered its presence until it was right on top of them.
“You bastard!” Hyakkimaru yelled. His arm prosthetics were still on, so his swords weren’t exposed. He could sense the creature, but not the killing intent that usually came with demons. The creature before them was a demon, or something very like it—of that there could be little doubt—but Hyakkimaru felt fairly sure that this creature didn’t want to kill them.
What a strange demon, Hyakkimaru thought. It was approximately three times Dororo’s size—so not huge, at least from Hyakkimaru’s perspective—and it wasn’t attacking. Was it frightened? The head was exceptionally large, making the creature top-heavy; its limbs were comparatively short and thin, like a child’s. Its aura was faintly golden, and its features were lopsided, but present. Hyakkimaru identified a nose, eyes and a mouth, though he had to squint a bit.
“…piggyback?” the creature asked in a nasally voice.
Hyakkimaru blinked at it.
The creature faced Dororo. “Piggyback? I wanna ride.” The creature’s tone was high-pitched and enthusiastic. It extended its stubby arms hopefully. They looked like old tree roots trying to bend.
“Huh?” Dororo asked. “No way! If I tried to pick you up and carry you, I’d be squished flat as a rice cracker! It would be like trying to haul around a beer barrel!”
Dororo took a few steps back. The creature gripped his collar before he got out of range and pulled. The creature could retract its limbs into its body like a turtle; Dororo was rapidly sucked in.
“Ah! Aniki, do something!”
Hyakkimaru still sensed no hostile intent from the creature. He suspected they were dealing with some kind of spirit, not a demon. “If I save you,” he said, only half-joking, “that’ll be two favors that you owe me.”
“You’re keeping score at a time like this!? You think I can’t count or somethin’? I get it, I get it! Just save me already!”
By this point, the creature had clasped Dororo close. It towered over the diminutive Dororo, who struggled uselessly against what was essentially an unwilling hug.
Hyakkimaru stood up straight, then said sternly, “Hey! You let him go, right now!” In the blink of an eye, he tossed aside his right arm prosthetic, revealing the blade. It had drunk the blood of many demons, but he wasn’t sure it was right for him to raise it against this creature. He still didn't know what level of threat it posed.
The creature clung more closely to Dororo and asked for a piggyback ride again.
“I said let go!” Hyakkimaru said.
The creature smiled at Hyakkimaru, then laughed brightly. Though the creature’s features were a little blurred, Hyakkimaru could tell that it was, indeed, laughing, and that the laugh held no malice. To him, it sounded like the laugh of an innocent child.
“You…”
There was no need to threaten this creature with his swords. Hyakkimaru’s original instincts were correct. But how to deal with it, then?
Hyakkimaru was hardened to killing demons by now: his heart was painted black several times over. Despite that, something in this spirit creature’s laugh shook him to the core. The creature was misshapen and hideous, but the effect was comical, not frightening. He felt somehow that the creature was far more human than he’d ever been in his life. He hated his birth parents then, for abandoning him to inhumanity. He envied the creature for its laugh and its innocence.
“Let him go, or I’ll kill you!” He would. The creature didn’t deserve it, but he’d kill it all the same.
“You mustn’t!”
The voice came from above, as sweet as
honey and flowing like water. Hers was the first woman’s voice that Hyakkimaru ever heard.
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