Dororo: A Novel
Tsuji Masaki
Part Seven
The Tale of the Hidden Treasure
on the Cruel Cape
Chapter 4
Itachi and Dororo climbed up the cliff that towered over the Cruel Cape.
"So this is the place, huh? My father's treasure is hidden at the top, right?" Dororo asked.
"There's no need to sound so suspicious. I'm sure that Hibukuro hid it there. You'll see for yourself soon enough."
The cliff was shrouded in mist; it was so high that it seemed to stretch above the clouds. Suddenly, the mist parted, revealing an empty clear space.
Itachi looked around, then pointed triumphantly at a large rock. "There it is!"
The rock was marked with peculiar scratches. "It's the same as the burn on your back," Itachi said.
Itachi quickly dug with his hands, revealing a large clay jar. "This must be it: the treasure that Hibukuro hid away." He opened the lid on the jar with a powerful pull.
"Ah!" Dororo gasped.
"W-why?" Itachi asked, stunned.
The inside of the clay jar was completely empty.
"That's... that's impossible!" Itachi lifted the lid all the way off the jar. There was writing inside. He read it out: "In April, we will give three pieces of gold to the Yabuki Village. In June, we will give two pieces of gold and five pieces of silver to the Miyoshidani peasants. In July..." After reading that far, Itachi no longer had the heart to continue.
Dororo jumped up in the air. "I see. Dad didn’t keep the treasure for himself. He shared it with the poor and kept it hidden from you bastards."
Ironically, Itachi had mounted his assault on the island just after all the money that Hibukuro had set aside was spent.
"Hehehehe! Look at that! You should never have used my dad to try to betray me. You all were gonna steal from the poor and starving--you would have killed them with your greed! Dad was giving out what he got to make life easier for everyone. Damn you all for ruining everything!"
The ground rumbled under Dororo's feet as he yelled at Itachi.
"Ah!" Itachi cried out. He was looking down at the shore, where dozens of soldiers were hunting down his fellow bandits. Little by little, the treacherous waters were receding around the cape. For less than an hour a day in what is now Chiba Prefecture, it is possible to walk to the Cruel Cape from shore. The soldiers must have come across during that short time; even now, the narrow road they'd taken was being lapped at by the waves.
"Kill them! Don't leave a single one of them alive!"
Lord Makuwa was in command from the rear. He'd swum much of the way, escaping from the giant shark and barely making it to the cape. He'd discovered the bandits there and captured one. The bandit had informed him about the treasure that Hibukuro had hidden. He'd called in reinforcements when it was possible to walk to the Cruel Cape overland, and now the attack was in full force.
"There are too many of them!" Itachi said. He grimaced in disgust at Lord Makuwa and the soldiers. Nearly half of the bandits had been killed by the shark attack; their numbers at half-strength were no match for Lord Makuwa's forces. Only ten bandits were still fighting on the beach.
"The treasure is above us!" Lord Makuwa called out. "Retrieve it, men!"
Some of the soldiers, encouraged by Lord Makuwa's shout, started climbing up the cliff.
"What?" Itachi froze still, trapped in a dilemma. He was the leader here. He had to continue the fight. His men defended themselves, running around the rocky area near shore. The soldiers pursued. Every time they swung their swords, they were guaranteed to hit one of their enemies.
"Shibuto, Yatsume! They're using bows! Get down!"
There was the thrum of bowstrings being released; arrows rained on the bandits. Most of the bandits were running up the cliff, so the arrows were shot from below them. That made it easier to dodge. Itachi himself dodged the first five or six arrows, but eventually he was hit: once in the stomach, once in the shoulder.
"I'll stay with you, you old fart." Dororo kicked away the stones around them, standing over Itachi protectively. The stones rolled down the cliff, echoing all the way.
One stone knocked two others loose, and those two stones knocked four more loose. Before long, Dororo's kicked stones formed an avalanche that slid down the cliff face.
"Gyaaah!"
"Gah!"
"Whoa!"
This attack was quite successful, but it didn't sweep away everyone. The smarter soldiers moved out of range of the falling stones, escaping harm. That included some of the archers, who continued shooting.
"Dororo, that's enough, you just hide there," Itachi said, breathing harshly into his shoulder.
"Why? What the heck's wrong with you?" Dororo's cheek had been grazed by an arrow; he was bleeding.
"Because I don't want you to die," Itachi said gravely. "If I save you, maybe the weight of my crimes will be lighter. Listen to me, Dororo. Don't look at what I'm about to do."
Itachi pushed Dororo behind a rock, then brandished his sword so that Lord Makuwa and the other soldiers would see him.
"Oh my gods... this is Itachi's last fight!" Dororo said.
The two arrows stuck in Itachi glinted as he moved. He slashed at the soldiers climbing up the cliff, once after another, but of course he couldn't kill them all. Another arrow pierced Itachi's neck, and he fell.
"Gah!"
For a few moments, Itachi remained standing with the arrow poking out.
"I... that's it for me." Itachi's eyes clouded over, becoming completely white. He turned his head toward the rock where Dororo was hidden and whispered, "Goodbye."
Stones were still rolling down the cliff face. Itachi let out a scream, raising his voice to let Hibukuro know that he was coming to see him in hell. Itachi's body fell from the cliff like a stone, into the crowd of soldiers below.
"Ah, Itachi!" Dororo jumped out, forgetting himself.
Itachi landed on the ground with a dull thump. He didn't move.
Dororo bit his lip. "Everybody's dead... everyone..."
The battle was over. All of the bandits had been killed to a man: Dororo was the last one left. The soldiers were making neat piles of bandit corpses.
"Hey! There's a kid!" Lord Makuwa called out to his men, pointing to Dororo on the cliff. Then: "That's the warrior who crossed the border. Shoot him! Kill him!"
Lord Makuwa gestured to Hyakkimaru, who was standing near him. Before he finished speaking, Hyakkkimaru cut him down, and he fell to the ground covered in blood.
"Dororo!" Hyakkimaru waved up at him. "It's me! Don't give up yet!"
"Oh, aniki!" Dororo jumped up and down in his excitement.
"Out of my way," Hyakkimaru said, holding both swords up as he ran at speed. Most of the soldiers didn't try to stop him: their commander was down, and the bandits were all dead. Hyakkimaru was a new threat, and it took time to respond.
Dororo jumped off the cliff with the agility of a mountain monkey. He scratched his head, then ran to Hyakkimaru.
"Aniki! Aniki!"
"Wow, you stink," Hyakkimaru said when he came into range.
"Huh?" Dororo took Hyakkimaru in. It had been awhile since they'd last seen one another. "Oh, I get it. You got your nose back and learned to smell. Well, you're gonna have to get used to it, aniki."
"No I won't. When's the last time you had a bath?"
"Hehehehe. Not to brag or anything, but... four years ago."
"I hope you're lying," Hyakkimaru said. He was about to burst out laughing.
But then another samurai commander took the field. Hyakkimaru faced him, seeing Daigo Kagemitsu rallying the leaderless soldiers.
Hyakkimaru didn't want to laugh anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment