Dororo: A Novel
Tsuji Masaki
Part Seven
The Tale of a
New Sea Voyage
Chapter 2
Torn sails rustled in the cold wind. Dororo and Hyakkimaru were on the deck of the ship.
"Will your wish finally come true now?" Hyakkimaru asked.
Dororo had Hyakkimaru's sword arm in his hand. Now that the demon was dead, Hyakkimaru had his real arms, and the sword arms were detached from him.
"Hehe... I told you that I'd definitely get the sword from you."
"Then when the ship reaches a port somewhere, we'll say goodbye, I suppose."
"Why would we do that?"
"What?"
"So I achieved my goal." Dororo shrugged. "You still got monsters to fight, right, aniki? So I think I'm gonna follow you until we clear out all the monsters."
"We?"
"Yes, we!"
Hyakkimaru smiled briefly, but then he choked. "Okay. But if you're sticking around, I'm going to give you a bath."
"You won't." Dororo appeared nervous. "I'm the greatest phantom thief in all of Japan! I don't need no stupid bath! Hygiene is overrated. I don't need to be clean to stalk you, ya moron! Pumpkin-head! Someone dropped you on your head when you were born. Hah!"
***
The mast creaked overhead. With the demon defeated, the haunted ship was just a ship again, albeit one in extremely bad repair. The wind filled the ship's dilapidated sails, and Dororo and Hyakkimaru headed out into open waters.
The two boys sat on the deck, gazing at the far-off horizon, smelling the sea air and looking at the rolling waves.
Dororo had stolen Hyakkimaru's sword arm, and Hyakkimaru had regained all of his missing limbs.
Dororo and Hyakkimaru, where will they go now?
I don't know, and they don't know, but they'll go as far as they can!
THE END
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