No word had come from Hakuchi by nightfall.
Kusama prowled aimlessly, restlessly through his room at the Mt. Tsurugi
hideout, where he had elected to remain behind. Reijirou had told him that morning that he was going to carry out the attack today.
(Whether it failed or succeeded, there should have been word.)
Do as you please—I’ll have nothing to do with it, he’d told Reijirou coldly, pulling away. But this was a Red Whales battle nonetheless. He’d been unable to calm himself the entire day. He’d rather be on the battlefield than go through this. He hadn’t thought it would be so hard to stay away, worrying.
(They couldn’t have been wiped out.)
Ominous thoughts kept crossing his mind. He thought many times about rushing to Hakuchi.
“Reijirou...”
Kusama jumped at a sudden loud noise behind him. He turned to see the alcove’s sword rack broken, and his longsword lying on the floor. It had been Kusama’s favorite sword since he had founded the Red Whales with Reijirou. Its guard had broken right in half. Kusama turned pale at this ominous sign.
The phone rang abruptly. The timing was so horrible that he hesitated to answer it, but it kept ringing. As if compelled, he picked up the receiver.
“It’s me.”
The caller was the communications officer downstairs. What he had to say was the opposite of what Kusama had expected.
“We’ve...taken Hakuchi.”
Kusama thought he had misheard, but it was true. The communications officer reported the results of the battle with gusto.
“I see... Mm. ...Mm...right. Thank you.”
He put down the receiver. He sank down into the chair behind him and stared vacantly.
He didn’t move for a while.
“I see. So he succeeded...” he muttered to himself, looking up at the ceiling. Perhaps because he had been so worried, the good news didn’t feel real. He leaned back, his mouth open.
The phone rang again—his direct leadership line this time. Reijirou? he thought, jumping to answer.
“Hello—...?!”
The caller was unexpected. Kusama’s face suddenly turned grim.
“What? Repeat that.”
Kusama went pale, and his breath caught.
“...What did you say...?”
The strategic Hakuchi Castle had fallen.
The soldiers who had gone out to attack Hakuchi had almost all returned by morning. The front line troops remained at Hakuchi Castle with their commander and new chamberlain, Hikawa Samanosuke.
The Red Whales were in high spirits. Their return was triumphant, almost like a festival parade. When the jubilant men returned to the cottage village, the square immediately turned into a festival. They opened barrels of wine, laughed loudly, danced, and frolicked like children. Exhaustion seemed to have fallen away in the face of the overwhelming victory; the celebration began right there and then.
“We did it, we did it!”
“We’ve avenged Akutagawa-dono!”
“We conquered Hakuchi—!”
The whooping group from Ashizuri spotted Kada and rushed to him.
“We did it, Kada-san! We won!”
“Yeah! Well done, everyone! We’re gonna celebrate today!”
“All right!”
Everywhere he went, men came up to him with joyful greetings, grinning hugely. The square was already in an uproar. While answering the calls of celebration, Kada went to the administration building to report. Waiting for him at the entrance was Kusama’s secretary, Handou.
“I just got back. Where is Kusama-san? In his room?”
“Kusama-san just stepped out.”
“Stepped out? At a time like this? He received the news of Hakuchi’s fall, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but he seemed to be in a hurry. He said he was going to Kouchi.”
“Kouchi? Urado Castle?”
“He didn’t tell me anything else. Something seems to be off.”
Reijirou was puzzled. —Had something happened?
He couldn’t do anything about Kusama’s absence. He set down his things and headed for the infirmary, where some of the wounded soldiers had already arrived. As he thanked them, Nakagawa in his white coat entered from the examination room.
“Ah...very well done. Congratulations, Kada-san.”
“Where is Ougi?”
Nakagawa pointed to a bed at the back of the room on which lay an injured Utarou. Nakagawa had rescued him from the fire. He was badly burned, but would survive. He had already received treatment for his injuries. Takaya was sitting by his bed.
“I’m sorry, Ougi-san. It was my fault.” Utarou was awake. He lay face-down on the pillow as he talked to Takaya. “It’s my fault that the fire spread. I wasn’t strong enough. I didn’t know what to do...”
“It’s fine, stop worrying about it. How is your wound?”
“Nothing to worry about.” Utarou was smiling, putting on a brave face, but he seemed to be in a lot of pain. But that wasn’t the sole reason for the tears at the corners of his eyes. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I knew that Minoshima-san is one of Yoshimura-san’s friends... I should’ve been on the lookout for something strange happening. I’m so sorry!”
“You did nothing wrong. The fire was extinguished. Don’t worry about it, just concentrate on getting well.”
“Ougi-san...”
He laid his hand on Utarou’s comfortingly. The warmth seemed to make him happy. Utarou bit his lip to hold back tears.
(I’ll make him pay for this.)
Takaya was angry at the person who had done this to Utarou. Suddenly, someone called his name from behind. He turned to see Reijirou behind the curtains. He motioned for Takaya to join him.
They left the infirmary and headed into the forest at the back. The public square bulged with the victory celebration, with a continuous stream of loud singing and boisterous laughter. But there was a hard look on Reijirou’s face; he seemed in no mood to share in the delight. Takaya must have anticipated what he would say. He leaned against a tree with no expression on his face.
“What the hell was that, Ougi?” Reijirou asked in a low voice. “What happened? Why don’t you explain it to me?”
Takaya, his left eye covered by an eye patch, answered, equally low, “It wasn’t Utarou’s fault that the fire spread. I didn’t double-check the amount of saltpeter. It was my responsibility.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the curse-burning fire.”
Takaya’s eyes widened. Faint agitation flickered through them.
“That was you, wasn’t it? There’s no use in hiding it. What exactly did you do?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The curse-burning fire. It should’ve burned us alive—”
Takaya was silent. Not because he was concealing anything, but because he himself didn’t really know how to answer.
What had happened?
(At the time—)
Hakuchi Castle activated the curse-burning fire. The spiritual power gathered by the spirit-wave tower went up in flames in a single whoosh. The heat climbed up to thousands of degrees, and it should have instantly turned the Red Whales to ash.
It had indeed been activated.
It enveloped everyone, including Reijirou and Ushio, in intense heat. They watched as pure white flames surrounded them. They didn’t even have time to realize that this was the end.
But the next moment, they saw something truly incredible.
As if in response, Takaya turned white-hot.
Surprisingly, the pure-white fire of Hakuchi Castle didn’t burn anyone. It scorched the ground and turned trees, flower beds, and vegetation to ashes in an instant, but not a single human being was harmed.
It was as if Takaya alone had taken on the flames.
Nobody could believe their eyes. The fire engulfed Takaya, but didn’t burn him. Instead of anguish, a sense of elation swept over Takaya. He threw his head back, and the fire surrounding him turned into a gigantic will-o’-the-wisp, which roared and whirled as it soared like a dragon into the heavens.
Almost everyone witnessed it.
“What was that?”
The extraordinary sight stunned everyone, but as soon as they realized the curse-burning fire had been neutralized, they immediately resumed their attack. The castle, having lost its trump card, was in turmoil. Its lord had been killed, and the rest were in shambles. They didn’t stand a chance.
Thus when the Red Whales discarded strategy and went with a brute force attack, the castle fell without resistance. They were able to take possession of the spirit-wave tower without destroying it.
In the end, though they had prepared for the battle of Hakuchi to be a drawn-out one, they achieved a great victory exceeding their expectations. Everything went so well that it was almost uncanny. Drunk with the excitement of victory, few people were bothered by what Takaya had done (they were happy as long as they won). Only Reijirou refused to overlook this extraordinary power.
“You protected the Red Whales from the curse-burning fire. You also put out the fire from the mine-clearing. You used your strange power then, too. What is it? What kind of power is that? The fire wasn’t extinguished; it left.”
“...I don’t know either. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“Who are you?” Reijirou asked—the same Reijirou who had told him it didn’t matter who he was. “—No ordinary person could’ve wielded that sort of power. Who the hell are you?”
“Are you saying I’m a monster?” Takaya said self-mockingly. “I really have never done this before. I don’t even remember how I did it.”
Of course this didn’t satisfy Reijirou. Takaya could tell by the look on his face.
“Maybe it was just a coincidence. I wasn’t trying to protect you; I just didn’t want the vessels to die in the battle between the spirits of the dead. There are lots of battlefields where people have died. It’s all good for you guys, isn’t it?”
“What...?!”
“Even if you get hurt, you can just change vessels. At least stop involving people of the modern age.”
“Wait, Ougi. You can’t talk to me like that, I can’t overlook this!”
As Takaya was about to leave, he heard someone calling his name. It was Iwata Eikichi, who’d been looking for Takaya for a while.
“Kada-san, so this is where you were hiding! Ougi! Everyone’s calling for you!”
Huh? Takaya thought.
“You’re the hero of the attack on Hakuchi! Kada-san, can we take Ougi with us? We can’t have a victory party without the man of the hour!”
The others also acknowledged that Takaya had protected them from the curse-burning fire. Or rather, they had no choice but to admit the evidence of their own eyes. An exasperated Reijirou waved them off.
“Take him away, take him away. Let’s teach that cocky modern man the horrors of a Red Whales victory party.”
“All right! Let’s go, Ougi!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me... Hey, wait!”
Eikichi, already drunk and red-faced, tugged Takaya along after him. He’d suffered a serious wound to the shoulder, but was still eager to celebrate the victory. As he was being hauled away, Reijirou warned, “I forgot to tell you, Ougi. You’re taking full responsibility for the spread of the mine-clearing fire. There will be no excuses, so be prepared.”
Takaya glared at Reijirou. Reijirou pointed to his eyes.
“Your right eye is also changing color. Be careful.”
Takaya was taken away by Eikichi.
(What a strange man,) he muttered to himself, and stuck a cigarette in his mouth.
The party, the largest by far in recent years, lasted until nightfall. Fortunately, being in the mountains, no amount of noise disturbed the neighbors. The men of the Red Whales opened several casks of sake and drank themselves unconscious. Yet come the morning, they were able to stand up straight: the people of Tosa were fearsome indeed.
Silence finally returned to the cottage village as night fell.
Takaya was in the forest behind the village, sitting at the base of his usual large tree. The drunken Red Whales weren’t afraid of Takaya’s poison. They’d mobbed him, and Takaya, afraid that he might truly kill someone, had quickly slipped away. This spot was the most peaceful.
“You’re the one who protected us from the curse-burning fire.”
Takaya lit the lighter in his left hand and touched the fire with his right. The fire moved to his hand and hovered for a moment on his palm. It was like a will-o’-the-wisp. Although the fire was real, it didn’t scorch him. It was warm.
He had a faint sense of the cause. It was probably—no, there was no doubt about it.
(This is because of Kihachi—)
Kihachi and Asara were sensitive to fire, and could communicate their will through it. They could control fire. The flaming serpent and the Mirror of Fire-Sight both came from the Himuka. It wasn’t surprising that Kihachi’s grudge had given Takaya the ability to manipulate fire. In exchange for the poison, he had gained an unexpected side effect.
(Not only that.)
There was also «power». He felt as if all of him had powered up. He was afraid of losing control, so had not used it in any serious way, but it would surely gush forth endlessly. It was the inexhaustible power of Kihachi.
(Does hatred turn into power?)
Even though he had focused the curse-burning fire into a single entity, it hadn’t harmed him. Though scorching hot, it had not burned him to death. He’d felt as if the flames had embraced him. —And his right eye had faded to its original color...
When he applied his will, the flame on his palm easily shifted to a shape of his choosing. Delighted, he played with the fire for a while, making it undulate, dance, and split up in interesting ways... Eventually, as he stared blankly at it, it took on the form of a human being.
(This is stupid...)
“What is it you want me to do?”
Kihachi stood there.
“Do you want me to kill all of Yamato?”
The flame didn’t answer. It couldn’t. He had purified their souls, leaving only their hateful thoughts within him. Or...
(Do you want to want to ‘take revenge on life’, too?)
Leaning against a tree, Takaya looked up at the night sky. He could see stars twinkling. The darkness here in the forest was deeper than he had expected.
Takaya laughed.
He closed his eyes and laughed.
Yoshimura and his gang were not amused.
They had intended to force Takaya into a difficult situation during the attack on Hakuchi, but instead had raised his status. The Red Whales were beginning to genuinely accept Takaya: partly because of his brilliant performance as a commander, but above all, the way he saved everyone from the curse-burning fire had made a strong impact. It had made him an instant hero.
“This is not funny. He’s lousy, that Ougi.”
Yoshimura was drowning his vexations in drink. He hadn’t joined the party outside, instead remaining in the big room to gripe incessantly.
“We were so close to driving him out. How could this have happened...?!”
Needless to say, it was Yoshimura’s faction that had tampered with the mine-clearing. Minoshima and some others had joined the commando unit with the intention of messing with Takaya. They had intentionally used twice the amount of saltpeter ordered by Takaya, and beat Utarou so badly that he’d been unable to continue his work. Takaya would be blamed for the fiasco and expelled. That had been the plan.
“He’s such a cocky bastard, everything he does rubs me the wrong way! I hate him, that fraud! There must be something behind what he does!”
However, the number of Yoshimura sympathizers was dwindling. Even Minoshima, who had been complicit in the conspiracy, was now saying:
“Look, Yoshimura-san... Don’t you think Ougi is actually pretty amazing?”
“Wh-what are you talking about, Minoshima?”
“Well, his power saved us. He put out the fire all by himself.”
“He saved me when I was in danger, too. He must be a good guy at heart. He’s actually a pretty great guy, right? Just like everybody’s saying.”
“What’s with you guys?!” Yoshimura reproved his diffident companions. “Are you guys talking in your sleep?! You’re all being deceived! Ougi is a black-hearted and cunning man!”
But, um...? Everyone looked at each other. Yoshimura’s blood rushed to his head.
“Enough! I can’t depend on any of you! I’ll get rid of Ougi by myself, no matter what it takes!”
He angrily stormed out. Once he got stubborn about something, Yoshimura was a hard man to handle.
(I won’t be fooled! I’m going to find out that damned Ougi’s weakness and make it impossible for him to stay here!)
There was no word from Kusama as the night wore on. While everyone was drunk with the victory of the Hakuchi offensive, Kada Reijirou was busy with post-battle punishments and changes in organization, but he found it strange that there was no word from Kusama. He tried to contact Urado Castle, but for some reason he couldn’t get through.
(This is getting weirder and weirder...)
Reijirou was puzzled. He felt the stirrings of uneasiness. Thus he left word with Someji and Eikichi and hurried to Kouchi.
“I hope there’s nothing to it. I’ll be back soon.”
Reijirou got into his car.
News arrived at the Mt. Tsurugi hideout about an hour after Reijirou’s departure. Someji answered the phone. For the Red Whales, this definitely wasn’t good news.
Catastrophic news awaited them.
At dawn, Kouchi’s street traffic was sparse. From the Ushioe Bridge over Kagami River, the city still looked half-asleep. The first municipal streetcar would depart soon, its rail glinting dully as a purple sunrise stained the skies over Katsura Beach.
Kada Reijirou was heading for Urado’s Sekkei Temple in his Land Cruiser. The uneasiness in his heart had not abated, but worsened terribly. Reijirou’s premonitions were never wrong.
(What’s happened, Kusama-san...?!)
At the center of the city, Kouchi Castle looked terribly dark and somber this morning. The city of Kouchi was their territory, and Reijirou knew every lane and alleyway; but for some reason, the security spirits who should have been guarding every bridge and train station were nowhere to be seen.
Something was wrong. Reijirou stepped on the gas.
Sekkei Temple, his destination, was near Katsura Beach. As the family temple of Chousokabe Motochika, it was a most important refuge for Kusama, and currently housed the spirit of Motochika’s son, Nobuchika.
Nobuchika, Motochika’s eldest and favorite son, had died young in the Battle of Hetsugi River. He was said to have been an intrepid and highly-capable young warrior.
Having died a regretful death in battle, Nobuchika had become an unpurified earthbound spirit in Ooita until Kusama and company had finally approached him and invited him to Urado a few years ago.
However, Nobuchika’s spirit had already been caught up in the «Yami-Sengoku». He had been wounded in battle against the resurrected Shimazu Iehisa (later annihilated by Nobunaga’s «hakonha» in Kumamoto), and it had been a struggle for him to remain in the world, let alone possess someone. Kusama and company and rescued him and sheltered him at Sekkei Temple.
Kusama intended to use the power of Life-Ripping Star to restore Nobuchika. It was only proper for the person who would become the Chousokabe general to possess great power. Kusama believed that Nobuchika was the right person to bear the Life-Ripping Star. It would make him the most powerful onshou.
Sekkei Temple was, of course, heavily guarded by the Red Whales. Urado Castle no longer had its tower, but a nearby lodging house was used in its place. They had intended to make this Nobuchika’s—Chousokabe’s castle.
The car took less than 30 minutes to arrive. Reijirou immediately felt a strange heaviness in the air and jumped out of the car.
“Kada-san...!”
A young man named Tani Shinnojou, who served as Nobuchika’s attendant, greeted Reijirou at the temple gate. A distant relative of Chousokabe vassal Tani Tadazumi, among the Red Whales he was as close to the Chousokabe family as Akutagawa. When Shinnojou saw Reijirou, he came lethargically toward him, his face colorless.
“What happened, Shinnojou?”
Shinnojou turned pale and didn’t seem to want to answer.
“I’m asking you what happened?!”
Rushing into the temple grounds, Reijirou gasped.
Sekkei Temple had turned into a tragic sight.
Half of the main temple building had collapsed, roof tiles had been blown away, the temple bell lay on the ground, and the stone pagodas and cobblestones looked as if they’d been bombed. The ground had caved in here and there, and electric wires drooped and sparked. Reijirou was lost for words.
“Wh-what...! What is this?”
“An attack,” Shinnojou muttered hoarsely, “an enemy attack...”
Reijirou’s face flushed like that of a Deva king. These were clear signs of a psychic battle. Reijirou goggled and began to tremble.
“Where is Kusama-san?” He shook Shinnojou’s shoulders violently. “Where is Kusama-san, Shinnojou?!”
Shinnojou pointed toward the main temple building. Reijirou thrust him violently aside and shot into the main hall. The surviving guards cowered there, faces stunned and empty. The vessels of the fallen lay like puppets with their strings cut. Next to the fallen bell, several people stared at the ground while others looked despairingly up at the sky.
“Kusama-san!”
Kusama was next to a broken pillar. Like a puppet with no core, he drooped feebly. Given that he had no visible injuries, he must have rushed to the scene after the attack. He was in a state of complete abstraction. But when he heard Reijirou’s voice, he sluggishly raised his head.
His expression changed completely.
“Reijirou, you bastard...” he said in a hushed voice, eyes wide and aghast, “Did you do this...you bastard...?!”
Reijirou had no idea what he was talking about. Madness entered Kusama’s eyes, and he suddenly grabbed the sword at his side and unsheathed it.
“Is this your doing, too—?!”
Kusama ranted and raved as he slashed at Reijirou. It startled their Red Whales comrades.
“Ku... Kusama-san!”
“Did you do this?! Did you assassinate Lord Nobuchika?! Did you kill him—?!”
(What...!)
Screaming, hair disheveled, Kusama slashed at Reijirou. The blade grazed Reijirou’s cheek, but he felt no pain. Kusama, half-crazed, raised his naked sword overhead. An attendant rushed to his side to stop him, to no avail—Kusama was too lost in his wild rage.
“Did you kill him? Did you kill Lord Nobuchikaaaaa?!”
(Lord Nobuchika is—it can’t be!)
Reijirou was speechless. Kusama, however, had lost his mind. Overflowing with rage, he tore around swinging his sword furiously, screaming and bawling.
“Lord Nobuchika has been killed! Our Lord Nobuchika has been extinguished!!”
Comments
What an exciting update!
What an exciting update!
I'm interested to find out more about Takaya's new powers. The Red Whales really won't let him be free now.
Thank you for the update, Ashodel!