by Nikita Thorn
With a furious roar, he abandoned the wolves and rushed at the obake.
Suguru was going to kill him, but Seiki could not care less. His rage took the man by surprise and the obake backed away. Seiki slashed at him with Sweeping Blade, knocking him, alongside two other wolves, backward. Another wolf sprang on him and clawed at his back, and Seiki stumbled. But he ignored it and continued to press after Suguru, who was failing to Freeze him as he was constantly interrupted by slashes from his blade.
One of the wolves closed its jaw around his side, and Seiki grunted as the chill made him shiver. Still ignoring his furry adversaries, he tackled the obake, bringing him to the ground. Suguru let out a cry as he fell. His right hand struck out and hit one of the wolves, immediately dropping it.
Suguru was still trying not to kill him, but the wolves would probably finish Seiki off pretty soon. Seiki felt the weight of one on his back as he attempted another attack at Suguru. The blow got obstructed when another wolf sank its teeth into his arm. He had no plans, except to vent his fury on something or someone—preferably someone sentient.
Next thing he knew, the wolf fell off him, and that was when he heard the rustling sounds of an obake mount. Rieko had finally arrived, with someone else: a girl clad in all black and purple.
“What are you doing?” cried Rieko as she witnessed the fiasco they were in. Another wolf was clawing at Seiki’s side and he was starting to feel faint as he made another desperate slash at the bewildered obake.
The girl in black turned out to be a houshi. Her unwelcomed sparkly heals brought Seiki back from the brink of death, right as Suguru tried to strike him. That was when Seiki sighted something he did not know he had been searching for. At one edge of the clearing, two pine trees leaned toward each other in an almost perfect tall triangle. He remembered what Ippei once said to him. There was a trail there that led somewhere.
Without waiting for the Rogami members to stage another standoff, Seiki pushed himself from the ground and took a wide stride toward the two mounted women. He slashed out with Sweeping Blade, cutting both their horses, just as he called his snowstepper with the whistle. The Rogami horses bolted. One threw off its rider while the other dispersed. Recognizing the gallops of the snowstepper, Seiki ran and aimed for the stirrup; he jumped onto it in a way he had not thought possible as he made a mad dash for the two pine trees.
The horse jumped over Suguru, who still lay on the ground, and panicked yells broke out as it landed. Seiki had not mounted properly and he almost slipped off, but he held on tightly as he felt another grazing Life Drain on him. In his back, Rieko was screaming, “No, Suguru!”
The effect fell away, either from Seiki entering the woods or from Rieko successfully stopping her clan mate. Seiki was out of energy, and he could not speed up. From behind soon came the noise of an obake horse, which must have been Suguru’s as the other two would have still been locked out, but Seiki was not sure if his ears were playing tricks on him.
There was indeed a trail that started at the two pine trees. Seiki followed it to the best of his ability in the dark, spending energy to gallop as soon as it recharged. The wind was almost cold against his skin as the trees flew past him. His heart was beating fast, and his internal world was in turmoil with adrenaline and a wild mix of raw emotions.
The trail turned northward and soon led up a gentle slope. Seiki recognized he was going up a small hill. Eventually, the trees cleared somewhat, and he came to a dead end with the flat face of a cliff in front of him. Seiki turned his horse around to look for a way to ascend further, but the trees around were thick and did not seem to be penetrable.
Now that he had stopped, it was surprisingly quiet. The only thing Seiki could hear was his own heavy panting. For some reason, he felt certain that the Rogamis had given up on chasing him, unless he was wrong and the wind rustling the trees was helping to hide their silent horses. Either way, he no longer cared about them. The trail led here after all, and he felt it was the right place to be.
Looking around, he discovered a pile of dry leaves and dismounted to investigate. As he suspected, it turned out to be a large woven mat that covered the beginning of a flight of stone steps leading underground. Patting the snowstepper on its neck, Seiki dismissed it with a thought, and started descending into the darkness.
As he reached the bottom, he found himself in a long, narrow cave, lit in sparse intervals with wall torches burning dimly, casting wavering shadows. The whole thing gave off a foreboding air and Seiki felt himself tensing up. The fluster from the encounter earlier had almost subsided, and was now replaced by a sense of apprehensive dread that Seiki could not comprehend.
The tunnel was straightforward and uneven in width, as if it had been hastily dug. But the iron casting that held up the torches had rusted with age, and presumably someone would need to keep the torches burning.
Seiki held his breath as he made his way down the narrow path. The tunnel ended in a sharp turn and Seiki found himself at the entrance of an underground room with a high ceiling. He must have come deep into the hill. Lined against one side of the room were torches. Against the other side were unlit ones, under which, pushed closely against the wall, was a pile of wooden barrels. Gunpowder, judging by the smell.
At the end of the room was an opening that led deeper into the mountain. And there, standing motionless, with his back turned toward Seiki, was Master Tsujihara.
Seiki found himself breathing hard. In a way, he had expected this. But now that it had come to it, how was he to proceed?
He stared at the scene in front of him for a very long time, his mind full of doubts. Master Tsujihara was gazing into the cave, his hands held behind his back. Seiki knew he had to initiate the encounter, and thoughts spun in his head as he stalled.
Then he realized he was trying to find excuses for the old man, and part of his brain was struggling to dig up everything he remembered from their various conversations. But Seiki was spent, confused, and angry, and he found that he could no longer think straight. He eventually gave up.
Taking one final deep breath, as if calming his nerves before a tournament, he stepped into the room.
Master Tsujihara turned around. “Seiki,” the old man acknowledged him with a solemn expression. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Seiki felt his heart freeze as the old man slowly drew his sword.
Chapter 19
This was exactly what Seiki had been afraid of.
“Master Tsujihara, please don’t do this,” he said.
The old man took a step toward him, then another. For some reason, Seiki felt the urge to back away, but stopped himself.
“Leave now, Seiki,” said the old man. “I’ll let you.”
Seiki shook his head. “I need answers.” Terror was starting to unfold in his mind as he could not envision any way this could end well. His worst fear about the whole situation was coming true.
“I’m sorry, Seiki, you won’t get any,” said the old man as he took another step. “If you won’t leave, then draw your sword.”
Seiki winced at how cold it sounded. “Is it true?” he cried. It was becoming clear now that the old man was admitting to everything. Yet, he needed him to say it out loud before he would believe it. “Why gunpowder? What are you planning to do?”
“Draw your sword, Seiki,” said Master Tsujihara. “Or leave.” He took another step. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
There was still a hint of kindness in the old man’s voice.
“Please don’t do this, Master Tsujihara,” Seiki said, feeling himself trembling. “The Commander knows. You haven’t done anything yet, so it’s not too late.”
“I’m serious,” said Master Tsujihara, his voice hardening as he moved even closer. He was almost within striking range now. Seiki tried to look for clues in his expression, but it was perfectly calm and unreadable. “Last chance, Seiki. Turn around and leave. You don’t need to die here.”
&nb
sp; “Master Tsujihara! Please.” Seiki knew it was in vain, and he started to panic. After all, deep down he knew he could not change how this scene would play out, and the thought made him sick.
The old man rushed forward and struck out with Sweeping Blade. Seiki hopped back, refusing to use his sword. “Master Tsujihara, I’m not going to fight you.”
Without saying a word, the old man followed with another Sweeping Blade, which came as a surprise because of the usual eight second lockout.
Seiki jumped back again. Master Tsujihara immediately closed in with two more successive steps and slashed down in a move Seiki had never experienced before. Seiki kept leaping out of range. “Why are you doing this?”
As Seiki dodged yet another attack, the old man brought his blade back up in a figure eight that left a small cut on Seiki’s left arm. It was a very shallow cut but, of all the injuries he had received so far, this was the only one that truly hurt.
Seiki was aware he was no match for the master swordsman. “That night,” he began. Perhaps it was only last night? “I asked you and you told me you would never betray the Shogun.”
Master Tsujihara closed in with another assault, and Seiki managed to dodge the first hit but not the second. The icy cut caught him on the ribs. It was deeper, but not as deep as it could have been. The old man was still holding back. A kind of rage, or despair, or maybe dejection, was taking hold of Seiki. “You know what? I don’t care about the Shogun,” he cried.
“I don’t want to do this, Seiki,” Master Tsujihara warned him.
Master Tsujihara had looked him in the eye as he replied, and with such conviction. “Why this?” Seiki cried. “Is it about Hanae?”
No answer. This was useless.
The old man stepped in once again and swung his blade high. Seiki dodged under it and tried to grab his arm, but Master Tsujihara’s left hand shot forward and tipped Seiki off balance. As Seiki fell, the old man immediately stabbed downward with his sword, toward Seiki’s chest. At that moment, Seiki became conscious he was serious after all, and that realization cut him deeper than any blade could.
Instead of rolling out of the way, Seiki threw himself at the old man. He was in a terrible position. All he could do was use his left palm to slap the blade away, taking the icy chill that seemed to cut to his bones. And he lunged up with all his strength, to grab hold of the old man’s sword wrist with his right hand. “Say something!” He tried to force the sword off the old man’s grip. “You owe me an explanation!”
Or an apology. Or, at the very least, a word.
The old man’s wrist was as hard as rock. Master Tsujihara kicked him in the chest, but Seiki clung onto his hand. “You can kill me but I won’t fight you,” he cried.
His health was dropping fast and he was not sure what he was trying to prove anymore. But he would never draw his sword, since there was something he was even more afraid of than Master Tsujihara killing him.
The old man twisted his fist to free himself, his expression grim. As Seiki’s hand lost its grip, he let go of the blade in his other and clasped that hand onto Master Tsujihara too, struggling to hold on while keeping the sword away. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” His hands were slipping from the blood. “You could have said go move that gunpowder because we’re blowing up the Shogun and I would have done it.”
It was perfectly true. Seiki would have stopped at nothing to preserve that little dojo in South City. In all this, there had always been only one thing he really cared about.
The old man kicked him once more and Seiki slammed onto the ground. With his bare hand, Seiki knocked the sword off its mark as it stabbed down again, turning a pierce into a glancing slice across his chest. Seiki grunted, throwing himself out of the way as the old man immediately followed up with another attack.
“Shousei wanted me to tell the Commander where you were. He sent me a letter.” Seiki gasped as he staggered to his feet. That last cut had taken a significant portion of health and he was starting to feel dizzy. Master Tsujihara sprinted forward in a full attack and Seiki jumped aside once more. It was half-hearted, as he did not care anymore. His back was now against the wall with the torches flicking above. There was no more room to dodge. “But I didn’t, Master Tsujihara,” he said. He had no voice left in him and it came out very quietly. “And I never will.” The old man was going to kill him now and they would make him do this over, and at that point he would have to quit.
Seiki waited for the death blow, but it never came.
After a moment of strange silence, Seiki opened his eyes, which were curiously damp. Master Tsujihara had lowered his sword and was looking at him, perhaps sadly. “It seems I can’t get rid of you after all.”
Seiki blinked as he stared at the old man, who showed no sign of wanting him dead anymore. He recalled now that, even when Master Tsujihara was trying to kill him, there had been no real hostility, only cold precision. Even that had fallen away now, leaving just the Master Tsujihara he had always known.
“I need you to promise me one thing, Seiki,” said the old man.
The old man was actually talking to him now. Seiki’s heart lit up with hope. “Anything.”
Quest accepted: The Swordsman’s Path [Level 8]
The Swordsman’s Path [Level 8 Quest Information]: listen to Master Tsujihara’s story and assist him. You will receive: 85 XP.
Relief hit him like never before. Seiki felt all strength leaving his limbs and he slid down into a sitting position on the ground. A quest. He buried his head in his hands and groaned. It was a quest, which meant it was what he was supposed to do. Of course, Master Tsujihara would never do that to him. He wondered why he ever doubted. The old man had told him to do the right thing. This was it: the right thing. He breathed out deeply, rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes, unsure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.
After taking a moment to collect himself, he finally looked up at the old man and laughed weakly. “Damn,” he said. “That was a cruel test.”
“You have to promise me to do as I say,” said Master Tsujihara.
“Of course,” said Seiki, without having to think twice. His head was still reeling from everything that had happened. “And you have to start explaining stuff.”
“Certainly,” said the old man. He then handed Seiki a small ceramic bottle full of potion, which immediately restored all of Seiki’s missing health.
“First, let me set something straight. I didn’t lie to you, Seiki.” He sheathed his sword. “You already know about Okamoto and Hanae?”
Seiki nodded.
“You probably didn’t know that they had a young son, who everyone thought perished in the fire.”
Seiki perked up. This was new.
Master Tsujihara let out a sad laugh. “I’ll be honest with you, Seiki, I never liked children. After I saw how the young Shousei turned out, I was determined never to have my own.”
Seiki was not sure if it was a joke. The old man continued, “I loved Hanae, and I knew she wanted a family. That was why I was glad when she was promised to Okamoto. He was a dear friend, and I knew he really cared for her.”
Master Tsujihara’s tone turned somber. “That night, a moonless, windless night, she came to me,” he said. From his tone, it was clear which night he meant. “With her baby boy in her arms, she begged me to take him in. You see, she didn’t want him to grow up with a traitor’s name. The only other person who knew about this was the nursemaid who came with her, and who stayed with the boy, and whose name the boy later took.”
Master Tsujihara paused. “Maeda,” he said.
Seiki’s eyes widened. It made sense now. It had always been about Maeda.
The old man sighed deeply, his eyes showed a hint of old pain. “That same night, the Okamoto mansion went up in flames.”
After a long silence, the old man carried on with his story. “That was why I left the army, built the dojo and started taking in children. Onc
e there was a troop of noisy kids running around, no one suspected anything, and the boy grew up knowing nothing of his parents. As was Hanae’s wish.”
Seiki suspected that Master Tsujihara eventually grew to like children, and took more of them in than he had to, as evident in the numerous nameplates that lined the dojo wall. He would have to ask the old man to put his name up there too, once the dojo was completed again.
A fond smile appeared on the old man’s lips. “She didn’t even want him to become a swordsman, and the boy must have taken after his mother, since he never really took to it. You see, she wanted him to be a tradesman, like her father, living a secure, peaceful life. But the sword was the only trade I ever knew, and in that environment I guess the boy was eventually forced to pick up some.” Master Tsujihara chuckled.
“Then, last month, I don’t know how, he found out the truth about his parents.”
Seiki looked toward the barrels of gunpowder. “So all these…”
The old man shook his head. “At first, I didn’t realize that he knew. But soon, I started suspecting something was wrong, and he would disappear for days. I don’t know who put this idea in his head. This tunnel was a secret passage that served as an escape route from the Palace a very long time ago. It was sealed close, but somehow he learned about it.” He looked toward the tunnel, leading deeper into the mountain. “What we see here is only half of all the black powder. Come with me, Seiki.”
Seiki got up to his feet. “Where is Maeda now?” he asked, as he followed the teacher toward the tunnel.
“You’re not my first guest tonight. He was here earlier, to carry out his silly plan.” Master Tsujihara chuckled. “So I gave him a good scolding and sent him away. I know he wasn’t the only one who was upset with me.”
The old man meant him, Seiki figured. “Well, you could have tried to be more transparent from the beginning,” he said. Then, he dropped his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Master Tsujihara.” He could have sworn everything had been misleading from the beginning.