"Filth" "That is Ayagami..." "So he's the man we've been looking for." "They call it the beautiful city of Edo, but what adorns it at night are shady tales." "The monster is called Youi, and the one man fighting it is Yukiatsu Ryudo." "Almost forty in years, the title of hero weighs heavily on his shoulders." "Always fleeing, looking for a place to belong, where he arrived at is a mountain of trash." "It won't be long before he washes his hands of this world." "I'm Kumoshichi, a cheap gambler." "Now, shall we continue with the story?" "Sou sa maiagare hoshi yo That's right, soar high, o star" "Ichido dake kagayaite futari o terashite Shine just once and illuminate the two of us" "Unmei no sora o kakeru hito-suji no hikari ga The single streak of light dashing across the fateful sky" "Futari o kaete yuku yo It's going to change us both" "Tashikameta no wa kowai kara ja nai The reason I double-checked wasn't because I was scared" "Shoujun wa ano ryuusei ni shibotta I've set our sights on that shooting star" "Marui renzu ni hitai o yoseta We crowd our foreheads around the round lens" ""Hajimaruyo" kimi ga yoko de tsubuyaku "It's going to start," you murmur next to me" "Sotto iki o tometa Quietly, we hold our breaths" "Futari te nigitta And join hands" "Wakatterunda mousugu kitto kiseki ga yatte kuru We know that soon, a miracle is sure to come along" "Saa maiagare hoshi yo Now, soar high, o star" "Ichido dake kagayaite futari o terashite Shine just once and illuminate the two of us" "Unmei no sora o kakeru hito-suji no hikari ga The single streak of light dashing across the fateful sky" "Futari o kaete yuku yo It's going to change us both" "Chapter Two After the Fall of the Mountain God" "Filth" "Yukiatsu." "Yukiatsu, that's enough." "Let us run." "I..." "I know that landscape..." "Outa..." "Outa, let's go." "We want to ask you something." "You're Tae and Outa from Nanbu, right?" "I thought I'd never see that landscape again..." "Those monsters..." "Did they come to get me?" "Why now?" "So after all this time, I'm going to rely on the power of that world?" "Yo..." "Not so fearsome, is he?" "Deliver him to Ogasawara's estate." "My lord, he's the one they were searching for?" "The fifth Ayashi of the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement." "The Ogasawara Estate" "Yuki..." "Yuki..." "Tae, is that you?" "Are you all right?" "Where are we?" "What about the monsters?" "They vanished long ago." "We got captured by some strange people..." "I see..." "I'm sorry." "'Cause of us, you're..." "You're saying the monster came after you two?" "It ain't a monster." "That's the mountain god." "No matter how long we waited, the summer never got hot." "It'd been years since we'd had a proper rice harvest." "I'd heard there'd been a string of really bad harvests and that people have been starving to death all over the place." "But..." "Once there's a famine, it ain't that easy to recover." "It can't be helped..." "All we can do then is ask the god for help." "Offer a child to the mountain god?" "It's an old village tradition." "If we do that, it'll appease the mountain god's anger, and surely, next year..." "But my husband changed his mind and angered the mountain god." "The mountain god is coming after Outa, the sacrifice?" "Outa, your pa..." "Pa is scary." "You..." "Yuki..." "You..." "Yuki..." "Yuki, what is it that you're runnin' from?" "What?" "You said earlier..." ""So you're running away too..."" "Long ago, I once saw a landscape that was not of this place." "And that's been haunting me all this time..." "Like it's going to take me back." "Come." "The Boss wants to see you." "Proclamation Hozaburo Ogasawara As thou art to be appointed head Ayashi of the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement thou art expected to prepare accordingly." "Hunt down Youi?" "As you saw, they are similar to fiends and monsters." "Up until now, they have been left alone, much like storms and earthquakes." "But we can no longer afford to do so." "In time, this office will be appointed by the Shogun himself." "Those who hunt down Youi are called Ayashi." "And you are to become one of those Ayashi." "I'm a rogue vagrant." "Next time I'm handed over to the vagrant camp, I'm to be beheaded." "What is your relationship with the South Magistrate, the Lord of Kai?" "Kai of the South..." "The one they call Monster?" "Do not play dumb!" "In exchange for approving the Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement, the Lord of Kai demanded that we find you and make you an Ayashi." "It is not as if I wish to hire a vagrant!" "You..." "Do you not wish to erase those tattoos?" "You're a girl, aren't you?" "If you become an Ayashi, you will no longer be a vagrant." "You will not have to be on the run anymore." "What I'm running from isn't the roundup of vagrants." "Is it from the Other World, with its alien landscape?" "What is it?" "!" "It's coming from the stables!" "A Youi?" "!" "That is the one." "A Youi?" "!" "That is the one." "The one that has come to Edo all the way from Nanbu." "It seems Abi and Edogen will not be here in time." "Tae!" "Outa!" "Ryudo!" "Tae!" "Tae!" "Yuki..." "Where's Outa?" "Outa!" "Outa, we need to save your ma." "I'm going." "Outa!" "I'm going." "Outa!" "It's fine." "There ain't reason for him to save me." "What are you looking at?" "!" "Fight with your Ayagami!" "Aya..." "He's talking about that power..." "All things in nature have a name and writing that represents those names." "And the written characters all hold meaning." "That is Ayagami." "And the one with the power to draw it out is you!" "No!" "That's the power of the Other World." "Are you saying if you use your power, you'll be dragged back into the Other World or something?" "!" "Abi!" "Edogen!" "One more shot!" "Did he get it?" "!" "This will raise a commotion." "We will report that the wall was old and crumbled." "Otherwise, the Magistrate of Finance can deal with it as he sees fit." "It sounds like you're tangled up in the politics around here." "Quiet!" "We cannot delay this any longer." "As long as that Youi is after the child, there will be similar incidents." "We have no other choice." "Please wait." "What do you mean to do with Outa?" "Use him as bait and take care of the Youi." "What?" "!" "His life was offered as a sacrifice once already." "Don't do this!" "Then will you attempt to save the child?" "Don't you feel pity?" "For this mother and child?" "Pity..." "We could call it that." "But our reason differs from yours." "Who are you?" "Pardon the late introductions." "Genbatsu Edo." "This is Abi." "And..." "Saizo." "So these are the Ayashi..." "Listen here." "I'll look for Outa." "Then you are saying you will become an Ayashi." "Just this once." "You and Outa are not to blame." "Don't worry." "Shall we eat something?" "No, I'm fine." "No matter how old they get, men always want to look good in front of women." "If you want to be treated like a woman, dress like one." "At fault are the famine and the mountain god..." "The mother and child are not to blame?" "I did a lot of investigating into the origin of that Youi." "And?" "Youi rarely appear before people." "They come out only when some reason arises." "From somewhere..." "From the so-called Other World that you're running from, perhaps." "There are three things that I found out." "That child had an elder sister, but she vanished three years ago." "Secondly, last fall's harvest was not bountiful, but there was a harvest." "Thirdly, a legend about a mountain god did exist in their village, but it referred to an old practice..." "During famines, they would take children up into the mountains, and..." "I see." "It all makes sense now." "Then, Outa is..." "Hey!" "Outa!" "Kumoshichi!" "Outa's gone back, hasn't he?" "Back to that heap of trash..." "What's wrong, Ryudo?" "That child is me!" "No, that child just happened to see it, that's all." "Many see that landscape during their childhood." "But you're the only one who came back." "That's why you can use Ayagami." "You can draw out the true name of all things." "Outa," "I finally understand what you're looking for." "Why do you run from that landscape?" "I want to go there." "Do you hate this world so much?" "Is it because your pa offered you to the mountain god?" "Right..." "Your pa didn't believe the mountain god existed." "Say, Pa, is this what you did with Sis too?" "That time, there was no helping it, but..." "Something's gone wrong with me." "Rice and wheat ain't enough for me..." "Outa..." "It can't be..." "There ain't a mountain god..." "It's 'cause there ain't a mountain god that we..." "That was when you saw the Other World?" "I want to go there." "Why?" "What is there?" "I ain't supposed to be here." "That place..." "That place is..." "Where I belong." "What do you mean?" "!" "You've been running from that landscape, right?" "!" "There was a time when I was in that landscape." "And then I came back." "Ever since then, no matter where I went, no matter what I saw, none of it was fulfilling." "Some part of my heart yearns for the Other World." "And I lost my family and my rank, everything." "What I was running from was this world." "You just have to go, to the Other World." "No, even then..." "Even then, man must live on in this world." "Even if it's boring." "Even if it hurts." "Do you really believe that?" "!" "Are you sure you aren't trying to use this child to go to the Other World?" "!" "You're wrong!" "Just what are you?" "!" "Why have you come after Outa?" "!" "Ryudo!" "A god that has descended from the mountains can no longer return to being a god." "Something dragged the god down from the mountains." "And what is that?" "!" "...you can use Ayagami." "You can draw out the true name of all things." "Father" "That character..." ""Father"." "Father "Father"." "Father So, Outa's father became one with the mountain Youi." "So, Outa's father became one with the mountain Youi." "Your pa became the Youi and came after you!" "An axe?" "!" "The character of "father" shows the wielder of the axe..." "It is said it represents a headman's authority." "He's drawn out the Ayagami of "father"!" "Pa..." "It doesn't matter..." "It doesn't matter now." "Don't go!" "Do you plan to forget it all just like that?" "!" "I won't forget what I was afraid of." "Pa, I'm here." "I'm stayin' here with Ma." "Yuki..." "Yuki, you can't." "Remember what you said to me?" "This is the way it should be, right, Yuki?" "Yeah." "Nagaku nagai tabiji ni On that long, ageless journey" "Boku wa kimi ni koi shita I fell in love with you" "Kisetsu meguri shigure-zuki The seasons turned to the month of autumn rains" "Kokoro o sotto nurasu Gently dampening hearts" "Toki ga nanika kaeru nara If time can change things" "Douka douka sotto shite Please, please be gentle" "Kimi to aruku ima dake This one moment as I walk with you" "Shizuka ni tomatte ite Stay quiet, be still" "Mizube no hotori ni tsuzuita Winding Road The winding road following along the water's edge" "Konna futari ni wa oniai nandarou It's probably fitting for a couple like us" "Hitotsu no kasa ga kanashii The lone umbrella is sad" "Mada kimi ga suki dakara Because I still love you" "Sunao ni uketomerarezu ni I couldn't accept it graciously" "Kono ame ni nagasarete Let this rain carry you away" ""Subete ga uso da" to mou ichido hohoende Smile once more and tell me, "It was all a lie"" "Preview" "The Ayashi feast upon the Youi." "And Yukiatsu knows its taste." "That which is hidden beneath Edo..." "Next Time" " Chapter Three The Undercurrents of Beautiful Edo" "Next Time" " Chapter Three The Undercurrents of Beautiful Edo Chapter Three:" "The Undercurrents of Beautiful Edo." "Next Time" " Chapter Three The Undercurrents of Beautiful Edo"