"Are you fully awake?" "Fix us a meal." "Hope you'll like it." "Go ahead, help yourself." "Thank you." "Then I shall." "It's good." "Where's the man who brought me here?" "We did everything we could to save him..." "But his wounds were too deep." "I see." "I'm an orphan and he was like a brother to me." "I'm sorry about it." "War is a merciless thing." "Where's his body?" "We cleaned his body and put clean clothes on him." "He's in another room." "I see." "I'm so very obliged for your generosity." "Please, think nothing of it." "This is quite an unusual architecture." "Are you the head priest of this temple?" "No." "This place has been abandoned for a very long time." "Few visitors find their way to a place like this, buried so deep in the mountains." "I'm not good at socializing, you see..." "So I've been living here." "I see." "And that lady?" "Well, she has history here, you know." "She's been living here a long time." "By the way, what are you planning to do now?" "Now?" "Yeah." "Well..." "I'm thinking of taking his body back home." "I've got no home but he's got a place to go back to." "That's the least I could do for him now." "Thank you very much for everything." "Let me get going." "Wait, there's no need to rush." "If you backtrack down the mountain you'd risk getting captured by enemies hunting for the survivors." "You can't go down the west side of the mountain, either, 'cause it's a cliff." "Traveling in a pouring rain like this you'd be taking chances with a mud slide." "Listen..." "It's for your own sake." "Stay here for the night." "You're the first visitor I've had in a long time." "Even though I retired to a place like this to avoid contact with people..." "I'm happy to have company to enjoy sake with." "Of course, considering your friend's death this may not necessarily be in your best interest." "But..." "Fate brought you here." "What do you say?" "Let's have a drink tonight to mourn your friend's passing." "Then, I shall accept your kind offer." "Thank you for your generosity." "No, no." "That's my line." "Looks like it's going to be a nice night." "This is a drink called wine made in a country called France." "It's made from grapes." "Go ahead." "It tastes different." "But it's good." "I know." "Please have as much as you want." "Well, this drink and this temple, everything is all very unusual." "Do they all come from foreign countries?" "Yeah." "I've traveled around many places until I settled in this temple." "So, is that statue of a foreign god, too?" "It has an unusual facial expression." "I carved that one." "You did?" "Yeah." "Living in a place like this..." "Time is the only thing you have in abundance." "That's quite impressive." "It's not really a god..." "I carved myself, you see." "Does it look like me?" "Now that you mentioned it, perhaps a little." "You don't need to be so diplomatic." "Not to change the subject but... it's really coming down." "Well, hopefully, it'll let up by tomorrow." "Traveling the mountain path at night is a dangerous thing." "This mountain, especially, has a story." "Do you know about it?" "No." "They say the Tengu lives in this mountain." "Tengu?" "You mean the long-nosed goblin that flies around the mountain, and captures people and eats them?" "That's right." "The Tengu guards the mountain." "Its ears hear a pin drop..." "Its eyes see something a thousand miles away..." "Its nose smells out the human blood from that of an animal..." "And its mouth consumes nothing but meat, they say." "Anyway, Tengu is a name humans made up." "Correctly, it's called Aragami." "A raging god, or a god of war." "You're so knowledgeable." "But if there's such a frightening creature lurking about here, isn't it dangerous to be in this temple?" "No, not really." "'Cause I am that creature..." "Aragami." "You do have a sense of humor." "Well, well, excuse me." "But you see, the story of Tengu does exist, you know." "Well, even if it ever appeared, I can tell you're a skilled swordsman..." "You'd be able to kill it effortlessly." "And what about you?" "You've survived such a harsh war in which you've been so badly injured." "I presume you've killed quite a few men out there." "Listen..." "How many have you killed so far?" "That's in bad taste." "I've never counted how many I've killed." "So you've forgotten about those who you've killed with your own hand without even counting them." "Don't you think you should be conscious of the weight of the lives you've taken away?" "I've killed 794 men in my life." "Of each one of them, I clearly remember what he looked like his voice and the expression on his face as he died." "Can I see my friend's body?" "The Tengu's nose smells out the human blood from that of an animal." "I smell it, I can smell it." "You reek of human blood." "That's enough." "You're a bit drunk." "Let me get going now." "Show me to his body." "I'll return the favor for helping me out at some later date." "I see." "But I want you to return the favor right here and now." "I want you to kill me." "What on earth are you talking about?" "I told you..." "I'm Aragami." "But I've been around too long." "I've waited for a long time for someone to bring me death." "But since I'm Aragami, I can't let anyone kill me so easily." "I've got to make sure it's someone who truly deserves to." "Stop kidding around." "Why should I kill someone who saved my life?" "That's exactly why you should." "You owe me that much." "That's crazy logic!" "Also, you don't look like anything but human." "What Tengu, what Aragami?" "Things aren't always what they seem in this world." "Isn't that true with humans, too?" "There are people who look like a nice person but betray others without thinking twice." "There are whores with the looks of a saint, and honest folks with the look of a villain." "Alright." "Then, let's say you were Aragami or whatever it is." "But why on earth would I have to kill you?" "Enough already, I want you to show me to where my friend is." "You're a samurai of a sort, aren't you?" "You've got a good reason to have a fight with me." "Like hell I do." "What kind of reason would I have to fight someone who saved my life?" "You're no longer the same person you were when you first got here." "Think about it." "Don't you think it's strange?" "It's been two days since you got here." "You had 13 sword cuts and 4 arrows stuck in you." "The wounds are already festering and you were delirious with a high fever." "And look at you now." "There once was a crazy daimyo lord who contracted an incurable disease and had a massive number of new-born babies stolen for him." "He falsely believed they were necessary to concoct an elixir for immortality." "Nothing is more filled with possibilities than a new born baby, you know." "He thought it provided the finest nutritions to heal an aging, ill, or injured body." "Well, that daimyo was merely a madman." "But what he did wasn't far off the right track." "The human body has a mysterious power." "Where..." "Where is he?" "If you want to draw out the power of a human body beyond its normal limitations the most effective thing to do is to feed it the liver of its own kind... human." "That's right." "You've eaten the flesh of your friend." "Your friend's become a part of you and given you power." "Otherwise, you've been long dead." "You bastard." "I understand you're anxious about it." "But how about drinking a little more?" "What the hell are you?" "Hey, your sword's pretty old and battered." "It can easily break, you know." "Looks like you can give me entertainment, just as I suspected." "The night is still young." "Let's take it slow." "Shut up!" "Hey, hey, don't be so dramatic." "Don't make a face like you're about to die." "You won't, with a little wound like that." "Hey... hey!" "How long are you going to stay down there?" "You see?" "Can't be..." "But you aren't immortal." "If you get the head cut off and stabbed in the heart you'll be dead." "Well, we'll deal with that later." "First, we should drink." "This is a liquor called vodka from a country called Russia." "It's quite strong." "It's made from corn." "Go ahead, have a sip." "You think I can enjoy drinking now?" "Tell me what's going on." "How come I'm not dying?" "I told you already, that's because you ate a human liver." "So, what are you saying?" "That anybody who eats a human liver becomes immortal?" "Not true." "Listen, take the same ingredients to two different chefs, and you'll end up with two different dishes." "This woman here is a capable chef." "Extremely capable." "Are you a monster?" "You know what they say about how women are little devils." "I'm under her thumb, too." "Oh, by the way..." "Would you be willing to kill her, too?" "Hey..." "What'd you put in that?" "I told you it's a strong liquor." "What the hell are you?" "Why are you doing this to me?" "What do you want from me!" "?" "Don't make me repeat myself." "I want to die." "My life saw only war." "I kept searching for stronger opponents and fighting them and now I'm tired of it." "But you know, my body won't age any further." "I can't die naturally, you see." "Tell you what, cut your own belly, do it yourself." "Don't come asking me for the favor." "Harakiri, you say." "Harakiri is something you humans do to satisfy trivial things like honor and pride." "Why should one kill himself when he's not to blame?" "Plus, I'm Aragami, a war god." "I'd be content only if I died in a duel." "But that doesn't mean I'll just go out and let some hick samurai kill me, you see." "When I die is when I meet someone who can defeat me." "What nonsense!" "What you're talking about is called unreasonable." "Unreasonable!" "It makes no sense to me." "I see." "Then, let me ask you this." "What about you humans?" "Hundreds of thousands of you are killing one another for a handful of unworthy generals." "The reason your friend died, and you're here now, is all because of the war, isn't it?" "That's irrational, isn't it?" "Listen..." "The existence of this world itself is unreasonable." "Then, let me ask you this." "Why me?" "Why did you kill my friend and pick me for the job?" "Both of you were dying." "One was all we could save." "My question is, why me and not him, for heaven's sake?" "There's no reason." "You happened to be the one I chose, that's all." "So, what are you saying?" "Would you have preferred to die and be eaten by him?" "Listen, I didn't kill him." "I only gave you a chance to live." "I could've let you both die, and that would've been the end of it." "But now you have the possibility to live for a little while longer." "There's a big difference, isn't there?" "Be glad you got lucky while your friend died." "Take the small chance that you have." "Talking as if you're some big shot." "What it boils down to is you've killed many men in these unreasonable duels of yours." "To hell with chances." "That's nothing but murder." "Well, I've killed things other than human." "Other than human..." "Where's he go?" "I've met demons and goblins that I'd thought were human." "There sure exists mysterious things beyond our comprehension in this world." "But they taught me that I wasn't human but Aragami." "Demons, goblins, Aragami..." "What on earth are you talking about?" "Like I said, things aren't always what they seem." "There are creatures in this world that look human but aren't." "A general who can fight alone against an impossibly large army in the war field or a person who miraculously survives an illness or an injury in an accident." "They call those kinds of folks lucky, but that's not what it is." "They're human and not human at the same time." "Is that so?" "Well, if you can be Aragami, I just might be one, too." "You might be." "That' s impossible." "Both you and I are human from any angle you look." "Some birds fly high in the sky, and some are stuck on the ground all their lives." "One shouldn't be surprised there's a race that looks human yet is entirely different." "This one right here is the living proof that the unknown does exist." "You have a comment about everything I say." "I really can't get it with you." "Well, I guess you can't help it." "I used to think I was human, too." "I've searched out fights since I was an infant." "I've had a whole gamut of opponents, you know." "And no one could ever beat me." "I kept wondering why I was so strong." "Eventually, the world has come to know about me." "I was put on a pedestal as the strongest man..." "And there no longer was a man who could fight me as an equal." "Just a minute." "So, what's your name that became famous to the world." "Me?" "Musashi Miyamoto." "You're Musashi?" "Are you saying you're Musashi Miyamoto who was said to have no equal in the world?" "Well, the name doesn't mean anything to me at this point." "He died in Kumamoto a long time ago, didn't he?" "Well, I hear that's what they decided to believe." "You know, it's a problem there are so many fakes around." "So what you're saying is you're Musashi Miyamoto, the strongest swordsman in history... and on top of it all, you aren't human you're Aragami." "Is that what you're saying?" "Yeah, that's it." "And, you want me to fight that monster." "That's right." "That's stupid, that's so stupid!" "Musashi... that's a bit far gone!" "You must be kidding." "You're serious, aren't you?" "I guess it's no big deal." "I died once anyway." "I'll do it." "Your sword doesn't cut any more." "Pick whatever you like." "Not that, that's mine." "You said to pick whatever I like." "Sorry, sorry." "In place of that, I'd recommend that Western blade." "It's called the broadsword." "It's heavy but it cuts well." "None of the owners of these weapons are alive." "Don't be shy." "Ah, don't go for the chained blade." "You can't use it in such a narrow space full of columns." "What could you possibly do with those claws?" "The throwing blades are for petty fighters." "That gun's a good one." "It's called a pistol, the latest weapon in the west." "Just like a flintlock, it uses gun powder to shoot bullets." "Though it'd be difficult to hit me with that." "Hey, hey, wait a minute." "Why would you want to attack us while we're sleeping?" "That's no fun, is it?" "I thought it might wake you up." "Unfortunately, I can't sleep." "Have you ever had a dream?" "Of course, I have." "I never have because I don't sleep." "That's too bad." "A good dream is enjoyable." "I'd love to see a dream at least one time." "Oh, that..." "The bullets won't come out unless you pull down the hammer on the back." "That sword belonged to your friend, didn't it?" "It's a good one." "Killing me with that would be a nice way to avenge his death." "I see you're going for it." "You intend to beat me, don't you?" "After all, we're two of a kind." "We live in war and die in war." "If we're two of a kind and you're Aragami..." "What would that make me?" "You'll know if you beat me." "I'm glad to have met you." "What a cowardly act!" "Alright, that's the spirit." "That's the spirit of the man I chose." "You've lived all your life just for this very moment." "With your body and soul with your present, past and future with everything you've got..." "Come at me!" "You're the man I've chosen." "This isn't all you've got, is it?" "Oops, the hammer." "You can't beat me with that." "Again it failed." "I'd thought perhaps he might do it." "Isn't there anyone at all in this world who can beat me?" "He was a good fighter." "Please give him a good funeral." "You're...?" "Things aren't always what they seem." "Isn't that what you said?" "That's right." "It's true you have no equal in this world." "But look at the sky." "There's an infinite number of stars out there." "You made me realize who I am." "This world truly is full of mystery." "How exciting." "You're the opponent I've been waiting for." "It wasn't you waited for me." "It was me looking for you." "I want to thank you." "I've never enjoyed a fight this much before." "So, who are you?" "You'll know if you beat me." "I see." "The world is big and still full of mystery." "You can go to sleep now." "I see..." "So this is what it feels like to sleep." "I wonder if I can dream, too." "Yeah." "I wonder what kind of dream he's having?" "What are you going to do now?" "I'm staying here with you." "You're staying here, too." "And keep on fighting." "I guess so." "I've got nowhere to go anyway." "Let me stay here for a while." "Aragami..." "Who's going to be the one to beat me?" "I..." "I'll be the witness."