"Honoka-dono, I wonder if you would do me a favor." "Yes?" "I want you to tell the Shikimori that Shimada Kanbe was the one who killed the imperial envoy." "I am selling myself." "I wanted to go, too." "You should take it easy and recover." "We will bring your wife home, no matter what." "I will not leave." "The emperor needs me." "Being able to understand each other, and to share with each other, are both as short-lived as a bubble on the water." "Obscured by the sands of time, unable to hold on," "I gave up, until I saw you again, asking" ""How much pain have you been carrying, all alone?" "And how much loneliness is hidden behind your eyes when you smile?"" "Embrace this miracle of an encounter now," "By gazing upon each other, we can become stronger." "And if this isn't what you call love, then what is it you call love now?" "That sure is a pretty comb." "Is that Sanae's comb?" "You shouldn't be peekin' into other people's houses!" "Aren't you coming to the harvest festival?" "I can't do nothin' in my condition." "Looks like you're having trouble walking." "No matter how strong your legs may have grown working in the rice paddies, carrying around two Dotanuki swords is bound to make your injury smart." "I knew I shoulda gone!" "I'm always failing' to act when the time comes that I oughtta." "Is that what Goro-san said?" "This is the katana that Goro-san used." "They all look the same to me." "Goro-san must be wanting to fight through you." "But Kanbe-sama told us to stay behind." "I had a hunch that this would happen at some point." "Rikichi has gotten a taste of fighting." "And once a man learns to stand up for himself... right?" "Let me go, Shichiroji-sama!" "Sanae is my wife!" "It would be utterly crazy for you to go alone in your condition." "Shimada Kanbe, I have come with a message from the honorable emperor." "Listen carefully." "Your beheading will take place five days hence, and it will take place in Kogakyo." "Why doesn't he kill me at once?" "I attempted to slay the emperor." "Ukyo, the minister over Kogakyo, made an urgent petition." "Ukyo?" "Young Lord, we are here." "T- those are mechanical samurai, aren't they?" "!" "Young Lord, the capital is over that way." "Presenting Ukyo-dono, Minister of Kogakyo!" "Hey there!" "Hi." "Wait there." "Come, Ukyo, you are being rude!" "What are you doing?" "!" "Don't touch me, you machines!" "Ukyo, successor to Ayamaro, is it?" "You are not permitted to answer directly!" "It is all right." "I will allow it." "Come closer." "I'm going to prick you." "Stop!" "You will only need to bear it for a moment." "Don't tell me..." "Ukyo is...?" "Ukyo, you are the 49th distinct replication of myself." "Excellency, were you aware that the young lord was a replication?" "Ayamaro, you have done well to raise my replication this far." "Fine work." "I am afraid that I was unaware of any of this." "He was a peasant, whom I found in the city when he was very young." "A peasant...?" "It turns out he is a peasant...?" "Silence!" "If I may ask, why was the venerable reproduction sent out into the world?" "In order to raise up stronger successors, many women were impregnated with his honorable seed, and after several trials, one peasant woman was favored to be chosen for this great duty, and now the time has arrived." "This person is Ukyo." "By the will of the honorable emperor, his position was made low, and he was dispatched into the fields." "This was done that the next venerable successor might be able to govern the world," "since those who are raised in the city-- --Enough already!" "To think that a noble reproduction be raised as a peasant!" "The honorable emperor means to abdicate to this person?" "That's only if he finishes the Inquiry." "It doesn't matter what I am, does it?" "Very well then, I was born of the honorable emperor's seed, raised as a peasant, and taught about commerce by my father." "So then, what am I?" "Heir to the throne?" "Peasant?" "Merchant?" "I will decide what you are." "The Rite of Inquiry will begin at once." "I'm thirsty." "There isn't much water left." "You'll just have to endure it." "But I can't take another step." "Komachi, be strong." "Hey, don't be soft!" "Be more like me!" "Fine." "I'll carry you." "Thank you!" "Hot!" "Komachi!" "Kiku-noji, your body is scorching!" "I always have been a hot-blooded man." "You big goofball!" "Thanks a lot!" "Someone is coming." "Excellency, what exactly is the Rite of Inquiry?" "In order to determine whether or not the candidate is worthy to succeed the honorable emperor, there is a test that goes on for the space of three long days." "The honorable emperor has the wisdom of the ancients within his head." "Ukyo must be able to match that wisdom." "What happens to him if he fails?" "He will be dead before the three days is over." "I have heard that none of the venerable replications has passed the Rite of Inquiry yet." "Behold." "Those are the memorial tablets for the venerable replications who failed the Rite of Inquiry, and were executed for being unfit as successors." "All of them were born and raised in the capital." "Now then, how will Number 49 fare, having knowledge of the lower world?" "Very well, the Inquiry will now begin." "We're really going to do this for three days?" "If you are able to continue answering me for three days." "Well, get started, then." "Question number one:" "What does one who suddenly comes to a position of power by succession need to be most concerned about?" "Shoring up his base." "He has to carry on as the previous governor was doing, and then enact his own reforms." "Suppertime." "Thank you." "Um, Kanbe-san, do you know who Ukyo of Kogakyo is?" "Question number fifty and six:" "What is the most perilous thing that can happen to a governor?" "Being disparaged by those beneath him." "Once that happens, he can no longer be called a governor." "Thus it is important to always be resolute." "A governor whose judgment has become dulled should resign." "In addition to that, it is also dangerous to incur the people's hatred." "Are there any measures to ensure that one does not incur the people's hatred?" "He just has to make sure not to take away what belongs to those beneath him." "And by doing so, the capital will be sustained?" "He has to get those beneath him to want to offer up tribute by themselves." "Well said." "This is why it was worth it to send you out into the fields, and have you raised by peasants." "You are the only one who has grown up to be this level-headed." "Question number fifty and seven:" "Which is preferable-- a well-ordered nation with rampant corruption, or a tumultuous nation that is just?" "The honorable emperor has not left the screen for two days now." "Are we sure he is all right?" "The rule is that no one may peer behind the screen during the Rite of Inquiry." "But..." "M'lady, we should go to your room." "M'Lady!" "Thanks a lot." "You saved us." "Nah." "We warriors have to stick together." "That's a nice thing you said!" "We warriors really do have to stick together." "Samurai-sama, we've met you before." "We asked you to please cut down the bandits for us in Kogakyo." "You're the girl from back then?" "I've heard stories about what happened in Kanna Village." "The exploits of the seven samurai you hired have echoed all the way to Kogakyo." "Then you must have heard of the adventures of me, Kikuchiyo!" "Where are you samurai-sama going?" "I mowed those bandits right down," "Thanks to the kind offices of Ukyo-sama, --tearing them apart this way, tearing them apart that way- -we have been employed by Notade Village." "and that's because I am the best under the sun!" "Ukyo?" "and that's because I am the best under the sun!" "Mm-hmm." "He's the minister of Kogakyo now." "He's such a quick-witted gentleman." "What?" "What did you say about that reprobate?" "He plans to take your deeds and use them as a template to bring change to these impoverished times." "He has appointed all of us, who were rounded up in the samurai hunt, to guard the nearby villages." "What?" "Us down-and-out ronin from the city are now officially recognized as guards, thanks to the kindness of the minister." "Everyone is thrilled to have work." "And we have you to thank for it." "Question number one hundred and eight:" "When one becomes a governor and chooses his staff, is it advisable to choose past enemies or past allies?" "Without a doubt, you choose your enemies." "For the enemy, it's a huge promotion." "They don't want to be viewed as enemies, so they will work as hard as they can for you." "Always beating up on your enemies isn't everything." "Then what do you do with them?" "See, the thing is, it's best to turn them into allies." "What you say is interesting." "Okay, go on." "Have I passed so far?" "So far." "Now then, question number one hundred and seven:" "Tell me what those who aspire to accomplish great things must be wary of." "There are two things." "Tell me." "One is the times." "Take right now;" "the wars have ended, and the merchants are finally beginning to create a path for the future, right?" "You have to be able to read what the masses want in this age, or you won't be able to do anything grand." "And the other?" "The physician said it was anxiety." "Never mind me, how is the emperor?" "Are you still worried about that?" "The emperor is to be pitied." "He has never felt the wind, nor the light of the sun on his own body, and he alone carries the weight of the world on his shoulders inside that vessel." "Are you trembling?" "I feel anxious." "I am so fearful of that man Ukyo that I cannot stand it." "They're just deciding whether or not he will be the heir, that's all." "But what will happen to this child?" "Question number three hundred and seventy-two:" "Question number three hundred and seventy-two:" "No one has ever lasted this long." "What do you consider to be the right path of commerce?" "Could this mean...?" "Supply and demand have to be well balanced." "Getting it so it's just right is the hard thing, though As such, I used the logic of gains and losses to lead the people In order to avoid disorder in commerce, this position," "as well as the balance of supply and demand, must always be ever since I came to have this body as a result of the wars," "I resolved to rebuild the world with commercial wisdom which means that if you peel off this veneer, you can impose an inordinate level of submission, at the expense of you might say that ruling over the samurai," "rather than destroying them, has been my revenge..." "Now then, the final question:" "What is the most important quality that those who would become governors must possess?" "Natural ability." "No matter how much you've learned, you have to rely on your instincts to make your final decisions." "However, you said in front of the ministers that you were unsure of your identity." "Why is it that what your words were different three days ago?" "In commerce, you have to know the tricks of the trade." "Sometimes, it is necessary to lie, am I right?" "Hey there!" "Does this mean...?" "This is my child, and the emperor of the next age." "He is me, and I am him." "Never forget that." "Like he said." "How is your physical condition?" "Emperor, you must be tired yourself." "Rest, for the sake of the child." "The child is another reproduction of myself." "In time, he will come to succeed me." "But the man Ukyo-- will he not take this child to be an impediment?" "Do not worry." "That man is me." "This child is also myself." "Is Kirara-kun doing well, Shimada Kanbe-kun?" "You lied when you said you were the one who cut down the envoy, huh?" "The emperor said so." "That was a pretty unrewarding thing to do." "How does it feel, waiting to be executed?" "What are you doing here?" "I've come to take over the land." "The real criminal is here." "You were the one who cut down the envoy." "I was only performing a favor." "There are those who would not be served if the envoy were alive." "That is an ill omen..." "I must have you observe the way I govern for a time, as well as have you grow accustomed to life in the capital." "I wonder if I might ask you a question." "What is it?" "Long ago, there was a two-headed dragon." "He was a most powerful dragon." "However, when it tried to go south, the other head said that it wanted to go north." "If one tried to fly, the other said it wanted to go under the sea." "In the end, the dragon starved to death." "Understand?" "Emperor, does a nation require two governors to rule it?" "That is unnecessary." "It sure is." "Didn't the people of old say that imperfections would arise within a large-scale community over time?" "The method of government must change when it no longer fits the times." "Emperor, you are worn-out." "I should put my other self out of his misery." "Emperor, that looks painful." "Nighty-night." "He is me, and I am him!" "Emperor!" "Emperor!" "Is that you, Sanae?" "Are you all right?" "Do not come near." "Do you know what the word "zenjo" means?" "It is when a virtuous governor abdicates his throne in favor of an even more virtuous governor." "Emperor...?" "Fare thee well, Sanae." "I wish that just once, I could have gone into the fields and mountains, and frolicked together with you." "Emperor, please..." "please raise the screen, I pray thee!" "I entrust everything to my replication." "Ukyo-- no, Emperor, is that all right with you?" "Such gracious words." "Emperor...?" "Honorable Emperor!" "From now on, I am the emperor!" "T- the honorable emperor is invested!" "All hail!" "The old man merely gazed off into the distance from the hideaway in which he lived." "The baby cries, seeking only for the warmth of his mother." "We are born paying the price for someone's punishment, for someone's sins, but there is no such thing as a future without salvation, and the present slips quietly into the past." "We string together nothing but hollow ideas, and tell nothing but hollow lies." "And as the rain falls down upon us, something appears and then fades away." "Oh, I'm starting to feel tingly again." "This tingling is in my stomach today." "Oh, I'm so hungry!" "Before we knew it, there had been a great upheaval in the world." "The tale of our village and the seven samurai-sama has become very famous." "That weird guy Ukyo, who previously fell in love with Sister from afar, has been caught up in what happened in Kanna Village, and is trying to pull something." "This guy is said to be the good-for-nothing son of Maro-sama, but right now, it looks like he has become pretty popular." "Nunky says "there's always a downside to any tempting story."" "Sister also said "we only did it because we wanted to protect the village."" "I'm surprised at how good this is all starting to sound." "I'm still only feeling a little bit of tingling from the crystal, so I can only vaguely sense what is going on, but it feels like something bad is going to happen." "Okara-chan, we're almost to Kogakyo." "Okay, bye now!"