"Meiji Year 1 7" " Tokyo" " Yushima Kyousai Kawanabe's Residence" "Let's see..." "How was it again?" "The toes were like this..." "Master, please instruct." "What is it, Mr. Conder?" "How is it that you are capable to draw a dragon so realistically?" "Sheesh, I'm always telling you, aren't I?" "The teaching of Kuniyoshi Utakawa, the first master I studied under." "To paint images of fighting, go out into town every day and find brawls to observe." "In time, the movement of the hands and the stance of the feet..." "Your mind will naturally absorb them, and you will grow closer to being true to life." "Observation." "It's all about observation." "But..." "Certainly, you may be able of that with people and scenery, but what you are painting right now is a dragon!" "And..." "Even these monsters..." "You cannot observe the real to paint them." "Is that right?" "I've seen them." "Both dragons and monsters." "I guess it's already been forty years..." "Kotoba dake ja tsutawaranai mono o The things you can't get across with just words" "Ichiban tsutaetai no wa naze?" "Why do you want to get those things across the most?" "Kutsuzoko o suriherashite Wearing down the soles of your shoes" "Hadashi demo tomarenai no wa naze?" "Why can't you stop, even when you're down to your bare feet?" "Kaban no naka ni hoshizora The starry sky is in your bag" "Arashi no yoru mo soko ni aru The stormy nights are in there too" "Soro-soro tabi ni dero It's about time you go on a journey" "Robou ni saku hana yo hana yo The flowers, the flowers that bloom by the wayside" "Goro-goro doro-darake Rolling around, covered in mud" "Mune o kogasu yoake yoake The dawn, the dawn that consumes your heart" "Soro-soro hashiri-dase It's about time you start running" "Kowareru made asobe asobe Play, play until you break down" "Odorou yo doro-darake Let's dance, covered in mud" "Mune o kogasu yoake yoake The dawn, the dawn that consumes your heart" "Tenpo Y ear 1 4" " April 1 5th New Y oshiwara, Edo" "Chapter Thirteen Heaven, Hell, and a Book of Rumors" "And a congratulations to ya, sir." "Shuzaburo Kai, known later as Kyousai Kawanabe, 1 4 years old" "Shuzaburo Kai, known later as Kyousai Kawanabe, 1 4 years old And a congratulations to ya, sir." "Shuzaburo Kai, known later as Kyousai Kawanabe, 1 4 years old" "So, Master, what is it that we're to be congratulating'?" "Travel beyond the bounds of Japan and find a paradise of women, huh?" "It makes me feel self-conscious, so stop using courtesan speech." "But... the way I's was born to talk's like this." "Much better." "As for what we're celebrating..." "You know that Ieyoshi Tokugawa left for Nikko yesterday, right?" "Tokugawa?" "Who?" "He can't mean... the Lord Shogun?" "That's right, the Lord Shogun." "It was quite the cavalcade, and from head to tail, it wasn't until night that it finished crossing the Kanda Bridge." "So, what's to celebrate?" "He's a-going to pay his respects on the anniversary of the death of his ancestor, Lord Tosho Daigongen." "Senior councilors Mizuno and Hotta, as well as the town magistrates Yozo Torii and Masakura Abe..." "They all went." "Right now, here in Edo, there's not a soul to watch us, demanding that we be frugal and that extravagance is prohibited." "If that isn't worth celebrating, what is?" "And they say he's Master Dohaku Kano's number one disciple." "But for all his claims that he's out to observe the world, he's just plunked himself down here in Yoshiwara, even though he's a child." "Say, would it be all right if I went to the other room?" "You're going to shirk your duties?" "You want to go to Lady Courtesan Ureshino's parlor, don't you?" "I see nothing wrong with this." "I want to see the face of this magnate that has you ladies so excited." "That ain't it, Master Shuzaburo." "It's because they're a slightly odd group of gentlemen..." "You're fabulous, Master Saizo!" "Master Saizo, you're fantastic!" "Master Saizo, please look this way!" "Master Saizo!" "Hey, let's go already." "The Shogun is safely on his way to Nikko, and we finally received a day off." "Nothing wrong with some boisterous merrymaking." "Master Saizo!" "Nothing wrong with some boisterous merrymaking." "Master Saizo!" "You needn't worry about the gratuity." "You needn't worry about the gratuity." "But..." "You're the most popular here." "Is that Ureshino's apprentice?" "What?" "Yes." "She has an unusual name, Ouma." "Hah!" "They're having a grand old time." "Even if none of them can walk under the Heavens with their head held high." "Who the hell are you?" "Don't." "A police hand." "Claiming an investigation, he made himself welcome without paying." "Really!" "He's shameless!" "I'm really here investigating!" "Those Ayashi bastards..." "Ayashi?" "Whoops." "It's nothing." "Come on, now." "Please tell me." "Haven't the faintest." "I don't know anything." "If you'd like, after your investigation," "I'd be happy to pay your tab." "Hey, do you mean that?" "!" "It seems, among the authorities, they're called the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement." "As far as I've discovered, they're not under the governance of any office." "It seems their official location is in Kudan, but I suspect their real headquarters are somewhere else." "So, what's their function?" "Just as their name suggests, it's supposedly to come down hard on suspicious scholars of what they call barbarian knowledge." "There's even a rumor that Lord Atobe of Noto and Lord Abe of Ise oversee them, but..." "If I recall correctly, Atobe is the Magistrate of Finance, and Abe is the Magistrate of Shrines and Temples, right?" "Not only that, Atobe is Senior Councilor Mizuno's younger brother!" "So, you see, I think it's unlikely too." "Hozaburo Ogasawara" "Hozaburo Ogasawara Head of the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement," "Head of the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement," "Hozaburo Ogasawara." "Adopted son of Mitsugu Ogasawara, a deputy of the Nagasaki Magistrate, and a well-known scholar of Western learning." "That's curious." "A Western scholar coming down hard on his fellow scholars of barbarian knowledge?" "There seems to be something fishy going on there." "When he was adopted by Ogasawara, he betrayed his friends to the town magistrate, Lord Torii, in order to save himself." "It seems that's what people say." "In point of fact, one of his masters, an expert on artillery named something-Takashima, was sent to prison last year." "Please leave this girl to me." "It will be over quickly." "Thus, bringing an end to this commotion." "Are you certain of this?" "Your father is..." "I accepted the adoption, knowing full well who my father is." "I am grateful to all of you." "However," "I will not allow you to get in their way!" "I admire your resolve." "However, if things should go awry..." "I am prepared to see the Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement shut down." "As far as you are concerned, Lord of Kai," "I understand that you were against its establishment from the start." "Your wish will come true then." "That one dressed like a woman is Genbatsu Edo." "Genbatsu Edo That one dressed like a woman is Genbatsu Edo." "Genbatsu Edo" "They say he's the head priest of some shrine or that he's a descendant of people called acolytes, who conducted magical rites in the guise of women, but I have absolutely no idea who he really is." "Not only that, but there's a man who looks a lot like him..." "Tokoroten jelly!" "Cold tokoroten jelly!" "I'd like some tokoroten jelly." "Ah, you needn't come down." "Please bring out a platter." "You got it." "Do you have soy sauce and vinegar?" "An office with the government hiring a street peddler?" "How bizarre is that?" "He's not the only one." "Flea removal for cats!" "If we warm the wild boar skin like so, all the fleas will move over." "Ah-ha..." "I am one of the Mountain People." "This is part of our lore." "Abi" "Abi That Abi freely identifies himself as one of the Mountain People." "In the mountains are the Mountain People, who live off the land." "Along the seashore are the Ocean People who live off the ocean." "But they're not allowed to live in towns without authorization." "So, if he hasn't been punished for it, that means he really must be serving in an official capacity." "Even so, those two are skilled men." "Saizo Even so, those two are skilled men." "Saizo I can understand why they might be employed." "Saizo" "But you see, that one over there called Saizo is..." "A woman, right?" "Oh?" "You could tell?" "So cute!" "Oh?" "You could tell?" "So cute!" "Saizo is the daughter of the proprietor of the Eiraku Theatre." "The minor theatre that used to be in the old theatre town?" "By law, women aren't allowed up on stage." "But Saizo's old man was terribly fond of his daughter and dressing her as a man, or giving her masks to wear, it seems he put her up on stage numerous times." "When the theatre burned down, her old man died too." "After that, for some reason, she apparently came to stay under Lord Ogasawara's roof." "Even as actors, men aren't allowed to walk the city dressed as women, but a woman dressed as a man..." "By appearances, she looks more like a samurai's son than I do." "It seems she's allowed a sword as Lord Ogasawara's young retainer, but well, if she wore two swords," "I think she just might not be able to move from all the weight." "How strange." "Her father passed away and the theatre's gone, so why still dress as a man?" "But well, I don't care about these folk." "The one I'm after is that man drinking shamelessly over there." "The one I'm after is that man drinking shamelessly over there." "Yukiatsu Ryudo" "Yukiatsu Ryudo Yukiatsu Ryudo." "Yukiatsu Ryudo Is he a samurai?" "Is he a samurai?" "He supposedly used to be the heir of one of the Shogun's vassals." "But he was spirited away when he was a child, and he grew strange ever since then." "He ran away from home, got mixed up with a bunch of scoundrels, and then got into the bodyguard business." "He was friends with a good-for- nothing merchant named Shichiji, but it looks like he killed that guy." "It's so heavy..." "I thought I'd never get up here." "Yukiatsu, you're really going to end up dead." "You think so?" "Why do you always do such reckless things?" "Messing with gangsters and their bosses is one thing, but you'll even draw against two-sworded samurai." "Like that time when we went at it at the training hall..." "I told you I got spirited away to some strange place when I was little, remember?" "Right, and that was why it got to be hard for you to stay at the estate." "Ever since then, I've always been scared that I might get dragged back to that place again." "I feel like I'm going to disappear again anyway." "I doubt anyone can understand it." "Not even you." "Being afraid..." "Hating this world..." "You think you're the only one?" "!" "Please don't do this, Shichiji!" "I don't want to die!" "You finally said it." "No one wants to die." "You... and everyone else are the same." "Shichiji..." "Who knows what he did after that..." "In the end, he was reduced to the status of a vagrant, working at a bathhouse on hot water duty." "But maybe he thought he couldn't escape after he caught my attention, so he took refuge at Lord Ogasawara's place." "You mean the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement?" "Maejima Temple You mean the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement?" "Maejima Temple What does he do there?" "What does he do there?" "I have absolutely no idea." "He should be utterly useless..." "Current" "The Youi is feeding!" "Father" "Show me your Ayagami!" "There isn't just one Ayagami!" "Filth" "This, too is an alien thing!" "Youi!" "I'm a monster too!" "Cloud" "Ogasawara told me." "That there's also a needle in my name, in the character for "dragon"." "Kumoshichi, what's wrong?" "!" "Are you all right?" "!" "I may not be able to do it anymore..." "To keep this guy under control..." "You mean, you'll revert back?" "There is a tremendous Youi raging about here." "The Killing Stone is a favorite food of Quetzalcoatl's, too." "Even though I devoured him to become one with him, to keep him under control..." "Devour me, too!" "I'll become one with you too." "My name is Ryudo, written as "one who guides dragons"." "If you do, you may become a monster of the Other World." "A monster, huh?" "That's why I've decided to do it." "To fight against the Youi." "I'm sorry for everything, Shichiji." "Forgive me." "You're not going to erase it?" "No." "Though I appreciate you going to the trouble." "If someone ignorant of your circumstances sees it, they will treat you like a vagrant." "No one will believe you, even if you tell them that you are a samurai." "You seem terribly concerned for him." "I... just find it bothersome." "I'll be careful, so I won't be a bother." "Then I'll bring her." "Right, see you there." "I think I will spread my wings as well, since it has been a while." "How disgusting!" "Do as you wish." "But Ryudo, that is nothing more than sentimentality." "Not erasing the proof that you were once a vagrant means that you are unwilling to forget your past, does it not?" "I'm just a vagrant." "I'm not going to forget that, that's all." "It seems they're called Ayashi." "Ayashi?" ""Strange samurai"." "Meaning their status is not officially recognized..." "I wonder how the Magistrates' Offices view them." "That's another curious thing." "Lord Torii, the South Magistrate, makes no move to arrest them, and it seems he's just patiently watching the turn of events." "And those at Lord Torii's estate," "Honjo, Hanai and that whatever woman, seem to be with them often." "I'm in no position to catch Lord Torii's ire, either, so doing any more than this would be..." "So, Tamahei, what do you think?" "Huh?" "About what?" "The Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement." "Gathering together a group of such hoodlums..." "What's their true purpose?" "Monsters..." "It's not like I believe it." "The thing is, I don't really understand, but there's something about enormous monsters..." "And that it's the Ayashi hunting them..." "It's so stupid!" "I've seen a monster." "What?" "The other day, at Nikko, when I accompanied my master there." "So, then..." "What about that apprentice courtesan?" "Huh?" "No, the Ayashi are just the five I mentioned now." "I am meant to serve in Lady Courtesan Ureshino's parlor." "You have some foreign blood in you, don't you?" "My first master often told me..." "If you do not carefully observe it, no matter what it is, you cannot draw something true to life." "Especially not women." "But..." "I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you." "Kyou" "Sai" "This is..." "Kyousai" "Kyousai Kyousai Kawanabe." "Kyousai When I strike out on my own, that's what I'm planning to call myself." "When I strike out on my own, that's what I'm planning to call myself." "Mado no soto no sora o mitara Outside my window, looking at the sky" "Kumo ga haato no katachi ni mieta yo The clouds looked like they were in the shape of a heart" "Iki o ookiku suikome ba If you take in a deep breath" "Kokoro ga ookiku natta ki ga suru ne It makes you feel like your heart's grown bigger, doesn't it?" "Ai to wa nanika?" "What is love?" "Nante kono toshi ja wakaru wake nai kedo There's no way I'd know that at my age" "Itsu no hi ka wakaru toki ga kuru no kana I wonder if there'll come a day when I do know" "Mado kara mieru ki no eda mo ha mo Outside my window, I can see tree branches and leaves" "Mainichi mainichi nobite-iru yo And they grow every day, day after day" "Kore kara mo nobite-iku yo ne They'll continue to grow from now on too, won't they?" "Konna toki ni wa konna uta ga niau At times like this, a song like this is just the thing" "Jibun no ima omou kimochi o kuchizusame Sing whatever you're feeling right now" "Aishite-iru to iu suteki ni hibiku kotoba ga The words "I love you" have such a wonderful ring to them" "Mirai ni iru jibun o kitto ima no nanbai mo ookiku Surely they'll make my future self many times greater" "Yasashiku sasete kureru no kamo shirenai Maybe many times kinder than I am today" "Preview" "This world or that world, there is no difference." "Both are the fleeting dream of the butterfly." "At the very least, one wants to set one's own price." "Next Time Cha pter Fourteen" " Butterfly Da nce At the very least, one wants to set one's own price." "Next Time Cha pter Fourteen" " Butterfly Da nce" "Next Time Chapter Fourteen" " Butterfly Dance Chapter Fourteen:" "Butterfly Dance." "Next Time Chapter Fourteen" " Butterfly Dance"