Chapter 104

“How dare you sell out our nation!” “Die! Pay for your sins with your life, you turncoat!” “You disgrace every member of the imperial family who died so that Yamato could prosper!” “Your ancestors would be ashamed of you! Traitor! Murderer!” The people shouted and jeered at the treasonist princess who trampled on their dignity and betrayed their nation, and as though in response to their rage, the fire grew in intensity and swallowed the tower’s entire base. Unfortunately for Mayoi, her leg was still wounded from Tsukasa’s gunshot. She had no way to escape. Realizing that he’d become complicit in an extrajudicial execution, Tsukasa glowered. “Worry not,” Shura told him. “She was already scheduled to be executed, even before our war with Freyjagard.” “What are you talking about?” “Three years ago, just before the war, three of the maids working at her residence disappeared. At first, it was treated as a missing person case, but her older sister had just taken the throne at the time, and when she ordered the Imperial Household Ministry’s Special Forces to inspect the younger princess’s residence, they found three corpses in the basement that had been tortured to death.” “And you’re saying…that Mayoi was the culprit?” Shura nodded. “The Special Forces became certain of that after their investigation, and after the younger princess was apprehended, the older princess sentenced her to death by sawing. A member of the imperial family had committed the grave sin of murder, and in accordance with Yamato’s laws, it was Kaguya’s duty to carry out the execution herself.” “…Why would Mayoi do something like that?” “I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Shura replied. “I have no interest in the motives of a woman who would betray her nation to save herself.” Her voice dripped with vitriol as she stared up in disgust at the tower keep. The flames climbed ever higher. “What’s the plan? If Bearabbit and I work together, I’m pretty sure we could force our way through and save little miss princess,” Shinobu asked Tsukasa, signaling him with Morse code so as not to let Shura understand. “No, sit tight. That would be a dangerous move, even for you. Not to mention we’ve got Ringo’s and Lyrule’s safety to consider.” Tsukasa believed this was no time to be making risky plays. “I can’t say that this vigilante justice sits well with me, but Mayoi’s crimes certainly warrant action, and it is true that she needs to take responsibility for what she’s done. We need to prioritize our own safety here. For now, just hold your position and don’t do anything.” “Roger that.” After telling Shinobu to back down, Tsukasa took another look at the tower. Its second floor was already burning. Then a thought crossed his mind. Something didn’t add up. According to Shura, Mayoi committed some murders before the war broke out. From Tsukasa’s perspective, though, that information didn’t sit right. It didn’t quite match what he’d seen of Mayoi’s hatred. Mayoi loathed Yamato, enough that she seemed likely to butcher its entire populace at any moment. Her supposed actions didn’t align with the image Tsukasa had of her. There’s no way her hatred would ever have been sated by killing a mere three people… “It is decided, that it is.” “” The wound on Shishi’s flank was deep, and it brought him to his knees. His large wolf ears caught voices from all around. The people of Yamato were themselves again, and their sorrowful wails filled the air. They mourned for what they had lost and cursed the years they’d spent bowing to a usurper. Those cries were proof of just how much they had loved the old regime. Shishi had claimed that he wanted to protect the fabricated status quo for their sake, but that had all been a sham. To them, a false peace was worthless. Aoi watched the freed people for a moment, then turned to Shishi. “It is something to be proud of, that it is. It takes a fine nation to inspire its people to protect it so, even to the point of abandoning peace. And it takes a fine hand to build a land so beloved by those who call it home. Winning back your independence may be arduous, but when the people call for it, a warrior must risk their life to give it to them.” Shishi nodded solemnly. “…You speak true. I know. I have always known what a fine, virtuous nation Yamato is.” Its people had the power to do anything they set their minds to. Yet for all the might they possessed, they never let it go to their heads. Quite the contrary, in fact. They were fully aware of the responsibility that great strength carried, and they were always their own harshest judges. For generations, the Yamato imperial family had embodied that sense of virtue. That was why the citizens loved and respected their homeland so deeply, and it was why the imperial family inspired such unflinching loyalty that people were willing to sacrifice their lives for them. Shishi didn’t need Aoi to tell him any of that. None had served Yamato longer or more faithfully than he had. He knew the truth better than anyone. “And so, too, do I know that the uncompromising Yamato virtues…” “No! I don’t want to die! Please, save me! I want to liiiive!” “…cast a little girl into the darkest depths of hell!” An echo of that fateful day conjured new strength, and Shishi struggled to his feet. “Take care not to strain yourself. Moving around with a wound like that will surely be the death of you,” Aoi warned as she saw blood gush from the man’s side. However, Shishi paid her no heed… “Do you know how the imperial family has maintained the peace for so many generations, Angel Aoi? They possess the kind of state power that breeds greed and bitterness, yet they never became a privileged class like the Freyjagard nobles, and they are revered and supported by all. Can you imagine how that impossible miracle came to be?!” …and shouted while reaching for his wakizashi short sword. “The answer is simple. Out of all the people in Yamato, the members of the imperial family make more personal sacrifices than anyone else to bring peace to our land and to those who live in it. Why, they even built a convenient performance to show off how self-sacrificing they were right into their administrative system. And Lady Mayoi was a tool to serve that end!” As Shishi made his indictment, his thoughts turned. He considered the nation of Yamato and his life living in it. During his childhood, his parents and their contemporaries told him stories about how great the Yamato imperial family was. As he grew, he once witnessed that virtue with his own eyes and decided to hone his swordsmanship to better serve his home. His efforts eventually paid off, and he was appointed Samurai General, and on that same day, he learned the shocking truth. Yamato’s Samurai General oversaw the management of all the nation’s soldiers, and when Shishi promoted him, he had no choice but to learn about the other side of Yamato: the twisted things its imperial family engaged in to maintain the impossible miracle. “Whenever a new ruler is crowned in Yamato, it is the custom that their siblings commit seppuku to ensure there can never be a conflict for the throne. It’s an extreme practice, but the imperial family has adhered to it for generations without so much as a complaint. Their willing sacrifice for the sake of peace inspires great reverence from the citizens.” To the people of Yamato, that was their model of how virtuous adults should comport themselves. “But the truth behind that ritual…was far different than what we imagined.” It was difficult for any rationally thinking individual to trust that a single family had consistently produced offspring willing to kill themselves for centuries. Unsurprisingly, there was a trick to it. The truth was that younger siblings were born and raised for the sole purpose of dying on schedule. Their residences were shut off from everything, and they were afforded none of the world’s joys or wonders. They were barely treated as human. Instead, they became tools reared only to put on a show of dying without hesitation. Nevertheless, learning that did nothing to shake Shishi’s loyalty. After all, it was an undeniable truth that the imperial family’s willingness to shed its own blood was what had bought the nation such a prolonged time of peace. Yamato emperors had sacrificed the good of the few in exchange for that of the many. If you looked at the way the Freyjagard Empire oppressed its citizens to benefit a small handful of nobles, the people of Yamato were incomparably well off. As Samurai General, Shishi chose to endorse the system. Now that he had the whole truth, he still felt that the citizenry’s well-being should come first. As a samurai, he was proud of his responsibility. His was a fine and virtuous duty. It wasn’t until the day he saw Mayoi sobbing and pounding on her prison cell that his pride turned to self-loathing. Upon hearing her heartbroken screams, everything changed for him. Mayoi had been sentenced to death after getting charged with murdering her maids, but she banged incessantly on her cell and professed her innocence. And she had every right to, for she hadn’t harmed anyone. The alleged murders had never taken place. The whole incident was a lie cooked up by Kaguya and the Imperial Household Ministry’s Special Forces. Mayoi had refused to commit suicide, but putting her to death allowed the dog and pony show demonstrating Kaguya’s virtue to continue. “Please, save me… I finally…found a reason to live… Meeting Jade…was the first time I ever enjoyed living…but now… No, no… I don’t want to die… Shishi, please, save me… I won’t try to usurp the throne, I promise… I don’t want to be empress…and I’ll never defy my sister… So please, don’t let them kill me…” Mayoi’s cries still rang in his ears. Her voice was hoarse from screaming the whole night through, yet still, she begged for his aid. And with Shishi knowing everything, how had he responded? How did he answer her plea? “Lady Mayoi, as Lady Kaguya’s younger sister, your suicide is of great importance. Your death will not be in vain. You will become the earth on which Yamato is built, and your memory will live on and be revered both in history and in the people’s hearts. I beseech you, it is not too late to choose an honorable death. If you do, I will put my life on the line to convince Lady Kaguya and the Special Forces to allow you to go through with it—” “You utter REPROBATE!!!!” Shishi was no longer able to contain himself, and his rage came out as a murderous roar. If he could have struck his past self down, he would have done so without hesitation. “I was an adult telling a child to kill herself! What virtue was there in that?!” Something had been seriously wrong with him. How could he have believed that was righteous? What deception did he feed himself to think it was just? Perhaps, where the general public was concerned, sacrificing the good of the few in exchange for the good of the many was the honorable thing to do. Yet Shishi could not abide it any longer. He was sick and tired of any ideal that would have him refuse to save those suffering injustice before his very eyes. “Thanks to you, I see clearly now. I know what lies I told myself, what I told myself in earnest, what I stayed in this country to protect!” It was clear to him now who needed him. “She asked me to save her, and no respectable adult would ever refuse a child’s plea.” It was time for him to go to her and fulfill his long-neglected duties! “I will see this through, no matter what it takes! To ensure I never stray from the proper path again!!!!” The fires of passion burned in Shishi’s eyes as he unsheathed his wakizashi. He was casting aside his virtue as the Samurai General, his loyalty to Yamato, his duty, and everything else he had—all so he could save a single girl. Shoutou Ounin lay broken, and his wakizashi was an undoubtedly lesser blade. It stood no chance against Byakuran. This would hardly be a fight, even ignoring Shishi’s wound. Blood still flowed from it, and Shishi likely had only a few hours left. Still, he didn’t hesitate. He strode forward. “?!” Shishi had been ready to do or die, but he stopped abruptly in his tracks. And why? Because Aoi had thrust Byakuran into the ground at his feet. As the man’s eyes went wide in surprise and confusion… “Were it I, I would be ill at ease heading to so crucial a battle with so meager a blade.” …Aoi spoke. “Shoutou Byakuran can take no more, not after our clash. In my hands, even a single swing would be too much for it to bear. However…she is a gentle blade, that she is. Were she to aid a friend of her homeland, to carry out what her wielder believed was right, she would deliver a most glorious final slash.” And with that… “Fare thee well, Shishi, m’lord.” …Aoi smiled merrily. Shishi found her actions befuddling, but that grin made everything clear.