Vagabond 254 : HOME

I’m not quite sure how far the series has been translated, but it looks like the last English translation left off at #253 so here is a quick translation of #254. No Japanese text as it is a quick translation.

Page 1:

Otsu: So don’t tell Takeshan…sniff…

Kid: Why not?

Kid: If someone doesn’t tell him then he won’t ever understand Otsuu-san’s feelings.

Otsu: No way. If you tell him he’ll just end up running away.

Otsu: He probably isn’t looking for a quite life for just the two of us. He probably thinks, “If I were to do that some part of me would die.”

Otsu: …And I feel the same way a little so…

Page 2:

Otsu: Things are okay the way they are now. If telling him my feelings meant that the connection between us now might fall apart then…

Otsu: …then even if, say, we were to be separated…things are good the way they are now.

Kid: Same as me.

Kid: Even if it means getting separated things are good the way they are now.

Kid: Maaaster…..!!

Page #3:

The Wind from the East

Title – Chapter 254: HOME

Page #4:

Musashi: Edo?

Musashi: Why Edo?

Musashi: Edo------

Takuan: Swordsmanship coach* to the Tokugawa main house… (*some
translations use “fencing instructor”)

Musashi (thinking): Coach to the main house?

Takuan: …Yagyuu Munenori and I are on pretty good terms…

Musashi: ………

Page #5:

Takuan: He’s the fifth son of the father of the Yagyuu, with whom you are well acquainted.

Takuan: Why don’t you try serving under Munenori and maybe learn a little bit about the world?

Takuan: Perhaps in preparation for the day when you yourself might become advisor and travel to a foreign land somewhere…

Musashi (thinking): Yagyuu Munenori…

Page #6:

Musashi spirit: Yagyuu Munenori…

Musashi spirit: You or I, who is stronger?

Musashi (thinking): Self------

Musashi (thinking): If this feeling is that of self-obsession/self-centeredness …

Musashi (thinking): …then that fire has not burned out yet…

Page #7:

Musashi (thinking): But it’s been cut off from me enough that I can even see it from
here. It’s calm.

Musashi: Is this really okay?

Musashi: Have I grown? (Has it grown?)

Musashi: Are you satisfied?

Takuan: You have grown.

Page #8:

Takuan: You have grown.

Takuan: A sword is something to be sheathed.

Takuan: No matter how well a sword might be able to cut, without a sheath…

Takuan: …it stays out all the time and turns whoever it meets into an enemy.

Old man: Yep, ugly…

Takuan: And without a place to store itself…it will one day certainly…

Page #9:

Takuan: …end up hurting itself/you.

Musashi: ……..

Takuan: The father of the Yagyuu said something once.

(FLASHBACK)

Takuan: Swords are meant to hurt people. Swords are meant to take life.

Takuan: So why would you bet your life on such a thing. A simple question as a person…

Page #10:

Yagyuu: You’re one to talk. If people don’t die then it’s bad for business.

Yagyuu: Just kidding.

Yagyuu: If you have mastered the way (of the sword)…you needn’t even draw your sword. That’s what I was taught.

Page #11:

Yagyuu: How to go (through life) without ever drawing our blade. That is why we grip
our swords as though mad.

(END FLASHBACK)

Takuan: …Musashi…

Page #12:

Takuan: Have you reached that point yet? That frontier…

Takuan: If you want to keep growing then…

Page #13:

Takuan: …as a samurai devote yourself to a master, as a man take a wife and have a
house and set your legs in firm. Make a place to return home to.

Page #14:

Old Lady: Kojiro-san!!

Old lady: Apart from swordsmanship, do you not have any hobbies besides petting
with young ladies!!!

Koetsu: Petting…?

Kojiro: Aa—

Old Lady: Don’t “Aa----“, me!

Old Lady (aside): Come over here for a spanking!

Old Lady: Ah, he ran off somewhere!

Old Lady: I swear!

Page #15:

Koetsu: Swords and women…

Koetsu: For Kojiro-san, who cannot hear nor speak, those two things might just be the only chances he has to share his feelings with other people.

Old Lady: I swear. He’s not an animal.

Old Lady: Only that boy takes all the things we try and hide and lets them all hang out.

Page #16:

Koetsu: It’s pretty rare to see you get so worked up…

Old Lady: I just don’t like to see unhappy futures.

Koetsu: It makes me feel uneasy.

Koetsu: It’s true that right now he’s like a bare sword.

Koetsu: He needs a sheath.

Page #17:

Someone: Kouetsu-sama…Iwama-sama has…

Koetsu: Wha? If it’s about polishing/sharpening his sword I’ve already declined a number of times via letter.

Someone: Well this time he’s…

Someone: Someone from the Okura have come all the way here of their own accord…

Koetsu: Huh?

Page #18:

Gakupe: I am Iwama Gakupe, Chief Retainer of the Okura Hosokawa.

Gakupe: I have traveled by foot all the way to Kyoto. Will you still say you will not polish my sword, Kouetsu-dono?

Gakupe: This is the engraved* sword Kikuichimonji (*think super rare and legit sword).

Gakupe: To the renowned sword polisher Honami Kouetsu-dono this sword should not be lacking…What do you say?

Koetsu: Not that it’s lacking…It’s more like that…I’m kinda old and…

Gakupe: So you’re saying…

Gakupe: That you don’t find the sword lacking but you by chance might have a problem with the skills of its owner?!

Gakupe: It is true that my skill with a sword is not great…though I am kind of a maniac when it comes to swords…

Koetsu: No…I’m just retired…

Page #19:

Gakupe: If that is your concern then do not worry as sometime in the not too distant future I plan on passing the sword on to someone whose skills are incomparable----

Gakupe: I have my eye on a particular swordsman. If it is your wish, we might go and see him.

Gakupe: Ogawa! Hmm, where did Ogawa go?

Ogawa: ……

Page #20:

Kojiro: ……