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Yamikagishi Volume 1
Yamikagishi Vol.1
Yamikagishi: Master of the Shadow Keys.
Original story by: Nakajima Kazuki.
Drawings: Akana Osamu.
Vol. 1
1st Tale (Chapter 1): The Doorman [tn: The Japanese sliding door.]
003
*woooo*
*wooo*
Jounosuke: !
004-005
Jounosuke: Was that a lock crying out?
006
Yamikagishi (1).
Table of Contents.
1st Tale: The Doorman................ 3
2nd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (1)............... 49
3rd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (2).................. 75
4th Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (3)................. 99
5th Tale: Kochou's Dream (1)...............123
6th Tale: Kochou's Dream (2)............ 151
7th Tale: Kochou's Dream (3).................. 176
8th Tale: Kochou's Dream (4)................ 201
007
*shhh*
Jounosuke: This is...!//.........
008
Narrator: Edo, Asakusa Temple.
Kin: Come on. Have a look. You have lost an object; you are looking for someone, or you wanna know what the future has in store? Let my tiptoes pinpoint the answer for you./The only podomancy in Edo. Come on over here.[tn: Like chiromancy, but with the feet/legs. I made the word up. The Japanese word is made up too, so it balances out.]
009
*bah*
Men: Oooooh
*roll* *roll*
*zzzzzzzz*
*put*
010
Kin: I have it./North and West.//And moisture.//Is there a well Northwest of you house?
Girl: Yeah.
Kin: So that's where your doll is. No doubt it fell down there while you were retrieving water from it.
011
Girl: I guess that's it. Thank you.
Kin: Uh?//You know, I don't charge any less that 100 mon for a go. [tn: A "mon" is a subdivision of Japan's old monetary system.]//Oh, nevermind. I'll just have to rip it off someone else.
012
Kin: Now, who's next?
Man: ..............
Kin: Come on.
Men: ..........
Kin: So. What's going on? Are you all just gonna watch for free?//If you're so fond of these legs of mine/I'm gonna have to see some more money.
*clink* *clink* *clink*
Kin: !
013
*pant* *pant*
Ihee: You are O-Kin-san, the leg diviner, aren't you?
Kin: Who are you?
Ihee: Please follow me to the Temple of Locks!
Kin: EH?
Ihee: There ought to be one there. A Lockmaster.*grab*
Kin: Wha... What's wrong with you?!
*baf*
Ihee: My wife is about to die.//I'm begging you!
Kin: .............
014
Kin: Jou-san./Are you there, Jou-san?
Someone: .............
Jounosuke: This Temple is dedicated to the Locks.
015
Jounosuke: If you shut the door and lock it away, the feelings within will be locked away as well./Locks and feelings are one same thing. [tn: A pun. 錠 (lock) and 情 (feeling) can both be pronounced as "jou".]//This temple has been built to pay service to the feelings sealed away behind those locks.
Kin: ..............//Jou-san!
*tilt*
Ihee: You are Jounosuke-san.[tn: I'm no specialist, but the name could more or less mean "He who concerns himself with locks".]
016
Ihee: Thank God.//I've been looking for you.*drop*
Ihee: I've asked the podomancer. And I've followed hearsay. So I could meet the best Lockmaster in Edo.//I am called Ihee, from house Nishida./Please save my wife. She is locked away into our house.
Jounosuke (from now on, Jou): .......
Ihee: It looks like she's been wounded. Until noon, she could still make a sound./But now......
017
Ihee: No matter what I tried, the lock wouldn't open./There's nothing I can do about it.//I'm begging you./...........
Kin: Jou-san. Won't you do something for him?
Jou: Alright. I'll pick up my tools right away.
Ihee: A million thanks.
018
Kin: Jou-san. We should hurry.
Jou: Last night, while I was completing this, a face appeared on it./It was Ihee.
Kin: !//That means...*tilt*
Jou: This is a Doorman's job.
019
Ihee: My men and I are the Nishida Cartwrights./Since robbery by the neighbors are frequent around here, I told my men to keep an eye out.//But on the night I emptied my house for business purposes
*plic*
Thief: We want the key. Open the vault!
020
*click* *clack*
Thief: Thank you for your help.
*swipe* *GASH!*
021
Thief: Over here, everyone!/The vault is open!
*creak* *creak*
Thief: What the hell are you doing?!/Stop.
*clang*
022
Thief: Open up! Open up, will ya!*thump* *thump*
Ihee: When I came back this morning, the shop was devastated. But I could hear my wife's voice, faintly.//She'd dropped the key on the inside and thanks to that she's been able to escape from the thieves. However, I don't know if it's because the key was destroyed, but there's no opening the vault.//She's been clinging to life for so long.
023
Ihee: This is too much./If she dies/I'll...!
Jou: Let's hurry.
Ihee: This is the vault.
024
Jou: !//THIS?!
025
Ihee: My predecessor was a fastidious person, and he'd create lock mechanisms as a pastime./But it doesn't matter. Please hurry./Oren is inside!!
Jou: ................
Ihee: Is it hopeless?/Even for you?//Jounosuke-san?!
Jou: ...............
026
Kin: (This is the Ise family's, money exchange point. Doing quite well for themselves, as one would expect.)
*slip*
Kin: (I guess that's the treasure vault over there.)//!
027
Kin: (House Nishida is just one fence away.//I think I can smell something.)
Jou: The other hole is a fake.
*click*
*cliclick*
028
*cliclick*
*kachink*
Jou: And here's the keyhole.
029
*kachink*
Ihee: You opened it?!
Jou: Yes.
*screak*
030
Ihee: O-Ren?!
Jou: ........//!//Here. /This is where she's lying.//Hey. Just hold on.
031
Jou: !//Ihee-san?!
Kajiroku: That's right. Every last word I said earlier was a complete lie./In order to have you open this door.
032
*swipe*
Kajiroku: And the moment you opened the door is the moment your life became forfeit, dog./It was your fate since the beginning.
033
*tilt*
Kajiroku: ?!
*gwip*
034
*gwiiiip*
Jou: You finally show your true nature.
*slip*
*schlack*
*swip*
035
*step*
Kin: Are you okay, Jou-san?!//House Ise's vault is right behind this one!/He probably plans on digging his way to the other side and break into the vault from underground.
Jou: You're the spitting image of Ihee-san. A perfect disguise./You masqueraded as him and won over his men. And pushed him to tkae refuge intot his vault./Ihee-san had fastened the lock from within, and this is where he died.
Kajiroku: Indeed. That's exactly how it went. My job became unnecessarily harder because of this.
036
Kajiroku: I am Kajiroku of the Hundred Guises.
*shlorph*
Jou: !
Kin: Yuck.
Kajiroku: And this is how I turn into a carbon copy of whoever I disguise myself as.
037
Kajiroku: Thievery becomes child's play with a power like this.//Even if this time exceptionally, I've had to ask for a locksmith's help.
Jou: You're wrong about something./From the very beginning, I was working for Ihee-san.
Kajiroku: What are you babbling about?!
Kin: Locks and feelings are one same thing. You heard that, didn't you?/Jou-san's locks have the ability to cast reflections of people's thoughts.
038
Jou: That, and the ability to seal evil away.
Kajiroku: ?!
Jou: Kajiroku of the Hundred Guises-san. Your ability to masquerade perfectly as someone else. Where did you get it?
Kajiroku: ................
Jou: No matter who they are, people keep a part of darkness in their hearts. These are always kept behind a sturdy lock./But should Evil gain control over the keyhole, the door to darkness gets to open. Normal people are usually unable to do this.
039
Jou: You might have wanted to gain some kind of special power./But that power you have is diabolic.
Kajiroku: Augh.*blorb* *blorb*
*grik*
*grik* *grik*
Kajiroku: My...
040
Kajiroku: You call me a demon?!
*clank*
Jou: I will use my key on your evil power and seal it away in this lock.
*clack*
041
Jou: This is what we call a Dooring.*grrrrrrrr*
042-043
Kajiroku: Stoo... oop.
*sssss*
044
Jou: Now to fasten the lock.
*Schlack*
*ffshhhh*
045
Kin: Jou-san. Is it over?
Jou: No. Not quite.
Kin: .............
Jou: Ihee-san./I shall have you show me the feelings you have locked away.
*clink*
046
*plank*
Ren: ........
Jou: Not to worry./It's gonna be okay.//O-Ren-san, is it?
047
Ren: ...........
*wooooooo*
048
Jou: !//A lock is crying out again?[/End.
049
*slash*
*plisshhh*
Yazaki: Now come out.
*slip*
Yazaki: O-Shidzu.
050-051
Shidzu: Unhh.*sssssss*
2nd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (1).[tn: A very, very rough translation. 逆縁 (Gyakuen) means "bad deed that results in the creation of a good Buddhist". Within the story's context, it probably refers to the titular sword's Zanpakuto-like properties (See: the manga "Bleach"), where chopping things into tiny bits "purifies" them.]
052
Shizu: Seijuurou. [tn: She actually calls him "anata", which in this case is a very rough equivalent of "darling" or "dear". While perfetly natural at all times in Japanese, it sounds a bit contrived in English, especially in the given situation.]
Yazaki: O-Shidzu. I'll save you.
*drip*
Shidzu: .......*plic* *ploc* *Shhhhhhh*
053
*SPLASH*
Yazaki: She's disappeared again.//Blood!There's still nowhere near enough of it.
Victim: Hiiiiiiii.
Yazaki: I need to spill even more blood.
*wooooo*
054
*SLASH*
Narrator: Several days earlier.
Jou: Are you asking me to open this lock?
055
Yasaki: Please. I can pay. I've heard that you were a skilled keymaster.
Jou: And you'd sell your sword for that.
Yazaki: I may not look like it, but I'm a samurai. Yazaki Seijuurou./And I won't sell my sword.//But I know a trader who'd like to buy the lock.
Jou: .........
056
Yazaki: I've tried to pry it open somewhat./But if I damage it, its value will be cut in half.
Jou: Why is there a lock fastened on the sword?
Yazaki: ........
Jou: You don't know?
Yazaki: The sword is a house Yazaki heirloom. Nothing suspicious, there./And the request comes from me. The owner.
Jou: And I can't honor it.
Yazaki: ?!
057
Jou: This sword has a lock on it for a reason. I can't open it carelessly, without even knowing what that is. Who know what calamity might ensue?
Yazaki: It doesn't matter.
Jou: What do you need the money for?
Yazaki: ..........
Jou: Is this a bonsai?
Yazaki: It is.
058
Yazaki: Every year, there's a competition in Echizen'ya./And it's not pushing it so say whoever comes out on top has the best bonsai in Edo.//And this year, that would be mine.//There's a participation fee, however.
Jou: How much?
Yazaki: One ryou. [tn: Money, i just in case you didn't guess.]
Kin: !/That's ridiculous.
059
Yazaki: I can't possibly raise that kind of money./Please, Jounosuke-dono!
Jou: I am just a locksmith./Being called "dono" by a samurai is too good for me.
Yazaki: Jounosuke-dono!
Jou: I suggest you find some other means to raise the money./Do not touch this lock.
Yazaki: ...........
060
Kin: Ah./O-Shidzu-san.
061
Kin: Sorry, O-Shidzu-san. Looks like we can't help.
Shidzu: I see.
Jou: My deepest apologies.
Shidzu: No, it's nothing.//We've been taking your help for granted, just because we live in the same row of houses./My husband Seijuurou does whatever crosses his mind,and little else. Bonsai are everything to him.
Kin: I'm sorry, Jou-san. For the pointless talk with O-Shidzu-san, I mean.
062
Kin: For some strange reason, I feel like helping her whenever she's in trouble.//She works as a waitress in a tea house to earn some coin, or something./But her man puts it all into his bonsai. A shame.
Jou: Yazaki Seijuurou./Do you know about his lineage? Family records?
Kin: Well. I have no clue what they were like long ago. I'm not really interested in people's pasts, but they're one of the good things you'll find here in the Amida district.
Jou: ...............
063
Kin: He's just one of those samurai who lose their lords and go broke, I think. Why do you ask?
Jou: I think that lock on the sword is no ordinary seal.
Kin: Do you mean there's something evil sealed in it?
Jou: ............ [tn: This is gonna become a catchphrase.]
Kin: A Dooring job? It can't be.
Jou: I hope you're right.
064
Shidzu: The meal is ready.
Yazaki: ............. [tn: Okay, this confirms it. The author has a fetish for these.]
Shidzu: Come on. Eat before it's cold.
Yazaki: I can't, right now. I need to finish this.
Shidzu: ........ [tn: ............]
065
Yazaki: Going to the shop, are you?
Shidzu: Yes.
Yazaki: I feel bad letting you do all the heavy lifting.//But it's only gonna last until the competition./My bonsai will win the first prize. No doubt about it.//I'm gonna turn this tree into gold./And then we'll kiss this hovel goodbye too.
066
Yazaki: You need only endure until then, O-Shidzu.
Shidzu: I've had more than my share of enduring already.//I'll be late.
Yazaki: .........
067
Sign: <OLD> Implements
Salesman: I never said I'd pay one ryou for it.//I'm willing to buy the sword as well, even if the lock won't come off./But you never said anything about pawning it.
Yazaki: Why don't you just give me one ryou?/I'll pay you back. Definitely.
068
Yazaki: I will!
Salesman: I really don't get it./How exactly do you plan on paying me back?//I'm not even a moneylender in the first place./This is an implement shop, here.
Yazaki: ............
Salesman: Now leave immediately!
069
*clasp*
Yazaki: You asshole!
Salesman: Oh. What are you doing? Pulling the sword out?//Let's see you try.
Yazaki: .........
Salesman: Please, go ahead.
070
Yazaki: No drawn sword, no money, I guess!//What a pain. Useless just when I need it./Why that thing is a family treasure is beyond me.
*clamp*
Yazaki: Some prostitute, I guess.
071
*slam*
Shidzu: Ouch!//Aren't you an impatient one.
Yazaki: I know this voice...
Shidzu: There's no rush at all./Take the time to enjoy yourself.
Yazaki: !!
072
Shidzu: Aah.*clink* *clink* *clink*
Shidzu: Don't stop. You drive me crazy.
Yazaki: O-Shidzu!
073
*flip*
Jou: That's the one./Tetsusaju no Tachi......... (The Iron-Chain Cursed Longsword.)
074
Jou: This is bad news!
*snap* *snap* *snap*[/End
3rd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (2).
075
Shidzu: Ah. Aah.
076
Yazaki: !!
Shidzu: Seijuurou!*slam*
077
Yazaki: O-Shidzu, what is the meaning of this?/ [tn: I can help. It means you, sir, are an idiot.]What exactly do you think you're doing?!
Shidzu: .............
Yazaki: Weren't you supposed to be working in a tea house?/So that's is what you've been doing all this time?
Shidzu: ..........
Yazaki: Why?/Why would you do this, of all things?!//Did you think I wouldn't mind even that kind of money?!!
*glare*
078
Shidzu: Guess again./I do this because I enjoy it.
*snap* *snap*
079
Shidzu: This is what I like, it's not my fault. Just like you and that bonsai you're so crazy about./I love it so much when I sleep with men and they drive me crazy I can't help myself.
Yazaki: Wha... What are you talking about?
Shidzu: I'm just like a bonsai myself./You've put your wife in a pot, scissored me into being the chaste woman you saw me as.//You had no regard for who I really was. All that counted was what you wanted me to be.
Yazaki: Wrong.*slip*
Shidzu: But this is what I am.
080
Shidzu: I've grown to enjoy selling myself. And by sleeping with men, I was even able to make money./Thanks to that money, you've been able to take care of you beloved bonsai. So we're both benefiting from this, aren't we?
Yazaki: Wrong./You are wrong.//Bonsai are the only thing worth considering about me./So I wanted to...//I wanted to make something useful out of it./Use it to do something about our livelihood.//I LOVE YOU ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE.
081
Shidzu: ............/*Hya haha*
Shidzu: Ah, what a surprise. I had no idea people could flirt in such a situation.*flip*
Shidzu: If you really love me that much...*slip**
Shidzu: Alright, then./I'll let you sleep with me.*roll*
082-083
Shidzu: It's gonna cost you fifty mon, though.//If that's too much for you, just go home.*crackle* *crackle*
Yazaki: You.../You bitch!*crackle* *crackle*
Shidzu: Can you draw that sword?/Can you?//It's just like your manhood, isn't it?/Purely ornamental.
084
*shing*
*clang*
085
*woooooooo*
Shidzu: Hic.
*shove*
086
Yazaki: O-Shidzuuuuu.
Man: Mu... Murderer.
087
Man: Some one come./We have a murderer!
*wooooo!*
088
*GASH*
*slip*
Shidzu: Ah.
Yazaki: ?!
Shidzu: Aaah.
O-Shidzu!!
089
Shidzu: Help me.
*drip*
Shidzu: Seiju...
*SPLASH*
Yazaki: O-Shidzu?/........
090
Narrator: Several days later.
Kin: That's fourteen people, Jou-san...//All of them killed horribly./With blood gushing everywhere.
Jou: What happened to Yazaki Seijuurou?
091
Flashback!Jou: He hasn't come back, it seems.//After all the work he's put into that bonsai, now it's a mess.
Kin: Maybe he's really being controlled by Evil, after all.
Jou: .............
092
Kin: ...........
Jou: Have you been able to find Seijuurou's whereabouts?
Kin: Nothing at all. It's hopeless.//My podomancy won't work./There's a malicious interference. I can't do anything.
Jou: That's because of the broken seal.
093
Jou: Good gentlemen who are coming our way./What is your business here?//............*shhhhhhhhh*
Jou: Let us stop playing games, shall we?
094
*dash*
Kin: !
*zip*
095
Jou: This is a temple. Dedicated to the Locks.
*SWISH*
Jou: Any excessive display of force shall be subjected to retribution.
096
*slip*
Ninja: Jounosuke, right? I'll ask you to follow us quietly.
*shlack*
Jou: Good. I was just thinking about coming with you.
Kin: What's with those guys?
Jou: Wait here, O-Kin.
Kin: .............
097
Shinzou: We've been at peace for 200 years and if this keeps up, people will only be good for flower gardening. If I could, I'd spend my entire life without smelling the stench of blood, ever.//Strange thoughts for a shinobi, don't you think? Locksmith.
Jou: You are most sagacious.
Shinzou: Why did you open the lock on Yazaki Seijuurou's sword, then?
098
Jou: I did not.//Leader of the Iga ninja. Hattori Shinzou-sama.
Shinzou: Oh. So you know my name?[End
4th Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (3)
099
Shinzou: Why did you open the lock on Yazaki Seijuurou's sword?
Jou: I did not.
100
Shinzou: If you ask in Edo, there are only one, maybe two people with enough skill to do it./This lock is not of the kind that would open randomly.//If you didn't do it, someone else did.
Jou: Probably Yazaki-sama himself.
Shinzou: That's ridiculous. The lock comes from the Iga Shinobi. It's completely out of a novice's league.
Jou: And what if Evil grows powerful enough to open it?
Shinzou: Who the bloody hell are you?
Jou: A Doorman.
101
Shinzou: What's that?
Jou: Or Keeper of the Shadow Keys.//You're the head of the Iga, just as I thought. I've heard a lot about you.//Hattori-sama. Please tell me about the origins of that sword.
Shinzou: ...........
102
Shinzou: Yazaki used to belong to with us Iga. He was serious, but he was also a brooding sort./Some five years ago, he had a falling out with his comrades over a woman, and he disappeared. Taking the sword away with him.//Tetsusaju no Tachi is a heirloom of the Yazaki, but even the man himself doesn't know the reason why it's sealed./I'm the only one who does.//The sword was created by Yazaki's ancestor./Tradition has it it's a holy sword sent by the Heavens to cleanse Evil.
Jou: What happened, then?
Shinzou: It was incomplete.
103
Shinzou: In the hands of the inexperienced, instead of purifying Evil, it would let Evil possess them./Without someone who could handle it properly, it would make many victims.//Because of this, it was sealed shut with a shinobi lock, so it couldn't be draw ever again. No you know about the origins of the Tetsusaju no Tachi.//I heard it happened during Hattori Hanzou II's time. Though I wanted to believe such a seal was just the stuff of legends.//Evil, and the like. Whatever: That was senseless garbage to me./That's why when Yazaki made off with the sword I didn't see the point of lifting a finger.
104
Jou: You saw something, didn't you?
Shinzou: Two of my men did.//Some wanderer has been cutting up passers by recently. When I heard about his description, I thought it might be him, and I had my people look it up./.............
Jou: And they saw the dead O-Shidzu-san!
Shinzou: In the middle of my investigations./It turned outt that Seijuurou and you had met.
105
Jou: Hattori-sama./Have you noticed what Edo is like these days?//Crowds of people, mixing together. Their feelings and thought intertwining./How Evil appears through the cracks within.//As of now, Edo is an Unclean Land. [tn: In Japanese, depending on the spelling, "Edo" is either Tokyo's old name (江戸), or the buddhist notion of "Impure World" (穢土), i.e the world we live in. The author seems to enjoy his proto-philosophical puns.]
106
*swip*
Jou: I lock away the door to darkness in the hearts of those who are controlled by Evil./Then I seal it anew. As a Doorman, that's what I do.//I request that you leave the handling of things to me.
Shinzou: ..............
107
Man: Leader.*slide*
Shinzou: What is it?
Man: Yazaki Seijuurou has shown himself!
Yazaki: !//Ooh. O-Kin-dono. So that's where you were.
108
Kin: Seijuurou-san.
Yazaki: You know where O-Shidzu is?/I've been looking for her.
Kin: What are you talking about?
Yazaki: You and her get along pretty well. You must have heard something./Where is my cute little spouse?
109
Kin: You won't find here here. She has no reason to come.
Yazaki: Yes she does.//There she is./Right there in your blood.
Kin: !!*gulp*
*step*
110
*zap*
*CLANG*
111
Yazaki: Get out of my way, Jounosuke!/I need to see O-Shidzu.
Jou: Your O-Shidzu-san is haunted by Evil./She's been cut down by that sword of yours, and she can't find rest. Not with the sword possessing her.//As you kill people, O-Shidzu-san's soul gets drenched in blood, and her karma becomes more demonic in the process.
Yazaki: Shut up! Shut up, shut up! *cling* *cling*
112
*pant* *pant*
Jou: As you keep on killing, your karma sinks deeper into evil./I'm going to cleanse your souls.
*Kah*
*ominous sound*
113
*zzzzzzzz*
Yazaki: !!
114
Yazaki: Stop./Don't take o-Shidzu away from me!
[Flashback/Yazaki: O-Shidzu...//!*slip*
Shidzu: Thank God./Now I can be happy.
115
Shidzu: In the beginning, I hated it. I hated being a prostitute.
Yazaki: .........
Shidzu: I couldn't stand to look you straight in the face. But little by little, I felt better./Something inside me took control, and kept growing. I came to desire men so much I couldn't stop myself.*cough*
Yazaki: You did all that on purpose to have me kill you........./Now I see.
Shidzu: You're really looking at me, at last. I'm so happy.
116
Yazaki: !*tilt*
Yazaki: O-Shidzu![/Flashback
*ssss*
*shhhh*
117
Yazaki: I knew O-Shidzu really loved me./So why did I do this........?//Kill me!/Please kill me too!
Jou: It's isn't our job to punish the sins committed in this world.//Go to Hattori-sama. He will pass judgment upon you.
118
Yazaki: Forgive me!
Jou: !*zash*
*woooo*
119
*zzooooo*
*crackle* *fsssshhhhh*
Jou: Bloody fool.*slip*
120
*KAH*
*clip*
Kin: Now they can be together again.
121
Kin: Seijuurou-san. O-Kin-san.
*thud*
Shinzou: Who is it?
122
Message: Tetsusaju, serving its initial purpose.
*Hmph
Shinzou: Doorman, eh?[/End
123
Guard: This is the third drowned body this month.//Bloody hell. What a horrible way to kill someone. It's a messed up time, we live in.*fsshhhh*
Guard: I've brought a master with me. A master locksmith.
124-125
5th Tale: Kochou's Dream (1).
Jou: A lock is asking to be opened. Where is it?
127
Guard: Please take care of the lock on this corpse./So her remains can at least be at ease.
Jou: !//This is a European lock.
Guard: Is there something different about those barbarian locks? [tn: 南蛮 (nanban) means "barbarian" and "European" at the same time. It's an old-fashioned, derogatory term. Historically speaking, Japan wasn't well-known for its high opinion of foreigners.]
Jou: The mechanisms isn't exactly the same as in Japanese ones.
Guard: ............
128
Narrator: The next day, Asakusa Temple.
Kochou: You're not a true Edo denizen until you've watched this./Paper butterflies flying freely up, down, left and right. Just like live ones would.
129
Kochou: Watch 8 wings become 16./The show where butterflies multiply into countless numbers. Kochou's Dance of the Butterflies.[tn: "Kochou" means "butterfly". So in Japanese, it's simply "Kochou no Mai".
Man: Enough of this./Show us some more leg!
Crowd: That's right. We aren't here for some kind of stunt!
130
Kochou: Humph. Dirty lechers.
131
*sss*
*scrunch*
*puff*
*flap flap flap*
Crowd: Oooooh!
132
*clap clap clap*
Kochou: That's all for today.
Crowd: Eh?!
Kochou: Come on. Off you go.
Man: Tsk.
Kin: Finishing early, Kochou-nee-san?[tn: "Nee-san" means "big sister". In Japanese, "uncle", "big brother", "grandma", etc... are common marks of respect to someone older, and not a foolproof way of knowing if the speakers are actually related.]
133
Kochou: ... Dang it. You've got to be joking./My art is completely wasted on that bunch of assholes!
Kin: You're pretty mad, aren't you?
Kochou: No matter how many people I round up with my art, my body is the only thing they have in mind. How much it would cost to sleep with me, and the like./In their goddamn heads, that's what a roadside female artist must be about.
Kin: They do come for all the wrong reasons, but I still have a lot of customers./And among them, some people really need my powers.//If my podomancy can make some people happy, that's fine by me.
134
Kochou: O-Kin-chan, you'll understand when you are my age.//No matter how much you refine your art, it's completely useless in front of this.
Kin: ...........
135
Kochou: It's also true that refining your art is the only thing that puts some bread on the table.
*tilt*
Kochou: How about we walk around for a bit, O-Kin-chan?
Kin: Yeah. It's okay.
Man: Someone has drowned again./In front of the rice shop.//Yesterday's one was bound hands and feet./Today's one is stuffed in a box!
136
Jou: It's open.
137
*clang* *creeeaaak*
*plic* ploc*
138
Kin: Jou-san.
Kochou: Ah.//Shiragiku-san!
Guard: Someone you know?
Kochou: We knew each other from doing same job, and we've chatted a couple, maybe three times.//................//I am Kochou, the illusionist. I perform on the Asakusa temple's grounds.
139
Guard: She was into prestidigitation too.
Kochou: I do.
Guard: Anything else you might know about?
Kochou: She moved someplace else, it seems. We didn't see much of her around here...//Can I go?
Guard: Yeah. If you remember anything, report to the guard house.
Kochou: Understood.
140
Kochou: What is it you want? Why are you following me?
Jou: ............
141
Kochou: Are you in love with me?/If that's the case, I feel sorry for O-Kin-chan near you.
*zip*
142
Kochou: Because you see... Jounosuke-san, is it? O-Kin-chan won't stop talking about you.
Kin: Watch it, kochou-san.
Jou: I have no idea what O-Kin told you./My business is about that purse of yours.
Kochou: Eeeh. I thought you were a locksmith. You're into pickpocketing too?
Jou: I want to see it precisely because I'm a locksmith./Show me that European lock in your purse.
143
Kochou: So you want a closer look at it?
Jou: You substituted it discreetly while you were looking at Shiragiku-san's corpse./I didn't expect you to have a replacement lock prepared, but I can tell a Japanese lock apart from an European one with one look.
Kochou: There's no fooling a professional, it seems. I expected that much.
Jou: Why did you do this?
Kochou: Come on. Because I wanted the lock, of course.
Kin: ?
144
Kochou: I wanted to open it up and look inside./I've never seen what European locks were like.//Sorry to break it to you, but I know how to open foreign locks.
Jou: Oh, really?
Kochou: Even if you chain me and put locks upon me./I'm trained in the art of escaping them.
145
Kochou: The Aya locks, with their numerous mechanisms. The sturdy locks from Tosa. And Aki locks, as well.//I have thoroughly tested each and every Japanese lock out there.
Kin: For prestidigitation?
Kochou: What else?
146
Kochou: A woman, legs and feet bound in chains and hanged down a bridge before a crowd of spectators.
*SPLASH*
Crowd: !
Kochou: Thinking anyone would die after this.
147
Kochou: But the next second/she's standing on the bridge as if nothing happened.//How does it sound like? Exciting, isn't it?
Kin: If you could do that, it'd be so great.
Kochou: There are people overseas thinking about doing just that.
Jou: I see. A European import.
148
Kochou: Back when I was a performer in Nagasaki, I stumbled upon a Western book about prestidigitation./I couldn't read the words, but the pictures are forever burned into my eyes.
Kin: And you mean to reproduce this.
Kochou: Exactly.
Kin: If you can do it go ahead./You're gonna leave everyone awestruck.
Kochou: It's not something I can make a show out of just yet./I still value my life.
Jou: So if you did it now, you'd just end up like another one of those drowned people.
Kin: I know where you're getting at!
149
Jou: I've worked out what that strange succession of murders was about! Thanks to Kochou-san's story.../It's a Western prestidigitation trick.
Kochou: And it's a fairly bad performance, at that.
Kin: ..............
150
Gouemon: .............//Har har har (creepy chuckle)[/End
151
6th Tale: Kochou's Dream (2).
Jou: I've worked out what that strange succession of murders was about! Thanks to Kochou-san's story.../It's a Western prestidigitation trick.
Kochou: And a fairly bad performance, at that.
152
Jou: So this is the work of a amateur.
Kochou: So the criminal is some kind of idiot who chanced upon some Western prestidigitation apparatus, and he's doing it just for the fun of it.//But I've got to say, that's a pretty shoddy way of dying.
Jou: ?!
153
Kochou: Shiragiku-san isn't the only one. All of his kills until now were prestidigitator.
Jou: !
Kochou: In the same position, I would have escaped long ago.//No one is to blame for an artist who dies because of her own incompetence./It's her own damn fault.
154
Kochou:You must feel the same, don't you?
Jou: ...........
Kochou: If you have any pride about your work, you must see where I'm coming from.
Jou: Feats and deeds are one same thing. [tn: :facepalmAnother weird-ass pun, this time with the word "waza".]
Kochou: Come again?
155
Jou: If you cling overmuch to feats, this will become another deed added to your karma. Once you are completely shackled, you become unable to see what's around you.
Kochou: ..........//You're getting on my nerves, locksmith./What's after the sermon? Are you going to disguise yourself as a priest?
Jou: That's not the point./I am just issuing a warning to myself.//!
Kochou: To the best locksmith in Edo. Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar./I'll let you figure out the ins and outs of it for me.
156
Kochou: Where can I find you?
Jou: The Temple of the Locks.
Kochou: Jounosuke of the Temple of Locks.../And working with locks. Somehow, that's hard to believe.//But you've piqued my interest./A bit sulky, but you're a fine-looking man.//I'll show up in a couple, maybe three days.
**slip*
157
Kochou: When I do, you'll get finger divination, from a prestidigitator./I have plenty of things to teach you.
Kin: What are you doing, Kochou-nee-san!
Kochou: Oops. I smell jealousy.
Kin: I'm not jealous.
Kochou: Don't worry. It was just a little bit of flirting.
Kin: That makes it even worse.
Kochou: It was just a joke. A joke. Just wanted to poke fun at him for all those annoying things he said, with that affected air of his.
158
Kochou: Well, I'll let you take care of that lock.
Jou: She's one piece of work.
Kin: It'sa good thing, though.
Jou: Eh?
Kin: There was nothing outside of art for Kochou-nee-san./But she's got a great dream.
Jou: A dream, eh........../Might be a good thing if it came true.
159
Kochou: ... Damn it. Where the heck does that come from? What a pain.//!//What the...
160
Kochou: What's that kind of stuff here for?
*grab*
Kochou: !!
*slam*
Gouemon: *Har har har*
161
Kin: Jou-san./I've found something.//I thought there might be none of the dead woman's regrets left.
Jou: Good job, O-Kin.//!
162
Jou: I know this pattern.
163
Kochou: .........
Gouemon: I see you've come to, Kochou-san the illusionist.//You're a skilled one, aren't you./*chuckle*
Kochou: !/Where am I?!
164-165
Gouemon: Interesting don't you think?
166
Gouemon: About half a year ago, an English shipwreck was found. I've bribed some government officials so I could get it for myself.//It was full of treasures.
Kochou: It's you. You've been committing those murders.
Gouemon: ............
Kochou: These are prestidigitation implements. Not tools of murder.
Gouemon: I see you are well-informed./Those are indeed prestidigitation tools.
167
Kochou: .............
Gouemon: And that's why I had a female illusionist try them./First I paid her, then gave her full instructions.//But she died as soon as I sawed her in half./The next woman I stuffed into a box and sank into the sea, but she didn't make it back to the surface.//It wouldn't work as in the pictures./They all died. Worthless prestidigitators, all of them.//But I came to enjoy this more and more.//I enjoy watching women as they die.
168
*blob blob* *fshhhh* *fshhh*
Gouemon: Something's been boiling up inside of me.//!/Hoho...*swip*
169
*chink*
Gouemon: Whenever I tie up a woman with this, her face contorts with fear.//When I have them bite into this, it strangles twisted screams out of them.//Har har har.//I had no idea women's fear was so fascinating.
Kochou: Monster. You've got to be joking.
*chink chink*
Kochou: Those manacles!/......./They won't come off!
170
Kochou: Why?!/After all the practice I've done.
*swoosh*
*thump*
Kochou: Agh.//Gasp.
171
Gouemon: Hurr./What a pretty voice. I just can't get enough.//It's about time I had you put that nice voice to some more use./I'm wondering: if I throw you into the river, will you be good enough to surface back?
Kochou: Don't take me lightly./I'm nothing like those other illusionists.
Gouemon: Good./That means I didn't waste my time picking you.//This time, I want you to escape./Do your job properly, and answer my expectations.
172
Gouemon: Someone come!/We're taking her to the ship!//.............//What are you doing? Come immediately, won't you?
*dump dump dump*
Gouemon: !!
173
*SLAM*
*thud*
Gouemon: What is it? What's going on?/Hey?!
Jou: Call out all you like. No one is coming.*slip*
Gouemon: !
174
*frush*
Jou: Toyosuya Gouemon-san./I'm going to slide shut your door to Evil.[/End
176
7th Tale: Kochou's Dream (3).
177
Jou: Toyosuya Gouemon-san./I'm going to slide shut your door to Evil.
178
Jou&Kin: !!
Kochou: O-Kin!
Kin: Kochou-nee-san!
179
Kochou: .............
Kin: I can't believe it. Even you.../I'll come save you right away.
*swip*
Kochou: Stay where you are!*swish* *swish*
180
Kin: Eh?//What are you talking about?*swish*
Kochou: Enough. Don't come any closer!
Kin: Kochou-nee-san?
Kochou: I am pathetic./Don't look at me! [tn: Now ain't the time for a display of misplaced pride, dear.]
181
Kin: We had no idea you'd be targeted too./If we had, we wouldn't have sent you back on your own.
Kochou: Stay awaaaaay.
182
Gouemon: This magician girl was about to perform the greatest prestidigitation trick in her life./She'd be escaping her shackles from underwater. Something in which no one in Edo has ever succeeded./And you come ruin it all at the most critical moment!//Who the hell are you?!
Jou: The Doorman.
183
Gouemon: ?
Kochou: Doorman?
Kin: When the darkness in people's heart is out in the open, they become possessed by Evil./The act of sealing that Evil into a Lock is called a Dooring.//And that's Jou-san's undercover job.
184
Kochou: He's not a simple locksmith?*tilt*
Kin: Gouemon, the man who kidnapped you, is not a human being, but a demon./He is haunted by Evil.
Kochou: ...........
Gouemon: Me, a demon?!
Jou: Yeah. That's right.//There is a world, apart from the human realm, where demons lurk.
185
Jou: Since times ancient, this place has been know as Hell, or the Demon Realm./Demons look out for opportunities to make their way into our dimension.//Evil shows up through the weakest spots they can find in our realm.//When someone lets his greed take the best of him and lose control over his own heart, they open the door to that person's heart and appear into our world.
Gouemon: ............
Jou: Gouemon-san. You are being controlled by Evil.
186
Gouemon: I see. I hear you loud and clear./I've been wondering why I felt reborn, and where my newfound strength came from.//A pretty boy like you crying out should be rather entertaining, too./Let's all have some fun tonight, shall we?
187
*whud*
Kin: !!
Jou: Ugh.
*grip*
Gouemon: Hohoho.
Kochou: So that's the power of Evil!!
188
*WHACK*
*BASH*
Kin: Jou-san!!
*swip*
*teeter*
189
Jou: That power of yours that makes light of people's lives, I shall seal away.
*KAH*
Gouemon: Hic
*zzzzzzzz*
190
Jou: You have nowhere left to run.
Gouemon: ..........
*zzzzz*
Gouemon: Wait./Spare me.//What wrong have I ever done?/I was just having prestidigitators do magic tricks.//If they're dead, they can only blame ther own weakness.
191
[Flashback]Kochou: That's a pretty shoddy way of dying.
Kin: Eh?
Kochou: In the same position, I would have escaped long ago.[/Flashback]
*clink clink*
*clink clink*
Kochou: I'm different./I am.//My skill a whole league above that of the others!
192
Gouemon: I'll give you if you want./And not just the money. You can have my Western treasures too.//There shipwreck still has lots of its cargo left./You can also have as much of it as you want.
Kochou: !/More... more cargo.//.......//If only I had that many tools and the power to escape them./My dream would come true.
193
Kochou: Power!/I don't care if it come from Evil.//If I'd had that kind of power, I wouldn't have ended up in such an unsightly situation.//And those handcuffs wouldn't....//GIVE ME POWER!!
194
Kochou: ...........
Jou: !!
195
Jou: This is bad!/The Demon realm has opened!!
*VLAM*
Kin: Aaargh.
196
Kochou: Aaauugh.
Kin: Kochou-nee-san!
Kochou: ...........
Jou: O-Kin, stop!/Stay away from Kochou!
*clang*
197
*zzzzz*
Kin: Kochou-nee-san. I can't believe it.
Kochou: I'm sorry, O-Kin-chan./Evil got the better of me.
198-199
Kin: ?!//NOOOOO.
200
*whud*
Kochou: Jounosuke./Dispel the seal on Gouemon immediately.//Otherwise, I will break O-Kin's white little neck.
Jou: ........[/End.
201
Kin: I'm sorry, Jou-san. It's all because of my mistake.
Jou: It isn't your fault./Who would've thought Kochou would fall under Evil's grasp?
202-203
8th Tale: Kochou's Dream.
204
Kochou: Don't take this the wrong way.//Master, here, is precious to me. I couldn't just sit back and watch you seal him away.
Jou: What the hell is going through your head?
Kochou: Isn't it obvious?/He is the sponsor who will help me fulfill my dream.
205
Jou: Oil?
Kochou: We're going to set this ship on fire.//If you want to survive, you have no choice outside escaping your shackles and get away before it gets engulfed in flames./What do you think? A good show, isn't it?
206
Kin: You can't.
Kochou: Ah, yes. You're new to prestidigitation, O-Kin-chan.
*kachink*
Kochou: I'll do you a favor. Here's a tip.
*squirm*
207
*ckink*
Kochou: So? Easy, don't you think?
Kin: Nee-san.
Kochou: Why are you looking at me like that?!*whack*
Kin: Agh.*slip*
208
Kochou: My body is just the way I want it./I am the only one in the world who can do this.
Jou: So this is the result of your deeds, Kochou-san.
Kochou: Hum?//Give it all you've got. Even if I doubt you'll fare much better than me./Woops.//I almost forgot.*frush frush*
209
Kochou: !
*swip*
Kochou: I didn't expect any less from you, Jounosuke-san./Putting a needle here of all places.//A locksmith dies because he couldn't open a lock./This is quite fitting.
210
*creaaak*
*thud*
*grrrr*
211
*crack crack crack*
Jou: O-Kin. Come near me. I'm going to undo your ties.
Kin: Eh? Undo them?
*flip*
Jou: I've prepared a wire and put it under my nail.
*clink*
212
Kin: Tell me how to do it. I'll take care of your ties.
Jou: It's undoable for a novice. Now go.
Kin: But./There's not time to waste. Go to the Temple of Locks and wait.*tilt*
*DAH*
*snap*
Jou: Crap!
213
*grrr*
Kochou: An easy trick, but not something a human can do./..........
214
Narrator: Gouemon Residence.
Gouemon: Who cares about all of this?
Kochou: I may be controlled by evil, but I'm a magician. It's only normal for me to take care of my apparatus.
*glomp*
Kochou: Anh.//Oh, God. Master, what an impatient man you make.
215
Kochou: Go way in the bedroom. I'll join you later.
Gouemon: Make it fast.
*slam*
216
*KAH*
Kochou: !//Master?/.........//?
217
Kochou: Master, where are you?/Stop fooling around with me. Show yourself.//!//What's this?!
218
Jou: This is Gouemon, behind a seal.*swip*
Kochou: Jounosuke!!//Impossible. How did you manage to escape?
219
*FFFRRRRRR*
*THUMP*
Jou: (Finally. There it is.)
220
*kachink*
*ssshhhh*
*chink chink*
221
Kochou: No one could escape those shackles!/How could a human like you do it?!
Jou: Feats and deeds are one same thing. Didn't I tell you so?/You've been clinging too much feats, and you're mistaken about what people can do and what they can't.//Such are your deeds.
Kochou: A mere human like you. I won't allow it!
222
*KAH*
*PASH*
Jou: This is the end for you, Kochou. I'm going to seal you away.
223
Kochou: Let's see you try. I will escape this lock./I will escape that lock of your without fail.//This is gonna be my greatest stunt ever!
Jou: Kochou./There's no trick in there.
224
Jou: This isn't some kind of mechanism you can escape from.
*splash*
Kin: Feats and deeds are one same thing./When did this madness get to you, I wonder.[/End
Original story by: Nakajima Kazuki.
Drawings: Akana Osamu.
Vol. 1
1st Tale (Chapter 1): The Doorman [tn: The Japanese sliding door.]
003
*woooo*
*wooo*
Jounosuke: !
004-005
Jounosuke: Was that a lock crying out?
006
Yamikagishi (1).
Table of Contents.
1st Tale: The Doorman................ 3
2nd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (1)............... 49
3rd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (2).................. 75
4th Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (3)................. 99
5th Tale: Kochou's Dream (1)...............123
6th Tale: Kochou's Dream (2)............ 151
7th Tale: Kochou's Dream (3).................. 176
8th Tale: Kochou's Dream (4)................ 201
007
*shhh*
Jounosuke: This is...!//.........
008
Narrator: Edo, Asakusa Temple.
Kin: Come on. Have a look. You have lost an object; you are looking for someone, or you wanna know what the future has in store? Let my tiptoes pinpoint the answer for you./The only podomancy in Edo. Come on over here.[tn: Like chiromancy, but with the feet/legs. I made the word up. The Japanese word is made up too, so it balances out.]
009
*bah*
Men: Oooooh
*roll* *roll*
*zzzzzzzz*
*put*
010
Kin: I have it./North and West.//And moisture.//Is there a well Northwest of you house?
Girl: Yeah.
Kin: So that's where your doll is. No doubt it fell down there while you were retrieving water from it.
011
Girl: I guess that's it. Thank you.
Kin: Uh?//You know, I don't charge any less that 100 mon for a go. [tn: A "mon" is a subdivision of Japan's old monetary system.]//Oh, nevermind. I'll just have to rip it off someone else.
012
Kin: Now, who's next?
Man: ..............
Kin: Come on.
Men: ..........
Kin: So. What's going on? Are you all just gonna watch for free?//If you're so fond of these legs of mine/I'm gonna have to see some more money.
*clink* *clink* *clink*
Kin: !
013
*pant* *pant*
Ihee: You are O-Kin-san, the leg diviner, aren't you?
Kin: Who are you?
Ihee: Please follow me to the Temple of Locks!
Kin: EH?
Ihee: There ought to be one there. A Lockmaster.*grab*
Kin: Wha... What's wrong with you?!
*baf*
Ihee: My wife is about to die.//I'm begging you!
Kin: .............
014
Kin: Jou-san./Are you there, Jou-san?
Someone: .............
Jounosuke: This Temple is dedicated to the Locks.
015
Jounosuke: If you shut the door and lock it away, the feelings within will be locked away as well./Locks and feelings are one same thing. [tn: A pun. 錠 (lock) and 情 (feeling) can both be pronounced as "jou".]//This temple has been built to pay service to the feelings sealed away behind those locks.
Kin: ..............//Jou-san!
*tilt*
Ihee: You are Jounosuke-san.[tn: I'm no specialist, but the name could more or less mean "He who concerns himself with locks".]
016
Ihee: Thank God.//I've been looking for you.*drop*
Ihee: I've asked the podomancer. And I've followed hearsay. So I could meet the best Lockmaster in Edo.//I am called Ihee, from house Nishida./Please save my wife. She is locked away into our house.
Jounosuke (from now on, Jou): .......
Ihee: It looks like she's been wounded. Until noon, she could still make a sound./But now......
017
Ihee: No matter what I tried, the lock wouldn't open./There's nothing I can do about it.//I'm begging you./...........
Kin: Jou-san. Won't you do something for him?
Jou: Alright. I'll pick up my tools right away.
Ihee: A million thanks.
018
Kin: Jou-san. We should hurry.
Jou: Last night, while I was completing this, a face appeared on it./It was Ihee.
Kin: !//That means...*tilt*
Jou: This is a Doorman's job.
019
Ihee: My men and I are the Nishida Cartwrights./Since robbery by the neighbors are frequent around here, I told my men to keep an eye out.//But on the night I emptied my house for business purposes
*plic*
Thief: We want the key. Open the vault!
020
*click* *clack*
Thief: Thank you for your help.
*swipe* *GASH!*
021
Thief: Over here, everyone!/The vault is open!
*creak* *creak*
Thief: What the hell are you doing?!/Stop.
*clang*
022
Thief: Open up! Open up, will ya!*thump* *thump*
Ihee: When I came back this morning, the shop was devastated. But I could hear my wife's voice, faintly.//She'd dropped the key on the inside and thanks to that she's been able to escape from the thieves. However, I don't know if it's because the key was destroyed, but there's no opening the vault.//She's been clinging to life for so long.
023
Ihee: This is too much./If she dies/I'll...!
Jou: Let's hurry.
Ihee: This is the vault.
024
Jou: !//THIS?!
025
Ihee: My predecessor was a fastidious person, and he'd create lock mechanisms as a pastime./But it doesn't matter. Please hurry./Oren is inside!!
Jou: ................
Ihee: Is it hopeless?/Even for you?//Jounosuke-san?!
Jou: ...............
026
Kin: (This is the Ise family's, money exchange point. Doing quite well for themselves, as one would expect.)
*slip*
Kin: (I guess that's the treasure vault over there.)//!
027
Kin: (House Nishida is just one fence away.//I think I can smell something.)
Jou: The other hole is a fake.
*click*
*cliclick*
028
*cliclick*
*kachink*
Jou: And here's the keyhole.
029
*kachink*
Ihee: You opened it?!
Jou: Yes.
*screak*
030
Ihee: O-Ren?!
Jou: ........//!//Here. /This is where she's lying.//Hey. Just hold on.
031
Jou: !//Ihee-san?!
Kajiroku: That's right. Every last word I said earlier was a complete lie./In order to have you open this door.
032
*swipe*
Kajiroku: And the moment you opened the door is the moment your life became forfeit, dog./It was your fate since the beginning.
033
*tilt*
Kajiroku: ?!
*gwip*
034
*gwiiiip*
Jou: You finally show your true nature.
*slip*
*schlack*
*swip*
035
*step*
Kin: Are you okay, Jou-san?!//House Ise's vault is right behind this one!/He probably plans on digging his way to the other side and break into the vault from underground.
Jou: You're the spitting image of Ihee-san. A perfect disguise./You masqueraded as him and won over his men. And pushed him to tkae refuge intot his vault./Ihee-san had fastened the lock from within, and this is where he died.
Kajiroku: Indeed. That's exactly how it went. My job became unnecessarily harder because of this.
036
Kajiroku: I am Kajiroku of the Hundred Guises.
*shlorph*
Jou: !
Kin: Yuck.
Kajiroku: And this is how I turn into a carbon copy of whoever I disguise myself as.
037
Kajiroku: Thievery becomes child's play with a power like this.//Even if this time exceptionally, I've had to ask for a locksmith's help.
Jou: You're wrong about something./From the very beginning, I was working for Ihee-san.
Kajiroku: What are you babbling about?!
Kin: Locks and feelings are one same thing. You heard that, didn't you?/Jou-san's locks have the ability to cast reflections of people's thoughts.
038
Jou: That, and the ability to seal evil away.
Kajiroku: ?!
Jou: Kajiroku of the Hundred Guises-san. Your ability to masquerade perfectly as someone else. Where did you get it?
Kajiroku: ................
Jou: No matter who they are, people keep a part of darkness in their hearts. These are always kept behind a sturdy lock./But should Evil gain control over the keyhole, the door to darkness gets to open. Normal people are usually unable to do this.
039
Jou: You might have wanted to gain some kind of special power./But that power you have is diabolic.
Kajiroku: Augh.*blorb* *blorb*
*grik*
*grik* *grik*
Kajiroku: My...
040
Kajiroku: You call me a demon?!
*clank*
Jou: I will use my key on your evil power and seal it away in this lock.
*clack*
041
Jou: This is what we call a Dooring.*grrrrrrrr*
042-043
Kajiroku: Stoo... oop.
*sssss*
044
Jou: Now to fasten the lock.
*Schlack*
*ffshhhh*
045
Kin: Jou-san. Is it over?
Jou: No. Not quite.
Kin: .............
Jou: Ihee-san./I shall have you show me the feelings you have locked away.
*clink*
046
*plank*
Ren: ........
Jou: Not to worry./It's gonna be okay.//O-Ren-san, is it?
047
Ren: ...........
*wooooooo*
048
Jou: !//A lock is crying out again?[/End.
049
*slash*
*plisshhh*
Yazaki: Now come out.
*slip*
Yazaki: O-Shidzu.
050-051
Shidzu: Unhh.*sssssss*
2nd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (1).[tn: A very, very rough translation. 逆縁 (Gyakuen) means "bad deed that results in the creation of a good Buddhist". Within the story's context, it probably refers to the titular sword's Zanpakuto-like properties (See: the manga "Bleach"), where chopping things into tiny bits "purifies" them.]
052
Shizu: Seijuurou. [tn: She actually calls him "anata", which in this case is a very rough equivalent of "darling" or "dear". While perfetly natural at all times in Japanese, it sounds a bit contrived in English, especially in the given situation.]
Yazaki: O-Shidzu. I'll save you.
*drip*
Shidzu: .......*plic* *ploc* *Shhhhhhh*
053
*SPLASH*
Yazaki: She's disappeared again.//Blood!There's still nowhere near enough of it.
Victim: Hiiiiiiii.
Yazaki: I need to spill even more blood.
*wooooo*
054
*SLASH*
Narrator: Several days earlier.
Jou: Are you asking me to open this lock?
055
Yasaki: Please. I can pay. I've heard that you were a skilled keymaster.
Jou: And you'd sell your sword for that.
Yazaki: I may not look like it, but I'm a samurai. Yazaki Seijuurou./And I won't sell my sword.//But I know a trader who'd like to buy the lock.
Jou: .........
056
Yazaki: I've tried to pry it open somewhat./But if I damage it, its value will be cut in half.
Jou: Why is there a lock fastened on the sword?
Yazaki: ........
Jou: You don't know?
Yazaki: The sword is a house Yazaki heirloom. Nothing suspicious, there./And the request comes from me. The owner.
Jou: And I can't honor it.
Yazaki: ?!
057
Jou: This sword has a lock on it for a reason. I can't open it carelessly, without even knowing what that is. Who know what calamity might ensue?
Yazaki: It doesn't matter.
Jou: What do you need the money for?
Yazaki: ..........
Jou: Is this a bonsai?
Yazaki: It is.
058
Yazaki: Every year, there's a competition in Echizen'ya./And it's not pushing it so say whoever comes out on top has the best bonsai in Edo.//And this year, that would be mine.//There's a participation fee, however.
Jou: How much?
Yazaki: One ryou. [tn: Money, i just in case you didn't guess.]
Kin: !/That's ridiculous.
059
Yazaki: I can't possibly raise that kind of money./Please, Jounosuke-dono!
Jou: I am just a locksmith./Being called "dono" by a samurai is too good for me.
Yazaki: Jounosuke-dono!
Jou: I suggest you find some other means to raise the money./Do not touch this lock.
Yazaki: ...........
060
Kin: Ah./O-Shidzu-san.
061
Kin: Sorry, O-Shidzu-san. Looks like we can't help.
Shidzu: I see.
Jou: My deepest apologies.
Shidzu: No, it's nothing.//We've been taking your help for granted, just because we live in the same row of houses./My husband Seijuurou does whatever crosses his mind,and little else. Bonsai are everything to him.
Kin: I'm sorry, Jou-san. For the pointless talk with O-Shidzu-san, I mean.
062
Kin: For some strange reason, I feel like helping her whenever she's in trouble.//She works as a waitress in a tea house to earn some coin, or something./But her man puts it all into his bonsai. A shame.
Jou: Yazaki Seijuurou./Do you know about his lineage? Family records?
Kin: Well. I have no clue what they were like long ago. I'm not really interested in people's pasts, but they're one of the good things you'll find here in the Amida district.
Jou: ...............
063
Kin: He's just one of those samurai who lose their lords and go broke, I think. Why do you ask?
Jou: I think that lock on the sword is no ordinary seal.
Kin: Do you mean there's something evil sealed in it?
Jou: ............ [tn: This is gonna become a catchphrase.]
Kin: A Dooring job? It can't be.
Jou: I hope you're right.
064
Shidzu: The meal is ready.
Yazaki: ............. [tn: Okay, this confirms it. The author has a fetish for these.]
Shidzu: Come on. Eat before it's cold.
Yazaki: I can't, right now. I need to finish this.
Shidzu: ........ [tn: ............]
065
Yazaki: Going to the shop, are you?
Shidzu: Yes.
Yazaki: I feel bad letting you do all the heavy lifting.//But it's only gonna last until the competition./My bonsai will win the first prize. No doubt about it.//I'm gonna turn this tree into gold./And then we'll kiss this hovel goodbye too.
066
Yazaki: You need only endure until then, O-Shidzu.
Shidzu: I've had more than my share of enduring already.//I'll be late.
Yazaki: .........
067
Sign: <OLD> Implements
Salesman: I never said I'd pay one ryou for it.//I'm willing to buy the sword as well, even if the lock won't come off./But you never said anything about pawning it.
Yazaki: Why don't you just give me one ryou?/I'll pay you back. Definitely.
068
Yazaki: I will!
Salesman: I really don't get it./How exactly do you plan on paying me back?//I'm not even a moneylender in the first place./This is an implement shop, here.
Yazaki: ............
Salesman: Now leave immediately!
069
*clasp*
Yazaki: You asshole!
Salesman: Oh. What are you doing? Pulling the sword out?//Let's see you try.
Yazaki: .........
Salesman: Please, go ahead.
070
Yazaki: No drawn sword, no money, I guess!//What a pain. Useless just when I need it./Why that thing is a family treasure is beyond me.
*clamp*
Yazaki: Some prostitute, I guess.
071
*slam*
Shidzu: Ouch!//Aren't you an impatient one.
Yazaki: I know this voice...
Shidzu: There's no rush at all./Take the time to enjoy yourself.
Yazaki: !!
072
Shidzu: Aah.*clink* *clink* *clink*
Shidzu: Don't stop. You drive me crazy.
Yazaki: O-Shidzu!
073
*flip*
Jou: That's the one./Tetsusaju no Tachi......... (The Iron-Chain Cursed Longsword.)
074
Jou: This is bad news!
*snap* *snap* *snap*[/End
3rd Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (2).
075
Shidzu: Ah. Aah.
076
Yazaki: !!
Shidzu: Seijuurou!*slam*
077
Yazaki: O-Shidzu, what is the meaning of this?/ [tn: I can help. It means you, sir, are an idiot.]What exactly do you think you're doing?!
Shidzu: .............
Yazaki: Weren't you supposed to be working in a tea house?/So that's is what you've been doing all this time?
Shidzu: ..........
Yazaki: Why?/Why would you do this, of all things?!//Did you think I wouldn't mind even that kind of money?!!
*glare*
078
Shidzu: Guess again./I do this because I enjoy it.
*snap* *snap*
079
Shidzu: This is what I like, it's not my fault. Just like you and that bonsai you're so crazy about./I love it so much when I sleep with men and they drive me crazy I can't help myself.
Yazaki: Wha... What are you talking about?
Shidzu: I'm just like a bonsai myself./You've put your wife in a pot, scissored me into being the chaste woman you saw me as.//You had no regard for who I really was. All that counted was what you wanted me to be.
Yazaki: Wrong.*slip*
Shidzu: But this is what I am.
080
Shidzu: I've grown to enjoy selling myself. And by sleeping with men, I was even able to make money./Thanks to that money, you've been able to take care of you beloved bonsai. So we're both benefiting from this, aren't we?
Yazaki: Wrong./You are wrong.//Bonsai are the only thing worth considering about me./So I wanted to...//I wanted to make something useful out of it./Use it to do something about our livelihood.//I LOVE YOU ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE.
081
Shidzu: ............/*Hya haha*
Shidzu: Ah, what a surprise. I had no idea people could flirt in such a situation.*flip*
Shidzu: If you really love me that much...*slip**
Shidzu: Alright, then./I'll let you sleep with me.*roll*
082-083
Shidzu: It's gonna cost you fifty mon, though.//If that's too much for you, just go home.*crackle* *crackle*
Yazaki: You.../You bitch!*crackle* *crackle*
Shidzu: Can you draw that sword?/Can you?//It's just like your manhood, isn't it?/Purely ornamental.
084
*shing*
*clang*
085
*woooooooo*
Shidzu: Hic.
*shove*
086
Yazaki: O-Shidzuuuuu.
Man: Mu... Murderer.
087
Man: Some one come./We have a murderer!
*wooooo!*
088
*GASH*
*slip*
Shidzu: Ah.
Yazaki: ?!
Shidzu: Aaah.
O-Shidzu!!
089
Shidzu: Help me.
*drip*
Shidzu: Seiju...
*SPLASH*
Yazaki: O-Shidzu?/........
090
Narrator: Several days later.
Kin: That's fourteen people, Jou-san...//All of them killed horribly./With blood gushing everywhere.
Jou: What happened to Yazaki Seijuurou?
091
Flashback!Jou: He hasn't come back, it seems.//After all the work he's put into that bonsai, now it's a mess.
Kin: Maybe he's really being controlled by Evil, after all.
Jou: .............
092
Kin: ...........
Jou: Have you been able to find Seijuurou's whereabouts?
Kin: Nothing at all. It's hopeless.//My podomancy won't work./There's a malicious interference. I can't do anything.
Jou: That's because of the broken seal.
093
Jou: Good gentlemen who are coming our way./What is your business here?//............*shhhhhhhhh*
Jou: Let us stop playing games, shall we?
094
*dash*
Kin: !
*zip*
095
Jou: This is a temple. Dedicated to the Locks.
*SWISH*
Jou: Any excessive display of force shall be subjected to retribution.
096
*slip*
Ninja: Jounosuke, right? I'll ask you to follow us quietly.
*shlack*
Jou: Good. I was just thinking about coming with you.
Kin: What's with those guys?
Jou: Wait here, O-Kin.
Kin: .............
097
Shinzou: We've been at peace for 200 years and if this keeps up, people will only be good for flower gardening. If I could, I'd spend my entire life without smelling the stench of blood, ever.//Strange thoughts for a shinobi, don't you think? Locksmith.
Jou: You are most sagacious.
Shinzou: Why did you open the lock on Yazaki Seijuurou's sword, then?
098
Jou: I did not.//Leader of the Iga ninja. Hattori Shinzou-sama.
Shinzou: Oh. So you know my name?[End
4th Tale: The Sword of Karmic Redemption (3)
099
Shinzou: Why did you open the lock on Yazaki Seijuurou's sword?
Jou: I did not.
100
Shinzou: If you ask in Edo, there are only one, maybe two people with enough skill to do it./This lock is not of the kind that would open randomly.//If you didn't do it, someone else did.
Jou: Probably Yazaki-sama himself.
Shinzou: That's ridiculous. The lock comes from the Iga Shinobi. It's completely out of a novice's league.
Jou: And what if Evil grows powerful enough to open it?
Shinzou: Who the bloody hell are you?
Jou: A Doorman.
101
Shinzou: What's that?
Jou: Or Keeper of the Shadow Keys.//You're the head of the Iga, just as I thought. I've heard a lot about you.//Hattori-sama. Please tell me about the origins of that sword.
Shinzou: ...........
102
Shinzou: Yazaki used to belong to with us Iga. He was serious, but he was also a brooding sort./Some five years ago, he had a falling out with his comrades over a woman, and he disappeared. Taking the sword away with him.//Tetsusaju no Tachi is a heirloom of the Yazaki, but even the man himself doesn't know the reason why it's sealed./I'm the only one who does.//The sword was created by Yazaki's ancestor./Tradition has it it's a holy sword sent by the Heavens to cleanse Evil.
Jou: What happened, then?
Shinzou: It was incomplete.
103
Shinzou: In the hands of the inexperienced, instead of purifying Evil, it would let Evil possess them./Without someone who could handle it properly, it would make many victims.//Because of this, it was sealed shut with a shinobi lock, so it couldn't be draw ever again. No you know about the origins of the Tetsusaju no Tachi.//I heard it happened during Hattori Hanzou II's time. Though I wanted to believe such a seal was just the stuff of legends.//Evil, and the like. Whatever: That was senseless garbage to me./That's why when Yazaki made off with the sword I didn't see the point of lifting a finger.
104
Jou: You saw something, didn't you?
Shinzou: Two of my men did.//Some wanderer has been cutting up passers by recently. When I heard about his description, I thought it might be him, and I had my people look it up./.............
Jou: And they saw the dead O-Shidzu-san!
Shinzou: In the middle of my investigations./It turned outt that Seijuurou and you had met.
105
Jou: Hattori-sama./Have you noticed what Edo is like these days?//Crowds of people, mixing together. Their feelings and thought intertwining./How Evil appears through the cracks within.//As of now, Edo is an Unclean Land. [tn: In Japanese, depending on the spelling, "Edo" is either Tokyo's old name (江戸), or the buddhist notion of "Impure World" (穢土), i.e the world we live in. The author seems to enjoy his proto-philosophical puns.]
106
*swip*
Jou: I lock away the door to darkness in the hearts of those who are controlled by Evil./Then I seal it anew. As a Doorman, that's what I do.//I request that you leave the handling of things to me.
Shinzou: ..............
107
Man: Leader.*slide*
Shinzou: What is it?
Man: Yazaki Seijuurou has shown himself!
Yazaki: !//Ooh. O-Kin-dono. So that's where you were.
108
Kin: Seijuurou-san.
Yazaki: You know where O-Shidzu is?/I've been looking for her.
Kin: What are you talking about?
Yazaki: You and her get along pretty well. You must have heard something./Where is my cute little spouse?
109
Kin: You won't find here here. She has no reason to come.
Yazaki: Yes she does.//There she is./Right there in your blood.
Kin: !!*gulp*
*step*
110
*zap*
*CLANG*
111
Yazaki: Get out of my way, Jounosuke!/I need to see O-Shidzu.
Jou: Your O-Shidzu-san is haunted by Evil./She's been cut down by that sword of yours, and she can't find rest. Not with the sword possessing her.//As you kill people, O-Shidzu-san's soul gets drenched in blood, and her karma becomes more demonic in the process.
Yazaki: Shut up! Shut up, shut up! *cling* *cling*
112
*pant* *pant*
Jou: As you keep on killing, your karma sinks deeper into evil./I'm going to cleanse your souls.
*Kah*
*ominous sound*
113
*zzzzzzzz*
Yazaki: !!
114
Yazaki: Stop./Don't take o-Shidzu away from me!
[Flashback/Yazaki: O-Shidzu...//!*slip*
Shidzu: Thank God./Now I can be happy.
115
Shidzu: In the beginning, I hated it. I hated being a prostitute.
Yazaki: .........
Shidzu: I couldn't stand to look you straight in the face. But little by little, I felt better./Something inside me took control, and kept growing. I came to desire men so much I couldn't stop myself.*cough*
Yazaki: You did all that on purpose to have me kill you........./Now I see.
Shidzu: You're really looking at me, at last. I'm so happy.
116
Yazaki: !*tilt*
Yazaki: O-Shidzu![/Flashback
*ssss*
*shhhh*
117
Yazaki: I knew O-Shidzu really loved me./So why did I do this........?//Kill me!/Please kill me too!
Jou: It's isn't our job to punish the sins committed in this world.//Go to Hattori-sama. He will pass judgment upon you.
118
Yazaki: Forgive me!
Jou: !*zash*
*woooo*
119
*zzooooo*
*crackle* *fsssshhhhh*
Jou: Bloody fool.*slip*
120
*KAH*
*clip*
Kin: Now they can be together again.
121
Kin: Seijuurou-san. O-Kin-san.
*thud*
Shinzou: Who is it?
122
Message: Tetsusaju, serving its initial purpose.
*Hmph
Shinzou: Doorman, eh?[/End
123
Guard: This is the third drowned body this month.//Bloody hell. What a horrible way to kill someone. It's a messed up time, we live in.*fsshhhh*
Guard: I've brought a master with me. A master locksmith.
124-125
5th Tale: Kochou's Dream (1).
Jou: A lock is asking to be opened. Where is it?
127
Guard: Please take care of the lock on this corpse./So her remains can at least be at ease.
Jou: !//This is a European lock.
Guard: Is there something different about those barbarian locks? [tn: 南蛮 (nanban) means "barbarian" and "European" at the same time. It's an old-fashioned, derogatory term. Historically speaking, Japan wasn't well-known for its high opinion of foreigners.]
Jou: The mechanisms isn't exactly the same as in Japanese ones.
Guard: ............
128
Narrator: The next day, Asakusa Temple.
Kochou: You're not a true Edo denizen until you've watched this./Paper butterflies flying freely up, down, left and right. Just like live ones would.
129
Kochou: Watch 8 wings become 16./The show where butterflies multiply into countless numbers. Kochou's Dance of the Butterflies.[tn: "Kochou" means "butterfly". So in Japanese, it's simply "Kochou no Mai".
Man: Enough of this./Show us some more leg!
Crowd: That's right. We aren't here for some kind of stunt!
130
Kochou: Humph. Dirty lechers.
131
*sss*
*scrunch*
*puff*
*flap flap flap*
Crowd: Oooooh!
132
*clap clap clap*
Kochou: That's all for today.
Crowd: Eh?!
Kochou: Come on. Off you go.
Man: Tsk.
Kin: Finishing early, Kochou-nee-san?[tn: "Nee-san" means "big sister". In Japanese, "uncle", "big brother", "grandma", etc... are common marks of respect to someone older, and not a foolproof way of knowing if the speakers are actually related.]
133
Kochou: ... Dang it. You've got to be joking./My art is completely wasted on that bunch of assholes!
Kin: You're pretty mad, aren't you?
Kochou: No matter how many people I round up with my art, my body is the only thing they have in mind. How much it would cost to sleep with me, and the like./In their goddamn heads, that's what a roadside female artist must be about.
Kin: They do come for all the wrong reasons, but I still have a lot of customers./And among them, some people really need my powers.//If my podomancy can make some people happy, that's fine by me.
134
Kochou: O-Kin-chan, you'll understand when you are my age.//No matter how much you refine your art, it's completely useless in front of this.
Kin: ...........
135
Kochou: It's also true that refining your art is the only thing that puts some bread on the table.
*tilt*
Kochou: How about we walk around for a bit, O-Kin-chan?
Kin: Yeah. It's okay.
Man: Someone has drowned again./In front of the rice shop.//Yesterday's one was bound hands and feet./Today's one is stuffed in a box!
136
Jou: It's open.
137
*clang* *creeeaaak*
*plic* ploc*
138
Kin: Jou-san.
Kochou: Ah.//Shiragiku-san!
Guard: Someone you know?
Kochou: We knew each other from doing same job, and we've chatted a couple, maybe three times.//................//I am Kochou, the illusionist. I perform on the Asakusa temple's grounds.
139
Guard: She was into prestidigitation too.
Kochou: I do.
Guard: Anything else you might know about?
Kochou: She moved someplace else, it seems. We didn't see much of her around here...//Can I go?
Guard: Yeah. If you remember anything, report to the guard house.
Kochou: Understood.
140
Kochou: What is it you want? Why are you following me?
Jou: ............
141
Kochou: Are you in love with me?/If that's the case, I feel sorry for O-Kin-chan near you.
*zip*
142
Kochou: Because you see... Jounosuke-san, is it? O-Kin-chan won't stop talking about you.
Kin: Watch it, kochou-san.
Jou: I have no idea what O-Kin told you./My business is about that purse of yours.
Kochou: Eeeh. I thought you were a locksmith. You're into pickpocketing too?
Jou: I want to see it precisely because I'm a locksmith./Show me that European lock in your purse.
143
Kochou: So you want a closer look at it?
Jou: You substituted it discreetly while you were looking at Shiragiku-san's corpse./I didn't expect you to have a replacement lock prepared, but I can tell a Japanese lock apart from an European one with one look.
Kochou: There's no fooling a professional, it seems. I expected that much.
Jou: Why did you do this?
Kochou: Come on. Because I wanted the lock, of course.
Kin: ?
144
Kochou: I wanted to open it up and look inside./I've never seen what European locks were like.//Sorry to break it to you, but I know how to open foreign locks.
Jou: Oh, really?
Kochou: Even if you chain me and put locks upon me./I'm trained in the art of escaping them.
145
Kochou: The Aya locks, with their numerous mechanisms. The sturdy locks from Tosa. And Aki locks, as well.//I have thoroughly tested each and every Japanese lock out there.
Kin: For prestidigitation?
Kochou: What else?
146
Kochou: A woman, legs and feet bound in chains and hanged down a bridge before a crowd of spectators.
*SPLASH*
Crowd: !
Kochou: Thinking anyone would die after this.
147
Kochou: But the next second/she's standing on the bridge as if nothing happened.//How does it sound like? Exciting, isn't it?
Kin: If you could do that, it'd be so great.
Kochou: There are people overseas thinking about doing just that.
Jou: I see. A European import.
148
Kochou: Back when I was a performer in Nagasaki, I stumbled upon a Western book about prestidigitation./I couldn't read the words, but the pictures are forever burned into my eyes.
Kin: And you mean to reproduce this.
Kochou: Exactly.
Kin: If you can do it go ahead./You're gonna leave everyone awestruck.
Kochou: It's not something I can make a show out of just yet./I still value my life.
Jou: So if you did it now, you'd just end up like another one of those drowned people.
Kin: I know where you're getting at!
149
Jou: I've worked out what that strange succession of murders was about! Thanks to Kochou-san's story.../It's a Western prestidigitation trick.
Kochou: And it's a fairly bad performance, at that.
Kin: ..............
150
Gouemon: .............//Har har har (creepy chuckle)[/End
151
6th Tale: Kochou's Dream (2).
Jou: I've worked out what that strange succession of murders was about! Thanks to Kochou-san's story.../It's a Western prestidigitation trick.
Kochou: And a fairly bad performance, at that.
152
Jou: So this is the work of a amateur.
Kochou: So the criminal is some kind of idiot who chanced upon some Western prestidigitation apparatus, and he's doing it just for the fun of it.//But I've got to say, that's a pretty shoddy way of dying.
Jou: ?!
153
Kochou: Shiragiku-san isn't the only one. All of his kills until now were prestidigitator.
Jou: !
Kochou: In the same position, I would have escaped long ago.//No one is to blame for an artist who dies because of her own incompetence./It's her own damn fault.
154
Kochou:You must feel the same, don't you?
Jou: ...........
Kochou: If you have any pride about your work, you must see where I'm coming from.
Jou: Feats and deeds are one same thing. [tn: :facepalmAnother weird-ass pun, this time with the word "waza".]
Kochou: Come again?
155
Jou: If you cling overmuch to feats, this will become another deed added to your karma. Once you are completely shackled, you become unable to see what's around you.
Kochou: ..........//You're getting on my nerves, locksmith./What's after the sermon? Are you going to disguise yourself as a priest?
Jou: That's not the point./I am just issuing a warning to myself.//!
Kochou: To the best locksmith in Edo. Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar./I'll let you figure out the ins and outs of it for me.
156
Kochou: Where can I find you?
Jou: The Temple of the Locks.
Kochou: Jounosuke of the Temple of Locks.../And working with locks. Somehow, that's hard to believe.//But you've piqued my interest./A bit sulky, but you're a fine-looking man.//I'll show up in a couple, maybe three days.
**slip*
157
Kochou: When I do, you'll get finger divination, from a prestidigitator./I have plenty of things to teach you.
Kin: What are you doing, Kochou-nee-san!
Kochou: Oops. I smell jealousy.
Kin: I'm not jealous.
Kochou: Don't worry. It was just a little bit of flirting.
Kin: That makes it even worse.
Kochou: It was just a joke. A joke. Just wanted to poke fun at him for all those annoying things he said, with that affected air of his.
158
Kochou: Well, I'll let you take care of that lock.
Jou: She's one piece of work.
Kin: It'sa good thing, though.
Jou: Eh?
Kin: There was nothing outside of art for Kochou-nee-san./But she's got a great dream.
Jou: A dream, eh........../Might be a good thing if it came true.
159
Kochou: ... Damn it. Where the heck does that come from? What a pain.//!//What the...
160
Kochou: What's that kind of stuff here for?
*grab*
Kochou: !!
*slam*
Gouemon: *Har har har*
161
Kin: Jou-san./I've found something.//I thought there might be none of the dead woman's regrets left.
Jou: Good job, O-Kin.//!
162
Jou: I know this pattern.
163
Kochou: .........
Gouemon: I see you've come to, Kochou-san the illusionist.//You're a skilled one, aren't you./*chuckle*
Kochou: !/Where am I?!
164-165
Gouemon: Interesting don't you think?
166
Gouemon: About half a year ago, an English shipwreck was found. I've bribed some government officials so I could get it for myself.//It was full of treasures.
Kochou: It's you. You've been committing those murders.
Gouemon: ............
Kochou: These are prestidigitation implements. Not tools of murder.
Gouemon: I see you are well-informed./Those are indeed prestidigitation tools.
167
Kochou: .............
Gouemon: And that's why I had a female illusionist try them./First I paid her, then gave her full instructions.//But she died as soon as I sawed her in half./The next woman I stuffed into a box and sank into the sea, but she didn't make it back to the surface.//It wouldn't work as in the pictures./They all died. Worthless prestidigitators, all of them.//But I came to enjoy this more and more.//I enjoy watching women as they die.
168
*blob blob* *fshhhh* *fshhh*
Gouemon: Something's been boiling up inside of me.//!/Hoho...*swip*
169
*chink*
Gouemon: Whenever I tie up a woman with this, her face contorts with fear.//When I have them bite into this, it strangles twisted screams out of them.//Har har har.//I had no idea women's fear was so fascinating.
Kochou: Monster. You've got to be joking.
*chink chink*
Kochou: Those manacles!/......./They won't come off!
170
Kochou: Why?!/After all the practice I've done.
*swoosh*
*thump*
Kochou: Agh.//Gasp.
171
Gouemon: Hurr./What a pretty voice. I just can't get enough.//It's about time I had you put that nice voice to some more use./I'm wondering: if I throw you into the river, will you be good enough to surface back?
Kochou: Don't take me lightly./I'm nothing like those other illusionists.
Gouemon: Good./That means I didn't waste my time picking you.//This time, I want you to escape./Do your job properly, and answer my expectations.
172
Gouemon: Someone come!/We're taking her to the ship!//.............//What are you doing? Come immediately, won't you?
*dump dump dump*
Gouemon: !!
173
*SLAM*
*thud*
Gouemon: What is it? What's going on?/Hey?!
Jou: Call out all you like. No one is coming.*slip*
Gouemon: !
174
*frush*
Jou: Toyosuya Gouemon-san./I'm going to slide shut your door to Evil.[/End
176
7th Tale: Kochou's Dream (3).
177
Jou: Toyosuya Gouemon-san./I'm going to slide shut your door to Evil.
178
Jou&Kin: !!
Kochou: O-Kin!
Kin: Kochou-nee-san!
179
Kochou: .............
Kin: I can't believe it. Even you.../I'll come save you right away.
*swip*
Kochou: Stay where you are!*swish* *swish*
180
Kin: Eh?//What are you talking about?*swish*
Kochou: Enough. Don't come any closer!
Kin: Kochou-nee-san?
Kochou: I am pathetic./Don't look at me! [tn: Now ain't the time for a display of misplaced pride, dear.]
181
Kin: We had no idea you'd be targeted too./If we had, we wouldn't have sent you back on your own.
Kochou: Stay awaaaaay.
182
Gouemon: This magician girl was about to perform the greatest prestidigitation trick in her life./She'd be escaping her shackles from underwater. Something in which no one in Edo has ever succeeded./And you come ruin it all at the most critical moment!//Who the hell are you?!
Jou: The Doorman.
183
Gouemon: ?
Kochou: Doorman?
Kin: When the darkness in people's heart is out in the open, they become possessed by Evil./The act of sealing that Evil into a Lock is called a Dooring.//And that's Jou-san's undercover job.
184
Kochou: He's not a simple locksmith?*tilt*
Kin: Gouemon, the man who kidnapped you, is not a human being, but a demon./He is haunted by Evil.
Kochou: ...........
Gouemon: Me, a demon?!
Jou: Yeah. That's right.//There is a world, apart from the human realm, where demons lurk.
185
Jou: Since times ancient, this place has been know as Hell, or the Demon Realm./Demons look out for opportunities to make their way into our dimension.//Evil shows up through the weakest spots they can find in our realm.//When someone lets his greed take the best of him and lose control over his own heart, they open the door to that person's heart and appear into our world.
Gouemon: ............
Jou: Gouemon-san. You are being controlled by Evil.
186
Gouemon: I see. I hear you loud and clear./I've been wondering why I felt reborn, and where my newfound strength came from.//A pretty boy like you crying out should be rather entertaining, too./Let's all have some fun tonight, shall we?
187
*whud*
Kin: !!
Jou: Ugh.
*grip*
Gouemon: Hohoho.
Kochou: So that's the power of Evil!!
188
*WHACK*
*BASH*
Kin: Jou-san!!
*swip*
*teeter*
189
Jou: That power of yours that makes light of people's lives, I shall seal away.
*KAH*
Gouemon: Hic
*zzzzzzzz*
190
Jou: You have nowhere left to run.
Gouemon: ..........
*zzzzz*
Gouemon: Wait./Spare me.//What wrong have I ever done?/I was just having prestidigitators do magic tricks.//If they're dead, they can only blame ther own weakness.
191
[Flashback]Kochou: That's a pretty shoddy way of dying.
Kin: Eh?
Kochou: In the same position, I would have escaped long ago.[/Flashback]
*clink clink*
*clink clink*
Kochou: I'm different./I am.//My skill a whole league above that of the others!
192
Gouemon: I'll give you if you want./And not just the money. You can have my Western treasures too.//There shipwreck still has lots of its cargo left./You can also have as much of it as you want.
Kochou: !/More... more cargo.//.......//If only I had that many tools and the power to escape them./My dream would come true.
193
Kochou: Power!/I don't care if it come from Evil.//If I'd had that kind of power, I wouldn't have ended up in such an unsightly situation.//And those handcuffs wouldn't....//GIVE ME POWER!!
194
Kochou: ...........
Jou: !!
195
Jou: This is bad!/The Demon realm has opened!!
*VLAM*
Kin: Aaargh.
196
Kochou: Aaauugh.
Kin: Kochou-nee-san!
Kochou: ...........
Jou: O-Kin, stop!/Stay away from Kochou!
*clang*
197
*zzzzz*
Kin: Kochou-nee-san. I can't believe it.
Kochou: I'm sorry, O-Kin-chan./Evil got the better of me.
198-199
Kin: ?!//NOOOOO.
200
*whud*
Kochou: Jounosuke./Dispel the seal on Gouemon immediately.//Otherwise, I will break O-Kin's white little neck.
Jou: ........[/End.
201
Kin: I'm sorry, Jou-san. It's all because of my mistake.
Jou: It isn't your fault./Who would've thought Kochou would fall under Evil's grasp?
202-203
8th Tale: Kochou's Dream.
204
Kochou: Don't take this the wrong way.//Master, here, is precious to me. I couldn't just sit back and watch you seal him away.
Jou: What the hell is going through your head?
Kochou: Isn't it obvious?/He is the sponsor who will help me fulfill my dream.
205
Jou: Oil?
Kochou: We're going to set this ship on fire.//If you want to survive, you have no choice outside escaping your shackles and get away before it gets engulfed in flames./What do you think? A good show, isn't it?
206
Kin: You can't.
Kochou: Ah, yes. You're new to prestidigitation, O-Kin-chan.
*kachink*
Kochou: I'll do you a favor. Here's a tip.
*squirm*
207
*ckink*
Kochou: So? Easy, don't you think?
Kin: Nee-san.
Kochou: Why are you looking at me like that?!*whack*
Kin: Agh.*slip*
208
Kochou: My body is just the way I want it./I am the only one in the world who can do this.
Jou: So this is the result of your deeds, Kochou-san.
Kochou: Hum?//Give it all you've got. Even if I doubt you'll fare much better than me./Woops.//I almost forgot.*frush frush*
209
Kochou: !
*swip*
Kochou: I didn't expect any less from you, Jounosuke-san./Putting a needle here of all places.//A locksmith dies because he couldn't open a lock./This is quite fitting.
210
*creaaak*
*thud*
*grrrr*
211
*crack crack crack*
Jou: O-Kin. Come near me. I'm going to undo your ties.
Kin: Eh? Undo them?
*flip*
Jou: I've prepared a wire and put it under my nail.
*clink*
212
Kin: Tell me how to do it. I'll take care of your ties.
Jou: It's undoable for a novice. Now go.
Kin: But./There's not time to waste. Go to the Temple of Locks and wait.*tilt*
*DAH*
*snap*
Jou: Crap!
213
*grrr*
Kochou: An easy trick, but not something a human can do./..........
214
Narrator: Gouemon Residence.
Gouemon: Who cares about all of this?
Kochou: I may be controlled by evil, but I'm a magician. It's only normal for me to take care of my apparatus.
*glomp*
Kochou: Anh.//Oh, God. Master, what an impatient man you make.
215
Kochou: Go way in the bedroom. I'll join you later.
Gouemon: Make it fast.
*slam*
216
*KAH*
Kochou: !//Master?/.........//?
217
Kochou: Master, where are you?/Stop fooling around with me. Show yourself.//!//What's this?!
218
Jou: This is Gouemon, behind a seal.*swip*
Kochou: Jounosuke!!//Impossible. How did you manage to escape?
219
*FFFRRRRRR*
*THUMP*
Jou: (Finally. There it is.)
220
*kachink*
*ssshhhh*
*chink chink*
221
Kochou: No one could escape those shackles!/How could a human like you do it?!
Jou: Feats and deeds are one same thing. Didn't I tell you so?/You've been clinging too much feats, and you're mistaken about what people can do and what they can't.//Such are your deeds.
Kochou: A mere human like you. I won't allow it!
222
*KAH*
*PASH*
Jou: This is the end for you, Kochou. I'm going to seal you away.
223
Kochou: Let's see you try. I will escape this lock./I will escape that lock of your without fail.//This is gonna be my greatest stunt ever!
Jou: Kochou./There's no trick in there.
224
Jou: This isn't some kind of mechanism you can escape from.
*splash*
Kin: Feats and deeds are one same thing./When did this madness get to you, I wonder.[/End
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