Mangahelpers Translationshttps://mangahelpers.com/translators/rss2010-04-20T06:21:05+00:00/favicon.icoMangaHelpers Adminsadmin@mangahelpers.comhttps://mangahelpers.com/t/gottheim/releases/21752[English] [Translation] Yamikagishi Volume 4 by Gottheim2010-04-20T06:21:05+00:00Gottheimadmin@mangahelpers.comLast volume for that series too. See a pattern, here? You can download it here, along with the three previous volumes. Enjoy! ----------------- 006 Yamikagishi {4} Table of Contents
25th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (12)..............7 26th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (13)..............31 27th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (14)..............55 28th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (15)..............79 29th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (16)..............103 30th Tale: The Fortune Stealer (1)................131 31st Tale: The Fortune Stealer (2)................155 32nd Tale: The Fortune Stealer (3)................179 33rd Tale: The Fortune Stealer (4)................203 34th Tale: The Fortune Stealer (5)................227
007 25th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (12).
008 Ukiha: ........ Am I still alive? Hellboy Tetsu: Yeah./That was totally reckless, you know that? Ukiha: What about Gahoumaru?/Have I been able to avenge Jirouta-sama properly? Tetsu: I don't know./He was nowhere to be seen after the explosion. Ukiha: Even my bombshells didn't suffice... I feel so powerless.
009 Tetsu: No. Not at all./You did well. Jou: Exactly./I owe you my life. Ukiha: ..........//What of Isshin-sama? Shinzou: The Satsuma have also cleared the place.
010 Shinzou: They probably didn't expect you to be still alive. Ukiha: As long as they're unharmed...
011 Shinzou: It must have been a shock. You've just found out what a monstrous beast your leader was. Ukiha: I have no regrets.//If only I hadn't lost my mem........*COUGH* *cough cough cough* Tetsu: Enough. Don't you say anything more! Ukiha: ........./Thank you, Tetsujuu. Tetsu: Eh?
012 Ukiha: When I was washed ashore, you unquestioningly came to my rescue...... I never thanked you properly for that. Tetsu: I don't even know what your name is, at that. *chuckle* Ukiha: True. I still haven't told you./It's Ukiha./Spelled like a feather that's rising.[tn: The Kanji for Ukiha mean respectively "float/rise" 浮 (uki) and "feather" 羽 (ha).] Tetsu: I see./The name was tailor-made for you.
013 Ukiha: Uh!/That string......... Flashback!Ukiha: Now there should be nothing to worry about. Flashback!Tetsu: Because of that string?
014 Flashback!Ukiha: I've created a barrier. Ukiha: I'm happy you brought it with you. Tetsu: Ye... Yeah. Ukiha: ........../Just as I thought. Tetsu: ?
015 Ukiha: Your hands are so warm.........
016 *drop* Tetsu: !!//Ukiha?/Ukiha![tn: Boo-hoo!]
018 *thud* Tetsu: Damn it./If only I'd been forging my Evil-Sealing Locks more carefully!!
019 Jou: Tetsujuu. Save the mourning for later./We're going to need your help if we are to seal Gahoumaru. Shinzou: So he's really alive? Even after that blast? Jou: The demons who appear into our world cannot be killed by mundane weaponry./There's no choice but to purify them through sealing. Shinzou: But it's not like your Evil-Sealing Lock has been any more successful.
020 Jou: We must do something about it nonetheless. Shinzou: Because it's your job to protect the Tokugawa society, yes? Jou: Not quite. Shinzou: ?!
021 Jou: It has nothing to do with Tokugawa or Satsuma./My only wish is to protect the people who live here in this world.
022 Tetsu: ..........//Head of the Iga clan. I'm going to have to borrow your forges.
023 Shinzou: They're at your disposal./Lock Kanji./I'll be taking my leave./I have a job to do. Jou: I'm counting on you, Tetsujuu. Tetsu: Lead the way. Gahou: .........
024 Isshin: Let those who can move keep watch in turn./Alright. Don't let your guards down at any price until we've reached Satsuma!
025 Ninja: ?
026 Ninjas: Hiiiic.//........./What is that thing? Isshin: What is it? Why the commotion? Ninja: Isshin-sama, look at that! Isshin: !!
027 Isshin: Gahoumaru?! Gahou: Isshin, where are you going?[tn: Special font required.] Isshin: So you were alive, after all?! Gahou: I said where are you going?!!
028 Isshin: The Iga have found out about our plans. We have no more reason to stay in Edo./We need to make new preparations and reassess our plans if we are to infiltrate the Edo castle. Gahou: I can't remember authorising any of this. Isshin: We no longer consider an aberration like yourself our leader. Gahou: Don't be ridiculous./Shinobi are pariahs and abominations.[tn: In ancient Japan, because of religious taboo and the rigid social hierarchy established by the Tokugawa government, those whose occupations entailed the handling of corpses or animal carcasses (executioners, undertakers, etc...) and most other "unsavory" professions (entertainers, prostitutes, etc...) as a whole were deemed unclean. They were effectively outcasts, deemed "below human" in status.]//Possessing power beyond that of humanity./Is it not the very destination we are all trying to reach? Isshin: Is that the reason why you fell into such deviancy? Gahou: Deviancy? Are you talking about me?!
029 Isshin: Isn't the fact that you still live in that state proof enough of your heresy? Gahou: Aaah. I presume you're talking about the rest of my body?/Then you need not worry.//It's right there, behind yourself and the rest of the dogs. Ninjas: !!
030 *RHHAARRRHHH* Gahou: If you won't heed my word, I have no more need for you./I might as well let you become my food.
031 Flashback!Shinzou: It must have been a shock. You've just found out what a monstrous beast your leader was. Flashback!Ukiha: I have no regrets.//If only I hadn't lost my mem........*COUGH*[/end
032 Tetsu: Ukiha! 26th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (13).
033 Tetsu: I shall dispel your regrets myself.
035 *RHHAAAARHHH* Ninjas: Aaaaargh.
036 Isshin: .........//Curse you, Gahoumaru!/Is this the way you devoured my brother Jirouta as well?! Gahou: ......... Jirouta? Yes. He was a delicacy. Isshin: Damn yooouu!
037 Isshin: !!
038 Isshin: Le/Let me go! Gahou: Isshin. You are a shinobi, and you are powerful./You should be an even tastier morsel than Jirouta ever was. Isshin: You accursed monstrosity!/You have deceived us, with promises of toppling the Tokugawa!
039 Gahou: Be at ease./I mean to go there. Isshin: ? Gahou: I'll go, and I will feast upon the Shogun's flesh and blood./It shall be a trifle for someone like me.
040 Gahou: ..........
041 Gahou: ....... Well well well. Time to go.
043 Narrator: Temple of the Locks. Kin: ...... That again.//How strange.//Jou-san!
044 Jou: How did it go, O-Kin?/Have you been able to determine Gahoumaru's whereabouts? Kin: It's extremely bizarre. I thought I'd wait for you to come back. Jou: What do you mean? Kin: The result is the same no matter how any times I try my divination. I get the Temple of the Locks every single time.
045 Kin: Even if we assume he's in hiding somewhere, it would be very strange for him to be here./Because I doubt Gahoumaru even knows about this place.//Am I doing something wrong? Jou: ......... Kin: There's an enormous demon running about town, and I can't even divine where it is./I can't seem to locate Gahoumaru with my podomancy. Jou: It might be because he's a shinobi./His spiritual training allows him to keep his evil powers under control. Kin: So even if I tried now Jou: No. It's unlikely to work any better.
046 Jou: Ever since he's come to Edo, Gahoumaru's evil powers have been strengthening beyond his control. Probably because of the corrupt, consuming power that nests within this town. Kin: Edo is a "Land Unclean"........[tn: In Japanese, "Edo ha Edo" (江戸は穢土), with the second "Edo" referring to the Buddhist notion of "Impure World".] Jou: And that's why we have to protect the people who live here in it.
047 Jou: Here's a fragment of the Lock I couldn't seal him with./Use it and try your divination again. Kin: ..........
048 Kin: ......... Jou: !! Kin: Why?!
049 Jou: Watch out, O-Kin./There's no problem with your divination!//He's making his way here!//Where?//Where is he?!!
050-051 Kin: Jou-san. Over there!/Is that Gahoumaru?!
052 Gahou: Oooh. She's a diviner? You people have a large array of fascinating powers at your disposal. Jou: How did you find out about this place?
053 Eye: *squick* Kin: Hic Eye: *squiiirrrm...*
054 Gahou: I have a score to settle with your before I proceed to the Edo castle. Jou: O-Kin. Get inside![/end
055 27th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (14). Gahou: I have a score to settle with your before I proceed to the Edo castle.
056 Jou: The Edo castle?/But the Satsuma shinobi are no longer following you. Gahou: HAHAHAHAHA.//You are perfectly right./They are no more. Jou: ! Gahou: By now, they have already become my own flesh and blood. Jou: You wretch!
057 Gahou: Really. I've been proceeding in such a roundabout manner. Using them to get a key to Daimaru, and so forth./I have no more need for these petty tricks. I should have made my way there all alone, from the beginning. Jou: You still don't understand? Gahou: ? Jou: You did it because something still remained of your humanity./As a shinobi, fulfilling your mission was more important to you than anything else.//But things are different now.//You are a demon. Nothing more.
058 Jou: Driven only by your craving for human flesh and blood.//Now you've devolved into a wretched, pathetic creature.
059 Gahou: Wretched? Pathetic?//Hah
060 Kin: !
061 Gahou: I fail to see anything pathetic about that power. Jou: ........//What have you just thought about?
062 Gahou: .......... Jou: I'll tell you what. You wanted to sup on that blood. Gahou: So what of it?
063 Jou: That's what makes you pathetic![tn: Let's see: remember all the previous notes about flesh and blood? The ancient Japanese not eating meat because of its ritual impurity? Now we have Gahoumaru, a cannibalistic monster. You do the math.]
064 Gahou: I've lost count of all the impertinent remarks you've made today./What are you plotting? Jou: ......... Gahou: Huhuhu. No matter. Jou: O-Kin, what are you doing? Get inside. Quick!
065 Gahou: Stay where you are!
067 Gahou: You won't escape me, Locksmith! Jou: !
068-069 Gahou: That's as far as you'll go!
070 Gahou: Die.
071 Gahou: Pah. Jou: You're still bleeding red, it seems.
072 Gahou: Bollocks! Jou: Argh.
074 Jou: !! Gahou: Poor fool./How naive!
077 Jou: !//Urgh.
078 Gahou: Your powers and strength are mine to feast upon.[/end
079 Gahou: RAAAAAAH
080 Jou: ?! Gahou: Auugh.//What was that?!
081 Kin: Surprised? My accessories are coated in the same metal as the Evil-Sealing Locks. 28th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (15).
082 Kin: Jou-san. I'm going to save you. Jou: Stay away, O-Kin./Don't worry about me! Gahou: Pestiferous woman.*bubble bubble*
084 Jou: !/O-Kin. Run away!
085 Kin: This endearing form will not get you any amount of clemency.
088 Kin: !//You have to be joking./I'll never see the end of this.
102 Hubby&Wifey: ! Tetsu: He's shown his ugly face already./I'm a bit behind schedule.[/end
103 Gahou: RHHHAAAAAARHH!! 29th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (16).
104 Jou: O-Kin! Gahou: Jounosuke!/You are also to become a portion of myself!
106 Jou: What is this?!!
107 Tetsu: Here is the Holy Bolt you've ordered, good sir. Jou: Tetsujuu. Tetsu: A good man always comes to the rescue in good time.//Here you are, Jounosuke. It's finished!
109 Gahou: !//Whatever you're planning, it's pointless./No one can stop me! Jou: Have you forgotten? That simple lock is enough to impede your movements./Albeit for a very short time.
110 Jou: Now, Tetsujuu! Tetsu: You got it.
111 Tetsu: YAAAARGH.
113 Jou: O-Kin! Kin: !
115 Jou: Gahoumaru. This time for sure, I'm going to shut you away.
116 Gahou: I think I'm not the only one with a lapsing memory./I can't be sealed into a lock like that![tn: Special font returns!] Tetsu: Lock Kanji. We're good! Jou: Demons destroy and consume the door that is the human heart to manifest into our world./The act of fastening anew the lock upon that door and sealing it away is called a Dooring.
117 Jou: If the lock is not enough./Then we close the gate.//Tetsujuu's special, Demon-Sealing Holy Bolt./That's what we'll to seal you with!
118 Gahou: Aaargh. Jou: There's no escaping from this Door, even for someone like you.
119 Gahou: Aaagh. Kin: Jou-san!
120 Gahou: So that's why you've lured me all the way here! Jou: ............ Gahou: Stop this right away, if you value your life! Jou: It doesn't work that way./We're willing to lay down our lives for this.
121 Gahou: UUGH./No. It can't end like this.
124 Jou: Bolt the door. Tetsu: I'm on it!//............
125 Kin: What a carefree lot, really./A real festival.//We've been through so much trouble./And there's probably no chance those rubbernecks will ever find out about it. Jou: That's what protecting Edo's people from demons is about.
126 Kin: Oh, well. I guess you're right, but still... Tetsu-san, I'm sure you can see where I come from. Tetsu: Ukiha!//.......... Kin: Tetsu-san. I'm talking to you. Tetsu: Uh... Erm, well.
127 Tetsu: ........ Can't be her./How stupid can I be? People: ......... *ROOOOOOAAAAR* People: Oooh. Monks: Again./It's wailing again!
128 People: The gate is wailing./.........[/end
131 *slip* Kin: Ow.*sharp pain* Kin: ..........
132-133 30th Tale: The Fortune Stealer (1).
134 Oroku: .........
135 Oroku: No good./Even if I ascribe these wounds to erotic games, there's still something strange about them. Kin: !/Oroku-san.
136 Oroku: From what I hear there's been a huge commotion this time. The enemy must have been quite formidable, for you to be injured like that. Kin: Gahoumaru, from the Satsuma Shinobi. We'd never seen the likes of him before.//Jou-san's been able to seal him away, though. Oroku: Oh my, oh my. You do sound fond of him. Kin: Of course not. Oroku: What? Still the same old one-sided love affair? Kin: Just leave me alone!
137 Oroku: Jounosuke is a man of intense feelings./He's merely locking these emotions away.//Oh, my. I've just said something pretty good./Huhuhu.../.........//For these wounds of yours... If you don't want them to leave scars, you should grind some medicinal herbs into a compress.[tn: The text actually says "mangorasou" (萬護裸草), which is clearly meant to be a plant of sorts, but I've been unable to find out which one exactly.] //Hehehe./Take good care of your skin, lest you regret it come the critical moment.
138 Kin: Being advanced in age is a good thing. You can just say whatever you please. Oroku: I've been alive for too long. That's about the only distraction I have. Kin: *snort* Oroku: *Hyahaha* Kin: chuckle* Oroku: Enjoy yourself now while you can, and as much as you can.
139 Oroku: The foul things are growing in power. The current situation is favorable to them. Kin: Really? Oroku: What do your divination skills have to say about it, O-Kin? Kin: ........... Signboard: Tenshindou.
140 Jou: I thought you weren't there. You were out bathing? Oroku: Have you been waiting for me? Sorry about that, Jounosuke. Jou: It's nothing./I don't see you sparkling clean, fresh out the bath all that often.
141 Oroku: Humph.//There's nothing amusing at all about cracking jokes with a sullen face like yours.
142 Book: Arcane Formula of Bolting. Kimon Suppression Battle Array.[tn: Kimon (lit. the Ogre's Gate) is another name for Northeast, which is considered an unlucky direction.] Jou: I'm giving this back. Oroku: A huge demonic face has appeared on the doors of the Asakusa Temple, yes? Borrowing that old book did yield some results, it seems. Jou: It saved my live.
143 Oroku: To think I'd get to see such a large-scale technique these days.//That'd be one of the perks of longevity.
144 Oroku: It's dark, down there. Be careful.//Put it at the end of the second row. That's the shelf for Arcane Bolting Formulas./Remember it. This is a crystallisation of the Demon Sealers past's wisdom and knowledge.
145 Jou: I'd rather not use it too much if I can avoid it, though.//! Oroku: Oh my. This brings back memories. Jou: You even took in that picture? Oroku: I guess I did.//The Doormen have to leave a record of their works behind them. That's another part of our job.
146 Oroku: This picture dates back to when O-Kin and yourself met for the first time. Jou: Yeah.//........
147 Narrator: Edo. Two years prior. Kin: Good. One more to go. Blob: Give it back.........[tn: Special font, please.] Kin: ?
148 Blob: Return it to me. Kin: ....... No way?!
149 Blob: It is mine./Hand it over! Kin: Don't be silly!/I'd never steal anything from monstrosity like you!//Aaaaaaaah.
150 Blob: Give it back. Fail to comply, and your life is forfeit. Kin: What are you talking about!
151 Blob: Not this. Kin: !!
152 Jou: Get away!!
153 Jou: The girl must have dropped this.//.............
154 Dude: Thief!/We have a thief! Jou: That'd be the girl..........//Why did she even bother to take this picture?[/end
155 Fella: Yaaaaawn. Weather's nice.//Uh?
156 Fella: OOOOOOOH.//Thank you! Headband: There's one in my house too. Scarf: Yeah./I found one in mine as well!
157 People: The Fortune Boy! Kicchou Kozou has showed up!![tn: Kicchou Kozou=Fortune Boy. Small children often made the best thieves, because of their agility. Therefore, "Kozou" (boy/kid) was a common nickname for burglars in Ancient Japan. The most famous of them, Nezumi Kozou (Rat Kid) is more or less the Japanese equivalent of Robin Hood.] 31st Tale: The Fortune Stealer (2).
158 People: Thank you. Thank you!/A million thanks to you, Kicchou Kozou. Kin: .......... Crier: There we are. The Fortune Boy strikes again!/Wrapping koban coins into a paper with a Fortune character stamped on it, and throwing them into the houses of the poor. A noble, chivalrous thief. A real rarity, these days![tn: Koban=oval gold coin.]
159 Crier: After House Sakai, he hit the Enshuu's lumber wholesale store./Come on. Ask for your copy. Woman: If only Kicchou Kozou could drop a koban by my house as well. I wouldn't mind. Woman: Look who's talking. I bet you already got yourself a huge money stash. Jou: .........
160 Jou: Coming in. Oroku: Really now. Always the same Noh mask of a face./You should try watching some erotic pictures every once in a while. Content yourself some.[tn: Noh is Japanese theater. The actors usually wore relatively scary-looking masks. Look it up] Jou: There's something I'd like you to see, today. Oroku: ... Gosh.
161 Oroku: ..........//You took a rather huge leap past the average titillating stuff.//Where on Earth did you find something like this? Jou: That's why I'm here, actually.//Certainly you'll be able to tell me whoever made that picture. Oroku: Jounosuke. Do you have any idea of this things's significance? Jou: Significance?
162 Oroku: This isn't just any scene of cruelty./The artist was there when it happened.//The point of it is to slake the appetites of deranged men. Jou: Any idea where I can find that painter? Oroku: That goes without saying.
163 Oroku: Even in a town like Edo, it's not hard to count how many people would undertake that kind of job.
164 Fuusai: Don't close your eyes!
165 Fuusai: Yes. Good.
166 Fuusai: ..........
167 Fuusai: Wrong!//........./No. That's not it.//True darkness is not like that! Woman: .........
168 Jou: Excuse me. Does Tsukioka-sensei live here?//.........[tn: Sensei is the proper honorific for teachers, but also artists, doctors, and most highly qualified professions.]
169 Jou: Are you the artist, Tsukioka Fuusai-sensei?
170 Fuusai: ........
171 Jou: Tsukioka-sensei.//Do you remember that picture at all? Fuusai: ........... Jou: You're the one who painted it, aren't you? Fuusai: ........ It's a boring picture.
172 Jou: When did you paint it? Where? Fuusai: I can't remember. Jou: Someone asked you to portray this woman as she was getting killed.//Who would that be?
173 Fuusai: Whoever they are, I don't care!/Ultimately, it's a boring picture.//It's bogus, even if it does portray somebody's death!/This isn't what I'm looking for.//True, genuine darkness!!/That's what I wanna paint, you hear me! Jou: Hmph.
174-175 Jou: The true darkness of this world cannot be conveyed into a picture. Fuusai: What! Jou: People aren't meant to touch such a thing.//If you keep this up, you'll end up devoured by it. Grandmaster.
176 Fuusai: Let me have a better look..... Let me look again. Jou: ?! Fuusai: Your eyes./You have such great eyes.//I've never seen such a tenebrous look before./The colour of the shadows you hold within.//What have you been doing to have them grow so thick in darkness? Jou: ..........
177 Fuusai: Stay still!/Alright. Don't move a muscle!//I'm gonna paint that darkness of yours! Jou: Hold it.//Please let me know./Who asked for this picture?!
178 Fuusai: Let me paint you, for starters. Then, I'll tell you whatever you want to know. Jou: You talk first. Once we're done, you can do whatever you please.[/end
179 Kin: ........//!
180 Kin: Him! 32nd Tale: The Fortune Stealer (3). Sign: Coleseed Wholesale Store Azumaya.
181 Jou: Excuse me./..........
182 Ichizou: Hey. Wait a minute.//You look preoccupied. If you're here for order-taking, go to the back of the store. Jou: Is the owner there? Ichizou: If you have business here, ask me. Jou: I was wondering if you wouldn't be needing a new locksmith. Ichizou: You wanna harass people into buying your goods in front of our store? And that's a low opinion of Azumaya, you have there. Jou: I've heard there'd been trouble with some Kicchou Kozou, whatever his name is. Ichizou: We can close our doors just fine, and there are young people here. This isn't the kind of store that's gonna be bothered by one sneak-thief or two.//Just go back to wherever you came from.
183 Jou: Are you sure?/Houses Yamato, Sakai and Enshuu have been hit. Azuma is likely to come next. Ichizou: ?!/What makes you think that? ............. Azuma: Ichizou, take him inside. Ichizou: But master.
185 Azuma: ........ Jounosuke-san, is it? I heard the recent rumors about a skilled locksmith, but I never thought you'd go as far as involving yourself into such shady affairs as these burglaries. Jou: That's the kind of notorious jobs it takes to make a name for oneself. Azuma: Well well well.//It's not out of place for one in his young days to mistakenly assume recklessness to be part of his profession. Jou: My apologies. Azuma: ........... So. After Enshuu, we're next. That's it? Jou: It's a locksmith's intuition.
186 Azuma: I'll thank you to refrain from such nonsense. Jou: Actually a certain person told me about you. Azuma: Oh yes? Who? Jou: Tsukioka Fuusai-sama, the artist. Azuma: ......... Well, I don't know that name.
187 Jou: And it's not out of place for one advanced in age to mistakenly assume that speaking in riddles is a form of finesse. Azuma: Never mind.//How about you let me have a look at those famous skills of yours? Come again tomorrow. I'll have you fix the lock on my storehouse. Jou: Thank you very much. Ichizou: ........
188 Jou: ! Kin: Crap.
189 Kin: .........*pant pant* Kin: Damn it. He's been able to lose someone like me. Jou: So it was you. Here's a surprise.//Are you here to thank me for last night?
190 Kin: Oh. You remember me? I'm glad to hear it.//Talking about memories, there's one more thing./Can you remember picking up anything yesterday? Jou: You mean this picture? Kin: That's the one.
191 Kin: It's mine! Jou: .......... Kin: This should be more than enough. For the picture, and to thank you for last night./Now give it back. Jou: Kicchou Kozou-san does live up to her name./You are profusely generous to the poor.
192 Kin: You've figured it out?/There's a quick answer to that, then. Jou: You're no ordinary thief./What are you stealing for? Kin: ...........
193 Jou: What does this picture have to do with the whole thing?/Do you have a relative portrayed on it?/Quit grumbling about this and that. Just return my picture./Or else I'm gonna hurt you. And then some. Jou: Pft. Kin: What's so funny? Jou: I guess you're trying to loom over me, making yourself as threatening as you can but it seems so uncharacteristic from you. Kin: Shut up!
194 Kin: You were waiting for your cronies? Well, you did seem strangely confident. Jou: ...........
195 Ichizou: Go! Dude: Raaah.
198 Jou: These are no backup of mine./They've come from Azumaya to make sure I keep my mouth shut.//Don't you agree?/Ichizou-san. Ichizou: ........
199 Kin: What exactly have you been doing at Azumaya's? Jou: Nothing. I merely went there to talk business.//One thing is quite plain, right now./The enemy is even more dangerous than you expected.//If you're on some kind of clumsy endeavor to exact revenge, I suggest you stop it. Kin: Why should I?! Ichizou: Quit twiddling your thumbs./Kill off those two and end this already.
201 Jou: Destiny works in strange ways. Kin: Do you think now is the time? What is it?! Jou: I get to tell the same line to the same person two days in a row. Kin: ?
202 Jou: "Get away!" Kin: Hmph./Don't count on me to thank you.[/end
203 33rd Tale: The Fortune Stealer (4). Ichizou: This is the last one. It's all there.
204 Ichizou: Carry in inside, as usual. Dude: Yes sir. Azuma: Ichizou. Ichizou: Yes master. Azuma: Be sure to close the doors properly./I'm concerned about what the locksmith said.
205 Ichizou: You don't have to worry. We've been taking measures to deal with the situation. Azuma: Oh yes? Like what? Ichizou: Yamato, Sakai, Enshuu. The Fortune Boy has been using the same methods for all of them./Making his way in from the roof, because it's difficult to guard such a place.//We've built a watch post on the roof. It's hastily made, but it's there./We're keeping a perfect watch on the premises as well. Azuma: I'm counting on you on this. Ichizou: Ye Yes master.
207 Kin: ...........//BWAH.
208 Kin: You expected me to keep sneaking in from the roof every single time? Serves you right.//...............
209 Kin: Must be here.//!
210-211 Kin: What is this?!!
212 Kin: I can't believe it./He's completely sick in the head.//!//........../What's that doing here..........?
213 [Flashback]Kichi: Come on, have a look. You've lost something? You're looking for something? You wanna know what the future has in store?/Let the child's legs work their magic and find out for you.//This is podomancy. Something you'll never find anywhere else.//Anybody wants to give it a try?
214 Kichi: Alright, O-Kin. I'm counting on you. Kin: Yeah. Kichi: Yeee./Hah. Kin: That's it? Kichi: What are we gonna eat tonight?//White rice seems to be out of the question.
216 Kichi: Oh, my, they're so cold./You must be hurting.
217 Sign: Azumaya's. Kichi: Decrepit and wretched/ignorant of where I stand/the sadness of understanding is visited upon me......... Ichizou: You're disturbing our business. Go somewhere else!
218 Kichi: My daughter's caught a fever during our travels. Can I have something for free? Ichizou: What impudence. What are you talking about? Azuma: No need to be so cold about it, Ichizou. Ichizou: Master. Azuma: I've heard her story. A pity. Isn't it.......?//Yes. I have a good idea. I'll have my friends come over, and order a feast.//What say you?
219 Kichi: Alright. This is medicine./Take it, O-Kin. So you can heal quickly. Kin: Mummy? Kichi: The store's owner and his friends have called for me./You get as much rest as you can.
220 Kin: Don't go!/Please stay here! Kichi: You need to become stronger, O-Kin./Your mother won't always be there with you.[tn: Daaaaamn right! :hahaha:][/flashback]
221 Kin: Mummy!//If only I'd done the impossible to keep you from going back then! ..............
222 Azuma: I am surprised to learn that you were female. Kin: ! Azuma: Kicchou Kozou!//Don't move!//By all means, I have a few things I'd like to ask you.//Why are you targeting me? For what reason have you been housebreaking into Yamato's, Sakai's, and Enshuu's? Kin: That's why.
223 Kin: I found this atrocious picture in the first house I'd entered. The Yamato's. You were all gathered on it.//That'd be Yamato.//And Sakai and Enshuu.//And Azumaya./You. Azuma: What makes you think it's me, on that picture?/It doesn't even remotely look like me. Kin: I can tell./I'm not supposing anything. My gut tells me it's you.
224 Kin: Murderer!/You killed my mum! Azuma: ? Your mother........ Kin: Don't tell me you've forgotten. This is my mum! Azuma: .........//I can't remember./I've killed so many people, you can't expect me to remember every last one of them.
225 Kin: ?! Azuma: I'm going to kill you, like the women on those pictures.
226 Azuma: Too bad there isn't an artist around, though. Kin: Ungh.[/end
227 Kin: Damnation!//What the hell are you doing?! Azuma: I told you, didn't I? I'm going to kill you like I did the other women. Kin: !
228 34th Tale: The Fortune Stealer (5).
231 Kin: You!!
231 Jou: Come over here, quickly./I won't be able to hold him much longer.//Hell!
233 Ichizou: Master, is there something wrong?!//Cough cough./What the heck is going on?! Azuma: Ah. It's you, scum! Ichizou: !!
235 Jou: What are you standing there for? Get away! People: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic.
237 Jou: Get going immediately! Kin: !!//Fire! The flames are everywhere.
239-240 Kin: !//Mummy!
241 Kin: ............
242 Jou: So the four of them put their hands on your mother and killed her. Kin: That's it. Her name was O-Kichi.//That's why I'd wrap the money I stole from them into a piece of paper marked with the "luck" character.[tn: 吉=Fortune/Luck=Kichi.]/To remind them of the crimes they'd committed.//But as far as they were concerned... Jou: ...........
243 Kin: Nevermind that. That's some pretty neat tricks you got there./What did you do? Jou: A Dooring.//Demons devour the darkness within people's hearts to come forth into our world.//My job is to seal those who turn monstrous like Azumaya into a lock. Kin: Anyway, I'm grateful. Jou: Why? Kin: Thank you. For letting me see my mother one last time.
244 Kin: ...........//(Now it's over, Mum...)
245 Oroku: What's wrong, Jounosuke? Jou: I was just remembering how I met up with O-Kin......... Oroku: But to think that burglar girl would end up working as your partner. Fate works in entertaining ways. Jou: Guess you're right. Oroku: What happened to the artist who sketched this, by the way?
246 Jou: I went to have a look in his room after the Dooring, but he was nowhere to be seen./Maybe he'd been dispatched by Azumaya.//Or perhaps the darkness engulfed him. Oroku: ...........
247 Jou: Oroku-baa-san. Please don't say a word to O-Kin about the artist.[tn: Baa-san means grandmother, but "uncle", "big brother", "grandmother", etc... are common forms of respectful address for one's seniors. Jounosuke and Oroku aren't necessarily related.] Oroku: Keeping secrets, are we? Jou: Yeah./We'd better not increase the number of people she has to hate any further, I think. That's why I'm not ever going to mention it to her. Oroku: ......... Jou: Something wrong? Oroku: That's extremely considerate, coming from you. Jou: I'm considerate with women./You excepted, that is.
248 Oroku: Never set foot here again! Jou: That's gonna be a problem. You're our well of wisdom when it comes to exorcising demons. Oroku: Quit saying whatever......... Kin: I knew you'd be there. Jou: Something wrong, O-Kin? Kin: Let's go eat some eels, or something. Jou: Eh?
249 Kin: We don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow./So today, we should be eating something nice. Jou: I see. Yamikagishi. PART ONE. THE END.[/endhttps://mangahelpers.com/t/gottheim/releases/19431[English] [Translation] Yamikagishi Volume 3 by Gottheim2010-01-30T16:21:17+00:00Gottheimadmin@mangahelpers.com004 Yamikagishi (3)
Table of Contents
17th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (4).............5 18th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (5).............29 19th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (6).............53 20th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (7).............77 21st Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (8).............101 22nd Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (9).............125 23rd Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (10).............149 24th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (11).............173
005 17th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (4). Shinzou: It's been a while since the last time we met face to face. So I thought I should drop by, and here I am. Jou: ........
006 Shinzou: Jounosuke./Whatever business do you have in Daimaru? Jou: You saw me? Shinzou: I'm the head of the Iga ninjas, remember? Jou: ........
007 Jou: I thought maybe I should give this back. Shinzou: !//What is it? Jou: A key.
008 Jou: Certainly you are familiar with it, Hattori-sama. Shinzou: I guess there's no point in feeding a key specialist a line of baloney about a key......../Where did you find it?//........ I see. Could you recognize this girl if you saw her? Jou: Yes.
009 Shinzou: Alright./Hattori Shinzou has made up his mind.//And since you also helped in the Tetsusaju no Tachi affair/I know I can trust you when it comes to Edo's protection.//Those shinobi come from another province./Probably Satsuma. Jou: Satsuma shinobi........
010 Isshin: On Basara Aratannou On Taraku Sowaka./Noubo Akyashagyarabaka On Arikya Aribori Sowaka.[tn: More Buddhist prayers.]
011 Dude: Forgive me for interrupting your prayer./Isshin-sama. Isshin: What is it?
012 Dude: Kyouzou has returned, and he's brought Ukiha back with him. Isshin: I see.//Kyouzou, what happened to your leg? Kyouzou: Nothing to be proud of. I've run into more trouble than I expected.
013 Isshin: Only Ukiha was there? Kyouzou: Yes sir.//.......... Jirouta-dono was nowhere to be seen.//When I asked her, she said that after the fight with the Emperor's Inner Garden Watcher, she was hit on the head and couldn't even remember who she was. Isshin: Is that all you have to report? Ukiha: My apologies./Such a failure is unworthy of a Satsuma shinobi.
014 Kyouzou: Ukiha. Do you remember anything about Jirouta-dono? Ukiha: I recall Jirouta-dono and I taking down the guards and getting ahold of the key./Whatever happened after that.......... I just can't tell. Isshin: Nevermind my little brother./What's important for now is the key. Ukiha: Well........ Isshin: What is it? Ukiha: The key I left with the people who saved me. Isshin: WHAT!!
015 Ukiha: My deepest apologies./They're just ordinary townspeople. I won't fail to recover the Watcher's key I assure you. Isshin: They were good enough to cause a master like Kyouzou to lose his leg. They are no ordinary citizens. Ukiha: I'll do it even if it costs me my life.//Furthermore, I think I've grasped a clue regarding the key. Isshin: Oh, yes?/Let's hear it.
016 Ukiha: Daimaru store, in the Oodenma district. Isshin: Pff./Pffft. Ukiha: ? Isshin: You mean the store?/That's ridiculous!
017 Isshin: !//Leader!! Gahou: ..........
018 Gahou: Isshin. How could you not notice? Isshin: What do you mean?/Gahoumaru-sama.
019 Gahou: The Daimaru draperies store is a purveyor for the shogunate./What she says does make sense.
020 Gahou: I'll take care of this case personally. Isshin: ........
021 Shinzou: Listen. What I'm about to tell you is top-secret. Classified imperial spies information.//Speak of it to anyone else and your life is forfeit.//The Satsuma shinobi are seeking a way to infiltrate the Edo castle. Jou: !
022 Shinzou: Daimaru's inner warehouse is the one and only "Door to the Edo Castle". Jou: ?!//Hattori-sama, just what do you mean exactly? Shinzou: It's a storehouse for the Oniwaban.
023 Shinzou: The Edo castle's Oniwaban are Imperial spies under the Shogun's direct control.[tn: Oniwaban=The aforementioned Emperor's Inner Garden Watch.]//The Emperor himself orders them to travel, as country explorers.//The Shogun resides in the Edo castle. So he can't get a good grasp of what's going on in the world at large just from listening to his elder council and the rest of his entourage.//The Oniwaban are important officials, acting as the Emperor's eyes and ears.[tn: In the Edo period, political might rested in the hands of the Shogun, whose seat of power was the Edo castle. The Emperor was little more than a religious figure, living secluded in his palace in Kyoto, and in the name of whom things were done.]
024 Shinzou: When they go on country exploration, the Oniwaban alter their appearances./And Daimaru's inner warehouse is where they do it.//It's an old, well-established draperies store with a lot of circulation, and no shortage of finely-clothed people./A perfect place to disguise oneself.//Country exploration is a lengthy job. Uncovering another province's secrets can take a decade, even 20 years./It's not unheard of for those who live to return to Edo to be unrecognizable even by their fellows when they make their way back.
025 Shinzou: There's another storing room in Daimaru for times such as this./The documents ascertaining their identities are stored inside. Jou: I see. I was wondering what there was a second key for. A key to the warehouse's door, another one for the storing room.
026 Shinzou: Only once in possession of those papers are they allowed inside the castle. Jou: I see. Now I know what you mean by Daimaru's inner storehouse being the door to Edo castle.//Even a shinobi from another province would be able to impersonate an Oniwaban and get into the castle provided they have the papers. Shinzou: Yeah./Fortunately, no one's ever seen through the deception yet.//Although recently, the Satsuma province has been acting in a suspicious way.//I've been notified about a faction led by master shinobi, and who's made its way into Edo.
027 Shinzou: A few days ago, an Oniwaban on his way back from Satsuma reported from an inn in Kodawara, after which contact was promptly broken./This key here probably belongs to him. Jou: ........//We've told the girl about the key's connection with Daimaru. Shinzou: It's too late to do anything about it, by now.
028 Shinzou: In addition, the other side's also made a mistake. Jou: Leaving the key to us after all the trouble they went through to get it. Shinzou: Indeed.//And that's where you come in. I have a request for you. Jou: ..........[/end
029 18th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (5).
030 Gahou: Here? Kyouzou: This is Daimaru, Gahoumaru-sama. Gahou: I see. The store is every bit as large as the rumor describes it.
031 Employees: Wah./Hic.
032 Employee: I have grave news, master. A fire's started in the inner storehouse! Master: What?!//!
033 Master: You men. Get the customers outside!/The others take care of the fire, quickly!//A large fire starting from Daimaru would shame us forever!/Make it disappear while it's still small.
034 Gahou: (! This is the only storehouse with guards before it.)/.........//(I see. I guess that's it, then.//There can be no mistake./This storehouse is the very one we've been looking for.)
035 Gahou: It's exactly as Ukiha said. Kyouzou: Are you telling me you've been able to gather some kind of clue here in Daimaru? Gahou: The Door to the Edo castle. Kyouzou: Here?
036 Gahou: Daimaru's storehouse is the place the Oniwaban use to disguise themselves. A fairly audacious move.//But the Tokugawa's 200 years of tranquility have made way for negligence.//I shall take you forward/on the way to the Edo castle.
037 Ukiha: I have something to report.//The blacksmith has disappeared, and the key was nowhere to be found.//My apologies. Gahou: Ukiha./I need you to search their likely destinations and the environs thoroughly.
038 Kyouzou: I'll go with her, then. I should be able to recognize them on sight. Gahou: Kyouzou, you stay here with me./They might come running when they hear about the disturbance. Kyouzou: Yes sir. Gahou: I reckon it was no use. No matter.//We've seen through the trick.
039 Jou: Humph./(Coming up with something so bold. The Iga clan's leader does live up to his name.)
040 Jou: (Now to do something about the key!) Gahou: (Now to do something about that key!)
041 Jou: !
042-043 Jou: Who the hell is he?!
044 Jou: .............
045 Kyouzou: Gahoumaru-sama. The key!!//This is the man I met at the blacksmith's. Jou: The shinobi from the last time! Kyouzou: I'll get the key back. Please wait here.
046 Gahou: Wait, Kyouzou.//That leg of yours is putting you at a disadvantage. Kyouzou: But
047 Gahou: Not to worry./I shall grant you power. Kyouzou: ?
048 Kyouzou: GGROOAAR...
049 Jou: !!//He's able to manipulate Evil at will?!
050 Gahou: Go!
052 Jou: I'm going to lock you away.[/end
053 Gahou: What is that power?/Is it the same as mine?!
054-055 Jou: My power is nothing like yours.//I contain Evil and seal it away./This is called a Dooring. 19th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (6).
056 Jou: That power you possess has no business existing in our world.//It's not meant for people to have, and I shall seal it away.
059 Jou: ?!
060 Gahou: They key. I have it at last. I did it!//You've made my job unnecessarily harder.//Now die!
061 Gahou: ?
062 Gahou: Wwaahaaa.[tn: Beee-yaaatch!]
063 Jou: Gasp. Gahou: Damn you. How dare you.//How dare you./How dare you. Shinjuurou: A fight!/We have a fight!
064 Ninjas: Where? Where?/Where is the fight?! Shinjuurou: Over there. Quickly. Gahou: Damnation. Shinjuurou: Hey. Are you alright?//?
065 Jou: You've helped me out of a tight spot. You have my thanks. Shinzou: I didn't expect to cross paths with the Satsuma shinobi so soon.//Shinjuurou's been able to bring you here, thankfully. Jou: I never imagined the pepper salesman would be one of your men, Hattori-sama.
066 Shinjuurou: He was frighteningly skilled, for a toddler./You were well out of your league, Jounosuke-dono. You were fortunate enough to get away with relatively minor wounds. Shinzou: Now would be a very bad time for them to find out there's a link between you and ourselves./I'm the one who gave the order not to interfere until the very last second.//Forgive me. Jou: Certainly not. There's nothing to forgive. Shinzou: So. What happened to the key?
067 Jou: It's most certainly between their hands. Shinzou: Is that so? Good.//The bastards are playing nicely into our hands.//Jounosuke. We wouldn't have succeeded in this without your help. Take this with our thanks. Jou: I can't.
068 Shinzou: Get away from Edo for a little while. Jou: Eh?! Shinzou: You go, and you take O-Kin and the blacksmith away with you. This money here should help you cover your expenses.//The Satsuma shinobi have seen your faces. It's only a matter of time before they come after you. Jou: But Shinzou: Don't lose your head over it, Jounosuke./You may not be without skills, but ultimately, you're just a normal citizen.
069 Shinzou: This is a battle between shinobi./Townspeople like yourself could die by the thousands without making a difference. Jou: And I shall return these words right back at you. Shinzou: WHAT?! Jou: The shinobi I met today was a host to demonic forces./Your subordinates could die by the thousands against that child without making a difference.
070 Shinzou: Wait, Jounosuke! Jou: This is the first time I cross paths with something so powerful./I don't think shinobi skill alone will be enough to defeat it. Shinzou: But you can? Jou: ..........
071 Jou: !!
072 Jou: Hattori-sama.//What is the meaning of this?
073 Shinzou: Should the Satsuma shinobi capture you, our own plans would be jeopardised./That is a risk we cannot take. Jou: Are you planning to detain me? Shinzou: If you mean to stay in Edo no matter what, I don't have a choice./I shall have you remain quietly in the Iga clan's mansion, until such time as this matter is settled.
074 Shinzou: You dare resist me!! Jou: If you are Oniwaban, for my part I'm a Doorman./I'll put my life on the line in order to root out the Satsuma. Just like a shinobi ready to forfeit his life to fulfill a mission.
075 Jou: Warrior or civil, there's no difference when it comes to such strength of resolve.
076 Shinzou: That's enough. Let him go.//Doorman. Don't you get in our way. Jou: My only wish is to do my job.[/end
077 Gahou: Damn you. How dare you do this to my hand./Pestiferous locksmith.
078-079 20th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (7).
080 Isshin: Gahoumaru-sama. Is anything wrong?/What was that voice? Gahou: Nothing of importance./My wound was hurting, that's all.
081 Isshin: !//Oooh. Your hand! Gahou: Well, it did take long enough.//Ukiha. Ukiha: Yes sir. Gahou: Go after the locksmith and his friends./We did get the key back, but they could be a problem.
082 Gahou: I want them dispatched.//Be careful. They have strange techniques at their disposal. Ukiha: Understood.
083 Ukiha: It's cold. The fire hasn't been lit in a while. Isshin: ........./No traces of him having returned. Flashback!Tetsu: Here's some clam soup./Warm up your body some. Flashback!Ukiha: It's delicious.
084 Ukiha: (If they hadn't found out about Daimaru, they might have been able to leave unscathed./They were unlucky enough to rescue me.)
085 Girl: Ah, miss./It's good to see you're alright now. Ukiha: How do you know about me? Girl: I'm the one who found you lying down. And I told mister Tetsujuu where you were. Ukiha: I see. Do you know where I can find him? Girl: I don't. Ukiha: ? Girl: Come on. Over there.
086 Girl: Here./This is where you were.
087 Jirouta: Ukiha. Jump into the sea./Get away, even if you're the only one who makes it! Ukiha: Jirouta-sama! Jirouta: "He's" coming!/Quick.//Here./You take care of this!
088 Jirouta: Gasp!
089 Ukiha: ........./(Jirouta-sama was killed? ....... By "him"?//I can't remember the important part./Who is "he" exactly?) Isshin: Looks like it's been a fool's errand. Ukiha: Isshin-sama.//In conformity with your reckoning, they have disappeared, and by the looks of things they haven't come back. Isshin: Ukiha. Failure won't be tolerated this time. Ukiha: Yes sir....... But
090 Isshin: What is it? Gahoumaru-sama's orders are beyond questioning. Ukiha: I'm afraid sometimes, Isshin-sama.//Afraid of him......... Isshin: He's been leading the Satsuma shinobi since our young days, yet his appearance hasn't changed./I also heard he went to a Sacred Mountain, exorcised the evil spirits there and took in their powers for himself.
091 Isshin: His powers are something we can only dream of./I do know that much. Ukiha: But I'm having misgivings about him, at times. As if he was a wrathful monster of sorts.//And now that we're closer to Edo, I've been experiencing those moments of apprehension even more often. Isshin: ........ My brother. This is very similar to what my brother Jirouta used to say. Ukiha: Jirouta-sama did? Isshin: Ukiha. Now is not the time for unnecessary pondering./Just a little effort, and our old wish of infiltrating the Edo castle will come true.
092 Isshin: It is crucial for us Satsuma shinobi to uncover the secrets of the Edo castle if we are to strike at the heart of the shogunate someday!/We need him if we are to reach the upper stratum of the shogunate.//! Jou: We won't let you get into the castle. Isshin: What?! Ukiha: Jounosuke!
093 Jou: Let me tell you this. Your leader is a demon./You can't take orders from someone like that. Isshin: So it was you. Mongrel!
094 Jou: Edo castle is a cornerstone to the seal against Edo's demons./If you're not careful, the city will be destroyed.
095 Jou: If you don't want to turn Edo. No. This country whence the sun rises into a land of demons/please just go away quietly. Isshin: Senseless babble!//Wait!
096 Jou: A million of people live here in Edo.
097 Ukiha: Tetsujuu........ Tetsu: I don't know about Satsuma shinobi or whatever you are. But if you plan on destroying Edo/I will put my life on the line to make sure it doesn't happen.
098 Jou: Because we're Doormen, and this is our job. Isshin: ! Tetsu: RAAAAAH
100 Isshin: Doormen?/Who the bloody hell are they?[/end
101 21st Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (8).
102 Jou: Let's go, Tetsujuu! Ukiha: Wait!
103 Tetsu: !
104 Jou: ? Tetsu: !/Get away, Lock Kanji! [tn: In Japanese, "Jou" no ji (錠の字). This is a reference to Jounosuke's name, as the "jou" part is indeed written with the Kanji for "lock".]
106 Tetsu: Urgh. Jou: Are you alright, Tetsujuu?! Tetsu: Don't worry about me./More importantly, look. Jou: !
107 Jou: ..........//They've blocked off our escape route. Isshin: Be sure to take them down with your next attack.//Bombing Master Ukiha.
108 Ukiha: Prepare yourself, Jounosuke./I will exact revenge for Kyouzou! Jou: That's not quite how it happened.//Your Kyouzou had been turned into a demon./By the very leader you people trust so much.//So I had to seal him away. Isshin: Kyouzou? A demon?/You must be out of your mind!
109 Jou: We only fight demons./And we have no wish to battle against human beings.//Even if they are Satsuma shinobi.
110 Ukiha: Bollocks!//It's too late. For everything! Tetsu: ........... Jou: You think you can jump, Tetsujuu?
111 Ukiha: You won't get away!
112 Ukiha: .......... Isshin: Did you get them? Ukiha: I don't know. Tetsu: Oooow.
113 Tetsu: O-Kin. For Heaven's sake, can't you be a little gentler about it?! Kin: Come on. Do you think it's easy?//If I hadn't saved you, you'd be fish food right now, Tetsu-san. Tetsu: That's because of the girl. She's a blasted bomb slinger.//Jumping off the cliff is exactly what saved us. Kin: But to think she was really a shinobi./She really didn't look the part.[tn: Um, correct me if I'm wrong but I think that's the point.] Tetsu: Come to think of it, I don't even know her name. But she was........
114 Kin: She was really a beautiful girl. Jou: That's fate.[tn: So basically, shit happens? How comforting....] Tetsu: ........
115 Kin: There's not much we can do about it. Tetsu: ..........
116 Ninja: ........//This must be it!
118 Isshin: Look.//With this scrap of paper, we can infiltrate the Edo castle.
119 Isshin: And our old ambition shall be fulfilled!/The day the Satsuma can invade Edo is close at hand! Ninjas: YEEAAAHH. Gahou: Silence!! Ninjas: .........
120-121 Gahou: We have been followed.
122-123 Shinzou: Alright, men. Smoke them out. Cut off all of their escape routes./Don't let a single one of them get away!
124 Shinzou: It ends here. Satsuma spies.[/end
125 22nd Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (9). Shinzou: ..........
126 Iganin: No way!/Curse those Satsuma shinobi. When do they plan on getting out?//..........//Don't tell me they just magicked their way out.//They can't have!
127 Shinzou: Stay focused./Don't show any openings! Ninja: ........
129 Iganin: From below!/They're coming out from underground!! Shinzou: !
130 Satsunin: RAAAAAH. Shinzou: So they'd dug a hole into the ground!! Curse them. Satsunin: WAAAAGH
131-132 Satsunin: OOOF Shinzou: Do not falter./Cut them down to the last man!
135 Iganin: Seijuurou-sama. A woman and a child. Here of all places./How do we deal with this? Shinjuurou: Don't let your guard down!/That toddler is the head of the Satsuma shinobi himself!
136 Gahou: Well done, Ukiha. Ukiha: Thank you very much.
137 Shinzou: Shinjuurou!//! Isshin: Ukiha!/Is Gahoumaru-sama alright? Gahou: Isshin. You arrive just in the nick of time./The head of the Iga clan has decided to show himself. Shinzou: ... I reckon you're that mongrel they call Gahoumaru./I did hear the rumors about you, but I'm still surprised. You're really a toddler.
138 Gahou: It happens to be a trick of mine. Shinzou: You're quite something./But you don't bite hard enough.//Impersonating an Oniwaban and worming your way into Daimaru? Certainly you weren't expecting your underlings to go unnoticed? Gahou: Oh, yes? Shinzou: That Satsuma shinobi blew his own cover. The moment he opened the door to Daimaru's storeroom. Gahou: What do you mean? Shinzou: After the night when that girl disappeared from the blacksmith's house without a trace/we performed a little substitution in the Daimaru storehouse.
139 Shinzou: Only one key could have opened the door./The one you people stole away from Jounosuke. Satsunin: ! Isshin: So what of that key?!! Shinzou: Jounosuke made it./Because we knew you'd come for it eventually.
140 Gahou: Is that so? So the whole thing was your idea? Shinzou: Whatever plans you had, they've fallen apart. Accept it. Gahou: I wouldn't be too sure about that. Shinzou: ? Gahou: Provided I obliterate the Iga clan to the last man here and now/all of those who know about our secrets will be gone.
141 Shinzou: Don't be foolish. Gahou: You still think yourself the victor?/Can't you see what's at your feet? Shinzou: !
142-143 Gahou: I will kill each one of you in turn./Be sure to watch your comrades as they die. Iganin: Uhh./Gh...//Blurgh.
144 Shinzou: ........... Gahou: Hattori Shinzou./You'll be the last one to go.
145 Gahou: ! Ukiha: *blank* Gahou: You!!
146 Shinzou: Jounosuke! Jou: Hattori-sama. I told about it, didn't I?/He is no common shinobi.[/end
147 23rd Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (10). Gahou: You show yourself, locksmith!
148 Hellboy Tetsu: !
149 Jou: Tetsujuu! Hellboy Tetsu: Jounosuke. You concentrate on the Dooring. Gahou: Damn you! I'll rip you into a million pieces, dog.
150 Jou: Are you alright? Hellboy Tetsu: I'll be fine./Just stuff him into that lock already! Jou: Sorry.
151 Gahou: ?//I. I can't move!
152 Gahou: Locksmith./What are you doing?! Jou: Gahoumaru./I've sealed away your ability to move. Gahou: Who the bloody hell are you? An imperial agent?!/Is that another shinobi trick?!
153 Jou: I am nothing like an Imperial agent or a warrior./I'm a Doorman. Gahou: ? A Doorman.......?
154 Jou: Prepare yourself./I'm going to seal away the Evil power that's nested into you. Isshin: Kill the locksmith./Don't let him use his techniques!
155 Shinzou: Don't move!
156 Satsunin: !! Shinzou: Draw back your swords!/Fail to do so and I kill him! Isshin: Hattoriii. Shinzou: Doorman./Let's see you at work.
157 Gahou: Heart, technique and physique./Shinobi surpass the common folk in everything.//Do you think the likes of you and your techniques can get the better of Gahoumaru?!
158 Isshin: Gahoumaru-sama!
159 Iganin: ? Satsunin: !
160-161 Ninjas: What's that?!
162 Isshin: Oooh. What splendor. Ukiha: Is that Gahoumaru-sama? Isshin: It is./This is the power with which he exorcised those evil spirits on the sacred mountain.
163 Ukiha: ! Iganin: Aaaaargh.
164 Iganin: !
165 Iganin: Aaaaaaaah.
166 Ukiha: Ugh. Isshin: Ukiha. Get a grip on yourself. Ukiha: My. My head.........
167 Flashback!Jirouta: Ukiha. What are you doing?/Take it already! Flashback!Ukiha: .......... Flashback!Jirouta: Come on!//Tell my brother this./Gahoumaru doesn't care about the shogunate or the Satsuma. He's just a monstrous beast with a thirst for human blood.
169 Ukiha: Tha That beast over there!/Gahoumaru!//He's the one who devoured Jirouta-sama. Isshin: Humph. I've been wondering what you were going to say. Ukiha: I'm telling the truth./He hate him before my eyes. It happened just like it is now. Isshin: Are you out of your mind?/He's our leader, remember? Ukiha: Gahoumaru doesn't care about the shogunate or the Satsuma./He's just a monstrous beast with a thirst for human blood. That's what Jirouta-sama told me!
170 Satsunin: Waaaaah.
171 Satsunin: Hiiiiiic. Isshin: Gahoumaru-sama. Have you gone insane?/These are our men.//Stop this madness!/Pull yourself together![tn: It gets lost in the translation, but Isshin's speech switches back and forth between respectful and discourteous, showing his confusion.]
172 Ukhiha: Watch out!//Augh. Isshin: Ukiha![/end
173 24th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (11).
174 Ukiha: ?! Food: He......../heeeelp!
175 Ukiha: Hic.//!//Tetsujuu![tn: Hellboy to the rescue!]
176 Tetsu: I'm here to save you. Ukiha: Why?[tn: Because you're hot I'm a hero.]
177 Ukiha: Gasp. Tetsu: Sorry. Ukiha: I'm fine.
178 Tetsu: Hhhhh.
179 Tetsu: .........//That thing is tough as hell!//Blast it.
180 Ukiha: Use the bombshells in my sleeves!//Take off the pins and throw them at him!
181 Ukiha: Ow!
182 Tetsu: Are you alright? Ukiha: ........
183 Gahou: There you are.[tn: From now on, a custom font or some kind of special effect for the dude would be nice.]/GRRRRRR
184 Tetsu: !/Jounosuke. Gahou: You again!
185 Jou: I won't let you kill anybody else./Gahoumaru. This time for sure, I'm going to lock you away. Gahou: Bollocks!
187 Ukiha: What's that? Tetsu: Sealing Evil into a lock./This is what our job as Doormen consists in.//Your trusted leader was a demon, which should be clearly apparent by now. Isshin: ........
188 Tetsu: !//How much more Evil is he hosting inside himself?
189 Tetsu: This is bad./The Lock is filling beyond capacity.
190 Tetsu: Jounosuke?//......... Where are you?
191 Tetsu: Jounosuke......... Jou: The Evil-Sealing Lock, gone. It can't be.//!
192 Gahou: I told you so./The likes of you and your techniques can't get the better of Gahoumaru. Jou: ......... Gahou: I reckon that wounded as you are, you're in no shape to move about.//Diiiie!
193 Ukiha: Tetsujuu. Take Jounosuke-san away, quick! Gahou: Let me go./Let go of me, will you! Ukiha: I done taking orders from you./Not after what you did to Jirouta-sama!
194 Gahou: So you were there, after all. Ukiha: A beast like you is no leader of mine. You are nothing. Gahou: Jirouta was making way to the province with the key, and about to reveal my true identity./I had to dispose of him. Ukiha: You're going to pay for that. Gahou: Preposterous./Even in this state, Gahoumaru cannot be killed by an ant like you.//? Ukiha: Have you forgotten?
195 Ukiha: I go by the alias of Bombing Master Ukiha. Gahou: !!
196 Yamikagishi {3} The End.https://mangahelpers.com/t/gottheim/releases/19430[English] [Translation] Yamikagishi Volume 2 by Gottheim2010-01-30T16:20:06+00:00Gottheimadmin@mangahelpers.com003 Backpack: Coming in. Gonzou: You're pretty much soaked. Backpack: Yeah. I'm so out of luck.
004-005 9th Tale: Bludgeons and Locks (1).
006 Table of Contents
9th Tale: Bludgeons and Locks (1).............3 10th Tale: Bludgeons and Locks (2).............29 11th Tale: Bludgeons and Locks (3).............53 12th Tale: A Mother's Silhouette on the New Year's Eve (1)..........81 13th Tale: A Mother's Silhouette on the New Year's Eve (2)..........105 14th: Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (1).............129 15th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (2).............153 16th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (3).............177
007 Backpack: I thought we'd have little more than a couple of droplets, but it didn't take long to turn into this. Even my loincloth is dripping wet. *crunch* Gonzou: For my part, I've been seeing it coming for quite some time. Backpack: You're talking about predicting the weather.*crunch* Backpack: What is it, old man? I can't let you have your way with my trading goods just because there's some water on them. Gonzou: Your goods? Backpack: Vegetables. It's gonna be bad for business if they're nibbled on.
008 Gonzou: Does this look like a pickle to you?/You're as good as blind, then. Backpack: Say what? Gonzou: I'll let you have a look at the contents of this bucket. What do you see?//Look. Backpack: !
009 *crunch* Gonzou: If your eyes are so bad, I reckon you don't need them.
010 Backpack: WWAAAAH. Gonzou: I'll be taking these eyeballs of yours. Backpack: Help!!
011 *VLAM* *swish swish* Gonzou: !
012 Gonzou: Urrggghh.//!
013 Jou: Old man. You were the "Eye-Catcher" people were talking about, I see.[tn: "Old man" is said in a way that conveys a note of respect due to the elderly./The pun about eyes is very much intentional, as it is present in the Japanese text.] Gonzou: I couldn't care less for whatever name they call me.//What I do know is that I am immortal. Gifted with eternal life. Jou: That life is demonic in nature. You have more than outlived your time as a human.
014 Gonzou: You have pretty eyes./Why don't you let me have a bite at them?
015 Gonzou: They will most certainly be a delight. Jou: When the darkness in people's hearts finds its way out, they are submerged by Evil./A "Dooring" consists in sealing that Evil within a lock./I'm going to shut you away.
016 Pickles: AAAAAARRRGH. Crier: Here we are. Here we are. The Eye-Catcher strikes again!/A sundries peddler has been assaulted as he took shelter from the rain in a run-down temple!//He was barely able to escape back home with his life. Find out the full story here!
017 Crier: The Eye-Catcher./The Ear-Chopper.//The Tongue Cutter.//Look closely./These are the most famous Three Demons of Edo. Woman: Killing off people just to cut off their eyes, ears or tongues. So gross. Woman: No man would ever do such a thing.
018 Crier: Spot on./That is the purview of monsters!//And before that, those dead women who were found in chains./Well, monsters were also behind the deed! Domon: Enough of this farce. Crier: ? Side note: *Hacchoubori... A town magistrate who oversees a district (Edo period).
019 Domon: The Three Demons of Edo, my foot./There are no such things as fiends or goblins. Crier: Master Hacchoubori*!! Domon: Whoever committed those crimes, they're human./Men prey upon other men, and they do it as men. Such is our world.
020 Domon: As of you and your newspaper. Don't think you're gonna make money by taking advantage of people's weakness, cur. Crier: Certainly not. That wasn't my intention. Chuuji: Master Domon!!
021 Domon: What is it, Chuuji? Chuuji: We've found the locksmith's residence.
022 Jou: Naumaku semanda bazara dan kan.[tn: Probably sutra or Holy incantations of some sort.]//.......... Domon: Working hard, aren't we, locksmith? Jou: !
023 Jou: And you are? Domon: The magistrate in charge of the Northern part of town. Domon the doushin*.[tn: See side note.]/Jounosuke, that's it? If you have a minute, there's a couple of things I'd like to ask you. Jou: What do you want with me? Domon: Have you heard the rumor about the Eye-Catcher? Side note: *Doushin... An official who carries out police duties.
024 Jou: Yes./There's been a series of disturbing kills recently. Domon: People murdered, their eyes gouged out. Not something a normal human would do./Then, we have more of those mentals coming out the woodwork, like the Ear-Chopper and the Tongue-Cutter. Jou: The Three Demons of Edo. Domon: Not again!//You'd be well-advised not to speak of those things with such a self-important look./If anyone hates it when people stick crimes on God knows what monster's back, that's me. Jou: ........ Domon: Demons and the like do not exist. Whatever crimes are committed in the human world, they are perpetrated by human beings.
025 Domon: If demons do exist anywhere/that'd be within people's hearts. Jou: You are correct. Domon: Take the Eye-Catcher. His true identity was that of an unremarkable old man. Jou: Indeed. Domon: Gonzou, a glasses maker in the Migishima district./He wasn't bad, but he was a bit of an eccentric, so he didn't have much of a social life./Rumor has it his looks had turned rather strange, recently.//When we investigated his absence, we found more corpses than I dare to count, buried under the floor in his house.
026 Domon: We set out to chase him immediately./We found a peddler attacked by Gonzou in a wayside shrine near Sugamo.//Thinking that's where our man was, we rushed towards the place. Jou: And once again, you didn't find him. Domon: Exactly. So what do you think? Would you happen to know something? Anything? Jou: Me? Domon: Yeah. You. Jou: Well, I did pay a visit to the Princedom Avatar yesterday./And I passed through Sugamo on my way back. Unfortunately, it started to rain suddenly. It was so awful I couldn't even see three ken* ahead./So whatever happened after that, I can't tell. Side note: *3 ken = 54 meters.[tn: Roughly 48, 6 yards.]
027 Domon: You're one damn fast talker alright.//Put differently, it also means if anyone saw you, they could have been mistaken because of the rain. Jou: I didn't mean to. Domon: And if I told you someone did see you coming out of the shrine where Gonzou was. What do you make of that? Jou: Please tell them this./The rain yesterday was really awful.//...........
028 Domon: Alright. Make sure you remember this. We magistrates are the ones officially in charge of punishing criminals.//I don't care if you act out of righteous anger or what-have-you. If townspeople like you start killing people, I won't think twice before arresting them.//No exceptions. Even if the victim is a murderer./That is the Bludgeon-Carriers' job.[tn: In the Edo period, Okappiki (or here Jittemochi, the Bludgeon-Carriers) was the name of the secret police, or detectives.][/End
029 10th Tale: Bludgeons and Locks (2).
030 Kin: Jou-san. I have it.//The Tiger's direction.[tn: East-Northeast.]/You'll find three Jizou aligned there.[tn: Buddha statue, protecting travelers.] It can't be too far from there.//But I'd let it go if I were you.//I've seen the sign for fetters in your luck.
031 Kin: You told me the doushin came by yesterday, didn't you? Jou: You mean Domon, the magistrate in charge of the northern district?//We have a Hacchoubori with a clue, for once. I wasn't expecting that. Kin: Jou-san. He must have set his eyes upon you. This could be dangerous. Jou: ........//O-Kin. Take care of the place while I'm off. Kin: Wait. Jou-san, I said wait!
032 Jou: Dooring is my job./I can't just stop doing it. Kin: ........
033 *sob sob* Traveler: What's wrong my boy? What are you doing here? Did you lose your mom? Boy: ....... Traveler: I can't make out what you say if you're crying. Are you alone?/Where's your home?
034 Traveler: ?//I didn't think there'd be a village in such a place. Boy: Booo-hoo! Traveler: Don't cry./Come on. Let me carry you there.
035 Traveler: Uh?//How strange. Doesn't look like anybody's actually living there./Are you really sure it's here, boy? Boy: Nice ears, you got there. Traveler: Eh? *slurp slurp*
036 Traveler: That tickles./Stop it, will you?//Ow! Boy: Let me have your ears.
037 Traveler: AUUUUUUGH.//HIIIIIIC.
038 Jou: This is the end for you, Ear-Chopper!! Ear-Chopper: !!
039 Ear-Chopper: I knew someone was coming.//I have no idea what your business is./But a human like you can't possibly expect to defeat me?
040 Jou: This isn't about victory or defeat./I'm merely going to seal you into this lock. That's all. Ear-Chopper: BOLLOCKS!
042 Ear-Chopper: Nothing can save you now.
043 Ear-Chopper: I'll be taking your ears.
044 Ear-Chopper: AAAARGH. Jou: This is made out of a special material. Demons like yourself can't so much as touch it.
045 Jou: Ear-Chopper. I'm going to lock you away. Ear-Chopper: Wa... WAIT!//Let me goooo./I won't do bad things any more. Jou: I don't want to listen to a guy who lops off people's ears.
046 Lantern: Official Business. Cop: Chuuji-san. What's that? Chuuji: !//That's the same light I saw on that rainy day!
048 Chuuji: What is that thing? Ack. Bad mojo.//.........//Search the house!/He can't be far! Jou: ......./(How did they find out about this place?)
049 Jou: It can't be!//!! Domon: So it was you after all, locksmith.
050-051 Domon: You are largely outnumbered. Be reasonable, Jounosuke. Jou: Master Domon... Domon: The moon is full tonight. Seeing 3 ken or even 10 ken ahead shouldn't pose any problem./No fooling around this time.
052 Jou: ........ Kin: Ouch!/........//No way. Something's happening to Jou-san![/end
053 11th Tale: Bludgeons and Locks (3). Chuuji: Spit it out already! We know you've killed them!/What happened to the Eye-Catcher and the Ear-Chopper?!
054 Jou: ........... Chuuji: Persistent son of a bitch!*Haa. Haa.* Chuuji: Master Domon!
055 Domon: Chuuji. You damned fool!//Who told you to put him through questioning?! Chuuji: I can't figure this bastard out. We should throw him in jail as soon as possible. Master.
056 Domon: Has he confessed to any of the crimes? Chuuji: No. Not yet. Domon: I take it he was carrying these. Chuuji: Yes. Domon: That's a fairly elaborate thing to be walking around with./The decoration on the lock is in very bad taste, don't you think? Chuuji: I have some misgivings about the thing myself.
057 Domon: Careful, you bloody idiot. Chuuji: Forgive me. It slipped out of my hands.
058 Domon: ...........//!//Jounosuke./What's this? Jou: A storehouse key.//I poke a hole into a wall and use this to unbolt the door from the inside./The mechanism allows me to alter it depending on the wall's length and thickness.
059 Domon: And this is how I think you'd be using it. Jou: ........ Domon: You'd have little trouble bashing the old glasses maker's head in with this. Jou: Even a carpenter's tools would look like instruments of murder in your eyes. Domon: Don't you dare address me with such impudence!
060 Domon: The Eye-Catcher and the Ear-Chopper's traces disappeared suddenly after they made contact with you./You did them in. Jou: How did you know I'd be there? Domon: Chuuji's been sticking to you like glue. Jou: .........
061 Domon: Maybe you're presumptuous enough to think you can hunt criminals. But that's the authorities' job./If the townsfolk start doing as they please, it will only help build more grudges and resentment.//That resentment is for the Bludgeon-Carriers to take./Do you have the kind of resolve that entails? Jou: For now, I just want to go seal the Tongue-Cutter away. That's about it.
062 Domon: I was wondering if you'd care to grace me with a few more of your witty comebacks. Jou: I know what you feel./But there are things in this world that you just can't see.//That lock of mine, with the monstrous face./There's a demon sealed in it.//That's a "Dooring", and that's my job. Domon: That again?
063 Jou: If you don't believe me, why don't you have Chuuji-san inspect it? Domon: Chuuji? Jou: Do it, and you'll find out whether I'm telling the truth or not immediately. Chuuji: Don't tell me you're going to believe anything coming out of this bastard's mouth.
064 Jou: Dooring is a job that requires one to pay careful attention. That man you've set on my trail is no ordinary human. Domon: Chuuji! Chuuji: What's wrong? Domon: I'm eager to put an end to this senseless babble. Chuuji: But. Domon: Come on. Just take it!
065 Chuuji: AAAAARGH. Domon: !!
066 Domon: Chuuji. Are you alright?!/Hang in there. Chuuji: Shut up.
067 Domon: Uuh... That hurt. Chuuji: Your tongue./Why don't you show it to me?
069 Domon: !!/(WHAT'S GOING ON?!!)
070 Chuuji: I'm gonna have to pull it out, then.[tn: Special font for the "man", please.] Jou: Agh.
071 Chuuji: Let me eat your tongue.
072 Chuuji: UUUURGH. Jou: Master. A demon cannot be killed by a normal blade!
073 Domon: What! Jou: Anyway, take these stones off quickly. Domon: How come Chuuji's turned into a monster? Jou: His heart and soul have been eaten away.//The Demon Realm's denizens come here./And they feed off human hearts.//They're particularly fond of negative emotions like greed or fear, and pride is the icing on the cake./When a human being succumbs to their own greed, their heart is eaten away, and the door to darkness opens.
074 Jou: Then, that darkness takes up residence within their body./And they start devouring other human beings. Domon: Why was Chuuji so desperate to capture you? Jou: He probably wanted to have me tied up and thrown in jail, in order to escape the Dooring. Chuuji: It's all your fault, master. Domon: ! Chuuji: For appointing me into the Okappiki.
075 Domon: Bastard! Chuuji: Arresting bad guys and have them confess their crimes./No matter how scary the fellow could be, you'd put him through so much pain he'd spill the beans like there was no tomorrow. Tongues move about, pretty much as living creatures in their own right.//Some day, I thought something that moves this much on its own must be delicious. That I'd like to try it./I couldn't help myself. Jou: ! Chuuji: ........
076 Jou: Master. Stand aside./I'll start the Dooring.
077 Domon: ........//So all those locks are demons you've sealed? Jou: Yes.
078 Domon: To think that many demons existed here in our world. Jou: They did. And I hate to say it, but there are just as many of them out there. Domon: That'd make Edo a real demon town. Jou: People like me are here to make sure it doesn't happen. Domon: .......... Jou: Initially, Edo was created by Ieyasu-kimi for the purpose of demon sealing.[tn: Prince Ieyasu.] Domon: Never heard that one before.
079 Jou: You don't have to believe me./If the town magistrate is the one in charge of protecting Edo from criminals, we are those who protect it from demons.//Just like samuraidom, this duty has been passed on, from one generation to another./Those demon sealers are here in town, lying in silent wait. Domon: Which is to say samurai alone don't suffice. Jou: You protect Edo during daylight, master./And we do the same come nightfall. Domon: I understand.
080 Domon: But it's not easy for me to swallow all of this at once.//If it is indeed as you say./Then front and back, and indeed day and night will probably overlap someday.//When it happens, we will meet again. *tilt*[/end
081 Jou: It's done. 12th Tale: A Mother's Silhouette on the New Year's Eve (1).
082 Oumiya: Those lock decorations are splendid. Jou: And here's the keyhole. Oumiya: Beneath the dragon's scales? I recognize your stylishness in this, Jounosuke. Now I can welcome the new year in a good disposition.
083 Oumiya: This is for you. Jou: This is too much. Oumiya: I've been monopolizing Edo's best locksmith until the end of the year./This is old Oumiya's appreciation. Please don't embarrass him. Jou: I'll take this along with your appreciation, then.
084 Kin: (Jou-san!//Who did he buy this for?)//........
085 Jou: Are you alright? Kid: Yes. I'm fine. Jou: This child.........
086 Jou: Excuse me.//Anyone?//.........
087 Woman: Eh, O-Sayo-chan. Back from work? Sayo: Indeed. Woman: Did you get used to your job as a hairdresser? Sayo: I'm doing good enough. And there's no shortage of customers.//I'll be going, ma'am. Takichi's alone and he's waiting for me. Woman: Must be hard to be providing for your little brother. Sayo: I'm back.
088 Sayo: !!//It's him!/He put those things there.
089 Sayo: It's you, isn't it? You're the one who's been sneaking around, leaving money behind! Jou: ......... Sayo: I don't know what your intentions are, but I don't need money from you. Jou: So you've started to work as a hairdresser? Sayo: Yeah. That's right. My little brother has something to eat, thanks to me./But even when I was jobless, as soon as I found out the money came from you I didn't use a single mon of it![tn: As a reminder, a mon is a monetary division in Ancient Japan.]
090 Sayo: I want no money from my mother's murderer. Jou: !! Sayo: Never come back again. I wouldn't want to see your face if you were the last man left on Earth./Next time I see you, I'll call the police! Jou: ........
091 Kin: That was no way to treat such a nice hairpin. Jou: O-Kin! Kin: Who is she? Jou: O-Sayo. She'll be about... 15 on the New Year. Kin: And you've "Doored" her mother? Jou: No. She was killed by a demon. Kin: Didn't she say you did it?!
092 Narrator!Jou: It was about 4 years ago. Mom: O-Sayo. Run away, quick! Sayo: ........//AAAAAAH!
093 Jou: ........ I'm too late!//I'm going to shut you away.
094 Sayo: !//..........
095 Jou: Somehow in the girl's mind, it became my fault. Takichi: Let me go.//I said let me go! Man: Hold him fast./We're gonna teach him never to do that again. Physically.
096 Man: !!//Who the hell are you? Jou: He's just a child. Man: Look.
097 Man: The darn kid cut off the ropes that were suspended there./Now we can't ring the bell for the New Year.[tn: A ceremony on the New Year that involves striking a gong (or apparently ringing a bell) 108 times to chase evil spirits away.]//... Blast it. I mean, there's a limit to pranking./We need to hurt him some, or he'll never understand. Takichi: Let me go! Men: Wah.
098 Takichi: Out of my way!//Move!//!
099 Takichi: I didn't mean to. Jou: .......//Take a good look. Takichi: ........ Jou: What do you think? It hurts you too, doesn't it? *tilt* Jou: When you hurt others, your own heart starts to bleed as well./Make sure you remember that pain.
100 Priest: Well well well. That was a beautiful lecture. Man: Sire Priest!//We've just captured him, and we were about to leave. Priest: Yes, I know. I heard the child.//Let the gentleman here deal with him. We have until tonight to fix the ropes.//Is your wound going to be alright? Jou: Forgive me for defiling your premises with my blood.[tn: In Buddhism, anything pertaining to flesh and blood is deemed unclean. For example, the Japanese didn't consume meat at all.]
101 Priest: ........//Shedding your blood has allowed you to amend the child.//Such a thing is well beyond the purview of even a priest. Jou: ! Priest: Namu Amida Butsu. Namu Amida Butsu.[tn: Buddhist prayer.] Jou: ...........
102 Kin: Why did you pull such a prank?/Going as far as to carry a knife around. Takichi: I don't want them to ring the bells. Kin: But we can't celebrate the New Year in those conditions. Takichi: If only mummy was there. For me. And O-Sayo-nee-chan. Jou: So you're O-Sayo's brother? Kin: But their mother died 4 years ago.
103 Takichi: Mummy./Just a little more and mummy will disappear!//If they ring the bell for the new year, it will hurt mummy from inside the mirror! Kin: ...........?!
104 Sayo: Mummy. Mummy: .........[/end
105 13th Tale: A Mother's Silhouette on the New Year's Eve (2). Kin: It is just as you said, Jou-san.
106 Kin: A hand mirror with peony-shaped patterns.//She hid it away immediately, though. Jou: O-Sayo-chan's mother's hand mirror. I knew it.//It was there when the demon attacked her. Kin: How come the supposedly dead mother can appear inside the mirror?
107 Jou: Probably a reflection of her regrets. Kin: ......... Jou: Frequently, when a human being is killed by a demon, their face appears on my Evil-Sealing Locks./Sometimes , as chance would have it, their regrets and other feelings are imprinted into the Locks' demon-sealing powers.[tn: Indeed. Such a thing happens in the very first episode of the series.]//Some other times, when a mirror is nearby, this is what happens. Kin: And what about the mother's image becoming weaker each year with the ringing of the bells?
108 Jou: The New Year's bells are there to clear away people's earthly desires./Maybe the dead's feelings of regret go away as well. Kin: So when the bells have been rung tonight, the mother's image will disappear completely? Jou: Probably, yes. Kin: Jou-san. Can you do anything about it? Jou: I have a job I need to take care of first. Kin: The priest at the Sanshoku Temple, yes?
109 Jou: Those eyes of his, when he saw the blood.//There can be no mistake. Narrator: Sanshoku Temple.
110 Sayo: Excuse me./Is the resident priest here? Priest: That's me. What can I do for you? Sayo: My brother did something really terrible. I've come to apoligise. Priest: Aah. For today. Sayo: I'm really sorry. Priest: This is what you've come all the way here for? At this time of night? Sayo I had to wait for my little brother to fall asleep.
111 Sayo: Consider this a small compensation for the ropes he's cut off./It's not much, but please accept it. Priest: I can't take it. Sayo: But this is my way of begging forgiveness. Priest: Use the money to buy some treat for yourself and your little brother. Sayo: I can't do that.
112 Priest: If you really feel that way/why don't you consider turning to Buddha?//You'd be doing an act of piety. Sayo: Certainly. Please show me the way. Priest: Follow me.
113 Kin: Jou-san. I have grave news. I saw O-Sayo-chan while working my divination on the priest! Jou: WHAT?!
114 Sayo: Sire Priest. You have my thanks./Now I can greet the New Year with a good disposition. Priest: ......... Sayo: Sire Priest? Priest: A young man shed a lot of blood on this stone, but it's a bit too late now.[tn: In keeping with the previous note about Buddhism, a priest with a taste for blood is not just disturbing. It's downright blasphemous.]
115 Priest: Why don't you share some of your fresh blood with me? Sayo: Pardon? Priest: Behold. Sayo: .........
116 Sayo: AAAAAAAH *GOOOOONNG* Priest: They say the New Year's bells wash impure desires away when stricken 108 times./But when I hear them, every fiber of my body burns with a fierce appetite that just won't fade away.[tn: That pic is the coolest thing evah: :yay:]
117 Sayo: Hic.//NOOOOOO. Priest: Please help me slake my thirst.
118 Priest: Argh. Sayo: !!
119 Jou: O-Kin. Take care of the girl. Priest: You're the one from earlier today! Jou: Sire Priest. You have succumbed to your impure desires, enough so to become a demon./I'm going to shut you away!
120 Jou: Are you hurt? Sayo: Don't think I'm going to thank you of all people just because you saved my life. Jou: You don't have to./I didn't make it in time, and your mother paid the price. That's why at least I had to save you. Sayo: ........//... I knew./You didn't kill my mother. The monster did.//But I couldn't admit it./The likes of monsters do not exist. And you can't hate something that isn't there.
121 Sayo: That's why I settled for hating you instead./I couldn't keep on living otherwise.//I'm sorry./I knew exactly what happened.......... Jou: It's alright.
122 Jou: You're alive, and that's what counts./It's a good thing you're alive. Sayo: *SOB* Jou: Come on, let's hurry. Before they're done ringing the bells. Sayo: Where to? Jou: Isn't it obvious? To your mother, of course! Sayo: ?
123 Sayo: Like this? Jou: Take a few steps aside. Takichi: ?!
124-125 Takichi&Sayo: Mummy.
127 Takichi&Sayo: Mummy!
128 Jou: Your mother's memories won't disappear anymore./Now you can always be together. Kin: Jou-san, look.//It's the New Year's sunrise.[/end
130-131 14th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (1).
132 Tetsujuu: ........
133 Jou: If that's not concentration, I don't know what is. Tetsu: That you, Jounosuke? So you were here? Jou: That's so much like you, Tetsujuu. When you strike on those locks, you can't see anything else.
134 Tetsu: That's the kind of concentration it takes to make your Evil-consuming Locks.//In the old days, this stock would have lasted an entire year. But recently, that's barely enough locks for half the same time. Jou: The world is starting to crack open. The kekkai on Edo must be weakening.[tn: Mystical barrier.]
135 Jou: Maybe a fissure is beginning to form somewhere./From there, Evil would be spreading into the world. Tetsu: If you say so./I'm just the smith. My job is to forge the locks.
136 Tetsu: Bringing the final touches and turning them into Evil-Sealing Locks viable for Doorings is yours.//The weather's a lot calmer now.//Wait a minute, Jounosuke. I'm going to pick up some clams for breakfast.
137 Girl: Look, big brother. Yesterday's storm brought in lots of strange stuff. Boy: Forget that and pick up those clams already. Girl: ........./That looks funny.
138-139 Girl: !!//Brother, over there! There's a big problem![tn: OMFG Fanservice!!] Boy: Stop it. Don't pull me around!//!
140 Tetsu: Care to tell me the reason for all this ruckus? Girl: Mister Tetsujuu, there's trouble!//That way. Over there!
141 Ukiha: Jirouta-sama!//Aaaah.
142 Ukiha: AAAARGH.
143 Tetsu: Come to your senses? Ukiha: ........//Hic. Tetsu: Is anything wrong? Kin: Pffft.
144 Kin: You need not worry. I took care of you./The men didn't see anything.//Oh. And he's making a ghoulish face, but I think I know why. Ukiha: ........ Tetsu: I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you.
145 Jou: Even a Goliath like Tetsujuu is helpless before a woman. Tetsu: Goliath, ghoulish face. That's no way to talk about someone. Ukiha: Umm./Where am I? Kin: This is Tetsujuu-san's house./Well, as much as one can call this a house. Tetsu: That's enough, O-Kin! Nobody asked for your opinion about my place.
146 Tetsu: Here's some clam soup. Warm up your body some. Ukiha: It's delicious. Tetsu: Of course.
147 Kin: Hisa much better cook that what his looks let on. Tetsu: O-KIN!! Ukiha: And... What happened exactly? Tetsu: We found you unconscious on the nearby shore. Kin: You've been sleeping for half a day. But you've woken up, thanks to God. Tetsu: Your family must be worried sick./Tell us about them, so we can go have look around. Ukiha: ......... Family?
148 Jou: Maybe you can't for some reason? Ukiha: I don't know.//..........//I can't remember anything!
149 Jou: Can I have a look at her possessions? Kin: She didn't have anything.//I didn't notice anything when I changed her clothes./She didn't have a purse, or anything that would help us know her identity. Tetsu: She did have a mamorigatana.[tn: A small blade for protection, as the name suggests.]//I took it with me when I found her.
150 Jou: ........//!//This is no mamorigatana./It's a key.[tn: No shit, Sherlock!]
151 Tetsu: And a fairly elaborate one, at that. Jou: Does it remind you of something? Ukiha: ......... Jou: That key's not something you see every day.//It should help give us a clue as to what your identity is./Can you remember something? Ukiha: .......... *TODOM*
152 *DUDUM* Ukiha: RAARRGH Kin: Oh no! Hang in there![/end
153 15th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (2). Kin: She's calmed down at last.
154 Kin: I'm quite bothered by her lack of memories, though. Tetsu: O-Kin. Why don't we leave her at your place? Kin: Uuuuuuuuuh?//You're the one who picked her up, Tetsu-san. You should see your responsibilities through to the end.//In addition, it's a bad idea to move somebody around when they're wounded, isn't it? Tetsu: .......... Jou: I guess this is our only lead.[tn: Captain Obvious!]
155 Jou: I reckon we should try some divination. Something good might come of it.//...........
156 Kin: Daimaru!!
157 Tetsu: You can't mean the draperies store? Kin: Nothing else comes to mind. Jou: ......... Tetsu: What does that great store have to do with anything?! Narrator: Daimaru, Oodenma District.
158 Kin: I have nothing. Jou: Same here. Nothing about a young woman who's disappeared recently. Kin: Let's investigate a bit more. Jou: Yeah. I'm really worried about this.
159 Ninja: !!
161 Ukiha: A dream?!
162 Ukiha: ........./Tetsujuu-san?//! Tetsu: Ooh. I see you're awake. Ukiha: Tetsujuu-san. What are you doing outside?
163 Ukiha: Aaaah.[tn: YAAAAAYYYY!!] Tetsu: You'll... You'll probably rest better if you're left alone.//If you're really want to help, maybe you should start a bar inside the house. Ukiha: Hey.
164 Tetsu: ?! Ukiha: See. It's so cold out here. Tetsu: I'll be fine./I even have a campfire. Ukiha: ....... That won't do./I can't leave the man who saved my life like that.
165 Tetsu: UH. Ukiha: You're going to ruin your health./I beg you to come inside.//Come on. Tetsu: ........
166 Tetsu: .........//I guess I'll be going back outside. Ukiha: Why? Isn't this your house? Tetsu: But the two of us, all alone........... Ukiha: Oh no. Could you be the kind of person who'd try anything on a sick woman? Tetsu: No. Of course not. I never would! Ukiha: So you can come rest next to me. Tetsu: But Ukiha: Let's find an arrangement, then.
167 Ukiha: Now there should be nothing to worry about. Tetsu: Because of that string? Ukiha: I've created a barrier.
168 Tetsu: Barrier? Ukiha: What's so funny? Tetsu: It's just that "barrier" is such a fancy word.[tn: She actually says "kekkai".] Ukiha: Anyway, things should be fine now./The string will protect me. Tetsu: .......... Any memories of Daimaru? Ukiha: Eh?
169 Tetsu: One of the most prominent draperies store in Edo. They even receive orders from the Imperial Household Purveyors. Ukiha: Anything to do with me? Tetsu: We haven't found out yet./Probably the key you had with you comes from there. Ukiha: How did you come to that conclusion? Tetsu: Erm./Jounosuke is probably the best or second best locksmith in Edo. Ukiha: Then that makes you the best or second best blacksmith in Edo when it comes to locks. Tetsu: Uh.
170 Ukiha: You're the one who forges those locks for Jounosuke, aren't you? Tetsu: Well, I'm but a simple smith./Nothing to write home about. Ukiha: And a very shy person. *GASP* *snicker* Tetsu: ........//Enough. Time to sleep already!
172 Jou: So many storehouses. Daimaru is really something else.//...........
173 Jou: HIM?!!
174 Jou: The head of the Iga ninjas. Hattori Shinzou.//What is the leader of the shinobi doing here?!
175 Ukiha: .........
176 *GASP*[/end
177 16th Tale: Mysteries of the Secret Locks (3).
178 Ukiha: AAAARGH Tetsu: !
179 Ninja: !! Tetsu: Hh!*SNAP*
180 Ukiha: Hic. Tetsu: This is bad!
181 Tetsu: Humph!//Who the hell are you?![tn: This man reeks of badass! I am pretty sure there are a few biologists and physicians crying somewhere, though...]
182 Ninja: ........ Tetsu: Tsk.
184 Tetsu: !
185 Ukiha: Tetsujuu-san! Tetsu: Don't mind me./Run away, quickly!//!
186 Ninja: Where's Jirouta-sama?/What happened to him?! Ukiha: ........ Ninja: Tsk./What are you whining about? Ukiha: ....... Ninja: Come on, take it!
187 Ninja: I'll let you deal with him. Tetsu: ?!//... Ninja: ? What's wrong?/This isn't the behavior of a master shinobi like you. Ukiha: Shino....... bi.
188 Ukiha: ......... Jirouta: !//There it is. I have it!//It's ours at last. Ukiha: Indeed, Jirouta-sama.
189 Jirouta: You have no small merit in this, Ukiha. Ukiha: This is more praise than I deserve. *TODOM*
190 *TODOM* Ninja: What's wrong?! Ukiha: My. My head!//ARGH. Ninja: Tsk./No more use for her, I take it.//Time to finish you!
191 Tetsu: !
192 Tetsu: Jounosuke!
193 Jou: Are you alright, Tetsujuu? Tetsu: Hmph./The good man always comes to the rescue in good time.
194 Jou: Don't bother./No blade can cut through this material. Tetsu: Jounosuke. Don't let him get away.//I have a loooot of questions for him.
197 Tetsu: !//And the girl's gone with him! Jou: Wait! Tetsu: They can't be far away from here. Jou: Stop it. Don't go too far after them./We're dealing with shinobi, here./If we're not careful about this, we won't come out unscathed.
198 Tetsu: ......... Flashback!Ukiha: I've created a barrier. Tetsu: A kekkai, eh?/I knew this wasn't the kind a word a run-of-the-mill town girl would employ. Jou: Don't tell me she was one of them? Tetsu: .........
199 Jou: !//Who's there?!
200 Jou: ...... Shinzou: Not quite the warm welcome I was hoping for. Doorman. Jou: Hattori-sama! Yamikagishi 2. The End.[/endhttps://mangahelpers.com/t/gottheim/releases/15994[English] [Translation] Yamikagishi Volume 1 by Gottheim2009-09-10T18:21:37+00:00Gottheimadmin@mangahelpers.comYamikagishi: 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.]
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!*
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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