Akatsuki Translations

“This is not what we agreed upon!”

A Zan shouted in anger, but his voice was drowned out by the cheers and applause rising from here and there, reaching only those who were waiting beside him.

A Zan kicked and stood up, his face red with excitement, and raised his fist.

“Send soldiers immediately and kill that man!”

However, one of his close aides hastily admonished him.

“Please, restrain yourself… That person has been granted pardon by the audience. If you were to overturn that immediately, it would be a buzzkill. It might tarnish your reputation, Your Excellency.”

“But I did not grant him pardon! I did not!”

“Swayed by the match, everyone’s hearts are now with the heroic Ba Ryouki. That old general personally sought pardon, and the majority agreed with him. Now is not the time to pour cold water on this atmosphere.”

A Zan scratched his bald head with his nails.

“I, A Zan, am the lord of Uzumi Castle! What hero, what sword saint? Meddling in the affairs of another country! Damn it, I won’t allow it!”

Shouting, he reached for the sword at his waist, and his aides hurriedly tried to appease him.

“Your Excellency! Please calm your heart. Ba Ryouki is the face of Shanoa. If anything happens to him, it will become a spark that involves all the surrounding countries!”

With his hand still gripping the sword but not drawing it, A Zan clenched his fist.

“Don’t underestimate me! I’m not so… so upset that I can’t make such calculations!”

One of the aides, bowing his head, quietly muttered.

“It’s the life of one person. Please… please forget about it.”

A Zan gritted his teeth and tore off the bandage on his neck.

“Look at this murky, blackened wound on my neck! Disgracefully bearing teeth marks, what fool would let the one who did this go scot-free? Aaaargh!”

Half-crazed, he kicked the chair, and the aides bowing their heads cowered with hunched shoulders.

“Fine… I’ll prioritize gains and forget about that man’s life. But I’ll make that old geezer take responsibility! I’ll report this to His Majesty and have the entire country protest this to Shanoa. Yes… if we’re going to do it anyway, wouldn’t it be more certain to raise the issue in the name of a royal family member?”

Suddenly remembering and looking at the seat where his daughter was, A Zan blinked his eyes.

“Where is my daughter? Where did Shara go!?”

＊

Ba Ryouki, who had hurried back to his room with Libi, knelt down as soon as he closed the door.

“Uncle!?”

“Don’t make a fuss. Rather, hurry and prepare to stop the bleeding… I need a needle and thread.”

The blood dripping from his neck, which he was pressing with his hand, did not stop but rather increased in vigor. Noticing this, Libi hurriedly set about preparing for emergency treatment.

Lying on the bed, washing the wound with water, and applying a powder medicine to suppress the bleeding, Libi passed a needle through Ba Ryouki’s neck.

“I had no idea you had received such a severe wound…”

Enduring the pain, Ba Ryouki widened his nostrils and replied.

“You couldn’t see it?”

“I could see it, but I didn’t have the impression that it had penetrated, so…”

“…I see.”

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound at the door of the room. Libi, who had almost finished the treatment, responded. Libi returned with a grim face and was about to open his mouth, but Ba Ryouki, who had guessed the general content, preempted him.

“It’s a summons from Lord A Zan, isn’t it?”

Libi nodded heavily.

“After all, releasing that man without permission was going too far. We are outsiders. If they demand punishment for this matter, perhaps—”

Ba Ryouki laughed off his nephew’s concern.

“He is a cunning man. Even if he’s trembling with anger, in the end, he’ll be swayed by profit and loss, and shouting will be the best he can do.”

He said it with true conviction, but Libi seemed to take it as words of consolation and did not appear to be relieved.

“Has that Murakumo soldier left the outside of Uzumi?”

“Yes, I just received a report that he was seen leaving through the north gate.”

“Any signs of pursuers?”

“For now, there seems to be no such movement.”

Ba Ryouki nodded solemnly.

“Good.”

Libi twisted his lips in dissatisfaction.

“I don’t understand. Why did you spare him and let him go? I always thought you were not one to show mercy to the defeated, Uncle.”

Hearing this, Ba Ryouki’s face darkened grimly.

“I don’t feel a sense of victory. This cut on my neck, if just a little more force had been applied, it would have certainly reached my life.”

“Surely you don’t mean to say that man held back—”

Ba Ryouki shook his head vigorously.

“No… No, that’s impossible. I faced him with all my might as a swordsman, and he must have done the same. But somehow, my heart isn’t boiling. I should have won, I should have brought a strong opponent to the ground! And yet… it’s strange, something is strange…”

Seeing Ba Ryouki unable to hide his frustration, harboring unresolved feelings, Libi quietly said.

“I can see… your heart. You desire a rematch with that man, don’t you?”

Ba Ryouki raised his bloodshot eyes and let out a deep breath.

“If I let him live, there may be an opportunity to face him again someday.”

“…It’s too selfish of an act.”

Receiving his nephew’s accusing gaze, Ba Ryouki fell silent. It was because, as he had been told, what he had done was an utterly irresponsible act.

Ba Ryouki stood up, putting strength into his unsteady feet.

“I’m going.”

Libi hurriedly stopped him.

“Please wait, your escort—”

“I don’t need one. It’s something I did myself. I’ll go with just myself and kneel before him. I need to show at least that much sincerity, or it won’t be settled.”

Without waiting for a reply, Ba Ryouki left the room.

＊

Shuou stood alone on the white road leading to New Moon Fortress in Murakumo territory, gazing intently at Uzumi Castle where he had been imprisoned until just before.

With his eyebrows raised and his mouth tightly drawn, there was not a shred of his usual composure and gentle demeanor left in his appearance.

—I’ll take it all back.

He forcefully shifted his gaze away from Uzumi. What lay ahead was that deep Gray Forest that rejected the presence of humanity.