Dale Furutani: Jade Palace Vendetta

Returning the jug, Kaze examined the dead bandit’s sword once again. Its sword guard was made of iron, with a cherry blossom pattern. Highlights of a cherry branch formed the outer edge of the guard, the edges of the branch picked out in gold. The individual cherry blossoms were tiny sweeps of silver, so it looked like the blossoms were catching the last rays of the setting sun as they fluttered to the ground. To Kaze and most samurai, life was symbolized by the falling cherry blossom, fragile and ephemeral.

The blade of the dead man’s sword was about the size of the sword that had broken. Katana were long swords, but they were not forged to a set length. Often the length was adjusted to the size of the man. Kaze tentatively slipped the dead man’s sword into his plain black-lacquer scabbard. It was not a perfect fit, but it would do until he was able to figure out how to get another sword made for him.

He tucked the scabbard into his sash and started walking off down the road.

“Where are you going?” the merchant said, alarmed.

“As you see, I am walking down the Tokaido Road. I’m resuming my journey.”

“Wait! You can’t go and leave me,” the merchant said.

“Why can’t I?” Kaze answered.

“I want you to be my bodyguard, my yojimbo.”

You want me to be your bodyguard?” Kaze asked incredulously.

The merchant waved about him. “You can see my men are dead, and I still need protection.”

“Why?” Kaze asked.

“Because that dog’s offal still has men,” the merchant said, pointing to the dead bandit chief. “They will gather others and they’ll come after me again. Their obsession for my Yuchan knows no limits.”

Kaze eyed the merchant warily for several moments. Then he said, “You said the bandit was after you because he wanted your woman. Now he’s dead. It’s true that an obake , a ghost, can still desire a woman, but it’s not true that an obake can organize his men and continue to attack you. They can’t all desire your wife the way Ishibashi did.”

Hishigawa pushed on without the slightest hesitation. “It’s just that I know his group and how they think. They’ll never let me live. Of course, the group won’t have the same passion for my woman that Ishibashi did, but they will have a passion for avenging his death.”

“In that case, I’m the one who must worry, because I am the one who killed him,” Kaze said.

“But his men won’t know that,” the merchant argued. “They’ll think that I killed him. And they’ll gather their forces and recruit new men and come after me.”

Kaze looked at the merchant. The merchant stared back at him with frog’s eyes. Instead of pursuing the argument, Kaze turned on his heels and started walking down the Tokaido Road again.

“Wait!” the merchant said.

Kaze continued walking.

“Please, wait! I’ll tell you the truth,” he shouted. His voice was tinged with fear and apprehension.

Kaze stopped and turned around, but he didn’t come closer to the merchant. The merchant ran up to him, a look of desperation on his face.

“And what is the truth?” Kaze said.

The merchant sighed, saying more to himself than to Kaze, “I guess I have no choice but to tell you.”

Kaze shrugged. “It’s all the same to me. You can tell the truth or not. But if you don’t tell me the truth I’ll leave. If you do tell me the truth I still might not stay, but it would be nice to know the cause of all the killing I’ve just done.”

The merchant sighed once more, as if telling the truth was difficult for him. “It is true that Ishibashi wanted my wife. It was an obsession with him, the kind of lust that spreads from the groin until it poisons the blood and then eventually crazes the mind. Yet there’s something more involved in this particular story.” He pointed to the pushcart and the chest that was strapped to it. “On that cart is gold. I have businesses in Kyoto, Edo, and Kamakura. I have to transfer funds from all those interests. Edo is growing so fast since the Tokugawa victory that it requires an influx of gold to keep up with the growth. I was transferring funds from Kyoto to Edo, and that’s the reason I was attacked on the road. Ishibashi’s personal animosity was directed toward me because of his lust for my woman, but the gang was motivated to attack because of their greed. Although the lust was killed with the bandit leader, the greed is still very much alive in the hearts of his followers. I’m sure they’ll come again, and I’ll be helpless here without you. You have to get me to the next guard barrier.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll pay you.”

Kaze tightened his lips in disgust with the talk of payment. Merchants loved such talk, but it was not in the nature of a true samurai to concern himself with such things.

When he was a castle samurai instead of a ronin, his wife handled the finances. She would outfit him in armor and assure he had proper horses and retainers to go to war. She and an accountant handled all the funds for the castle that Kaze ruled. Kaze knew the total income of his land in koku , the amount of rice it took to feed a man for one year, but he had absolutely no idea what his personal finances were like. It was beneath the dignity of a true samurai to worry about money.

Still, his life had changed in many ways over the past two years, and he had learned the importance of money. If he had no money, it would impede his search for the girl. Also, without money he would not be able to replace the sword in his scabbard with another one. As much as he tried to balance and calm his spirit, he was still greatly disturbed by the breaking of his sword and the fact that he was carrying a dead man’s katana.

The katana was the soul of a samurai. It was shrouded in myth as well as mystery. One of the key symbols of Shinto was a sword. A samurai using a sword taken from a dead body seemed to violate the ideals of purification and spirituality. Kaze was uneasy about using such a sword.

As if he was reading Kaze’s thoughts, the merchant said, “I’ll give you enough so that you can buy another sword. A fine sword to replace the one that was broken. Kamakura has the finest swordsmiths in Japan. We’ll go to my home there instead of continuing to Edo. You can have your pick of any sword in Kamakura, and I will pay for it!”

Kaze wondered about taking money for his services, but he realized that for most of his life as a warrior he had received some kind of payment for his services. The payment was often in rice or land or honors, but it was still payment.

“Until the next barrier?” Kaze confirmed.

“Yes, just until the next barrier. There I should be able to get some more men to help me finish the journey safely. When I get home to Kamakura I’ll send the money on to Edo under heavier guard. You can accompany me to Kamakura, and I will pay you when I’m safely home.”

“You pull on the handles of the cart and I’ll push it,” Kaze said.

Smiling, the merchant put away his sword blade and got between the handles of the cart, pulling it down the Tokaido Road with Kaze behind pushing. The cart was surprisingly heavy. Kaze thought that the chest must contain a substantial amount of gold.

As Kaze pushed the cart, he realized they were being followed. The bandits he had chased away had found courage in their greed, or perhaps they had realized that there were only two men opposing them. They flitted from tree to tree, remaining hidden in the brush along the side of the road.

“How far is it to the next barrier?” Kaze asked.