Demon Sword Dance
Book 2 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 1 - The Ruined Temple
Chapter 3
The next morning, Hyakkimaru ate rice gruel for breakfast, then went down to the river valley. The river was swollen with snowmelt from the mountains because of the change in season from spring to summer. Hyakkimaru stood high up on the riverbank and assumed a posture of prayer.
"God of Iwakura Shrine, worker of miracles, pray for me..."
Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword and focused intensely on it as he began sword practice. The sound of the sword cutting through the air carried over the water.
Hyakkimaru threw the Muramasa sword, using psychokinetic control to prevent it from falling to the ground. He summoned the sword back to his hand, then threw it again. The sword wobbled in the air; Hyakkimaru caught it and frowned.
"I didn't expect that." Hyakkimaru inspected the sword, but found no obvious fault. "What's going on with you?"
The Muramasa sword was acting strangely. Was his psychokinesis getting weaker? Was he not practicing enough? He took the hilt of the sword in both hands and held it up to the sky to take a closer look. The morning light made the blade look pure white.
"God of Iwakura Shrine, worker of miracles..." Hyakkimaru prayed with his whole heart and mind. When he finished the prayer and looked at the sword again, the light dancing along the blade seemed strangely dull.
Something was definitely wrong.
I mistook that old monk for a yōkai, briefly, and we crossed swords. He knew about my body and used psychokinetic energy that I could feel as an attack. Could he have done something to my sword? Why would he do that?
Hyakkimaru remembered the last thing the blind monk had said to him: "You're so young. All that hatred you have will expend itself and come to nothing. May Manjushri, bodhisattva of wisdom, guide your steps."
"What does Manjushri have to do with anything?" Hyakkimaru muttered. Maybe nothing, maybe everything; Hyakkimaru didn't know. He knew that the change in his sword was not normal, and fear of what had caused this sudden alteration made his hands shake. The old monk must have done something...
Hyakkimaru sheathed his sword and returned to the temple. He wouldn't be able to practice effectively this way. As he drew closer to the temple, he heard voices.
"Surely you can't be leaving yet!" Mio said. "The children would be so lonely."
"Big brother, please stay with us!"1 one of the children said. "Don't go away yet!"
The children had only known Dororo for a very short time, but they were strongly attached and didn't want to let him go.
"Uh, I don't want to leave, but I really can't stay," Dororo said.
"No! No!" The children cried out in unison, showing Dororo their sad faces.
Dororo looked toward Hyakkimaru for help. "Aniki?"
Hyakkimaru agreed with Dororo: they would have to leave soon, but he did want to stay, for the children's sake and for Mio's.
"It's rude to force people," Mio said, gently rebuking the children. They turned their tear-stained faces toward her next.
"What should we do, aniki?" Dororo asked.
The children's attachment to Dororo was strong, but their attachment to Hyakkimaru was hardly weak. They liked him less, but they needed him more. He was a strong warrior who could protect them from danger.
Hyakkimaru glanced at Dororo, then made his decision. "Mio. Would you let us stay for one more night?"
Mio blushed. "Um, that is...uh..."
The children clamored around her, begging her to let Dororo and Hyakkimaru stay.
"It's all right to refuse," Hyakkimaru said. "Will you allow us to help you gather food, as thanks for giving us stew last night?"
"We don't need your help," Mio snapped suddenly. She was stunned at her own outburst. When she spoke again, she was calmer. "I'm sorry. I appreciate your kindness, but if people from the villages saw you..."
Hyakkimaru nodded. If strangers saw him out gathering with Mio and the children, they might come away with the wrong impression. Hyakkimaru hadn't considered the cause of Mio's embarrassment.
"All right. How about if you stay here, and I'll go gathering with the children?"
"And I'll go catch birds and fish," Dororo said. "Everyone will pitch in!"
The children hadn't eaten meat in a long time. All of them happily agreed to Dororo's plan.
***
Dororo rolled up his sleeves and fished for most of the afternoon until after sunset. He and Hyakkimaru brought back wild birds that he'd caught as well.
When Dororo and Hyakkimaru returned to the temple with the children, Mio was gone. Hyakkimaru went out onto the mountain road to look for her. She carried a sack full of food on her back as she climbed up the steep trail.
"Welcome back," Hyakkimaru called out to her.
"Ah!" Mio stumbled in surprise. She'd been lost in thought and hadn't seen him standing there. Her expression in the faint moonlight was tense and terrified.
"Did something happen?" Hyakkimaru asked.
"No," Mio said quickly. "No. I'm just tired." She smiled a little.
"Let me help you carry that," Hyakkimaru said. He accepted the heavy sack of food from Mio.
"Did you come out to meet me?" Mio asked.
"Yeah. I—uh, we were worried about you."
Mio's smile widened.
Dororo rushed up to greet Mio and Hyakkimaru with a friendly wave. "You're back!"
Hyakkimaru, Mio and Dororo went back into kitchen and hurriedly unpacked supplies. That night's stew was a feast that contained bird meat and all kinds of fresh wild vegetables and herbs. Mio's expression brightened when she saw all the children's happiness, but Dororo looked at her silently and didn't smile, even when he ate.
"Are you all right, Dororo?" Mio asked.
"I'm fine," Dororo said. He grinned a little to reassure Mio, then went back to eating.
After dinner, everyone went to bed. Hyakkimaru awoke in the middle of the night and realized that Mio wasn't there. Dororo and the children were asleep in the main hall, snoring slightly with their stomachs distended from overeating. Hyakkimaru sneaked past the children and left the temple.
The clear, cold light of the moon illuminated the road below the temple as bright as day. Hyakkimaru heard the Hino River flowing in the valley far below. Something white flashed in the river. Hyakkimaru walked stealthily down to the riverbank to take a closer look.
Mio stood in the cold river water up to her knees, illuminated in the light of the moon.
Hyakkimaru was stunned at the sight. He held his breath.
He'd never seen Mio naked before. There was something mysterious and ethereal about her smooth and graceful movements. Her breasts were round; her legs were long and supple like a deer's. The shadow of her body was reflected in the rippling water.
Hyakkimaru had seen a naked girl swimming in the river on Mount Kurama before when he'd been a boy, but at a much greater distance. He'd never seen an adult woman this way before. Mio was overwhelmingly beautiful.
Hyakkimaru frowned when he realized she was crying. She stood in the middle of the river, weeping with her hands clasped together in prayer.
Hyakkimaru was shaken to the core of himself. He left the riverbank and returned to the temple.
***
The next morning, Dororo had a high fever. He'd caught a cold from fishing in the river for so much of the previous day. Hyakkimaru went out to the woods to gather herbs that Jukai had taught him about that would bring down the fever, including bupleurum root.2 He boiled the herbs into a solution and gave it to Dororo to drink. Mio dipped a clean cloth in cold water and placed it gently on Dororo's forehead.
The children poured medicine into Buddhist ritual dishes that had been hidden away. They weren't used in religious ceremonies any longer, but they proved useful in nursing the sick Dororo. Mio was used to tending to all the children on her own, so seeing the children so active in caring for Dororo surprised her a little.
Hyakkimaru wasn't sure if Dororo was actually sick. He'd caught a fever just before they were set to leave the temple.
Mio started working some of the vacant land behind the temple.
"Can I help?" Hyakkimaru asked.
Mio nodded. Hyakkimaru picked up a hoe and tilled beside her.
"I was thinking of planting vegetables so that we can harvest them in winter," Mio said.
"Winter's a long way off, miss Mio.3 You should think about how to provide for yourselves until then."
"Call me Mio—just Mio. Please."
Mio was self-conscious about her social position. Hyakkimaru seemed to be a member of a samurai house; having him refer to her with an honorific when she was so much lower than him in status was unbearable to her.4
Hyakkimaru smiled bitterly. "Mio, then. I can help gather again, too."
"But don't you need to leave soon?" Mio asked. Her forehead crinkled in a frown.
"Yes. I have some business to take care of in Takefu, but I should be able to visit on my way back."
"I hope you have a safe journey," she said with a sincere smile. After a pause, she said, "You know, Dororo got mad when I tried to wipe away his fever sweat."
"Mad?" Hyakkimaru asked.
"Yes. He even threatened me," Mio said.
"He must be embarrassed or something."
"But, um..." Mio paused. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she thought better of it. "Never mind. It's nothing."
"Is Dororo all right?" Hyakkimaru asked in a tone of concern.
"It's very sweet of you to care about him so much. I'm a little jealous."
"He's also an orphan, like the other children here."
"But he's very much your little brother. He's adorable."
"I'm lucky to have him."
Mio nodded a little, but she didn't say anything else about Dororo. "You must be tired. Won't you rest awhile?"
Hyakkimaru hadn't taken his hands off the hoe since he'd started digging early that morning. "Sure," he said. "I could take a break."
"There's a hill near here that has a magnificent view. Would you like to see it?"
"All right," he said. "Let's go."
***
Hyakkimaru and Mio climbed up the mountain to the hill. The view from the height was breathtaking: the mountain towered over them, verdant with fresh spring green. Some people called this mountain the Mount Fuji of Ezichen, after the famous mountain near Edo. Spring flowers were all in bloom on the sheer slope.
Hyakkimaru was awed. "You’re right. It really is an amazing view."
Mio gave him a brilliant smile. "I come here sometimes. I call it the Flower Hill. I like looking at it no matter how I feel—happy, sad, excited. It soothes me."
Hyakkimaru and Mio sat down at the top of the hill. She was downwind and close enough to touch. Hyakkimaru remembered seeing her in the river the previous night and couldn't quite bring himself to look at her. She was too bright, too blinding.
"Mio," he said, more of a question than a statement. His eyes were unfocused, as if they were looking at something far away. "I wanted to ask…if there was anything you were worried about. You and the children have a hard life here."
Mio's face set in severe lines. "It's sad that the children have no other family, but I take care of them as best I can. That means raising them until they're grown. I'm sure that Myōkichi will watch over and protect us until that time, Lord Hyakkimaru."
Hyakkimaru's eyebrows shot up. "Myōkichi? Is that someone you know? Someone who can help?"
Mio clasped her hands together, then smiled. "Myōkichi is the Bodhisattva Manjushri. He is a merciful god of wisdom and compassion."
Hyakkimaru had been raised as a Buddhist, but he'd never heard the name Myōkichi used interchangeably with Manjushri's before. Manjushri had been commonly worshiped since the year 818, when he'd been publicly inducted as an official Bodhisattva. There were legends of him appearing to the poor, the sick, and to orphaned children; he saved them from adversity and provided them with better lives. As worship of Manjushri spread, temples started feeding gruel to the poor free of charge and caring for the sick and injured. Manjushri was very popular near the capital, but worship of him was less common in the countryside. The people of Mio's village had worshiped him under an entirely different name.
Hyakkimaru understood the source of Mio's compassion for the children now, though the depth and sincerity of it were entirely her own.
***
Dororo recovered from his fever after a few days. Mio nursed him carefully for much of that time. On a day when Mio went out to beg for food, Dororo called Hyakkimaru over and whispered, "I want to help Mio."
"She'll tell you 'no,'" Hyakkimaru said. "You've been sick, remember?"
"I'm fine," Dororo insisted. "I'll sneak into a village and bring food back for all of us." Dororo was good at avoiding the eyes of villagers. He'd gotten lots of practice before meeting Hyakkimaru.
"You know we're leaving tomorrow," Hyakkimaru said.
"Yeah."
Dororo got up and followed Mio to the village despite what Hyakkimaru had said. When he came back to the ruined temple at sunset, he was alone, very pale, and completely out of breath.
Hyakkimaru frowned. "Isn't Mio with you?"
Dororo didn't answer. He dashed into the temple without saying a word. Hyakkimaru followed after Dororo in alarm; he'd never seen him look so scared before. If he had to guess, he'd say that Dororo had just received a nasty shock.
After running into the main hall, Dororo crouched down in a corner and hugged himself. Hyakkimaru followed him and reached out to touch his forehead.
"Don't touch me," Dororo spat. "Get away from me." He pushed Hyakkimaru away. He didn't have a fever, but he was shaking all over.
"What happened?" Hyakkimaru asked.
"Leave me alone!"
Hyakkimaru left Dororo, not without some reluctance. He would wait for Dororo to calm down before talking with him again. Maybe Mio would be able to explain when she got back.
A short time later, Mio returned. She seemed all right. There was nothing out of the ordinary about her. She set down a sack of food in the main hall of the temple, then caught sight of Dororo, who was still curled up in the corner.
"Do you feel sick again?" Mio asked.
When Dororo didn't answer, Hyakkimaru said, "No, he's just sulking. I think it's my fault. Leave him alone for a little while."
"You shouldn't fight with your brother," Mio said to Dororo. She stared at Dororo and frowned in worry.
Hyakkimaru didn't tell Mio that Dororo had followed her to the village.
The next morning, Dororo awoke as usual, but he kept avoiding Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru decided leave sometime around noon. He hoped that leaving this place would restore Dororo to his usual self.
Mio brought out some baked sweets that she'd made to give Dororo and Hyakkimaru for their journey. Right when Mio was packing them up, she heard the sound of horses' hooves. The children playing outside rushed into the temple in a panic.
Hyakkimaru went out to intercept the riders. Two men dismounted from their horses and tethered them to willow trees. It was obvious at a glance that they were samurai. Their messy hair was bound into topknots, they wore solid-looking chest armor that was dirty from long use, and they carried bows and arrows on their backs. Longswords hung from scabbards at their hips. They viewed Hyakkimaru with open disdain as they walked toward the temple.
They didn't look like proper samurai. In addition to their messy hair and generally unkempt appearance, they were unshaven and had the sharp, hungry look of predators. One man was tall, lanky, and too thin, while the other was a veritable giant.
Hyakkimaru was considering how to run them off when the lanky man shifted toward the giant. He pointed at Hyakkimaru.
"What do you think? A lover?"
"Looks like a kid. Maybe a monk?" The giant squinted at Hyakkimaru.
The two samurai climbed up the stone steps and stopped directly in front of Hyakkimaru.
"Bring that bitch Mio out here," the too-thin samurai said.
All the blood rushed to Hyakkimaru's head. Having these wicked-looking robbers refer to Mio so casually and disrespectfully made him clench his fists with rage.
"Insolent scum," Hyakkimaru spat. He kicked the giant in the torso so hard that he stumbled backward down the steps. The giant fell and rolled, but he was on his feet again in an instant and drew his sword.
"Get down here and I'll slice you in half," the giant said menacingly.
The lanky samurai drew his sword as well. "Come, little monk. Let's see what you're made of."
Hyakkimaru glanced back into the ruined temple. The terrified children were gathered in the corners of the main hall with their heads down. Dororo stood in the shadow of the doorway directly behind him. Hyakkimaru didn't see Mio anywhere.
Hyakkimaru walked slowly down the stone steps of the temple, unarmed and unarmored.
"Drop dead, you bastard!" the giant screamed, holding his sword over his head. He struck fast, slicing his sword down toward Hyakkimaru's skull.
Hyakkimaru stepped around the giant's left side, so fast that his movements could scarcely be seen. His limbs weren't organic; if he focused his psychokinesis and channeled it steadily, he could move far faster than an ordinary person. He'd worked all day, but he still had psychokinetic energy to spare, which was further bolstered by his raw rage.
The giant's sword embedded itself deeply in the ground right where Hyakkimaru had been standing seconds before.
"Shit," the giant shouted.
Hyakkimaru slithered his hand out to grab the giant's sword and pull it strongly out of the ground. In the same motion, he slashed the giant's neck.
Blood gushed from the wound. The giant gurgled more blood as he tried to scream.
The thin samurai sprinted to his horse and galloped down the mountain path toward the road before Hyakkimaru could catch him.
"Shit," Dororo said. "They found us." He no longer appeared frightened or closed-off.
"You know them?" Hyakkimaru asked. "Tell me everything."
Dororo's face reddened; he hesitated. "They...know Mio. Do you really want me to tell you?"
"Yes."
Dororo took a moment to compose himself, then started talking, piece by piece and a little at a time.
***
What had originally inspired Dororo to follow Mio to the surrounding villages was jealousy. Mio had been spending a lot of time with Hyakkimaru. He wanted to know where and how she acquired such large quantities of food, since she always went on her own and none of the other children knew.
Mio went down the mountain and crossed the river valley. She climbed up into a rocky area that opened out onto a road that was wide enough for several horses to walk abreast. Dororo stayed concealed in the trees and undergrowth along the side of the road, tracking Mio's progress.
Mio wasn't walking the same way she usually did. She was crouched in on herself with her head down as if she were trying to avoid being seen.
Dororo gasped involuntarily as he watched several vulgar and dirty-looking men emerge from the trees surrounding Mio. Dororo was some distance away, but he knew the look of a band of thieves and murderers when he saw one. He couldn't see their faces, but most of them wore armor and carried spears in their hands and had longswords hanging from their belts. Dororo had seen many real samurai and ashigaru when he'd lived in Kyōto at the start of the war; he couldn't be mistaken about what he was seeing.
"Huh? Did Mio mean to run into these guys?" Dororo muttered. He wasn't running away. Dororo's curiosity was piqued. He decided to follow Mio and the armed men.
In the shadow of the rocky cliffs, there was a fortress. It was partially hidden by trees and was made of untreated wood. There was a stable out front big enough to hold thirty horses. Several smaller buildings surrounded the fortress, all newly thatched. Some of these buildings were raised up off the ground on poles. Dororo guessed that food was stored in them. Although the place was crudely constructed, Dororo thought that it looked too sophisticated in design to be a bandit fortress.
Guards stood on or near the watchtowers, but they appeared bored. Dororo looked at the design on the fortress' flags and sucked in a breath.
Looks like bad news, Dororo thought. This is Korikuma's hideout.5
Before Dororo met Hyakkimaru, he lived in an abandoned temple in Kyōto. During the day, his haunt was usually safe, but it was attacked at night by robbers and bandits roaming the streets. These men were cruel and sneaky and could show up anywhere at seemingly any time. They looted treasures, raped women, and slaughtered people indiscriminately wherever they went. Dororo was more frightened of them than he was of out-of-control wildfires. One of the worst of these was Korikuma, who controlled a fairly large roving army.
Korikuma answered to no one and obeyed his own rules. With the Eastern Army and the Western Army at open war all over the countryside, Korikuma and his bandits were free to wreak havoc wherever they wished without interference from the local police or governing officials. Ezichen was one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the country; bandits and thieves also swarmed there.
Dororo discovered a secret path that led into the fortress starting at the foot of a low mountain. It was above the main road, so Dororo was able to keep an eye on the bandits while keeping out of sight.
As he tracked the bandits from above, Dororo had a brave and reckless thought: I should sneak in.
It was a rare thing, finding a bandit lair. He might uncover information or treasures inside that were valuable. If he brought back proof of where the bandits were and that they'd attacked villages, the provincial judicial office might move to wipe them out. The only thing they really cared about was tax revenue, so if the bandits were eating into that, the authorities might actually do something. Dororo might also find some quality loot to steal for himself.
Dororo noticed more outbuildings, including one that looked better-built than the others, as he came closer to the fortress. He was used to sneaking around armies in Kyōto; no one noticed his approach. He peeked into one of the outbuildings and was so stunned that he couldn't move.
A bearded man stood inside in his underwear, facing Mio. He ripped Mio's kimono off her shoulders and shifted a little toward the doorway. Dororo could tell that he was older, at least forty. The smile on his lips was wicked and lecherous. He caressed Mio's naked body with hairy, disgusting hands.
Mio put up no resistance. She let the man do what he wanted.
Dororo's face felt hot, like his fever had returned. He was frozen in place like he'd been turned to metal. His throat burned with thirst and sharp pain shot through his chest. He was stunned, and maybe a little heartbroken. He couldn't move at all, not even to look away. Terror and adrenaline kept him in place, because it was safer here than it was to run.
The man's large hands coiled around Mio's hips. Mio gasped as he pulled her forward. Watching the man abuse Mio in this way before his very eyes shocked Dororo so much that he stumbled backward and fell. He'd felt too hot before, but now he felt cold all the way through.
Dororo crawled to a place where there was tall grass, then straightened up and ran back to the ruined temple. His head felt too heavy to lift by the time he returned, and his body ached all over. Even Hyakkimaru's voice seemed hateful to him then.
***
Dororo finished speaking with his face bright red and turned toward the ground.
Hyakkimaru was so overwhelmed with painful emotion that he didn't speak. Mio must have thought that the only way to save the children was to sacrifice her own body in exchange. The land was war-torn and there had been several recent famines. Farming families needed everything they grew and would likely spare none for strangers. Hyakkimaru understood quickly why Mio would think that she had no choice but to do as she'd done. What he felt wasn't anger, or resentment, or any sense of judgment. It was grief.
Hyakkimaru faced the kitchen. Mio had brought in the supplies and heard at least part of Dororo's confession. She sat cross-legged on the earth floor, pale-faced but composed.
"Mio," Hyakkimaru said quietly.
She started to cry. "Forgive me. I wish you didn't know. You should have left today and never found out."
Hyakkimaru tried to speak, but made no sound.
"Don't care about me." Mio's voice was thick with tears; she flung out her words violently, like blows from a fist. "Please. I can't stand it. My body is impure and corrupted and you should hate me."
Hyakkimaru heard nothing except Mio's pain. He still couldn't bring himself to speak.
Mio's face twitched and convulsed as tears fell down her cheeks. She stared at Hyakkimaru and said, "Leave. Get away from here. Or you'll be corrupted, too."
Hyakkimaru held her stare. "What do you mean, you're impure and corrupted?"
"You know," she said. "And it will happen to you, too, if you don't get away from me right now." Mio was frantic; her hands dug into the dirt floor.
"Mio—"
"Leave!" she shouted. She looked at Hyakkimaru with eyes that were bright with tears.
"You say you've been corrupted," Hyakkimaru said quietly. "That your body is impure...if that's the case, then look at me, Mio."
Hyakkimaru set his Muramasa sword down at his side, then started to remove his clothes.
Mio stared at him in astonishment; she had no idea why he was doing this. He stripped himself totally bare, feeling the sudden need to confess and reveal absolutely everything. All of his limbs were attached to his torso via metal parts that stuck out in places to allow them to come off for repair or replacement. Anyone who hadn't seen Hyakkimaru like this before would probably assume that he was a monster.
He was naked in front of a woman for the first time in his life, but he felt no embarrassment.
Mio gasped and looked away.
"Look," Hyakkimaru said.
Mio swallowed, mastering her fear. She returned her gaze slowly to Hyakkimaru.
"I was corrupted from birth," he said, "but not by my own hand. I choose to live anyway. I had people to help me and encourage me to keep on living, no matter what."
Mio seemed to calm down somewhat. She clasped her hands together in a pose of prayer. Her ragged breathing calmed down, but her shoulders still shook.
This was also the first time Hyakkimaru had told anyone the secret of his false body. Dororo had discovered it on accident after a fight with a demon.
"You've done nothing wrong, Mio. You have no family, no skill with weapons or a means of procuring them, no money—how else were you going to save all those unfortunate children out there? I understand. Believe me, I understand."
Jukai and Sakuzō had chosen to take him in—an orphan, for all they knew—and raised him with love and compassion. He would never judge Mio for doing the same thing for all the starving war orphans in the ruined temple. If compassion was feeling another's pain as sharply as one's own, then Hyakkimaru had found himself in just such an uncomfortable place.
"No one would think you were corrupted or impure if they felt your kindness," Hyakkimaru said.
"Hyakkimaru..." Mio's eyes were locked on his. "I'm so scared that I want to die, but whenever I think of what would happen to the children, I... I can't."
Mio told Hyakkimaru that the bandits at the fortress had captured her shortly after she and the children started living at the ruined temple. She was sentenced to death because she'd seen their faces. She'd fallen on her knees and begged, not for her life, but for the children's.
"Do whatever you want to me," she said, "but please leave the children alone in that ruined temple. If you promise me that, I'll gladly die."
"Wait," Korikuma said. "We'll give you food. Let's make an arrangement. But if you try to run off, we'll kill you."
Mio knew that it would be useless to run. She and the children had no other place to go. The bandits understood that she was willing to give up anything, including her life, to save the children, so they took from her and used her however they liked.
"It's dangerous here," Mio said. "You need to leave now."
Hyakkimaru rested a hand on her shoulder. "Mio, let me help."
"You can't!" She slapped his hand away with great force. The bandits would come in force now that Hyakkimaru had killed one of their own. Their agreement with Mio didn't include sharing her with anyone else.
"Just run somewhere, anywhere," Mio said. "The children and I will hide in the mountains."
"Wait here," Hyakkimaru said. "Just for a little while. I'll take care of it, then come back." He got up, pulling on his clothes hastily.
As Hyakkimaru left the ruined temple, he heard Mio sobbing behind him.
Translator's Notes:
1 The children refer to Dororo as oniichan (お兄ちゃん), the casual form of "big brother," in much the same way as they refer to Mio as their big sister, despite the fact that they have no actual kin ties to either Dororo or Mio. Oniichan and oneechan and their more formal forms, oniisan and oneesan, are used to politely address strangers of a certain age in Japanese; using the casual forms, as the children do, makes the relationships closer and more intimate.↩
2 Bupleurum root is part of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family, and resembles dill or fennel. However, bupleurum has long thin leaves rather than the lacy appearance of fennel and dill leaves. The roots of the plant are used in herbal medicine. Distillations from the plant are used to treat viral infections and epilepsy.↩
3 Hyakkimaru calls Mio 美緒さん, Mio-san, a polite honorific usually used between strangers or people of a similar status who don't know one another well.↩
4 Mio refers to both Hyakkimaru and Dororo with the -sama honorific: 百鬼丸様、どろろ様. This honorific is used by those of lower status to those of exalted status: commoners to lords and kings, lords and kings to emperors, etc.↩
5 狐狸熊 Korikuma literally means foxes, tanuki (raccoon dogs) and bears, which are all wild animals known for being clever. It is the name of a famous bandit leader in the area.↩
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