Hyakkimaru's Birth
Book 1 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 5 - The Ōnin War Begins
Chapter 4
Hyakkimaru went to a relay station for the Board of Retainers in Kyōto and met with an ashigaru captain at around three in the afternoon.
"I'm Hyakkimaru," he said. "Until recently, I served under Honekawa Dōken. He recommended me to Lord Taga."
His words had a powerful effect; the ashigaru captain seemed stunned. "What? Honekawa?" He took a moment to compose himself, then said, "Wait here."
The ashigaru captain retreated into an interior room, but he soon returned. "We'll have to question you, but I wouldn't worry. No one who worked for Honekawa is going to get turned away. Follow me."
Hyakkimaru followed the ashigaru captain into another room. Hyakkimaru was led before an interrogator who asked him to verify his claims. Hyakkimaru produced the uniform that Honekawa Dōken had given him.
The interrogator frowned, then said, "This certainly is the uniform that Lord Honekawa was presented with, but why is it in your possession?"
"He asked me to come here with this, as a parting request."
"Lord Honekawa is dead," the interrogator said. "He was defeated in battle earlier this afternoon."
"What?" Hyakkimaru blinked in surprise. He knew that Honekawa was prepared for his own end, but he'd only left the mountain that morning. The rumor was that Honekawa had been killed by Asakura Takakage's army.
After a few more questions, the interrogator agreed to serve as go-between for Hyakkimaru to Taga Takatada. Hyakkimaru waited more than an hour before he arrived, accompanied by two retainers. He was fresh from the battlefield and was still wearing his armor.
Hyakkimaru put his face to the floor. He never thought he'd meet a member of the Board of Retainers, especially one who was so high-ranked. A meeting of this kind was rarely granted, but Taga Takatada truly had trusted and relied on Honekawa Dōken.
Hyakkimaru was extremely nervous, but Taga Takatada treated him as a friend. He scratched at his finely trimmed mustache, then said, "Did you say that your name was Hyakkimaru?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, if Honekawa trusted you, then so do I," Taga Takatada said. "I know the general situation from his letters; have you heard any news?"
"I only just learned that he died in battle," Hyakkimaru said.
"So soon?" He frowned. "It's a terrible loss, though not unexpected. People are already making songs about him in the street. Have you heard them?"
Hyakkimaru shook his head.
Taga Takatada hummed a tune, then sang, "Yesterday, Honekawa was at Inari Shrine; today, Honewaka is bones and skin."1
Hyakkimaru cast his eyes down.
"He wrote about you. You were the one interested in something that happened in the Hōtoku Era, right?"
Hyakkimaru looked up. "Yes. Eighteen years ago, specifically."
Taga Takatada looked at one of his retainers, who produced a sheet of paper and handed it to him. He scanned it over, then said, "Hosokawa Katsumoto was the shōgun's deputy at that time; his duties were shared with Isshiki Norichika and Kyōgoku Mochikyo. The magistrates were Fuse Sadamoto, Jibu Sadamasa, Kiyo Sadatsuna, Saitō Motochika, Yoda Hidetomo, and others, but I confined my search to those who live near Kyōto and Mount Kurama." He paused.
"Please go on," Hyakkimaru said.
"The war has been hard on us all, but one of our greatest losses is records. So many have burned in the last year, so I'm afraid that I might not have found what you're looking for. However, I did get my hands on the records of all the owners of estates on Mount Kurama eighteen years ago."
"And what did you find out?" Hyakkimaru asked. He was impatient. He knew that records of samurai families were difficult for the public to access, but he couldn't help but try to hurry Taga Takatada's report along. It was a good thing that Honekawa and Taga had been on such friendly terms. Hyakkimaru was genuinely relieved, and even a little touched, that Honekawa had kept his word in ordering this investigation.
"Six families match the general description provided. All of them had a birth that year. Of those, three had births recorded in November."
Hyakkimaru's throat went dry. The shogunate's records of samurai families were much more detailed than he would have guessed.
"The first family had a daughter who died at the age of eight. The other two families had sons."
Hopelessness overwhelmed Hyakkimaru. He was foolish to think that there were any official records of his own birth. His mind went blank, as if a strong wind had blown everything in it clean away.
Taga Takatada didn't notice his distress. He kept reading from the paper. "The estate at Kibune was the closest match to the description provided."
Kibune wasn't far from Mount Kurama, and it was upstream on the Takano River. The water goddess Mizunohame was worshiped at a shrine in Kibune.
Takatada frowned down at the paper. "The clan that lived there sent in a records correction."
Hyakkimaru leaned forward with his hands gripping his knees. "A correction?"
"It's true that the clan head's wife gave birth to a son, but he was stillborn. The head of the family was a military commander in Mimasaka Province and Iwami Province. The family were retainers of Yamana Masakiyo."
Hyakkimaru felt a sudden twinge of hope. A stillbirth was a natural way to explain a bizarre birth, and there would be any number of ways to explain why there wasn't a body.
"What's the name of the head of the family?" Hyakkimaru asked quickly, almost breathlessly.
Taga Takatada lifted his eyes from the paper and looked straight at Hyakkimaru as he said, "Daigo Kagemitsu."
"Kagemitsu..." Hyakkimaru caught his breath.
"'Daigo' is spelled with the same characters as the Daigo Temple. 'Kagemitsu' is spelled with the character for 'view' and the character for 'light.'"2
Hyakkimaru was sweating all over. "Do you know where he is?" Hyakkimaru asked.
"The family left the Kibune estate in the second year of the Hōtoku Era, 1450. Yamana Masakiyo discarded them as retainers. It seemed that he had no use for retainers with so few connections in the capital, and who lived so far away."
"Wasn't Yamana Masakiyo killed in battle?" Hyakkimaru asked. He was part of the Western Army, like the rest of the Yamana Clan.
"Yes, so there's no way to ask him more now. And I'm afraid that's all that I was able to find out."
Hyakkimaru bowed low. "I know you must be busy with government matters. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart that you took the time to investigate so thoroughly."
Hyakkimaru stood up, placed his hands together, and bowed again.
"I don't suppose you'll tell me what this is all about?" Taga Takatada asked, gesturing down at his paper.
"I beg your forgiveness, but it's a private matter."
"In that case, I won't pry," Taga Takatada said. "I've heard you have a gun in your arm; is that true?"
"Um, yes, but..."
Hyakkimaru wanted to get back to Mount Kurama and tell Jukai what he'd learned as soon as possible.
"Never mind," Taga Takatada said. "I can see you're in a rush. If you have any interest in being an officer, come back to see me." He laughed hugely.
Honekawa must have written a lot about Hyakkimaru in his letters to Taga Takatada. Guns were still a novel weapon in Japan. The sound of gunfire was enough to make the knees of most soldiers shake. The Chinese, who were more accustomed to using gunpowder, were much more used to them.
Taga Takatada scratched at his mustache, then rose from his seat. "I'll keep my eyes open for any other information, but I have a war to take care of in my immediate future."
"I understand. Thank you so much for all you've done." Hyakkimaru bowed his head.
Taga Takatada was busy with preparations to march on the Western Army, which was still at Inari Shrine. He had little enough time to attend to personal matters, much less Hyakkimaru's requested investigation. The fact that he'd spent so much time here was a sign of his high esteem for Honekawa Dōken.
Hyakkimaru had gained this new knowledge from the Board of Retainers, which was entirely made up of samurai. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He had been raised to believe that all samurai were evil and not to be trusted. Jukai had a distrust of them that had rubbed off on Hyakkimaru.
But now, he had experiences with Taga Takatada, who was kind, and Daigo Kagemitsu, who was unfathomably cruel. Being a samurai or not didn't seem to determine what a person was actually like. Honekawa Dōken and Kamogawara Heisuke were both bandits and murderers, but they had a very human side to them, as well. Maybe every person was like that: a mix of kindness and cruelty.
***
Hyakkimaru returned to the burned-out temple basement in Kyōto. Dororo was there, sitting in front of a lit fire. There was a bubbling pot of stew over the flames. He leaped at Hyakkimaru with tears in his eyes and cried out, "Aniki! You're alive!"
It was common knowledge in the city that Honekawa Dōken's army had been crushed, and that Honekawa himself was dead.
"Sorry I made you worry," Hyakkimaru said. He submitted patiently to Dororo's overzealous hug.
Dororo let Hyakkimaru go and took a step back. He laughed brightly. "Let's stay together from now on, yeah?"
"We can't. I met with the member of the Board of Retainers."
"Huh?"
"I've got a lead. I'm going to the Western Army tonight."
"What are you even thinking? It's too dark. You'll never make it!"
"Tell my father when you see him that I've been thinking about lying in the context of Buddhism. There are times when it's better to lie than to tell the truth." He sat down next to the fire and ladled some stew into a bowl.
Hyakkimaru slurped his stew. "This is great. You cook as well as a woman."
"Eh? Cooking ability has nothing to do with being a man or a woman," Dororo said testily.
Hyakkimaru laughed. "Sorry. You're right."
"I can guide you to the Western Army," Dororo said. "I know where the Yamana camp is, at least."
"I'll follow you, then. Thanks."
"Let's eat," Dororo said, happy to be staying with Hyakkimaru for at least a little while longer.
***
The Western Army had completely conquered Inari Shrine. The bulk of the main army would likely return to Kyōto the next day, so Hyakkimaru didn't have much time. Dororo approached the Yamana camp looking and acting like a beggar child. He drew the eyes of the guards at the front of the camp while Hyakkimaru slipped past them, walking calmly.
Several ashigaru ran up and surrounded him as he approached the signal fires. Since battle could break out at any time, the ashigaru were fully armed and armored.
"Where are you going?" one of the ashigaru asked.
"I'm a messenger," he said.
"What?"
"We gained some valuable information from the bandits we captured. I have an urgent message from Ōuchi Masahiro."
The men surrounding him looked at him in surprise, then glanced at one another as if they were seeking reassurance. They decided as a group that Hyakkimaru's words were likely a lie, and reached for their swords.
"I understand being skeptical," Hyakkimaru said. "If you doubt me, you can verify my information with my lord. My name is Kurama Datengo, and I serve Daiōgi Nobuhiro."
The name he gave was obviously false; it was a mashup of 'Kurama' and 'tengu,' Shinto gods that could take the form of animals. Legends said that tengu had taught Yoshitsune how to use a sword. Most ashigaru were illiterate, however, so no one suspected that Hyakkimaru's name was fake.
"Who are you supposed to report to?" one of the ashigaru asked.
"A military commander serving the Yamana Clan. His name is Daigo Kagemitsu."
The ashigaru started whispering to one another.
"Daigo...never heard that name before."
"Me, neither."
"I have," an old ashigaru dressed as an officer said. He was emaciated, but not decrepit. He pushed through the other ashigaru and said, "but I'm afraid you've been misinformed. I'm Hosoki Ataemon. Which Kurama family are you from, boy?"
Hyakkimaru slapped his hands against his thighs in impatience. "Forgive me, but I have no time to waste. My master told me to find Daigo Kagemitsu in all haste." He intended to put all of the information that Taga Takatada had given him to good use. He only hoped that it wasn't too stale to be helpful. "Doesn't he live near here? I was informed that he had an estate in Kibune."
"He used to," Hosoki Ataemon said, "but that was more than eighteen years ago. I was a lot younger and more energetic then." He laughed.
"Where is Daigo Kagemitsu now?" Hyakkimaru asked.
"I heard he went north."
"To which province?"
"Who knows? The Daigo Clan took the Hokuriku Road3 eighteen years ago, and I haven't heard anything about them since."
There were many provinces in the north: Echigo, Etchū, Noto, Kaga, Ezichen, and Wakasa. Based on the man's answers, Hyakkimaru understood that he wouldn't be able to narrow down the Daigo Clan's whereabouts any further.
"If that's the case, then I must seek him out immediately," Hyakkimaru said. "Please excuse me." He turned to leave the same way he'd come.
Hosoki Ataemon frowned and tilted his head. "Hey, didn't you have information from Ōuchi Masahiro about Honekawa's bandits?"
Hyakkimaru broke into a run before he even finished his question.
"Intruder in the camp!" Hosoki Ataemon shouted. "To your positions! Block his escape!"
From behind Hyakkimaru, other ashigaru shouted, "Oi! You! Stop!"
Hyakkimaru gathered all of his concentration and psychokinetic energy and pushed himself to run faster. His feet tore over the ground with the ferocity of a cyclone. He escaped the camp without being caught and dashed out onto the road. He sprinted past the husks of burned-out, abandoned buildings. The darkness swallowed him up before anyone from the Western Army could chase him down.
1 The mean-spirited song is a pun on Hosokawa's surname (骨皮), which means "bones and skin." ↩
2 Daigo Kagemitsu's name is spelled 醍醐景光.↩
3 The Hokuriku Road goes north from Kurama through Arachi Mountain Pass to several provinces that border the Sea of Japan.↩
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