Demon Sword Dance
Book 2 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 4 - Priestess Mai
Chapter 2
Night came early in autumn.
Hyakkimaru had passed through the inner sanctum of Mount Monju and was reborn. He returned to Tokuyūbō at the foot of the mountain and thanked him for all his help. The news around the mountain was that Asakura Takakage had left the capital and engaged the Eastern Army in battle the previous month, on October 14.
Before heading to Ichijōdani, Hyakkimaru decided to verify Asakura Takakage's whereabouts and plans by asking around in Takefu. Even Tokuyūbō, who admired Asakura Takakage, wasn't sure what he intended to do next, so Hyakkimaru wanted to gather as much information on the man as possible.
Hyakkimaru stayed at an inn in Sabae for the night, then headed for Takefu the next morning. The city was full of soldiers and warriors clamoring down the streets in their heavy armor. Messengers had gone out on fast horses to warn the province of an impending attack, so people were on edge everywhere Hyakkimaru looked.
Ariga Daisuke managed to procure a meeting between the chief inspector and Hyakkimaru, though there was a slight delay because of the situation in the city.
When Hyakkimaru asked the chief inspector when Asakura Takakage would be returning to the province, the chief inspector frowned severely. "I know that he'll be returning to Ichijōdani soon, but I don't know any details." The chief inspector revealed nothing and kept his answers vague. He told Hyakkimaru about a new report of the Eastern Army returning home as well, though he seemed dubious about the report's veracity. He clammed up whenever Hyakkimaru tried to steer the conversation back to Asakura Takakage.
Hyakkimaru tried to remember what Hōichi had said about Asakura Takakage. He's a hard man to find, much less kill. I don't think the fighting in the capital is going to stop anytime soon. Lord Shiba went back to the capital last May, and his forces are keeping the Eastern Army off-balance, but his absence is destabilizing this province. He has no heir. If the worst should happen in the capital, Asakura Takakage might see himself rising in the world, and quickly.
Tokuyūbō had said that Asakura Takakage might rule Ezichen Province outright before too long. He had a reputation as a great general. Men flocked to his banner because they believed in him personally and hoped that he would help to advance their careers and prospects. With Ezichen Province's leadership so unstable, it was possible that Asakura Takakage could seize control and keep it without much resistance.
Hyakkimaru had no idea when things had become so dire in the province. He learned from the chief inspector that Asakura Takakage's forces had switched sides to join the Eastern Army, so his lord, Shiba Yoshikado, had put a price on his head. The Western Army had been making headway for some months, but with Asakura Takakage switching sides, the capital was once again under threat by the Eastern Army. Only the Ōuchi Clan remained loyal to the Western Army, at least close to the capital. All the other armies converging on Kyōto supported the Eastern Army.
Complicating matters further was the presence of Kai Jōchi, who was also in Ezichen Province and allied with Shiba Yoshikado and the Western Army. He and Asakura Takakage had been at odds for years. It was likely that Kai Jōchi had his eye on Ichijōdani, since that city was the Asakura Clan's seat of power. If he could conquer it before Asakura Takakage returned, he would be in a good position to control the province.
"I don't think there'll be peace in Ezichen unless Asakura returns to the Eastern Army," Ariga Daisuke said.
The chief inspector shook his head. "Shiba Yoshikado still isn't the official lord of Ezichen Province. It's possible that Shiba Yoshitoshi will assume that role instead—and Yoshitoshi serves the Eastern Army. Things may work out in Asakura Takakage's favor. He's always hated Yoshikado personally. He won't make peace with him now no matter what he's offered."
Ariga Daisuke nodded. "It's a complicated situation. The Kai Clan might try to make a power grab independently."
Both Ariga Daisuke and the chief inspector were backers of the Kai Clan, but no matter who won—Asakura Takakage or Kai Jōchi—Ezichen Province would switch sides to support the Eastern Army.
"If you really want to know more, young man, you should head for Ichijōdani before too long," the chief inspector said to Hyakkimaru. "No one knows how the situation will work out. It changes from moment to moment."
Hyakkimaru nodded. "Ichijōdani is where I'm heading next."
Ichijōdani was a dangerous place at the moment, but Hyakkimaru had no choice but to go there. He needed more information. If Shiba Yoshikado attacked Ezichen Province at the head of the Western Army, things would get very complicated very fast.
But Asakura Takakage made no move to defend his lands or Ichijōdani. He saw no benefit in instigating the fighting between the Eastern Army and Western Army within the province, since waging war there would destroy much of the province's wealth and beauty. The cities of Takefu and Sabame had long benefited from trade, and the valleys along the line of the Hino River were renowned in songs and poems. The famed poetess Murasaki Shikibu had written many such songs.
Hyakkimaru had little particular attachment to the Hino River valley, but it did remind him of Mount Kurama in some ways, and he had found both peace and understanding of his own past here. His psychokinetic powers had returned to him on Mount Monju. He had no desire to see the area destroyed.
Walking along the mountain path at night watching everything wither and die, Hyakkimaru felt a twinge of loneliness. He knew he should get to Ichijōdani as soon as he could, but the idea of being stranded alone in winter on the road held no appeal for him. He wound up retracing his steps to the place where he'd last met Hōichi.
I'll pray to the gods. Maybe they'll give me some idea of where I should go next.
Hyakkimaru stopped at Ryūsen Temple to pray. The temple was sacred to Hayagrivam, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He was worshiped as the god of knowledge and wisdom, with a human body and a horse's head. The temple was built in 1386 on the orders of the lord of Ezichen Province, Saigyō Hōshi.1 Saigyō Hōshi would later retire from public life in Ezichen to become a monk and poet in Kaga Province, serving in the Daijō Temple under the monk Meihō Sotetsu.2 The monk had become a priest and entered the Daijō Temple when he was the same age as Hyakkimaru.
Hyakkimaru kept following the mountain road to the south, passing by Gōshō Temple along the way. It had been three days since he'd left Mount Monju. At twilight, just as the sun was sinking in the west, Mount Hino appeared in front of Hyakkimaru in dim outlines. There was scattered torchlight coming from the direction of a side road in the woods. Hyakkimaru guessed that there was a village nearby. He turned onto the side road, following the light until he reached a village at the foot of the mountain.
The village was a small one. Hyakkimaru saw no inns or shops, so he went to the largest estate in town to ask where he could sleep for the night. He passed through the large gate at the front of the estate and called out a greeting, but no one answered him. He went around the house to the back garden and discovered a large group of people gathered in a courtyard. Most of them were carrying torches.
"How does it look on the mountain?" a man asked. He stood in front of the crowd and was likely the village's leader.
"Not good," a woman replied. "It seems like the more we burn, the more there are."
"Tōshichirō, if things keep going as they are, we'll have a terrible famine next year."
The other villagers made similar predictions. Tōshichirō listened to them all silently, wearing a grave expression.
"Should we have a Fire Festival to protect us against misfortune next year?" Tōshichirō asked.
"Yes," an old woman said. "That's definitely what we should do. Tonight, and every night we have left before winter. We must exterminate every last maimai moth."
"If we decide to do that, we have to hurry," an old man said. "The first snow of the year will fall soon."
"Shall we ask the priestess and shrine maidens to assist us?" the Tōshichirō asked.
The people gathered around him nodded.
Tōshichirō caught sight of Hyakkimaru and called out to him. "Ho there, stranger! Are you a traveler? There are no inns nearby, but you're welcome to stay here for the night. It's dangerous on the road at the moment. There are bandits and thieves that rob and kill people on the mountain. If you make camp out there, you might fall asleep and never wake up."
Even without the warning by Tōshichirō, Hyakkimaru felt motivated to stay. These people seemed to need help in preventing some kind of terrible disaster.
After the meeting, Hyakkimaru was invited to eat dinner with a family in the village. The mother in the family had died young. The father lived with his parents and had a son named Yosaku who was about the same age as Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru heard about their problems with the maimai moths on the mountain in more detail as he ate.
When Hyakkimaru told the family a little about his own travels, Yosaku scoffed in disbelief. "There's no such thing as yōkai and demons," he said. "You probably just saw something moving in the grass and assumed it was a monster, or saw a shadow after a lightning strike." He frowned sourly, but invited Hyakkimaru to stay at his house for the night.
Yosaku was rude, but he didn't intend to be inhospitable. Like Hyakkimaru, he was an only child. He said that he'd always wanted siblings. Hyakkimaru understood the feeling. It was possible that he did have siblings somewhere, though he might never meet them.
Hyakkimaru accepted Yosaku's invitation. Yosaku set out two pillows and blankets in his one-room hut. He and Hyakkimaru talked about the dire situation in the village for a while before going to sleep.
Yosaku didn't remember the previous famine that had swept through the village during the last maimai moth invasion, but stories about it permeated the village's culture. The famines were a matter of oral history. Yosaku wanted to find some way to save the village. He had gone up the mountain and burned as many moths and caterpillars as he could find, but that didn't seem to be enough.
Yosaku's determination reminded Hyakkimaru of Dororo.
"You know I don't really believe in yōkai and things like that," Yosaku said. "But the village needs help, and you carry a sword and wander on the road alone. I have to think that you're strong enough to help us. If we don't do everything we can now, everyone in the village will starve to death next year."
It made sense that Yosaku would ask for help. He didn't believe in demons or monsters, but he knew that disaster would befall the village if they didn't do everything they could to avert it.
Hyakkimaru didn't know what to say. Yosaku didn't believe in demons: he could hardly expect him to understand things like psychokinesis and the Hall of Hell. Even his need to find his birth family would likely fall on deaf ears, since Hyakkimaru could always search for them again after he helped the village.
"If the cause of the moth infestation is a yōkai, it can be destroyed by piercing its core," Hyakkimaru said. Burning the moths seemed to do no good at all. It was possible that the infestation had a cause that wasn't completely natural.
"Hm. Yōkai again. Where are you from, anyway?" Yosaku asked.
"Mount Kurama," Hyakkimaru said.
"Isn't that where Yoshitsune's from?" Yosaku asked.
Hyakkimaru grinned, then shrugged. "Well, yeah."
"So you were raised by tengu, then?"
"No, by my dad." He paused, then frowned. "I heard a little bit about your shrine while you were talking about the Fire Festival. Does a priestess live there?"
"Yeah. Her name is Mai. She's the most beautiful woman on the mountain." Yosaku grinned. "She came to live here last summer."
Yosaku told Hyakkimaru what he knew about Mai and her shrine. The more Hyakkimaru heard about her, the more interested he became. Mai didn't sound like an ordinary woman.
"Do you actually think she used magic to drive bandits out of the village?" Hyakkimaru asked.
Yosaku shrugged. "Who can say? She's always been a bit odd. She's got a man living with her now who creeps everyone out. We all assumed he was a bodyguard at first, but he doesn't really act like one. His eyes bug out of his head like a fish's. Rumor is that they drink together every night. They're definitely...involved, somehow."
"Why would a priestess need a bodyguard?" Hyakkimaru asked. "Especially if she has magic. She should be able to keep herself safe."
"I have no idea if she hired him or if she knew him from before or something," Yosaku said. "He never goes anywhere without his sword. It's in a red scabbard, so you won't mistake him for anyone else."
"A red scabbard?" Hyakkimaru's eyes widened.
"What? D'you think you know him?"
"Probably not," he said. He hoped that warrior he'd met at the Arachi Mountain Pass wasn't here.
***
The next morning, the villagers decided to visit Mai at her estate. They wanted her to officiate the Fire Festival in the hope that a priestess would be able to gain the attention of the gods. Hyakkimaru followed after the villagers. He was very curious about Mai.
When the villagers and Hyakkimaru reached Mai's estate, she wasn't there. A few shrine maidens offered to guide them to Lady Mai. She was already at the shrine, deep in prayer. The decor of both the estate and the shrine prominently featured the swallowtail butterfly. Hyakkimaru stared openly as he and the villagers were led to the shrine.
Lady Mai was dressed in her priestess garb, patterned all over with butterflies embroidered in gold thread. The villagers brought their palms together and bowed their heads before her.
Mai noticed Hyakkimaru immediately, but said nothing. She turned away from the shrine's altar and faced her shrine maidens.
Hyakkimaru smelled something strange when she moved. He couldn't identify the smell, but he knew that it was unnatural. No one else seemed to notice the smell. Maybe his psychokinesis made him more sensitive to it.
"The villagers apologize for disturbing you, priestess," a shrine maiden said, "but they beg you to conduct a Fire Festival without delay. That is why they have interrupted your morning prayers."
"A Fire Festival? At this time of year?" Mai appeared confused.
"Yes, priestess. The villagers fear that there will be a terrible famine next year. They ask you to pray to the gods for a large harvest tonight."
"Are we to hold a Fire Festival at night?" Mai frowned.
"Yes, priestess. The villagers desire some sign that the maimai moths will be destroyed. They ask you to hold a Fire Festival and pray for our harvest to be large. Then the villagers will climb the mountain at night with torches and verify that the moth population is—"
"—I can't," Mai said, cutting off the shrine maiden. "I understand the villagers' concerns, of course, but it's the dry season right now. Holding a Fire Festival would invite nothing but disaster. If a single fire gets out of control, it could spread and consume the entire mountain."
Mai shook her head. Her expression was deeply regretful. "I am sorry, but it's not possible to hold a Fire Festival at the moment. I shall pray for the safety of the entire village."
"The entire village agrees that we must perform a Fire Festival, priestess," Tōshichirō said. "We've considered the risk of fire, and we still believe that it must be done."
Mai's stare was sharp, but Tōshichirō didn't falter. "If we keep strict watch over all the fires, we shouldn't have to fear them going out of control."
Many of the other villagers nodded in agreement at his words.
"If we make most of the fires in the marsh were the maimai moths like to lay eggs, they won't spread. The ground is still wet. And if we don't do a Fire Festival now, we'll regret it next year."
"I heard from my grandmother that the maimai moths eat the grass and leaves and the roots and bark of trees," a young woman said. "So many people starved...that's not something I ever want to see."
The villagers started talking over one another, all imploring Mai to conduct the Fire Festival, but she remained unmoved.
Tōshichirō pitched his voice to carry. "I understand that you oppose the Fire Festival, priestess, but we must hold it all the same. I ask you to pray for us while we do what has to be done."
The villagers started rushing away from Mai's estate.
"Come on! We have to get ready!"
"Hurry!"
Hyakkimaru knew he should help the villagers, but he had something else to consider first. It seemed reasonable to him that Mai had come here after losing her home in the capital to fire or warfare. It made sense that she would flee somewhere to rebuild, and that extended to the shrine as well.
What was unreasonable was that Mai had come here alone. Yosaku hadn't mentioned any friends or family. The only one on this estate with her, aside from shrine maidens, was the man who carried a sword in a red scabbard. She had no servants or attendants. Even if her family was dead, she should certainly have those.
Hyakkimaru knew that Lady Mai was more than what she appeared. What kind of noble lady knew how to use magic, especially magic that could kill? That kind of magic seemed unbecoming for a priestess. As far as Hyakkimaru knew, the gods didn't grant that kind of power.
But demons did, and many demons were weak to fire. Fire had a purifying effect on cursed ground and repelled evil spirits. It had not escaped Hyakkimaru's notice that there were no lights or fires set inside Mai's shrine. Mai had also refused to perform the Fire Festival despite the pleas of all the villagers.
Lady Mai must hate fire. There's definitely a reason for that.
Hyakkimaru was so deep in thought that he didn't notice a set of hostile eyes on him as he left the courtyard. Sabame Nuinosuke gripped Nihil's hilt and muttered, "I knew it. He's the same man I met at the Arachi Mountain Pass."
Translator's Notes:
1 Saigyō Hōshi was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Born Satō Norikiyo (佐藤義清) in Kyōto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. Buddhism was considered to be in decline and no longer as effective a means of salvation. These cultural shifts during his lifetime led to a sense of melancholy in his poetry. He later took the pen name Saigyō (西行), meaning “Western Journey,” a reference to Amida Buddha and the Western paradise. He is known for the many long, poetic journeys he took to Northern Honshū that would later inspire the poet Bashō in his Narrow Road to the Interior. ↩
2 Meihō Sotetsu was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk who lived during the late Kamakura period and early Muromachi period. Meihō was given an elaborate funeral in 1350 in which some seventy-two items were used to decorate his cremation pyre. The funeral also displayed an increase in the use of esoteric rituals, such as the chanting of the Śūrangama mantra, and the Mantra of Light. These were each chanted by a group of 100 monks who did so continuously with multiple shifts. ↩
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