Even after the crowd had fled, Karen was still on her knees.
“Cheer up, Oneechan. I think it was a good fight.”
“…..Declaring victory with such confidence and then suffering a disgraceful defeat…. it is the ultimate disgrace to a samurai…”
As expected, it seems difficult for a proud samurai to accept defeat so easily. Moreover, her opponent was a swordsman from the west who is about the same age as her.
“At this point, I have no choice but to commit seppuku and clear my name!”
“Eh?”
“Bushido is the way of the samurai to die!”
She shouted that and tried to stab herself in the stomach with the blade of the dagger she took out of her pocket.
“Stop!”
Fana flicked the dagger away with her own sword.
“Kuu, you won’t even let me die?! Don’t you have the mercy of a samurai?!”
“Money”
“……Huh?”
“I don’t mind if you kill yourself. But I want the promised money first.”
Uh-, to say she doesn’t mind her dying……
It seems that the only reason Fana stopped Karen from committing seppuku was to get the 10 million prize money.
“Oh, t-that’s right…… uhm……10 million…… Well, wait a minute, okay?”
All the momentum she had had as she tried to slit her own stomach was gone, and Karen suddenly started to look away and raised her voice.
“Uh-, uhm, t-ten thousand…… twenty thousand …… thirty thousand ….…”
Sweat dripped down her forehead, and she began to count the bills slowly.
In this country, not only coins are used, but also paper money.
“One hundred and sixty thousand… one hundred and seventy thousand…”
It was probably earned from the participation fee, but when she counted to the seventeenth one, the paper money ran out.
No way…. it’s not enough at all……
“Hmm, 10 million.”
Fana urged mercilessly.
Then Karen put her hands and knees on the ground.
“I-, I-, I’m so soorrrrrrrrry!!”
She apologized with teary eyes.
Oh, a real dogeza!
Although it was occasionally used in the West, dogeza was originally part of the Eastern culture.
“I thought I wouldn’t lose, and I didn’t really have ten million!”
“But you lost.”
It’s far more embarrassing than just a defeat.
“That’s why you tried to escape by seppuku?”
“Giiiik!?”
Karen is visibly distressed by Fana’s point. It seemed that Fana hit the nail on the head.
She had just said big things about clearing her name and bushido though….
Karen lowered her head even more, her forehead digging into the ground.
“All this is the result of my weak and feeble heart! I am no longer worthy of calling myself a samurai! This time, this time, I will commit seppuku and apologize!”
“Just give me the money. 10 million.”
Fana is still unforgiving.
As if she had finally giving up, Karen said,
“….I’m sorry, I can’t pay.”
There was sudden silence then she continued,
“I’ve been raised in a rural village since I was born, and I only recently came to this city to train as a warrior. However, my travel money was depleted…. Well, I was confident in my sword skills, so I made money like this….”
“Meaning, you’re using money to lure your opponents, even though you don’t have 10 million yen huh.”
Anje spoke in dismay, and Karen nodded obediently.
“There were too many people coming once, so I tried it, and it worked out surprisingly…… I get carried away with it and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
“But Oneechan, I can understand why you might get carried away. I mean, you were fighting Fana-oneechan on equal terms until halfway through. Did you learn swordsmanship in the countryside?”
“That’s right. My sword master is actually a skilled swordsman who once rose to the rank of swordsmanship instructor for generals. My master, who retired and returned to his hometown, taught me swordsmanship from a young age.”
The general is the king of this country.
If she was taught by such a person, he must be quite skilled.
“W-wait, the baby is talking!?”
Everyone seem to be slow to realize this.
“No, no way… it’s a karakuri right? Who would have thought that there would be such an intricately made baby karakuri in the city… and that it could even talk…”
And just as I thought, she also mistook me for a karakuri.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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