Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko (刀使ノ巫女)

That's enough!

Your coordination still has some weak spots, but you've gotten pretty good.

Huh? Is she actually praising us?

She most certainly is.

Praise from Takako is rare.

Yay!

Don't get cocky.

You still haven't managed to get a point yet.

Yes, ma'am.

Ah, bath time.

Katana Maidens

Episode 9 After the Festival

Gosh, your back is so small and adorable, Saaya.

I don't know whether it's that I feel I can't leave you alone,

or that I feel I need to protect you, but you just set off my maternal instincts.

What the heck?

Individual fights are fun and all, but team fighting is fun, too!

We still don't have a lot of actual battle experience,

so having things like an attack squad and a mobile squad is new.

Yeah.

You're so strong, Kanami-chan.

So are you, Mai-chan!

When we were facing off against Satomi-san,

you attacked at the same time as Kaoru-chan, and hesitated for a moment, didn't you?

If you had attacked like that I'm sure we would've gotten a point.

So you saw that much.

I'm not sure if it's that I saw it, or was able to see it...

You really are strong, Kanami-chan.

Even after hearing that story about your mother, you're still trying to fight.

No, I guess it's because you heard the story about your mother,

but for me...

You have no reason to fight, do you?

If you don't have a reason, then you don't need to fight.

Just stay here.

I'm sure Mokusa will harbor you until things settle down.

But you and Kanami-chan are going, right?

Because we have a connection.

Those two will also likely face battle because they're with Mokusa.

But you and Itomi do not need to come with us.

I will destroy Origami Yukari.

Mai-chan...

It's pretty noisy outside.

Of course it is. After all, today is the festival.

Festival?

This village has one twice a year, apparently.

Did you hear that, Mai-chan?

Practice is over and everything, so let's go check it out later.

Okay, sure.

A festival! This is so exciting!

Huh?

My uniform is gone.

So is mine.

Don't tell me...

If you're looking for your uniforms, they've been sent to the cleaners.

They'll be ready later tonight.

In the meantime, here you go.

Wow! Yukata! So refined.

Professor Friedman prepared them for you.

He said you should wear these, and go enjoy the festival.

That's my grandpa for you!

He's so understanding.

Wow, it's the perfect size.

How did that old man figure that out?

That's my grandpa for you.

Come on, put yours on too, Hiyori-chan.

This isn't the time for such frivolity.

It's a festival!

If we can't celebrate today, then when will we ever get to?

Come on, put it on.

H-Hey...

It looks good on you, Hiyori-chan.

Aren't we going to the festival?

Yeah! Let's go guys!

What series is that from?

Ellen, it's about time.

You're right.

There's something we want you all to see.

What's that?

My grandpa wishes to invite you to the main event for today's festival.

Main event?

It's so beautiful.

I found you, Hiyori-chan and Kanami-chan!

Rui-san?!

How are you two doing?

What about you? Were you all right after everything that happened?

Of course she wasn't.

Ruippe was apparently arrested,

as a suspect in the assault on Origami Yukari.

So then that was because we intruded on you.

Don't worry about it.

President Hashima pulled some strings, and I was released immediately.

So that's what happened.

You're Mai-chan, aren't you?

And Sayaka-chan, it's been a while.

Do you know her too, Sayaka-chan?

I attacked her home.

Huh?!

Now, let's go then, shall we?

You've been invited, right? All of you, by FineMan.

It's Takako-san and Satomi-san!

That's a shintai?

I wonder what's in it?

It's noro.

There's still noro that the Origami family hasn't collected?

Surprised?

There aren't as many as there used to be, but there are still

shrines in this country that worship noro like this.

Worship?

Yes, they worship it politely and respectfully.

Do you know how noro was created to begin with, Kanami-kun?

Um....

While refining the tamahagane steel used to forge okatana,

noro is separated out as an impurity.

You're very good, Mai-kun.

Noro that is separated from tamahagane steel,

which has the power to become an okatana,

has almost the same divinity as the okatana itself.

Even with the technology we have today, we cannot erase it.

But we were told that if it's left alone,

it'll turn into an aradama, and that's why the Origami family manages it.

And that is incorrect.

Huh?

Let's try continuing this somewhere else.

Noro was once worshiped in shrines like this all over the country.

We started managing the collection of it as we do now

around the end of the Meiji period.

The government at the time wanted to reduce the number

of shrines primarily for economic reasons, and so they were consolidated together.

Naturally, as a result, the noro was turned into spectrum meters or became aradama.

In order to prevent that, the Origami family at the time

strictly managed the amount of noro.

However, as the signs of an oncoming war intensified,

voices calling for military use of noro increased,

and the restrictions were removed.

For military use?

They sought to amplify the divinity of the noro...

In short, its power to interfere with the netherworld that, until then,

had only been expressly permitted for you Toji to use in battle.

After the war, the collection of noro was accelerated

as the United States Army joined the study.

Officially, they said that it was safer to gather the dangerous noro in one place

and manage it that way rather than dispersing it,

and they began gathering noro all across Japan.

But there were unforeseen consequences.

The more noro from spectrum meters that was gathered together,

the more it acquired intelligence.

Then does that mean if you gather lots of noro,

you can create an intelligent aradama?

To put it simply, that is what happens.

Currently, the Origami family

has stockpiled a vast amount of noro, more than has ever been in one place before.

That's...

Why you believe Princess Tagitsu is god-like...

That's not the only problem.

If that massive amount of noro is stimulated by something and becomes an aradama—

no, a great aradama, there is no way we could control it.

Much like what happened in the Great Disaster of Sagami Bay.

What do you mean?

That disaster is an accident that happened as a result of trying

to transport a fully-loaded tanker of noro to the United States.

In other words, it was a man-made disaster caused by human arrogance.

We should never have disturbed its sleep.

Noro is a victim, so to speak,

forced into existence by humans who wish to create okatana.