At River's Edge (Ogawa no hotori) (小川の辺)

AT THE RIVER'S EDGE

Inui Sakunosuke is here.

Come in.

Would you like some tea?

- No thank you. Please do not mind me.

I see.

As a matter of fact,

Nakamaru Tokujuro has returned.

Then...

No.

Nakamaru has returned because of an illness.

That means Sakuma is still...

He has not yet been killed.

His whereabouts have already been found out.

But in Tokujuro's condition, he was not healthy enough to fight with his sword.

So he returned from Edo.

Of course the death penalty was imposed for Sakuma's desertion from the clan.

Now the clan must send another assassin.

So we discussed it.

And we have decided to send you, Inui Sakunosuke, as the assassin.

- I am very honored to be chosen for the mission.

But I cannot accept that order.

I see.

I expected you to say so.

It may be a cruel mission.

But you must understand the reason we have chosen you.

We have agreed on the fact that

the one who can defeat Sakuma in place of Nakamaru Tokujuro

in this clan now is only you.

But if we send three men instead of one...

I've heard that Sakuma's wife who is with him

is an expert fencer trained in Jikishin-ryu style just like you.

That's right.

If we send two or three men,

his wife will fight alongside him.

It will be a dreadful bloodbath.

That can't be avoided.

The lord's intention is to kill only Sakuma.

He wants to leave his wife alone.

So if you go, her life will be saved.

Although she is a stouthearted woman,

she would not fight against her own brother.

The master has returned.

Couldn't they ask someone else?

Even though it is the lord's request, isn't it too cruel?

- We should not be critical about the lord's decision.

Watch your mouth!

- Of course I told him it was hard for me to accept the mission.

The councilor warned that the Inui family's status would be lowered if I decline the mission.

I accepted the mission since everything was already confirmed with the lord.

- What do you mean by lowering the Inui family's status?

I'll explain.

Sakuma absconded from the clan two months ago.

And his companion was a member of our Inui family.

So you must understand that the clan could blame us.

I understand that very well.

That's why we have been confining ourselves within our house

and have not stepped outside at all.

That's true.

But within the castle, the rumor is spreading that his wife, Tazu,

persuaded Sakuma to abscond the clan.

That's outrageous!

Tazu would never have done that.

Still, some people spread that rumor.

But the lord has not punished any of the Inui family members.

If I decline the clan's mission now,

the councilor told me, it would be like trampling on the lord's generosity.

That was the lord's order.

As Sakunosuke said, we cannot refuse.

What are you going to do about Tazu?

Of course, I will try to bring her home.

Sakuma was sentenced to death, but the lord has not blamed Tazu at all.

What if Tazu fights against you?

- I don't think she will fight against her real brother.

What are you going to do if she attacks you?!

Then you have to kill her.

- Ah! Dear!

I will not kill her.

Please leave it to me.

- What you did to Sakunosuke and Tazu was wrong.

What good did teaching fencing to them and Shinzo bring?

If he were not an expert swordsman,

Sakunosuke-dono would not have been chosen as the assassin.

And we would not be dreading a death match between brother and sister.

Mother,

Tazu voluntarily asked to be trained in fencing.

What an unfortunate girl she is.

Is it Shinzo?

Yes.

What are you doing?

- I have been waiting for you to ask a favor, Young master.

Yes.

- Young master, could you please take me with you on the trip?

What are you going to do coming with me?

- For instance, it will be too much work for you alone to find where Sakuma-sama is.

I know where he is roughly.

I stopped at Nakamaru's place on the way home from the castle, and he told me.

Where is that?

- There is a town called Gyotoku in Shimosa further away from Edo.

Gyotoku?

- I heard the place is crowded with people visiting to worship the Narita shrine.

Someone saw Tazu shopping there.

Nakamaru has guessed that Sakuma and Tazu are living near that area.

- If you are looking for them at a place like that, it will be too conspicuous.

Are you worried about Tazu, Shinzo?

Even if she attacks, I would never kill her.

But if you are worried, you can come with me.

Thank you.

Then I will begin my preparations.

She has been always a strong-minded woman.

But she has never before talked to my father in that manner.

Take good care of my mother.

Yes.

How long is the trip going to be?

It takes ten days to get to Edo.

That is far away.

Yes.

Please be careful.

Tazu will

fight me, won't she?

With the weather like this,

we should be able to go over Jyuoh Pass while the sun is still high above.

It is the beginning of the nice season.

Yes.

Let's go.

Did Tazu-sama also go through this road?

Yes.

- Pardon me. May I ask a question?

Yes.

About the punishment for Sakuma-sama,

was it so severe that he had to abscond from the clan?

- No one expected that things would turn out this way.

Sakuma wrote a memorandum concerning the clan's agricultural administration policies.

Since the great harvest failure that happened two years ago,

the rice crops have not recovered to their normal harvesting condition.

Crops in the domain were still wasted.

So Sakuma wrote down his opinions

about reforming the agricultural administration policies in 18 items.

But of all things, he submitted it directly to the lord.

That was the beginning of this trouble.

His ideas for the reform were reasonable.

But it was also harsh criticism of the policies

administered by the lord

and his personal assistant, Shikazawa Gyohaku for the last two years for the farming villages.

-A rude memorandum like this has never appeared in the past.

We must do something about this urgently or your dignity may be harmed.

- So all the administrators were urgently gathered.

- A mere officer criticizing the lord's hard worked out plan is

outrageously rude!

The lord was extremely upset about this.

And he was suspicious if any of the council members authorized

this opinion to be reported.

No, we know nothing about this at all.

Shikazawa-dono, please tell that to the lord.

- I am not sure if the lord would listen to someone like me.

In any case,

men in administrations should clearly display how Sakuma would be disposed of.

- Shikazawa Gyohaku was a personal doctor to the domain master's family.

He was also a scholar who has been teaching the lord for many years.

But after a while he started to meddle in governance.

And he became so powerful that even the administrators were afraid of him.

All of the lord's reform plans were done following Shikazawa's advice.

I believe that Sakuma's real purpose of that action

was to get Shikazawa out of

the clan's politics.

But the lord was

putting a lot of effort into agricultural administration

for two years since the great harvest failure.

But Sakuma's memorandum

did not show any concern for the efforts by the lord

and denounced all the policies taken by the lord.

At that time, it was still not too late to conclude the matter without incidents.

But...

You can raise your heads.

Hotta, what did you do about the matter concerning the memorandum?

Yes, sir.

Sakuma's action was truly disrespectful.

Therefore we think he should be severely punished.

But for the last two years,

the crops within the domain were wasted

just as Sakuma has described...

That's enough preliminary statement.

- Yes. - Please wait.

Sakuma, refrain yourself in the lord's presence!

I am afraid but I must speak again.

Refrain yourself, Sakuma!

The last harvest failure was caused

not only by the bad weather, but by several management failures as well,

lack of water irrigation, and designations of wrong cultivation.

It was caused largely by the wrong agricultural administration.

We must stop all the temporary measures and bring the farming villages

to their original state first and start the reforms as soon as possible...

Sakuma, aren't you being too rude?

Yes, I am aware that I am being rude.

What?

The man forgot his position as a personal doctor

and meddles with clan politics without any deep knowledge.

I am begging you to stop listening to that advice.

Please!

Although it was for the people and farmers,