Well, I didn't happen to be present here. But, yes―I was thinking about whether I could sever someone's neck without making them suffer for even a single second.
Why, you ask? Because that's precisely what makes a sword with a cutting inscription. They're able to cut through the soft spots with no effort at all.
You're right, I do have a cutting inscription the swordsmith Kotetsu engraved during his lifetime. However, though us Kotetsus who have raised in the ranks for our cutting prowess often a signature, irrespective of this the masses started saying we're overflowing with forgeries, and even that we only have fakes.
And before you know it, we have crude forgeries, mistakable forgeries, forgeries popping up all over the place. What's more, ironic as it is, the more they're used the more the value of a Kotetsu rises. On the other hand, genuine works might get buried amid all those...
Humans may be quick to fight each other and die... But humans create objects, gaze at objects, admire them, and talk of objects. They break objects, and also once again make them.
Nobunaga-san's herb garden. And, Mikumo of the Kouka clans, huh... But, perhaps because my name means 'druggist's mortar', I'm interested. If possible, I'd like you to help out.
I wonder about that. Miyoshi, Oda, Toyotomi, Tokugawa, all of them ruled all there is under the heavens. I was burned at Honnouji and Osaka Castle, and in the end, without even being reforged, I ended up like this. I wonder if I could even give them Heaven's blessings at this point.
The same goes to you. But well, let's leave the matter of our former masters for what it is. Here we are not illuminated by lingering lights from our past connections. Even if things get dangerous, we are not allowed to desert leaving all but our bodies behind.
Even if that comes to pass, we will proceed on. After all, there are times when objects made by people get revived by people as well. Just like the one who created us.
However, for all we Seki smith swords have the reputation of being able to kill well, it's because we were used regularly in turbulent times. We struck much, and broke much as well. For one more to break after all that time... Well, I won't say that it wouldn't matter, but there's nothing more meaningless than killing a fellow warrior.
Magoroku, I thiNK the reputation "Unbreakable, unbendable, well-cutting" is the highest valuation a sword can receive. ThAT is the cornerstone of those who diD break as weLL.
You're right. The stage of the tradition of Seki blacksmiths has shifted from everyday use in turbulent times to everyday use in peaceful times, and so passed on its techniques.1
You have a strong and coolstate-of-the-art kouhai as well, after all. Even if we don't appear on the battlefield, our successors are doing very well. Generally speaking, I'd say we're blessed.
↑ 1: While swordsmithing is not as active in Seki as it was in the past, the present-day city is known for its blademaking industries, such as for knives or scissors.
Yes, I'm Magoroku Kanemoto of the Seki smiths. You're Suishinshi Masahide of Edo's three great smiths, right? You're a sword often seen in the Bakumatsu period.
...Yes, if you ask me what the difference is between a sword that can break and a sword that can't, it's those that weren't said to have bent even through the warring states era from Eiroku to Tensho, even if it isn't a masterpiece as wazamono they still serve as reference to feudal lords, and above all, they're swords that can kill! And that is exactly the shape warriors are said to need to strive for and favour. Yes, yes, I get it, I get it completely.
It is that that if the nakago isn't well-tempered the sword will break from the mekugi holes, but a sword that could break from the mekugi holes would just as well break from the tip. I wonder if the tempering is the cause of a sword breaking... Amazing, this is... This is a Magoroku Kanemoto which Suishinshi Masahide hailed as a masterpiece!
If someone who knows nil about swords talks to another unexperienced guy, they wouldn't even be able to tell which works are authentic... It'll just turn into a conversation and works that are simply similar in silhouette are passed off as the genuine thing, like being unable to see the forest for the trees. Only chasing after looks is the pinnacle of inhumanity, a blasphemy towards your swords! I knew it, Suishinshi Masahide wasn't mistaken after all.
Your passion burns really hot... I feel like your gaze is going to sear me. There should be rarer swords here, with legends attached to them, so why me?
I've got lots of famous owners, you see. I've got branches and leaves in all kinds of places, so I flourish in all kinds of ways. You're not much different, are you?
Haha. The only things we have are the freedom we can choose, and the love, grief and gratitude we don't get to choose. Sorry to say this, but we're about to reach the showstopper of the Shinsengumi infiltrating the Ikedaya inn.
I read books in my spare time. There are more things we don't know about how what will be passed on, what stories will be passed on, than there are things we do know.
Hmm. It's nice to be thrown out with the orders to defeat the enemy, but no matter how many of those things you kill, you'll never be satisfied. Aren't we the same when it comes to that?
You don't have enough bloodlust, bloodlust is what I'm talking of. I wonder if you should be removed from the category? Ahh, in that case, there's this story tagged to a Magoroku Kanemoto. We're in Kyoto, in the winter of the third year of Keiou (1867). Sakamoto Ryoma, who had unlawfully left the Tosa domain...
