The Kari Inn in Matsue was not the most inviting place to sleep, but after countless days of continuous walking along the seafront and sleeping anywhere that was hidden, Setsuka was exhausted and willing to settle for anywhere. The Kari Inn was the only place with beds available and she could see why. Walking into the bar, she was surrounded by fishermen; playing Hanafuda by candlelight, bartering various specimens they had caught that day which they had been unsuccessful in selling, or quietly drinking by themselves. However, it was not the clientele which caused her to hesitate, but mainly the fact that half the roof was missing. She decided not to ask why and politely requested a room with a ceiling.
The inn was very dimly lit, with a candle on every table. The wooden beams that should have been supporting the ceiling on the right hand side of the bar were now broken in half and being used as extra seating instead. The walls were bare, though she did notice a small painting of a mountain hanging behind the bar. The wooden floor was splintered and stained with a variety of beverages, but more noticeably, blood. Setsuka felt a slight shiver down her spine.
After ordering something which would vaguely quench her thirst, she sat with an elderly gentleman who seemed to appreciate the company.
‘What’s a young lady like you doing in a place like this?’ he asked.
‘Oh, I’m just passing through,’ she smiled.
‘Where are you headed?’
‘I don’t know…’
‘You don’t know?’ He looked at her, suspiciously.
‘No,’ she sighed, ‘all I know is that I’m looking for someone I’ve never seen before and have absolutely no idea where to begin. I was told to head west, which is what I’m doing, but I can’t just keep heading west forever.’
‘You’ll fall into the sea if you do that,’ he chuckled. ‘Who are you looking for?’
‘A man named Mitsurugi,’ she lowered her voice, ‘have you heard of him?’
‘I’m afraid not, child.’
‘What about the Azure Knight?’
At that point, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Glancing around, she saw the bar tender staring at her, wide-eyed.
‘Did you just mention the Azure Knight?’ he asked.
‘I did,’ she answered, ‘you know of him?’
‘Of course I do!’
‘Can you tell me where he is?’
‘Oh…’ he hesitated, ‘well no, not really. He’s travelling from place to place, by the time you know where he is, he’s already moved somewhere else.’
‘Where was he the last time you heard?’ She could feel her heart racing a little.
‘Well, I thought that might have been obvious!’ He answered, gesturing towards where the ceiling should have been.
‘He was here?’ She jumped out of her seat, ‘When? Which way did he go?’
‘Calm yourself,’ the tender smiled, ‘that was about a week ago, he’s long gone by now.’
A fisherman who had been listening tapped Setsuka on the other shoulder.
‘The last thing I heard was that he was heading for a shrine in Yamaguchi, the Nagato province.’ He whispered.
‘When did you hear this?’ She asked.
‘This morning,’ he beckoned for her to lean in closer and whispered, ‘but he’s been taking the long route, via Hiroshima, finding victims along the way. I know a shorter route to Yamaguchi. If you leave at dawn, you might get there in time.’
‘You’re certain of that?’
‘Pretty certain,’ he grinned.
After taking in his directions, Setsuka thanked all three men and excused herself. The day had been extremely long and she had another long day’s walk ahead of her. Heading up to her room, she decided not to expect much in the way of luxury, so she would not be disappointed. It turned out to be a very good idea.

Despite the discomfort she felt, along with the constantly creaking floorboards and the cold breeze that seemed to circulate the room all night, Setsuka slept fairly well. By dawn, she was awake, dressed and ready for the next part of her journey.

Upon leaving the inn, she spotted the bloodstains on the floorboards once again and started to wonder if she was cut out for this kind of mission. She was not sure that she would ever catch up with the Azure Knight and even if she did, would he really lead her to Mitsurugi, or would he just kill her there and then and make her whole journey a complete waste of time? She hesitated at the door and closed her eyes. The fisherman at the harbour had told her that she was no match for Mitsurugi. Plus her master, her beloved master had lost a battle with him which had led to his death. Her master was a remarkable fighter; he was incredibly quick. How could he lose to someone, unless this person was even faster, even better? She had dreamt of victory against Mitsurugi and revenge, but what if the fisherman was right? What if she was no match for him? He would either kill her or just laugh in her face.
No. She shook herself out of this way of thinking. She believed her master was the best fighter in Japan, but he wasn’t as young as he used to be. Maybe he wasn’t as fast as he used to be either. But she had learned everything from him and still had her youth, her speed. She believed in him, so she believed in herself. What was the most important thing to her? She had set out on this journey with the intention of avenging her beloved master and she was not going to let her doubts get in the way. Her life was unimportant. The only thing that was important was this journey; finding Mitsurugi and having her revenge. That was all that mattered now.

She left the Kari Inn behind and headed south-west.

The fisherman’s directions were very simple and she seemed to be on track. Passing through a quaint little village, she stopped to rest under the sweltering heat of the sun and saw a group of small children playing under a tree. Watching them play brought a sense of peace to her spirit for a short time. She had spent so long planning her battle with Mitsurugi and had fuelled her anger over and over again, that she had forgotten how peaceful she could feel when she let those thoughts drift away. The innocence of those children, playing in the sunshine, laughing and running… It made her wonder how her life would have been if she’d had a similar childhood. She did not remember a lot about the upbringing she did have. She had no recollection of her parents or the place where she was born. All she remembered were the other children; how they would taunt her.
‘You look funny,’ ‘You have strange eyes,’ ‘Why do you look so different to us?’ they would ask.
It was not her fault that she was born with western features. Clearly her parents were not of Japanese origin. She had never thought that it would prove to be such a problem for her, but the other children just would not let it go. She had always longed to look like them, to fit in, just to feel normal but she was always singled out as the ‘strange’ one.
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when one of the children, a little girl, came running out from under the tree and started picking flowers very near to where Setsuka was sitting. Her heart seemed to stop beating as she watched the child sadly finger the petals and tug at them, angrily. Her eyes… She had almond-shaped eyes, like Setsuka. Eyes which were now glazing over and fighting back tears.
‘What did they say to you?’ Setsuka asked the child.
She shyly glanced up, silent. Setsuka held her breath as she examined the little girl’s features. She too, was not of Japanese blood and was most probably suffering the same torment that Setsuka was all too familiar with. The girl said nothing and slowly rose to her feet, on the verge of running away. She glanced around, spotted a tree with no children playing round it and started to walk in its direction.
‘Wait,’ Setsuka pleaded, ‘Child!’
The little girl glanced at her. Setsuka felt her heart overflowing with compassion. ‘Don’t listen to them,’ she said, ‘you’re beautiful.’
The little girl smiled timidly and ran towards the tree.

Seeing the little girl had really made Setsuka think about her own life. She would have given anything for a stranger to tell her that she was beautiful. Part of her wished that she had been accepted by the other children, but then she wondered: had she been happy as a child, would she have had a remotely similar life? She never would have met her master. She never would have learned to fight. She would never have begun this journey. In a way, she felt that she might have been happier and probably would have had more of a life of luxury if she’d been accepted, but now she felt that she had a purpose. She was travelling this far for a reason. She had a goal and she was determined to succeed. Suddenly she was glad she had suffered as a child. She was glad that she had no idea who her parents were, or where they were for that matter. She was glad, because she liked the person she had become. Now, she had character. She could fight; she was ambitious and determined, but still compassionate.

Several days passed and Setsuka decided not to get her hopes up when it came to inns. Each one seemed to be grottier than the last, but at least they provided something to sleep on. She was finally drawing near to the shrine.

The sun was starting to set and she could see it just ahead. Gigantic stone statues guarded the entrance which looked like an abyss in the poor lighting. As the sun set behind it, its silhouette resembled a crouching beast and as darkness fell, the shrine came to life with light. Hundreds of fireflies seemed to surround it, lighting the way to the entrance which Setsuka found herself being pulled towards.

It was then that she noticed the statues had been defaced, almost as if someone with incredible strength had attacked them with an extremely powerful sword. Still, she entered the shrine without turning back.