My name is Yasushi Miyoshi. I was instructed to keep a record of my mission and I have chosen to use this diary to record my travels. For those reading this in the future, I should perhaps provide background knowledge as to what my mission is. I am a samurai, born to the Miyoshi family. I have served under the Shogunate my entire life. It was not until a month ago that I was assigned to the frontlines for the first time, to defend the northern-most villages from Oni invasion. While I was there, there indeed was an Oni attack. During the battle I discovered that the blade I wield, Kouhei, which had been passed down for generations, was capable of destroying the demons. The katana was examined and traced back in history, linking it to the famous swordsmith Kayou Kuso.
But the blade was one of the last few he ever made. A long time ago, he was tasked with presenting a perfect blade to the imperial family. He made seven blades, all varying to some degree, but the imperial family was displeased and disgraced him. They were the last recorded blades, and thus the Shogun believes that the other six blades also have the same power as mine. These swords are unique and powerful. Only one person can draw each blade, and only that one person can wield it. I am the only one that can wield Kouhei, like the other six blades must surely have owners by now as well.
My mission is to find these six swords of Kayou Kuso. Once they are all together, the Shogun will send us to Oni territory. He and his advisors believe that they will be some sort of key in defeating the demons and saving Japan. They are certainly unique, and the way Kouhei was able to kill the demons was unseen before. There is something supernatural about it. My concern about this mission is that there are many people across the land. I will start my search tomorrow by reading through archives and libraries. If I can trace the path the swords went after Kayou Kuso's humiliation, I can possibly find the owners this way. Hopefully they have owners. I think this serves as a decent first entry.
I have made a new discovery about Kouhei. I have found that whenever I draw the blade, I can see into the souls of those around me. It is a strange sensation, and something that has never happened before. I am unsure how to activate it, but it requires the blade to be exposed at least somewhat to work. Perhaps this has something to do with the research I began this morning. Before I knew of Kayou Kuso, my sword merely acted as a sword. But now I can judge people. When it is drawn, I can see their true hearts. The heart has a color and a sort of feeling to it. It's hard to describe, but I have noticed there is a sort of gradient. The ones who are pure are a light shade of blue, and it gets progressively darker the more dark their hearts are. This description isn't very detailed, but I have more to test and will keep this diary updated.
There was an Oni attack at the village I defended. As a part of my research, I travelled to it and ended up encountering a small Oni force along the way. One of them was carrying a nagamaki. After the skirmish, I found that I could not draw the blade nor could anyone else present. This is a sign that this was also a Kuso blade. With this lucky find, we now have two blades. But unfortunately still only one owner, and that is myself. So far today, nobody has been able to draw the blade, which has been identified as Inzen. I will be storing it safely with my family until such a time that an owner is discovered. Or stumbled upon. To be honest, this is a bad sign the blade had no owner. This could present future problems.
My research has paid off. Yesterday I was able to find documents that led me to one of the Kuso blades: Hasaki. Kayou Kuso had given it away to a samurai family that used it as a practice sword for a long time. However, it was reported stolen one night several years ago. When I travelled to the town this occured at, I checked all the shops and found the blade in one of them. I questioned the young man that operated the shop and the description matched my records. Even better: this young man, named Akio Kenjou, was able to draw the blade. With this discovery, I ordered him to go about his business as usual but to keep Hasaki safe for now. I explained that once I had found all the Kuso blades I would call him to the capitol. He seems like an honest man, and after explaining the necessity of his cooperation and what it would mean to the world, he was willing to cooperate. I used Kouhei to judge his soul and he seems like a decent citizen. Nothing ominous or worrisome about him.
I have made another accidental discovery. During my free time, I was sparing with my younger sister when she decided to test if she could draw Inzen. As it would happen, she was able. And she was also able to use it's power, as she knows of Kayou Kuso. In all fairness, she has helped me with some of the research so that was probably to be expected. It would seem that Inzen allows her to utilize incredible strength, as she was easily able to throw me across the courtyard. I have three blades and three owners now, though I have a feeling that this may become more problematic than I initially thought. As Akane's older brother, I am naturally worried about bringing her into Oni territory later. But she also can use the blade, so it is not like she is defenseless. This brings up a topic I failed to think about before: if Akio Kenjou has any skill with a katana. He is a shop owner, so I doubt he is. He will need to be trained at some point.
Another blade has been found. A young man had attempted to take the emperor's life this morning but was captured before he could do anything. Nobody on the premises could draw his blade but he himself. Thus I was called to the capitol to examine the situation. I have identified the blade to be Soyokaze. After talking with the assassin, I learned he was of former nobility. Saito Takasu was his name. After I explained the situation and the importance of Soyokaze, Saito agreed to cooperate under the terms he would not be executed for his crime. I agreed to this, since I was unsure of how the blades choose their owners. After judging his heart with Kouhei, I determined that he is trustworthy. But there is still darkness there from his past. This may be a problem in the future, so he will be kept under watch. I allowed him to have his freedom for now rather than leave him in the prison, but he is forbidden to leave the capitol. Hopefully he will follow that command so he won't need to be tracked down again.
I had managed to trace another Kuso blade. It is presently toward the north, so I have sent a party to retrieve it. Word has gotten about that I am searching for Kuso blades and the population is becoming more active. There have been a few false leads that simply led to swords that were stuck in their sheathe. But my sources have confirmed that we found Shinja. There is no owner, presently, but at least we have found another blade. As well, I met a nice young man today named Kaido. I was looking to have a new blade made for my son so he can practice in the near future, but after talking with him I found that he had an interesting history. I like him. I decided to invite him along for the mission, since he claims to be able to cook, which is something we will need. I will send him a letter to come to Takaga Castle when the time comes.
Someone attempted to steal Shinja yesterday. While the party I sent to retrieve it was returning to the capitol, a bandit tried to sneak into their camp and steal the Kuso blade. He was apprehended, but unfortunately he had drawn the sword in the process. This is good news and bad news. Now Shinja has an owner, which means I have five of the seven swords and owners. But I examined this man today and found him to be despicable. He is the infamous murderer: Kazu. According to him, he had heard about the value of the Kuso blades and had intended to steal it from me in order to get a ransom. As it would turn out, it chose him as its owner. When I used Kouhei, I could see nothing but blackness in his heart. This man is by far the worst I have judged, and as such I am giving him no chances or freedom. He will be held in prison until all seven blades can be gathered, and even after that I will keep him under constant watch. The evil inside him is too great to allow him any kindness, for the security of the mission.
It has been a month since there have been any leads. But the sixth blade has been found by a young boy. A ship carrying foreigners had arrived a week ago during a storm, which was when the boy claims he found the sword in the rocks by the beach. Nobody was able to draw it except for him. I have talked to him this afternoon and confirmed the blade to be Kashoku. The boy, Yohan Kasbo, was very eager to assist me on my mission. He seems to be very religious and has heralded the sword as something from God. Perhaps he is right, after all. But regardless, I sent him to the capitol and am now searching records for the last blade: Yoken.
All seven blades and their owners are now rounded up. I found records of Yoken belonging to a samurai family. When interviewed, one of their younger men explained that he sold it in exchange for armor, as the blade seemed to be stuck in the sheathe anyways. I went to the armorer and found that he was now the owner of Yoken. His name is Takeshi Shun, and he seems to be the artistic type. But unfortunately, like several other owners, he has no experience with a sword. He too was willing to cooperate and as such we are on our way to the captiol. Once there, I will send out messages for the owners to come to the Takaga Castle so we can begin our journey north.
The time of year bothers me, as I expected the search to take longer. Travelling during winter may prove to be difficult, particularly in the north. Perhaps now that the true mission is about to begin, I am growing nervous. But regardless, we will all be meeting with the Shogun in a few days. I anticipate that we will discover the abilities of the blades that we have yet to discover the abilities of. So far, I only know of Kouhei and Inzen's powers. I am a bit concerned as to what they can do, because I am beginning to think that the supernatural forces behind these swords are not benevolent. I cannot explain it, but my intuition is telling me that something is not right in these swords. Only time will tell, I suppose.
Tomorrow I will say my goodbyes to my wife and son and take Akane to the capitol. It is possible that I may never see my family again, for nobody that has ever done what I am about to do has ever returned. But never before had anyone had such powerful weapons to use against the Oni, so I'm positive that I will see them again someday. It will just be a long time.
November 3rd, 1601The light of dawn began to stretch over the capitol, Kyushu. The city was vast, with many differing building heights. Though most were only two stories tall or so, there were some that had considerable height, standing above their brethren like trees compared to bushes. However, the crown jewel to the Kyushu skyline was Takaga Castle. The home to the imperial family. The castle is so tall that it almost looks like a monolith, a testament to the power of the Empire and the Shogunate. It was always this building that received the first light of the day and the last light of the evening. Presently, it stood watch over the silent streets of Kyushu. Though the city is usually alive and even chaotic, due to the high population and high density, but this early in the morning yielded only a mere fraction of the citizens.
Awake in his bed was Yasushi Miyoshi. The hotel was a nice one, and the Shogun had paid for he and his sister to have the best rooms in the whole city. As the samurai, only clad in his underclothes, looked out the hotel window over Kyushu, he let out a sigh.
Today is the day, he thought, before turning away to get ready. After a shower, a shave, and a nice white kimono, he was prepared for the meeting. Though, the meeting was at noon, and the clocks determined that was over five hours away. The invitations to the meeting had been sent days prior, so the owners of the Kuso blades should all be in Kyushu in time for the mission. Yasushi already knew for certain that most of them were in the city, so he wasn't concerned of anyone arriving late.
But nervousness still gripped him.
I need to relax my nerves. The hotel he and Akane were staying at had a zen garden on the rooftop. An interesting location, but when Yasushi went to check on it, it seemed that the view was actually soothing. At least in the early morning's light. There was a wooden walkway over the well-kept sand. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the wind patterns actually kept it looking nice, not any human management. This provided an interesting thought, but Yasushi quickly shook it away as he sat down on a rock near the walkway and began to meditate. The sun began to appear over the horizon, casting an orange glare across the sky and shining its light directly upon the samurai.
After an hour of sitting as such, Yasushi felt more calm and relaxed, and thus decided it was time to wake Akane. He entered the hotel and approached her door. They were allowed separate rooms, something that Yasushi was thankful for. Though he loved his sister, he knew she could be quite a handful if given stimulation. Unfortunately, their rooms were next to each other so she still had the opportunity to bother him overnight. And once again on the flipside: at least she decided not to last night. Yasushi rapped on the door several times, before looking out the hallway window. It had to have been about eight o' clock or so.
"It's time to wake up, Akane," he called through the door.
"I will go to the castle now. You better be there on time. Remember: the meeting is in four hours." With that, he grinned lightly and walked back into his room.
The only thing left on his to-do list was to bring Kouhei. The blade was sheathed and leaning against the wall behind the door, so anyone entering would not see it. Yasushi tied the blade to his waist, made the bed, and took his leave. Though there were several hours until the meeting, he felt the need to be at Takaga Castle early. Perhaps not this early, but something compelled him to go. As such, he walked down the streets toward the castle, taking note at how quickly the streets began to fill with carts and pedestrians as the sun went higher in the sky.
