Even today, I can still vividly remember the day I first joined, and the stern advice my Senpai gave me as my guide.
“Don’t let the swords know your real name.”
“Don’t mess around with the Chiyogami.”
“Don’t betray your own conscience.”
I nodded vigorously, swearing to my Senpai that I would never do anything like that, my conscience was clear as day.
Senpai said, “Hmm, hmm, I believe you don’t have any subjective problems, but objectively, this requires extraordinary willpower.”
At that time, still naive, I asked Senpai what exactly he meant by that.
Senpai, with a worldly weary look and a lollipop dangling from his mouth, told me solemnly and gloomily, “Because this [beep——][beep——] Honmaru is full of nothing but temptation.”
Since then, I’ve worked diligently in the Honmaru year after year, sweating through every day.
For consecutive years, I was named “Annual Outstanding Saniwa” and gradually endured the transition from newbie to Senpai myself.
Thanks to my diligence and effort, all the swords in the Honmaru that could be Kiwame’d have been fully Kiwame’d; those without Kiwame unlocked have all been leveled to 99; except for a few rare Limit Forging Swords, all the Ranbu are maxed at 9.
The Honmaru now boasts a triple-digit blade count—there’s hardly any sword missing.
The Time Government is truly lucky to have me on a modest salary; my loss, Kitsune no Suke’s achievement, and the Retrograde Army’s misfortune.
So, regarding the fact that I’m constantly hunting down the Retrograde Army only to be pecked at in return, I’m somewhat mentally prepared for it.
But don’t you dare let me find out which filthy traitor sold out my Honmaru’s coordinates to the Retrograde Army.
Once this is over, I will personally take my sword to their house and slaughter my way through seven gates, and if anyone is left breathing, I’ll consider myself defeated.
Guess how I earned my “Outstanding Employee” title? I’m just a humble Chiyogami?
Anyway, that’s a lovely daydream for the future. The immediate priority is still to deal with the endless Retrograde Army attacks outside the Honmaru.
The Honmaru Seal is really a huge help, and if the Retrograde Army thinks they can starve us out by siege—sorry, this Honmaru can produce what it consumes. Do you think my Castle Fields duty is just for show?
Besides, the swords don’t necessarily need to eat. As long as there’s even a trace of my Spirit Power, they can keep on breathing.
But food can grow from the earth; resources can’t.
That’s truly a sad story.
I can actually understand why the Honmaru can’t self-replenish resources—otherwise, who would go on expeditions? Who would complete Time Government Missions? Who would spend Koshu Gold buying resources from the Time Government?
But this problem is seriously going to kill me.
The Seal isn’t flawless; my Touken Danshi still need to handle the Retrograde Army attacking outside the Seal, at least enough to keep the damage within what the Seal can endure.
But, but!
No matter how much of something you have at first, if you just keep consuming without replenishing, sooner or later it’s going to run out, right?!
Unfortunately, up to today, the Time Government hasn’t figured out how to make the Touken Danshi heal over time after being injured—apparently even the gods somewhat obey the law of conservation of matter.
Yes, that means if one day you’re walking down the street of the Man-ya, and someone pulls you into an alley, whispering mysteriously that there’s a secret manual to directly use
Spirit Power for sword repair, with effects better than the Three Stages Secret Manual, better than the Healing Pool and Shiroyama Yoshimitsu, Spirit Power hand-ins are the new era Saniwa’s proper method—
And, since fate has brought us together, the price is not tens of thousands, not four or five thousand; just 998 Koshu Gold, and you can take it home as a friend’s gift…
In short, when you meet such a person, immediately call the Time Government Law Enforcement Team hotline to report ongoing fraud.
I know Spirit Power is very useful but, unfortunately, it’s not omnipotent. At least, there’s no way to miraculously restore a Touken Danshi to factory-new condition with just a hand-in.
Of course, if you’re a healer type, just ignore me.
What? You say you’ve already bought it?
Could a colleague please tell me your Honmaru’s coordinates? When you’re old, I’ll come sell you health supplements…
And soaking in the Healing Pool requires resources.
I’m ashamed to admit, I’m not exactly a frugal Chiyogami.
The Honmaru’s good development up to now is thanks to the efforts of the Touken Danshi.
Of course, I’m not extravagant, but I’m definitely not the type to prepare for a rainy day either.
Thanks to the Dungeon, I’ve stocked up quite a bit of Koban. Every month’s salary is enough to spend a bit and save a bit.
But resources… unlike some hamster-like colleagues who hoard everything up to 99,999,999 until the Warehouse doors burst open, I’m fine with just having two or three hundred thousand on hand.
If I need more, I can just buy from the Man-ya; nowadays, you can order online with home delivery—super convenient.
At first, I didn’t realize how serious this problem was.
I was directing the swords to repel the enemy while cursing the useless Time Government, wondering why they still hadn’t arrived.
And so, one day passed, then two days…
Finally, Zouza knocked on the door of the Castle Keep.
“Master.” The demon sword Zouza, whose Kiwame only made him more bewitchingly captivating, tapped the tabletop in front of me with measured weight. “There’s something I need to report.”
As a sword once belonging to a ruler of the land, Zouza is a master at handling administrative affairs and unlike some who clearly have talent but prefer slacking off, he actually works hard.
I’m pointing at you, Higekiri, the Genji family’s main sword, who spends most of your time in my Honmaru just as a tea break energy consumer except when on mission.
… I hate you Heian swords!
After silently reprimanding the old blades in my heart, I quickly shifted my attention back.
And that’s when things went wrong.
I noticed Zouza was injured—and not lightly.
By Touken Danshi standards, that’s a moderate wound.
“Why didn’t you get treated? There are plenty of Accelerator Charms, right?” I grabbed his wrist.
Zouza sighed.
“That’s exactly what I came to tell you,” he said. “The Warehouse’s resources are running low.”
What? What? Our resources aren’t enough?
I’m at a loss for words.
Such an obscure phrase!
I was born— no, I mean, when I joined— it was a good time.
The Time Government was in a transitional awkward phase. To attract and support new Saniwa, each newcomer received a generous resource subsidy.
After joining… I have some talent with Spirit Power, so taking on the entire sword roster was no problem. The swords were raised quickly; the Honmaru’s blade count grew large.
This meant whether it was battlefield combat, expeditions, or events, the swords quickly grew strong enough to handle things independently.
Salaries and subsidies rose accordingly; resources were like water.
Strictly speaking, I was never really poor.
Zouza started tallying the numbers for me, one by one.
As everyone knows, some swords cost a fortune to repair— thousands of resources isn’t uncommon, and it takes a long time.
This Honmaru has no money-saving swords except for my little Wakizashi cuties!
It really breaks my heart.
Speaking of which, I have to rant about the Time Government: you give me a Honmaru with over a hundred swords and only four Healing Pools? Are you kidding me, or are you kidding me, or are you kidding me?
At the very least, shouldn’t you allow a tenfold repair like when forging swords?!
But the Time Government says NO.
I’m going to blow up their headquarters sooner or later.
In short, Zouza told me, given the shortage of resources, although we’re not yet at the point of being completely out, we need to start preparing and strategizing for the long term.
After all, no one knows how long this siege from the Retrograde Army will last.
Therefore, the Honmaru has decided to implement a policy of only repairing severely injured swords for now, postponing repairs for moderate and minor injuries.
That’s what Zouza came to report.
“What do you think?”
What do I think? What else could I think?
Saniwa emits a sharp explosive scream.jpg
Not repairing is unacceptable— never in this lifetime.
I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies; except when I’m using Kiwame for moderate injuries as a ploy or sometimes pushing tasks which temporarily forces lightly injured swords to sortie, I want to see my swords without a single scratch to feel at ease.
I’m not at the stage of squeezing my swords dry yet!
“Re-pair.” I gripped Zouza’s shoulders, looking into those beautiful heterochromatic eyes, repeating word by word.
“I… won’t.” Zouza smiled and replied word by word.
This Zouza has gone bad; there’s no reasoning with him.
I need to find someone to fix him.
But Princess Yukiyuki refuses to let her brother go for repair—even Yukiyuki himself is severely injured.
No, no er—
“Please don’t worry about me.” He recited a Buddhist chant. “I am a Kiwame’d Tachi with plenty of health; even though I’m severely injured, it’s not actually too dangerous yet…”
I grabbed his mouth firmly.
Too smooth a talker.
Don’t say it next time.
I called all the swords in the Honmaru together for a meeting in the Great Hall, and found that indeed, more or less, everyone was carrying some kind of injury.
… This definitely hasn’t just started happening today. I suspect they hid their minor injuries before, and the moderately and severely injured swords never came to me.
No wonder lately I only ever see the Wakizashi. Turns out you all were waiting here for me.
Why are Wakizashi the exception?
Obviously, Wakizashi require the least resources to repair, yet their combat strength is frighteningly high in short battles—it’s common sense which to choose.
Besides, with their childlike appearance, they’re cared for by all factions; understandable.
I don’t understand a damn thing!
I demanded they go get repaired.
They fiercely argued back at me.
No one convinced anyone.
I understand their concerns, but this can’t go on.
Besides, resources will run out one day, and then what?
Annoying.
I went to discuss and research with Shiroyama carefully.
Shiroyama can turn a severely injured sword into a moderately injured one using Spirit Power. Could I borrow the operational principle?
After grabbing Shiroyama to study over and over, I might, probably, possibly understand a little of the principle.
Of course, the main reason I can understand it is because, before becoming a Saniwa, I was a Magician.
Not the street performer with card tricks and doves kind.
A true, orthodox Nasuverse magician.
Should I really do this? I hesitated.
Our ethics as magicians differ greatly from normal people’s, and swords obviously can’t be held to human ethical standards either.
But some things, once started, have no turning back. It’s different after all.
Yet I cannot tolerate them dragging out moderate and severe injuries like this. The damn Time Government doesn’t know when rescue will come.
It seems there aren’t many choices left to me.
Once again, I gathered all the Touken Danshi in the Great Hall and announced my decision.
“I’m going to start Sleeping Duty.”