Session 38. (15/5/02)

Down in the tomb below the derelict farmhouse, Kimori, Mariko, Komako and Emiko are being attacked by four gaki, the ghosts of the old farmer's retainers. Emiko quickly tries to exorcise them but this fails. One of the ghosts strikes Komako and injures him and another hits Emiko. Kimori and Mariko hit back and score several hits, but are not sure if they are causing any damage. Komako punches and kicks a ghost and is sure that he is doing damage. Emiko tries exorcism again and one of the ghosts disintegrates and disappears. The other ghosts close in again but fail to hit the troubleshooters. Kimori and Mariko hit their opponents and Mariko's disintegrates, proving that they were doing damage. Kimori theorises that they might only be vulnerable to superior quality weapons. Then he puts his theory into practice, hits a ghost with his superior no-dachi and it disintegrates. Komako and Mariko finish off the last ghost between them. Kimori advances into the tomb and find an urn containing the ashes of the farmer. At this point the old man's spirit rises from the urn and flies back and forth across the tomb. The troubleshooters retreat to ponder their next move. They need a Buddhist priest to perform the sagaki rite, so Mariko and Komako hurry off to Nobeoka to fetch one.

Sugiyama, having discovered that the Hyugans have a priestess who uses prophesy to set up perfect ambushes, makes his plans. He decides to set up a diversion that night, lure her away and take her back alive. Shortly before dark he sneaks around the headquarters spiking the lamps with gunpowder, then sneaks up on an unsuspecting guard and kills him with a single blow. He drags the body into the War Room and looks for maps and plans. He finds some maps showing the Hyugans possible withdrawal routes from their current locations. Then the lamps start exploding as they are being lit, starting fires and causing turmoil around the building. Leaving the guard's body in a place where it will be found, Sugiyama goes to find the priestess, Takayama. He finds her in her room. He suggests that he accompanies her to a safer location while the fires are put out. She agrees. Once outside in the dark streets, Sugiyama puts some fast-acting poison in his hand and touches her arm. However, the poison doesn't seem to go in. Realising what is happening, Takayama tries to invoke a kami to help her, but this fails. Sugiyama draws his sword and kills Takayama before she can try again. Then things get rather hazy…

When Mariko and Komako return from Nobeoka with the abbot of the main temple, who was very impressed by their story, Kimori has worked out that the disappearances are happening every month and started on the twenty fourth anniversary of the old man's death. The abbot confirms the timings and says that he thinks something similar happened twelve years earlier. He goes down to the tomb and starts his ritual, protected by the troubleshooters. The old man's spirit makes a few attacks on them, particularly Emiko who eventually passes out. Mariko and Komako are also affected, but after enduring this for twenty minutes the ritual is completed and the spirit laid to rest. When Emiko comes round she uses a chant to search the tomb and discovers a hidden space below the old man's urn. When they look they find an urn containing the daughter's ashes, placed on top of a beautiful silk wedding dress. The abbot says that the daughter has already received the sagaki rite so they leave everything as it was and return to Nobeoka. Back in Nobeoka, the four troubleshooters report to Koreyasu's headquarters. Komako takes a scouting mission while the others return to their studies - Kimori on rhetoric, Emiko on bo and Mariko on biwa.

In a seeming flashback to previous events, Sugiyama sets out from his room to cause distractions in the Nango headquarters. It is early evening. However, as he opens the door he is grabbed by six large armed guards. He is dragged off to the prison building and thrown into a cell. Completely perplexed, Sugiyama sees the priestess, Takayama putting away her incense, candles and scrolls used for meditation spells. She says, "We know you are a spy for Lord Chozo. You will be executed in the morning!" It begins to dawn on Sugiyama that Takayama has used her prophesy to see a future in which he carries out his plan to kill a guard, start fires and capture and kill her. Takayama has pre-empted him by sending guards to put him in prison before he can even begin his plan, and has thus saved her own life. Sugiyama is in big trouble!

Meanwhile, Komako is on a scouting mission in the hills to the west of Hyuga Town. He and five of Koreyasu's soldiers are about to head for Hyuga Town when they are ambushed by fifteen Hyugan soldiers. Komako quickly fells one, turns and fells another over a few more rounds. Then he looks round and sees that his companions have done well, killing ten Hyugans, but now they are all dead and Komako is alone with three more Hyugans. Fortunately they get in each others' way, the first breaking his sword and the other two missing. Komako polishes off the unarmed soldier then starts laying into the other two. They also get some serious strikes on Komako, and though he finishes victorious, he is quite badly injured. While he is trying to decide what to do, the god Bishamon appears to him and tells him that Sugiyama, the man who saved his life in Ishiyama Castle, is about to lose his own life in a prison in Nango unless Komako can do anything about it. After all, he owes him...

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