Volume 1: Re:Zero -Starting Life as a Samurai Chapter 56: Entrusting the Sword Skills to You
"I?"
Ogata pointed at himself.
"Yes." Hanbei nodded solemnly, "Ogata, I originally thought that you were just a talented apprentice, and you were still a little behind Mikami."
"But recently your performance and growth have surprised me time and time again."
"It forces me to re-evaluate your talent."
"After seeing you defeat Mikami with your beautiful skills in the recent gymnasium competition, I am convinced that you are a gifted swordsmanship genius!"
"And your heroic feat of breaking into the Ishikawa Sword Hall alone yesterday and escaping unscathed has only strengthened my judgment of your talent."
"Now, I have decided to entrust this book to you, the one with the best talent in our Sakakibara Sword Gym."
"Ogata, please accept this book."
"If you can comprehend even a little bit of the moves in the book, that would be the best."
"If you can't comprehend it, don't be anxious. I won't blame you or scold you."
"After all, my brother and I haven't comprehended even one of the moves recorded in this book."
Having said this, Hanbei said no more.
Looking at Ogata quietly.
Waiting for Ogata's response.
Ogata lowered his head and looked at the book in his hand with a complicated expression.
Ogata was actually quite interested in this book which recorded the two-sword swordsmanship called "Muga Nito-ryu".
But... Ogata was a little hesitant to accept this book...
The reason why I don’t dare to ask for it is very simple.
If an acquaintance like Hanbei gave Ogata some worthless trinkets, Ogata would definitely accept them generously.
But if he gave Ogata several thousand taels of gold, he would not dare to accept it...
If I accept it, I will always feel a little guilty...
The situation Ogata is facing now is similar to this.
The perceptive Hanbei saw Ogata's concern from his expression at that moment.
In order to allow Ogata to accept the book without any worries, Hanbei cleared his throat:
"Ogata, accept this book with a clear conscience."
"To me, this book is like chicken ribs, tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away."
"I can't figure out any of the moves in this book, so I just put it in the closet and let it gather dust, which is just a waste of the book."
" So it is better to entrust this book to young talents with extraordinary talents."
"I would be even happier if you could master some of the moves of 'Muga Nito-ryu'."
Having said this, Hanbei paused as if he remembered something.
After a while, he said in a deep voice:
"…and—Ogata, if you can learn some of the moves recorded in this book, it might help you win a month of death battles."
After hearing Hanbei's words, Ogata's pupils shrank slightly.
Then he pursed his lips and remained silent.
"Ogata, you should also know, right? You broke into the Ishikawa Sword Hall alone and injured more than ten disciples of the Ishikawa Sword Hall. That Toyama Renjiro will definitely not let you go."
"I can't imagine how Yuanshan will deal with you in the God Sacrifice Competition in a month..."
"How else can you deal with me?" Ogata sneered, "Of course you have to risk your life and fight me to the death."
Hanbei looked at Ogata who was sneering in front of him and sighed softly:
"Ogata, what exactly is the conflict between you and Toyama? Why has it become such a deadly feud..."
"I don't know either." Ogata raised his eyes and looked at Hanbei, then answered without hesitation, "I don't know what conflict there is between me and that Toyama that made Toyama hate me so much."
"...Ogata, is there any misunderstanding between you and Toyama?" Hanbei asked tentatively.
"Who knows?" Ogata shrugged.
"Ogata, I think you should go and have a talk with Toyama. If this is really a misunderstanding, then you and Toyama can avoid a fatal fight that could have been avoided in the first place."
"Talk? Master, no need." Ogata smiled, "I'm not a very good talker. I prefer hands to mouth."
"Besides, the relationship between Yuanshan and I has deteriorated to the point where we can no longer meet each other."
"If I met him, we would have already started to draw our swords and slash at each other before I could even tell him why I was here."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Ogata to negotiate with Toyama, Hanbei sighed as if he had accepted his fate.
Ogata turned his gaze away from Hanbei and returned to the book in his hand.
"...Master, I understand."
"I solemnly accept this book."
After saying this, Ogata put the book in his hand back on the tatami in front of him, then bent down and bowed solemnly to Hanbei in front of him.
…
…
Hanbei walked Ogata to the entrance of his house.
"Ogata, since I have asked for a day off for you, you should have a good rest today."
"Yes! Hmm? Master, are you going out too?"
Ogata looked at Hanbei who was tying his straw sandals in confusion.
"Yeah, I still have to go to Ishikawa Sword Hall."
"Ishikawa Sword Hall?" Ogata raised his eyebrows.
"Ogata, you don't think that yesterday's series of disturbances is over, do you?"
"I'm going to go to Ishikawa Sword Hall and have a good talk with that guy Ishikawa Heima about how to properly end yesterday's riot."
"Yuanshan and others injured a large number of our Sakakibara Sword School disciples."
"And you, Ogata, responded harshly to them, injuring a large number of Ishikawa Kenkan's disciples."
"We are even now."
"The Ishikawa Sword Hall is even at a greater disadvantage."
"The ones who injured our Sakakibara Sword School disciples were a large group of people from the Ishikawa Sword School."
"And the one who injured all the disciples of Ishikawa Sword Hall was only you, Ogata."
"One of our disciples from Sakakibara Sword School injured all 12 of their disciples, and continued to fight until no one dared to fight back."
"Being beaten like this by a young talent is even more embarrassing for Ishikawa Kengaku."
"Although Ishikawa Heima is annoying, he is not an unreasonable person."
"Now that both sides have suffered losses, it will be much easier to negotiate."
"If yesterday's riot is not handled properly, it will not do any good to either of us."
"I don't want to exacerbate the impact of yesterday's riots."
"I believe that Ishikawa Heima must have the same idea as I did. He would be happy to compromise with me and let yesterday's riot end in a more decent way."
"Well then - Ogata, I'll be leaving first. You should go home and have a good rest."
"Yes!" Ogata bowed deeply to Hanbei, "Master, you have worked hard!"
