It was then that Shozan saw how his daughter might prevail.
Kawakami was assuming—having neither reason nor exposure to think otherwise—that the size and shape of the automaton was roughly the size and shape of the person within; he could not have imagined the sheer amount of mechanism that would have had to go into the structure, and thus could not be expected to realize that Kei was contained almost completely within its torso.
Further—as would any swordsman, faced with a spear-wielding opponent—he was watching the feet, failing to comprehend that a karakuri ningyo’s feet have nothing to do with its actual movement, serving only the functions of stability and décor.
She could, indeed, win—if only she could manage to do it quickly enough, before Kawakami could disable the automaton com
