HIROMI

Chapter 5

A man has already entered the castle. The man's face was not visible. His face was covered, and he was wearing black. The man hides in the parts of the palace but is found by two servant girls. Before the two women could scream, the man had already killed them by stabbing them in the neck. He pulled the two women and placed them aside.

Two ministers noticed the crime inside the palace, so they called samurai and soldiers. Before they could reach, the man immediately stabbed them in the back. A man knocks down a minister. A minister was so frightened that he ran. But he tripped and couldn't stand up because the killer was close to him.

The minister begged not to kill him. He will pay the killer a lot if only to let him live. The male minister trembled with fear, but the killer readied his sword.

"Don't keep doing that. Don't kill me," stammered the minister.

The killer immediately stabbed him, and a lot of blood came out of his mouth. Because there was a lot of blood on the killer's sword, he smeared it on the minister's clothes. The killer heard that soldiers and samurai were coming.

The killer immediately escaped and ran. Soldiers and samurai saw him and then chased after him. As they ran, the killer was cornered at the end of a hallway.

The killer immediately climbed to the roof of the palace. The palace's archers came and shot him with arrows. The killer dodged the arrows and escaped.

A horagai sounded, which meant Oshiro palace was under attack. The emperor was alarmed by the incident. It was heard inside and outside the palace. The concubine mother of the second prince looked outside because she heard a loud horagai sound. Together with the second prince's confidant, they looked at each other, which meant something terrible had happened.

Horagai is large conch shells, usually from Charonia tritonis, that have been used as trumpets in Japan for centuries. The instrument has served several purposes throughout Japanese history and has been given several Japanese names depending on its function.

Charonia tritonis is a common name for the Triton's trumpet or the giant Triton, a species of enormous sea snail. Reaching up to two feet in shell length, this is one of the most giant mollusks in the coral reef.

Hiromi woke up to loud noise. She immediately peeked outside. She remembered from her game that something terrible had happened when there was a sound like this. This is her version of the game, but she doesn't know what this sound means in this world. Hiromi thought of going out and observing.

As Hiromi walked, she noticed that people were alarmed by this sound. The sound is from the palace. Outside the court, it can still be heard, causing fear among the citizens. She continued walking out of curiosity. Hiromi noticed that there were soldiers who sounded the alarm and seemed to be looking for someone.

Hiromi remembered in her game that the enemy passed through the roof of the castle, so she thought maybe the enemy was hiding there. She immediately looked up at the rooftops in case she saw an enemy. But Hiromi failed and only hurt her neck.

Hiromi thought, why would she look for the enemy? She can't fight with the opponents?

So Hiromi just went back to her room. Then suddenly someone jumped from the roof. A tall man dressed in black with a hood over his mouth. She was surprised by what she witnessed because she saw his long sword with blood on it.

Hiromi feels nervous and scared. She thought of running, but the man might just chase her down and kill her. Hiromi couldn't think straight and didn't know that maybe with her slightest move, her life would be just one click away.

Hiromi and the killer saw each other only three meters away. The killer is getting closer to her. She stepped back a little, and the man suddenly charged at her with his sword.

When Hiromi and the killer confronted each other, the world stopped for a moment. She had no weapons in her arms to protect herself in any way, so she knew she was no match for a murderer. The killer suddenly charged at her with a long sword.

Hiromi realized that this was the end, so she just closed her eyes. When she closed her eyes, Hiromi heard the sound of swords clashing. She immediately opened it and saw what was going on.

She saw the killer and the first prince clash with their swords. She still doesn't know that he is the first Prince. Hiromi was surprised when the first prince came to save her.

However, this is not a simple rescue because the killer, the rival of the first prince, is strong. The first prince's sword was thrown away in the ongoing sword battle.

The first prince rushed to retrieve his sword, but the killer threw a stiletto knife at him and made him kneel. The first prince was tapped on the shoulder.

A stiletto knife is a knife or dagger with an elongated blade and a needle-like tip, intended primarily as a stinging weapon. The narrow cross-section of the stiletto blades and the sharpness of the tip reduce friction during ingress and allow the edges to penetrate deeply.

However, before Hiromi could approach the first prince, the killer threw another stiletto knife at her. But it didn't hit her because someone hit it. A man came and fought the killer with a ninjato sword.

Hanzo and the killer fight. Hanzo's speed and courage took the killer a step back. Suddenly, the killer threw a smoke bomb and immediately ran away.

A smoke bomb is a bomb that emits thick smoke when detonated and is used to create a smoke screen. It is deployed to create clouds of smoke to confuse and escape enemies.

Hanzo was chasing the killer while smoking around him. Unfortunately, Hanzo didn't see the killer. He quickly approached Hiromi and the first prince. The soldiers had just arrived where they were.

The next day, the first prince had not yet woken up. When he fainted, he was still unconscious. The emperor came to see the first prince. The physician said that the penetration force of the stiletto knife was very sharp, which is why his shoulder was affected. They need to take medicinal plants to help him recover.

The physician said he needed a drug called "Kakkonto."

Kakkonto is one of Japan's most frequently prescribed herbal medicines to treat colds and stiff necks.

After the physician explained to the emperor, the emperor first thought about what to do. He ordered several soldiers to tighten the first prince's guards. As the emperor walks with his right hand, 12 eunuchs, servants, soldiers, and samurai, he meets Hanzo and Hiromi.

They knelt as a sign of respect for the emperor. The emperor said he had something to tell them, so he ordered them to follow. Hiromi and Hanzo followed the emperor's orders. Once inside, the emperor was sitting on a throne, and Hiromi and Hanzo were facing him.

"Hanzo, a shinobi, young mistress, I, personally, thank you for not abandoning the first prince, who was nearly killed by a murderer," the emperor said.

Hiromi was surprised by the emperor's words because she did nothing to save the first prince. And even when she found out that the man was the first prince, she was too embarrassed by her actions toward the man. Hiromi thinks that if the first prince wakes up and notices her, she might be killed for despising the emperor's son. Her head might be cut off.

The emperor asked Hanzo what his saying was urgent. Hanzo looked at Hiromi before answering. The emperor's order is that they go to the eastern part of the Oshiro Palace, so she is very guilty. But it was only because of the kinchaku that they returned. She thought what she had done was childish, but the first prince might have died without Hanzo.

Hanzo says they need to get Hiromi's kinchaku back. When the emperor heard this, he asked her what was in the kinchaku. She was nervous because, in all her life, she had only now had an encounter talking to an emperor.

"Your Majesty, the kinchaku has gold coins and herbal plants in it," Hiromi said. She didn't know if the emperor would be happy just because of these useless things, so they returned.

But suddenly, the emperor stood up at Hiromi's words which surprised them. The emperor asked if he could see Hiromi's kinchaku. They looked at the emperor, thinking that the emperor would be angry.

Hiromi takes out the kinchaku and shows it to the emperor. Hiromi came over to give it to the emperor.

When it was in the hands of the emperor, he opened it. He was amazed by the gold coins because they were not just ordinary but real gold. The emperor saw a cloth that seemed to be wrapped. When he opened it, he saw the medicinal plants.

Next to the emperor is the physician. He asked the physician to see what kind of herbs they were. The physician said these are rare and cannot be obtained by chance. The physician said this is the so-called Kakkonto medicine. This is the sought-after medicine for the first prince. Hiromi and Hanzo looked at each other.

The emperor said it could be used on the first prince for his recovery but only if Hiromi, who owns the kinchaku, allows it.

While Hiromi was arranging the things she would take on the trip, Hanzo asked her a question.

"Young mistress, are we leaving? Why did Young mistress refuse the emperor's offer to make us samurais?"

"I am not worth the position of being called a samurai. I don't know anything about fighting. It isn't exactly right to say that I saved the first prince. I was merely giving back what I owe," Hiromi replied to Hanzo.

Because they had already declined the emperor's goodwill, Hiromi decided that there was no use staying in the palace anymore. She wanted to travel east of Oshiro and live there.

When she gave the herbal plant for the first prince's recovery, the emperor had given her enough treasures to live a good life. Although the emperor offered the two of them more riches and glory if they chose to stay in the palace as samurais, Hiromi did not want to get tied down to the place. She still preferred the freedom of the outside.

While Hanzo was preparing the white horse, he noticed the young mistress standing looking in the distance.

Hanzo remembered that the young mistress had asked the emperor to keep it a secret from the others, especially the first prince, where the herbal plant came.

He reckons that the young mistress only wanted to live a simple life. And she can never achieve that inside the palace.

The emperor had acquiesced to Hiromi's deal. However, because her father was one of the emperor's most trusted shoguns, the emperor had relented to her adamant refusal. However, he allowed her visits to the palace and vowed her a grand welcome whenever she chose to come by.

When everything was ready, Hanzo approached the young mistress.

"Young mistress, are you ready?" Hanzo asked.

"Yes, I am. I am ready to leave this palace. Because I am the one who will decide my life. I don't want to follow the rules of my game," answered the young mistress.

Hanzo was stunned by Hiromi's answer. He didn't understand Hiromi's last words that she didn't want to follow the rules of her game anymore.

"What does the young mistress mean when she no longer wants to follow the rules of her game?" Hanzo wondered.

Hanzo wonders why she didn't know the first prince in the first place. And when he saved the young mistress from the crumbling sculpture, she didn't recognize him as they had known each other for a long time. Hanzo thought that she might be traumatized by the accidental collapse of the sculpture that hit the young mistress. There were many questions in Hanzo's mind, but he couldn't answer them.

The point has come that Hiromi has to accept her new world. In contrast to the world, she was used to the modern world because of the internet, while in Oshiro, they only practice their skills for battle.

In another part, the killer is talking to someone who seems to be his leader, who gave him orders about the attack on the palace. The killer is on his knees because of his leader's anger that the person who should be killed was not killed. He was hit with something because of the wrath of the leader.

At nightfall, a eunuch runs to the emperor, saying that the first prince has woken up. The emperor immediately stood up because he didn't think that the herbal plant that Hiromi was carrying would be effective that quickly.

When the first prince opened his eyes, he looked around the room. He saw his trusted male servant, who was very happy when he woke up.

The first prince had a flashback of his encounter with the killer. He also remembered Hiromi, whom he had saved.

He asked his servant, "Where is..."

The first prince paused because he did not know Hiromi's name.

"Your Highness, who are you looking for?" asked the servant.

"Nothing! Forget it," he answered.

The first prince asks how many days he has been unconscious.

"Your Highness, it's been three days," replied his male servant.

Within three days, because Hiromi and Hanzo declined to investigate, the emperor ordered the second prince to do it for him. The second prince agreed, and he brought a drink for the emperor. But the physician said the emperor couldn't drink it because it could harm his health.

The second prince took the saké, but since the emperor saw that his son only wanted to give him a gift, he accepted the saké and placed it in a Tokkuri. The physician was stunned because he could not do anything about the emperor's decision even though it harmed him.

Three days passed, and the emperor asked the second prince to investigate what happened in the attack by an unknown person or killer in the palace and the attempt on the life of the first prince. It reached the citizens of Oshiro. There are rumors that it might be an inside job because the palace is under strict surveillance.

The leader of the killer was looking at the emperor while with 12 eunuchs, servants, soldiers, and samurais. You can see that he is angry because he wants to hurt with his fists. The killer was facing the leader. It's like he's got a plan to follow. It can be seen that he is ordering someone to be killed.