Dark`
Oiwa-sama,
it has been 180 years since you laid your curse,
and it still persists.
Does your hatred run that deep?
The kabuki, Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, which features you as the main character,
has been remarkably well received.
However...
Now, now, now, come in, come in, please enter and take a look...
I am Tsuruya Nanboku the Fourth.
My real name is Katsu Hyozo.
That is cruel, Iemon-dono.
To this day, even though there are plenty of horror stories,
there has yet to be a show so horrific, that it makes the audience regret going to see it.
I am now 71 years old.
Not much time is left for me, as an author, to create new works.
I have a strong yearning to write a truly scary story.
That urge made me feel uneasy.
I thought about using the legends revolving around the ghost, Oiwa, as a basis for my story.
However, the truth is...
Is it possible that I am being controlled by this story?
Found it!
Ah, we have found it! Found it at last!
Quick, set the hawk off!
Go!
What, isn't this just a rat?
That can't be eaten!
Oiwa nee-sama.
Ah, Osode, I'm coming over now.
The main characters of this horrifying story with a twisted fate, Tamiya Iemon and Oiwa,
were still in happiness before they exchanged marriage vows and were blessed with a child.
However, as their lord was dead, the Bushi from Ako-han that had gathered then,
fell from grace and became masterless Ronin.
The lord of Iemon, Asano Takimi-no-Kami,
was framed by Kira Kozuke-no-Suke in an incident during Genchuu.
As a result, Takumi-no-Kami committed seppuku.
Before he died, he spoke softly, hoping that the Ronin would come to seek revenge against Kira for him.
Yes, this Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan uses the background provided by that story, Chusingura.
Ojou-sama, you are indeed pregnant. It must be by that-
You bastard, who do you think you are, doing that here!
Are you trying to challenge us?!
It-It's my fault.
Please forgive me.
Forgive you?!
This old fool must be dreaming.
Hand over the money you made! That hurts...
Who the hell are you?!
Tamiya Iemon!
That's enough.
What are you saying? Just step aside...
Tamiya Iemon-dono!
O-Ojou-sama!
Oh, Oume!
Oshuto-dono, do you have any injuries?
Your relation with Oiwa has ended. I am no longer your father-in-law.
Oiwa and I are deeply in love,
and she already carries my child.
It must be some sort of fate that I saved you today.
Can you return Oiwa to me?
I will not hand over my daughter to a bandit like you!
You think that I am a bandit?
I wonder who stole the lord's money after he died.
Do not tell me you did not take that money, Tamiya Iemon.
What proof do you have?
The money you have has the seal of the lord on it.
When the time comes, you will definitely be beheaded.
I, Yotsuya-sama, definitely will not allow my daughter to be married to a person with such bad character as you.
Remember this.
You impudent old fool.
Bowls, seals, medicine.
Ah, the medicine seller, Naosuke-san.
Osode-chan is no longer here.
Eh?
She's working at another place from today onwards.
Where is that?
Where else?
At Jigokuya?
If Osode-san is at Jigoku...
You want a big or small tube?
What? I am not here to rest.
I came for the girls in the back.
There is a newcomer called Osode at the brothel, right?
Indeed, please head behind.
Sorry for intruding.
Good evening.
Hey, Osode-san.
You are!
Yes, I am Naosuke, the one that used to work for the Yotsuya family as a manservant.
Why are you here?
Osode-san, I have always found your eyes catching, I cannot help it.
Quick, come over here.
What are you doing, that's rude!
Even though my family has fallen from grace, I am still the daughter of a Bushi.
I do not want to be touched by a servant.
What are you saying? Stay still, damn it.
Is that you, Osode-san?
Yomoshichi-sama, why are you here?
Wait up, I came as a customer, damn it.
Ah, you are Satou Yomoshichi.
Naosuke? Why are you acting like this towards Osode-san?!
Ah, damn!
That hurts, damn it.
Remember this!
Are you all right, Osode-san?
Why are you working at a place like this?
Have you forgotten about me?
Saying such mean things, the same goes for you.
You already have me as a fiancée.
Yet, you came to a place like this for pleasure, that's unforgivable.
If you are talking about that, I don't have any money on me at all.
However, I am now working as a trader and am trading with people in town.
I hope that one day, I can come and marry Osode-san.
Yomoshichi-sama.
Yomoshichi, you bastard.
I will not take this lightly.
After being forcefully separated from Iemon by her father...
Iemon-dono.
Oiwa could not forget Iemon, no matter how hard she tried.
Huh?
Tamiya Iemon!
Not only have you separated me from Oiwa, but you have branded me as a bandit.
Wh-What? You still want to put on that act!
You have already fallen to such a pathetic state, you old fool!
You... Tamiya Iemon...
Go to hell!
Do you get it now, Yomoshichi!
This is payback.
Who?!
Let me see your face.
Tamiya-danna?
Naosuke? You killed someone?
Yes, there was some bad blood between us.
Bad blood?
Who was it?
It is Satou Yomoshichi.
Even so, the skin on his face has been marred, so no one will recognize him.
I see..
I can do the same to that old fool.
Danna killed someone as well?
Yes, Yotsuya Samon.
Isn't that your father-in-law, Danna?
Naosuke, bring that fellow over.
O-Okay.
Oiwa Nee-sama.
Osode, why are you here?
It is so late, yet Otou-sama hasn't returned.
I came to fetch him.
Didn't you go to the brothel?
I am no longer working at the brothel.
He's still troublesome even after he's dead.
But, Danna, why?
This is to let people believe that they were killed by bandits.
Also, by dying together,
they will not feel so lonely in the other world.
So that's why.
Ah, someone is coming.
Otou-sama?
Otou-sama, Otou-sama!
Otou-sama!
Those clothes, could it be?
Yomoshichi-sama!
Your face! This is too cruel!
Otou-sama, Otou-sama!
Oiwa, is it Oiwa?
Iemon-dono, Otou-sama has...
Oyaji-dono?
Who on earth did this?
What are you doing?
Please let go of me. I want to end this painful life and be reunited with Otou-sama!
If you die, who will avenge Father?
Even though we have been separated, we are still husband and wife.
I will avenge him for you.
Iemon-dono.
Osode-san, I wish to help you.
Naosuke, you!
Since things have happened in the past,
it cannot be helped that you doubt me.
That is why I want to avenge Yomoshichi-sama, in order to prove my innocence.
But, you are not my husband, or related to me in anyway.
Since that is so, until he is avenged, we will act as husband and wife.
Huh?
I will not touch your body at all, of course.
I will sleep in a separate room as well.
Even though it is just an act, I want to seek revenge with Osode-san as husband and wife.
Osode-san.
I understand.
At an abandoned paddy in Asakusa,
two corpses and two unlikely couples were revealed.
Fate is such a cruel thing.
Time flowed by quickly and the seasons changed.
Iemon, who had hoped so badly to be married back then,
had slowly lost his feelings for Oiwa after she gave birth to their child.
The manservant that I recommended, Kohei, has run away.
He did not just run away, he stole something as well.
What did he steal?
It is a medicine called Soukisei, which has been handed down in the Tamiya family for generations.
Oiwa-sama's health has been poor since she gave birth. She has been bearing with it.
It's irritating, stop him from crying!
We are already so poor, yet she gave birth to a child. She does not know what is good for her.
Are you going out? Where to?
You know where.
Please come back quickly.
Tamiya Iemon-dono.
Ojou-sama?
Tamiya!
Ah, have you caught Kohei?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tamiya-sama.
Is this the medicine that was stolen?
Yes, this is the Soukisei.
Hey, Kohei. What were you planning to do by stealing this medicine?
Yes, my original master caught a terrible illness, and cannot move at all.
I thought that the Soukisei could cure it. I am very sorry.
Even so, stealing and running away adds up to a big crime.
What do you intend to do?
Let's see, how about we break off all ten of his fingers?
Ah, that is an interesting method.
Please forgive me, please forgive me.
Shut up!
Choubee, silence him.
Okay.
Is anyone home?
Yes, who is it?
Stop struggling.
Stay quiet in there.
Who is it?
It's a servant from the House of Itou that lives near us.
I am Maki.
Is there anything I can do for you?
I am here to congratulate you on your wife's safe delivery.
Bring it over.
I thank you for this.
There is this as well.
This is a medicine that my master, Itou Kihei, asked me to bring along.
It is good for the postpartum recovery period.
Please make sure that your wife takes it.
Sorry for imposing on you.
We are all neighbors.
Tamiya-sama, please come over to the House of Itou when you have time.
I will pay a visit to offer my thanks.
We will be anticipating you then.
Oiwa-sama, the medicine is ready.
The fateful encounters of Oiwa and Iemon
have finally started to fall into place, and will eventually lead them down a path of no return.
What kind of tragedy will this medicine bring?
It shall be revealed in the next chapter.