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Usagi demands an explanation of Gen for his rude treatment of the
Lady Asano. He is cut short by Gen and his explanation about why he feels
no sense of duty to the Asano clan.
When his father, Murakami, was sent out to hunt Oda, he took his family
along with him. Gen was a child at the time and it was left to his mother
to provide their income as they travelled. Gen began to despise his father
for the depths to which his mother had to sink simply so they could eat.
Murakami himself was never unkind, but he never showed emotion - not even
when his wife died. He did teach his son to use the sword, but there came
the time when the son was more than a match for the father and it heralded
Gen's leaving. Striking out on his own, not wishing to share his father's
vendetta, he soon came to realise he could make a living with his blades.
Perhaps he had something to thank his father for after all.
As he finishes his tale, Gen and Usagi are interrupted by the
innkeeper with news that Lady Asano has been taken prisoner. Usagi goes to
help her, while Gen, stubborn as always, wants nothing to do with the
matter. Usagi pleads with the magistrate, but finds him to be nothing more
than a corrupt paranoid who has him imprisoned to be executed with
Lady Asano in the morning.
Gen meanwhile, is unable to eat. Conscience perhaps? Either way, he
eventually storms out of the inn and goes in search of his long-eared
comrade. Aware that Usagi has been gone far too long to have been
successful, Gen sneaks into the place, but is captured and thrown into the
jail along with Usagi.
A triple execution seems imminent...
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