Chapter 527: Retainer of the Son of Heaven
"The demon general is slain! The demon general is slain! Here is its head!!"
A samurai ran through the Son of Heaven's hall shouting excitedly, carrying a huge, bloody head. The demon general's face still wore a look of shock, as if it couldn't believe it had been cut down.
It was the dead of night, but out of fear, the Son of Heaven's hall was ablaze with lamps.
Also out of fear, the Son of Heaven had kept all his ministers by his side so there would always be someone to talk to and plan with.
When word came back that the demon general had been slain, the Son of Heaven immediately summoned his ministers for a council that went on through the night.
In the great hall, the samurai knelt before the Son of Heaven, holding up the demon general's head.
The Son of Heaven rose in disbelief and circled the head three times.
"Such a huge head! Such a hideous face! Such sharp teeth!"
A minister beside him quickly said, "Son of Heaven! If there's a hero capable of taking a demon general's head, you must bring him into your service at once and make use of him!"
The Son of Heaven slapped his forehead.
"Quickly, quickly! Summon the man who took the demon general's head!"
Before long, the giant Hei strode into the Son of Heaven's throne hall and knelt before him.
"This humble commoner, Minamoto no Hei, pays homage to the Son of Heaven!!"
When the Son of Heaven saw how massive Hei was, he slapped his thigh.
"How magnificent! How mighty! Take off your face mask. Let Us see your face!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Hei removed his face mask and raised his face.
When the Son of Heaven saw that face, a puzzled look came into his eyes.
"Hm? Haven't We seen you before? Your name sounds familiar, too."
Hei said, a little embarrassed:
"Does the Son of Heaven remember, on his last procession past Bamboo Grove County, a country samurai..."
The Son of Heaven's eyes went wide.
"Oh my! So the samurai that day was you!
"At the time We thought you were some nobody blocking the road and sent you off. Who knew you were such a magnificent, towering man!
"We nearly lost a samurai! We nearly lost a fine samurai!!"
Then he pointed hopefully at the demon general's head and asked:
"This demon general's hide is thick and tough, and its muscles are like steel cable. How did you cut it down?"
Hei said:
"This humble commoner..."
"Call yourself Our subject! From this moment on, you are Our retainer!!"
The Son of Heaven waved a hand and grandly took Hei into his service.
Hei was deeply grateful and knocked his big head against the floor.
"Your subject humbly thanks the Son of Heaven!
"Your subject was able to slay the demon general because I have trained in the martial arts since I was a boy, for more than thirty years now, without slacking a single day, and so I have forged this body of adamantine iron.
"And your subject wields a treasured sword that cuts iron like mud, so dealing with the Big Yōkai is no great matter!"
The Son of Heaven asked with burning eyes:
"The demon general was huge and powerful. When it runs, the sky falls and the earth caves in. With such an evil thing charging at you, were you not afraid?"
Hei's gaze was razor-sharp.
"When your subject saw the demon general slaughtering the common people, I had already cut it down ten thousand times in my heart. Its body was only alive for the moment. In truth, it was already a dead thing.
"Your subject does not fear a dead thing!"
The Son of Heaven slapped his thigh hard and cried "Excellent!" three times.
"Tomorrow, when the sun sets and the moon rises high, the Big Yōkai will come into the city to eat people again!
"Are you willing to slay the Giant Yōkai before he eats? If the Giant Yōkai can be slain, his demon army will surely scatter, and then peace and light can be restored to All Under Heaven!"
Hei clasped his fist in his palm and cried:
"Tomorrow, when the moon rises high, your subject will surely cut down the Giant Yōkai and present its head to the Son of Heaven, and restore peace and light to All Under Heaven!!"
Perhaps because he'd found some hope against the Big Yōkai, some of the Son of Heaven's confidence returned, and he let out a hearty laugh.
"With a samurai like Hei, We have nothing to fear!"
The Son of Heaven then ordered a banquet prepared that very night for Hei, but Hei declined.
"Your subject must fight the Giant Yōkai tomorrow. If I drink now, I fear it will spoil things tomorrow.
"I ask the Son of Heaven to grant me a place to rest so I may sleep, and to bring my wife and son to live in the palace, so I'll have no worries at my back. Then I can face the Giant Yōkai in a fight to the death tomorrow with all my strength!"
The Son of Heaven was a little annoyed. We invite you to drink and you dare refuse? Isn't that a little disrespectful?
But since it was for the sake of the matter at hand, the Son of Heaven swallowed his irritation and said, "Very well!"
Then Hei went on, "Son of Heaven, your subject has heard that you are gathering young children in the city.
"Tomorrow I will surely slay that man-eating demon. There's no need for the Son of Heaven to gather children anymore. Let the children go home to their families."
Now the Son of Heaven's face darkened even more, but on the surface he said:
"Yes, yes, yes, as Hei suggests!"
Then Hei went back to get some sleep, and the Son of Heaven watched that enormous figure walk away with an unreadable look.
Just then, a minister leaned in and asked:
"Son of Heaven, should we release the thousand children we've gathered today?"
The Son of Heaven glared at him.
"Release them? Like hell. Who knows if this Hei can actually beat the Giant Yōkai?
"A demon general and the Giant Yōkai aren't in the same league. A man who can take a demon general's head might not be able to take the Giant Yōkai's!
"You go personally and keep watch over those children. Not a single one goes missing!
"Oh, and not only can't there be fewer, there need to be more!
"Tell you what, go round up another two hundred children. If anything goes wrong, if the demons aren't full, these children can make up the difference right away!"
Afterward, Hei's wife and son were brought to live in the Son of Heaven's palace, and the Minamoto family met in the rooms the Son of Heaven had arranged for them.
His wife was terribly worried about her husband fighting the Giant Yōkai tomorrow. That was a gigantic monster over six metres tall. It could swat her husband dead with one slap.
But Hei showed no sign of panic. He took off his armour, set his treasured sword in its place, and lay down on the bed to sleep.
Before he slept, he said to his wife and son:
"Don't worry, you two. As they say, master letters and arms and offer them in service to the imperial house. Now is the time to make my name!
"Besides, that Giant Yōkai leads a demon army that eats nearly a thousand people every day. Man is the most spiritual of all creatures. How can we suffer such humiliation?
"Tomorrow I will surely take its head and restore peace and light to All Under Heaven!
"By the way, the Count is out wandering and doesn't know we've moved. Did you leave him a letter?"
Tarō said, "Father, I left a letter somewhere prominent at the old house, telling the Count to come find us at the Son of Heaven's palace when he sees it."
When Hei heard this, he nodded, lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes to sleep.
"Thirty years of training, all for this day."
His wife and Tarō said nothing more. Tomorrow her husband would be fighting for his life, and he had to go out in the best shape he could.
The two of them blew out the candles and lay down too, but once they closed their eyes, they couldn't sleep at all.
Meanwhile, Kian was still in the temple going through the old texts, looking for the planet's coordinates and for why a Chaos God had set its sights on this world and hidden its location.
As he was reading, something occurred to him, and he suddenly asked the old monk beside him:
"The old texts from before. Did the Son of Heaven burn all of them?"
The old monk nodded, then shook his head.
"He burned the vast majority. But some books on farming and other kinds of craftwork were kept. They're stored in the Son of Heaven's castle keep now."
Kian rubbed his chin. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it felt like something was starting to click.
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