"The Divine Comedy of Ayashi" "It's a fire!" "Come on!" "Over here!" "Come over here!" "Hey!" "Fire!" "There's a fire!" "There's a fire!" "Hurry up and let us out!" "The law says you have to let us out!" "Praise the Red Cat!" "A Youi?" "Or is this a real fire?" "Saizo!" "Saizo, what are you doing?" "!" "Where are you, Saizo?" "!" "I nferno Three" " Mou nt Purgatory Where are you, Saizo?" "!" "I nferno Three" " Mount Purgatory" "Boss..." "Damn!" "It's a fire!" "How did a fire get started here?" "Arson?" "!" "Hey, were you watching?" "!" "Water!" "Get water!" "Everybody step back!" "Go inform the Keeper of Keys." "With the momentum of this fire, we may have to release the prisoners!" "You all are..." "Red Cat..." "Red Cat..." "Red Cat..." "The prisoners who were beheaded here on the execution grounds." "So their deep-seated grudges have turned into Youi." "Be gone!" "Dance!" "Dance!" "Dance!" "Dance!" "Master Takano..." "What are you..." "By the orders of Prison Magistrate Tatewaki Ishide, those in the east prison shall be released upon this emergency!" "Thank you for your mercy." "Thank you." "The evacuation site is Honjo Ekoin Temple!" "Return to Ekoin Temple, without fail, by the third day!" "By the Magistrate's benevolence, those who return shall have the Municipal Magistrate petitioned to have their sentences commuted by one degree!" "What's this?" "What's wrong, Atl?" "What's wrong?" "!" "It's appeared!" "A Youi of flames!" "However, by the time the evening bell tolls the day after tomorrow, if there is anyone who has not returned to Ekoin Temple, you shall be seized, even if we must search high and low, and you may be sure that your wife and children," "and even your parents and siblings shall all be sentenced to death!" "Do not err in your judgment!" "Return without fail!" "The evening of the day after tomorrow!" "At Ekoin Temple!" "Hey!" "If this is the work of Youi, I must go." "I guess I scared you, huh?" "There's no Youi called the Red Cat." "This is just a fire." "Things will settle down quickly, but this release is a bit of good luck." "Boss!" "All of you..." "But you sure do look awful there." "Is this the fire Youi that you mentioned in your letter?" "I do not know." "This way." "Right now, we can get inside by mingling with those being released." "So we are finally reduced to visiting the Kodenmacho Prison Compound." "Not somewhere I wanted to go if I could help it." "Ah-ha..." "You must be the girl from Nueva Espana that Ogasawara told me about." "This guy's a Youi too, right?" "Who the hell are you?" "Tell me, what kind of place is the Other World?" "I bet no one would come chasing after you there, eh?" "You wouldn't happen to be interested in taking me there, would you?" "What's wrong?" "This one no longer seeks to go to the Other World." "Why is that?" "This world is full of unpleasant things." "But even so, there are a few good things about it." "Some man you like, perhaps?" "I merely want to live in this world." "Oh-ho-ho..." "I have to say I've seen many, many folk like you." "But you know," "I don't think there's any difference between this and the Other World." "What?" "That's why I live how I please." "What do you have there with you?" "These, you see, are the teachings of Christ, translated by a man named Koseki." "The Bible?" "The people of Espana had that, too." "But I bet they didn't know it could be used like this." "They say these words possess holy power, but the late Koseki's deep-seated grudge became part of it." "In the idiom that you people use, this book is already a bound volume of Youi." "A Youi?" "Youi written in the words of God." "In other words, they are close to God, can fight Youi, and even bind them!" "Atl, get away..." "Yukiwa!" "Please, get away!" "I see." "So you're a misshapen dragon." "I'm beginning to see what Torii is plotting." "Where is Saizo?" "She was on the night watch, preparing to fight the Youi." "She could not have failed to notice this." "Did you know?" "There is a method of extinguishing fires with a powerful explosion." "There it is." "Youi..." "Red Cat?" "Fight fire with fire, Yukiatsu!" "Here we go then!" "This thing possesses intelligence?" "!" "Ryudo!" "The star performer's turn on stage, as they say..." "Turn into Ayagami!" "That move..." "Shall we contact the Prison Magistrate and take this to Torii's estate?" "Don't be absurd." "Even now, Lord Atobe and Lord Abe are after us." "And yet, here you are, protecting the peace and order of Edo." "How good-natured of you." "Let's just take back whatever we can process here." "You read my mind." "That felt good, didn't it?" "What have I done?" "Well, well, so you were aware of that much, at least?" "Arsonists get burned alive." "That's the law." "But thanks to you, we've been saved." "Your boss will get away scot-free." "Of course!" "After all, he's supposed to be long dead." "So his name isn't even on the Prison Magistrate's books." "Even if he doesn't go back to Ekoin Temple, no one will be coming after him." "I see..." "I'm glad." "You mean to return to the Ayashi?" "I have committed a crime." "So I will go see everyone, and then..." "Be burned alive?" "I am prepared to face my fate!" "You know, you're forgetting one other important thing." "You and that Youi became one." "The Youi was my armor." "Only the descendants of gods are supposed to be able to do that." "The Western Ones, eh?" "They're no gods." "There isn't a single one in this world who's descended from the gods." "Not even in the capital?" "!" "Of course not." "You believed that?" "It only takes a little trick for people to become one with Youi." "And to do so feels very good." "Am I wrong?" "Why do you slay Youi?" "You slay Youi and eat them." "If that's going to make the world a little better..." "Well, that's not a bad way to live your life." "But does it really?" "My boss and the others do it for the good of the people..." "And what happened to you guys?" "It wouldn't have been so bad if they had just set you guys aside." "But you've incurred the Magistrate's displeasure, were seized by them, ran away from them, and you've even had to get that tattoo." "After all that, is it still worth slaying Youi?" "We are Youi." "We aren't accepted by the world, and we aren't treated the same as people." "How is that any different from Youi?" "Then, wouldn't you rather try living life as a Youi?" "I didn't steal these." "I was able to take the money I earned as the convict boss." "Throw away those work clothes." "They're a little burned, but..." "You're so innocent of the ways of the world." "What?" "Vagrant work clothes have your name written on them." "The name "Eizo" that you were using." "The Magistrate's Office will surely look for a vagrant named Eizo for the crime of committing arson." "And someday, that child will get caught." "They never know if you might come back for your things, so they quickly make themselves scarce." "That's just how they are." "But..." "I..." "Let's go." "It has been two days since then." "If Master Takano does not come to Ekoin Temple by dusk today, it means he seriously intends to flee." "I should think that he would flee." "It appears he went to the trouble of setting that fire on purpose." "And Saizo is involved in this somehow." "We have no choice but to think that." "As a matter of fact, the two of them have both gone missing." "It seems Takano wanted Atl to take him to the Other World." "He may have thought Saizo would do instead of Atl." "But that is..." "Master Uchida did?" "Yeah, what the heck is going on?" "The city is overflowing with convicts and neither Atl nor Yukiwa have spoken much lately." "We can discuss this later." "Oh, also, did you know?" "Inari statues all throughout Edo are disappearing." "Huh?" "So this is what he meant." "He claimed to have set you free." "That is what he boasted to me." "Master Takano was here?" "I was not the only one he paid a visit to." "It seemed he was going to all his pupils and the scholars he knows, trying to get a feel for what the Magistrate's Office was doing." "Rinzo Mamiya's letter?" "Yeah." "Rinzo bought the farm, didn't he?" "This February?" "That bastard promised to tell me something when he died." "Ah, he definitely left a will." "Though I did not know you and Mamiya were acquainted." "So?" "!" "Where is the will he addressed to me?" "!" "The thing is, a certain man took it away, saying it was needed in an investigation." "Damn." "Rinzo Mamiya..." "Wasn't he a Shogunate official who explored the northern regions?" "He traversed and mapped out alone, not only the Ezo region, but also the island of Sakhalin." "Rumors say that he even crossed over into Russia." "So what of this man?" "What is Takano thinking?" "So, who is the person that took away the will?" "Your senior, the one kept by Torii..." "Toraichi Hanai..." "This is it." "No mistake about it." "You got it now!" "What is that map?" "!" "What does it mean, "A map of one who grows beneath the ground"?" "!" "They're words that Mamiya left only to me upon his demise." "I'm sure all your research was to no avail." "Now, I hate to say good-bye, but Hanai, Honjo..." "It is time for me to disappear." "You mean not to go to Ekoin Temple?" "!" "Of course not." "It would be a waste to allow me to rot in prison." "Do you not think so?" "Choei Takano." "Too bad, Torii of Kai!" "I'm sure you wanted to keep me locked up for the rest of my life to serve as an object lesson to scholars of Western learning!" "You people are moving too fast." "Would you have Japan open itself up now and allow it to become overrun by foreign countries?" "If that would open everyone's eyes, that would be fine too." "It must not be." "That must never be allowed." "The gods..." "The gods of this country will not permit it!" "Saizo!" "Ah, what a remarkable dance!" "It stirs my blood and fills me with strength!" "Enough of this nonsense!" "Ayashi, eh?" "Master Takano, please head for Ekoin Temple!" "It's too late." "It's night." "The time of Youi!" "Saizo, what are you doing?" "!" "I am a Youi!" "I was a Youi!" "Saizo!" "I am..." "I am!" "The fox!" "People are depraved!" "And that depravity makes us strong!" "Oh, so strong!" "Ayakashi mukashi Mystic days of old" "Hana wa saiteta Flowers were blooming" "Yume no naka e hairi-komu Finding their way into dreams" "Tamashii no iro yo The colors of souls" "Akaku Turning red" "Aoku Turning blue" "Preview" "The summit of the Mountain of Purgatory, where those who have been purged of the seven deadly sins arrive..." "The Purgatory closest to Heaven." "That is the Earthly Paradise." "Next Time Inferno Four" " Earthly Paradise" "Next Time Inferno Four" " Earthly Paradise The Divine Comedy of Ayashi." "Inferno Four." "Next Time Inferno Four" " Earthly Paradise"