Episode 14: Master of the Blade

## Plot

**Spoiler warning: *Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)***

After another long day of scrubbing out the capital's gutters all alone in Oshtor's absence, an exhausted Haku drags himself back towards the Hakurokaku. Kuon stops him along the way.

She tells him that all the Pillar Generals have been ordered to take the field against the invaders, and with Soyankekur and Ozen occupied with affairs at home, it falls to their daughters Atuy and Rulutieh to join Oshtor's armies. Kuon is afraid to let them go alone and has decided, along with Nosuri, to go support them. She invites the fatigue-addled Haku along, and he, in a daze, agrees without thinking.

Meanwhile at the front, Dekopompo's forces have already joined battle. As the enemy forces pull back, the tactician Maroro advises that they too retreat and regroup, but the sycophant Bokoinante encourages his liege's reckless instincts: anything to show the other generals his greatness. The Yamatan forces follow and fall into an ambush, and Dekopompo—again against his tactician's advice—moves an essential reserve force out of position to extract them. Maroro can only whimper that he misses Haku.

Haku for his part is trundling towards the battle in a woptor-drawn carriage, with the Twins in tow. Inside Kuon and Nosuri are playing dice while Atuy and Rulutieh look on. Naturally, Nosuri is losing. She falls for a feint and tries to take back the move, but Kuon points out that a good woman shouldn't. Ougi hands his sister a towel to wipe up the puddles of sweat she's dripping. Of the crew, only Rulutieh is visibly apprehensive. She passes on the next game, so Atuy takes on Nosuri instead.

Kuon pokes her head out the front to check on the cart's progress. Haku reports that nothing has changed, and Kuon explains that the laid-back atmosphere behind her is an attempt to lighten Rulutieh's mood.

Suddenly an arrow comes whizzing towards Haku, and the sounds of battle break the peaceful air. The twins helpfully stop the arrow, and Haku turns the cart 180 degrees away from the fighting. He's seen enough of war already and just wants to pull out and go home, but the girls aren't impressed: they came here to fight. Even if, as Haku points out, arrows are super painful.

They find a position on a hill overlooking the battle, and see Oshtor's flags flying on the field below. Oshtor himself is absent, likely off to rescue Dekopompo. Haku suggests going on to join him, as their objective is to join up with the Imperial Generals of the Right and Left, but Nosuri and Rulutieh observe that the Uzurushan are using nakwans: Yamatan slave soldiers forced to fight for the enemy. The girls jump down and Rulutieh goes to mount Cocopo and join them, but Haku grabs her hand. The two remain at the top of the hill.

Nosuri, Kuon, Atuy, and Ougi join the fray, trying to neutralize the nakwans without hurting them, while Cocopo defends Haku and Rulutieh. For the Uzurushans themselves, there is no mercy.

Haku and Rulutieh escape to a safe position, and Haku finally notices that the Twins are with them. From their new vantage, though, they can see Uzurushans looting a village where they've made their camp. Entua walks by, supervising the men, and almost spots Haku and friends watching them. For once Haku wishes he were back scrubbing gutters, but the mood turns serious when a prison cart rolls through the camp. They realize that the cart contains the hostages the Uzurushans are using to ensure that their Yamatan nakwans stay loyal.

Haku notes that it's heavily guarded and wants to return and regroup with Kuon, but Rulutieh pushes him to save the hostages now.

At an opportune moment while Entua is distracted strategizing, the twins use their magic to start a fire as a distraction. The Uzurushans, assuming someone got hasty and tried to burn the village early, move to put it out, and Haku and Rulutieh take advantage of the confusion to free the hostages. However, the hostages say that one of them, named Shinonon, is outside in a separate tent.

Haku knocks out the guards and enters. Inside is a small girl with red hair, who greets him with a bowl of food to the face. Entua and her men react too late as Rulutieh, Haku, and the Twins make their escape—Haku with a protesting Shinonon under one arm.

Back at the battle, a rough-looking man puts a stop to Kuon, Atuy, Nosuri and Ougi's otherwise one-sided advance. He protects the Uzurushan commander with a katana that he wields like an expert, and Ougi identifies him as the swordmaster Jachdwalt, who three years prior won a great tournament in the capital and the Mikado's favor, but refused the title and reward he was offered.

Jachdwalt seems about to cut Atuy down when Shinonon calls out to him. Realizing how his situation has changed, he turns on his former master in a flash and relieves the now ex-commander of his head. With that, the battle is won, and Shinonon runs to her dad's side.

In the aftermath, as the former nakwans and hostages happily reunite, Jachdwalt thanks the princess of Kujyuri for her aid—and as an afterthought, he's kind enough to offer a scratched-up Haku his gratitude too.

The Uzurushans are about to overrun Dekopompo's camp, with Gundhurua himself leading the charge. By this point Maroro is out of tactics and Dekopompo snaps and tries to run for his life—but runs straight into Mikazuchi and Oshtor, who have arrived to relieve his army.