Musashi did not know how Sakumura felt, but she, too, had a powerful intuition she had not voiced.
"Without us there in person, that old man might finally be able to draw that so-called O-tome-ryu sword."
—Even so.
Musashi took a deep breath.
That old man, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami, was undoubtedly a cold and ruthless man who treated human lives like dirt.
"Princess's safety will be absolutely assured in Lord Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's care." For some reason, Katō Danzō was also part of the group, and she spoke seriously. "Lord Yagyu Tajima-no-kami, who has cultivated the swordsmanship of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu to its utmost limit, is the finest swordsman in the land."
"...Miss Danzō, could we discuss something? Normally, I'm not easily startled, but if you suddenly appear beside me like that, anyone would—"
Fujimaru Ritsuka patted his chest and helplessly glanced at Katō Danzō, who had appeared out of nowhere.
Sakumura, Musashi, and Kojirō had sensed Danzō's appearance in advance.
But the problem was—
"Danzō, you'd already been here for quite a while. You could have joined the conversation earlier, so why did you only speak up once we mentioned old man Yagyu?"
Musashi said helplessly.
Danzō nodded with distinctly mechanical stiffness.
"Yes. Then should I now output 'clear skies for miles'?"
"Yes, yes, that's exactly it! It's rare for us to be traveling together, after all!"
Musashi nodded excitedly.
"Yes, understood. Then I shall input that."
Danzō nodded again.
"Amazing, she's totally a robot. No, wait, she was a robot to begin with, right?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka carefully examined Katō Danzō.
"Not a robot. She is a mechanical puppet."
Fuuma Kotarou said weakly.
"Yes. Robot. I shall input that."
Katō Danzō nodded for the third time.
"No! You don't need to input that one!"
Kotarou hurriedly stopped Katō Danzō.
"Yes."
Katō Danzō