"Mmm—good boy, good boy! Up you go!"
". Say, Tasuke, can you listen to me for a little while longer?"
Miyamoto Musashi lifted Tasuke into the air, a hint of a sigh in her expression—though she was still smiling happily.
Yet somehow, that smile looked a little unnatural.
"Eeya, eeya—"
Tasuke waved his little hands.
He could not understand what Musashi was saying, but perhaps it was precisely because he could not understand that Musashi could say these things to him.
"Hehe, don't worry, I'll talk while holding you up. Thanks."
"I talked with Mr. Sakumura about so, so many things. He told me—told me what kind of person he really was when he was alive."
"To make one's life into a sword, to make one's sword into one's life... The wording may be similar, but those two concepts sound worlds apart. I'm naturally the latter, but honestly, I think the former is far more admirable, you know?"
"After all, not everyone can examine their own life and still grasp that life in their hands as their own strength. Especially... a life like that."
"Mr. Sakumura had always thought very little of himself, but to me, he was undoubtedly an unmatched [Peerless Under Heaven]."
"After all, that one I met was incredible too, even if she was an oni."
"After that battle, she actually said that she had already broken. That was truly shocking."
"Thankfully, thankfully she said it after the fight."
"I've met quite a few oni, but someone like her... I just don't understand."
She gently shook her head.
"What kind of state of mind would make someone say something like that?"
[I have already broken.]
Words like that—
"Ahahaha, but then again—if we're talking about lacking something, I guess I'm not really in a position to judge