It's said that long ago

A human samurai once stumbled across the Mikawa Flower Festival

What's a human doing here?

We erected the barrier, didn't we? Ugh, what a pain...

The youkai at the festival began discussing how to drive away the human

When suddenly, they heard a voice

This is our festival, and the point is to have fun!

What difference does it make if a human joins us youkai!?

The speaker appeared to be a prominent figure among the youkai, and when he spoke, the other youkai fell silent

You there, young man. Do you drink sake?

...Yes, I do

Hah! Then join us. We can enjoy tonight's festivities together. Haha!

And so, the youkai and samurai celebrated together. The two competed in the highlight of the festival: the Akitsu Hazura (Haneasobi)

Their spectacular game ended in a draw, and a new friendship was forged...

Haha, I can't believe a human could keep up with me

Witnessing the dynamic powers of the youkai will certainly help hone my swordsmanship

You're a swordsman!?

Yes, I'm currently traveling the world in search of formidable opponents

Then let's make a deal. We meet for a duel every ten years, whaddya say?

I look forward to it

The samurai was about twenty-five years old when they met at the festival

They met again ten years later and remained friends

They spent time together drinking, traveling, and sparring... When they had first met, they merely respected each other

But ten years later, they became best friends

After another decade, the samurai had reached the pinnacle of his swordsmanship

And won their duel by a narrow margin

Kamai was so astonished by his defeat, he gave up drinking

And began training to become stronger for their next duel

However, another ten years later, Kamai did not meet the samurai

As it turned out, war had broken out in the South, and the samurai had gone to defend the border

Kamai was unconcerned, because ten years was nothing in a youkai's lifetime

But when they met once again

Kamai discovered that the samurai was already sixty-five years old. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the samurai's gray hair and scars covering his body

Hey, old friend. Can you still wield the sword?

I'm getting too old to fight. This time, I've come to say goodbye

I see... Then how about one last game of Akitsu Hazura (Haneasobi)?

Alright

The samurai gave his best effort during the game, but had to quit halfway through because he was too weak

After putting down his hagoita, Kamai remained silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh

*sigh* What a shame

據(jù)說數(shù)百年前的「三川花祭」

曾有人類武士誤入其中

人類怎么會(huì)出現(xiàn)在這里

明明已經(jīng)布置了結(jié)界。真頭疼啊

參加祭典的妖怪們商議，想要把他驅(qū)趕出去

就在這時(shí)忽然響起了一個(gè)聲音

既然是我等的祭典，當(dāng)然是以盡興為主

何必分什么妖怪、人類

那位大人似乎在妖怪中很有名望，他一發(fā)話，周圍的妖怪們便沉默下來

喂，小子，能喝酒么

…酒量尚可

那就隨我等一起，享受今夜的狂歡吧

就這樣，妖怪大人與武士大人同游一程。兩人在祭典壓軸的「秋津羽戲」中酣戰(zhàn)一場(chǎng)

最終以平局收尾，結(jié)下深厚友誼

真是出我所料，人類竟能跟上我的速度

能見到千變?nèi)f化的妖怪之力，對(duì)我的劍道亦有裨益

你很擅長(zhǎng)用劍？

在下正游歷四方，尋找更強(qiáng)的對(duì)手

那我們就在此立約，此后每十年比試一場(chǎng)。如何

…令人期待

祭典相遇之時(shí)，人類武士大約二十五歲

十年后，雙方再次碰面，依舊一見如故

飲酒、同游、切磋比試…初見時(shí)或許只是惺惺相惜

現(xiàn)在卻真心將彼此視作摯友

又十年，人類武士劍道達(dá)到巔峰

竟在比試中略勝一籌

鐮井先生大為驚奇，從此戒酒、修行

鉚足勁要再戰(zhàn)一場(chǎng)

然而下一個(gè)十年，卻沒有等到武士赴約

原來南方爆發(fā)戰(zhàn)亂，武士前往戍邊

對(duì)妖怪來說，十年彈指一揮間，鐮井先生未曾在意

可再次見面時(shí)，鐮井先生卻不敢相認(rèn)

人類武士六十五歲，一身傷疤，滿頭白發(fā)

喂，小子，還握得動(dòng)劍嗎

年事已高，難負(fù)所托了。我這次，其實(shí)是為告別而來

這樣啊。那陪我再來一場(chǎng)「秋津羽戲」，如何

也好

那一場(chǎng)「秋津羽戲」，人類武士依舊拼盡全力，卻因體力不支早早出局

放下羽子板后，鐮井先生沉默許久，留下一聲長(zhǎng)嘆

…令人遺憾