The Seal Comes Down

At the gate of Dog Village, the family stands in line. Long ears, and old armor that does not fit — in a queue of dogs, there is no hiding what they are.

Their turn draws closer. At the guardhouse window, the clerk turns the pages of the household ahead, sets his seal, and waves them through. He does not look up once. The enforcement officer watches the people, not the papers. Usazuma presses a hand to the document inside her robe; Usamusume studies the guardhouse window; Usamusuko clutches his wooden samurai and copies the way a sword is worn. Usazo straightens the cords of his armor and arranges, silently, the words he has prepared.

He had prepared. If anyone's eyes went to the broken tachi at his hip, he would answer, "If it is to be drawn, let it be another day," press the hilt down, and turn his body away — he had rehearsed even that. But no one takes the cue. No question, no demand that he draw. His performance has no audience.

What decides the matter is a single sheet of paper he paid for. The clerk's hand follows the lines, confirms the name written there — Usazo — and the vermilion seal comes down. "Usazo. Pass." Then: "Next." The face never rises.

The gate opens. The family walks through, into the streets of Dog Village. Usamusuko runs ahead; Usazo squares his shoulders and says, "A samurai recognized by Dog Village." What he claimed for himself in Episode 1 is now said of him by others. Only Usamusume looks back. At the edge of the street lie the traces of a voice that has begun to grow inside these walls. They have not seen it yet.