The Samurai of Ayothaya

---

My name is Yamada Nagamasa.

I am a soIdier

attached to the Japanese volunteer army.

Fate brought me here.

I have a secret that can be shared

with no one.

This dark secret must end

with my enemies.

This series of events occurred

after King Naresuan

waged the elephant war

against Hongsawadee.

Though Ayothaya won the war,

peace was hard to come by...

A group of mysterious men dressed

as soldiers of the Hongsawadee army

robbed Siamese people,

causing much grief and sorrow.

King Naresuan issued orders

to all village headmen

and the voIunteer armies of various nations

to find the assaiIants at aII costs.

l have been assigned

by the Japanese volunteer army chief

to find these cuIprits as weII.

They are Japanese

but dressed as Hongsawadee warriors.

They raided the people of Ayothaya,

causing hardship all around.

No one else must know of this treachery.

Bring me the culprit responsible for this

and I will give him to the King of Ayothaya,

so he can behead him.

Yes, sir.

Thank you all for coming

You have come to the famous pIace

with the Sengen Shrine

Come on up, come have a Iisten

to two or three Suruga stories

Taira's Okubo TempIe dedicated to Kannon

Large bush-clover trees, cut in eight

A beard of katsura trees

in an eight-bush clover temple

lnside the temple, the all-knowing Kannon

The assigned position of the temples

in the 33 Kannon Temple Pilgrimage

The first, Nachisan

The second, Kimiidera

Next, Kokawa

The fourth, the fourth...

The most essential, Wada Temple

but Kannon who loves stories

became absorbed while reading

and forgot to mention it

Somehow, he forgot to get

the stamp of the amulet issuing temple

Leaving it to others, he left it out

of the thread of the narrow path

Finally arriving at the 33 Temple Pilgrimage

it was excluded, the eight cut into two

Leaving it to others, he left it out

of the thread of the narrow path

A daydreamer, he is called Kannon

who forgot it from the book

So he didn't forget again

they made him carry a brush and notebook

Keshi Temple in Shigoshiga Valley

Surrounded by bushy trees, sitting squarely

is Geshi Hikoroku, the lord of Shiga

Thank you all for coming

You have come to the famous pIace

with the Sengen Shrine

Come on up, come have a Iisten

to two or three Suruga stories

Leaving it to others, leaving it to others...

You...

I never wanted to kill my fellow Japanese.

We don't know who this man is.

After buying iron ingots,

we saw him being attacked

so we helped him

and brought him back here.

We rowed through the night

until noon the day after.

He shouId have died from his wounds.

We never imagined that he was so tough.

He is a foreigner. Can we trust him?

I've heaIed wounded animaIs.

This is a human being.

How can I Ieave him to die?

Now, Sasaki knows that

the attackers are Japanese.

We have to stop everything

before it becomes a problem for us.

You must bring Yamada to me.

Wherever you find him, kill him at once,

and report to me immediately.

Champa...

White face is awake.

He has come to his senses.

Water...

White face can speak our language.

The complexion of your face is

as fair as a woman.

The hair is long too, isn't it, Champa?

Krathin, help me bring some herbs

to put on the wound of White face.

He became conscious

so I don't think he will die.

Yes.

Where is this place?

The city of Phitsanuloke Song Kwae.

The selection of the King's bodyguards

this time

will be personally overseen

by King Naresuan himself.

This man's name is Sua.

He is King Naresuan's chief bodyguard.

He is my student.

I brought him to teach you

martial art techniques.

He looks so young.

What will he be able to teach us?

All of you listen to me.

Our homeland is now in trouble.

The treacherous Hongsawadee

want our land.

This is why all of you must unite as one.

Don't just think or talk.

All of you must act.

Once we are born,

all of us have to die eventually.

But the value of our death is different.

Some bear the weight of a mountain,

while some are as light as a feather.

All of you should think.

Did you find Yamada?

No, sir. I believe he is already dead.

Three Japanese were killed.

He was probably silenced.

Kuroda, you must search all of Ayothaya

to find the mastermind responsible.

Yes, sir.

Where is my sword?

We refer to the eclipse

as the celestial dog swallowing the moon.

There's nothing for you to worry about.

Have you regained your strength already?

While you are here

you don't need the sword.

The people of Ayothaya live in peace.

Everyone is friendly.

I don't know who your enemies are,

but all I know is that if you stay here,

all you will have are friends.

Who is sneaking around over there?

It's just you.

What do you want from me?

I have come to thank you

for healing my wound

even though l am a foreigner.

It is not important.

Right now the people of Ayothaya

don't care about anything else

but about our country

and King Naresuan.

How to protect him...

If we don't have King Naresuan

then Ayothaya will not exist.

Do you understand?

Why did you come here, Japanese?

Kham?

It's me. What's up?

I thank all of you for saving my life.

Never mind. You are not Hongsa,

the sworn enemy of Ayothaya.

The Japanese are King Naresuan's allies

who are ready to die for Ayothaya

and King Naresuan.

So, I consider you my friend.

Friend.

Each sword that I make must taste

the blood of the damned Hongsawadee.

Staying here,

amongst strangers close to me

makes me feel

even more comfortabIe than with

my own relatives who are far away.

They offer love and kindness to me,

a foreigner,

As if our bIood is of the same coIour.

This friendship given to me is like water

that nurtures the heart and the body.

lt gives me the courage

to overcome any obstacle.

l don't feel like l am alone any more.

l never imagined that friendship

would grow into something much bigger.

Why are the Japanese

trying to kill each other?

His identity is not as important

as to whether he is a good person or not.

I am worried that the Japanese will bring

his enemies to our homeland.

Since the incident

he hasn't spoken a single word.

I don't want to interfere

with his personal business.

If he wants to tell us he will talk.

And you don't need to ask him.

Sometimes people need to keep secrets

because once revealed,

it could lead to trouble.

If it was you, would you talk?

So why do his fellow Japanese

want him dead?

The Japanese killed each other...

What does it have to do with you?

Don't complicate things

since no trouble has come to us.

I am sure he is not a bad guy.

What you should be worried about is

the selection of the King's chief bodyguards.

Champa, you need not worry.

Will you help him, brother?

He will be all right. Phra Khru will help him.

Do you want us to deal with him?

No.

Yamada is not a native of Ayothaya.

He can't stay there for long.

He will come back one day.

And that day will be the day he dies!

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