NOVEL WEB Musashi
Author: A quick warning: please be patient with my early self, who started writing from scratch in the first season.
Neither my judgment nor my translation skills were at their best back then.
So bear with me and forgive any rough edges at the beginning—I promise it gets better in the following seasons
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[Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Hakone Castle, April 1 of 2055]
In the vicinity of Mount Fuji was Hakone Castle, which was bought by the Arasaka Corporation after the Third Corporate War in which the Japanese government became heavily indebted for the services the Arasaka Corporation performed during that conflict.
Not only did they have to sell Hakone Castle, a Japanese tourist and historical landmark, but they also had to sell all the land around Mount Fuji.
It was not only this land that the government had to sell; in fact, the Arasaka Corporation owns 29% of the land in the country of Japan. Almost one-third of Japan's land is privately owned by one family, the Arasaka Family.
Hakone Castle has maintained most of its original form but has been renovated to become larger and more imposing. The latest alloys have been used to fortify the building, giving it a darker tone, almost black.
They had also built four towers in the form of classic Japanese pagodas, all on top of a base of stone bricks that raised the castle about 35 meters above the lake with the same name, Lake Hakone.
Inside the castle, more precisely inside the stone brick base on which the castle was built, there was a hangar full of black Aerodynes or AVs with the symbol of Arasaka in red.
In the hangar, there were 30 men lined up in 5 columns, in front of two other men. They were the elite members of the armed branch of the Arasaka Corporation, personally in charge of protecting the heirs and members of the most important family in Japan, the Arasaka family.
This group of soldiers, unlike the rest of the soldiers and workers of the corporation, had to follow the ancient way of Bushido as a requirement to enter the unit by order of the leader and instructor of the unit.
Standing in front of the 30 men was Musashi Hakate, Saburo Arasaka's main bodyguard for 50 years, head of security at Hakone Castle, and the most influential person in the castle after the Arasakas themselves.
Musashi was older and had already reached over 70 years of age, 55 of which he had spent serving the Arasaka family. He had three sons, all of whom died for Arasaka. Musashi missed them every day but was also proud of how his sons died for the sake of his Daimyo. In this current era, who else but the Arasaka family could fill the description of a Daimyo?
Musashi had a large and trained body, along with a lot of cyberware, which made him look younger. Musashi had four black artificial limbs with red markings, which gave him a more intimidating appearance, along with his katana at his waist. He is considered the best swordsman in the world.
Currently, Musashi had retired from active duty as head of the security team of the Arasaka family boss because he made an unforgivable mistake that almost endangered Saburo Arasaka, his lord. With so many years of service, Musashi became a friend and confidant of the Arasaka family.
Although Saburo had not reproached Musashi for the mistake, it was Musashi himself who could not forgive his own slowness in reacting to a situation dangerous to Saburo's life. He blamed it on age and suspended himself from active service.
Thinking that he was past his prime, he decided to train the next generation of warriors who would protect the family.
Musashi was explaining the seven main principles of Bushido, by which they are governed in this unit:
"Gi - Justice or Righteousness"
"We believe in righteousness, but we do not force it on others. We forge it in our hearts."
"Yu - Courage or Bravery"
"We rise in the face of danger while others fear to act. We must have extraordinary courage, accepting the risks involved in being true to our own principles. This leads us to live a full, complete life."
"Jin - Compassion or Empathy"
"Through intense training and meditation, we become fast, strong, and wise. Enough not to use that power against others weaker than us, to have compassion for our equals and inferiors, but never against our enemies."
"Rei - Respect or Courtesy"
"We have no reason to be cruel, nor do we need to show our strength. We are respectful because force without reason turns us into animals."
"Makoto - Honesty or Sincerity"
"When we say we will do something, it is as if it is already done. Nothing on this earth will stop us from realizing what we have said we will do. We do not have to 'give our word,' we do not need to promise or threaten, because the simple act of speaking is part of the action. Speaking and doing for us are the same thing."
"Meiyo - Honor or Judgment"
"The most important virtue of all. We have only one judge of our own honor, and that is ourselves. The decisions we make and how we carry them out are a reflection of who we really are."
"Chugi - Loyalty or Responsibility"
"Having done or said something means that something belongs to us. The responsibility for it and for all the consequences that follow from it will be ours."
While Musashi was reciting the seven principles of Bushido like a mantra, which he, of course, follows as his own, someone came to interrupt him. It was one of Hanako Arasaka's private servants, who stood out in comparison to the members of the unit, dressed in training clothes and with combat cyberware installed on their bodies, compared to the woman dressed in a light red kimono, with a delicate figure.
Seeing someone approaching, Musashi stopped his explanation, turned to his second in command, his disciple, and said:
"Goro, I leave you to continue with the training of the others. Do not get distracted; get serious. I do not want to come back and see you having another fight with Oda while the others bet," he said while reprimanding the behavior of his men while he was not there, and also of his disciples.
"Yes, you can count on me, Musashi-Shisho. Come on, let's start running a couple of miles around the castle!" shouted Goro Takemura, Musashi's disciple for 12 years.
Leaving Musashi alone with the maid.
"Musashi-san, Hanako-sama has asked me to come in search of you. Hanako-sama wishes to speak with you," said the maid as she bowed, performing an Ojigi respectfully to Musashi.
Musashi only affirmed seriously without showing any emotion, but inside he was glad to be able to see little Hanako. He had known her since she was a baby and was one of the few people who held her apart from her parents.
Even though one of his three sons died while protecting her during the Fourth Corporate War, when Militech attempted to kidnap her, Miyamoto, the eldest of Musashi's sons, managed to stop it and eliminate 28 elite Militech attackers with precise headshots. His accuracy remains a record at the Arasaka Military Shooting Academy.
As he arrived, following the maid, to Hanako Arasaka's private room, which was in the part of the castle protected by the four towers in the form of pagodas that created a shield that could not be seen with the naked eye, Musashi, through the large windows, could appreciate the shield generated by the four towers with his left eye, which was an implant. It was not shaped like an eye but a blunt patch with a small red light in one of its corners.
Musashi, seeing the landscape from the top of the castle, came to doubt that the land was contaminated, that there were large radioactive storms, desolate and wasteland areas where there were once forests or jungles.
Because if all that was true, then what was in front of Musashi had to be another world—green as far as the eye could see, with a forest of sakuras in bloom surrounding the castle, and the small village next to the castle, kissing the lake. The large red Torii gates in the four cardinal directions of the lake, truly a paradise on earth. Musashi thought before entering Hanako Arasaka's room.