Synopsis: Balsa goes to a swordsmith to have her spear fixed but the swordsmith has clients from the court as well.

I thought this would be a boring episode. Indeed, this contained one lengthy conversation. However, this episode provided insights on Balsa’s past.

The swordsmith being a good citizen of Yogo thought of reporting Balsa to the authorities. There were rumors afterall of a spear-wielding warrior going against the court. Balsa confirmed that was true and that reporting to the authorities that she is still alive would be the correct thing to do. The swordsmith asked Balsa what she would do if he would tell. He asked if she would kill him but Balsa replied that she’d only wait until the spear is forged. The swordsmith decided to hear the other side of the story. He his Balsa (and Chagum who was with her) in an adjoining room as another of his clients were coming to get their new swords.

The clients turned out to be soldiers from the court, particularly the leader of those sent to pursue Balsa and the one who had almost succeeded in getting Chagum. The swordsmith related to them how he wanted to forge the ultimate sword — a sword that would cut one free from one’s fate and not cut bodies. He said that both the swordsmith and the warrior must achieve an ideal state of mind in order for that sword to be forged. He then told the soldiers a story of how he believed someone had achieved that state of mind.

24 years ago, a warrior from a distant land (Jiguro) was entrusted with the child (Balsa) of an acquaintance after some political intrigue. The warrior came to the swordsmith to have a sword forged. The swordsmith would have refused since the warrior knew nothing of Yogo swords but he was moved by the warrior’s story. The assassins sent for the warrior and the child were the warrior’s friends. They had no choice but to pursue the warrior since their families were taken hostaged. In the end, with the sword forged for him, the warrior killed his friends.

The soldiers told the swordsmith that they knew of a similar warrior who also went to great lengths to protect a child (referring to Balsa). What puzzled the soldiers was how the warrior did not kill any of her pursuers even though they had the intent to kill. To the soldiers, the warrior wielded a supreme blade that killed no one. The warrior however has passed on (since that was what the court thought).

The swordsmith was moved by Balsa’s story as told by her enemies. After the soldiers left with their new swords, he told Balsa that she will forge a new blade for her.

The difference bewteen Balsa and other warriors who wanted to atone for their past sins, like Kenshin Himura of Ruruoni Kenshin, is that Balsa never killed anyone. She did say in the first episode that the reason why she works as a bodyguard is that she wanted to atone for the lives of eight people which she took. But I think by this, she is referring to the assassins who pursued Jiguro. They were dear to both him and Balsa but for her life, Jiguro killed them. In the fifth episode, Torogai asked her how many lives has she taken while saving other people’s lives. Balsa told her that after she left (two years ago) she has not taken a single life (though we don’t know if she has killed prior to that). Torogai wondered if Balsa would be able to keep that line of thinking as she protects Chagum.

Another interesting fact is how the past repeated itself for Balsa. She was entrusted to Jiguro and he protected her. Now, Chagum has been entrusted to her and she must protect him. I wonder what the circumstances regarding the political intrigue in Balsa’s past were. Were they supernatural much like Chagum’s situation?

Anyway, Seirei no Moribito continues to intrigue me with its good storytelling and superb visuals.

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