Synopsis: An old enemy discovers Balsa.

A day after the festival, a man finds out that Balsa is still alive, perhaps after seeing her fight in the rucha match. He goes to the ring and from the footprints left, confirms that was indeed Balsa who fought the previous night.

Balsa receives a message from that man. Balsa is somehow shocked. The boy who delivered the message asks if it is a challenge from someone who saw the match. Balsa tells him it is something like that. Balsa tells Chagum to get ready to leave right away.

They go to Tanda’s hut and Balsa tells Tanda about it. Tanda asks Balsa if it’s alright. Balsa replies that she didn’t sense anyone following them but Tanda tells her that’s not what he meant. Judging from the letter, Tanda thinks that the man who wrote it isn’t one who listens to reason. Balsa says that it’s someone who’d cause them trouble for sure. Tanda asks who the Kalbo warrior is and Balsa answers that he’s a business rival of sorts. Three years ago, when she saved a client from a slaver, he was the bodyguard of the opposing side. Tanda asks if Balsa could just lie low. She tells him that she wants to live at the water mill until Torogai returns but because the warrior threatened to tell the court, she will have to go. Balsa goes on to say that she can’t have someone who knows she is alive escape. He might know that Chagum is alive too. However, since she made a vow not to kill anyone, Balsa will avoid killing him somehow. Balsa leaves ands asks Tanda to take care of Chagum.

Chagum is down. He says that it’s because he went to the festival. Tanda tells him that it still would’ve happened sooner or later.

Balsa meets with the warrior who wants to kill Balsa. Balsa asks him to forget what he saw but the warrior would have no of it. He wants to redeem his honor and he would have Balsa fight him whether she likes it or not. He has been fantasizing about killing her and has even joined the manhunt. He says that when they fought, Balsa made a surprise attack and dealt him a humiliating defeat. He asks why Balsa defeated him without killing him but Balsa didn’t reply. The man then asks Balsa if the child with him is the Second Prince. Balsa’s countenance changes and the man says it’s good. He tells Balsa to be at the Tonan Highway Checkpoint the following morning. The first traveller after sunrise will be killed. The warrior says that he will do this everyday until Balsa shows up. He also tells her that if she wants to stop him, she will have to kill him.

The following day, Balsa goes to the checkpoint. The first traveler to pass is a woman accompanied by her servant. Suddenly, the horse the woman was riding on goes wild. Balsa calms the horse. Balsa notices something has struck the horse. She finds out that the warrior hired a stone shooter. She thinks it’s just like before. The woman and her servant look at where Balsa is looking and they too see the warrior and the stone shooter.

The travelers continue and Balsa follows them. The servant however is suspicious. The woman tells him that it must be because it is the only road leading south. The servant says that it worries him that Balsa carries a spear like the warrior they saw up on the rock earlier.

The travelers see a well and take a short break there. The woman asks Balsa where she is headed. Balsa asks her the same, The woman replies that they are going to a fishing village in the far south. Balsa says that she is going there as well. This confuses the woman. The servant opens the well but it is filled with dead rats. Rain begins to pour and they move on. Balsa continues to follow.

When night came, the travelers stopped by a small hut. The woman asks Balsa what she is going to do at the fishing village. Balsa replies that she has a small errand. The woman tells her that she is going to teach the children there to read and write. The woman observes that Balsa is a foreigner. She asks her about her line of work. The woman says that though her knowledge of swords and spears is limited, Balsa seems to be a Kanbal warrior. Balsa replies that “warrior” makes it sound more respectable. She says she is just a bodyguard. The woman is amazed at Balsa being a female bodyguard. She says that it must be hard. she then says that Balsa is a bodyguard but a warrior is a warrior.

She asks Balsa if she knows about the Yogo tale of the warrior who became a tiger. Balsa says she doesn’t. The woman narrates that it’s a story of a warrior who wanted to hone his skills. He was so consumed with his desire to be strong that he fought while wearing a tiger pelt in the hopes of becoming a tiger. Eventually, there were no more enemies for the man to fight. However, one day, the man realized that he became a tiger. He lost his speech and eventually lost both his family and friends, spending the rest of his life alone in a bamboo forest.

The woman then tells Balsa that she may be a commoner but she feels the tension in the air that’s why she told the story. Balsa goes outside. The servant is amazed at how the teacher got rid of the warrior without making her mad but she says he is wrong. She didn’t tell her to story to drive her away but to know why she is so tense.

Balsa tries to rest near a tree but someone shoots stones near her. Balsa thinks the enemy is preventing her from getting any rest. She thinks that the man is planning to do exactly as she did before. Balsa continues to rest despite the shooting stones.

The stone shooter is mad that Balsa didn’t mind his attacks. He asks if he can shoot a stone at her forehead but the warrior tells him not to get creative. The stone shooters aks who she is. The warrior says that she is the only one he failed to kill. He orders the stone shooter to keep her from sleeping by shooting stones once in a while. If she moves, to follow her. If she enters the hut, to hit the roof and the walls. He also tells him that if she comes after him, he must run and not kill her.

Morning comes and the teacher and her servant continue their journey. The servant thinks that Balsa must have gone away but she is waiting fot them up ahead. Balsa tells them that she will continue to accompany the,. The woman asks where Balsa rested the night. Balsa replied that she did not rest. The servant tells her to go away but Balsa says she has a reason to stay with them. The servant rides the horse and drives the horse to run faster so they can lose Balsa. Balsa asks them to stop but the servant wouldn’t listen.

Suddenly, stone hits the horse and both the woman and the servant fall. The horse stands up and gallops away. Balsa approaches. She tells them she has somehow involved them in a personal matter. The warrior at the checkpoint who intends to kill one of them if Balsa turned back. The man challenged Balsa to a duel and when she refused, he will kill the first person to pass through the checkpoint. The servant still would not believe it. Balsa explains that she vowed never to kill again but she might have no choice.

Balsa calls out for the warrior and he appears. He says that he wanted to copy what Balsa did before but if Balsa wants to fight then they can do it there. Balsa tells the woman and her servant to leave as the warrior no longer has business with them. The flee right away. The warrior however says that he will give them to the stone shooter. This infuriates Balsa and she tries to go after the woman and her servant but the warrior tells her that he is her opponent. The two begin to fight. Balsa tells him that looks like she has no choice but to become a tiger. She attacks.

Meanwhile, the stone shooter appears before the woman and her servant. He demands that they leave their money behind. The servant throws his wallet and as the stone shooter bends to pick it up, he lunges at him and kicks the stone shooter in the face, knocking him unconscious. He tells his mistress that they must flee but the teacher says that they must stop Balsa. The servant objects sayong that Balsa and the warrior can just kill each other but the teacher tells him that they are not just bystanders. For their sake, Balsa took the task of being their bodyguard, The woman then goes back saying that Balsa must not become a tiger.

As Balsa and the warrior fought, Balsa tells him why she did not kill him before. She explains that she vowed to save the same number of lives she has taken but when she fought him before, she realized all lives are equal. She says that she got tired of killing insignificant men every time she saved someone. The warrior is taken aback upon hearing this.

The warrior is now shaking. He can’t believe that he is just insignificant to Balsa. Balsa continues to attack. The teacher finds them and tries to stop Balsa. Balsa knocks the warrior’s weapon off him and in a final blow, swipes her spear at his chest. The warrior falls.

The teacher asks why Balsa killed him but Balsa tells her that she is a tiger. Balsa leaves. The warrior, however, isn’t dead. The teacher is surprised for she thought Balsa delivered a fatal blow. She then tells her servant that Balsa thinks she killed the warrior but in fact she didn’t. She instructs the warrior to go after Balsa and tell her that.

Anyway, this was a great episode. The fight scenes were dynamic as usual. The animators took the time to show the movements of Balsa and the warrior as they fought not just their weapons hitting each other or speed line as done by other anime.

I also love the warrior’s reaction in the end. He was bent on destroying Balsa until he realized that to her, he is just insignificant. Baka desu ne.

Popularity: 2% [?]

No related posts.