The Smith’s Son, The Samurai’s Soul
In a remote mountain village, far from battlefields and castles, young Kaito lives a life of dusty routine: Each day, he hammers nails, plows, and axes for farmers in his father’s forge. Samurai? To him, they’re just ghostly tales spun by traveling merchants – until a stranger in torn silks arrives, wielding a blade of gleaming steel. Mesmerized by the warrior’s alien grace, Kaito watches him fight with a precision unlike the brawls of village life. But when the stranger vanishes under mysterious circumstances, he leaves behind only a ceremonial tanto (dagger) and a question that haunts Kaito: What lies beyond the mountains?
Driven by curiosity, Kaito ventures beyond his valley for the first time – and stumbles into a world where swords are not just tools, but language. Yet the deeper he delves into the warrior’s art, the more perilous the dance between duty and desire becomes…