If I learned my best friend and sister I trusted for years were impostors,
I probably wouldn't be able to leave my room for a month.
Right?
He might not trust us anymore either.
But I don't want things to be awkward between us!
I don't really care if he doesn't trust us.
I don't like kids.
Does Hana-san hate me, too?
Come on. Let's eat.
Oh, right. This should cover food for this month.
Oh, thanks. I humbly accept.
Are you sure I don't need to pay rent?
Don't worry about it.
This alone helps a bunch.
What about school?
You're thirteen, right? So you're in middle school?
You'll need to transfer schools, right?
Oh, yeah...
You don't want to go to school?
Could you teach me to use a weapon?
I... want to become stronger.
Well, if you don't want to go, you don't have to.
What?
I'm sure there's some way for you to learn without attending school.
Lots of people in this line of work know about loopholes like that.
What? Are you sure that's okay?
Everyone associated with Higashi Village lives outside normal society.
Come on. If you want to get stronger, eat up.
Most fights are won by the bigger guy.
Start by eating and bulking up.
Thanks for the meal.
Actually, Hana-san, you seem kind of small for how much you eat.
Right?! I'd love to get bigger.
Brother— - Who are you calling "Brother"?!
I'm the only one who can call him that!
We're sorry. She doesn't know what else to call him.
Please forgive her, Asa-chan.
I'm glad you're safe, partner.
I was so worried when I sensed you down here.
Sorry for making you worry.
They always said you stayed in there to protect the village.
I assumed that was normal and what was best for the village.
I just thought that was how things worked and never doubted it.
I'm sorry. Now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense.
Who keeps a cute little kid trapped in a dark cell?
Brother! Of course she's cute! She's copying me!
I'm not sure that's the point.
Wait, yes! You think I'm cute! Say it again!
Shut up! Never again!
Feel free to hug me if you think I'm cute.
You're such a pain in the butt.
I'm sorry, Brother, for lying—
Brother? - I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
What should I call you?
Yuru is fine.
I'm sorry for pretending to be Asa-chan so you couldn't leave the village, Yuru.
I knew it was wrong to keep doing it.
But you were so nice to me.
You came to see me every day.
I enjoyed our silly little conversations.
Somewhere in my heart,
I wished the relationship we had could last forever.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
You don't need to copy her anymore, right?
Revert to your true form.
Cute...
You're so small.
What's your real name?
My real name?
Kyoka-san gave you a name, right?
Kiri.
I'm named after the pretty flowers that bloom on Higashi Village's mountain.
I see. That's a good name.
My name means a masculine and healthy boy.
What you see is what you get.
Partner. - Yeah.
We'll tell you the truth about us.
Long ago, Higashi Village was a stronghold with several smaller castles around it,
each with its own village.
We were the Zashiki-Warashi revered by one of those villages.
We changed masters a few times, but they were all kind, simple people.
We loved that village.
They say Daemons called Right and Left live at the stronghold.
Really? I'd like to meet them.
A big war is starting.
The lord of Higashi Village is going to war.
Who is he fighting?
He wants us to send a few strong young fighters.
We first heard about the war about 400 years ago.
Rejoice, you two!
I'm going to war with the lord!
I'll do a good job so I can return with loads of rewards!
Take us with you!
We'll help!
I appreciate the thought, but the battlefield is dangerous.
You can't come.
Aw.
But we want to go with you.
If anything happens to me, you'll end up strays.
I want to end our contract for now so you can turn back into relics.
We'll renew our contract once I'm back.
Will you become my Daemons again?
Of course!
We look forward to hearing your stories!
So we turned back into relics and waited for our master to return.
Eventually, we learned through rumors how the war had turned out.
The East had won.
If the East won 400 years ago, would that be the Battle of Sekigahara?
Sekigahara?
Is that what you call it down here?
Yeah. It was a decisive battle that happened 400 years ago.
What? I didn't know.
After that, the Tokugawa shogunate ruled for over 200 years.
The lord of Higashi Village fought in that war, right?
If he helped the winning side,
it should be a bigger part of the village's history.
We never heard anything about it.
Yeah, not even that he received any land.
Maybe he didn't accomplish much.
Or maybe he screwed up and couldn't tell the villagers.
Your previous master must know something if we went to war.
He didn't tell you anything?
Our master never came back.
We believed he'd renew our contract when he returned and waited...
for years and years and years.
Over time, we heard fewer and fewer voices.
We'd been forgotten.
The village was abandoned.
Everyone had left.
We thought we'd waste away,
never to form a contract with anyone again.
There you are. The legend was true.
You must've been lonely. Let's go.
Someone found us following
an old legend about us.
He was a Higashi Village retainer named Roei.
Roei? That's the previous Tadera!
Yeah, Dera-san's dad.
Dera-san's dad?
Roei-san took us to Higashi Village.
That's where we formed a contract with our mom and master, Kyoka.
She'd lost her husband and two kids in a landslide
and was too depressed to get out of bed.
Roei-san probably wanted to fill the hole in her heart.
He brought us together and had us form a contract.
Are you our new master?
Give us new names!
Are these little ones what they call Daemons?
Yes. - I'd heard legends, but...
Let's play. What do you want to do?
We'll stay with you forever.
Master.
Thank you.
She seemed both sad and happy.
Oh? Those are Daemons.
Zashiki-Warashi, eh? You're lucky.
Kyoka, come to the keep once you're feeling better.
Come work for me.
That old woman could see us.
Is she a Daemon Wielder?
Normal people can't see them?
Only Daemon Wielders,
people Daemons choose to show themselves to,
and certain attuned individuals.
I've got Daemons in the outside world, so I can see them.
Who was that old woman?
Granny Yamaha. She's our leader.
She's the oldest person in the village.
Not even she remembers how old she is.
Nagisa-san wandered into the village
shortly after Mom started working at the keep.
We thought her clothes looked strange.
They must've been modern clothes from down here.
Nagisa-san became depressed when she learned she couldn't leave.
Mine-san felt sorry for her and wanted to help her.
Nagisa-san.
Want some boar stew?
It'll cheer you up.
Ew, that's grody.
It's what?
Nothing. Thank you.
I feel a little better.
Then Yuru and Asa-chan were born...
and the look in the villagers' eyes changed.
Since we're outsiders, we don't know Higashi Village's old history.
All we know is the legend about the Break and Seal twins.
SEAL
People always lose their minds wherever there's great power.
It seemed like Mom had something to say,
but she never went into detail.
Seal.
And Break.
Any time now, the bandits...
They're taking forever.
When will Higashi Village finally reign supreme?
Mom, what are you talking about?
Nothing, Azami. Go back to sleep.
Yuru!
Are you going hunting? I'll go with you.
Again? Don't try to follow me.
It's dangerous to go into the mountains alone.
You just don't want to work in the fields.
You got me.
You already know what happened next.
Granny Yamaha commanded Mom to have Kiri impersonate Asa.
She also secretly told me to watch Yuru without Granny's knowledge.
Danji and Kiri, could you leave first?
I want to talk privately with Asa.
Just us?!
A private conversation with my brother!
Let them out already.
Yin-Yang, let Zashiki-Warashi out.
Yuru, listen...
Asa-chan attacked the village that day, but she didn't kill a single villager.
Mom was injured by some rubble,
but Asa-chan didn't kill anyone from the village.
I won't pretend I'm a good person.
It's a coincidence I didn't kill anyone that day.
I have no mercy for anyone who tries to kill those who are important to me.
You haven't lied to me since we were reunited.
You were even honest about things that must've been hard to say.
I'm sorry, Brother.
The perfect, little, adorable, and innocent Asa you knew
is gone now.
So I'll tell you how I really feel, too.
During the ten years after our parents left the village,
Danji and Kiri were my emotional support and reason to live.
I could bear being left behind by my parents
because of my friend and sister.
Even if they were impostors, they gave me the strength to keep going.
I can't keep blaming them.
Aw, man! It's not fair!
I was only with you for six years compared to their ten.
I can't beat that.
Not only that, but if you only count the years I remember,
I have less than six years of memories with you.
It's not fair.
Is there anything you want or want to do?
Where is this coming from?
Do you have any dreams for the future?
Yeah. I'd like to visit Dizneyland.
Dizney what?
I want to buy tons of cute stuff,
enjoy rides and parades, and take a picture
at Cinderella's castle. - A castle?
Also, I'd love to watch - So there's a lord?
a ball game together. - What's their crop yield?
I want to hang out with everyone at places like that.
Attend school and whine about studying like a normal kid.
Scream about wanting a hot boyfriend.
Complain about work on a commuter train.
I want to live a normal life.
Just kidding. That's not possible now that I live in a kill-or-be-killed world.
Am I or our parents part of that normal life?
Of course you are!
Then let's build it together over ten years and more.
We'll defeat all our enemies, find our parents,
and live happily and openly together.
Then we can go to that Diz-whatever castle and have fun together.
Yeah!
Anyway, I learned something new about our parents.
It was Roei-san who told Mother how to escape the barrier ten years ago.
Dera-san's dad?
Seriously? Mother and Father never mentioned that.
Roei-san betrayed Higashi Village to do it.
They probably didn't tell anyone because they felt indebted to him.
Roei-san has Dera-san and one other son,
and neither of them have any idea where he is.
Our parents could've made contact with Roei-san.
Dera-san and I will find them, so leave it to us.
Got it.
One more thing.
The Daemon-wielding swordsman knows
what happened to them after they went missing.
Swordsman?
Yosano Ivan!
What did he say?
Where are our parents now?
Try to stay calm, Asa.
He said he killed Father and Mother.
Ivan claimed he's our parents' killer.
He escaped before we could make him tell us more.
Asa!
No way. Why?
Calm down, Asa!
Father, Mother...
It's my fault.
It's because they took me.
They were dragged into this because they had me.
Asa, calm down!
That's just what he said!
Don't believe him!
This world is full of people you can't trust!
Don't believe it until you see it for yourself!
You said Father and Mother are alive and well!
Calm down.
Exhale slowly.
Yeah. Okay.
You're right. They're definitely alive.
That's right. If someone's holding them captive, we'll free them.
Then the four of us
will live a happy and normal life together.
Yeah.
I'll have to start by using Break to dissolve that swordsman's contract.
Brother, the next time you find him, lure him to me.
As long as I can see him,
I'll take him out, no matter how far away he is.
Yeah. Right and Left know the scent of his blood.
We'll chase him into your hunting ground.
NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW
Good evening, ma'am.
Broken?
I didn't understand the pain of others.
I felt an emotion I'd never felt before.