Thus, setting of our story can be described as originating from the Edo period in Japan which is associated with samurais and honor.

It has been exactly 11 years when my whole world fell apart, when my mother had died. Her death was no ordinary one; indeed it was a horrible incident that could well be a murder and this image has stayed with me. It was still an axe murderer but I was only fifteen when I discovered her: her head decapitated from her body. That was the first time I experienced seeing something like that and it was horrifying. That moment became ingrained in my mind and the drive behind all that I do.

Over the next few years I would become the samurai in the purest sense of the word, not for my own protection, but for retribution. I trained daily, fighting and practicing which toughened up my character as well. My quest was singular: to find out the real culprits of my mum’s heinous assassination and to avenge for her crimes.

One day, it being market day in the town, I proceeded to the portion of the town dedicated to sexual activities. For me, it was the home of a short-lived happiness and concealed pain, wants, and suffering. An old woman who was present there and whom I knew was a friend of my deceased mother may be holding the information that I needed to get. The fragrance of incense and women’s perfume swelled in the air around me; above the scent of frailty and death, there was a faint aroma of carnal desire and blood lust.

“Could my mother have had enmies that she never told me about? Do you know who else could have done this?” My questions just exploded out of me, each one a scream for the truth.

Not knowing what to say, I just went on with the conversation as I could almost sense the girls in the pleasure quarters staring at me curiously and in suprise. Their eyes trailed after me, the face of a samurai, a man driven with purpose and intent on being a bringer of vengeance, something that did not belong in the world of frivolous hedonism. Their interest made me nervous.