:52:00
Please, never tell anyone.
Not even Sir Niiro.
:52:03
Do you understand?
:52:06
Yes, sir. I'm not Okiku of Sagamiya
for nothing... I know that much.
:52:11
The blood of a samurai family
runs in Sir Niiro's veins.
:52:16
I cannot reveal their name, but they are
of exceptional legacy and status.
:52:22
Sir?
:52:22
Sir?
But, he is the son of a concubine...
:52:25
...or rather, I should say, adolescent
mistakes resulted in his birth.
:52:34
The woman... gave birth to him
back in her home town.
:52:39
There was a reason
for that.
:52:41
It was not possible for the son to
be recognized by the father.
:52:44
It so happens that the woman's father
and I were very close friends...
:52:50
...so, recognizing how sad
the situation was...
:52:53
...I chose to take young Niiro
and his mother with me...
:52:57
...and we proceeded
to a certain place.
:52:59
It was the house of a physician, who
worked for a major Daimyo.
:53:02
We went there so that the
child could be adopted.
:53:05
Instead of growing up in a merchant's
house like mine, it would be better...
:53:08
...for him to be raised in the house of a
physician with samurai connections.
:53:13
That was what we... the child's
mother and I... concluded.
:53:19
But, when young Niiro turned
13, the physician was...
:53:23
...transferred to a country fief
within his Lord's domain...
:53:26
...where, later, he contracted
an illness and died.
:53:30
That happened when
Sir Niiro was 22.
:53:34
However, he had no desire to succeed
his physician "father."
:53:39
Together with his mother, he
left for Edo, in search of me.
:53:44
He said that he had no intention
of becoming a physician...
:53:47
...but instead wanted to become
a samurai of rank.
:53:50
I myself believe that nothing is
impossible, at least in spirit...
:53:54
...so, after discussing
it with his mother...
:53:56
...we let him study at a dojo
in Ichigaya Yarai, under...
:53:59
...Sir Todo Tatewaki, a master
of the Jigen-lchi Style.