Soldier

Also known as: 葬流者

by Kazuo Koike, Tsukikage Ken

In the era of Tenmei's Great Famine, plagued by crop failures, desperate farmers sold their daughters to human traffickers, and those suffering from hunger were said to have resorted to cannibalism. It was a dark time. In the midst of this, there was a wandering swordsman who called himself the "Funeral Soldier", burying the past and flowing with the present. During his journey, this Funeral Soldier, named Okasa Haminosuke, saved a woman who had been swept away by the Setagawa River near Ise. Through this encounter, he met a woman named Okimi and a female merchant named Genshi. Genshi would sell Okimi to a brothel, receive payment, and then help her escape, only to repeat the process with another brothel, earning money along the way. At first glance, it seemed like a simple relationship between a female merchant and a woman being sold, but their lives were intertwined with the horrifying reality of famine, a tale they couldn't share with anyone else.