Chapter 304: The Vessel

Characters (in order of appearance)

• The King (possessed by Nichinaga Oumi)
• Kakeru
• Michiru
• Ichigou
• Zero
• Nigou
• Suigetsu
• Souji Hiura
• Unknown Girl
• Unknown Boy

Summary

In a flashback, The King invites Kakeru to play shogi with him while she changes flowers in his room. The king learns that Kakeru, originally collected to be part of the puppet soldier program, was weeded out early and therefore did not undergo the programming to remove her emotions. He notes that it has been a long time since he's been with anyone who shows emotion. This confuses Kakeru, as she thought the program was under his orders. The king tells her that his younger brother is really doing all the work in his place. Kakeru later tells Michiru that the king won't play with her because she wins too often. Michiru wonders why he wouldn't use his power to win, and Kakeru is surprised to learn he even has a power, but Michiru won't tell her what it is.

Years later, the king suddenly surrounds his room with an earthen dome, damaging much of the castle in the process. Michiru has Ichigou, Zero, and Nigou destroy part of the dome so they can reach the king, but the walls keep regenerating. Kakeru wonders why the king suddenly isolated himself. Michiru pleads with the king, but he now refuses to be addressed that way. He now thinks of himself as weak, unfit to lead, and unable to face his brother, who betrayed him.

Kakeru says she had never seen Michiru so worried, and blamed herself for the king's abrupt change. On Michiru's suggestion, the king occasionally left the castle for short periods. He eventually reunited with a woman from his past and realized how many times his brother had betrayed him. Though Kakeru also hates the brother for betraying the king, Michiru was also originally the brother's tool, and wished to save the king. Kakeru then leads Ichigou to a cell in the castle's basement, where he is shocked to see the king locked up. Kakeru explains that this is not actually the king they knew, only the vessel which he used at the time. The Oumi brothers have stayed alive for centuries by jumping from body to body, to the point where they can no longer be called human. The king has now taken an unknown body for the sake of his revenge. Kakeru says shortly before he left he castle, she saw a group of people in his room: Michiru, Zero, Sangou, the woman from his past, and several children.