Mori Hyakureiko's Honmaru

Mori Bai Suzuko is a prisoner. Her crime: destroying a city, killing three thousand people. The actual reason: she was possessed by something called a "demon fish." The fish killed people, and she took the blame.

The government transferred her from an isolated island prison to a corrupted Honmaru to serve as its Saniwa, on the grounds that they could "keep her locked up somewhere else and have her provide spiritual energy while they're at it." Only after arriving did she discover that the previous Saniwa was a wanted criminal who had spent three years treating the Touken Danshi like test subjects. Of the more than twenty swords, more were gravely injured than able to move, and even those who could move were covered in old wounds. Worse still, before fleeing, the previous Saniwa had altered their spiritual energy pathways into a closed system. The only way to replenish their magic was through the exchange of bodily fluids.

Mori Bai Suzuko: So how were you surviving before?

The Tsukumogami: ...By hating.

And so a prisoner who couldn't see and wore sealing chains on her hands and feet began farming, repairing swords, and replenishing magic at the Honmaru. When she ran low on spiritual energy, she pushed herself past her limits, and kept working even when her lips had gone pale. The Tsukumogami had originally planned to give their new Saniwa a hard time, but then they realized she was even more reckless with her life than they were. Before long, they were worrying about her physical and mental health instead.

But the Honmaru's mess went far beyond that: the government was withholding resources, Kitsunezuka's system had been hacked, and before the previous Saniwa left, they had recorded a video saying, "I'll be back to get you all soon." Mori Bai Suzuko repaired houses, fixed swords, and grew vegetables, all while finding time to deal with the Tsukumogami's excessive displays of intimacy caused by lingering drug effects.

Mori Bai Suzuko: Can't you all act normal?

Aoe: I'll try. Probably.

Theme: Rebuilding everyday life in a broken place is itself a form of resistance.