Pathway to Japanese Literature

1

This was a certain spy incident.

Now, in the story I was about to relate, Japanese names would stream forth one after another; however, dear readers, you were not to jump to the conclusion that all these were genuine Japanese.
In truth, that spy group consisted of ×× people.
Strictly speaking, it would have been proper to write something like "Maruki Hanasaku (real name: Zhang Xuelin)..." but since listing them all would have meant an exhausting number of ×× people appearing, I resolved to write everything lock, stock, and barrel using only Japanese names.

I earnestly ask that you refrain from forming any misconceptions as you read.

Now then—

2

It was an evening of thick fog.

Secret Security Team member Sasaeguen Go began walking alongside his comrade Hotate Kaiji along the edge of S Park as the appointed time arrived, their shoulders brushing as they ambled leisurely.
They had already entered the month officially called winter, but tonight was not particularly cold.
However, with the fog hanging so thickly like this, they felt some difficulty in making contact.
If only that contact would manage to find them properly...

“Heeey! The hell ya think you’re—”

A drunkard's voice could be heard from ahead.
Neither face nor figure was visible yet…

Sasaeguen gave Comrade Hotate’s side a light jab with his elbow.

Without delay, Hotate—

"Pee-ee, pee-eet..."

—began whistling the Valencia melody.

A lanky figure appeared swaying from ahead.

Sasaeguen neatly readjusted the hat.

Thud.

The drunkard collided.

“Hey, hey, hey!” the drunkard bellowed.

“You bump into me and don’t even say a damn word?
"You damn stick-up-the-ass bastard!”

“...”

“The hell you stayin’ quiet!
“That’s it—no more mercy, you damn bastard!”

He collided with a thud, but as he swung his fist down, they nimbly twisted aside,

“Gyaaah!”

As he screamed, the drunkard collapsed in a long sprawl across the pavement.

Sasaeguen and Comrade Hotate leaped over the drunkard’s head and swiftly fled toward Sarue Crossing.

Twisting two or three times through narrow alleys, they leaped into a back room of a cheap lodging that barely deserved the name "apartment"—their secret hideout!

“How did it go?”
After locking the entrance door with a clang, Hotate said.
“Yeah, this is it.”
When Sasaeguen opened his palm, he revealed small cigarettes and matches.
It was a secret matchbox swiftly passed from the drunkard.
Using his pinky tip to flick out the contents with a pop, crunch through the outer box and flip it over, Sasaeguen took out a vial from his pocket and let bright yellow liquid drip-droplet onto it.
Sure enough, before their eyes, ant-like small letters appeared densely across the entire surface.

It was an instruction from headquarters!

3

The two of them, having finished reading the instructions written on the back of the matchbox, pulled apart their pressed-together foreheads and instinctively looked at each other's faces.
The two did not utter a single word.
It appeared to be an extremely critical instruction.

As for that instruction—

(Directive Book No. 19978)

(1) QX30 and QZ19 shall immediately proceed to the Spy Seat, locate among the revue girls a young woman with an artificial left eye, and ascertain her stage name. QZ19 must then rush to the public telephone near R Ward backstreets and report this to two comrades wearing yellow coats.
Furthermore, QX30 shall remain inside the Spy Seat as is and escape by blending into the crowd when exiting.

(2) Should you fail to report the above by 10 PM today, be advised that all operatives in the capital shall be annihilated without awaiting tomorrow morning.

“The death line draws near.”

“So it seems we’ve identified the enemy deputy commander we’ve been hunting.”

“Yeah, that revue girl with the artificial eye damn well disguised herself.”

“But entering the Spy Seat is like passing through hell’s gates.”
“Don’t tense up or look startled and get caught.”

“That place must be crawling with enemy spies.”

“Every night, nearly a hundred spies blend into the audience.”
“And they apparently communicate with the Leader on stage through some secret method.”

“Is that little girl Deputy Commander more fearsome than the Leader?”

“That’s right. That little girl is the devil’s incarnation.”

“So the plan’s been set to take out that Deputy Commander by our hand tonight, huh?”

“Yeah.—I don’t know how they’ll take her out, but that Deputy Commander bastard—getting her cover blown for wearing an artificial eye to pose as a revue girl—that’s her luck running out.”
“Oh, it’s already five-thirty.”
“There’s hardly any time left!”
“Alright, let’s move out!”

Sasaeguen stood up.

“Wait—there’s cold liquor here.”
“Let’s share a farewell drink.”

Comrade Hotate took out a bottled item from the closet corner.
Yellow liquor was poured amply into a dirty cup.

Clink, clink.

“Let’s meet in hell.”

“Thanks for everything.”

4

It was just as they were about to leave the room.

Buzz, buzz, bu-buzz.

The buzzer attached to the underside of the table rang.

“Here.”
“XB4 is calling!”

Sasaeguen returned to the room.
When he popped open the wall, there was an ultra-shortwave telephone embedded inside.

“QX30 here.”

“XB4 here,” said a small voice from the other end of the phone. “There’s been a report. The mobilization order has finally been issued.”

“Yeah.”

“By the way, I’ll give you a word of caution as a parting gift.”

“Hmm. Thank you.”

“That Spy Seat place—they say the camera with a fisheye lens can capture every audience member’s expression at any time. You probably won’t slip up, but don’t go changing your complexion or looking around suspiciously. Laugh when everyone laughs; stay composed when they do. You got that?”

“Are they using a fisheye lens? Got it. I won’t let my guard down!”

“You need to find out the name of the revue girl with the artificial eye, but don’t ask anyone about it. The enemy spies are skillfully disguised. You’ll get yourself killed on the spot.”

“Yeah, I’ll find her without asking anyone.”

“Do you have a plan to find her?”

“Nah, it’s not exactly like that, but if I investigate the program, I’ll definitely find a name like Nananoko.”

“That puts my mind at ease.
“Then I’ll say goodbye.”
“Stay sharp, Comrade QX30!”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

They're using a fisheye lens to monitor every audience member's expression—Tch! Like I'd let myself get tripped up by that!

5

Spy Seat was what comrades called the enemy spies' nighttime gathering place—hence the name.
The real theater name was De Vampièr Theatre!

De Vampièr Theatre’s 9th Performance"—with a banner proclaiming this—stood before them as the Spy Seat.
R District was as bustling as ever, no different from usual.

For a while, they gazed at the window’s nude dance photographs with faces on the verge of drooling—

“Come on, where’ve you decided on?”

“I’m definitely going to watch this Maruhana Troupe.”

“Then I’ve decided the same.
…It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll pay tonight, so just leave it to me.”

“No way.
Let me pay tonight.”

“It’s fine, I tell you.”

“That’s not okay!”

With remarkable efficiency yet sloppily flopping around in a tangled mess, Sasaeguen and Comrade Hotate—program clutched in hand—entered looking delighted—but beneath the surface, he felt like he’d swallowed a rod.

On the brightly lit stage, the comedy "The House of Sand Dunes" had begun.

True to form, Kaburitsuki refrained and took a seat in the center.

The stage was as vibrant as a flower in full bloom.

But in contrast, QX30 in the audience seats had his face concealed behind a forced smile, though his chest was shut tight in melancholy as if he had swallowed lead. The reason lay in the program gripped in his hand. How utterly reckless it was to try finding the name of the revue girl with the artificial eye within this impossibly complex program—a fact made abundantly clear the moment one laid eyes on its cover.

A deadly program staking the lives of 171 comrades!

6

Dear readers, please compose yourselves and turn your attention to the Program presented below.

―――――――――――――――

Program

3. Comedy: The House of Sand Dunes

●House in the Suburbs of Brittany

Father: Jack – Matsuda Machisaburou | Mother: Caterina – Takenaka Ayako | Eldest Daughter: Rosina – Tōmei Namiko | Youngest Daughter: Marie – Kōrieya Tsukiko | Gentleman: Kelly – Tagata Seiji | Young Man: Fulton – Maruyama Hikota | Maid: Rosette – Sumiyoshi Keiko | Clerk: Applin – Mamiya Rinhachi | Neighborhood Girl: Ann – Kagawa Momoyo; Margery – Hirakawa Mineko | Dorothy – Kobayashi Midoriko | Louise – Rokujō Chiharu

4. Dance et Chanson

●Dance (Wooden Doll)

Rokujō Chiharu; Hirakawa Mineko; Tatsumi Suzuko; Utajima Sadako; Yanagi Chidori

Kobayashi Midoriko; Kagawa Momoyo; Sanjo Kenko; Unahara Manoko; Beni Kiyoko

●Chanson (Morning Glory Song)

Sakita Sakiko

●Dance (Beautiful Night)

(Song) Hanayagi Haruko; Sunaga Katsuko; Yamamura Ranko; Sugihara Tsuneko

●Chanson (Distant Santa Lucia)

Sunaga Katsuko

●Dance (O-Ya-Ya)

Mamiya Rinhachi; Hanayagi Haruko; Kanda Tamako

●Dance (Country Dance)

Utajima Sadako; Tamagawa Sunako; Ōi Machiko; Mikado Akiko; Sanjō Kenko; Tatsumi Suzuko; Mizumachi Shizuko; Komaki Hiroko; Rokujō Chiharu

●Finale

Hirakawa Mineko; Tatsumi Suzuko; Utajima Sadako; Yanagi Chidori; Kobayashi Midoriko; Kagawa Momoyo; Sanjo Kenko; Unahara Manoko; Beni Kiyoko

5. Nonsense Revue: Yajikita

●First Scene: Prologue

Kitahachi: Maruki Hanasaku | Yajirobee: Kamogawa Nunosuke

●Second Scene: Osaka's Dotonbori

Maiko: Beni Kiyoko | Utajima Sadako | Sanjo Kenko | Tatsumi Suzuko | Kagawa Momoyo | Hirakawa Mineko

Kitahachi: Maruki Hanasaku | Yaji: Kamogawa Nunosuke

●Third Scene: Arashiyama Togetsukyo Bridge

Myōrin: Takatsukasa Fūko | Nun A: Tamagawa Sunako | Nun B: Ōi Machiko | Nun C: Mizumachi Shizuko | Nun D: Mikado Akiko

●Fourth Scene: Lakeside of Lake Biwa

Medicine Seller: Takeshi Taro | Medicine Shop Girl Okane: Yanagi Chidori | Ogin: Unahara Manoko | Kitahachi: Maruki Hanasaku | Yaji: Kamogawa Nunosuke

●Fifth Scene: Bandit Mansion Observation Deck

Leader: Matsuda Machisaburou | Chinese Person A: Tagata Seiji | Chinese Person B: Haruyamada Yonosuke | Chinese Person C: Maruyama Hikota | Chinese-style Child Performer's Daughter: Matsuura Namiko | Yanagi Chidori | Tōji Tsuyako | Utajima Sadako | Kawashima Takeko | Hanamura Kyōko | Sanjō Kenko | Tatsumi Suzuko | Kitahachi: Maruki Hanasaku | Yaji: Kamogawa Nunosuke

● Sixth Scene: Naraoi Pleasure Quarters

Oiran Hatsugiku: Hanayagi Haruko | Same Role: Akatama – Yamamura Ranko | Lantern Bearer: Naraki Kiyoshi | Motonaga Toshio | Golden Staff Bearer: Kiyosu Chōko | Kanda Tamako | Young Attendant: Unahara Manoko | Junior Courtesan: Tamagawa Sunako | Ōi Machiko | Mizumachi Shizuko | Mikado Akiko | Geisha: Komaki Hiroko | Kagawa Momoyo | Hirakawa Mineko | Kobayashi Midoriko | Kitahachi: Maruki Hanasaku | Yaji: Kamogawa Nunosuke

My mind's on fire!

If I collapse here now, everything's lost!

Sasaeguen fought against an invisible enemy. He lit a fire using blood as oil and fired bullets made from torn flesh. Somehow, I need to find that revue girl with the artificial eye's name among these. His eyes fixed on the stage with tense urgency began turning hollow. Before he knew it, the third comedy "House of Dunes" had reached its conclusion.

Sasaeguen was poked in the side by Comrade Hotate and hurriedly directed applause toward the stage.
The moment he did,

"Oh...?"

Sasaeguen jolted as a realization struck him.
He felt it - that familiar spark of inspiration threatening to erupt, that peculiar childhood habit of his...

(That's it. Let me try applying that mathematical elimination method once—yes!)

He had finally conceived a plan.
His mind suddenly became calm.
His earnestness as a scientist vividly revived.
What exactly was this elimination method?

At that moment, the bell rang noisily.
Accompanied by jazz, the heavy curtain rose.
At last, the curtain rose on the fourth "Dance et Chanson."

Above all else, the first and foremost problem was to discover who had the artificial eye.

On stage, as a soaring melody began, the first of seven pieces—

Dance (Wooden Doll)

—began.
Ten adorable dancers wearing red-and-white striped toy soldier uniforms, their cheeks made up with large rising sun designs, appeared five from each side of the stage.

Tattaratta, rattattatt.

Rattaratta, tattarara.

The dancers swung limbs as clumsily as wooden dolls.

(Oh, is there a woman with an artificial eye among them?)

He strained eyes, but from this distance couldn't tell.
That said, he couldn't go all the way to the kaburitsuki before the stage now—even if he did venture out—after all, it was such a small eye.
He wouldn't reach certainty about it being an artificial eye.

QX30's Sasaeguen Go stared dazedly at them dancing on the stage.

At that moment, one dancer caught his eye.
Though keeping perfect rhythm with the other nine, there was something subtly unnatural about her movements.

As he scrutinized what made her different, he found it—one glaring anomaly!

The dancer showed a slight but persistent tendency to swing her head excessively from side to side.

Or rather—I should put it another way. While tilting her head to the left, the dancer would suddenly jerk it to the right as if startled.
The action of tilting her head back from right to left was naturally and smoothly carried out.
Only when straightening her head that had been bent to the left back to the right did an extremely unnatural movement occur.

I can phrase it differently.
In other words, those unnatural movements occur precisely because the left eye is impaired.
When the left eye is impaired, since the damaged eye cannot see, one must view what's ahead using only the right eye.
To do that, if one keeps their face pointed straight ahead, they can’t see the left side.
To compensate for that, one needs to bring their right eye closer to the body's centerline.
At that moment, one must tilt their face.
At that moment, one must tilt their head to the left!

A person with a bad left eye—in other words—is always tilting their head to the left. However, it would be aesthetically problematic if the dancer’s face were always tilted to the left. Whenever noticing this, one nimbly twists their neck in the opposite direction. In this case, when tilting to the right, one tilts to the right but overdoes it and draws attention. And while dancing, one’s habit surfaces and their head naturally tilts to the left. When one notices and gasps, they unnaturally jerk their head to the right—This is it, this is it.

That woman overcompensating with her head movements—she’s the Deputy Commander we’re after!
Got her!

7

(Got her!) He allowed himself a moment of triumph, but true celebration would still be premature.
Because she was one of the "wooden soldiers" just like the other nine.
He couldn’t determine which one was her name.

(This is bad.
As expected—it really is a cursed program!)

Go cursed the program anew.

All the while, the lives of 171 comrades dwindled away with each passing moment.
Right, I can't just stay like this.

(Should I try that method?)

He stared at the program's surface for a while, then committed to memory the names of the ten revue girls appearing in the current "Wooden Doll" act.

Rokujo Chiharu Hirakawa Mineko Tatsumi Suzuko Utajima Sadako Yanagi Chidori Kobayashi Midoriko Kagawa Momoyo Sanjo Kenko Unahara Manoko Beni Kiyoko

Her name was among these.
He labeled these performers as Group ①.

Now, she hadn’t appeared in the previous act, "The House on the Dunes." However, when comparing this cast with Group ①'s members, there were four women appearing in both. The four portraying "Neighborhood Girl" were Kagawa Momoyo, Hirakawa Mineko, Kobayashi Midoriko, and Rokujo Chiharu. Therefore, since her name wasn’t among these four, he could first eliminate them from Group ①’s ten. That left six people.

Tatsumi Suzuko Utajima Sadako Yanagi Chidori Sanjo Kenko Unahara Manoko Beni Kiyoko

Only these remained.
One of these was that woman.

QX30 now prayed to god.
With this momentum, grant that I may reveal the name of the enemy deputy commander—the woman with the artificial eye.

When "Wooden Dolls" withdrew, next came "Chanson: Morning Glory Song" following the program.
Then "Dance: Beautiful Night".
She appeared in none of these.
"Chanson: Distant Santa Lucia" also lacked her presence.
She was absent from the subsequent "Dance: Oh Ya Ya" too.
Then it shifted to the next act: "Dance: Country".

She did not appear in this one either, but there was something crucial to note.
It could be discerned from the program that three of those remaining six—namely Tatsumi Suzuko, Sanjo Kenko, and Utajima Sadako—were performing.
What this meant was that she was not among those three names—sure enough, he concluded that the enemy Deputy Commander’s name must lie within the remaining three names.

Ah, those three names!

Unahara Manoko Yanagi Chidori Beni Kiyoko

The Grim Reaper brandishing his sharp sickle had left our 171 comrades behind and was now closing in on the enemy deputy commander with each passing moment.

Now, where would each of the remaining three be identified?

QX30 pressed a hand against his pounding heart and checked further ahead in the program.

I see, I see!

The next performance returned to the beginning with Act 2, Scene 12 of the first Nonsense Revue: "Yaji and Kita". When tracing through the program, at the second scene titled "Osaka Dotonbori" among these acts, only Beni Kiyoko from the three appeared separately from the other two.

Then, then….

The remaining Unahara Manoko and Yanagi Chidori appeared together in Scene 4 "Lakeside Biwa" as teahouse girls O-Kane and O-Gin.
This was truly agonizing.

Meanwhile, in the Fifth Scene "Bandit Mansion Observatory," Yanagi Chidori appeared as the Chinese-style child performer’s daughter.

In Scene 6: "Narai Pleasure District," the remaining Unahara Manoko appeared.
With this, everything became clear.

But there was no need to wait until Scene 6: "Narai Pleasure District."
Since Yanagi Chidori—one of the remaining two—had already been identified in the immediately preceding Scene 5: "Bandit Mansion Observatory," the other should have been determinable without needing confirmation through Scene 6.—The enemy deputy commander’s guillotine would drop in this fifth scene.

QX30 Sasaeguen Go clenched his teeth and concealed his look of delight.

8

Separate from Sasaeguen's premature check, first the "Finale" commenced, and they were indeed able to discover the woman with the artificial eye.
He marked ② on the program.
It signified a second appearance.

For Sasaeguen, there were no more intermissions—nothing at all.
All he could do was wait impatiently for the critical moment to arrive.
“Yaji and Kita” began with Scene 1.
Maruki Hanasaku and Kamogawa Nunosuke, leading the troupe, thoroughly amused the audience before entering behind the curtain emblazoned with the family crest.

At last came Scene Two.
The moment had arrived to determine whether Beni Kiyoko would appear.
Even his chest tightened with anticipation.
The Dotonbori March swelled boisterously as six apprentice geisha dancers in resplendent long-sleeved kimonos emerged in perfect formation along the hanamichi!

(Not here. She's not here!)

QX30 released a shallow breath.

The program advanced.
In Scene Four - so they surmised - Yanagi Chidori and Unahara Manoko had indeed materialized as teahouse maidens.
He stamped symbol ③ beside her name on the program.
QX30 stood one step from triumph and exhaled deeply.
Retracing his steps through this labyrinthine playbill now astonished him - that he'd successfully isolated her identity from such convoluted data.

Now, at last, came the fifth scene where fate would be decided.
Stay calm, stay calm!

Bandit Mansion Observatory.
To the strains of sinister music, a troupe of Chinese-style child performers danced their way onto the stage.

"Gah!"

QX30 desperately suppressed the urge to shout.
Look! Look!
There she was!
The enemy deputy commander had become a Chinese-style child performer and was dancing ostentatiously.
It was decided!

The Deputy Commander's stage name was Yanagi Chidori!!

Sasaeguen swiftly tore the name “Yanagi Chidori” from the program and thrust it into the palm of Comrade Hotate Kaiji—QZ19—who sat pressed tightly against him.

Hotate casually rose from his seat.

After letting out one big yawn, he exited through the entrance of the Di Vampier Theater.
After rounding the corner past the revue theater, he suddenly quickened his pace and made for the two adjacent public telephone booths behind R District that they had prearranged…….

9

In the public telephone booths, two youths in yellow coats had already entered separately.
Because a signal had been received, QZ19 immediately handed over the paper slip bearing the name "Yanagi Chidori."

"My apologies. Well now, pray step in here," said the comrade in the yellow coat.

At that moment, both public telephone booths rang stridently.

The first telephone was connected to an attic of a Western-style restaurant about 160 meters away.

“Hey, how’s it going?” came a voice from the other end.

“They’ll be out any moment now. Perform well,” said the comrade in the yellow coat in a slightly quivering voice. He was trembling with excitement.

“Yeah, I’ll put on a proper show. Rest assured. Report immediately once you confirm the target!”

Before the young man in the attic sat a machine gun peering through a wall hole. Its muzzle—trigger ready to be pulled at any instant—aimed at a gaping third-floor window across the tall building. To be precise, it targeted the wall-mounted telephone visible through that window—the receiver dangling limp from its cord. Presumably, whoever had been summoned by phone had gone searching for someone.

Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds.

At the window across the way, a single revue girl appeared.
Perhaps because her head hurt, she was pressing it with her left hand.

“Haa, hello?”

And the beautiful revue girl moved her lips before the telephone receiver.

“Ah, hello?”
The one who answered the revue girl’s call was, unexpectedly, the comrade in the yellow coat occupying the second public telephone booth in the district’s backstreets.

“Hello. Are you Ms. Yanagi Chidori?”

The comrade’s voice remained calm and composed.
And that was only natural—for this comrade was none other than their standard-bearer UX3, Taiji Hideou.

“Yes, that’s right,” the woman said.

Taiji Hideou swiftly raised his hand and signaled to Comrade QX7 Sama Saburou in the adjacent public telephone booth A.

(Alright, fire—give the order!)

That was the signal.
With bold persistence, Taiji tried to keep Yanagi Chidori nailed to the telephone.

“Ms. Yanagi Chidori, I’d like to present you with something excellent—”

The command—“Fire—”—reached the ears of the comrade in the attic, and with a click, he pulled the machine gun’s trigger.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-TAT!

A hail of bullets erupted in pure white smoke, hurtling toward the opposite window—

Yanagi Chidori was riddled like a honeycomb before she could even cry out, collapsing limply beneath the telephone.

“Direct hit!”

That was the final report to his comrades.

In the next instant, the attic machine gunner, the yellow-coated comrades from public telephone booths A and B, and Comrade Hotate as well fled the scene like swift birds.

It was a horrifying assassination scenario.

10

It was QX30's Sasaeguen Go, struggling to forcibly calm his unsettled mind in the audience seats.

Rat-tat-tat!

Clang!

He heard a strange noise while feigning detachment.

(Huh, they did it.)

The curtain for Act Five, "Bandit Mansion Observation Deck," descended smoothly.

Backstage, an abnormal commotion seemed to be unfolding.

While unaware of what had transpired, the audience gradually began to stir.

The stage curtain swayed violently, and troupe leader Maruki Hanasaku appeared still in his stage costume with only the wig removed.

“Ladies and gentlemen,”

“Please remain quiet.”
“Just now, an actress has suddenly passed away from an illness.”
“However, since the matter has already been resolved, please rest assured and enjoy the remainder of the performance at your leisure.”
“We shall now immediately raise the curtain on Act Six: ‘Narai Pleasure Quarter.’”

With a roar, the oblivious audience applauded.

When the troupe leader withdrew, the stage curtain glided smoothly upward as though nothing had occurred. To the lively strains of hayashi music and the clang-clang of metal staffs, the courtesan procession began its grand entrance—as if a flower cart were being wheeled out from stage right. Two lantern bearers, two staff carriers, then an adorable young attendant...

“Gah!”

It was Go of QX30 in the audience seats who had shouted so loudly.

There she was—the deputy commander with the artificial eye who should have been dead, clad in crimson young attendant’s robes, walking within the procession.
How could anyone remain unshocked at this?

“Sh-shit!”

By the time he realized, it was already too late.
The man in the neighboring seat—who he believed had moved past Isosaka—pinned down Go’s skilled arm with remarkable strength for his age.

“You should already know how this goes.
“Now come quietly over here.”

With that single word, everything was over.

Without even needing to examine the photos taken through the fisheye lens, QX30 had already clearly failed by shouting out loud.
He could never leave this revue hall alive again.

All is lost!

*

The female deputy commander with the artificial eye being mistaken for Yanagi Chidori was Sasaeguen Go's regrettable misunderstanding.
Yanagi Chidori was indeed the dancer who had been killed by the machine gun.
This Yanagi Chidori had been suddenly struck by a severe headache when it came time to appear in Act Five.
With the performance imminent, the deputy commander had no choice but to take Yanagi Chidori's place in the end.
As a result, she ended up being mistaken for Yanagi Chidori.
In the subsequent Act Six, "Narai Pleasure Quarter," she appeared in her correct assigned role.
If it wasn't Yanagi Chidori, then it had to be Unahara Manoko.
You should already be aware that her name lies beneath the role of "young attendant."

Unahara Manoko was none other than the deputy commander's fortunate stage name!