The Sword of Kaigen

A father who is unaware of the threat to them all, a son who is trying to understand his violent destiny, and a mother who is fighting to suppress her violent past.

Will the Matsuda family have the strength to protect their dominion when the winds of war blow onto their peninsula? Or, before the real adversaries ever get to their borders, will they rip each other to pieces?

The most formidable warriors in the universe, superhumans with the ability to raise the sea and wield ice swords, reside high on a hillside at the border of the Kaigenese Empire. The Kusanagi Peninsula's warriors have kept the Empire's adversaries at bay for hundreds of years, earning their frozen spit of land the moniker "The Sword of Kaigen."

Fourteen-year-old Mamoru was born into the illustrious Matsuda family of Kusanagi and has always understood his mission: to become an expert fighter and protect his native nation. Mamoru understands, however, that he may not have much time to develop into the warrior he was raised to be when an outsider shows around and lifts the veil on Kaigen's purported era of peace. Even worse, the empire he was raised to protect could be founded on falsehoods.

Misaki convinced herself that when she married into the Matsuda family, she put her youthful desires behind. She concealed her sword and all other mementos from her time as a combatant in a distant nation because she was determined to be a nice spouse and mother. However, Misaki finds the fighter returning to the surface as a result of her son's rising curiosity about the outside world, the looming prospect of an invasion across the sea, and her cold husband's irritation.