Roots

Late that night, blind swordsman Eiji arrives to collect the ore from a meteorite. Mitsu sees him struggling to extract it, helps him dig it out, and carries it back to his forge, giving her some food. When she tells him she has somewhere to go, he lets her go. Mitsu walks away, but then sneaks back into a corner of the forge, deciding to take some more shelter from the rain and her tormentors. When she stays in the morning, Eiji begins giving her small preparatory tasks to do around the forge indirectly, instructing her to forge away impurities with the blazing-hot iron, maintaining a rhythm with his tongs, tapping her on the head every time she makes a mistake. He gradually encourages her to become more involved in swordsmanship, giving her life structure, shelter, and the skills she lacked as a teenager. Eiji finds her practicing with the sword, and she declares that she will become the greatest swordsman in the world. When he asks why, Mitsu reveals her half-Caucasian heritage (shamefully describing herself as "made of alloy" and "a demon"). Knowing there are only four Caucasian men in Japan, she sets out to get revenge on her "mother" by killing her unknown father. Eiji warns her that "the strongest sword is a 'composite sword' made of steel," implying that he has already guessed her status as an outsider and doesn't care, and says that although she may look shameful, she may also be strong. He tells her that she can continue practicing her swordsmanship.