Year 1842 — Japan.
When Japan closed its doors to the outside world, the seas fell silent…
but beneath the land, a storm was rising.
In some regions, there was peace.
In others, famine.
And in a few forgotten corners… the murder of humanity itself.
Hidden between the mountains was a village no map recorded — Itami.
"Itami" meant one thing: Pain.
The sun rose there every morning…
yet no one felt its warmth.
People cried —
but from their eyes flowed not water…
only red tears.
The villagers used to say:
"When a person begins to enjoy pain…
his heart has already died."
Itami was ruled by a man named Sha-yō Shiawase,
the Supreme Shushō — Chief Minister.
His name meant Happiness.
But his soul carried nothing but cruelty.
He believed:
"Pain is the greatest teacher.
Those who refuse to bow… must be broken."
He turned the villagers into his slaves.
Every day, someone was punished.
Every day, someone's home burned.
Every day, a mother's scream echoed through the mountains.
He had a twisted rule.
Every week, he ordered raids on neighboring villages:
"Bring back food and gold.
And if they refuse… spill their blood."
Slowly, the people of Itami grew accustomed to cruelty.
They no longer hated pain.
They began to fear peace.
There was a girl.
Her name was also Itami.
They said she was born on the night the entire village burned.
Her mother held her close and whispered:
"If pain is our destiny…
then you will be the one to end it."
Itami was not like the others.
When people lowered their heads before injustice —
she met it eye to eye.
One day, when the Shushō ordered the village to loot again…
Itami stepped forward and refused.
"We would rather starve…
than steal what belongs to someone else."
Silence swallowed the village.
A smile appeared on Shushō's face —
but it was not joy.
It was the smile of a hunter.
He looked at his soldiers and said quietly:
"Make an example of her.
So that even the thought of rebellion dies unborn."
They dragged her away.
The villagers remained silent.
No one dared to stop them.
No one dared to look up.
That night, her screams reached the mountains.
And then… silence.
The next morning, her body hung in the center of the village.
But her eyes were open.
And they were fixed directly on Shushō.
After that day, strange things began to happen.
The villagers started having dreams.
A girl, covered in wounds…
smiling.
The soldiers who had taken her away began losing their sanity.
They saw blood everywhere.
In their ears echoed a single voice:
"You like pain, don't you?
Now feel it."
One by one, they went mad.
One soldier ran screaming:
"She's watching me! Her eyes are in my hands!"
Another kept covering his ears:
"Her voice… it's inside my head…"
A third fell silent.
He did nothing but write one word on the wall in blood:
ITAMI
Some set themselves on fire.
Some cut their own hands —
as if trying to understand what pain truly was.
Sha-yō Shiawase still wore his calm smile.
But he could no longer sleep.
Each night he dreamed the same dream.
He stood in a dark room.
Across from him stood Itami.
No eyes.
No voice.
Only a question:
"Did you kill me…
or your own humanity?"
He woke trembling.
When he looked into the mirror,
it felt as if something inside him was burning through his skin.
People began to whisper:
The Shushō was rotting from within.
But Itami's greatest pain was not her death.
It was this:
When she stood for everyone…
no one stood for her.
When she said,
"We will not steal,"
they lowered their eyes.
When she was dragged away…
no hands reached out.
She had remained silent then.
Because she believed their fear was their helplessness.
But now…
Her silence was burning.
She was no longer a girl.
She had become a feeling.
Guilt.
One night, her hanging body disappeared.
The rope swayed in the wind.
On the ground were red marks…
but no corpse.
That night, every home had the same dream.
Itami stood in their room.
Hands tied behind her back.
Head lowered.
Then she slowly asked:
"If I had been your daughter…
would you still have stayed silent?"
In the morning, seven villagers were found dead —
terror frozen on their faces.
Itami burned with vengeance.
But her revenge was not a sword.
She wanted them to feel
what she had felt:
Loneliness.
Helplessness.
And worst of all — betrayal.
Sha-yō Shiawase gathered the entire village and shouted:
"This is your weakness!
Do not run from pain!"
The wind rose violently.
The temple bells rang on their own.
And from within the crowd, a voice echoed:
"You used pain as a weapon…
now pain will judge you."
The Shushō fell to his knees.
Blood streamed from his ears.
He clawed at the earth —
as if even the ground refused to accept him.
Itami was no longer just a spirit.
She had become the breath of the village.
Whenever injustice occurred —
lamps extinguished.
Whenever lies were spoken —
the air grew heavy.
And whenever someone found the courage to speak the truth —
the wind grew light.
Now the true meaning of ITAMI NO SETSUMEI-SHA reveals itself:
The Pain Explainer.
Itami was not taking revenge through suffering.
She was teaching them what pain truly means.
Pain is not merely a wound.
Pain is the silence
when you have the power to speak…
but choose not to.