KAPPA BY RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA, TRANSLATED BY ALLISON MARKIN POWELL AND LISA HOFMANN KURODA Stickers These knights goad their mounts

These knights goad their mounts across the battlefield

and a skilled swordswoman thief named Valeria

which he utilizes to break open his food

They march forth to reclaim their rightful dominion over the kingdoms of the living

but sadly found no yummy meat

KAPPA BY RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA, TRANSLATED BY ALLISON MARKIN POWELL AND LISA HOFMANN KURODA Stickers These knights goad their mountsThe Kappa is a creature from Japanese folklore known for dragging unwary toddlers to their deaths in rivers: a scaly, child sized creature, looking something like a frog, but with a sharp, pointed beak and an oval shaped saucer on top of its head, which hardens with age. Akutagawas Kappa is narrated by Patient No. 23, a madman in a lunatic asylum: he recounts how, while out hiking in Kamikochi, he spots a Kappa. He decides to chase it and, like Alice