They pushed the horses to their limits and rode quickly. By the time they had neared Tokyokawa, the beasts were covered in sweat, and were salivating heavily at the mouth.
"Where to now, boss?"
Rokkaku asked, betraying his eagerness.
Here was where Gengyo"s decision lay. The town – though it was late into the night – was brightly lit, and guards patrolled regularly. They, dressed as they were, would not be a welcome sight.
But remembering the map, he judged that they might be able to skip out on going down the main road, and go diagonally, heading straight to where the road on the right started to grow thin.
This way they could skip out on the majority of the housing. But it relied heavily on the map being drawn to some sort of scale, as he would use her proportions to judge how far he needed to go.
"Come on."
He began down the diagonal route, across the field of gra.s.s. They still pa.s.sed many houses, but these were not bathed in torchlight as the others were, since they sat more on the perimeter of the town.
At one point, they were almost caught, as a young boy opened up the wooden shutters to let some air in, only, he did not look out after he had done so, else he would have caught sight of them.
They arrived halfway down the rightwards road. The path was still cobble, but in this part it was dimly lit and irregularly patrolled. If you looked down it, you could see the main road. It was most certainly the path that Isabella had described.
Making haste, he began down it, eager to get as far away from the torchlight as possible. The road started to narrow, and trees began. The houses grew from few to none at all. Because of the tightness of the path, they ended up having to walk in single file.
The dirt track wound exactly as she described it, and all they had to do was follow, before soon, they reached the outer perimeter of the jeweller"s home.
They tethered their horses a short distance away, so that the clopping hooves would not tell tales of their approach. And then, they drew closer.
Two guards were present in the front of building, just as Isabella said there would be. But they had no idea whether there would be more guards patrolling around the outside.
Gengyo bit his lip, deciding how to proceed from here.
They looked half asleep. If they were to charge them now, they would die. But the problem was that they each held a torch, and the guardsmen would see them long before they had managed to kill them.
"Follow."
With a plan in mind, they circled around the outer part of the building. On the side, there was no door, but there were no guards either. Yet to the rear, there was both a door and another set of guards.
Using the colour of their dark clothing to their advantage, he lead the way across the courtyard, shaking his head when Kitajo attempted to draw his weapon. The blade would catch the light, and reflect it.
But here, where they arrived, was a window. It was not open, but it was still a point of weakness.
First, he tested it, to see if it was unlocked, even if it was not open.
"No such luck."
He said with a small grin. He had not expected it to be that easy either way. But still, the thin wood used to make such a shutter was not liable to stop the blade of his sword.
He drew the weapon – hidden in the shadow as they were – and worked it through the small crack in the middle of the two pieces of wood that formed the shutter. The wooden catch-lock – after some effort – snapped.
With a look towards his men - as he smiled under the mask - he pushed the shutter open, revealing their new entrance.
It was small, and the likes of Rokkaku and Sasaki would never fit in, but they did not need to.
With his finger, he pointed to Morohira, and motioned with his head for him to climb in. Ever the impulsive one, he needed no thought as to what might lay under it, and began climbing immediately.
He landed lightly on the other side with barely a sound.
He motioned with his palm flat for the rest of them to stay, and wait, and then he himself followed in after his father.
They landed in what appeared to be a sort of reception room, or dining room, with a small table in the middle. But they did not care about the furniture, or anything of that ilk. They simply care about how to exit.
Morohira found the door quickly, and Gengyo followed out after him. His father had already guessed his intentions, and moved towards the front entrance of the building, where the shadows of the two torch-wielding guards were being projected through the paper window above.
They moved silently, taking care not to cause a single disturbance on the floorboards beneath their feet. Though their movements were slow, and they were not exerting themselves, they both were sweating heavily from the pressure.
They neared the door and crouched behind it, nodding toward each other.
Slowly, they slid the door open, soundlessly, taking care not to attract any attention from the guards who stood less than a metre away.
Once it was open wide enough for the two of them to exit at once, they oriented themselves from behind the walls, before moving as one, blades drawn.
A guard - sensing something was wrong - looked around and gasped. But it was too late. A demon"s hand had already made its way around his mouth, and a blade had pierced through his heart.
And so both men died, not knowing what had killed them.
Gengyo quickly stamped the torches out, so that the light would not reveal them in future, before they went around the side to collect their comrades.
The men followed them back to the front entrance, taking care to step over the two corpses that now lay there.
Quietly, they made their way down the corridor, one silent step at a time. Very soon, they arrived at the junction that Isabella had mentioned, and were a mere step away from securing their wealth.
With two fingers, Gengyo picked out Ii and Sasaki, motioning for them to kill the two guards toward the rear. It was a preventive measure, incase they happened to change position any time soon.
The men nodded their understanding and moved off.
And then the others left behind made the final step, and slid open the jeweller"s door. He sat there, in his large western bed, snoring loudly, apparently quite content, unaware of all the masked men that were making their way into his room.
He peered at him, as he lay their, tilting his head, as though curious.
Alerted by some instinct, the man"s eyes opened, and he let out a scream. A split second later, that scream was m.u.f.fled by Gengyo"s hand as he spoke to him.
"Sorry, friend. We"re here to rob you."
He informed him, as he slowly drove the blade of his sword through the man"s throat. He gurgled madly as he struggled to breath, but there was no way he could raise his voice any longer, so Gengyo took his hand away, and left him to die.
The men looked to him for instruction, as he himself glanced around the room, looking for anything worth stealing.
He quickly noticed a large chest. Wondering if it was the one Isabella had spoken of, he flung it open.
Revealed were rolls of silk, and bundles of varying types of furs. Whether or not this was what she was referring to mattered not – stuff of this quality would sell for a pretty penny.
The men moved forth to fill their sacks with the goods, as Gengyo attempted to locate that satchel – the one that Isabella claimed to hold all the jewellery.
He could not see it anywhere on the floor of the room, and so, on instinct, he checked underneath the bed. And there it was. The simple mind of a simple man was revealed, believing under his bed to be a fitting hiding place for his most prized possessions.
He dragged the satchel out – it weighed heavy in hand, telling tales of the amount of jewellery that was left inside. He opened it, and split it amongst their sacks, so that the load would be equalized.
They had taken all that Isabella had mentioned, but there would certainly be more. He was not likely to carry his entire wealth to and from the port every day.
There was a western styled end table near the bed, and he forced the drawers open. Paper, some ink too. Worthless. He pulled that drawer out, and flung it atop the bed.
A few measly gold coins in the next – still, he took those.
And then, in the final drawer, sat a small metal strongbox. He picked it up carefully, shaking it by his ear. The weight and the sound – no doubt it was loaded with coin. But as of yet he could not open it, so he merely tossed the entire thing into his sack.
He motioned for the men to follow, and he moved out of the room, towards the back where Sasaki and Ii had been busy. The guardsmen were as dead as the jeweller, but a torch still remained alight as Ii struggled to put it out.
Gengyo tapped him on the shoulder signalling for him to stop, before he picked it up himself and tossed it inside the building.
With that, he began running. Whilst he was a fan of fire, he did not want to be near when the blaze caught, so they hurriedly remounted. By the time they were a safe distance away from Tokyokawa, the whole of the jeweller"s mansion was engulfed in flame.
They paused there to admire the sight with satisfaction, taking off their masks. Their crime was hidden by the roaring flames which gobbled up all the evidence, which was perfect. The key to a good bit of chaos was lack of knowledge.
They could have simply left the bodies as they were, and the room all scattered and messed up. But that would have made it obvious that it was a robbery. Yet this way, with 5 charred corpses, they would not be able to say for certain whether it was the result of a crime, or merely an accident. And that lack of knowledge was something they could prey on.
"We will burn your province to the ground, Imagawa, before you even know what has happened."
He promised. They would be able to enact their revenge soon. When he returned home from his failed attempt at war, then he would be met with the ashes of what had once been his.
The rest of the men found themselves nodding. Their first mission as men of the Red Feather had been a complete success, and now, they were breathtakingly rich because of it. If this was the sign of things to come, then Imagawa did not stand a chance.
They were pleased to have done something for the first time in a while, though some of them regretted not being able to b.l.o.o.d.y their hands. But their chance would come, their young master a.s.sured them.
He had an interesting series of plans in store, utilising this coin. And no doubt there would soon be more chaos, and bloodshed than they could hope to keep up with.
With that, they rode home, as the first light of dawn began to peak through, and they returned to their people victorious, and honoured. Yet few would know of their feat.