The two left together early the next morning, after meeting up with Gengyo beforehand to confirm their departure. Isabella was feeling confident and contended, due to her night spent indoors, and her opportunity to bathe. She dressed in a clean kimono, and her hair was tied tidily behind her head. She had not looked this good in a long time, she felt.
"All set then?"
The lad asked, seeing that the two of them were mounted and ready to leave.
"Aye! No worries on that front, I"m sorted. Y"know, your mother has been getting about a lot more lately. You could go for a walk with her if you fancy."
Gengyo smiled at his father"s concern for his wife. How people could be so misjudged. The man dearly cared for his beautiful wife, though he often seemed simple and detached.
"I"ll definitely visit her, worry not father."
He then alerted his tone slightly, to speak to the two of them not as family, but as their leader.
"I need consistent reports on what is happening in the bay. Send one of the men back to inform me when the s.h.i.+p is completed, and then send another one after you have successfully completed your first raid. Isabella, listen to Morohira. From this time out, he is your employer. But do not hesitate to advise him if you believe him to be wrong. You"ll listen, won"t you father?"
Morohira pulled a face, indicating that was the last thing he wished to do.
"Aye…"
He managed to force out.
"Ha. Well, good luck. I look forward to receiving the news of your success."
"You got it. Be seeing you then, lad."
Morohira bid him farewell, and turned to ride toward the open gate. After a brief nod towards him, Isabella followed behind. Though outwardly she was rather confident in her appearance, there was a certain nervousness there from having to spend time with so many unfamiliar faces, especially without the presense of that man.
"I want to get there fast, try and keep up, la.s.s."
She was informed by Morohira, as he noticed that her eyes were not on the task. Another unexplored bit of territory was unfolding before her. It seemed that had become her life as of late – visiting new lands. Something of a traveller.
"Traveller, huh? That sounds nice."
She thought to herself. Her job wasn"t bad in the least. She did not have to sacrifice any of her dignity, and could earn coin merely by reporting what she saw. It was a walk in the park. And yet, there was still that underlying apprehension. There had never been an opportunity where she was made to work with people, as part of a team. It was always an employer, employee relations.h.i.+p. Or more familiarly: slave and master.
They rode so quickly that she was barely given chance to observe the scenery around her. All the fields faded into a sea of green, indistinguishable from one another. She had been informed they were going to a cove, but she did not know quite what a cove was, only that it was something to do with the sea.
Would she have to ride a s.h.i.+p? She dreaded the thought. Gusts of negative thoughts filled her mind, as powerfully as the wind. It did nothing to help the b.u.t.terflies that sat in her stomach. But outwardly, she still wore that confident smile, and every time Morohira glanced round to see if he was keeping up, all he caught sight of was her self-a.s.sured expression.
But he was not likely to bother whether she was rea.s.sured or not. She had a job, as did he, and as long as she worked with him, they would not complain.
Within a matter of hours, they had arrived at the cove, and Morohira wordlessly dismounted his horse, tethering it to a long piece of rope as the others had been, so that they were allowed to feed, but not to wander off. The oxen were still busy pursuing the extinction of gra.s.s, and they seemed to be winning the war.
Whilst an onlooker might claim them to be doing nothing, if the oxen could speak, they would argue that resting is very different from doing nothing – and they had worked hard, and earned their keep.
She mimicked him, and dismounted, tethering her horse as he had. Around strangers, he was a man of few words, and the atmosphere was rather uncomfortable, as he barely spared her a glance. She did her best to pay it no mind, but they were soon to meet the others, and she had not an ally in sight. What would they see when they looked at her? A mere wh.o.r.e, that was likely. They would not take her seriously. She was a wh.o.r.e with information, that was all.
"Let"s head on down, shall we uhh… Is.h.i.+berra?"
It was painful hearing Morohira butcher the p.r.o.nunciation of her name so severely, though it was not as if she herself could say it without flaw. It was then that she made a decision, because it was likely the others would struggle to p.r.o.nounce her name as well.
"If it is easier, you may call me Is.h.i.+."
He nodded.
"Is.h.i.+, is it? Alright, come on down then."
He walked over to the edge of the cliff, showing no nerves as they peered over at the sea 50 metres below.
"Down we go."
Those words evoked a flinch from her, as she thought he was implying that they jump, but when he turned towards a different part of the cliff, the true way down was revealed, though it was no less unnerving, as a sheer drop was still present on the left-hand side.
He began down it, paying the drop no mind, walking as casually as he would through a field of flowers.
"Aren"t you coming?"
Came his question after he noticed that she had stopped. Only because of his prodding did she inch forward.
"Don"t look. That"s the key."
She stayed as far away from the edge as she could, practically clinging to the cliff wall. Her fear did in no way lesson as she saw the steep slide ahead.
"Well, slipping time, eh?"
Was his simple announcement, as he leapt forth, and landed on the mudslide bottom first.
"WooOOOOOOOO!"
He shouted out loudly, thoroughly enjoying the ride. He landed heavily on the sand, and his face almost burrowed it"s way underground, but he got to his feet laughing, without a single care.
"Ohhh, Morohira"s back."
Rokkaku informed everyone, though they were not likely not to know, given his loud screaming.
"How"s it going fellas, been a while eh?"
He called across the beach.
"Oh, welcome back dad! Where"s Tadakata?"
Rin responded cheerfully with a wave, rus.h.i.+ng over, dragging Akiko in tow.
"He"s still in Toyone."
Came his response, as he patted the sand away from his clothes.
"I"ll tell you all about it later, but for now there"s someone you should meet…"
He turned around, expecting to find Isabella right behind him. Glancing rapidly around the cove, he attempted to find some trace of her. But there she was, still stood on top of the slope, too frightened to go down.
"Eh? Is.h.i.+? What"s wrong? Just come down."
He shouted up to her, wondering what all the fuss was about. Rin and Akiko came with him, and they were later joined by Rokkaku and some others who were curious just as to who this "Is.h.i.+" was.
Quite soon a small crowd had gathered, looking up at her. The pressure was immense, and her fears only intensified. They were shouting all sorts of encouragements, but none of it worked. Yet as time went on they were bound to grow more irritated.
She moved a little closer to the ramp, hoping that small movement would appease them for a while. But with her body pinned firmly to the cliff, the vision she was afforded of the ramp was not a good one, and as her foot came down, it did so on slick mud.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A shrill scream filled the air, as she tumbled down the ramp, overcome with terror. It was a marketable difference from Morohira"s rather smooth journey, and she landed on the sand with a thump, her limps strew in all sorts of places, and her face firmly planted in the sand.
The headless body started to wriggle, surprised that it was still alive, and then she stood up, spitting out the sand, before taking a deep breath, like a diver that had just surfaced.
She was quite the mess, as she sat there, covered in sand – some of which had become wet from her tears of terror, and stuck to her skin. It was quite the first impression. Even before that entrance she feared that they would not take her seriously – they were even less likely to do so now.
Dusting herself off, she got to her feet, feeling as though she wanted to die with everyone gawping at her.
"Isabella, h.e.l.lo. Tadakata must have sent you, right?"
Akiko said with a bright smile, recognizing her face. With all the recent things that she had learned, she no longer felt any amount of worry towards the woman. In fact, she was happy to welcome her, as she had proved to be a valuable aid to Gengyo.
Isabella blinked at her in surprise, recognizing her as Gengyo"s woman. Akiko was the last person she thought would greet her. If anything, she expected hostility. And she didn"t even butcher the p.r.o.nunciation of her name too badly, which was always a bonus.
"Ah… Yes, h.e.l.lo."
She"d been thrown a lifeline by Akiko, and she readily accepted it, attempting to smile. But the men couldn"t quite accept her presence yet. There were now three beautiful women amongst them, and this one wasn"t related to the boss, so it meant she was fair game, right? Or such was Ii"s thoughts, as he stood there on his best behaviour, a wide smile on his lips.
"Is.h.i.+berra, is it? I"m sure you"ll be a great addition to our team. Please, if you need anything, don"t hesitate to ask."
From a different man that would have come off as the height of good will, but from his lips, it was perhaps the creepiest thing he could have said, and her smile wavered as she looked towards him – his eyes were full of bad intentions.
"Ah… Okay..?"
Rokkaku recognized her to be the woman from Toda"s mansion, and he opened his mouth to speak, but after a sharp kick in the s.h.i.+n from Jikouji, he was informed that he should keep his mouth shut, or else.
"Hehe, yeah. She"s Is.h.i.+, our… information girl..? Yep. Information girl. Tadakata sent her here because she knows about all the sh.i.p.s in Toyokawa, or something like that."
Morohira did a rather poor job of explaining. But it mattered not, for Akiko was there to fill everyone in.
"Yup. She"s Tadakata"s intelligence specialist, and was the one who detailed everything for your robbery in Toyokawa."
Gengyo had mentioned something about Isabella before he had left, so by now, even without her words, everyone had a rough idea of who she was.
"Yeah, that. Anyway, the lad said I"m in charge of this raid, haha. Pretty crazy, eh?"
He laughed jovially, knowing full well how absurd it sounded coming out his mouth. They stared at him, edging on laughter, almost sure that he was joking.
"You"re taking the p.i.s.s, right?"
"Nope. Even Is.h.i.+ can confirm it, right Is.h.i.+?"
"…It"s true."
She said meekly. It was hard to retain her confident demeanour after the stabbing her pride had suffered from that entrance of hers.
"…No way…"
Rokkaku looked downright suicidal, and even the rest of the men held their doubts. With Morohira in charge, the chances of them even making it out of the cove were low, never mind actually raiding another s.h.i.+p.