As they were all laughing and joking inside the commander"s tent, Takes.h.i.+ was furiously attempting to come up with answers to Gengyo"s questions. He had a general idea how he would bring them into fruition. What metals he would use, and how he would design the casing, but he wanted to come up with more, so that when he shared it with Gengyo he would be impressed.
His teeth clamped down on his finger nails as he chewed them out of habit, trying to think. He was already standing outside of the tent, but could not work up the nerve to draw back the flap. He"d be annoyed, wouldn"t he? If he were to go inside without announcing himself?
"Eh? What are you standing outside for?" A rather drunk Rokkaku asked him, as he shook away the last few drops of urine after a long p.i.s.s.
"I-I…I was just-"
"Miura! Takes.h.i.+"s come to join the party!" Rokkaku announced, stumbling through the tent flap, dragging Takes.h.i.+ along with him.
"Ah!" Suddenly he was cast inside under the bright candle light, and various sets of curious eyes on him.
"Hoh. h.e.l.lo again, Takes.h.i.+. Did you manage to come up with the specifics?" Gengyo asked, drawing a mouthful of chicken away from the bone with his teeth.
"Y-yes, I uhm… I think so."
"Well, that"s good. We"ll begin production tomorrow, upon capturing the town. I need five cannons building in the next two days, and I need a mixture of normal ammunition, and Takes.h.i.+ cl.u.s.ter shots." He saw the look on Takes.h.i.+"s face after he mentioned his invention. "That"s my name for it. Don"t you like it?"
"Yes, my lord! I do… and I will… I will do as you say with the cannons."
"Good man. Morojo?" The s.h.i.+pwright was sharing food with them as well. There was not quite enough room for all his sons, but they fit in who they could.
"Aye lad?"
"Tomorrow your work will begin as well. This place is in serious need of repairs. Reinforce the worst points, and set up positions for Takes.h.i.+"s cannons to be placed. They"ll be put on the frontwards wall. There is only one gate in the castle, and the wall in which it is housed is incredibly weak. That will be the breech point, when someone attacks us."
"So, we"re going to hole up here whilst we wait for that bigger army you"ve predicted?" Jikouji asked, taking a sip of his sake.
"That"s the plan. If it"s as you say, and they have got their cattle inside, then we"ll be able to survive a siege for a good while. With our firepower, we might even be able to repel them."
"Might?" Morohira questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Mhm. I"m not sure what will happen. This is the biggest obstacle we have to face yet. We won"t be able to get through it without a bit of luck. If the G.o.ds are not on our side, then it doesn"t look too promising." Gengyo stated all this without a hint of bitterness in his tone.
"We"ll do what we always do, and cut the f.u.c.kers to pieces." Rokkaku announced holding his gla.s.s high.
"Aye! Let"s just cut the f.u.c.kers to pieces. What are you doing worry about strategy when we"ve got the genius Rokkaku to give us the answers already?" Morohira raised his gla.s.s to join him.
Soon the rest had their cups raised in some sort of satirical toast. "Can you not at least try to live..?" Rin asked seemingly exasperated. In truth, every single man present had come to terms with the reality of his own death. They had become what many a warrior sought to be, and moved like water, accepting whatever was to come their way with the utmost resolve.
"Heheh, I"ll try to try." Gengyo decided, moving onto his own gla.s.s of sake.
The only person present who seemed even remotely worried was f.u.ku, who had not quite yet managed to accept the philosophy of a warrior. All she knew was that she did not want to have to suffer the loss of another loved one. But perhaps – she reasoned – if she were to die alongside them, then it would not be so bad
…
…
They drunk and shared food until late into the evening, antic.i.p.ating that the enemy would not dare to attack. Still, even if they did, the rest of the army were mostly sober, and ready to do battle.
Most of them ended up falling asleep inside the tent, not even bothering to return to their own. By the time sunrise came around Gengyo had only slept for a couple of hours, but since he did not want to miss out on what he thought might transpire, he arose, and went to watch the sun peak up its head.
As he stood up, he disturbed the sleeping Akiko, who had buried her head in his chest.
"Mm..?" She blinked up at him sleepily. "Where… are you going?"
"For a walk. Go back to sleep." He whispered back, taking great care not to disturb the rest of their sleeping party.
"I"ll come too…" She decided, dragging herself to her feet, though she was still quite obviously exhausted.
He nodded with a light smile, before taking her hand, and pa.s.sing through the flap.
The coolness of the morning air was startling, but after a few moments, their bodies adjusted, and they were able to walk without s.h.i.+vering too violently.
"Oh, it"s beautiful!" Akiko exclaimed, looking up at the rising sun, and the beautiful golden patterns that decorated the horizon. The perfect amount of perfectly shaped clouds. It was truly a picturesque scene.
"Isn"t it? It feels strange to think that such a thing happens every single day, yet we let it pa.s.s by without noticing it." Gengyo mused, wrapping his hand around her waist, as they stood side by side, admiring the sun"s ascent.
"We should wake up each morning at sunrise, so that we get to see it." Akiko suggested.
"We could, but I think after a while, we would not appreciate it"s beauty quite as much. Perhaps it"s best saved for moments like these, where I can quietly enjoy it with my wife."
"Mhmm, I guess so."
As they were quietly enjoying their time together, the large gate of Honkaido were pushed open just enough for a single rider to slip out.
"Tadakata! Look!" Akiko called urgently.
"Don"t worry, I see it."
He took her hand once more, and slowly walked, until he was barring the path of the horseman. He continued to gallop forward at a pace, looking as though he would not slow. But they simply stood as they were, defiantly, not giving an inch of ground.
He slowed to a halt just before colliding with them, and his horse snorted angrily, its hot breath condensing in the cool morning air. The mounted man looked down on them aggressively, unspeaking. In his hand was not a weapon, but a scroll.
"Hand me the scroll." Gengyo said sternly.
There were a few seconds pause, as it looked as though the man was intent on disobeying, but then he violently thrust it forward, with a degree of bitterness.
The young man plucked it from his tensed fingers, and began to read its contents aloud so that Akiko might hear it too.
"Aggressors, this town does not hold anything of value. As you can see, our walls are crumbling, as are our homes. I ask that you skip this town, and go in search of wealth elsewhere. We are willing to give you a small token of 300 gold, as a gift."
Gengyo raised his eyebrows, and shared a look with Akiko.
"That"s pretty insulting." He commented. How stupid did one have to be to settle for a mere 300 gold when he had an entire town ripe for the pickings.
He glanced at the scroll once more, as though to look for something else, but the horseman made the mistake of sneering, and a moment later, the man he had just been talking to had disappeared, leaving the women to stand alone.
He looked around frantically, his forehead creasing with lines as he attempted to discern where he had gone to. And then, he felt something cold creep us his spine, as fingers found their way around neck, grasping at his throat.
The man he thought to have disappeared leaned forward and whispered towards his ear. "We"re going to have to do some… negotiating."
And then, with a single swift motion, the horseman was dragged from his horse, and sent cras.h.i.+ng to the ground. He gasped in pain as the air fled from his lungs, but he was not given a single moments respite. The folds of his clothing were grasped, and he was dragged along once more, kicking and shouting aggressively.
Right up to the gates of Honkaido, the man was taken. His shouts soon turned into screams as the hold on his clothing tightened, and they came up further, restricting his breathing. At such a clamour, men were awoken. Both men of the Red Feather, and men inside Honkaido.
They peaked their heads over the top of the wall, seeing their man screaming, dragged by this brutish aggressor. They drew back their bows, and threatened him
"Let him go, or we"ll turn you into a f.u.c.k.i.n.g pin cus.h.i.+on!" One of the men shouted, thinking Gengyo just to be another battle mad warrior.
"Try it, see what happens." Gengyo suggested calmly. His actions were violent, but his mind was tranquil. He knew exactly what he was aiming for.
"F.u.c.k you!"
The man shouted back. He was one of the best archers in the town. There was no need for him to stand on ceremony and take this kind of insulting behaviour. He unleashed his arrow without a second thought.
It came charging toward Gengyo, seeking to puncture a hole in his lung. As soon as he had released it, the archer knew his arrow shot to be true, and his lips were already curled up gleefully.
But what he did not expect was for the man to twist so quickly, and dodge the speeding projectile by the narrowest of margins.
"ARGH! F.U.C.K!" The captor screamed, as the arrow speared through his leg. "OH G.o.d, F.U.C.K! WHERE ARE YOU AIMING?" He raged, trying to defeat the pain with anger.
"Oh dear, it seems you"ve missed." Gengyo said innocently. His men only continued to gather, so that they might watch. It was quite the show to wake up to, and they were enjoying it thoroughly.
"He"s a b.a.s.t.a.r.d… I"m so glad he"s on our side." Morohira murmured. He could well enough imagine how infuriated the enemy were becoming – he would be raging himself if he had to suffer through half of what they had.