The two weakened men were helped down the stairs a time later, looking a little brighter than they had previously.
"Can you speak?"
Gengyo asked upon seeing them.
The first man shook his head, but the second – who had his body riddled with numerous cuts – managed a reply.
"I can, now that my throat is no longer so dry."
"Good. My questions for you are very simple: who are you, and why did Toda have you imprisoned down there?"
"My name is Togas.h.i.+ Hiraie. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d arrested me because me and a few others showed dissatisfaction toward his rule. That f.u.c.ker took our women as though they were his own! He sold some of them… and kept the rest for himself."
His said angrily, clenching his fist tightly.
"So he really was a slaver…"
Gengyo muttered in thought, before turning his attention back to the man.
"Well, Toda is dead now, Togas.h.i.+-san. I am sorry to hear of your struggle, but your family may still be amongst the living. You"re free to do as you wish."
He turned around to Kitajo, spurred on by a sudden idea.
"How much food is left upstairs?"
Kitajo looked a bit surprised by the sudden question, but he still answered dutifully.
"Uhm… a lot."
"Enough to feed the entire village?"
"Maybe… but not for long."
He raised his eyebrows toward Nakatane, as though to ask for approval.
The older man shook his head, as though exhausted by all the plans that Gengyo seemed to have.
"Do as you want."
"Good. Alright men, those of you who aren"t supporting one of the injured, fetch a few bags of food from upstairs."
Morohira frowned in dissatisfaction clearly not relis.h.i.+ng the idea of becoming a carthorse.
Noticing this, Gengyo spoke to his older brother.
"Masaatsu, do you think you could search for a cart? If we could find one then it would make our task a good deal easier."
His father opened his mouth wide as if to say: "What!? Why does he get the easy job?"
Masaatsu grinned, knowing exactly what his brother was up to. The young man returned the smile, looking toward his father, urging him to stop complaining.
Conceding the point the older man waved his hand and followed them upstairs with a sigh.
Before long the throne room had become a storage house, as multiple barrels were placed on the floor, alongside a few sacks of rice grain. The young man watched the foodstuff pile up with satisfaction, as he organized the next parts of his plan internally.
Jikouji and Nakatane were only too happy to let him take charge of this part. Like the rest of the men, after seeing the grisly sights that they had today, they were not exactly filled with optimism, and the energy required to keep up with the younger man"s enthusiasm was not something they could muster.
Besides, it was a good test of his leaders.h.i.+p qualities. He had done well in battle, granted, but that did not mean he was would make an entirely successful leader. But as they watched him more, their approval grew. He held a respect for his men, as they held a respect for him. He treated them as friends, but he also expected their cooperation. It was a very healthy relations.h.i.+p.
By the time they were done, the men were exhausted.
"Good work fellas. You can rest for a bit now."
They rested their bottoms upon the cold stone steps, sighing with relief as they relieved their aching muscles, and wiped the sweat from their brow.
Masaatsu came in a few moments later, looking excited.
"You found one, then?"
Gengyo guessed, seeing his expression.
"Not only that, brother, there are two cart-horses in the stables to the rear! It"s a big cart – 6 wheels – it"ll have no problem handing this amount. You can even put the dead and wounded on it."
Caught up by his brother"s enthusiasm, he began smiling too.
"That sounds perfect. Where is the cart now?"
Masaatsu"s grin widened.
"It"s right outside the front."
"Perfect!"
Gengyo praised genuinely, patting his brother on the shoulder, pleased with his decision making.
"You"ve done well brother. Our job will be much easier now. Go and rest. Father looks pretty miserable – perhaps you could cheer him up a bit, haha?"
Morohira overheard, and responded grumpily.
"Don"t bother!"
The young man turned his attention toward the 4 men who had been supporting the two wounded.
"It seems there was no need to save your legs for carrying the men back into town. Come and help me load this into the cart. We"ll let the others rest for a bit, eh?"
They nodded. Whilst they had been pleased not to be doing any work, it had made them feel a little bad after seeing how exhausted the others had become.
Gengyo took the lead, heaving a bag of rice flour onto his shoulder, and setting off toward the door.
Nakatane and Jikouji watched him, a little surprised that he was taking part in the labour himself. He had a good amount of men at his disposal – there was no need to exert himself.
But when they saw how the men responded to his efforts, his reasoning became clear, and they themselves wondered whether they should join in.
In the end, they did, caught up in the young man"s flow. The cart was quickly loaded with the 7 of them working together. Two people helped to carry the bodies, leaving them near the front, and another two helped the wounded men inside the cart.
"Are we going back into Tobis.h.i.+ma?"
Togas.h.i.+ asked to Gengyo as he helped him toward the cart.
"That"s right. I"m sure your family will be glad to see you."
The thin man shook his head despondently.
"Would that I had family… They have all died. I planned to kill Toda should I ever escape from those wretched walls, but now, I am unsure what to do."
"Can you fight?"
Togas.h.i.+ laughed slightly, before grimacing from the pain it caused.
"Fighting is what got me into this mess – it"s one of the few things I"m good at."
"Then why not join me? I have a need for men."
The man stared at him, startled, struggling to formulate a response.
"But I-"
Gengyo cut him off.
"You don"t need to respond now. Go back to your village, see your people, and then decide if you truly don"t wish to re-join them."
He helped him up to the cart, before walking back to load the last few sacks of rice. Togas.h.i.+ watched him go, staring at his back with curiosity, his thoughts a raging torrent of confusion.
Nakatane wiped his brow, now drenched in sweat, and breathing heavily. He could not remember the last time he had engaged in such manual labour. The only thing he had ever put any real physical effort into was training his sword.
Gengyo was not in such poor shape, but the sight of his exhausted men and the exhausted master caused him to consider something new.
"I"ll have to focus on conditioning the men…"
He muttered under his breath as he walked past. Nakatane overheard him, thinking that his men were not the only ones that needed conditioning. It was humiliating for him to be brought so low by such basic labour, and he vowed to put more time into the upkeep of his body.
Once the loading of the cart was done, and the horses were attached, the young man turned to the master for approval.
"Shall we set off then?"
"Aye, let"s."
He replied, having now recovered his breath.
"Let"s be on our way then, men."
With a light tug, Masaatsu pulled the reigns of one of the carthorses, and lead them forward. The rest of their group followed, walking slowly behind, glad to finally be out of that mansion.
A good deal of time had pa.s.sed since they had first set out that morning, and now the sun sat lower in the sky, threatening to set at any moment. The men would have been mightly hungry had they not managed to snack on Toda"s leftovers, so it was rather fortunate that such supplies had been discovered.
They did not see a single villager on their way back toward the centre of the village. It seemed they had taken note of their arrival beforehand, and deemed it safer to stay out of their way.
It was a little demoralising for the men, as they had expected to win the villager"s favour merely with the cart that they towed. But there was no one to see their offerings.
There was a raised wooden platform, roughly where the centre of the village might be, and they stopped there, unloading the bodies, and laying them gently down beside each other.
"What now?"
Nakatane asked, after that task had been completed.
"This."
Gengyo responded, and stepped up onto the platform. He took a deep breath, and filled his lungs, before letting out a loud shout.
"PEOPLE OF TOBIs.h.i.+MA – HEAR MY WORDS. TODA IS DEAD. YOUR SUFFERING IS OVER. PLEASE FIND RETRIBUTION FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST YOU IN THE MARKETPLACE."
His voice rang out loudly across the village. A few flinched, startled by the sudden shout. They waited for a few minutes, but not a single thing moved. Not even the air, for there was no wind that day. A frightening stillness.
They looked toward the young man, their expressions saying it all: "what now?"
But he showed no traces of disappointed, he merely opened his mouth wide to speak once more.
"PEOPLE OF TOBIs.h.i.+MA – HEAR MY WORDS. TODA IS DEAD. YOUR SUFFERING IS OVER. PLEASE FIND RETRIBUTION FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST YOU IN THE MARKETPLACE."
Once again they listened for a few minutes, and heard nothing, aside from the slamming of a door, and the tweeting of an annoyed bird.
"PEOPLE OF TOBIs.h.i.+MA – HEAR MY WORDS. TODA IS DEAD. YOUR SUFFERING IS OVER. PLEASE FIND RETRIBUTION FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST YOU IN THE MARKETPLACE."
They waited a few moments more, and in the house nearest to them, he spied a shutter loosen, and the head of a young woman stick out. She spied the sacks of rice that had holes in places, causing some of the precious grains to spill out over the surface of the platform.
Her belly rumbled involuntarily, and her mouth salivated. She could not remember the last time she had eaten rice.
He smiled toward her, nodding encouragingly, before turning his back to her again, and renewing his shout.
"PEOPLE OF TOBIs.h.i.+MA – HEAR MY WORDS. TODA IS DEAD. YOUR SUFFERING IS OVER. PLEASE FIND RETRIBUTION FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST YOU IN THE MARKETPLACE."
They heard another shutter open, as another head poked out. And then they saw the door of the first woman open, as she cautiously made her way out. Gengyo stepped toward a barrel, causing the woman to flinch. He removed the lid, drawing out a piece of bread. He held it up, for her, and the other few who had been enticed, and then he threw it toward her.
It was a good throw, but an even better catch. There was no chance that she would let such good food sully. She grabbed it and ducked back inside, digging in greedily. She shared it with her younger brother who watched anxiously from behind the door.
And then he renewed his shout.
"PEOPLE OF TOBIs.h.i.+MA – HEAR MY WORDS. TODA IS DEAD. YOUR SUFFERING IS OVER. PLEASE FIND RETRIBUTION FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST YOU IN THE MARKETPLACE."
//Author"s Note
First bonus chapter for today. Hope you enjoyed it! There will be another one very soon ^_^