Retreat of the Weary Warriors.
A few days after we met with the Shogun and the Nachi clan's prince started his "liberation" of the town of Hisui, which was simply an ironic way of covering up the execution of Fujita clan loyalist soldiers and the peasants that protected them for his and his retainers' amusement, the bulk of the Nachi clan's army marched into the town for the incoming Spring offensive plan to retake the provincial capital city of Myoko.
"Hear Lord Nachi's orders, Commander Himeji Kotori! You are hereby relieved of your duties as the general of the 3rd Auxiliary Army! You are free to choose the order you will heed. First, you can take the duty of a supply line officer in the town of Hisui and be responsible for the supply chain of His Highess' plan of an upcoming attack in Myoko. Second, you may take the vanguard position to His Highness, Lord Nachi Tozen, in order to protect His Highness' flank during the attack. Third, you may return to Inaba and await the marriage talks being prepared by your uncle. As reward for your service, the Nachi clan can consider the offer of your uncle if he wishes to assimilate you to the Nachi clan."
"…"
As the soldiers who grew to be attached to Kotori's caring, thoughtful and sympathetic way of leading heard the choices of duties and positions for their beloved leader, they all gritted their teeth in silence as anyone who saw how the boastful prince of the Nachi clan tried to supplant his lack of good leadership skills and social acceptance amongst the common folk with all kinds of antics and fancy clothes to show off his social position all in order to catch her eye, would most likely know that he is simply pressuring her to be at a place where he can surely boost his self-image again.
"I apologize, magistrate…"
"W-what?"
"I wish to stay at this town and simply live in peace until the war has ceased."
While saying that, she let tears to roll down her face as she began to sob while clutching the amber amulet of Tsuna.
"Poor commander. To think that fate would make her kill a friend."
"Yeah. I have sent my condolences to her loss as well."
As the soldiers began to say that, the corners of their mouth actually pointed upwards to show that they were simply pretending to feel bad.
Perhaps, Kotori also new about this and in order to protect herself, she told her men to look as sad as they can to win over the magistrate's condolence and afford her an early retirement from the battlefield.
"Hah… I understand your proposition, Commander Himeji. You are therefore given the right to retire from the war effort in order to mourn for your loss and recover from your emotional wounds."
"Thank you, sir… Thank you."
As she stood up while covering her face which was still shedding forced tears, the prince looked agitated as he sent one of his servants to the magistrate.
"Haha… Look at him. Not even caring if one of his retainers are grieving her losses."
"That's just how that brat really is. Selfish and self-centered to the very end."
As the prince's servant returned to his master to whisper the magistrate's reply, he stood up and walked to the officer and began to make his demands while the soldiers who seem to be minding their own business or conversing amongst themselves were secretly listening to them.
"I think I haven't made myself clear enough yet, Magistrate. I especially asked my father to make these three decisions as this is what I think is the most valuable positions for Himeji Kotori in my upcoming siege of Myoko. Why did you let her to retire from the battlefield when she can still have a great use in the war?"
"I apologize in advance for my tone, Your Highness, but I made the decision of allowing her request for retirement under the precepts of our art of war. Lady Himeji Kotori has held the defense of the forest passage at the south, led the battles across several fortress cities and finally surmounted the rebel stronghold town of Hisui. When it comes to battles and martial achievements, Lady Himeji has already proved herself more than enough to regard her service as outstanding."
"If so, why are you letting her go now? Isn't it better to let her participate in the battle than letting go of such a talented individual?"
"That is exactly what the magistrate is saying, Your Highness."
"Huh?"
I picked the right point to enter the conversation and as I approached them, the magistrate looked confused while the prince was already gritting his teeth in frustration of my meddling.
"I might not have in-depth knowledge about the rules of war of Haguro, but as a registered battle doctor in my province's army and someone who has served in a myriad of armies as their hired medic, I know for a fact that provincial armies who use female officers usually have some precepts regarding the early retirement of said female officers."
"HAAH?! The hell are you spouting, you lowly outsider scum?! Do you want-"
"Silence, Prince Tozen."
"HAAAH?!!"
The magistrate looked at me as if he inspected my appearance and demeanor.
"Speak, outsider. What is your name?"
"Hiroshi. My name is Iwasawa Hiroshi."
"Iwasawa… wait, are you-"
"I apologize, sir. I do get mistaken as him due to the similarity of our names, but I would never want to assume my Daimyo's name."
"I see… Say, how can you assume that the rules of war in other provinces regarding female samurai officers are the same with ours'?"
"Well, I am sure that even the male nobles of Haguro wouldn't want so many scars and bruises on the delicate appearances of their wives."
"…"
"And to further explain that, the army wouldn't be so heartless to request too much from a single female officer given that other male officers are yet to prove theirselves."
As I said that, the corners of my lips curled upwards into a smug smile which made the prince who was ignored during our conversation draw his blade without warning in order to cut me down.
"Fuu."
I jumped back to dodge it and placed my hand on my hip to take an item from there.
"YOU CUR! I'LL CUT YOU DOWN FOR SHAMING ME!"
"Your Highness! Please stop this-"
*BYAK!*
Before anyone can notice, I took my gun from my hip holster, unlocked it, and fired a bullet to the flat of his blade which made it snap into half.
"UWAAAAA!!!!"
"Your Highness!"
"He wields a gun!"
"Protect the prince!"
His samurai retainers came to shield him as he cowered in fear after I shot the sword out of his hand. They drew their katanas, sheltered their shellshocked prince and shouted to the soldiers to use their bodies to protect him further.
"Hey! What are you beggars doing?!"
"We said line up and protect the prince!"
However, none of the soldiers followed their orders and simply stared at us.
"Everyone. You must've known the news already. Lady Himeji Kotori whom you truly revered and loved as your leader is relieved from her duty in the war. Right now, you are transferred to the prince's force that will besiege the capital city of Myoko."
"""…"""
"You are under orders. Heed their call and protect your leader."
One by one, the soldiers walked forward towards the pile of men protecting their prince, and the samurai retainers looked like they recovered their confidence.
"I'm out."
"I'm going back to my farm."
"Good luck on the attack at Myoko."
"I have a newborn son back at Inaba. I'm going home."
However, they approached the human barricade and handed their pennons which simply means one thing.
"You lot… why are you deserting now?!"
They don't want to fight for him anymore.
"You cowards!"
"Is this how you're supposed to repay His Highness' kindness?!"
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
One by one, as the soldiers and gave back the flags that they carried to identify themselves in the battlefield, the samurais began to berate, insult and sometimes even hit them.
"We'll take the western road. We would probably stop by some villages first and thank the villagers who helped us before."
"Sure. Give them our regards too."
One by one, after handing over their flags and taking their belongings from their tents, they walked out of the town and left the army completely.
"…"
I holstered my gun and without batting at eye on him and his cronies, I walked to my tent as well which was already emptied by Minori and the others to prepare for our next trip.
"W-Wait! You damn peasant outsider! Where the hell do you think you're going?!"
"Huh?"
"You…! You're supposed to stay here and be my army's doctor! Where the hell do you think you're running off to?!"
While we were packing up, he seemed to have recovered from the shock of being almost shot by a gun and stood up with shaky legs but forcibly calmed bravado.
"I'm not your army's doctor. I am Lady Himeji's army doctor."
Haah… what a stupid, all title, no brain noble…
"Then why are you packing up and leaving now?!"
"Well, the 3rd Auxiliary Army is dissolved, Lady Himeji has retired from the war and I have fulfilled my end of the contract. I am no longer under no legal obligation to stay here any longer."
"W-W-What…? No… this is-"
"This is the end of my service, Lord Nachi. Lady Himeji has already paid me earlier anyway. I'm outta here before things get more hectic for me."
"Hey, wait-!"
Before he can spout any more nonsense, I kicked my horse's underside to make it run away from the place as quickly as possible.
"Follow Iwasawa-sama!"
Minori and the rest followed suit and soon, we were finally out of the camp.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"You guys… Are you sure with this?"
"Haha… Just for today, Lord Iwasawa. Just for today…"
"We owe you our lives after you saved us from all of those deadly diseases we caught along the way and the wounds we suffered that you meticulously healed back. It would shame our name to not repay such kindness with a single favor."
Earlier this morning, some soldiers went to my tent and asked me to pass by an abandoned village nearby once we leave the army camp at Hisui. I thought that they just want to throw me another thank-you party, but given that Kotori officially left the army earlier and all of them backed out from the incoming battle by quoting their exhaustion from the battles they faced before, I knew what they wanted to do.
"Haha! To think that we've been fighting alongside the famed Kirin Lord of Kiko, I feel so stupid for falling for such a blatant and simple lie."
"Che! I already suspected Lord Iwasawa to be some kind of important person, but I didn't expect him to be the legend himself."
"Alright, alright… stop with your flattery already… That's enough for today."
After I voiced out my complaint, all of them began to laugh as I simply sighed with a smile on my face.
"I believe that all of you are aware of what we will be doing today and the possibility of you guys not being able to go back to your families after this?"
"Don't worry about that, Lord Iwasawa. The others who have families and wives waiting for them back home already left. All of us here are either virgins or men with loose loincloths!"
"Hey! I am proud of my celibacy but don't call me out!"
"Me too! I only night crawl for mature women!"
"You heard it! Hide your grandmothers! A beast is on the loose!"
"""HAHAHAHA!!!"""
After the joyous jeering of the men that even I laughed at, I cleared my throat and looked at the more than hundred or so men in the area.
"Alright then. Let me tell you the entire plan. I believe that some of you are aware that Lady Tsuchiyo Tsuna, the commander of the Fujita army that led the defense of Hisui almost a week ago is still alive and hiding somewhere safe with Lady Himeji Kotori."
"We know about it, my lord. We avoided mentioning it in the camp since those darned samurai may hear it."
Some of the men who didn't know about it showed surprised expressions and knowing that all of them are aware of it now, I moved into the next part of my announcement.
"I made a promise with Lady Tsuchiyo and Himeji. I promised them that I will save her sister who, according to the reports of my team, are currently being held in Fort Sugiyama as a bride for the Fujita lord."
"Argh! That guy! I know him!"
"The one that is known for his pot belly? Damn, I don't even want to imagine how Lady Tsuchiyo will look like beside him."
It seems like the soldiers also know her. Tsuchiyo Mana, sister of Tsuna, who we will be saving today.
"Before everything else, let's rest for now while we are waiting for the package that we need in order to save the lady."
"Package?"
"What could it possibly be?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
We all had a simple lunch by that time and while I was wiping my lips after my meal, one of my men approached me with the radiophone on his back and gave me the headphones.
"Huh… okay, seems like they're here."
Once I said those words, everyone looked at me as I ran out of the village and looked at the sky.
"What's wrong, Iwasawa-sama?"
"Is something off in the sky? Will it be raining?"
"Shhh…"
Minori shushed them as he too looked upwards and while the confused men looked at us and at the sky, that thing appeared out of nowhere.
"There they are…"
"WHAAA?!?!?!"
"What kind of sky demon is that?!"
It had a huge, white-colored bulging head and a small brown body so out of ratio with its head. It had ropes that supported its body as it floated by the clouds.
"Iwasawa-sama! Should we shoot it with our bows?"
"Stop. Those are our allies from Kiko."
"Huh?"
"It's a hot air balloon."
I left a blueprint and a small-scale prototype of it at Kiko and asked our researchers to try and study it for use in cartography (map-making) and providing rapid supply aid for calamity victims or isolated army outposts. I didn't expect them to pass the testing and improvement phases this early, but I sure can thank their rapid implementation because me and my men are running out of bullets now and we don't want to go back to Yukonami or Shinka just to order more of it.
"T-there's two more of them!"
"Wow! Is this the technology of Kiko?!"
As the three hot air balloons passed by our positions, they radioed some greetings and salutations to me and my team before letting lose a rope from under their balloons' baskets which quickly fell down.
"W-Wait! Why are they dropping those?!"
"Those are new weapons and ammunition."
"If they fall from that height, they will be destroyed!"
While they are fearing for the crates of guns and ammunition in freefall, I turned around to get my horse to ride to where it would be falling down.
"Ah! Look! Something went out from its top!"
"Is that… a blanket or something?"
"Ah! It is slowing its fall."
Me and my men went close to the three crates where Minori opened them using an axe which he used to cut off the top cover of the crates.
"These are… new guns?"
I took one of the rifles out of the crate and operated it with precision.
First, I took out the magazine of the gun, pulled the bolt back, inspected the chamber for kinks and once I saw that it was milled to create the most accurate moves in the internals, I placed a loaded magazine inside, unlocked the bolt, set it into Fire setting and looked around for a target.
"There… Get away for a moment! I need to test fire it!"
The crowd gave way to me as I saw a scarecrow on the field about 100 meters away from me. I stood with my feet spread apart, sunk into the dirt to give me the most stability, I lowered my hip, held my breath and placed my eye on the iron sights with the scarecrow's body as my target.
*TAT! TAT! TAT!* *TAT! TAT! TAT!*
A burst of three rounds left the barrel every time I pulled the trigger and after several shots, I looked up and the scarecrow fell down after I seem to have hit the bamboo stand too much that it snapped off.
"Wow… That's so awesome…"
While the soldiers are still in awe of the new weapon, Minori and the others are already familiarizing themselves with the new weapons, some tried to skim through the manual while some just went with their hands and did all kinds of exploring in order to quickly learn what's new in it.
"Nagisa Arms and Armor, M12-A3 Hiryuu. Ammunition is 7.62x51 mm Taneuma." (T/N: Taneuma is Stallion. Another thing, Author Rai said that this gun is an M14 rifle, but without the flaws.)
"What else is written there, Minori-dono?"
"It says that there is a single-fire setting where it will only fire one round and a burst-fire setting where it will fire three rounds per trigger pull. Well, that helps us a lot."
"It's quite heavier than the Seiryuu rifles. Maybe because of more bullets?"
"Is someone a sharpshooter here? Some of these rifles came with scopes."
My men went around, studying the weapons while the Haguro men took one for themselves and did the same. I looked around and all of them held the gun as if it was something fragile or precious.
"Everyone. Don't be too kind to it. It's a weapon, not a kid. You'd have to use it in one way or another so there's no reason to be extra caring for it."
Hearing me, the men laughed with a bashful tone before holding the guns onto their chests or leaning them by their shoulders.
"My team will be giving you a crash course on how to use them. Make sure to soak all kinds of instructions about it since we will be fighting immediately tomorrow evening."
Hearing the ultimatum, some of them sighed lightly and tried to calm their nerves.
"We have 24 hours and counting down before Lady Mana will be wed to the Fujita lord. In the meantime, we will hide by the forest nearby to silence the sounds of our guns as we are training and to not attract the attention of the Nachi army. We will travel to Fort Sugiyama tomorrow noon under the guise of a travelling Noh theater band invited for the ceremony."
I raised my gun to gather their attention and with a single battle cry, raised their spirits.
"Don't let our beloved maiden to be wed with that ugly bastard!"
"RAAAAAHHHH!!!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Bow down… Bow down, son…"
At the city of Myoko, the entourage of Shogun Amanogawa Sora passed by the slum area under the request of the man himself.
"We'll miss you, Ki-chan!"
"Once we get older, let's play soccer again, okay?"
"Don't forget about us, Kichi-chan!"
The request wasn't exactly for him but for the child that he took under him. Kichi wanted to say a proper goodbye to her friends at the slum before she joins her new family back to the capital of Nadeshiko.
"So innocent… Now I understand why you like to dote of children."
"Thanks… None of these kids deserve to suffer a forced separation. That's why I let her say her goodbyes to her friends before we go."
As her female friends said their teary farewells, a tall boy walked forward, eyes barely holding back tears.
"Ara? This boy seems like one of those…"
"One of what?"
"Take this!"
"UWAH!"
Without a warning, he rubbed some coal ash on Kichi's cheeks which almost made the soldiers protecting her to draw their swords until they noticed that he simply drew some whiskers on her face.
"Yu-kun… this is…"
"I'll grow up!"
"Huh…?"
"I'll grow up and become strong! Stronger than anyone! Hik-! Then… then I'll go and become an imperial soldier…"
In between his sobs and tears, the young boy with a disheveled appearance spoke a promise.
"Yuuta…"
"I'll go to the capital and become an imperial soldier. When I become strong, I will marry you, Kichi-chan!"
A promise that made the onlookers in the slum and in the shogun's carriage to hold their breaths as it was heard by the Shogun himself.
"Kichi-chan… Please come inside the carriage for a moment. I want to talk with this boy."
"A-ah… yes, Mister Shogun."
After Kichi climbed back to the carriage, Sora went down to face the boy who tried to look tough even though he is still crying up.
"Do you know who I am, Yuuta-kun?"
"Yes, Your Majesty! You are Amanogawa Sora, the Shogun!"
"Right! And do you know who Kichi-chan is to me?"
"Yes, Your Majesty! She is your adopted daughter!"
"Then do you know that there are rules against the marriage of nobles and commoners?"
With scrutinizing eyes, Sora looked at the child firmly as the onlooking residents of the slum swallowed nervously, fearing for the safety of the boy.
"I know, Your Majesty… I know that… but… But I will do my best to earn your respect and win her hand!"
"…Well said, kid."
Sora smiled and took something from his chest pocket which he placed on the boy's hand.
"This is…"
"Once you become strong, go to the capital, enter the military exam and serve me well. And I assure you, you will gain not only my respect but the respect of other people."
What he gave to the boy was a sealed scroll. A scroll who blue color meant one thing to those who understood imperial color coding of documents.
"Once you become a decorated samurai officer, return this to me and I will give you a noble rank. After which, no one will ever stop you from asking for my Kichi's hand in marriage."
As the child heard and understood the man's words, he held the scroll tightly to his chest and shed tears of joy which made the Shogun to embrace him lightly and hit his back in encouragement.
"Do well, boy. One day, you will reach your dreams."
After that, the entourage of the Shogun left the city and the people of the slum area looked at Yuuta who now had a strong and burning sense of determination in his eyes.
"Hehe… That kid will be great."
"I know. He now has a goal that he has to reach."
"The Shogun sure was a nice guy. To give the kid such a long-term goal, he knows how to value someone's determination."
And silently, the townsfolk went to support him as he reaches for his goal into the future.
"Ara, Kichi-chan… Are you getting bashful?"
"Ah. Ehehe… I was just surprised with what Yu-kun said."
"My, my… Don't mature too early, dear. I wouldn't want you dabbling on love and grown-up stuff too early when I can still cuddle you like this… Mumumumu~!"
"Ahaha! Chia-san! Stop it!!! Ahahaha!!!"
As Chiasa and Kichi was cuddling in front of him, Sora looked out while thinking about some things.
"…That kid. I sensed something with him."
He pondered for a while and when he reached a conclusion, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"It seems like there really are things that are unfulfilled in the otherworld and gets fulfilled in this world."
He looked at the child sitting on his wife's lap while being tickled and he nodded to himself.
"Just like what that boy told me, there really are things that will catch you off-guard when it comes to human emotions."