"Jikouji."
He called out to the old man, who sat on the porch of the main building, watching with distaste as the rain continued to fall.
"You were out in all this? You'll catch a cold lad."
He warned.
"Indeed. I'll take a bath later, but for now I have something important to discuss."
He hurried up onto the porch, and disappeared inside, removing his sandals, before impatiently motioning for his advisor to follow him.
"Alright, I'm coming."
He replied as though tired, though he was still quite obviously curious as to what the lad had to say.
He hurried up the stairs, leaving wet footprints as he went. His clothes were soaked, and drizzled slightly on the ground as he walked. It was not the first time the master had returned drenched – though, at least this time, there was an obvious explanation as to why he was so wet, yet the day prior, he had managed it whilst the skies were clear.
He passed Akiko as he reached the landing, and her face broke out into a warm smile as she saw him, only for that smile to waver slightly as she noticed how wet he was.
"Tadakata..! What are you doing being soaked again? You really will catch a cold, you know!"
She scolded him for his carelessness. His health was of great concern. Not just to her, but to the rest of the household, and to the rest of the village.
"Sorry, we can take a bath together later, but there's something that really can't wait."
She blushed bright red at his suggestion, as he disappeared into Nakatane's old office, and set about his task.
'Ah… How can he say such things without getting embarrassed in the least?'
She felt a little envious of that ability of his, and that envy only grew as her embarrassment deepened upon seeing Jikouji walk up the stairs a moment later, clearly having heard what he had said. He gave a small shrug, as if it was nothing to worry about, before making idle conversation in an attempt to make her more comfortable.
"The lad seems to have an idea."
Was all he could manage.
She nodded, unable to say anything in reply, hoping he would quickly leave so that she could calm herself.
"Come on, old man."
Gengyo stuck his head back outside the office door.
He raised his eyebrows, sharing a look with Akiko, before doing as he was bid, and following the young man inside.
He noticed that Gengyo had gone in there a day prior, but he had not done anything apart from stare avidly at a map for hours. Even his food went untouched. At one point, he thought he might have fallen asleep – which was certainly understandable – but when he went inside to check on him, he saw that his eyes were wide open.
The map was still in the same place he had left it, and he stood over it once more now, gesturing for Jikouji to come and look at what he was pointing at.
His finger rested on the area between Tobishima and Toyone.
"The road between Tobishima and Toyone? What of it?"
"It is part of our land as well now, is it not? Since we own both settlements. How many rice seeds do we have left?"
"It is. And what of rice seeds? We finished planting them a long time ago."
He maintained a neutral face, as he clearly did not understand the point in the boy's questions.
"I plan to cultivate this land. How quickly can we begin planting?"
Jikouji went silent as he continued to stare, not quite comprehending what he had heard. He blinked twice, before opening his mouth in disbelief.
"That… That is what you were so excited to share with me?"
Gengyo nodded seriously.
"Yes, it will become a powerful asset in the months to come. If anything, this might be the trump card we need to win the fight against Imagawa."
He continued to stare, apparently baffled. Not only was the idea not feasible, it was also pointless. He wondered whether the boy had started to lose some of his wit, as this was certainly not up to par with his usual ideas.
"…More rice fields, you say? That is what will win us the war against Imagawa?"
"Exactly. How long would it take to get the whole field ploughed and ready for planting?"
His face was still laced with disbelief, and he found that it would likely to be easier to answer his questions, rather than get answers for his own.
"Hah… You're looking at a few months lad. Even if you used the entire labour force we have available – some 300 people – then you're still looking at more than a month."
He nodded a couple of times, seemingly agreeing with the information. It was in line with his own predictions of how long it would take.
"Oxen."
"Pardon?"
"How many oxen do we have?"
"…? None?"
"I see."
He had thought they would at least hold a couple. But he supposed that it was pointless for them to keep any. The beasts were worth far more in their butchered form. It was cheaper just to pay workers to do the work. Since they lacked any oxen, he wagered they would not have a plough either.
"The price of oxen?"
He dared not ask why he was asking about oxen, as he feared it would be for as preposterous a reason as he had been asking about the quantity of rice seed they had remaining.
"10 gold, perhaps."
He said with a sigh, clearly reluctant to have to answer it.
"And a plough?"
He held his breath, as he had an idea where this was going.
'By the gods… He's actually serious about this…'
Gengyo was looking at him expectantly, waiting for a reply, and he did not have the heart to let him down.
"…40 gold, at least. You won't find anyone near here that makes them, though."
"It's within our budget. If we use 6 oxen, and 3 ploughs, then we'll be able to have it done in a matter of days."
"What?! Miura, is that not too much of an investment for something that will take months to yield any results? You're surely of the same opinion as I, that with Imagawa we need to strike whilst the iron is hot, and secure a foothold whilst he is away."
He did not grow impatient with the older man for his outburst, as it was understandable. But he could see the long term power that these new fields of rice would give them, was comparable to that of any army.
But he could not say why yet. Not until he himself knew the specifics. He merely wished to make sure that it was a card that would remain within their hand.
"We will spend all we have on this, Jikouji. It will prove worth it in the long term. But that meagre amount of gold we have is not enough for what we require anyway."
"So just because it's not enough, you're going to spend it all? Surely saving it would be wiser. We'd be able to muster an army far quicker that way, rather than waiting months for… For rice to grow."
He was growing angry, and his arguing was more passionate.
"Jikouji. It will be fine. Please, allow me to carry out this project of mine, okay? Consider it a gift. Something that you're tolerating merely because of my selfishness. But I will promise you this, in exchange for your cooperation: by the end of the next week, our purse will grow by more a thousand gold."
Perhaps he could have explained his thought process to Jikouji. Perhaps the old man would have been able to understand his reasoning. But something held him back from doing so, because his plan was not entirely… ethical.
His old eyes went round at the mention of such a figure, and he squinted hard, trying to see whether the lad was merely trying to fool him.
"How?"
"I will begin planning for it immediately, but first I require your cooperation within this matter."
"Miura-"
Gengyo cut him off.
"Trust me, Jikouji. We will be working together for a long time, and there will be things that we are unable to share with one another. When those times come, we will have to rely on the trust we have built up."
He turned away, and breathed a long sigh through his nose. He could not see the rationality behind the rice field manoeuver. It seemed like a waste of resources. But the promise of a thousand gold was something he could not ignore. With that amount, they could certainly build a respectable – but perhaps small – force.
"Alright, lad. I trust you. But I hope, for the sake of the goal we share, that the promise you just made was not a false one."
The young man looked him in the eye as he replied.
"I swear that it wasn't."
Jikouji gave a nod, feeling the firmness and confidence within those words.
"Good. Then I will work to set this 'project' of yours in motion. Understand though, Miura, even if you manage to plough the entire field, seedlings still must be planted, and then you must flood the entire field before the weeds begin to grow."
Gengyo waved his hand.
"You needn't worry about those matters. We will be able to get the seed planted – once ploughed – within a day. And the flooding… Well, I've got another plan for that. My earlier question though: do we have enough rice seed to fill that field?"
Jikouji gave a dry chuckle at the outlandish question.
"Not even close. You'd need a whole cart full. That will probably cost 15-20 gold."
He nodded, pleased with that figure.
"Good, that's well within our budget."
The price for so much seed was, of course much cheaper than the projected yield. Rice itself was the seed, but after it was processed a certain amount, it lost its plant-bearing properties, and so, each year, certain amounts of the grain were set aside specifically for the purposes of replanting.
"300 gold, is it?"
"200. I gave 100 away."
He didn't bother to explain what he did with that hundred gold, nor did Jikouji feel the need to ask. He merely pulled a bit of a surprised face, and muttered: "that would have been nice to know."
"Well, that's all I can think of, Jikouji. If you would acquire those things as soon as possible, then the project will go underway. I'll focus on fulfilling my promise to you, and earning us that thousand gold."
The old man took that the be the signal that their meeting was over, and he moved toward the door, far more tired than he had been when he had first entered the room.
"The things you require will take a few days to come at least. You will be lucky if you manage to even plant it all before the month is out, never mind flooding it."
He nodded, that amount of time was acceptable.
"It's fine. Do you best, Jikouji."
"Same to you."
And then he left, leaving Gengyo to pour over the map once more, as he contemplated just how he might acquire that thousand gold. It had been a bit of a spur-of-the-moment promise, but it seemed necessary at the time. He only hoped that he would not fail to deliver, else his relationship with the old man would likely deteriorate quite rapidly.
"Tadakata… Please take a bath."
Akiko stuck her head around the open door, seeing that Jikouji had left. Gengyo had been shivering for a good while, but had barely noticed it, as he was so focused on moving forward with the specifics.
"Aye… I am a little chilly. Shall we eat together when I'm done?"
She smiled at his suggestion warmly.
"That would be lovely. I'll go and let Shibata know. See you later, Tadakata."
"See ya."