"What's all this, then?"
Jikouji asked as they all assembled in the courtyard and began mounting horses and gathering supplies.
"We're going to see Nii-san!"
Rin shouted, as if that cleared everything up.
"Ho… And why might you be doing that?"
"To tell him off! He's keeping too many secrets from you guys, and from me and Akiko too – we need to tell him to stop being such a schemer, and to trust us more!"
Perplexed, he looked toward Togashi, wondering how all of this came about. The bearded man attempted to fill him in.
"These two young ladies came down whilst we were training to duel us, apparently wanting to prove themselves. And everything else sort of went from there?"
Jikouji shook his head. The vigour of the youth was something that was hard to keep up with, and he struggled to remember a time where he too had such energy.
"So, you're all going off to that cove are you? Mm… That's tricky. There are gaps to be filled with you all gone."
"Does that mean you're not coming?"
Rin asked, catching on to the way he worded it.
"I expect not, no. It seems like it'll be troublesome – I'd rather not get involved."
"By that do you mean that he always keeps you informed about his plans? Mm, I guess that makes sense – you are his advisor and all."
Jikouji froze, a little fl.u.s.tered.
"Haha… He seems to enjoy keeping me in suspense. But his leadership is effective, and I have no complaints."
He replied, quickly making sure that it didn't come across as though he was displeased.
"You'd better come with us then, old man. Otherwise, he'll be leaving you in 'suspense' forever."
She tugged on his sleeve, pulling him off the porch and toward where the rest were busy saddling.
"Rin, I have a lot of work to do. I can't possibly take time off just for this."
He hastily tried to talk her out of dragging him by his sleeve.
"It's fine, we won't be gone too long."
She let go, and went to give Akiko a hand saddling her horse.
"One…two…three!"
They hefted it up simultaneously, securing it on the back of the white-haired beast.
"Hm? Whatcha doing just staring, old man? You need to hurry up and saddle a horse – I don't want you slowing us down!"
It seemed he did not have a choice, Jikouji decided. His task had been a boring one – filing through numerous papers detailing all the people that had died, who their families were, and how they would ensure compensation. His motivation for staring at those sheets was already beginning to dwindle, and the young lass was so insistent that he decided to relent, and do it once he got back.
"…Fine."
They would need supplies, and he could not see anyone else moving to ensure that they had them. So he went back to the porch – receiving an aggressive gaze from Rin as he did so, for she thought he would be going back inside – and called out to Shibata.
"Yes, Jikouji-san?"
She responded straight away, having only been within the next room.
"It seems we are going on something of a trip. Will you get everyone together, and have them load enough food supplies to last us for a few days?"
"As you wish, Jikouji-san."
She said with a light bow.
"Oh, and Shibata? Whilst we're away, you are in charge of the household. If any of the other servants are unhappy with that, then tell them and come and speak with me before I leave."
A flash of surprise went through her eyes at those words. There were other servants better suited to the task. But she was Akiko's closest maid, and he trusted her the most.
"…I will do as you bid, Jikouji-san. Please have a safe trip."
Ever the polite maid, she bowed once more, and turned to fulfil her task with a small smile.
After seeing her reaction, he was glad to have chosen her. But he did not dwell on that warm feeling for too long, as the rest had already completed saddling their horses, and Morohira was rearing his over and over again, showing off.
He remembered a time when none of them could ride, but young Miura had insisted that they learn, saying that one was never to know what might happen on the field, and the more skills they had at their disposal, the safer they would be. It was true enough, but for a good week they had been the village laughing stock, being thrown from the saddle time and time again.
It was sad, when you looked at the Niwa household's stables. There were 40 horses housed in total – more than the men they had. It reminded them of a time that had once been, and it forced them to question whether they had become weaker.
If an army, like that of Toda's were to march on them right that second, would they be able to stop it? Somehow, despite the lack of men, he still thought that they could. Even though, at a glance, you could certainly call them weaker, he felt that they were stronger. Their new master was creating a huge amount of disposable income, and there was no resource more adaptable than coin. They could deal with whatever was thrown at them.
All the men were mounted, and the women too. They took a blade each – the men their swords, and Akiko and Rin brought along their naginatas.
They had a small supply cart with them, drawn by a couple of horses as the oxen were all indisposed. And then, lead by Morohira – who claimed to remember the road to the cove perfectly – they set off.
This – without them even stopping to think about it – was the furthest Rin and Akiko had ever travelled away from Toyone. In fact, the furthest either of them had gone from the centre of town was likely down by the new field. They had not even set foot in Tobishima.
It felt immensely freeing as they rode, with no end in sight, and they were in higher spirits than they had been for a long time, temporarily forgetting the likelihood that they would be greeted with Gengyo's anger.
An hour had passed since they left, and they had not seen a single tree. Well, there were small bushes, but nothing of the scale they were used to. It felt odd to see such vast grassy plains, and they fell to wondering where the houses were. Was the soil not rich enough to farm, or something of that sort?
Mikawa, they soon learned, was a vast place. For hours they had travelled in the same direction, and yet the road still offered more path. Psychologically, it was thrilling. Akiko had always dreamt of travelling, but this was the first real experience she had. Rin, on the other hand, had always dreamt of being a warrior, though she had at first disguised it humorously. But now, here she was, charging off to some unknown location with other armed men.
"You alright back there?"
Morohira called out, with a grin on his face. He had anticipated their rears would be quite sore by now from the bumping of the saddle, but they did not allow him the satisfaction of knowing their suffering. Nor would they even acknowledge the pain they were in to themselves – it would sully the experience.
"Hm? Of course we are! Hurry up, father, my horse keeps calling you slow."
Rin retorted, seemingly quite pleased with her insults. But Morohira merely responded with a hearty laugh, knowing her to be bluffing.
It seemed all of them had outgrown that little village of theirs, for there was not a single person who did not feel contented as they rode across the landscape. Inaction, it seemed, had become difficult to handle. In that way, the men resembled their master.
An hour before sundown, they could see a vast blue stretch of sea in the distance.
"And that, young ladies, is the ocean! Our future battlefield."
The two perked up at that. They had thought there was a difference in the sky, but it seemed, that patch of blue was actually the long-heralded ocean that they had heard so much about.
"It's beautiful…"
Akiko breathed, greatly impressed by its vastness, as it attempted to challenge the sky.
"It's pretty."
Rin agreed, feeling as though the air had gotten suddenly fresher.
"It looks a whole lot better when you're closer."
Togashi advised them. He was rather fond of the sea himself, though he knew some of the others had developed a slight amount of distaste after the sickness they had experienced whilst on the trading skiff.
They nodded at his words as though they were children being taught by their wise teacher, and they patiently rode forwards, getting ever closer.
"Ushi-kun!"
Akiko called out, pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face.
"Ushi-kun? He's just an ox, Akiko. Did you really have to name him?"
They had arrived atop the cliff next to the cove, and they had been greeted by the small herd of oxen who were busy munching on the grass, apparently not quite caring what was going on.
They were calming creatures to watch, as they merely chewed their grass without an apparent care in the world, regarding all around them with lazy eyes.
"Nope! Ushi-kun is Ushi-kun."
She informed her friend, not giving an inch of ground on this. She was quick to dismount and run over to him. The beast was not unnerved in the least by her excitement, and he merely stuck his head up, grinding down the long stalks of grass that were in his mouth.
"So cute…"
She breathed, petting him on his head, playing with the long fringe that he had. To Rin, all the oxen looked the same, but it seemed, somehow, Akiko had chosen a favourite.
If he wanted to, Ushi would have no problem crushing her underfoot. But he was patient, it seemed.
"What's so good about it?"
Rin dismounted alongside her, and wandered over, leaving the unloading of the supplies to the men.
"Feel his fringe, Rin. It's so sofffffft…"
With an outstretched hand, she tentatively did as she was told, eyeing Ushi warily, ready to bolt at the slightest sudden movement. She made contact with the fur, and was surprised. It was not soft at all. It was thick, like you would expect it to be. But despite that, it was not unpleasant, and it proved rather entertaining playing with it like that, as the ox merely gave her a lazy eye.
"It seems we were tricked, Morohira. Your daughter just wanted to come and pet the oxen."
Rokkaku informed him.
"Mm… Should we cook them up and see how she reacts?"
He proposed, giving out a hearty laughed. Akiko turned to look at him angrily, apparently having overheard what he had said.
"No one's eating Ushi!"
"Ho… I wasn't talking about eating him. Just cooking him – that's fine, isn't it?"
"NO!"
She responded seriously to his joking, and he laughed all the more. Irritating people on small things like that was one of his guilty pleasures, and made the day much more exciting than it otherwise would be.
"Come on then, you two. We need to go down and see the lad before it gets dark."
Though they were quite enraptured by Ushi, they still did not forget their original purpose for coming here, and bid him goodbye, so that they might follow the men down the cliff.
They had thought there might be stairs, or a ladder, or perhaps something other than what they saw. A steep, slick ramp, that almost guaranteed they would muddy their clothing.
But contrary to their hesitation, Morohira sprinted down the gentler part, before throwing himself entirely onto the last part, greatly enjoying the ride.