"Woohh! That was a good show, lads!" Rokkaku roared triumphantly, admiring all the carnage they had caused. There would be wood washing up on the shore for days, perhaps even weeks. If they are lucky, a few bodies might wash up too – then they might have the opportunity to return them to their family.
"Heh, the whole port is ours." Morohira chuckled lightly, seeing that the water around them was completely devoid of sh.i.p.s or life. An area that was normally bustling with trade activity had been rendered completely silent by a ship as meagre as theirs, and a crew as small. Only the Europeans could ever stand the chance of contesting them.
"We could go and rob the people on the port too. There isn't anyone that can stand against us. We keep some people on the ship to fire the cannon, what d'ya say? We'd get loads more loot." Il suggested, his greed overwhelming him.
But thankfully, the rest of the crew were not so feeble-minded, and would not act as magpies and merely dive in because they saw something shiny. In fact, not a single person was swayed by his proposal. Instead, they stared at him like he was stupid. Their lower deck was full of loot, what more could they want? And soon that town would be theirs – they did not want to disgruntle the land dwellers.
"Yeah, Il, I feel much happier when you keep your mouth shut." Rokkaku cut in, slapping him on the back of his head.
"Hahah, aye lad, calm yourself, there's more to come in future." When it was Morohira telling you to calm down, you knew you had seriously crossed the line. "Prepare the sails – we're heading back."
Men immediately split off to fill out the orders, and soon they were sailing through the waves.
"Conquering Toyokawa, eh?" Jikouji muttered to himself, as the wind tickled his hair, stroking it away from his forehead. In this raid, he had wanted to unwind slightly. But after seeing everyone work together so well, he took a step back. Morohira was really shaping up to be quite the leader. He was certainly rash, and unpredictable, but that was the very thing about him that was so powerful.
"What are you doing thinking so hard, old man? You'll turn your hair grey." Togashi called out jokingly. "Are you thinking about him too?"
"Which one? Morohira or Tadakata?"
"Heh, both I suppose. But I meant the boss. He's been away a while, eh? Do you think we've done alright? I ended up pushing for our independence… But I can't help feeling as though we've made a mistake somewhere. I'd like to be proud of our achievements when we welcome him back, but still, I can't shake that feeling."
"I'm sure you're overthinking it. It's natural for us to fall into thought after battle – it's what happens to you. We no longer mourn all the lives that we take, but the body still knows the act of taking a life, and so that energy is directed toward different sorts of thoughts."
"Just worrying too much, eh? I hope so. Well, you enjoy yourself. I'm going to tidy the lower deck a bit."
They were nearing their cove by now, so getting the cargo prepared for unloading was not a bad idea at all. Jikouji looked off into the distance, admiring the little opening in the cliffs that had become their cove. It was a mighty find indeed. And yet, because of Togashi's words, he could not help feeling unsettled.
"Silly old man. You've lived for so long, and you still let other's words stir up your thoughts?" He scolded himself, almost sure it was nothing.
They skirted in through the opening with practised ease, returning home.
"OYYYYYYYYYYY! WE'RE BACK – AND WE'VE GOT SOME GOODIES!" The captain called out, announcing their arrival home. They would not need a horn or anything of the like in future, for they had that big mouth of his.
"'BOUT TIME YOU LAZY BASTARDS!" Morojo retorted, emerging from the cabin alongside Isabella – who was covering her ears from all his noise – and his sons. Takeshi was off inside somewhere tinkering. No doubt he would come out later on when he realized they had returned.
"Now, now, what do we have here?" The shipwright purred, leaping up the ramp as soon as it was put down. "Did you manage to get everything?" He asked as he inspected the upper deck. From the front, everything seemed to be in good order. There were a few musket balls here and there that had left cracks in the wood, but the damage was extremely minimal.
"Nah, just armour and gold. The other ship ran off before we could catch it." Morohira informed him, leading him to the lower deck to show him all that they had captured.
"Hoh… Dunno if you'd have managed to fit the cargo from a third ship on – this looks pretty packed here, eh?"
"Aye. Grab this, would you? We'll get this quickly unloaded."
"Yeah, I've got it."
With them all working together, they quickly lined the beach in cargo. Takeshi attempted to join in with the carrying, but much to his embarrassment, he was unable to lift even the lightest of items.
"You all did well again," Isabella said approvingly as she chatted with Akiko and Rin.
"Yup, it was really easy this time though – we didn't do much. I don't think this can last though. It was just too easy." Rin replied.
"I think you might be right. Many of the traders are already talking about simply moving ports. If we want to occupy Toyokawa, we had better do it quickly, else it will lose all the value that it originally had."
"I think it's best if we wait for Tadakata before trying anything like that…" Akiko said meekly. There was so much that could go wrong with something like that. She was not willing to risk making such a big mistake, only to have him clear it up later.
BANG
"Eh?" She flinched, like a rabbit caught in the gaze of a wolf. By her feet was a small hole, scorched into the earth. It was a familiar sound that had rung out – that of musket fire – and it had missed her by mere fractions of centimetres
"Akiko, move!" Rin shouted urgently, pushing her to the side, as another shot rang out.
"CEASE YOUR FIRE, IDIOTS! WHERE'S THE FUN IN KILLING THEM STRAIGHT AWAY?"
A voice bellowed from atop the cliff, and finally, they had the opportunity to see just who had dared to fire at them.
Lining the cliff tops were over a hundred men, each armed with a matchlock rifle, and each wearing a uniform that the Red Feather were likely to recognize at a single glance – that of the guards of Toyokawa.
"THE F.U.C.KS ALL THIS?" Morohira barked. Instead of being fearful under the sights of so many matchlocks, instead, he was furious. What the hell were they doing here in the first place?
A cackling laughter whispered down, and a moment later, they began to move. They'd found where the steps were, and the men began to file down, into the cove. A single man stood out as they made their descent. He was giggling manically, as though this was the best event of his entire life. He was undoubtedly in charge.
"Who… The f.u.c.k… Are you?" Morohira asked again through gritted teeth, as they were surrounded by the ranks of matchlock wielding men. The end of one barrel was but a few centimetres away from his head, yet he still had the gaul to remain defiant.
Their leader seemed greatly amused by such a question, and really took his time before answering.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to run a city?" He glanced Morohira up and down. "No, I expect you don't. It's difficult work, and it only grows harder when… When… WHEN YOU HAVE F.U.C.K.I.N.G SC.U.MBAGS LIKE YOU, WHO ARE UNABLE TO OBEY THE DAMN LAW!" He struck out, smacking Morohira with the back of his hand out of anger, venting weeks of pent up frustration.
Morohira for his part barely flinched, even as his cheek grew red and started to swell.
"Oh… So that's what this is about…"
"Oh? You're finally understanding then? You and your little pirate friends – all your lives are in my hands. And do you know what I intend to do with them? I'm going to kill you all, right here, right now. And then, when your bodies are growing cold, I will have my men cut you into pieces, and feed you back to the sea, just as you did to so many of my men. What do you think about that?"
"Mm… What do I think about that..?" Morohira glanced around, taking a look at each member of their crew, wondering if their hearts were the same as his. "This little rifle here – this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to kill your men, one by f.u.c.k.i.n.g one. I'm going to cut them so deeply that they'll continue to bleed even in hell. And then, as you're lying here alone, slipping in the blood of your own people, I will get one of these rifles, and I will f.u.c.k you with it."
The commander stared at him in disbelief, surprised that he still had the courage to speak to him so boldly. No doubt… These were the right men. This conversation, those insults – they'd been doing the exact same thing for weeks, only in the form of action. Each of their raids had been their way of telling him to f.u.c.k off.
But they were cornered, without a doubt. They might try to lunge forward with their swords, in a stupid suicidal charge, but as soon as they tried anything, a single squeeze of the trigger would send their heads exploding.
"Haha… I'm so looking forward to watching you die. But allow me to share one last piece of information before I send you into the afterlife." From just the way he smiled there, Morohira knew he would not wish to hear what he had to say. "How was I able to find this little hideout of yours? That little girl – the one that you didn't have the balls to kill. She was working for me all along. How pathetic is that? Do you not feel miserable?"
"…"
There was nothing he could say in response to that. There had been a doubt niggling at him all along. They had been too willing to trust. Too focused on appearances. Sometimes it is the smallest and most harmless creatures that are capable of causing the most damage. A mistake. A single fatal mistake had ensured their downfall.