--
They trotted back to the supply carriage, where Takeshi's tent was packed away and stored, along with the rest of his things. He scrambled onto the cart, and began to search through his bag hastily, pouring half the contents onto the floor of the wooden cart, before finally finding a scroll.
He picked it up slowly, staring at it for a long time, trying to work up the nerve to give it to Gengyo, but before he could come to a decision, his commander simply plucked it from his hands, and opened it.
"W-wait!" The smith squeaked, surprised.
"Mm…" Gengyo began trying to decipher what the scroll was attempting to portray. There were multiple images, all seemingly placed sporadically across what was once blank paper. It was an incredibly frantic piece of work. But imagination was often manifest chaotically, rather than in ordered and sensible steps. "So, what am I looking at here?" He asked finally, unable to make heads or tails of it.
Takeshi blushed heavily, taking the question as a slight on his work. "I-it's, a uhm… it's a cannonball design."
"Ohh… And how does it differ from a normal cannonball?" He asked the follow up question, as Jikouji reached forward, wanting to take a look at the scroll himself. He held it up and down trying to find the right viewing angle, but even he couldn't understand it, and handed it off to Akiko, who was peaking her head forward curiously.
"It… it's in a case, and then when it shoots, eight little cannon balls are fired in different directions."
"Hoh…" Gengyo was already smiling as he ran the idea over in his head. It was certainly doable. It was basically a larger version of a shotgun shell. It would certainly cause more havoc on a battlefield than a single cannon ball. "I like it."
Takeshi's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "R-really?"
"Aye, really. Have you thought about the specifics yet?"
"N-no, but-"
"Come and find me in my tent this evening after you've thought it through a bit more. We'll begin production once we get into town. I have high hopes, Takeshi."
"Y-yes! As you say, my lord! I'll get right t-to it!" He stuttered frantically, overcome by excitement. His face was lit up as bright as the sun from sheer joy.
As Gengyo turned to trot away with his closest men in tow, he did so with a gentle smile on his face. He too was excited, seeing what Takeshi had presented himself with. Already his influence was being had on this timeline. In another world, Takeshi's work would have gone unnoticed, but perhaps here – under Gengyo's guidance – he would be able to flourish as the inventor that he sought to be.
"He's a clever little smith, isn't he lad?" Jikouji spoke with some amount of pride – it was him that had found him in the first place.
"He's got a talent, I would say. The excitement lies in seeing where it will take him."
Akiko watched from the side, with a smile sitting on her lips. She played with her hair absentmindedly as thoughts of contentment filled her mind.
'He's a good man... and a good leader.' She thought to herself, not for the first time. And he was her husband. Her lover. It was she that would carry his child. She wondered whether one day, it would be their own son presenting designs to him.
…
…
Honkaido loomed ahead with the coming of the setting sun. It was a rather old fortress, and due to its rather central position, it had been neglected. And so, there were parts of the walls that were crumbling, and it was rendered weaker than it otherwise would be.
It was smaller than Okazaki. From what he'd read, Gengyo thought it be a cattle town, though he could not see any cattle out feeding.
"It's likely market time. They'll be keeping the cattle inside, for trading and butchering." Jikouji suggested.
"Mm, could be." Gengyo mused, stroking his chin. He was faced with a choice. Whether to attack and secure the fortress now, or whether to wait till morning.
He jumped down from his horse, and stretched his stiff legs out, before pulling his arms back, and stretching his shoulders and back out.
He could see a few guards holding torches, watching him with terror from atop their walls. He gave them a casual wave, and the sweetest smile he could muster, before coming to a decision.
"Tell the men to set up camp. We'll attack in the morning."
"Right you are lad. Suzuki, go and tell the men." Jikouji spoke to his new helper, that Togashi had found from him earlier. He was twelve years old – a son to one of the serving women who'd come as part of the caravan. He was enthusiastic enough, and seemed to have a great interest matters of the battlefield. But what interested him even more was having coin of his own, which he was getting in plenty of as a result of this job.
"Yes! I will go right away, Jikouji-sama!" He called out, before moving to carry out his order at a sprint.
"Sama? A bit much, isn't it?"
"Heh, I've got to take whatever respect I can get, lad."
"Mm…"
"What's going on? Are we setting up camp? It's right in front of us. Just charge through and grab it! We can sleep in beds for a change." Hearing the order, Morohira came up on his horse.
"I have a feeling that we won't need to." Gengyo responded with a smile, pointing to the wall, where an ever-increasing number of guards were gathered. The Red Feather setting up camp directly outside the city's gates could be interpreted in no other way than a direct threat, but considering the size of the Red Feather forces, to attack them would be madness.
"Heh…" Morohira noticed it too, following the pointing finger, as did the rest of their comrades who were gathering. He unslung the rifle from his shoulder, and began to push bullets in the revolving chamber. "They could do with a couple of warning shots, couldn't they? Just to stop them from trying something whilst we're sleeping."
"Hah…" Such aggression proved exhaustive as Gengyo let out a sigh. He would rather not aggravate them too much, but as long as they didn't kill anyone, it was fine to do a bit of scaring. "Fine… One shot each, whoever wants to fire. If you hit someone though, you'll be left behind when we attack in the morning."
"Tsch… that takes the fun out a bit." He complained, as he looked down the barrel and lined up the shot.
BANG
The men on the walls flinched as one, as the bullet collided with a wooden beam behind them, and sent small splinters crashing down.
"Aw… you could have waited for me." Rokkaku complained, unslinging his own rifle, and quickly preparing a round.
"Me too!" Il said hastily.
"Hehe, the lad's learning!" Rokkaku chuckled, firing a shot of his own.
"They are quite the cruel bunch, aren't they?" Jikouji mused, seeing their brutish games.
"…You're only saying that because you want to fire a shot too, aren't you?" Gengyo guessed.
Jikouji stared at him seriously for a couple of moments, as though he were about to refute the boy's claims, but then he broke out into laughter. "Aye. There's something fun about firing these new weapons."
BANG
"You too, Kitajo?" Gengyo turned around in surprise to see that his monkly companion had been unable to restrain himself as well.
"It is pretty fun." Kitajo said weakly in his defence.
"Fine… Give me that - I want a turn."
"Go on lad! Aim for the post right behind them! If you get it… I'll run around the camp n.a.k.e.d three times!" Morohira roared delightedly, seeing that they had managed to break down Gengyo's calm and serious mask, and soon the rest of the crew were gathered around, after firing shots of their own, each placing bets on whether he would manage to hit it.
"Alright…" He said slowly, taking a deep breath to steady his rifle. The guardsmen had either fled the top of the wall, or were crouched down behind it, not willing to show their heads. "Actually… I've got a better idea." He stated with a devilish grin, pointing his rifle elsewhere.
BANG
A perfectly lined shot. The icing on the cake was the look of surprise on the soldier's face as his helmet was sent flying from his head.
"Hahahahaha! Brilliant shot boss!" Rokkaku roared with amus.e.m.e.nt, slapping him on the back, as a barbaric chuckle passed over the entire group. Rin and Akiko watched from afar, shaking their heads at the boy's games, though it was likely that they secretly wished to join in themselves.
"Miura-sama!" Suzuki called loudly, struggling to be heard over the bellowing laughter.
His boyish voice was heard immediately, and the group turned to look at the lad, somewhat overbearingly. But in his youth, he was too giddy to fear them, despite the weight of their presence, and his announced his message cheerfully. "Your tent is ready! So is yours, Rokkaku-sama!"
"…Wait, how come everyone is getting a sama honorific? I don't feel as special anymore." Jikouji complained playfully.
"Jikouji-sama-sama." Gengyo suggested.
"As you wish, Jikouji-sama-sama!" Suzuki bowed rapidly, before speeding off to another part of the encampment.
"I don't think he quite understands how honorifics work…" Jikouji lamented, having initially enjoyed being referred to with such respect, but now even the likes of the bumbling Rokkaku was receiving the same degree of reverence.
"I think that would be a fair conclusion. Come on fellas – share some food in my tent whilst they finish putting yours up." Gengyo motioned for them to follow as he walked towards his tent. "Rin, Akiko! Come on, we're going to get something to eat." He shouted towards the girls who had by now put quite a distance between themselves and the men.
The men did not take his offer lightly. It was a privilege to be able to eat whilst the rest worked. It would never have been that way in the past – and they remembered all too well the struggles of pitching the tent. It was not an incredibly complicated task, but after a hard day's march, it was the last thing one wished to do.
"Okay! Let me go and find Ishi first!" Rin shouted back, before pulling Akiko off somewhere by the hand.
War and conquering did not need to an unpleasant affair, and these were a group who knew it. By now it was as natural to them as spending the days working in the rice fields, and they enjoyed their task to the fullest. There were not many soldiers who could say that.