They stayed idle in their village for almost a week, as Jikouji rode off, looking for a trustworthy shipwright that would be able to carry out the specifications that they required.
During that time, the seedlings proceeded with their germination, and the majority looked to have grown their roots. As such, the pipeline was completed, and the wheel was put on. The village gathered to see this last part.
SPLASH SPLASH
One bucket at a time it had shot down the pipeline, slowly but surely filling up the field. It was going far faster than a human would have managed it. If the people were in charge of filling, they would have to go to and from the river and field continually. But more than simply speed, it saved labour hours, as it could simply be left.
Of course, having it flow over the walls was not ideal, but checking on it every few hours prevented such a thing happening. It took a full day, and a full night to flood the field using their wheel. But now everything was complete, and there were still a few days left of planting season.
Isabella had come, on this day, wondering what this job might be. He sat there, opposite her, trying not to let on that they had not really progressed with the task he had been carrying out, at least, not as much as he would have liked to.
Jikouji should be returning with the shipwright any day now, but it would likely take another week before the ship was ready to go anywhere.
"I would like you to go to Toyokawa once more, but this time, try to look for patterns in the ship arrival times. You don’t have to do it for all of them. Pick one that you judge will have the biggest haul, and focus on that."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Robbing sh.i.p.s now, is it?"
"Mm. Indeed. Of course, not all the sh.i.p.s will be frequent visitors to Toyokawa. You’re more likely to see trading skiffs come regularly, so focus on them for now, I’d wager."
"Recording ship coming and going times? I think your jobs are growing more and more tedious, Miura."
He shrugged. What she said wasn’t untrue.
"There’s 200 gold in it for you."
That was enough to ease the load for her. Whilst the amount of gold she had was more than enough to hire plenty of guardsmen, she had herself convinced it was not. She needed quality guards, ones that she could trust. And a house too – a house would be nice.
"I suppose that will do."
She stood up with a heavy sigh, not looking forward to the hard journey toward Toyokawa in the saddle. It really left the rear quite sore.
"I look forward to favourable news."
He said as she parted, with a half-hearted wave behind her head. This time, Shibata did not move to escort her, as she appeared to know the way herself, instead she spoke to her master.
"Master Miura, it seems Jikouji-san has returned, and there are a few men with him. Will you be meeting with them?"
He stood up excitedly in response to her words, his sudden movement causing her to flinch.
"Ah, finally. Yes, Shibata, I will be meeting with them. Please prepare some tea for the reception room, I’ll greet them."
She bowed deeply.
"As you wish."
After days of waiting, they had finally arrived. Such a long period of inactivity was destructive for a man like him, and he had to occupy himself with more reading than he was able to stomach.
He went to the main entrance of the building, just in time to see Jikouji dismounting in the courtyard, with 5 other men alongside him.
Their faces were weary, and the road was apparently a long one.
"Welcome home, Jikouji."
"Aye lad, I’m back."
He said tiredly. Gengyo had expected him to introduce the men there and then, but it seemed he was far too exhausted to care about manners. Instead, the young master simply welcomed them inside.
"Thank you for coming. Please, come inside."
The men nodded, and followed him inside. They were not high-class men. They were merely workers. But they were skilled in what they did, which gave them leverage in negotiating with any samurai.
Shibata had prepared the tea as she was instructed to do and they sipped on it now. He took note of all the five workers that were gathered. With the reigning silence, he found that the others were continually glancing toward a single man, wondering whether he would speak.
This man had a hefty beard. Not of the fashionable sort, but merely long, and bushy. But it suited him perfectly, especially with the well-muscled arms that he flaunted, and that bald head of his.
He was not uncomfortable in the least, being in the company of the master of a village. In fact, he was purposefully attempting to make Gengyo feel uncomfortable, but making small stabs of eye contact, without speaking but merely sipping on his tea.
The young man smiled at that simple gesture. Perhaps it would make a lesser man fl.u.s.tered when someone else was capable of projecting such a hostile aura. He would wonder whether he had done something wrong, and run down the path of self criticism, till he was so unbelievably self-conscious that he had to blush despite himself.
They finished their drinks without a single word being spoken. Even Jikouji was beginning to look uncomfortable now.
"More tea please, Shibata. These men are weary from the road."
It was a simple enough response to the other’s actions. Rather than responding with aggressiveness matching the other, he simply showed that his behaviour had no effect on him, and showed an increasing amount of hospitality.
As that second cup of tea met his lips, the lead shipwright spoke, looking up from under his thick, bushy eyebrows.
"You have a job for us?"
"I do. Has Jikouji explained any of the specifics?"
"He has. But I have forgotten. I simply remember that it was hard."
"Hard, but not impossible, correct?"
"Correct."
"Did he offer you a price for your work?"
"500 gold, is what the old man said."
He glanced toward Jikouji, who opened his mouth to protest but closed it again, following a raised hand from Gengyo. The true amount he had offered was 300 gold. It was a fair price for modifications to a ship. You could construct a ship from scratch for around 500 gold.
"500 gold is it? I will give you 700, upon the successful completion of the modifications that I require. But, are you truly skilled enough?"
The man raised a bushy eyebrow. He had raised the price himself, knowing full well that it was not 500, but in response, the master had simply raised it some more.
"Now that’s a fair price, is it not, lads?"
He spoke, cracking a smile for the first time. The men with him nodded. They appeared to be younger than he, and some shared his features – likely his sons.
"As for are we skilled enough? Ha. No one questions Morojo’s skill. Whatever you’re imagining, young master, we will be able to complete it twice as good."
Gengyo nodded. It was what he had hoped the man would say, and so, he reached inside his pocket and retrieved a design.
He placed it in front of the shipwright, inciting his curiosity.
"What is this?"
"I would like a second mast constructing on my trading skiff. However, that mast must be able to be raised and lowered within minutes, so that from a distance, it would look like it was never there at all.
"..."
The shipwright just stared at him. In all his years he had never received such an unreasonable request.
"The mast is longer than the ship... how are you planning to achieve that like?"
Pointing to his sketch, Gengyo explained.
"The mast is formed of two parts. When we turn this wheel, here, then through this hole in the upper deck, the mast will slowly come down to the lower deck. And then, we merely detach the top."
The shipwright stared at him, before he burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, are you serious? Splitting a mast into two halves is asking for it to snap. No way that’ll be able to handle the wind. Not only that, you want those two halves to be detachable? Some world you live in!"
In response to his laughter, the young master merely continued to look at him coldly, unsmiling.
"I am. It is possible. It merely requires the right man for the job. Are you saying that man is not you?"
His eyebrow twitched in response to that question, and he snatched up the sketch to have a better look at it.
"...You’re asking the impossible. But if anyone is able to make that possible, it’s me. Is that all the miracles you require, young sir?"
"Yes, that’s it for miracles. But I also need oars put on the lower deck. These oar holes need to be hideable at a moments notice."
In comparison to the other request, this one was a piece of cake, so the shipwright merely waved his hand as he nodded.
"No doubt this is for something shady. But I don’t care about that. As you long as you pay me, ain’t no one going to hear any words from my mouth."
Without him even asking, the man appeared to understand the hidden agreement. Gengyo smiled lightly at that.
"I’m glad we have an understanding. If you have any improvements for the mast design, then I’d be happy to discuss it with you. But for now, Shibata will show you to some rooms that you can use to spend the evening in."
"Aye, alright."
Whilst he expected to have been spending the evening in an inn, he did not let his surprise show on his face, and merely accepted the young master’s goodwill as he wrote himself a mental note.
He gave him a small nod, as he followed Shibata toward their lodgings, with his sons in tow.
As soon as he was out of sight, Jikouji heaved a huge sigh.
"Ah... You don’t know what it’s like, travelling with a man like that."
He all but collapsed on the table with exhaustion as he said that.
"You’ve done well, Jikouji. Thank you. Whilst he definitely seems like a tough character, he appears to know what he’s talking about, so perhaps within a week we will be able to begin raiding upon the sea."
The last part of that made him perk up slightly. It certainly would be ideal if they could establish some sort of foothold on the sea. It allowed them to bring in a steady flow of coin, whilst attracting the attention of local authorities towards it, and away from the land.
In the meantime, they could focus on cultivating an army. Firstly, they needed land. Land that was out of sight, so that they could train without alerting anyone to their efforts. Secondly, of course, they needed men. Men who were willing to fight against their own Daimyo. Those sort of men were rare, or at least, they cost more than the ordinary soldier. And then, they needed equipment. Matchlocks. Swords. Armour. Food. An expensive affair it would be, far more expensive than it had been when they simply recruited ordinary men from Toyokawa.
"I look forward to getting some rest..."
Was all he said in reply, with his head resting on the table.
"You can go, if you wish. I will be heading back upstairs in a moment."
"Aye... I think I will."
He said with a slight nod, as he raised himself up from the floor, and moved toward the door with tired footsteps.
He was a loyal servant indeed, pushing himself to such lengths on a mere, wim-like order that Gengyo had issued. And better still, he got the job done, and he’d done it well.
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