Chapter 20 of 100

Chapter 20

16 min read4,015 words

The Tachino family occupied a flat piece of land formed by the confluence of several tributaries of the Zonai River. To the southwest, by the Zonai River, stood the Tachino Castle, the main stronghold of the Tachino family. To the northeast, the Yuno Castle, situated beside the largest tributary of the Zonai River, was now ruled by Tachino Kijiro.

Following a narrow path through the dense forest, and across a small river, Tachino Heiji finally saw the distant Yuno Castle. Standing by the river, Tachino Heiji lowered his head and looked at the wooden box in his hand. Inside the box was the head of a bandit, treated with lime. "I must succeed!" Tachino Heiji muttered to himself.

As a lowly refugee, Tachino Heiji had no right to meet the lord directly. So he sought out a friend, Hira Satoro, who lived in the town below the castle. Hira Satoro, a ronin a few years ago, was once ambushed by bandits on a mountain path. Relying on his martial skills, he managed to injure several bandits. Enraged, the bandits gathered over a dozen men to attack Hira Satoro. Outnumbered, Hira Satoro inevitably lost. Unable to fight, he had to flee. The bandits, who had been suppressed, pursued him relentlessly.

In the midst of the chase, Hira Satoro accidentally discovered the small village of Komura at the foot of Mount Takayama. With no other options, Hira Satoro rushed into the village. Tachino Heiji, as the village head of Komura, immediately organized the villagers to defend themselves. They eventually drove away the bandits and saved Hira Satoro's life.

A year later, Hira Satoro became a samurai under Tachino Kijiro and gradually became one of his trusted confidants. On his way home one day, he coincidentally met Tachino Heiji, who had come to the town below Yuno Castle to seek food due to a grain crisis in his village. Both were surprised by this chance encounter, and Hira Satoro insisted on inviting Tachino Heiji to his home as a guest. After a detailed conversation, upon learning of Tachino Heiji's plight, Hira Satoro immediately used his influence to help Komura through the crisis. Since then, whenever Komura faced difficulties, Hira Satoro would try his best to help.

On this day, after learning Tachino Heiji's purpose, Hira Satoro immediately entered the castle to report to Tachino Kijiro.

After hearing the story, Kijiro was overjoyed. He had always wanted to annex the nearby Komura village, which was only a few miles away. The land there was as good as that around Yuno Castle. More importantly, this was an opportunity to impress his father, who might consider him as the heir instead of his elder brother.

In feudal Japan, the eldest son usually inherited the family's leadership, while other sons either became monks or were stationed in other castles to avoid hindering the eldest son's development. Tachino Kijiro always believed he was more capable than his elder brother and should be the rightful heir. So he had been looking for opportunities to showcase his abilities. Now, with the bandits weakened, this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Kijiro couldn't help but feel increasingly excited.

"Good," Kijiro said excitedly, "Satoro, gather the men immediately. We will set out to repel the bandits right away."

Seeing Kijiro's excited face, Hira Satoro knew his thoughts and sighed inwardly. How could he compete with the eldest son for the position of heir in this state?

"Your Highness, do you plan to take this opportunity to annex or eliminate the bandits?" Hira Satoro did not rush to oppose.

"Yes, if we can take over that area, my father will certainly look at me differently," Kijiro said excitedly, glancing at Hira Satoro.

"Your Highness, do you know why the family head has never taken over that area?" Hira Satoro continued.

"Hmm? Indeed. If my father wanted to annex it, it would be easy. A few bandits couldn't stop our two or three hundred men, right?" Kijiro himself couldn't understand why his father hadn't done so.

"Your Highness, even if we successfully annex the area, how will we directly face the bandits?" Hira Satoro asked.

"Ah!" Kijiro suddenly recalled last year's incident, shuddering. Last year, the bandits attacked Yuno Castle and, although they didn't breach the walls, they looted the town below. Remembering the scenes of the bandits killing and burning, he broke out in a cold sweat. But then he thought, if he could succeed this time, his father might call him back to the main castle, and he wouldn't have to face the bandits directly. Thinking of how his father scolded him and his elder brother mocked him last year when the bandits attacked, he felt a surge of anger and coldly said to Hira Satoro, "Hmph, a few bandits are nothing to fear."

"Yes, Your Highness," Hira Satoro, seeing Kijiro's anger, dared not directly oppose him, "But, Your Highness, even if we can resist the bandits, the Akasaka family upstream and the Tachibana family downstream have always been eyeing our castle. If we become negligent while dealing with the bandits, and these two families seize our castle, how will we explain it to the family head?"

"Ah?" This question hit Kijiro's weak spot, and his courage wavered, "Then, Satoro, what should I do?"

"Your Highness, the family head has always left that area unannexed to serve as a buffer between us and the bandits. The bandits are kept at bay by the villagers, at least reducing the frequency of attacks on our main family. So this time, not only should we not annex the area, but we should also provide them with some support. Otherwise, if they are eliminated or move elsewhere, our castle will face threats from three sides," Hira Satoro seized the opportunity to explain.

"Then, should we send troops to help them repel the bandits? According to their account, they are in dire straits, and I doubt they can resist the bandits," Kijiro said worriedly.

"No, Your Highness. We don't need to send troops. They still have some fighting capability, and the two bandit heads they brought show they can resist the bandits. Besides, sending troops would be hard to explain to the family head. We only need to provide them with some grain and weapons," Hira Satoro advised, not wanting to contradict Kijiro's decision to not send troops, as it could lead to the villagers being eliminated, which would be problematic.

"Then, how do you think we should support them?" Kijiro agreed with Hira Satoro's suggestion.

"Your Highness, we have some old grain from the year before last, about 100 koku, and we can provide them with 5 spears. They are willing to pay 17 kan. If the family head finds out, we can say the grain was infested and we sold it to them for 17 kan, and the spears are damaged," Hira Satoro explained his premeditated plan.

Hearing about the 17 kan, Kijiro's eyes lit up. To oppose his elder brother, he had been secretly building his own power, but lack of funds had slowed his progress. Although 17 kan was not much, it was still something.

"Alright, then. Get the money from them quickly, and arrange the rest," Tachino Kijiro, already lost in thoughts of how to spend the 17 kan, waved his hand to dismiss Hira Satoro.

"Yes, Your Highness," Hira Satoro bowed and left. Sighing, he thought, "The struggle for the family headship will likely lead to internal strife. I hope other powerful families don't take advantage of the situation. Well, there's no point in overthinking it. I need to inform Heiji about the grain." With that, he quickened his pace towards the town below the castle.

At that moment, Tachino Heiji was anxiously waiting at Hira Satoro's home. He had prepared to cry and plead before the lord, portraying himself as a pitiful figure who had resisted the bandits.

"Heiji, Heiji," hearing a shout from outside, Tachino Heiji immediately opened the door and saw Hira Satoro pushing the wooden gate open.

"Is it possible to meet the lord now?" Tachino Heiji asked anxiously.

"No, the lord does not intend to see you," Hira Satoro said seriously.

"What?" Tachino Heiji felt a shock, recalling his promise to the lord before leaving, and felt ashamed, especially thinking of the villagers waiting for grain, which made his heart ache.

"Ha ha ha," seeing Tachino Heiji's worried face, Hira Satoro suddenly burst into laughter, "Sir, the lord has already agreed to provide the grain, so there's no need to meet him."

"Ah!" Tachino Heiji felt another shock, but this time it was a joyful one, "You... this... Satoro, why are you still the same old prankster? Really."

"Ha ha, Sir, I've done my best this time. We will provide about 100 koku of old grain from the year before last, and 5 spears. In return, you need to pay the lord 17 kan," Hira Satoro, seeing the joke had gone far enough, revealed the final details.

"Ah?" Tachino Heiji was overjoyed. 100 koku, though old, would still be edible. It would be enough to support the villagers for two months, even if the lord gathered all the bandits from the south. Moreover, with 5 spears, adding to the 17 already in the village, they could form a temporary 22-man spear unit. Real weapons were different from wooden ones, and they would have more confidence in facing the bandits.

"Sir," seeing Tachino Heiji calm down, Hira Satoro said sincerely, "Do you really not want to reconsider?"

"No, Satoro, thank you for your kindness. But I cannot leave the villagers. When I fled with my wife and daughter, if not for the villagers' help, we would have become a pile of dust on the roadside," Tachino Heiji said with a sad expression, pausing for a moment, then firmly added, "So, Satoro, I will not leave the villagers."

"Ai!" Hira Satoro sighed, as if he had expected this answer.

In fact, this was the fifth time Hira Satoro had invited Tachino Heiji to settle in the town below the castle. Both he and Tachino Heiji understood the Tachino family's and the Tachibana family's strategy of using the villagers to resist the bandits. Grateful for Tachino Heiji's past help, Hira Satoro had repeatedly invited him to settle in the town, where his family would live better under his protection. Of course, he could only do so much for Tachino Heiji's family, and he could only apologize to the other villagers. Despite Tachino Heiji's repeated refusals, seeing the village weaken under constant bandit attacks, Hira Satoro couldn't help but invite him again. But the result was the same.

"Sir, it's too late to return now (it would take half a day to walk from Komura through the mountain forest, and Tachino Heiji had just arrived at Hira Satoro's home in the evening). The grain will also take some time to prepare. Stay at my place for the night," seeing Tachino Heiji's determination, Hira Satoro gave up and said with a smile.

"Ah, then I'll trouble you, Satoro," Tachino Heiji, knowing he had refused Hira Satoro's kindness, quickly apologized.

"Ha ha, Sir, has Kikuhime grown taller?" Seeing his savior's apologetic face, Hira Satoro didn't want to make the atmosphere too cold and quickly changed the topic.

"Yes, she has," Tachino Heiji replied with a loving expression, thinking of his son-in-law, the current lord of the village. Initially, Tachino Heiji hadn't left his daughter with Roshiz Masahiro solely because of the village's crisis. He also wanted to secure a future for his daughter. If the village couldn't be saved, he would fight to the death to create an opportunity for his son-in-law to take his wife and daughter to safety. Having a samurai son-in-law would at least ensure his wife and daughter's survival in these turbulent times.

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