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He slowly slid his arm out from underneath her, taking care not to disturb her as she was still within the throws of the dream world. The sand was soft underfoot, and dry. It was extremely pleasant. It seemed odd that the sand continued this far in, but the sea did not. He assumed that at some point the funnelling of the sea into the cove must have changed, limiting its access, so that the old sand remained, but the waves could no longer reach it.

It was little things like that which brought him joy to think about. He walked the path of a general, but his heart still found joy in engineering. It was balance, he supposed, as Miyamoto Musashi would begin to write about in the years to come.

He felt exceptionally grateful for the people that surrounded him. They were true to their hearts, and were skilled people. He was lucky to have them.

’It really is time, then.’

He thought to himself, making a decision.

’I will take a step back, and allow them to grow, whilst I focus on other things.’

The salty water lapped at his feet, as he stood nearer the sea, envisioning how this cove might look in the months to come. He was an ambitious man, and did not deem it appropriate to merely settle for one ship. He would build a fleet, so that when they attracted the ire of men more powerful than their single trading skiff, they could blow them out of the water in other ways.

Naval assaults – if they grew more experienced – could form the basis of their attacks on Imagawa. But they still needed men to man the sh.i.p.s, and a stable ground-based armed force. And that, more boring task, would fall to him. Or perhaps it would not be boring. The lengths he would have to go to in order to ensure their support would be great, so it was likely that he would meet some interesting people. He could only hope.

News regarding Imagawa’s assault on Oda had not been too exciting. It seemed the two were locked in a deadlock. But Gengyo doubted that Imagawa would find the advantage in the weeks to come, and he likely only had enough supplies to carry on the siege for a couple more weeks.

That would give them enough time to form the basis that they needed, he reckoned. They were proceeding well with the problem of coin. But the thing foremost in his mind was capture. They needed a castle town in order to hold their troops, as word of their expansion would not go unnoticed.

They could, of course, merely grow Toyone and Tobishima – and he planned to. But for it to be a suitable location, there needed to be defensive structures – such as high stone walls – in place, and that would take far too long to complete.

"You’re awake already lad, heh? Seems you’re excited to be underway with this as well."

He turned around in response to the voice that spoke quietly, as to not wake the others up.

"Aye, there’s that Morojo. I’m excited to see it all come together. But I will not be here to oversee you in the days to come."

Morojo tugged on his bushy beard out of habit as he frowned.

"And why’s that? We’ve been struggling with this for a while. Would have thought you’d put everything aside just so you could see the finished product – it’ll be one of a kind."

"I have no doubt it will. I’ve been watching you and your lads at work for the past couple of days, and you’re good at what you do. You must have overheard all the talk about robbery yesterday, does that not bother you?"

He knitted his eyebrows firmly together, looking at Gengyo as though he was daft.

"Are you mental lad? All I care about is coin, and as long as you’re good and honest with me, and give us our due rewards, we couldn’t care less. There are always people stealing from other people. We get taxed just for living – that’s the worst of stealing that is. Honest men trying to make a living and getting taxed for it."

Gengyo nodded at that, he was not a fan of the feudal taxing system either.

"I’m glad you’re open minded, Morojo. I will give you your payment now, before I leave, because I trust in the integrity of your word."

He reached inside his kimono, and dragged out a large, heavy bag of coin, and plopped it down into Morojo’s palm before he even had time to react.

Just from the weight alone he could tell that there was an enormous amount of coin inside. That was, unless he filled it with rocks. He peeked inside just in case, and sure enough, it was filled with gold.

"...We’ll do it good and proper, lad, me and the boys will!"

He said, slamming his fist into his sternum seriously, attempting to hide his excitement at the huge payment.

"Haha, that’s all I can ask for. After you’ve completed this, would you like to stick around for a while? There will be more work for you to come, if you’d like it."

Before he’d even finished his sentence, Morojo was nodding. Part of the problem with being a shipwright was finding work. It was a lot of money required to build a new ship, and few people had, and there were many days where they had been forced to sit idle, hence why they had been willing to travel such a distance – that, and the amount coin offered.

He had a feeling under this man, he would get rich. He’d seen the way he interacted with his subordinates – firm, but not unreasonable. He was intelligent, but not too overbearing, and seemed to be honest to a fault. He did not try and gloss over the crimes he intended to commit. He used the words as they stood. That was a man he could respect – far more than those snake-like governors.

"Aye, aye. That’s a solid proposition. We’ll stay awhile, see how you get on. You’re depending on this piracy thing working out, so that you can pay us, right? I’m an understanding man, as are the lads. We’ll busy ourselves for a couple of days, see if you manage to get any bites. Perhaps we’ll put some stairs on the bottom, eh? Something to do isn’t it?"

He smiled and patted Morojo’s shoulder.

"Seems like you get the idea. I look forward to working with you for the foreseeable future."

"Mhm, should be promising."

He agreed, as he followed Gengyo back to rejoin the rest. It seems a few of them had woken up at the sound of their voices, and were busy wiping the sleep out of their eyes.

"Mm... Morning Nii-san."

Rin said sleepily. She had not fallen asleep until late in the night, not wanting to miss anything.

"Good morning, Rin."

He said with a smile. She grinned back in return.

"Gah... Can’t a man get some sleep?"

Rokkaku complained, turning over and covering his ears. But by now Morohira was already awake, and he didn’t stand a chance. He slowly crept up, and then swiftly attacked, digging his fingers in Rokkaku’s sides, hitting the pressure points.

"AHHHH F.U.C.K!"

He shouted loudly in surprise, jumping to his feet at the sudden jolt of pain. He turned around to see Morohira creased over with laughter.

"YOU BASTARD!"

He roared, tackling him to the ground. But seeing how angry he was, Morohira’s laughter only increased. Even with the big man on top of him, there was no way he was going to lose a wrestling match to the likes of him. With quick movements he had his arm under Rokkaku’s jaw, pressuring his throat, and cutting off his air supply. Within seconds Rokkaku was tapping the ground, signifying his surrender.

"Morrrrrrningggg Rokkakkkkkkuuuuu-chan!"

Morohira said loudly as he rolled to his feet. Despite his annoyance, Rokkaku dared not fight back, and merely replied with a half-hearted good morning.

Because of their boisterousness, everyone else was woken up as well.

"Mm... Is it morning already?"

Akiko asked, looking up to see almost everyone on their feet.

"Yup! We’ve been up for ages. Hurry up or you’ll miss breakfast."

Rin lied, pulling her to her feet.

"Ah... Hello Tadakata."

She said, slightly disorientated after being suddenly pulled to her feet. It was amusing seeing the different reactions of the group as they were awakening from their slumber.

"Hello, Akiko."

He replied, struggling to hold back a laugh at the look of confusion on her face. Morojo was already busying himself with the fire, whilst the others began to sit around, still a bit chilly from the morning air.

"Grilled horse mackerel, is it?"

Togashi asked, seeing him spear through the fish on sticks.

"Aye, we set up a few traps. This cove is rich with fish."

Morojo replied. Rather than eating pickled goods all the time, they had begun fishing the waters a little. The cove was a perfect spot for it, as many fish gathered to rest away from the powerful tide.

They watched the fish cook with watering mouths, sharing idle conversation, as everyone tried to shake off the last of their sleepiness. It wasn’t until then that Gengyo informed them of his departure.

"I will be leaving today."

He said firmly. Instantly all other conversations ceased, as they stuck their heads up to look at him.

"We’re going back already?"

Rin said, sounding a little disappointed.

"Not you. You and Akiko will stay here, and train with the men."

She perked up a little at that, but still looked confused.

"Why are you going back then?"

She asked pointedly. It was the question everyone else wanted to ask as well.

"There is someone I pay for information – Isabella. I set her the task of recording the coming and goings of certain sh.i.p.s within Toyokawa. She will likely be back today. With that information, we’ll be able to pick a target."

Akiko nodded, she was already aware of Isabella. But to the rest it was news, and perhaps they would not have learned about her for a while still, had they not spoken up about their discontentment yesterday.

Jikouji was not in the dark about her either. He’d recognized her from the Tobishima, and had been immensely curious, but following reassurances from Shiabata that they were not up to anything illicit, he had held his tongue, allowing his master to do as he pleased.

"Oh, okay!"

Rin said cheerfully. She was worried that it might have been that he was discontent, or something like that. But it turned out it was nothing of the sort.

"Father, you will be coming with me as well – worry not, you’ll be back in a couple of days."

Morohira perked up, looking around like a startled squirrel.

"Me?"

"Yup."

"Oh, okay. I wanted to wrestle with Rokkaku some more, but I suppose that can wait. My son needs my help afterall, eh?"

He said loudly, picking himself up off the log he was sitting on, and wandering over to Gengyo, thinking they were setting off already.

Seeing the way he was acting, Gengyo begun to have second thoughts about choosing him, but he said nothing, and trusted in the judgement of himself from the previous evening.