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The bow ship took the worst of the damage. In the last few seconds it had realized it’s fate, and had altered it’s direction slightly. But it was not enough, for it was far too late. The larger ship still crashed into it at speed, snapping all the extended oars as if they were mere twigs, and bending and snapping the wooden hull.

"..."

Togashi did not know quite what to say. And there was no one else above deck that he could share this feeling with, apart from Morohira. But their captain had seemed to think such an action would work from the start – only the gods knew how.

’Instinct...’

He pondered.

Once more Morohira had acted swiftly to ensure the most infuriating end to the city guard’s attempt at stopping them. He seemed to have something of a talent for that.

The bow vessel was taking on large amounts of seawater through its numerous cracks, and was sinking rapidly. The screams of the once pompous guardsmen filled their ears, as fifty men were sent into the depths of the ocean.

Though it had taken the majority of the force, the bow vessel was not the only casualty. The oars on the larger ship had also been snapped off on one side, and they had some worrying damage to their hull – though it was not yet quite enough to sink them.

With the situation being as it was for them, then it would no doubt take them a good while before they managed to return to shore. Though, it’s doubtful that many of them wanted to return. Especially the ship’s captain. The shame would be unbearable. Imagine inflicting such damage on yourself!

And they had not even managed to slow the black-flagged ship. They had not even clipped it. And it continued to sail rapidly away, before it disappeared behind a peninsula in the land, and carried on to sail the waters beyond.

When he announced that it was time to begin the transformation, the crew members came to the deck with haste. They had heard the sounds of a frightening impact, but they had not really felt such a force themselves.

"Hey! What happened?"

Rin was the first to ask, arriving ahead of everyone else. She looked to Togashi who merely stared back at her wearily and shook his head. The excitement of Morohira’s games had left him exhausted.

But the captain was only too happy to share his exploits.

"Haha! They turned on each other, they did. And now their little boat lies at the bottom of the sea!"

She frowned, along with the rest of them, and looked back to Togashi. Morohira wanted to enjoy the moment a little longer before explaining things properly.

"It’s true..."

He said with a sigh, still unable to quite come to terms with how well it all worked. Just a split second later, and it would have been they who got hit and sunk.

"We sailed through the city guard’s sh.i.p.s, and they crashed into each other chasing us. The gods only know how lucky we were."

"DAMN IT!"

Rokkaku cursed loudly, stamping his foot on the deck, before approaching Morohira aggressively, as though he was about to hit him.

"Next time you do something cool, let us in on it!"

He demanded passionately. To have missed such an exciting turn of events – it was likely one of the biggest regrets he had since becoming a soldier.

"Yup! I agree with the big guy – that was too cool to let us miss."

Rin put in, with a big grin, as she danced around behind Akiko. It was another big victory for them, it seemed, as they had once more managed to kill two birds with one stone. As well as acquiring the haul that they wanted, they had managed to thin the city guard’s numbers a little as well. It was the perfect turnout. But one could only wonder how much longer it could continue.

"The others will be pleased."

Sasaki put in, already thinking of their comrades. He knew from conversation he had shared that those left behind did not wait comfortably. The entire time they were departed, worry consumed them. And it was understandable, for they did not know what was occurring out on the fearsome sea.

"Dunno about them, but I’m looking forward to seeing how much we get."

Ii muttered, his mind – as usual – more on the coin.

His words were largely ignored, for coin was not something the others bothered with as much as he. They were more concerned about their combined treasury – the very treasury that would support an army, so that they might cut off Imagawa’s head. Though, it was indeed nice to have spending money of their own.

And so they sailed back to their cove, disguised as a trading ship, with their lower deck laden with silken rolls, and their hearts laden with satisfaction.

...

...

Elsewhere there was a man who certainly could not be described as satisfied. He was so far from it, that it almost seemed like a foreign emotion to him.

As Koroman delivered the news to the commander of the city guard, he did so with a degree of pleasure. It was amusing to see the newly recruited men fail so quickly, and in such a fashion.

The word has spread within moments, as spectators from the port informed the rest of the town – the city guard were a laughing stock.

"They pose more of a threat to themselves than the black-flagged ship – how can such people keep the port safe?"

"They can’t! Another robbery happened today, right under their noses – they didn’t manage to do anything, ’cept lose a ship of their own."

Had been the most common line of conversation to be heard.

Even without having heard such conversations, the commander could well enough imagine them, and it made him blue from rage. He grasped the edge of his desk tightly, as his whole body trembled from the intensity of his grip and his hands turned white.

Koroman had never seen him quite that angry – he was usually able to get a few complaints out. And so, he remained diligent, so that he might dodge any inkpots thrown his way.

"Correct me, Koroman... A whole ship of men – gone? And our other vessel is stuck out at sea, and needs towing in?"

He asked, his voice deceptively calm, hiding the anger that was ready to explode.

"That’s right."

Came Koroman’s simple response, as he did his best to hide his smile. It really was a comical state of affairs, and he was rather happy to be detached from it. None of the blame could fall on his head.

The large vessel that they had been so proud of, had been rendered effectively useless, missing half its oars. Any attempt at rowing would lead to them spinning in an endless circle. And so there they sat, in the middle of the sea, drifting along with the tide, and hoping to be rescued sometime soon.

The commander ground his teeth. He could only imagine the jeers the mob would give as they towed their finest ship back to the port. Perhaps it would have been better had it sunken as well.

"And what... What goods did they steal this time?"

He was done pretending to be calm, and the question came out more as a hiss.

"Mm, silk, I’m told."

His advisor responded indifferently.

The commander sank his head into his hands in exasperation, as he ground his teeth fiercely, so close to exploding. But he held back the anger, until he had decided on a suitable course of action.

There were some within Toyokawa who were cheering for their black-flagged ship. The guards had always been intolerable with their arrogance, and it was good to see them exposed for what they truly were – pretensious animals who had signed up for a role they could not handle.

But their reputation had been as order keepers. They had been respected – even feared – to a degree, even if the people did not like them. And so they served their purpose well, despite their lack of skill. But now, with these raids, their lack of training was revealed for what it was, and they were toyed with by their adversary.

"USELESS!"

The commander barked, suddenly overcome by rage, as he slammed his fist full force into the wooden table. He felt a great deal of pain on the impact, but instead of deterring him, that pain only served to irritate him further, and he let loose another flurry of punches.

"USELESS! USELESS! THEY’RE F.U.C.K.I.N.G USELESS!"

He roared, enraged. The thin walls were not enough to keep the sound from his office unheard, but by now the servants were used to such occurrences, and knew to keep their mouths shut.

Koroman thought there was an interesting irony to his words. His actions had always shown his lack of regard for the need of skill within an army – one only needed men who were willing to die. And now here he was, cursing his men for lacking something he had never bothered to endow them with.

He stood there, breathing heavily after his outburst.

"Koroman."

Came his sharp words.

"Yes?"

"Send two sh.i.p.s to tow it back."

Was the order he had to give, despite his lack of willingness to see it come into play. It was much too embarrassing, and should the upper echelons of the mess that was happening, then there would be hell to pay.

"And, from now on, we have two sh.i.p.s on the water at all times. No matter how fast that damned ship is, it still has to stop when it wants to board something! We’ll use that chance to pluck it out of the water for good."

"As you wish, lord commander."

He responded with a small bow and moved towards the door. The latter command was one that he should have issued before. But none the less, it was a sound one. Whilst he certainly enjoyed seeing the black-flagged ship cause havoc, it seemed it’s piracy spree had come to an end.

"And inform everyone that those who died were trainees – or something like that! Tell them they lacked the proper training, but they still dove into combat and acted bravely."

He ordered. It was a suitable enough lie to tell, but he still doubted that it would do much to rejuvenate the people’s trust in him.

"It will be done."

Koroman affirmed, closing the door behind him, as he let loose a sigh.

’If I was the commander, we certainly would not have fallen so low.’

He thought, though such a thought startled himself. He had never thought of such a thing before, and was quite sure that he wished to leave this miserable little town, even if he was offered the position as commander of the city guard.

’What on earth am I doing, thinking things like that?’

He asked himself, as he stood there in a daze, barely seeing the servant who greeted him as she passed.

It was an odd thought indeed. Yet he did not feel entirely uncomfortable running it through his mind. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he found he rather liked such an idea.

"Mm..."

He mused aloud, walking slowly through the corridors of the commander’s mansion, seeing it in a different light.