Chapter 13

The Baron was walking around town, enjoying the beautiful weather. It was August 23rd. In a little more than three weeks, the Bickenstadt Freitag festival which celebrated the liberation of Bickenstadt from the Elves would take place. The Baron had a feeling that it was more of a conquering of Bickenstadt than a liberation, but festivals were fun. He knew he needed to begin preparation for the festival soon, so the Baron was just enjoying his time before that. He was going to begin tomorrow. Probably.

As the Baron bought some fish sausage from a street vendor, someone ran over to him. The Baron recognized him, he was one of the pirates he had on payroll. They knew they were not to speak to the Baron in public, so unless this man had something incredibly important to report he would be ‘let go’.

“Baron!”

The Baron took a bite of his sausage and smiled warmly at the pirate. Probably best to pretend I don’t know him, just in case.

“Hello. And who might you be?”

The pirate frantically pointed towards the harbor.

“I’m a sailor! A Wako fleet is coming! Looks like war ships!”

The sausage slipped out of the Baron’s hand, landing with a sharp pop.

“What?”

“Wako warships are coming to Bickenstadt harbor! We think they’ll be here in like two hours!”

The Baron quickly scanned his surroundings. His silent escorts were still in place, and he found no one pretending to not look at him.

“Get the men ready, try to avoid detection. If things go south, I want you to attack the Wako from behind.”

The pirate nodded solemnly. He knew that the Baron fully mobilizing his secret pirate fleet meant that things were getting grim. The pirate and Baron both ran off in different directions, the pirate towards a nearby alley, and the Baron to castle Bickenstadt.

“My God. They’re really here.”

The Baron whispered under his breath as he watched a massive fleet slowly creeping towards Bickenstadt. As far as the Baron could tell, every single Wako pirate had been called upon to attack Bickenstadt harbor.

Standing all around the docks, building makeshift barricades and putting cannons into place, was every professional soldier and defender in Bickenstadt. The Baron himself was flanked by two of his most impressive looking gunners, standing at attention. The rest of his lieutenants were running around supervising the fortifications.

The fleet slowed to a crawl around two miles out from Bickenstadt. A lone ship continued forward. It was huge, even from this distance that was obvious. It was one of the floating castle looking boats the Wako favored as flagships. As the ship got within around a mile of the docks before slowly stopping. The Baron saw a few figures appear on the deck. It was far enough away that he couldn’t tell any details, but he had a feeling he knew who it was. After a few seconds of sitting there quietly, a voice was heard carried across the wind.

“Good to see you Baron!”

“Shirahama.”

The Baron growled under his breath. The Baron called over a wind mage, one of many hired to be a sort of speaker system to project announcements around Bickenstadt. Their wind magic allowed them to make voices carry much farther than they would normally, the best wind mages can project voices up to four miles away. The mage knew what he was called over for, immediately drawing a bright white circle in the air just in front of the Baron. The Baron took a deep breath.

“Shirahama! We had a deal!”

After around 30 seconds, a reply came.

“Shove your deal!”

The Baron audibly growled at that.

“Why are you doing this?”

After 30 more seconds came another reply.

“Because I can!”

The Baron seethed with rage, snatching the musket out of the hands of a nearby man and taking aim.

“Shove my deal? I’ll shove a fucking..bullet in your…fucking face!”

The Baron’s eyes glowed yellow and he fired, setting the gun down on the butt and waiting. The soldier next to him looked confused.

“Sir? Can you even hit something from that far?”

“Ha! Poor guy! He seems pretty angry!”

Shirahama Oshan laughed raucously. He was having an incredible time messing with the Baron. A man next to him was a slightly rotund man wearing a black Jinbei with a koi fish swimming embossed across the right of his chest and simple black long pants. On his head he had a black rounded Eboshi in a style similar to an elven Beret. On his face he sported a bushy beard, trimmed to appear more angular, with the middle of the beard curved inwards slightly, and the sides of his beard ended in a point. The man looked somewhat conflicted.

“Are you sure we should be doing this? The Baron is quite strong.”

Shirahama slapped the man’s shoulder, laughing all the while.

“Saito! Don’t worry! We’ve got everyone here! And we’ve gotten plenty stronger since I first took that deal!”

A shot was heard off in the distance. This made Saito very worried.

“Um, sir.”

“Just a potshot! Can't believe his men would even try to-”

A bullet ripped through the man’s skull, collapsing him like a puppet with its strings cut. Everyone around him stared at the hole in his skull, not fully understanding what just happened. After a while of everyone standing completely still, unable to act, Saito grabbed the shoulder of a wind mage.

“Do the thing! The magic! I’m in command now!”

The mage quickly made a white circle in front of Saito.

“Shirahama is dead! I am in command now! Come to my ship so we can renegotiate the deal!”

After around 30 seconds, a reply came.

“I’m coming.”

Saito breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He turned to check the state of the fleet. Many of them had already left! Mostly those from other factions. They most likely left as soon as they heard Saito yell about Shirahama’s death. A boat slowly made it’s way over to Shirahama’s, now Saito’s, Atakebune. The Baron walked up to the top deck, alone.

“You. Are you Shirahama’s successor?”

Saito bowed deeply to the Baron.

“Yes, I am. With his…passing. I am now in charge of the Wako pirate colony. At least for now.”

The Baron crossed his arms, looking very much like a disappointed father.

“For now?”

“Yes, for now. The other factions may believe we are weaker without Shirahama and attempt to dethrone our clan.”

The Baron scoffed.

“Whatever. I’ll make a deal with you, and if anyone tries to take power, I’ll help you keep power.”

Saito looked to the sky in thought for a moment.

“Yes, thank you. Would you mind coming back to Dokutsu-cho to discuss the terms of our deal?”

The Baron eyed Saito dangerously. Saito unbuckled the tanto sheath and all at his waist and kneeled, presenting the tanto to the Baron the way a retainer presents a gift to their lord.

“I promise this is not a trap. You have my word.”

The Baron glared at the Tanto and ripped it forcefully out of Saito’s hands.

“Fine. Where are Shirahama’s quarters? I’m going to look through his things.”

Saito looked apprehensive, but after the Baron took a purposeful glance at his saber, Saito bowed his head to show agreement and led him to Shirahama’s quarters.

As the ships slowly made their way through the intricate cavern, they became suspicious at the smoke wafting towards them. This could mean one of two things: Their home was on fire, or the charcoal burners were not abiding by regulations again. Saito assumed the former and ordered his crew to sail faster, safety be damned. The closer they got to Dokutsu-cho, the Wako pirate colony, the more disconcerting sounds they heard.

As they exited the final tunnel which led to Dokutsu-cho, they found the entire cavern city on fire. The ceiling of the cavern was visible despite how fight up it was because of how many fires were raging. From where they were they could easily see figures clashing wherever there was room for multiple people. Saito leaned over the railing, his jaw dropping further and further as they sailed closer.

“Well, this does not seem good.”

The Baron commented dryly at his side. Saito turned to the Baron, completely exasperated.

“We were gone for an hour! They only had at most a 15 minute lead! How?!”

The Baron leaned against the railing, his back towards the carnage.

“Who knows?”

Saito got off the rails and ran off, shouting orders to his crew. The Baron smiled smugly. Serves them right.

As the ships began to dock, groups of people were forming on the decks of every ship. Each group seemed to be made of men wearing stark black Ashigaru armor, traditionally worn by peasant conscripts named Ashigaru drafted into samurai armies, along with people who seemed to be either noncombatants or untrained pirates. Each group of Ashigaru had at least one line of spearmen and one line of gunners or archers. Saito called the Baron over and began to introduce two people out of their group of 40.

“Baron, these are Shi- actually, my right and left hand men.”

He gestured to a man wearing a black hakama with white lining. All across his shirt was embossings of a white diamond with an eye in the middle. His hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. On his face was messy stubble and a scar across his left cheek. On his shoulder rested a nodachi, just as large as the Zweihänders traditionally used in the Empire. He looked vaguely disinterested in meeting the Baron. Or maybe that was just his normal expression.

“This man is Raijin Hayate. Ronin under my employ, and a gifted one to boot.”

The Baron shook the man’s hand and turned to the next person Saito was introducing. They were jet black samurai armor, the same symbol Raijin had on his clothes was painted across their chest. They wore a black cowl which showed no distinguishing features. The helmet they wore looked less like a purpose made kabuto and more like a small pot converted into a proper helmet. They were thin and only moderately tall, the Baron would assume around 5’7, pretty decent considering the average height of people during this time period. In their hands was a simple naginata.

“This is Chinmoku, or Shizuka, depending on who you ask. We have no idea what he is, or if he’s even a he. He doesn’t speak or anything, so I hope you know Wako sign language. He’s not useful for anything but fighting, same with Raijin, but he’s an absolute terror with that naginata. Anyways, it looks like we’re about to dock. Get read for a fight, some Takodin thugs seem to have noticed us and are waiting.”

The Baron rolled his eyes and drew a pistol.

“Of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

As the ships began to dock, jeers from the pirates outside could be heard clearly. Saito’s ashigaru stood in front of the gangplank, spears down, guns in front aiming at the entrance.

Raijin looked the Baron up and down, looking incredulous.

“You’re pretty old, can you even fight?”

Raijin spoke in Wa, obviously assuming the Baron wouldn’t understand him, as he and Saito had been speaking Reikers the whole time. The Baron rolled his eyes and drew his saber, responding to him in Wa.

“I run a fucking mercenary company.”

Raijin didn’t have time to be surprised as the gangplank lowered and the ashigaru fired. A few pirates dropped, most of the ten shots missed. The Baron wasn’t used to seeing such a poor volley, he would have laughed if he wasn’t about to be in combat. The spear ashigaru stepped forward and thrust at the pirates, impaling a few. They were obviously poorly trained, they thrust as individuals instead of as a unit. The Baron sighed and fired, nailing a pirate archer through the eye.

Raijin and Chinmoku both bound up the railing and leaped at the pirate archers, the Baron following after them a few seconds later. As Raijin landed he chopped all the way through a pirate's bow, arm, and body. He turned and stepped forward, blurring as he moved forward and appearing behind two pirates standing next to each other, both men’s torsos falling to the ground soon after.

Chinmoku landed and immediately sliced a pirate’s throat open, turning and slapping aside a slash aimed at their head with the haft of their naginata. They delivered a beautiful sidekick to the pirate’s chest, sending him reeling back. As he tried to regain his footing Chinmoku thrust forward, impaling the pirate through the neck.

The Baron landed and rolled, coming up in a lunge, piercing through the heart of an archer. He ripped his saber out and spun, knocking a strike aside and slashing across the pirate’s unprotected chest. The Baron ducked under a strike from behind and sprang up, knocking the pirate’s jaw with the top of his head. He spun around and delivered a sidekick, slightly less beautiful than Chinmoku’s, sending the pirate flying into the sea.

One of the pirates pointed at Chinmoku and yelled.

“Shit! That’s fuckin’ Chinmoku! Run!”

Many of the remaining pirates were cut down as they ran, but most of the attackers retreated without a fight. The Baron flicked the blood off of his saber and ran after Raijin and Chinmoku, who jumped back onto the ship. Saito pointed towards a large building in the distance.

“Why’d you come back up here? We’re heading down! Find a path back to our clan house! I can see that a bunch of the streets are filled with debris.”

Chinmoku nodded and immediately ran off, Raijin looked annoyed.

“You’re havin’ me be a fuckin’ scout?”

Saito waved him away.

“I’m paying you to be a fucking scout. Now go!”

Raijin thought for a moment before shrugging and running after Chinmoku. The Baron waved at Saito.

“I’ll follow them.”

Before Saito could say anything the Baron dashed off.

As they ran through the winding streets of this massive underground city, they found that many bridges and alleyways were either broken, covered in burning debris, or had active semi-largescale clashes happening within them. After finding a relatively quick and at the moment safe route, the three ran back and gathered the group. As the group began moving along their scouted path, the Baron had some questions to ask.

“So, I’m guessing the different colors mean something.”

“Yes, they do. They are worn to show allegiance to the different Yakuza clans. We are Oshan, our color is black. There is also three other noteworthy clans: Odari, who wear yellow, Takodin, who wear red, and Daibutsu, who wear blue. The Odari clan, the yellow ones, are functionally our vassals. Takodin is is largest rival, they’re probably the ones who started the rioting. The Daibutsu pretend to be Sohei, but they’re just as much Yakuza as the rest of us.”

“Are they allied with Takodin?”

“No, they’re nominally neutral. They refuse to move drugs so they make up for it with extra mercenary work.”

“Hm. That’s weird.”

Saito pinched the bridge of his nose.

“They are weird.”

As their group ran through a particularly loud alley, the Baron noticed a large group of around ten men wearing tattered red clothing attacking a group of very much not Japanese looking people, also wearing tattered clothes. There was an Orc wearing nothing but ripped up canvas pants, two humans wearing dirty Landsknecht’s clothes, a dwarf wearing beige and blue cioppa, and an elf wearing a tattered Napoleonic era uniform. The Baron grabbed Saito by the shoulder and pointed at the group.

“I want to help them. Get your men to shoot at the pirates, I doubt they will withstand the moral shock.”

Saito looked confused.

“Why do you want to help them?”

“They look like they need help.”

“We passed plenty of people who needed help as we came-”

“Will you just help them for God’s sake?!”

Saito growled slightly in annoyance and turned towards his ashigaru, pointing to a spot just behind the pirates.

“Asoko no fōmu!”

The Ashigaru formed up in three lines, two gun lines and a line of spears behind them. The first row kneeled and both rows of gunners took aim. Saito raised his arm above his head and dropped it.

“Utee!”

The gunners all fired. The shots hit almost all of the pirates, killing around half outright. The rest were swiftly cut down by the non-pirates using weapons they most likely looted from already dead pirates. The Baron walked over to the group as the spear ashigaru behind stepped forward, just in case. Musketmen are expensive, especially when you’re a Yakuza clan instead of a samurai clan.

“Hello there! You lot seen to be out of place here!”

The human man looked at the Baron and replied snarkily. His voice was young, medium pitch, and full of spite.

“Oh gee you fucking think?”

The Baron chuckled openly.

“My, I seem to have chosen my words poorly. You look to be a man of the Empire, do you not recognize me?”

The man looked at the Baron closer, then looked back at the human woman, who shook her head. He turned back and also shook his head.

“Can’t say I do, neither does she. What, are you the Baron von Bickenstadt or something?”

The Baron laughed loudly as he sheathed his saber and walked closer to them.

“Yes! Yes I am! How astute! Tell me, where are you from?”

The two humans looked slightly shocked before answering. The man bowed slightly as he responded.

“Tobias Aufraegler, son of Holenstadt.”

The woman responded soon after. Her voice was gruff but quiet, like she was unused to speaking.

“Ursula Fischer, daughter of Jagstadt.”

The Baron nodded appreciatively.

“Ah, Holenstadt! I happen to be the baron of Holenstadt as well! And Jagstadt, what a beautiful province! Are you a hunter?”

Ursula nodded her head slightly. The Baron again nodded appreciatively before turning his attention onto the nonhumans.

“Ah, how rude of me! You three! What are your names?”

The Orc immediately perked up. His voice was deep, same as every other Orc the Baron had met.

“Name’s Chad! Chad Williamsworfe!”

“Chad! A fine name! You wouldn’t happen to be from Yorksburg would you?”

“Nah! I’s came from Bristolburg.”

The Baron breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God.”

The Baron turned and faced the dwarf, who quickly stated his name.

“Francesco Bianchi, ata your service! I ama a medica!”

“Ah, a medic. I met a dwarven medic once, swell guy. Excellent at his job.”

Francesco tilted his head to the side.

“Medicinale?”

“I believe so.”

“Data maka sensa. Medicinale geta everywhere!”

The Baron nodded noncommittally and finally looked towards the elf. The elf saluted and stood at attention. Her voice was somewhat higher pitched, young and filled with energy. It carried with it a note of anxiety.

“Adèle Chastain! Marine de Républic! I ‘ave ‘eard of you, Baron von Bickenstadt. You ‘ave ‘ired an elf!”

The Baron nodded sagely.

“Yes, yes I have. Jean le Mechanique, excellent man. Extremely talented.”

The tension left her body slightly.

“Good to know, sir!”

“Well then, all of you, we should get you to the docks.”

Saito tapped the Baron’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“Baron, I am not escorting these people to the docks. My men get hourly.”

The Baron squinted at Saito.

“You’re men get hourly? Like hourly pay?”

“Why is that what you’re hung up on?”

“Well I’ve only seen that system used by larger merchant companies, never soldiers.”

“That doesn’t matter! What matters is I am heading to headquarters. You can escort them if you want.”

“Fine. Let whoever wants to help me stay behind, alright?”

Saito sighed and turned to his group, addressing them in Wa.

“Whoever wishes to help the Baron escort these people to the docks can do as they please. Just know that you will be clocking out for the day!”

He turned and gestured for whoever was leaving to follow him. Just four people stayed behind. Three firearm ashigaru and Chinmoku. The Baron walked over and patted the ashigaru’s shoulders.

“Good to see you doing the right thing! I’ll throw you a few Reiksgeld at the end of this, however much that’s worth here. And Chinmoku! Good to have your help!”

Chinmoku just nodded once.

“Now, which way was the docks again?”