Chapter 15

The day after the rioting in Dokutsu-cho, things were returning to somewhat normalcy. The rioting may have lit some of the city on fire, but the rest of it was just fine. The townspeople, already used to at least some level of violence living in a yakuza controlled city, were already back at their jobs, business as usual. The market was bustling, filled with stalls and people, buying and selling.

Noboru was walking through the market, eating an apple he ‘loaned’ from a vendor. Being a top level lieutenant in the Takodin came with privileges, and one of said privileges was being able to do almost anything he wanted, so long as it didn’t disrupt business too much. As he strolled through the marketplace, a sense that the Takodin was on the rise began to creep into his psyche.

Things looked normal. Too normal. Their city was operating just like any normal city would, except in a giant ocean cave. They received minimal help from the mainland, so little that Noboru often wondered why they even bothered sending tribute. As soon as he got back to headquarters, he was going to bring up the idea of becoming a country in their own right to the boss. As he was getting lost in his thoughts, someone slammed into him, making him drop his half eaten apple.

“Hey, what where you’re going!”

The man looked to be from the Empire. He looked completely out of place here, and was acting far too confident for a man not on Imperial soil. Noboru spit at his feet, the traditional way of challenging someone to a duel.

“You’re fuckin’ dead, Empiresman.”

Noboru drew his katana. It was enchanted with the rune of sharpness. It never grew dull, no matter how many men he cut through. The Empiresman drew his saber, and Noboru began to feel doubt.

His sword was beautifully made, inlaid with gold and jewels, and obviously enchanted to a higher standard than Noboru’s katana. He was also massive, at least a head taller than Noboru, and he was quite tall by Wa standards. But what worried Noboru the most was the man’s golden armor. It was unbelievably beautiful, and the only people who wore stuff like that were people rich enough to also afford to enchant it. All Noboru had was a few pieces of armor he stole from a low level samurai a few years back. It worked well, but this guy’s armor was on a completely different level. Well, I already spit at his feet.

Noboru grabbed his katana with both hands, taking an aggressive fighting stance, katan held in front, hands near the stomach, tip pointed at the man’s neck. The man took up his stance, saber forward and vertical, offhand at his back hip.

Noboru lunged forward slightly, aiming a thrust at the man’s neck, which he batted aside with his saber easily. The man quickly flicked his wrist and sent his saber towards Noboru’s neck, which he parried quickly. Noboru lunged forward again and the man cooly moved the tip away from his own neck and slid his saber across the katana. Noboru had to hop back to avoid being slashed, having to immediately bring up his katana to block and parry the flurry of blows the man threw at him.

As Noboru counter attacked the man batted the strike aside and stepped in, punching Noboru in chest, sending him reeling backwards. The strike didn’t break anything, he was wearing armor, but it still hurt far more than Noboru felt it should. This fight should be interesting! This guy is amazing!

“What’s your name?”

The man smiled and bowed slightly.

“Johan von Bickenstadt, baron von Bickenstadt, at your service.”

Noboru lowered his katana slightly.

“A noble?”

Johan dashed forward and thrust supernaturally fast, Noboru was barely able to defend himself, the saber creating a thin path of gore across his neck. Noboru slapped aside the saber at his shoulder and slashed horizontally, which the man dropped under and kicked Noboru’s ankle, stumbling him. As Noboru fell forward, Johan jumping into him knee first, sending him flying backwards. That’s gonna bruise. How is that gonna bruise? I’m wearing armor! Thought Noboru as he scrambled to his feet.

“You really must keep your guard up. Tell me, what is the name of the man I am going to slay?”

Noboru stood up and got back in his stance.

“Noboru. Hirosaka Noboru.”

The man’s confident demeanor faltered slightly.

“Is Noboru your first or last name?”

Noboru dashed forward, bringing his sword down onto Johan, who blocked in with ease and moved up into Noboru’s face. Noboru smiled and kicked, separating the two again.

“First.”

“Good to know.”

The man rushed forward, a whirlwind of thrusts, slashes, kicks, everything he had in his arsenal. Noboru could barely keep up, it was taking everything he had to avoid getting cut. Noboru finally had a clear view of how strong this man was, and was shocked to realize that he was not going all out. Something about the way he moved belied a speed that Noboru knew he could not match, and the fact that he could afford to use just a fraction of his power for a duel further proving to Noboru that he was outmatched. Noboru found a gap in the strikes and began to chamber a thrust. As soon as he began pulling back, the man rushed forward, holding his saber in a reverse grip. He grabbed Noboru’s wrist with his off hand, preventing him from thrusting, and the man elbowed his sword into Noboru’s neck, using his forearm as leverage to cut it clean through his spine, severing his head entirely.

The man made a show of flicking the blood off his saber and returning it to its scabbard. He looked at Noboru’s corpse with a look of respect.

“He could have been pretty good, given a decade of practice. Shame. Someone bury this man! Hopefully his spirit will find a new host and seek me out for a rematch.”

Raijin watched the warehouse from a safe distance. Men ran to boats, grabbed crates, and ran into the warehouse. The activity never ceased. It looked like a giant wooden hive. He signaled to his men and they signaled back. He moved from his spot, crouch-walking closer to the warehouse. He signaled to his men again and they began to spread out, surrounding the front of the warehouse.

In the courtyard in front of the warehouse, wagons were being loaded up with goods. All around were workers and guards. At least 30 guards were dotted around the courtyard, watching over the workers to make sure they didn’t pocket anything. For the 30 guards in the front, and the 50 or so guards inside the warehouse and near the docks, Raijin had 40 men total. They were all handpicked by Raijin, the men who showed the most promise during training, Raijin’s primary job.

Raijin unsheathed his nodachi and grabbed the whistle around his neck, blowing into it before standing up. He held his greatsword horizontally and swung, blurring as he moved his sword forward. He appeared behind two men, standing up and resting his nodachi over his shoulder. The two men slowly dropped, their top halves falling over before their bottom halves.

Raijin’s men descended on the guards in the courtyard. Some charged from the front, engaging the guards head on. They crashed into the guards, katanas flashing, slicing through exposed flesh, bouncing off armor, or getting blocked by enemy blades. As the guards fought the loud assault, the shinobi crept in from behind. Men appeared behind the guards, thrusting katanas through backs and necks, tearing through anyone occupied with the frontal assault.

A guard swung at Raijin who blocked with his nodachi, stepping forward and striking the guard’s face with his pommel in the same smooth movement. He raised his nodachi and slashed down, cutting the guard open from head to stomach. Half of the guards were dead and it had been just over 30 seconds. He turned and spotted another target off in the distance, blurring as he slashed downward and appearing in front of the man, slicing him in two. Raijin hoisted his nodachi over his head and yelled.

“Finish ‘em off and get in the warehouse!”

His men roared in acknowledgement as they quickly finished the remaining guards. Raijin ran in the warehouse and immediately lopped off the head of a guard who came to investigate, following it up with a thrust through another guard’s chest. Another guard swung at Raijin before he could take his greatsword out, forcing him to dodge backwards. Two of his men rushed forward and engaged the guard, swiftly cutting him down.

The workers scattered as Raijin’s men rushed into the warehouse, ripping through the poorly trained guards stationed there. In the warehouse proper there were only around 20 guards. In just a few minutes Raijin and his men left every single one dead on the cold stone floor. A shot rang out from the back, killing one of Raijin’s men. Raijin held his nodachi in a reverse grip and javelined his sword into the pistol wielding guard’s chest, nailing him to the door. The rest of the guards began to filter in after him. Raijin coolly grabbed a katana lying on the floor nearby and raised it above his head.

“Fuckin’ get ‘em!”

Both groups clashed, breaking off into dozens of small duels as the guards tried to avenge their comrades. Raijin pushed over a shelf, trapping a few men under the falling boxes. Him and his men descended on these vulnerable men, making short work of them and whoever attempted to help. A guard took a swipe at Raijin, but was blocked by one of Raijin’s men and had his arm cut off by another, swifting having his head severed by Raijin himself soon after. A guard stick his sword in the neck of one of Raijin’s shinobi, and Raijin threw his katana, but it was deflected by the guard.

His last stand was valiant, taking out six of Raijin’s men single handedly, but he could only last so long against the onslaught of these well trained mercenaries. The guard parried a strike aimed at his head and twisted his body away from a thrust aimed for his gut. He ducked under a slash and managed to slice the man’s hand as he came back up. He pommel striked the face of another of Raijin’s men, but as he readied himself to finish the man off, he was ran through by a multitude of swords. As he fell to his knees and swung wildly he managed to catch the arm of another man, leaving it dangling uselessly at his side.

As the medics Raijin brought with him worked on his injured men, the rest of them began to load goods onto carts, tearing off any red cloth marking they found.

“Load anything that looks good on their own carts! Anything we can’t take get’s burned! After you load the carts, stuff your pockets with whatever shit you can carry!”

The men cheered as they opened boxes to check their contents and moved anything valuable to the carts out front. Raijin opened a small lock box and found something he had been craving as of late: cigarettes.

“Fuck yeah.”

He quickly put the box in his shirt and continued looking around for things to take.

After they had everything loaded onto the carts, it was time to burn. Raijin’s men gathered anything they couldn’t take with them into one giant pile, covering it in sake and other high proof alcohols. One of Raijin’s men set the pile alight using a flint and steel. Raijin walked over and lit his cigarette, sighing as he blew out a massive plume of smoke. One of his men came over, looking curious.

“What's that?”

Raijin took another puff of his cigarette.

“It’s called a cigarette. Think it’s from the Assai’id. Wanna try? Real relaxing.”

Raijin handed the man a cigarette and lit it with his own. The man took a drag and immediately coughed. Raijin chuckled heartily.

“Yeah, that happens.”

The Baron sat around one of the myriad of markets of the pirate city. He was told that a Takodin Lieutenant would be here, but so far he had to find anything. He took a bite of an apple he bought and continued to scan the crowds. He had been there for around an hour now, and he was beginning to believe he was given bad information.

He very well could have missed who he was looking for. A few people stopped by him wanting to talk, and he happily obliged. It turned out that despite the general animosity that people felt towards the Empire, the opportunity to speak to a foreigner is too good to pass up. They asked him all sorts of questions, ‘why do you dress like that’, ‘do you eat fish’, ‘is it true Empiresmen worship goats’, all questions the Baron would expect coming from foreigners. All but that last question. He was confused as to why he had been asked that multiple times.

As the Baron prepared to leave, he spotted something of interest. A man wearing a red hakama and a conical rice hat. At his waist were two katanas. He sported a short, poorly maintained beard. The Baron got up and moved over to him, attempting to put as much spite into his gaze as he could. The man scowled at the Baron and walked over to him, chest out, look of disgust on his face.

“What are you lookin’ at Empiresman?”

The Baron spit at his feet.

“Something fucking ugly.”

The man, Goto, as far as the Baron could tell from those Ukiyo-e portraits, drew his dual katanas.

“You’re fuckin’ dead old man.”

Goto swung at the Baron with one of his katanas, the other one resting on his shoulder. The Baron drew his sword and parried in the same motion, following up with some lightning fast strikes of his own, which Goto easily defended against. The Baron thrust at Goto, who ducked under and slashed the Baron’s chestplate and stabbed his greaves, both strikes being harmlessly deflected. The Baron hopped forward and kneed him in the face, knocking the straw hat off of Goto’s head.

The Baron thrust down at Goto, who defended wildly, his katanas flying around faster than the onlookers could follow. The Baron’s saber stuck into the ground and Goto rolled to his feet, flying at him as soon as the saber was unstuck. They exchanged a flurry of blows, wild strikes blocked and parried by practiced movements, beautiful techniques shut down by the mad flashing of dual katanas. The Baron dodged back and slashed the supports of a nearby stall, sending wooden planks down onto Goto, who was moving too fast to dodge.

He knocked aside a few boards but was struck with a sign which read ‘Hoji’s hot food.’ The Baron thrust at him, but Goto kicked up the sign which landed on him, lodging the Baron’s saber in the wood. The Baron had to release his saber to avoid being pulled to the ground by the weight of the sign, having to frantically dodge and redirect lightning fast strikes with his bare hands.

Goto swiped at the Baron’s head and he tucked and rolled, coming up behind him and delivering a devastating palm strike to Goto’s exposed back. Goto flew forward and the Baron dashed for his saber, dislodging it from the sign just as Goto got back on his feet.

“You look a bit fucked.”

“You’re not exactly the pinnacle of health either.”

They were both covered in a hundred cuts and bruises. Goto was a stronger warrior than the Baron was expecting. Maybe I should get truly serious?

The Baron could see Goto’s next strike. He would dash forward and slash at the Baron’s head and stab at his hips. Goto did just as the Baron predicted. The Baron jumped forward, parrying the slash with his sword and allowing the thrust to bounce off his greaves. The Baron landed on Goto, taking him to the ground, and began to slam his pommel into Goto’s face.

Goto was knocked out fairly quickly, the Baron hit extremely hard. He grabbed the top of his blade with his off hand and slammed it into Goto’s neck, killing him instantly. The Baron stood up, breathing only somewhat hard. All eyes were on him. He, again, made a show of flicking the blood off his saber and returning it to its sheath.

“What can I say? Takodin are weak.”

“Baron, this is kind of impressive! You’ve ripped through two lieutenants in just three days!”

The Baron smugly sipped his sake. He noticed that the others only sipped their sake, so he figured there was probably some sort of social thing they didn’t want to explain to him.

“I know, I’m amazing. How are things going on your end?”

“We made a massive profit from raiding a Takodin warehouse yesterday. It seems that people are losing faith in their strength! A tavern owner on the border between our two turfs approached me today asking for his land to be folded into Oshan territory! Things are going incredibly well.”

“Good to know. Hope I can wrap this up quickly. Wolfgang is furious that I’m staying here until this is over. You know, we have a festival in three weeks? Can’t wait for that.”

Saito smiled slyly.

“Oh, I think things are going to be done soon. You have been doing work, and I want to reward that work. I’ve left a…gift, in your room.”

The Baron frowned slightly.

“It’s not a woman, is it?”

Saito looked surprised.

“What? Would that be a problem?”

“Yes. For the love of God don’t send a woman to my room. I’m serious, don’t.”

Saito looked like his brain stalled slightly.

“Uh…can I ask…why?”

The Baron downed the rest of his sake.

“No, don’t. Do not ask me why. Just don’t send a woman to my fucking room.”

Shit, I’m being weird about this…uh, fuckin’...uh…

The Baron smiled uncomfortably

“Just send me some brandy, I quite enjoy brandy. If you could get the clear stuff with a pear in it that would be excellent.”

Saito immediately recovered.

“Yes, of course. If we have any on hand I’ll send that right over to you.”

“Do you think you have it on hand?”

“We’re pirates, we find a lot of weird stuff.”

The Baron stood up from the table.

“Well then, let’s just pray, yeah? It’s late, I will retire to my room.”

“Of course, I’ll see about getting some good brandy to you as soon as possible.”

“I appreciate it.”

As the Baron made it to his room he caught a servant just leaving. He licked his lips thinking of what alcohol Saito had somehow already gotten him. As he opened the door he was greeted by a bottle on his desk. It was clear, and sitting at the bottom of the bottle was a single white pear.

They have it!

The Baron was having a dream. He almost never dreamt, and when he did it was usually negative. He could see what looked like a ninja hiding in the rafters, tanto in hand. He dropped down and plunged the dagger into the Baron’s neck, killing him almost instantly.

Wait, this doesn’t feel like a dream, it feels different somehow…kind of…familiar?

The Baron’s eyes shot open.

In the rafters was a man wearing all black, holding a knife literally dripping with some substance. The man began to fall off the rafters. The Baron rolled off his bed and the knife plunged right where his neck used to be. The Baron rushed to his table and grabbed his saber. As he tried to draw it, the ninja pushed against the pommel, keeping the saber firmly its sheath. The ninja stabbed at the Baron and he grabbed the man’s wrist and slammed it against the wall, causing him to drop the knife.

The two grappled to the floor, the Baron straddling the man’s chest. He punched repeatedly, the ninja bringing up his guard and deflected the punches. The Baron brought his elbow back and slammed it down into the man’s guard. Any normal man’s bones would have broken, so this man must at least be a gifted one, and had most likely conditioned his body in a similar way the Baron has.

The Baron heard a noise from behind and briefly turned his head to look. There was another ninja hanging from the ceiling, currently grabbing his saber. When he looked back the man he straddled blew a white powder into his face. It burned his eyes something fierce, but he had felt worse before. The Baron delivered another devastating elbow and rolled off, lunging after his saber. The ninja disappeared back into the rafters just before the Baron reached him.

The other ninja swiftly grabbed the knife and ran at the Baron, who kicked backwards, sending the man flying backwards, and sending the knife clattering to the floor. The Baron scooped up the knife and jumped on the ninja, stabbing down at him. The ninja grabbed his wrist and tried to keep the knife away, but the Baron was too strong. Slowly but surely, the knife got lower and lower. The Baron lifted himself up and threw himself down onto the knife, sending the blade directly into the man’s heart, taking it back out and slitting the ninja’s throat, just in case.

The Baron stood up and looked around, trying to find the other man. He got a running start and ran up the wall, reaching the rafters easily. He pulled himself up and looked around, finding no one. He looked around further to find his saber, and again found nothing. The Baron checked to see how they had gotten in and found nothing. There were no openings. The only way they could have gotten there was through the door. The Baron jumped down from the rafters and grabbed the corpse on the floor.

He found Saito still in the conference room, doing some sort of paperwork. The Baron roughly threw open the door, starting Saito and the servant standing next to said door. He walked in and flopped the body down on the table.

“I was attacked.”

Saito stared at the body in horror.

“So you were.”

“I checked. There is no way they could have gotten in except through the door. They were there long before…”

The Baron paused. Wait…where did the other guy go?

Saito looked at the Baron worriedly.

“Baron, you have glass in your eyes. How can you see? Wait, you have two eyes? Why do you wear an eyepatch?”

“That’s not important! What is important is that there is another fucking ninja here, and he has my sword!”

Saito put a hand over his mouth. He looked genuinely spooked.

“They’re called shinobi now. We stopped saying ninja in the 5th century.”

“Saito! He stole my sword! My fucking sword! I don’t care about the linguistics!”

Saito shot up out of his chair, pointed to the servant.

“You! Raise the alarm! And tell someone to get the Baron a sword!”

The servant nodded and ran off. The Baron collapsed into a nearby chair, placing his head in his hands..

“That sword was a gift from my son.”

Saito patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we will find it. He could have only gotten so far.”

The Baron looked up at Saito. Saito visibly winced. The Baron looked horrible, and he still had glass in his eyes, though he barely even noticed it now.

“Either there’s a hidden panel in the rafters, or he was fast and quiet enough to leave through the door without me noticing. Either way, he’s long gone.”

Yelling could be heard outside the room, a flurry of footsteps sounding out from every direction. They were on high alert. Soon someone burst into the room holding a katana in their arms.

“I have brought our guest our finest sword.”

Saito waved them over and she presented it to him. He took it and briefly checked the blade, nodding with approval.

“This may not be your saber, but it’s a sword, and it’s enchanted.”

The Baron grabbed it without looking, laying it across his lap. He sighed loudly.

“Great.”