The red haired girl, standing tall above Noboru, had clearly lost her mind. Noboru figured it must have fallen out somewhere while running up from the rice field.
“Teach you the Double-Hand Sword technique?” He was nonplussed by such an odd question. Especially coming from someone from this pitiful town.
The girl held firm, but this time she bowed, altering her tone to be more respectful. “If I’m going to become an Ushin, my lord, I’ll need some form of fighting technique.”
Noboru surveyed her, lips studiously pressed together. Grime-ridden, narrow-faced, hair the color of blood, determined. She definitely isn’t joking. He let out a hearty laugh, then gathered himself. “An Ushin warrior? I assume you’ve heard of me then, which is surprising coming from a small town like this. Sure.”
“Sure?”
“Sure. I will take you on as my apprentice, and your friend as well if she desires it.”
She didn’t believe him, he could tell. No response. Instead her eyes searched through his own features for signs of jest, or perhaps mockery.
“If you don’t trust me, you’re free to walk back down that hill and carry on about your day.”
“No, my lord, apologies if I have given any offense.” she bowed again. “I haven’t heard of you, but before you take me on, I feel you should know my name and origin. I am Sanabaji Tara, and my father is-”
“We’ll go through all that later.” Noboru waved a dismissive hand. “Actually, before I take you two up, I’ll need a favor. I may have gotten a little carried away with those pups over there.” He pointed to the three unconscious Jodai. “I’ve been in enough inconveniences involving Jodai during my lifetime and I don’t really have a craving for more. So, here’s the deal. I need you two to drag these bodies somewhere other patrolling Jodai won’t find them. Quickly, please.”
Her focus went to the bodies from him, then back to him again. Noboru watched the other girl, who was sheepishly approaching her friend. “Um,” Tara replied. “Forgive my asking, but is there a reason you must rely on us, my lord? We are not of noble birth, and doing so-”
“Enough with ‘my lord’ and more compliance! You have the audacity to ask for the personal teachings of my expertise, so have the audacity to prove your loyalty. After walking all the way from southern River, you’d think I’d get a break.”
Tara looked towards her friend with the short black hair. The girl reminded Noboru of a twitchy hare. She kept her attention on Tara, yet acknowledged Noboru’s apparently threatening presence by keeping her distance from him, and having her body turned so that she could track his movement from the corner of her eyes. It was shameful, after what he had just offered.
“Wha-is he serious? There’s no way we’re moving those men!” Rabbit-girl protested.
Tara kept her eyes on Noboru. She struggled for words. “Understood, master.”
“Excellent. And not to worry, I’ll be standing here, nearby. Now make haste.”
Rabbit-girl looked shocked between the two, but Tara was already walking towards the resting bodies, strewn haphazardly.
She looked at them for a second, discarding any last doubts. Stooping down, she grabbed them by the arms, then adjusted, hooking her arms under the shoulders. The girl hefted them up, straining. “Help me out, Yohari.”
The girl named Yohari was torn. She glanced at Noboru, who gave her a questioning smile. Eyes downturned, she made her decision and briskly came to Tara’s aid. Noboru watched them struggle to drag the Jodai named Shuhji away, armor scuffing against the ground.
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They kept hefting and huffing for upwards of a minute, the one named Yohari forced to take a break after twenty paces. Peering at the spring clouds, Noboru took his leave.
“Wait, where are you going?” Tara exclaimed, grunting. “Hey!”
Noboru began whistling his tune again, casually walking the dirt road. “I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to be here at the scene of the crime, so you’d better hurry!”
He whistled his tune for some forty paces, thinking of the situation those girls had put themselves in. If those Jodai woke up before being disposed of…
They would be damn angry, that was certain. All alone, who knew what those guards might do to those poor young women?
Noboru felt a bit worried for them. If they were smart, they'd drop the bodies and be on their merry way back down to their cozy town.
From his inner robe pockets he pulled a morsel of dried and salted gobi fish. He inspected his sky blue robes and tipped his reed hat. Not even damaged, he thought. He was still at least somewhat competent.
Munching, he watched the estate from afar. It looked especially gloomy without any sunlight radiating down upon it. Most of its painted ashwood was replaced, but the scorched sections were still apparent. Noboru swallowed and smiled to himself. “Owa, you finally called. As I said you would.”
Noboru never could have imagined the high status noble giving him, of all people, such acknowledgment. And for the purposes of finding that man.
Like with all nobles, however, Noboru had no issues with making him wait. He slowed his pace, admiring the scenery. Not much to see around here except nature, the grassfields and the rice fields, the shabby town of Kun and the charred bones of the Hebi estate.
There were at least a dozen blackened tree stumps outside the place, accompanied by twice as many newly planted saplings. The white keep towered three stories above him. Five guards in shining blue armor patrolled it. That would be a lot harder to handle than three. Five was an unlucky number. Luckily, he didn’t have to.
“Halt,” a guard with a black scruffy beard said calmly. He raised his bow, likely a common courtesy for those challenged in hearing. “State your name and business.”
“Futaba Noboru, at Lord Owa’s service,” he answered. He took a closer look at the scorched walls and roof tiling above. Allegedy, this had been the work of Ginju. The former High Lord, Takasa Arusuke, had given them the scent of Owa’s blood, and they had came to destroy. Somehow, they missed the mark.
Unlikely. More likely, the rebuilding of his keep was the result of a badly timed assault from Arusuke’s reserve of Jodai.
Who is that panting? Noboru thought. He could already guess, yet he was still surprised to see the girl named Yohari running towards him, sword in hand.
“Halt!” the guard shouted to her, but Noboru raised a hand and jumped into his line of sight.
“Relax, she’s with me!” he said. He spun back towards Yohari who was within thirty paces of him, having frozen in her tracks. “Rabbit-girl, where is your friend?”
Despite the guard’s steady aim, she didn’t release the evidently stolen blade. Straightening herself, she said with all the courage she could muster, “Tara is keeping watch of your wagon.”
Noboru cocked his head. “Wagon? Foolish girl, an Ushin has no time nor need for such things. He should always be ready with a full range of motion and his feet firmly planted. Not to mention, any journey worth taking is worth taking by foot.”
“Normally, an Ushin wouldn’t travel by wagon, true,” Yohari agreed, “but you are an Ushin on a special mission, assigned by Lord Hebi himself. And for something like that, time is of the essence.”
Noboru rubbed his chin. Very good. These girls had more wits about them than he had assumed. He slowly made his way over to her, unassuming in his posture. Yohari watched him and, with even more uncertainty, the guard with his bow still aimed behind them.
He got up close, within a few paces of Yohari. Even her face made her seem fragile, yet she clearly possessed a modicum of toughness that he could certainly cultivate. “What are you doing here? What are you aiming for?” He lowered his voice so that the Jodai could not hear.
Yohari kept her tone hushed. “We figured you had taken a wagon, and that since we couldn’t see it, it must be at the bottom of the hill’s incline. We took the soldiers and loaded them in the wagon. If I don’t come back soon, Tara will scare your horse off into the rice fields, where everyone will discover them and find out what you did. So if I were you, I’d think quickly.”
Noboru leaned back and grinned. He was taking a liking to this Yohari. “Let’s go get your friend, quickly. Lord Owa shouldn’t be kept waiting.”