章節 51: Screams that Terrifies the Soul.
There are many reasons for a leader to declare war on his neighboring land.
In times of great needs, a leader might choose to take the ailing of his people over the peace that he has with his neighbors just to supply his people with the resources they need.
In times of great turmoil, a leader might choose to remove neighbors that he thinks would bring harm to him and his people, all in order to not fall victim to their attacks later.
In times of great conquest, a leader may choose to take his own piece of glory and victory in a war to raise his prestige among other leaders, usually out of ambition.
But… when does a leader's choice become a problem?
When does a choice, whether it be out of need or desire, become a source of suffering for those under that decision?
Perhaps… There is only one way to know.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I didn't expect for Lord Satou to gather the army in such a short notice…"
"I know. But don't be too loud, Father will hear you."
Tonight, we marched westward from our Asahi province to go to the border of Shinka Province.
"What was this for again?"
"I heard about it from the chattering of our servants. Folks said that the four… no, five provinces in the south are forming an alliance and it's going to be a problem for the Satou Clan."
"Mm… I see."
I've heard about things like that too, but it never crossed my mind that it will be this worrisome for our leaders. Well… the Satou lords do know when to involve or not involve their selves.
To put it simply, the provinces controlled by the Satou clan are the three lands that separate the Southern provinces from the central plains.
First, there is the province of Kaiji at the north. Situated between Yukonami and Haguro provinces, it is a thin province that separates the two lands and is allied with the influential Myoko clan of the Haguro province. It is led by a branch family of the Satou clan. Next, there is Hatsu province just below Kaiji and above Asahi. It shares five borders with Yukonami, Kaiji, Haguro, Hashidate and Asahi provinces, it is quite the small province, but due to its central spot in the plains, it's been known to be quite economically influential. It is led by another branch family of the Satou clan.
The land lead by the main line of the Satou clan is Asahi province. An agricultural province that has been under the leadership of the Satou clan for the last 700 years. This long history is reflected with the numerous memorials and statues made in honor of the past Satou leaders and their achievements in battle and peacetime.
By nightfall, we arrived at the village nearest to the border. Before we went to the meeting tent, I talked to my brother about something that I've noticed since we made camp here.
"Hey, Aniki… Is it just me or… are we being watched?"
"Huh?"
"I've been feeling something behind my head all this time… it feels like someone has been watching us since we arrived here."
"Haah… Are you a fool? How can that happen if we are still in Asahi? How the hell can someone watch us from this far off the border?"
"Alright, alright… I'm just being cautious. It's never not bad to think about safety when we get deployed out for an invasion."
To be fair, it really was foolish of me to think that such a thing would be true. We're three Ri (approximately 12 Km or 7.5 Mi) away from the forest of Len in Shinka's border, there's no way that they'll be seeing us from this afar. Especially when the tree line and shrubbery in that thick forest is blocking their view.
We went to Lord Satou's tent where the other samurai officers are having a meeting.
"You two, come here before the meeting starts."
""Yes, Father.""
We sat behind our father and after a while, Lord Satou came to start the meeting.
"I believe that I don't have to tell anyone in this tent about why we are attacking Shinka."
"Yes, my lord. It's to pacify this incoming encroachment of the southern triad."
"Exactly, we've long depended on the discord that plagued the clans of the southern triad. Our ancestors even fueled the fire of their hatred towards each other just to keep them out of our affairs with the central plains… but now that they've set aside their differences…"
"It is regrettable, but we are now stuck between a rock and a hard place…"
The officers looked worried for a moment as the lord and our father spoke about our current situation.
"In any case, we don't have much to fear. They are just savages after all, what can a motley band of weaklings do to us?"
"Yeah. It's not like the Shinka clan won any proper battle with us. More so the ruffians of Yukonami, they can raid poor and peaceful villagers, but they can do nothing when attacked by our warrior forces."
"That's right!"
"They are nothing!"
The officers cheered as we knew that we don't have to fear the southerners. It's common sense to us that our ancestors remained in their ancestral provinces and didn't conquer the southern lands simply as a show of their noble pity for those people.
But… I am still very worried. I can't remove this worry in my head.
Tomorrow morning, my brother went to where I was practicing archery and asked me something while I was nocking an arrow on my bow.
"Hey, have you seen the scouting party that we sent before daybreak? I've been waiting for a while and they still haven't arrived."
"Huh? How should I know? I lead the mounted archers, Aniki. So, I don't know if your cavalry soldiers are here, or they are still scouting outside. Besides, you sent them to the forest, they're bound to confuse some paths and get lost for a while. Just calm down and wait for them, they're not stupid enough to not be able to return soon."
"Hm… you have a point. They have horses anyway, they'll probably be here before Lord Satou returns to Shime castle and orders us to move out."
A few hours passed and my brother felt more and more worried as the scouts he sent out is still nowhere to be seen.
"Tch! Did they get lost, or did they desert from the army already? Cowards, the lot of them!"
However, before his anger boiled to the brim, the soldier from the watchtower shouted to the gate guards to open the gate to let the cavalry scouts get in.
"Hey! What took you guys so- Whaaa?!!"
"What the hell?! How did-?!"
However, the six cavalrymen didn't respond or more accurately, they cannot respond anymore.
"These are… musket shots?"
"All hitting their foreheads and going through? Are you serious?!"
The cavalry scouts were being dragged by their horses using a rope on their feet. That is when we noticed that their helmets had a small hole on the front and a huge gaping hole on the back that exposed their freshly exploded skull and innards.
"Who… who could've done this?! There's no way that a musket could be so accurate to hit the same spot on their heads!"
"Maybe they were caught before this happened?"
My brother raised their heads around and the dead soldier's mouth opened to leak out dirt and pieces of wood bark. When the dirt was scattered around, earthworms squiggled out from the bloodstained dirt.
"This is…"
"Impossible… is this possibly… the forest's wrath?"
It is indeed unthinkable to us. But little did we know that this is just the beginning of the horrors we have to face.
Later at noon, we moved out as Lord Satou returned to the capital and left the leading of the army to our father.
"H-hey, Aniki…"
"Yeah?"
"The forest of Len is… protected by tree gods, right?"
"Kuh-! When the hell did start to care for Shinto gods? They can scare us for all I care."
"A-Aniki… that's not a good thing to say."
I'm not really that devout, but this eerie feeling that I am having while we are threading the dark and cold forest… it's unsettling.
"H-Hey! Where did the rear forces go?!"
A shout came from the back of the line, for some reason the soldiers in the rear suddenly disappeared.
"Hey! Hey! Where are you guys?!"
For some reason, the path behind us was suddenly filled with trees and thick shrubbery that would take time to get through with. And behind that, none of the soldiers we came with are replying to our shouts.
"Tch! What the hell is happening here?!"
"This is not funny! The supply convoy is with the soldiers at the rear!"
"Our supplies!"
Before the panic can spread more among the men, my father stepped up and shouted.
"Do not fear! This is nothing to worry about! The Forest of Len is known to be hard to traverse but have trust with your comrades. They will eventually find their way out!"
It wasn't the best excuse, but it at least gave our soldiers some peace of mind by trusting the group with all of our supplies.
We continued the march and following the map, we sensed that we are nearing the exit of the forest.
"Finally… out of that dark and eerie forest…"
"Haah… that is a relief…"
My brother and I sighed for a moment but when we stepped out of the forest, another horrifying sight welcomed us.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
"T-T-T-THAT'S-! Those are the lost soldiers!!!"
Our soldiers were found near a few dead trees at the outskirts of the forest. But they were not there to rest.
"Who… Who could've done this massacre?!"
"T-the supply carts! They've turned to ashes!"
The dead soldiers were hanged or nailed onto the dead trees and the area around them was where our carts were located, albeit charred to ashes and its contents of no more use to us.
"Tch! This is impossible! Who could've done this behind our backs that we didn't even noticed it?!"
"S-Sir! There's a sign here!"
A soldier ran to us and handed a piece of wood to my brother. The words written on it was made of fresh tree sap.
["A grim warning to trespassers, death awaits anyone who passes maliciously through our land. If one wishes to defy, face the monsters that we will send."]
My brother shook in fear after reading those words. Even he cannot deny that something supernatural has been happening all this time.
That night, having secured a small patch of land in Shinka for us to rest from our march, Father organized a meeting, and everyone seemed to have the same issue in their minds.
"Out with it. I can feel all of you waiting for someone to say it first."
"Sir… I do not question your wisdom nor your commands, but the things that happened in the morning and just earlier in the afternoon…"
"I knew it…"
The old man had an expression of worry on his face. Even he seemed to be thinking twice about what to do now.
"Let me speak frankly. Right now, our force of 10,000 men lost our primary caravan of supplies and it's questionable if the supply chain wouldn't experience the same fate as the ones who went first. If so, we cannot maintain our men's provisions and weapons, more so a battle."
Everyone nodded to the tactician's judgement. This really is a hard time for us.
"Then what do you suggest, tactician?"
"Well… for now, we have to send a messenger through the forest to tell the next supply caravan to move ahead of the set schedule. While waiting for them, it would probably be wise for us to keep our actions on the barest of minimum and scrounge the area around us for supplies. We can also go forward and seize the supplies of a nearby Shinka village, but that would be problematic if their forces arrive before we can receive the contents of the arriving convoy."
"Let's take your first suggestion. We risk lowering the men's morale for a while, but it is better than engaging the enemy and them annihilating us in retaliation."
"Indeed. That is a wise decision, sir."
But… our nightmare has yet to begin.
"Awoooooo!!! YAAAAA!!!"
That night, none of us can sleep as the bright full moon seemed to have riled up the evil spirits and monsters in the forest behind us. Their howling and screeching echoed in the woods without ceasing. It was spinetingling… the thought of someone yanking me out of my tent if I fell asleep kept me awake even against my desire to rest already. That night, I tried to steal a few moments of rest while clutching a katana, prepared for anything if circumstances come to worst.
"…"
"…"
"Fuwaaahhh…"
The meeting next morning was horrid. Almost all of the samurai officers had dark circles below their eyes and their eyeballs were reddish and moist. It seemed like none of us had any sleep last night as they tried to hide their yawning from the others.
"I don't get it…"
"Father?"
"I don't understand! Why is this happening to us?!"
I knew it. Since he's quite an elderly man already, father sure did feel irritated with not being able to sleep last night. He hit his fist on the floor, wanting to release his pent-up irritation and anger.
"Perhaps, we have offended the tree spirits… we should-"
"Are you shitting me?! What kind of spirit would be able to kill 100 fit and armed men, nail them on trees and burn our provisions like it's nothing? Answer me!"
"Then what do you propose, sir? That we are so sloppy, and we passed by the enemy, only to fall victim to their traps?"
"Kh! Damn it!"
Each of the 8 samurai officers in the room agreed on the idea to some degree. If this is not the forest's wrath, then that just means that we're being tricked all this time.
"S-S-Sir!"
"What?"
"The tents are burning!"
"-!"
Just this moment, a soldier opened the tent door and reported that the tents for the soldiers suddenly caught on a fire.
"Pour water in there!"
"Keep it under control! Take down the unburned tents and isolate the burning ones!"
The soldiers poured water around the burning tent and took down the ones near it to avoid it from spreading further. For them, this was common sense, but I knew that something horribly wrong just happened there.
"That's our drinking water! Don't use all of it!"
"-!!!"
Another mistake… we were able to save a few containers from being used as a fire extinguisher, but that's not the focus of why most of the officers came to the burned tent.
"There's no fire in here, you say?"
"Yes sir, we kill the torches during daybreak, so we didn't use any fire since the morning."
"Then how…?"
One thing that we know is that the one who noticed the fire first said that there's something shiny on the tarp before it caught fire. He didn't mind it at first since he thought that his eyes are just playing tricks on him, but he soon realized that he should've reported it first.
"First it was forest spirits… now it's fire sprites?"
"Don't pile up more supernatural crap on our situation!"
"Then come up with a proper explanation, damn it!"
As the days went by as we waited for the supply caravan, father and the other officers are growing impatient and scared. They began to be more tired and irritable as every night wouldn't be a silent one with the howls and screeches from the forest.
"Urk… I'm starving already…"
"The stream nearby ran out of fishes…"
"Argh! When will this end?!"
The men too, are being affected by the events. Sleepless, hungry and yearning to go home, there were some who deserted at the middle of the night and ran to the forest to go back to Asahi, but in the morning, their bodies will be nailed on the dead trees again, mutilated with animal bites and having the same gaping wounds on the back of their heads as if it exploded.
"This is hopeless… we can't continue this any further!"
Three days since we arrived at the other side, the army soldiers raised their voices to appeal their request to us officers.
"If the supply caravan doesn't come today, we will attack the village nearby even if we have to go against orders!"
"Yeah! We're done with this now! We'll die of hunger anyway, so we'll risk a raid just to feed ourselves!"
The samurai officers held their aching heads as they knew that they cannot stop them anymore. They made a compromise with the ringleaders.
"We'll allow you to perform the raid but try not to kill or hurt any villagers. Don't raze their homes and farms too. Get their food then get out. Another thing, remove your armor and dress like bandits. This is the least that we can do to not tarnish the Satou clan's honor, even if we have to rely on trickery and marauding…"
However, before the ones who volunteered to join the raiders set out, a mysterious man came to the camp bearing the flag of an unknown clan. It was a clan crest with the design of a flaming sword.
He stopped at the gates of the camp where every archer carefully nocked an arrow on their bows in preparation if he would do anything suspicious.
"I am a messenger from the Southern Alliance forces, I bear a message from Lord Iwasawa Hiroshi of Kiko!"
He shouted his introduction and stated the name of the lord who sent him.
"Iwasawa Hiroshi? Who is that?"
"I don't know."
The soldiers mumbled to their selves, clueless of the current situation. But having a messenger from the enemy coming to our camp meant that we have to respond fairly on the very least.
"Speak messenger, I am the general of this army."
"Ahem… My name is Iwasawa Hiroshi, lord of Kiko province and acting chancellor of the Southern Quartet Alliance. We do not know the purpose of your encroachment towards Shinka, but know well that we will not spare any effort to drive out any hostile force from any of our allied states. To this, we wish to inform you that if your army will surrender and go back to your lands within 24 hours after this message has been received, we will be noble enough to not give chase nor ask for reparations and will simply waive this as an unfortunate and forgettable accident."
When they heard the letter, everyone started to laugh at the soldier except for the most cautious of us.
"HAHAHA!!! Those savages? Acting like they are true nobles?!"
"Don't joke around, barbarian! When did you start to think that we'll listen to your meaningless ramblings?!"
"KAHAHAHA!!! This is hysterical! Those brutes will not chase us? Don't make me laugh! We're the ones who is obligated to take it easy on you because all of you are so weak!"
The insults came raining down to the lone messenger as he rolled his scroll back to its tube and took another one that he threw lightly to our gates before leaving silently.
"Take it, let's see more jokes about these barbaric southerners…"
A soldier took the scroll and Father took it out to read it.
At first, he was smiling, even giggling at some lines. But as he read further, his eyebrows became more knit until he became pale-faced at the last line.
"S-Son…"
"Yes, father?"
He called my brother and spoke slowly.
"Get some men and try to enter the forest…"
"S-sure… but what for, father?"
"It says here that tonight will be the full moon and according to local beliefs, the forest closes up for some reason until the next full moon."
"T-then… what should I look for in the forest?"
"Our supply carts."
My brother left immediately with his hand-picked men and before dusk, he arrived back with dire news.
"Nothing… there was nothing left in there anymore!"
"What?"
"The two… no, three supply convoys! All of them were burned and the soldiers guarding them all had the same injuries! The backs of their heads were all open, and their mouths was filled with dirt and bark!"
At that time, everyone no longer had any doubts. This is not a work of a mortal man. This haunted forest was definitely for real.
"The raid is everything we have left… whether they fail or bring back something, we will have to retreat back to Asahi before the forest trail closes."
"Don't worry, father. I'll be the one leading the raid, I'll never disappoint you."
"The thought itself that we have to plunder a village just to fill our stomachs are already enough of a disappointment… Still, keep safe, son…"
My brother left later with the raiders, not wearing our clan insignia and aiming to just retrieve enough food for us to eat and receive strength for the retreat.
"It's here…"
Once the full moon rose to the horizon, the howling and screeching emerged yet again, but this time, it was accompanied by another strange noise.
"What are… what are those?"
"Are you hearing that too, Father?"
The howling usually sounds like a wolf's howl while the screeching sounds like a continuous screech of a hawk but this strange third noise… it slowly dampened the noise of the first two sounds.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
"-?!?!?!?!"
"What the hell is that?!!"
I can only describe it as a sound that came from the depths of hell. A far-away, high-pitched pained shout of an indescribable monster…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
"MAKE IT STOP!!!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"
All of us, sleepless, starving and not on the right state of mind, held our heads as the horrifying hellish screams echoed in our ears. From the depths of our very souls, that noise felt like the sound of our impending doom.
"W-What the…?"
As the noisy screams continued to become louder, dark clouds from the forest covered the sky, blotting out the light of the full moon until… it appeared again with an ominous red glow.
"S-S-SAVE ME!!!"
"I WANT TO GO HOME!!!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE HERE!!!"
Everyone seemed to turn to madmen and soon enough, the ones with the weakest mental strengths snapped and turned against their comrades.
"GET AWAY! GET AWAY!"
"Gyack-!"
They flailed their weapons around, hurting and sometimes killing those around them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
The shouts came closer and closer, the camp became more and more soaked in violence and horror as I held my hurting head and helplessly watching our army descending to chaos under the horrifying noises and light.
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!"
"F-Father? FATHER! NO!"
My father too, cannot endure it any longer and plunged a knife into his stomach to finally escape this hellscape. I tried to run to him in order to stop him, but I was too late when I arrived. He already did it and is bleeding to death with a strangely satisfied expression on his face.
"No… NOOOO!!!"
At that point, something in my mind snapped too and I can only vaguely remember my actions afterwards.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
Alright, it seems like that's enough of a damage to them.
"Kuro, Ichi… tell the crows to stop already."
"Yes, my lord."
With my command, the two commanders signaled to the ninjas behind us to stop the bone-chilling noise that we've been making for over an hour already.
"I made those things and I feel just as horrified of it as the enemy. Death whistles… this should be a war crime but here we are…"
I mumbled to myself and retracted my telescope before climbing down from the tree branch that I was sitting on.
"Come on, let's check for any survivors."
"Right behind you, Iwasawa-sama."
So… let me explain what happened since we received the news about an enemy clan that was marching its army from the east. To make it as concise as possible, I made the two other lords to call for their armies using the radiophone. But I made a note to these two before their armies arrived.
"I want you guys to march to Yukonami and defend the border there."
"Huh? Isn't Shinka the one being invaded here?"
"Yeah. Why are you sending them to Yukonami, you idiot?"
With the question of Kotaro and Kyoko, I answered simply with this statement.
"The invasion through the forest of Len is just a distraction. My other group of spies reported that the real main force is building up in Kaiji province's border with Yukonami."
"What? Oi! When the hell did you deploy spies on the land given to me?! Do you have a death wish?!"
The female Ayanami general and provincial lord of Yukonami protested while holding the handle of her sword, trying to intimidate me. But her younger sister came to my defense.
"Stop it, Aneue. Lord Iwasawa has informed us about it. He strategically placed a consulate in Yukonami and told us that it would also be a forward base of the alliance regarding intelligence operations."
"Tch! Why was I not told about this?"
Hearing that, his little sister was confused.
"Huh? Didn't you read the terms and conditions sent by their consulate when you became the daimyo of Yukonami?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Oh no… that was awkward.
"Ara? Mitsuha-san, did you perhaps stamp it with your approval without even reading it?"
"-!"
"Oh! Sorry, did I say that out loud?"
Princess Reika wasn't any better. She was perfectly calm and collected earlier but she suddenly asked a question that rubbed salt on the already open wound of the female general.
"Argh… this is why I was thinking twice about giving you Yukonami…"
"I-I'm sorry for being a disappointment, Princess!"
It was only when Kyoko voiced out her disappointment that she accepted her fault and bowed down to apologize to her.
"A-anyway… back to the point."
I spoke to break the awkward atmosphere and get everyone back to our subject.
"Yukonami would surely be the invasion point. With that, I request that the armies of Kise and Fuku to gather in the border defenses of Yukonami and stand by as we clean up the ones crossing the forest."
"Would you be able to do that? I mean, you do have Shinka's forces as back up, but you'll be fighting the main family of the Satou clan."
"Don't worry, there won't even be any battle."
"""Huh?"""
They all asked in unison and I replied with a smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if any of you are easily scared of the supernatural or your chest tightens when you think of something scary, I would like you to please exit the room now."
They heard my request and some of the servants slowly went to the doors of the hall and went out.
"Nobisuke, try not to make it too loud, we're in an indoor chamber after all."
"Yes sir."
I placed my hands over my ears and Nobisuke took out a small whistle shaped like a skull.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
"-!!!"
"What the hell is that demonic noise?!"
"AHHH!!! Stop it!"
Kyoko, Reika and Kotaro reacted in that order. Kyoko looked like she was calm but her face was twitching and turned pale. Reika took out a mayoke charm used to ward off evil spirits, it was expected as she is a priestess. Kotaro on the other hand, received the worst reaction as his chair made dripping noises shortly after Nobisuke stopped blowing the instrument.
"Umm… Nayoko-san… if you may."
"Y-yes, sir… Come now, Lord Kotaro… we'll hide you from the crowd until we arrive at the inn and have you washed up."
"Uwaaaahhh-! That is too scary!"
I'm sorry kid. I've never expected that you'll let loose your bladder out of fear. I'll try to make it up to you next time.
After the young lord exited the room with his servants, a clerk took his place in recording our conversation. He simply nodded to us and said that he'll be silent for the proceedings.
"Alright… where are we aga-"
"What the hell, Iwasawa! Do you want me to kill you, you punk?!?!?!"
"What?!"
Suddenly, Kyoko charged towards me and held me on the collar while having an enraged expression.
"How dare you make your servant play that demonic instrument while I'm here?! Are you crazy?!"
"I warned everyone, didn't I?"
"Shut up!"
As irrational as her reaction might have been, I cannot really dismiss it as nothing. Even I had to block off my ears just to be less scared of the sound it made.
And to think that I made it by accident while trying to make a trench whistle… discoveries sure are scary sometimes. I do remember something like this in my past life. I think it was from South America and called the Aztec death whistle. Regardless, I had the perfect weapon for my plan.
"Going back to our plan… again."
I spoke begrudgingly as Kyoko is still glaring at me from across the table while mumbling expletives…
"I plan to scare the enemy army into thinking that the forest is haunted. I already have a number of men in the area who are watching over them. I plan to rendezvous with them as soon as possible and perform this psychological warfare operation before this week ends."
"Why such a narrow time? Is something happening this week?"
"The answer is both yes and no. For one, I don't want to keep this battle for too long. The sooner the enemy loses their fighting spirit, the better. The other reason is from a part of my plan to scare them. Princess Reika, since you're a priestess, I believe that you also have knowledge about astronomy?"
"Why, yes. Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"
"Is there a special event coming this Saturday?"
"Hmm… full moon, high tide… Oh! Oh yeah, there's a lunar eclipse this weekend!"
"Exactly! And if my calculations are correct, it will be enough to make the moon look reddish."
"And it will add more to the scary atmosphere! That's perfect!"
"Yeah."
With that, I turned to Kyoko who still has an aggressive expression but no longer cursing me under her breath.
"As for you, Kyoko… I'll help you get the first victory of the Shinka people against the seemingly invincible Satou clan."
"…"
"Come on, now. Don't be too grumpy."
"…"
She turned her gaze away as if not wanting to even respond to me.
Look at this immature girl. She's a daimyo and all, but she can't even set aside her emotions to do what she has to do.
"I accept your plan."
"Pardon?"
"If your plan works and we win against the Satou clan once and for all, I'll give you a reward."
Reward? Why would she say that? Anyhow, if that's how she wants to say it…
"Well, anything you say."
"Hmph!"
Haah… there she goes again, turning her face and heaving a prideful air. It's quite cute anyway so I have no complaints.
"As for the two branch families that will be left after the defeat of the main clan, we will-"
"WOOOHOOO!!!"
Suddenly, the door behind me burst open and a man cheered while raising his arms like a kid.
"Hey, what the hell man?! I haven't called out to you yet!"
"But I was already so excited! I'm having another task again! I'm raring to go, Iwasawa-sama!"
"Haah… whatever… Although he already showed himself, let me introduce this guy. His name is Kaminari Tatsu, a former swindler who is now working for me. His title is the Fox of Naka Harbor."
"It's a pleasure to be in your presence, esteemed ladies."
He spoke and bowed to the two female daimyos.
"Ara? You turned from your bad ways, huh? That's good."
Reika responded first and welcomed the former criminal.
"Oh, I see… An idiot master and a weirdo servant, what a fitting theme."
This girl… I'll teach her a lesson.
"…Nobisuke, can you blow the death whistle again?"
"Yes sir. Haaaa…"
"STOP!!!"
She shouted from the top of her lungs and threw a scroll to my direction. And well, that's how I got a bump on my head for a while.
Back to the present, we rode our horses and entered the enemy camp that was stained with blood from the ground to the tents.
"This sure will be considered a war crime… I don't think we should do this again."
I spoke softly while looking around the dead and dying enemy soldiers. The stench of blood attacked my nostrils, so I wore my gas mask that covered my face.
I dismounted near the general's tent and found the old man slumped over his own pool of blood. It seems like he committed seppuku to escape the horrifying noise from earlier. The sleeplessness from the first few nights might have really broke their sanity after hearing the death whistles tonight.
"Who…"
I was about to go out when I saw a young samurai with three spears going through his body.
"…"
"Are you… Death?"
"…"
He was beyond help. His blood has turned white-like, showing that even a transfusion at this point would be useless. His breathing was ragged, and his eyes are already losing light…
"Rest in peace. Even if you are an enemy, let me honor your last moments. What is your name?"
"Fujisaki... Kai."
"Die with honor. You deserve at least that."
I spoke through my mask and handed him his tanto dagger.
"Thank… you… Urk-!"
He spoke and with his last strength, plunged it deep into his abdomen to finish himself with honor.
I stood up and found a bloodstained daisy outside. I washed the petals and placed it near him, wishing that he had peace in his last moments.
"Iwasawa-sama. Lady Kusanagi is here."
"Alright."
We walked to the yard and the ninjas opened the gate to let Kyoko and her forces to get in.
"Seems like you've had your own share of the fighting."
"Heh! Don't underestimate me, I heard these invaders will be raiding my village and I just had to do it."
Kyoko replied and wiped off the blood from her naginata spear.
"Anyway, I'll have my men clean up the place before we continue behind your army. This place would make for a good supply depot for the counter-invasion."
"Good idea. Clean it up properly as soon as you can and help me out there. But remember, if you get more credit again, I won't forgive you anymore."
"Don't worry, I'll be supporting you guys from the sidelines."
"Alright. Everyone! Forward march!"
The Kusanagi army went forward and through the forest.
"Ichi, did you already remove the fake trees on the road that we placed to ambush the enemy convoys?"
"Yes, my lord. It's already been taken care of. The path to Asahi is straight and clean now."
I went around for a bit more as the ninjas piled the bodies outside of the camp and gathered wood to burn them en masse. That's when I noticed something strange at the corner of the camp.
"Kuro."
"Yes, sir?"
"Did you guys used glass to burn this tent?"
"Umm… No, I don't think we've brought a magnifying glass with us."
I noticed that it was strange… the burn mark on the tarp started in the center of the cloth rather than on its frays. Only a blowtorch or a magnifying glass fire can do this.
"Then… who did this?"
"Sorry sir, I just don't know a proper answer to that."
With no answers to it, I just shrugged and left it there. No point in chasing after something that no one can answer.
But then, I heard a soft voice from behind us.
"Pusu?"
"What?"
And just like that, the tent started to burn.
"What the hell?!"
"Iwasawa-sama! Get away from the fire sprite!"
For a moment, I thought… What if the Forest of Len really is haunted? And well, a face-to-face experience of hearing and seeing a fire sprite that burned a tent answered me. Or maybe that was just a hallucination after hearing the death whistle again.
Regardless, I still have a task to do. Next in our plan is invading the three Satou-controlled provinces.
創作者的想法 
Ephraim_Chronia
Ephraim_Chronia Wow, Author Chronia outdid himself again. A horrifying first part and a semi-comedic second part. Although... I am personally interested with the "reward" that Kyoko-chan is talking about. Will Hiroshi's heart be swayed? What about Chiyo-chan?
-Editor KEY
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