Chapter 228: The Black-Haired, Red-Eyed Girl
The village, situated on the lower slopes of the mountain, had houses built on undulating ground. The houses were elevated to prevent dampness, supported and leveled by thick wooden posts of varying heights, which were then solidified with stone and earth. The houses were made purely of wood, with windows covered in white paper and thatched roofs to protect against wind and rain.
This was Yamada Village. Everyone in the village, young and old, male and female, shared the surname Yamada. The village backed onto a high mountain and was divided into upper and lower sections based on the terrain, connected by a three-meter-long wooden bridge.
Shirou and the others constructed defensive measures according to the village's topography.
They had now secured two areas: the main village entrance by erecting a palisade and wooden wall, and the flooded farmlands, blocked by obstacles made of long logs and planks on the banks. They only needed to dismantle the wooden bridge when the bandits attacked to achieve defense on three sides.
At this time, six samurai and one farmer were discussing tactics in the house allocated for the samurai. Nobu was not in the room; she was wandering outside as usual.
In her words, anything she could think of, the bad Nobu (Demon King Nobunaga) could also think of, so there was no point in her staying here.
The farmer who had been invited over was Yamada Genichirou, the leader of the villagers who had gone out to hire Shirou. The villagers called him 'Aichi'.
"As we discussed earlier, when the time comes, Souji, Nobu, and Master Inshun will lead the militia to guard these three routes. Kojiro and Tawara Touta will lead the largest number of militia to defend the path on the back mountain. I will coordinate personnel from the center, and Yukino will be responsible for relaying messages," Shirou said.
"Understood," everyone nodded in agreement.
"Um... speaking of which, why are we leaving the path on the back mountain exposed? Wouldn't it be better to build a defensive wall there too?" Aichi, who was called in to assist the samurai because he knew the terrain, couldn't help but ask.
Shirou explained with a smile, "No, anyone who has read Sun Tzu's The Art of War should know that whether attacking or defending a fortress, unless preparing for a prolonged war of attrition, encircling three sides and leaving one open is the ideal approach to seek change and gain an advantage."
"After all, if we hold the defense too tightly, the cornered bandits might disregard the grain and simply set the village on fire. So, it's necessary to show them a glimmer of hope. We will use this point to lure them in and first weaken some of their forces. This back mountain is where we will decide the outcome of the battle with the bandits."
"Hoo, the commander is right," Tawara Touta nodded, clearly agreeing with Shirou's idea.
"I have no objection. We shall proceed as Lord Shirou instructs," Hōzōin Inshun said with a smile.
"This battle should not be a passive defense, but a counter-attack focused on defense," Shirou continued, pointing at a spot on the map with a thin wooden stick used as a baton.
"When the time comes, we will hold the three sides and prevent the bandits from entering anywhere else. Kojiro and Tawara Touta will lead the bamboo spear militia on both sides of the back mountain path, ambushing them using the slopes, grass, and trees as cover.
The bandits will surely charge on horseback. That path can only allow a maximum of two horses to pass at the same time. You will let one or two bandits pass through, and then lead the militia to use the long spears to stab and block the main force.
I will be on the road where the bandits ride into the village from the back mountain, leading the remaining militia, preparing traps to encircle and kill the bandits."
"Traps? Lord Shirou, do you have any good methods?" Hōzōin Inshun asked curiously.
Shirou smiled and said, "Yes, I observed that the road the bandits will take from the back mountain into the village is soft dirt, so I plan to dig five or six horse traps there. We can also place tripping ropes on the ground, cover them with soil, and pull them taut the moment the horses pass. If the bandits fall off their horses, even the villagers themselves should be able to deal with them, right?"
"Eh... that's sinister. I told you not to use your cheerful smile while saying such dangerous things," Souji said, seemingly startled.
"That's a good plan. While it may not be entirely fair, it's acceptable since the opponent is a bandit."
"No, any method that reduces our casualties in this battle is worthwhile. However, doing this requires digging up the soil on that road. Is that possible, Aichi?" Shirou asked the villager next to him.
Aichi nodded repeatedly and agreed, "Yes! Lord Shirou! Please, you must teach us how to set these traps."
Shirou nodded and continued, "Well, in fact, once the defenses are set up, dealing with those bandits shouldn't be a problem. The real challenge is Demon King Nobunaga. If she can use a Noble Phantasm, the situation will be completely reversed."
"That bad Nobu said she would find helpers, so there will be three powerful enemies, including her. That ninja we encountered before should be one of them," Souji said seriously.
Kojiro smiled and said, "That will be my time to step forward. Rather than bandits, I am more interested in slaying powerful individuals."
"I will be relying on you then. I will also fight with all my strength and will definitely not drag you down," Shirou promised.
"No, no, Shirou, you are already strong enough," Souji said, waving her hands and complaining.
.
.
.
At this moment, on the other side, several related villagers—brothers—were gathered near their doorways, conducting their own practice, holding long black spears and practicing thrusts.
Just then, the black-haired, red-eyed girl, wearing a solar crest cap, happened to pass by while roaming the village. She initially intended to walk straight to the other side to survey the village's terrain, but suddenly stopped, turned around, and fixed her gaze on the villagers, seemingly drawn by something.
"Hey! Hey! What are you holding?" the black-haired, red-eyed girl called out, stopping the villagers.
"No, no... it's nothing," the villagers said nervously.
"I mean this spear," the black-haired, red-eyed girl said, pointing to the long, black, straight spear the villagers were holding.
"What! You have good stuff here! There must be more than just what your family has, right? There definitely is more, right!" The black-haired, red-eyed girl grabbed the black spear and asked.
"Uh..." The villagers exchanged glances, realizing the samurai girl was not angry, and spoke softly, "Actually... there are four complete sets of armor in the village."
"Is that so? Do you have any good bows? If you do, you won't need to stand so close; you can deal with the bandits from a distance, as long as you have bows!" The black-haired, red-eyed girl reminded them, imitating Nobu's cute, childish loli voice.
"We have bows here!" The villagers nodded repeatedly upon hearing the samurai girl's words.
"Then bring all of them over! The samurai will surely be delighted!" The black-haired, red-eyed girl's eyes flashed with a strange light, seeming to plot something mischievous as she encouraged the villagers.
"We understand! We will go and fetch the equipment from the other families right now!" the villagers agreed.
Not long after, the black-haired, red-eyed girl arrived in front of the house where everyone was staying, pushing the door wide open and striding in, shouting.
"Hey~! Shirou, look! I've brought good stuff!"
Behind her were four villagers, divided into two groups, carrying four sets of samurai armor and weapons on long poles, along with katana (long swords) and wakizashi (short swords), as well as bows and quivers full of feathered arrows.
Seeing these items, the samurai inside fell silent. Instead of joy, they showed expressions of anger.
"These are... stripped from fallen samurai, aren't they?" Anger and sadness rose in Shirou's heart, as if a residual consciousness within his body was roaring.
'Why would this village have complete sets of samurai battlefield equipment? Just thinking about it reveals that the villagers here are not innocent either...'
"Hoo, the people in this village are quite capable," Kojiro said indifferently, almost mocking them.
"Enough! Get out!" Tawara Touta, usually friendly and cheerful, also got angry this time, kicking the armored equipment hanging on the carrying poles.
"Eeeek!!" The villagers who carried the equipment were so frightened that they scrambled to flee.
Aichi, the villager sitting far away, saw that the situation was bad and ran out too.
"What's going on? What's going on?" The villagers outside, who had heard the noise, rushed over and asked.
"It's nothing! The samurai are arguing, it's dangerous! Get out!" Aichi pushed his fellow villagers, telling them to leave quickly.
"Go now!" Aichi urged them away, but he didn't dare to go in, nor did he dare to leave, so he could only sit by the door, waiting for the samurai inside to decide their fate.
The samurai inside the room fell into silence.
In times of war, farmers were plundered by the government. Whenever a battle occurred, armies invading enemy territory would loot and burn every village they passed.
After all, leaving supplies would only aid the enemy.
When armies were defeated, exhausted and fleeing samurai who passed through villages were often captured and killed by the villagers if discovered. This was partly for the fine weapons the samurai carried. On the other hand, if a samurai knew about the village, there was no guarantee they wouldn't lead an army back to plunder it in the next war.
A fallen tiger that has tumbled into a pit is even dared to be tormented by a dog. A sheep will use its hooves to kick and shove an injured wolf. A mother hen will fly at an eagle to peck it to protect its chicks. A rabbit will attack and bite a snake that has swallowed its young.
Therefore, it was common for isolated, distressed samurai to be killed by villagers, even if those samurai were not the same as the previous ones who had come here.
They just didn't expect that after they had gotten acquainted and grown fond of this village, they would discover that the people here were all individuals who had killed samurai. This felt like a betrayal.
The black-haired, red-eyed girl spread her hands and said, "Don't be like that, everyone. These are tools. They are just tools. Wouldn't it be better to just use them? The craftsmanship of these is considered top-grade, even compared to my era."
"Nobu, stop talking. You haven't experienced the plight of a samurai in distress, so you cannot understand," Shirou said to the black-haired, red-eyed girl.
"So what are you going to do? Force them to hand over the murderers of the samurai and make them commit suicide?" the black-haired, red-eyed girl asked.
Shirou looked at the girl and seriously rejected, "No. If we were to do that, we would be no different from those bandits. Besides, those villagers must have their own reasons... The fault lies with this chaotic world."
"So? Shirou, are you pleading for the villagers? How do you plan to convince the others? Or are you going to give up on saving the villagers here?" Nobu asked.
"No, defending against the bandits is for the sake of the justice in my heart. I won't abandon the village simply because there are bad people here. But I won't force everyone else," Shirou said.
Souji said gloomily, "But if we leave now, the villagers will face a terrible outcome, won't they?"
Sasaki Kojiro spoke up coolly, "No. In that case, the villagers will have only one path left: death. Since they've already made preparations for defense, the bandits will likely slaughter the entire village, if only to make a statement."
"Everyone, we have been here for almost a week, and we know the character of the villagers somewhat. Aichi and the others have only been eating dry, hard millet rice, while feeding us white rice. At least they are not ungrateful villains."
"Well, pitiful people must have something hateful about them. Humans have both good and evil sides. They can hire samurai, and they can also kill distressed samurai. Maybe they are just pretending to be pathetic so we will fight for them."
"I was hunting in the forest these past few days, and I saw them secretly cultivating private fields in a hidden spot on the mountain. They don't look as poor as they pretend to be, and
they might even be secretly eating some good things at home, who knows," the black-haired, red-eyed girl said with a wicked smile.
"No! That's not true! I tasted the millet rice they eat. It's so hard to chew and swallow. It's animal feed; people wouldn't eat it unless they were forced to. And..." Young Yukino stood up to refute. She seemed to want to say more but held back.
Shirou looked at the girl and said, "Yukino, lead the way. You have something you want us to see, don't you?"
"Master? You already know?!" Yukino said in surprise. She thought she had concealed it very well.
"You haven't been eating properly these past few days and kept running outside. There must be a reason for that," Shirou said, looking at the girl.
"Yes... it seems I couldn't hide it from Master after all," Yukino smiled bitterly and nodded.
"Little Yukino, if you have something to say, just say it," Souji said, looking at the little girl who was like a younger sister to her.
"Yes, then! Everyone, please follow me. Seeing it with your own eyes will be clearer than just hearing about it," Young Yukino bowed slightly to everyone and then walked out the door.
Shirou and Souji exchanged glances and followed her lead.
"Hmmph..." The black-haired, red-eyed girl, who was lagging behind, pouted and followed them.
They were ultimately just outsiders in this village. Just like the equipment of the fallen samurai, there were many secrets in this village that they, as outsiders, did not know.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting