Chapter 10

Magoichi Saika was a respectable man. Surely, he would never oppress a woman. He would never use unnecessary force, but even someone like him, had to make an exception once in a while. He smirked in triumph as he had bested lady Aya, who was currently held down by his sheer strength. He made sure not to hurt her any further though, after all, he was still a gentleman. The gunslinger made sure just to use enough force to keep her from attacking or fleeing the scene.

He was no fool though. He knew not to underestimate the woman in white, so as a safety measure, he kept the blade on his rifle aimed at her neck. Said woman just sent him a sneer in response.

"If you are this forceful with women, it is no wonder that you are not successful." She taunted.

"Lady Aya, it is nothing personal." Magoichi lightly groaned. He had lost Shiorin out of sight. "It is just that I have pressing matters to attend to."

The woman underneath him scoffed. "I did not think Masamune Date would take to meek little lambs. Maybe he is not yet a lost cause." Honestly, while Aya was not the type of person to merely assume anything without knowing anything at all, she still did not know how to feel about Masamune. While being ambitious was a great thing in itself, he took it very far. She was not comfortable with it, especially not because Aya always made sure to keep the men in her clan level-headed. Each day she made sure to remind them what their real purpose was. It was not war. It was not power. The only thing that mattered was that Japan needed to be freed. The Uesugi fought so that the people of this nation could live their lives safely and normally again. That was all that mattered.

But she digressed.

The young woman who was supposed to be fighting alongside the Date, seemed very distraught and afraid. She was small, more so than Aya herself who was not particularly tall either, and honestly, she seemed harmless. Of course, looks could deceive, but if Masamune had truly given a young woman like that the chance to fight for his beliefs, or even the future of Japan, then perhaps there was more to him than anyone would think.

In any case, this was none of her concern.

Magoichi bit his lip. What would he do? He did not magically expect Rin to become a full fledged warrior once she stepped upon the battlefield, but he did not expect her to actually run in the middle of battle. She could be in serious trouble. The gunslinger could only hope that she managed to lay low somewhere, or maybe death would be a greater relief. Maybe, if he managed to find her before anyone else did, she would have a chance, but there is no way Aya would just let him wander out of here. That meant that the little lady was on her own. He just hoped for her sake that, if Masamune were to find her, he would go easy on her.

"Are you worried about your little comrad?" Aya asked him, her tone was genuine.

Magoichi was a bit distraught. For one, he was surprised that she asked, but also, he wondered why she would even care. This little distraction however, nearly cost the gunslinger his head. A large blade suddenly flashed above him, and he had to roll out of the way to dodge it. There was a large impact on the ground and the man was grateful that he managed to get away in time. That was an insane amount of damage done. A musou attack. Yet again.

The gunslinger scooted several meters backwards and glanced at his attacker. Unfortunately, he had to let go of Aya earlier, and now the said woman was standing up, a triumphant smile plastered on her face.

"You know. For the Uesugi to be blabbing about justice this much I would have expected you to play more fair." Magoichi complained, as he looked at Kagekatsu Uesugi, who was now standing before him and at his mother's side.

"I came as soon as I heard she required assistance." Kagekatsu calmly said.

A loud grunt sounded from the gunslinger. There was no way he was getting out of this place any time soon. He would have loved to go look for the young woman he was supposed to monitor, but if this garrison here were to be left to the Uesugi, then their objective of relieving the castle would be lost. If this fight would drag on too long, there would be no way to win this. They would have to retreat and even if they would make it out alive, it would give the Uesugi time to not only return safely to Echigo, but they also would be able to rejoin forces with their allies. He had no choice.

"Is it really alright for you to be assisting me here, Kagekatsu?" Aya asked her son, because if she recalled, he was supposed to guard the central garrisons instead.

The son simply replied, "We cannot afford to lose you here. I heard you were struggling and I had no choice but to abandon my position. I left our best captains in charge."

Kagekatsu knew that his mother was as much of a capable fighter as he was, however, he heard she was up against Magoichi Saika. He was no ordinary mercenary, and additionally, it was never a wise idea to underestimate a firearm. The Uesugi son figured that his assistance was of utmost importance.

His mother just chuckled, a very gentle sound. His loyalty warmed her heart. "You were raised well."

The gunslinger just scoffed at the scene. While of course, he could have just attacked them there at that very moment, but he had some dignity left. Besides, rushing in without as much as a plan was probably not a good idea. He was on his own now, against two opponents.

If only Rin were here. Surely, with her strength, subduing both of them would have been a small feat.

Honestly, he hoped that she would make it out alive, yet there was nothing else that he could do for now. The Date could not fall here.

Magoichi looked up at his opponents, tightly gripped his rifle and charged forward as fast as he could.

So far everything seemed to be going well. Kojuro Katakura, Masamune's closest retainer, was taking care of the siege of the central garrisons. Originally, the struggle here would have been far greater, but Kagekatsu had left his position quite suddenly. Kojuro assumed the most obvious. His enemy went to assist another ally elsewhere.

Maybe foolish, but the best thing to do probably, because the loss of a strong ally is a bigger casualty than the loss of ground. Kagekatsu must have realized this.

Even though he was Masamune's right hand, this particular task was not easy, even for him. The enemy's defense at the central garrisons had definitely weakened due to the absence of their leader, but that did not make it automatically easier to take control. The high ranking captains were holding their own against him. Most admirable.

Kojuro looked down at the several cuts and gashes over his armor and his body. It was quite the nuisance, but nothing that could be avoided in war. He was not going to complain either way though, because this is exactly what he enjoyed. Nothing in life is gained without struggle after all.

His momentary musing got interrupted when a voice called out. "Commander!" One of the Date's unit's captains ran up to the tall man. Kojuro frowned curiously.

"What is it?" He asked while he looked at the captain.

"A messenger brought word that the young woman had been sighted. Magoichi Saika was not with her.

Kojuro merely raised his eyebrow. "She ought to know better. If Masamune would know, there is no telling what he would do to her."

The captain nodded in agreement. "Yes sir. The messenger noted however that her movement seemed rather off. Should I bring her here so that Lord Masamune can decide what her punishment will be?"

The one eyed dragon's right hand thought hard for a moment. He was not entirely sure what the messenger meant by 'off' movement. Perhaps she was not trying to flee the battlefield at all? Where was Saika though if he was not with her. Perhaps he got attacked and Shiorin took that moment to flee the scene.

Whatever it was, he didn't have a lot of time to think about it. "No. No need to trouble Lord Masamune any further with her incompetence. The same goes for you. Forget about her and stay here. See to it that the siege will continue as it should. I will make my way over there myself. Do you know where she was sighted?" Kojuro informed the captain, while he reached for the bridles of his horse and climbed upon its saddle swiftly.

"Not too far, commander. I heard she ran east from Magoichi Saika 's position at the northern garrison."

With that, Kojuro nodded to the general, "Make sure to send reinforcements his way." and he took off.

'Assuming that she managed to slip away from Saika so easily…' The tall man pondered while underway on his horse. He knew that the gunslinger was a bit laid back at times, but at the same time, Magoichi Saika was a very skilled mercenary. There was no way Shiorin would just easily leave his side unless they were under attack.

If this truly was the case, then it was probably a good call that Kojuro was heading there himself. In all honesty, he did not want to put in all this effort just because of the foolishness of one woman. However, Masamune believed in her and witnessed her strength firsthand. Because of this, Kojuro himself ought to have that same faith in her. Not to mention that if she were to die carelessly out here, all the effort he and his lord went through just to recruit her, would have been for naught.

That is…if she wasn't already dead.

Her scream was ear piercing and gut wrenching.

Hisahiko always considered himself a mere shadow of the Date army, as he didn't have any great heritage. He earned his samurai title all the way from the bottom and he was proud of his achievement. He was a soldier of no nonsense and it showed. He did not spare any individual that dared stop him and his blade.

While fighting his way through the enemy ranks, Hisahiko stopped his advance once he heard a scream not too far off. The voice sounded familiar and it took him only a few moments to realize that that voice belonged to Shiorin, the young woman who had recently joined the Date army. He had doubts about her from the start. Of course, he witnessed her strength, but he also knew she did not have a warrior's mentality, unlike himself.

Of course, Hisahiko, as a commoner himself, would never dare to judge someone based on origin or stature, but he would definitely judge her meek demeanor.

That day, when he reported to Masamune about her abilities, he really wanted to believe in her, but the scene that unfolded before his eyes just proved that she was not cut out to be a soldier.

A large man with light hair and a rather rugged appearance, had his fingers wrapped around Shiorin's throat. His grip was tight and he used enough strength to lift her small body off the ground. Of course, Hisahiko could have just left her to die, because now she proved herself to be useless after all, but he was not an unjust man. If anyone should decide the woman's fate, it was definitely not this damned rogue.

The young soldier lifted his rifle and shot the larger man in the arm, which immediately made him drop Shiorin to the ground. Her body fell with a thud and the rogue yelled and roared in anger and pain, then turned angrily to the culprit of his new injury. His gaze was menacing, but Hisahiko refused to let that intimidate him.

Quickly, he darted to Shiorin's side and knelt down by her prone body.

The rogue just scoffed and spat onto the dirt. "I wouldn't expect the Date army to play dirty."

Hisahiko just scoffed. "Neither did I expect the Uesugi to have men like you among their ranks. You are obviously not a respectable samurai."

"I'll have you know that I, Mamoru, used to be a high ranked officer." The rogue sneered, while he stated his name. "Heh. You are right though, kid. I no longer belong to a clan."

The young soldier frowned. Mamoru, that was the rogue's name? If he told him that freely, he must've still intended to fight him. What a nuisance.

And he was right. The large man's speed was insane. Within the blink of an eye, he had grabbed his sword with his uninjured hand and before Hisahiko knew it, Mamoru was towering above him, ready to strike with his blade. This caused the younger man to cuss. He tightened his grip on his rifle and raised it quickly, the steel meeting with the rogue's blade in a loud clang.

Mamoru chuckled. For such a scrawny soldier, he sure wasn't bad. The rogue used all of his strength in that strike, but the kid did not falter at all, despite the fact he was still trying to push through.

The young soldier just cussed inwardly. How would he defend both Shiorin and himself. His enemy possessed insane physical strength. He sure was happy that he already shot him prior to their encounter, otherwise he might have had a lot more trouble holding him off. What was he to do though? It was not like he could just grab the small woman and walk his way out of here, there was absolutely no chance of this rogue letting them off that easily. Hisahiko's only choice was trying to finish this off as soon as possible.

He pushed forward and pulled the trigger on his rifle. It seemed that his plan worked because the loud sound of the shot alarmed Mamoru and made said man jump backwards and away from them. Quickly, the large man glanced at the gaping bullet wound in his left arm. Thankfully, it was not the arm that held his blade, but it was still quite the predicament to deal with. That kid ought to call his lucky stars for not shooting him a second time.

"Should have killed me the first time." Mamoru gripped tightly onto his blade and took on a battle stance once again. This time, he seemed to move with care.

Hisahiko just scoffed as he got up from his kneeling position. He had no choice but to fight the rogue head on. As long as he kept him busy, surely Shiorin would be okay. Her injuries were not severe and as far as he could tell, she just lost consciousness from the shock and possibly, a lack of air. It was going to be hard defending himself and her, but there was not much else he could do.

The grip on his rifle tightened once again and he quickly shot at the rogue in front of him. The large man responded by dodging it and in a swift motion, he suddenly was only a few inches away from the young man, which caused the latter to panic lightly. How the rogue could move so fast with such a grave injury was beyond him. Underestimating him was a mistake.

Hisahiko managed to hold off a blow to the face by blocking the hit with his rifle yet again, but the sheer force knocked him to his knees. This gave Mamoru an opening and without hesitation, the large man swung his blade.

The young soldier thought this would be the end of him, but a loud clang snapped him into reality.

Kojuro Katakura had arrived right on time, and blocked Mamoru's hit with his sword.

"Commander!" Hisahiko called out to his superior.

"Stand back. I will take care of him. You go find a messenger and we will see Shiorin out of the area." Kojuro ordered, while pushing back the rogue with all his strength.

The large man just scoffed. A rescue mission was it? This might be a problem. The kid was easy enough to handle, even with his injury, but this man was something else.

Mamoru jumped back and examined his adversary. The man in front of him was fairly tall and wore glasses. He had unusual weapons it seemed. The sword that he carried was retractable from his shield. Interesting.

Hisahiko just watched the two for a split second, but then he realized that he needed to start moving. He nodded to Kojuro after the order and he took off immediately.

The rogue watched the young man rush off, and he just chuckled softly. This earned him a raised brow.

"What is so amusing?" Kojuro asked.

Mamoru grinned. "I never knew that the Date army found it in its interest to save the lives of useless peasants."

Whilst adjusting his glasses, Kojuro simply responded, "You know nothing about our clan. It is in your own interest to stay quiet. No one needs to acknowledge us and no one needs to understand our actions, as long as we accomplish what we must." His gaze did not waver. "Unification."

The rogue was going to mock the spectacled man for his meaningless endeavor, but before he could, he was already close. Within a split second, Mamoru was on his stomach, face in the dirt, pressure on his back as his injured arm got crushed by his opponent's weight.

Kojuro had subdued the large man. He used force to bring the man to the ground and made sure to leave him no room to move by using his full body's weight to keep him still. Meanwhile, he also made sure to keep one foot firmly onto the rogue's injured arm. Perhaps not the cleanest of methods, but it sure was effective. Said rogue thrashed and yelled in pain and rage, but it was not enough to faze Kojuro even a little bit.

Now, he must admit, if the man was not already injured, it might have been way harder to throw him like this. Kojuro had to commend Hisahiko for acting quickly. Of course, maybe it was a good idea to finish off this rogue, but the one eyed dragon's right hand decided that taking a useless life was not his main objective. Not for now at least. It seemed like it was the right action, because suddenly, the man under him started to laugh. It was somewhat silent and his voice sounded bitter.

"What is it this time?" Kojuro asked the rogue.

Mamoru just scoffed. "Everywhere I go…I see her face."

The spectacled man just raised an eyebrow in confusion. Not only because he was confused by what the rogue was talking about, but also because he didn't seem to talk to Kojuro or anyone in particular.

"Her? What do you mean?" A woman's face? Was he talking about Shiorin then?

"Those damned blue eyes…"

Kojuro was going to ask further, but then what happened next surprised him.

The man under him was suddenly breaking down and honestly, this threw him off guard. Never in his life did something like this happen. Of course on occasion, there were soldiers who begged for their lives right before Kojuro was going to cut them down, but this was entirely different.

Slowly, he got off the rogue's back. There was no point in killing a man who was groveling and mourning and it was not his business to poke around in anyone's past. This was hardly a matter of honor, but leaving him would probably be the most ethical thing to do. If he was lucky, he would be saved. If not his injury might worsen and he might be off worse.

Kojuro decided to leave the wounded man right where he was and silently walked to where Shiorin's prone body was lying. He knelt down, then gently took her into his arms and picked her off the ground. Fortunately, it was not before long until Hisahiko returned with the help of reinforcements and medics.

Masamune was panting hard, and scoffed a few times, glaring at the large man in front of him.

Keiji smirked in return, still standing tall and strong, despite the scratches from the dodged bullets and several sword cuts on his body. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, one eyed dragon."

"Imbecile. Are you implying I am here to even think about entertaining the likes of you?" Masamune hissed. "Both you and that priest are one of a kind. Humoristic, almost." The young lord's voice sounded, practically dripping with sarcasm.

"If you think this is a game for any of us, then you are more hard headed than I thought you'd be." Keji responded.

Almost as if on cue, Kanetsugu arrived on his horse and immediately jumped off after he tugged his horse's bridles and made it halt its advance.

"Ah, Kanetsugu. You aren't here to help me, are you? I was far from done." Keiji said in a cheerful tone.

Masamune huffed at the large man's statement, obviously displeased, but he decided not to comment.

The priest merely shook his head as he turned to his friend after sending Masamune an intense glare, who just glared back just as intently.

Kanetsugu sighed and spoke up. "In all honesty, this is a matter I want to solve on my own. I hope you can forgive me Keiji. Please stand back." The priest made his way and walked towards Masamune, waving at his close friend to refrain from fighting any further.

"Today, this charade will end." He said, full of determination. Today he wanted to stop this conflict between him and the one eyed dragon once and for all.

"What? In the name of honor?" Masamune mocked. "You just let your underlings do the dirty work until you can pipe in later?" He then finished, and spat in disgust.

"Oh come on." Kanetsugu did not seem to be fazed by this accusation however. "I know you better than that, Masamune. You do not have that little faith in yourself. I know your resolve. You still believe you can defeat me, don't you? Then fight me. Prove to me your resolve."

Keiji just stared in awe between the two. While he was a very passionate individual when it came to battle, he knew when to not interrupt. He surely was disappointed that he had to stand back from this, but he believed in his friend.

"I guess I will go assist our allies." The large man suggested.

Kanetsugu just nodded and turned to his friend with a gentle smile. "Thank you, Keiji. Please do and make sure their safety is assured. Even if we cannot win today, minimizing casualties is our primary objective."

"Leave that to me." With that, Keiji climbed on his horse and took off, on his way to assist whatever allies were still alive and whoever still needed help.

Masamune watched the wild man disappear, then looked at Kanetsugu. "You might regret this, you know." He smiled rather darkly.

Kanetsugu's expression however, did not change for a moment. Instead, he was the first to land the next attack, swinging his sword and bringing it down on Masamune with all of his strength. The latter managed to lift his own blade just in time to prevent his skin from being pierced. The two blades clung loudly, their wielders grip trembled due to the amount of force that was applied.

"This is it, Kanetsugu." Masamune smirked while he equally struggled against the priest, but he did not waver. "Such nerve for someone who is all about pretense." The one eyed dragon raised his gun and it alarmed Kanetsugu, so the latter jumped aside. He was right to do so because within a split second, a bullet was fired and it just soared past his face.

The priest had to admit, while he did not like Masamune at all, he had to acknowledge the young lord was skilled at wielding firearms.

"Honor, love, justice. It is all your clan ever claims to stand for." Masamune growled, slight contempt in his voice.

Kanetsugu scoffed dismissively. "You would never understand. You do not even know the meaning of those words. You lack honor. You lack love and you definitely lack justice." The priest felt himself boiling with rage. Perhaps he was about to overstep his boundaries, but he couldn't care less at the moment. If they were going to settle this conflict, they were going to do it right.

Swiftly, the priest dashed again towards his adversary, ready to land a new strike. The one eyed dragon once again blocked his blade with his own. Kanetsugu refused to back away though. "A man who only cares about his ambition could never know justice. A man who would slaughter his own family would never know love. A man who uses fear to gain control could never know honor. This is why you are a disgusting human being, Masamune Date. A man like you should never suffer to rule."

These words set the young lord ablaze. He was appalled. He was seething. While he already knew that Kanetsugu never thought highly of him once, it still shocked Masamune how ignorant he was. He grit his teeth in an anger he had not felt yet before.

"What do you know about me?" He questioned his opponent.

Kanetsugu replied, "I know that you are a monster, Masamune. No different from Ieyasu. Both of you use unification as an excuse for power. Your ways are wrong and selfish." The taller man raised his sword yet again, but the young lord dodged out of the way and scooted back while aiming his gun. The priest dodged the bullets accordingly and while running, he reached inside his coat and took out a bunch of papers. Explosive tags. He threw them at Masamune in order to temporarily stop the latter from using his firearms.

The one eyed dragon quickly rolled across the ground and quickly aimed at the tags, shooting them just in time before they reached him. It caused them to explode in mid air, dust scattering across the area. Both men coughed as a result.

Once the dust settled, Masamune slowly got off the ground. "This is exactly why I despise you, Kanetsugu." He narrowed his one eye. "What makes you so pathetic is your fake belief that only you fight for the right cause." Kanetsugu was reaching inside his coat again, but the young lord was fast. He shot at the tags lightspeed, and the priest only had half a second to throw them away so he, nor his limbs, got blown to bits. However, he didn't get out of it completely unscathed. The sound of the explosion caused his ears to ring and his sight to get temporarily clouded. Some of the rubble cut through his armor and created cuts and gashes on his skin.

He flinched, then quickly raised his sword in front of him to defend himself and he had the right of it. Masamune put both his pistols back into his holsters, drew his sword, then swiftly dashed towards Kanetsugu, using all of his force as they clashed blades yet again.

The explosions from before lightly injured the priest and because of that, he lacked most of his former strength. It took the one eyed dragon only another swift blow and before he knew it, Kanetsugu was knocked onto the ground. The priest gasped, his helmet flew off his head as he hit dirt. He wanted to get up fast, but the tip of Masamune's sword already pointed at his neck. He was done for.

Kanetsugu grit his teeth.

However, ending it just like that would be too much of a mercy for the priest, Masamune thought. "Listen. You are no different from any of us, Kanetsugu. You are not righteousness itself. You are not selfless. After all, you do the same as every other warlord would. We went men to battle, just to die for our cause. How many men of the Uesugi died today, fighting a helpless struggle against my army, huh? Is it not because of you? Is it not because YOU wanted it this way?"

The priest did not answer, or look at Masamune. Instead, he turned away his gaze and gritted his teeth harder.

However, the one eyed dragon did not stop there. "No matter how much you blab about your ridiculous beliefs, you are not special. Whether you succeed against us or not, you will also go to hell for what you did. Damn, don't you think it was what all of us wanted? Every lord would go through hell for his people. You ought to know that." Masamune felt that he was getting off track, but he was just so tired. He just wanted to make a point: there was a right and a wrong for everyone, but everyone wants the same for the nation, peace.

It seemed though, that the priest was also very tired. He did not even try to prove the young lord wrong. Instead, he just shouted, "Do it Masamune. End me!"

Kanetsugu had not given up though, he just knew that the one eyed dragon was itching to slay him, once and for all. Why would he hesitate?

Instead, Masamune just put his weapon away.

The priest's eyes widened in confusion.

"You believe, like a lot of people do, that I am some kind of mad man." Masamune suddenly spoke very softly. "Tell me, Kanetsugu. Do you truly believe I want to gain prosperity in a land covered in nothing but blood?" He gazed intently at the priest.

Kanetsugu did not answer, so Masamune just continued, "I will not kill you. Not because I care about being seen as a murderer in your eyes. But I want to show you that I do understand your beliefs. Don't you think I believe in love? Do you not think I want to believe in justice?" The one eyed dragon shook his head slowly. "I am a married man, Kanetsugu. I want my wife to be safe. I want my loved ones to live a long and happy life, just as much as any kind of person would. I speak to you as a regular man now. Not as a warlord."

The priest just stared in disbelief. He did not know how to react to all of this. While he knew deep down that Masamune was definitely right, was this truly that same young man that he thought he knew? Preposterous. He wanted to open his mouth to finally respond after a while, but before he could, a sudden voice spoke.

A messenger of the Uesugi clan had arrived.

"My lord!" He rushed to the injured Kanetsugu. "We have a situation at the northern garrison. Lady Aya has been injured!" The man said while simultaneously making sure his commander was not off any worse.

Kanetsugu just sent the man a gentle smile, telling the messenger not to worry about him, considering he can still move on his own. "Do not worry about me. Tell me, what of Lady Aya? How grave is it?"

"She got shot. The injury does not threaten her life thankfully and Lord Kagekatsu is at her side."

The priest huffed at the fortunate news. "That is good."

Meanwhile Masamune frowned. The garrison at the north huh, was that not where Magoichi was? Did he succeed in the siege?

The Uesugi messenger informed his lord further. "Mamoru, the rogue, was found east from the central garrisons. He also suffered a bullet wound in his left arm. His other injuries seem less severe."

The priest bit his lip. So even that man couldn't get out of battle unscathed. At this rate they could not possibly win. Aya was injured. Mamoru was injured. Keiji had also already suffered through quite the struggle, who knew how much longer he could keep it up. If any of these officers were to fall the Uesugi would surely be done for.

Masamune seemed to notice his distress, so he spoke up quickly. "Kanetsugu. I think you and I both realize who is at the advantage as of this moment." He said sternly. "Let's make a deal."

The priest glared at the young lord, but he said nothing, so the said lord figured he should let him hear what he was about to propose.

"I will relieve Hasedo castle, just as planned and the siege shall belong to the Mogami clan. The castle will be in their care and so will the surrounding garrisons and its supplies. However, you should withdraw and take all of your troops with you. If you can do this, then I will order my men to cease their attacks against you."

Kanetsugu wanted to object to Masamune's bold offer, but he realized he had no choice. Losing the castle was a problem, but nothing the Uesugi could not recover from. Honestly, he had hoped that they could've kept Hasedo so that they could meet their allies halfway here, but that was no longer possible. Then again, who knows how much worse it would be if they would actually lose Lady Aya. Her death would drop morale and continuing to fight any longer, would make them lose more troops. Selfish struggle was no option.

The priest sighed heavily and nodded at Masamune. The dragon could tell that his adversary was displeased, but that didn't matter. Because he won.

With a deeper sigh, Kanetsugu addressed his messenger once more. "Please find Keiji and tell him to search for Mamoru. We cannot leave that man to fend for himself."

"Yes sir!"

"But first, please make sure to make medics accompany him. Also send a unit over to Lady Aya, it is of utmost importance that they look at her injuries right away. Lastly, please, inform our commanders and captains about our retreat. The battle is lost. Though, also tell them that this is not the end." The priest's eyes were full of emotion.

The messenger gulped and just silently nodded. He did not object once, because he knew the graveness of the situation. He made haste.

Masamune, who was still at the scene, decided that it was time for him as well to check upon his own troops. Last he heard Kojuro was fine. He had no idea how his other officers were doing yet.

The Uesugi's medics finally arrived at the scene to assist Aya, who was still accompanied by her son. The lady in white took deep breaths, trying to ease the pain in her abdomen. The bullet hit close to her stomach, but thankfully it did not hit any vital organs. Kagekatsu was very grateful for that. He was not ready to say goodbye to his mother just yet.

Meanwhile, Magoichi just watched while she was getting tended to. On one hand, he was relieved, because by taking her down, he had an opponent less to deal with. Though, he originally did not intend to injure her so severely. While they were fighting earlier, he tried to fend her off while also dealing with Kagekatsu's attacks. His shot was originally intended to be a 'warning shot' but because he had to dodge at the same time, his aim was off. He also hadn't noticed she had actually tried to close in on him, so the shot was at a short range, which made it worse for her.

As soon as that happened, Kagekatsu yelled in a panic. He was thrown off and immediately went to tend to her. At that point, reinforcements for the Uesugi had joined the scene, but it was not before long that a messenger informed the parties involved about the Uesugi's retreat.

Not the immediate outcome Magoichi expected, but if this was the case, then Masamune and Kojuro must have also been successful in their advance. The Date army and Mogami clan were victorious.

That meant that Hasedo was now officially their territory.

It was a relief to know, however, the gunslinger was also a little worried. While he won the fight, he failed his other task. Not only had Rin fled from his side, but she also got lightly injured. In all honesty though, it was still a blessing. He was worried that she might have been off worse in his absence. Thankfully that was not the case. Little did he know about her mental state though.

Kojuro had eventually arrived and led the medical forces to carry the young woman's unconscious body. She was carried onto a stretcher, which got placed onto a carriage.

Magoichi watched the medics leave the area, then he walked towards his fellow retainer. It seemed like he was waiting for him.

"What else did I expect from a mercenary. Do you know the word subtlety, Saika?" The spectacled man smirked ever so lightly at the gunslinger, who just replied,

"What can I say? I take my job very seriously." Surely, slaying the lady of the Uesugi was not his first objective, but getting this close to it, was a great contribution to their retreat. Magoichi scoffed at the thought.

"You did great, I will not deny you that. I will recognize your prowess in battle. However you failed a simple little task." Kojuro referred to the fact that Magoichi did not manage to keep Shiorin monitored during battle.

The gunslinger narrowed his eyes. "I can tell that part of your praise is mockery."

Kojuro scoffed. "Lord Masamune should have gotten word by now. I suggest that you and I wait here until we can discuss our next course of action."

"Hm. I thought we were to return to Oshu right after the siege of Hasedo." The gunslinger asked.

He was met with a nod. "Yes, however, it is not clear to me what will happen to the young woman."

Magoichi frowned. "Do you think he will give her another chance?" The gunslinger mused to himself. "I have seen what she can do Kojuro…but today she seemed so–"

He got interrupted by said man. "I do not know. I do know that Lord Masamune cares for the weak, even though many people are not aware of this fact. My lord worries about those who cannot eat and those who suffer poverty. It is the very reason why he sees so much value in trading with small villages. Not only does he benefit from supplies at a cheap price, but he also gives those people a chance to provide for their families."

The gunslinger was in absolute awe. He had no idea. Of course he did not think that Masamune was a bad person, but he didn't know that he would actually go out of his way to do things like this. So that is why he rescued a small fishermen village near the ocean. Magoichi thought it was a mere coincidence, but that was not the case. The gunslinger also figured then that discovering Shiorin's talent there was something Masamune probably considered a stroke of luck. If fate would have it this way, why let go of such an opportunity? He saw amazing strength and he made sure not to lose his soon to be important ally. It all made sense now as to why he was so dead set on recruiting her.

Magoichi laughed quietly. "Honestly, that does sound like Masamune. Do you think we can make Rin into a warrior?"

He was met with temporary silence, then Kojuro said, "Every soldier has a turning point in their life. I have experienced it personally and so has Lord Masamune."

The gunslinger raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me, Saika. After your village got burnt down, what made you keep going?"

His eyes widened at this question, but he could tell that Kojuro was serious, so he took a deep breath and just responded, "Revenge. Revenge drove me."

Kojuro nodded comprehensively. "Lord Masamune is the same. Not only does he want to realize his father's ideals, but he also fights to seek revenge against those who wronged him, all while making Japan a better nation."

The gunslinger suddenly started to realize what Kojuro was telling him.

When the latter noticed, he merely smiled at Magoichi, however the gunslinger was still a bit confused.

"Do you happen to know…?"

Kojuro just shook his head. "No. I do not know what kind of story lies with Shiorin nor do I know what ails her, or what kind of past haunts her. However, if things are just as you described before, I base my thoughts off a traumatic experience. But let me tell you, despite that today was a disaster, it does not have to stay that way. After all, every soldier alive needs to go through hell first before they are ready to face their fears. The past is just the past."

Magoichi agreed silently, and then he looked up when Masamune finally arrived. The one eyed dragon tugged the bridles on his horse, then hopped off as soon as the animal ceased to move.

"Lord Masamune." Kojuro greeted him as their lord walked towards the two men.

"Kojuro. Magoichi." The young lord responded.

Magoichi waited silently and he became a bit tense. However, he was only met with more silence as minutes passed. Kojuro and Masamune just exchanged brief glances and that was it.

"So, are you not going to say anything?"

Masamune merely shook his head. "We are victorious, men. This is great and I commend you both in your endeavors. However…" The dragon turned to Magoichi specifically. "You were appointed to coordinate the girl. It failed and she has not seen reason, so I will talk to her myself as soon as she comes to her senses. She will make a choice. Either she fights, or she dies. It is as simple as that." The young man's tone was bitter.

The gunslinger just nodded carefully. It seemed that, despite their great victory, Masamune was very bothered about something. Was he worried about Rin? Perhaps, if he remembered Kojuro's story from just moments ago. Their lord was a harsh ruler, but he did not have a heart of stone.

Magoichi just huffed. "Do not be too hard on her."

"I think that you, out of all people, have no say in this Saika. Hereby you are officially suspended from monitoring her any further." Kojuro piped in.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The gunslinger objected. He knew that things didn't go as planned, but there was no reason to rub it in his face, but his spectacled comrade would have none of it.

"You had one job, Saika."

Masamune watched the two men bicker and just shook his head. While he might have seemed off, he was actually very content about the performance of his men. They were victorious and they completed their objective. It was something to celebrate, not only with his men, but also with his wife. He was excited, yet at the same time, he was extremely angry.

All of this effort to pick a peasant off the streets and this was the first result. It could not continue. There needed to be change. She needed to change and drastically so. Normally, such processes would probably take time, but they did not have time.

"Kojuro. Magoichi. Tell the other commanders that we will meet shortly." The one eyed dragon announced.

Both men nodded and took off to prepare and gather their allies.

The Date set up camp before they would leave for Oshu in the morning. The trip would take several days, so it was very important that everyone would be rested. Commanders, captains and soldiers alike all went to their respective tents. Preparations had already been made, so Masamune was satisfied.

It was pitch dark outside, but fortunately the campsite was slightly lit by moonlight rays. He carefully made his way to the tent where Rin was taken care of by the medical unit. Once he approached it, he stood still for a moment, and took a deep breath. He then made his way inside and he was greeted by the nurse. She bowed her head deeply.

"How is she?" Masamune asked.

The nurse gave a reassuring smile. "My lord. Her injuries are not severe. She lost consciousness due to suffocation, but thankfully she only has a few scratches here and there. The marks in her neck are still visible, but they will heal in due time. I believe she can wake up very soon."

"I see." He huffed in relief, then questioned more than ordered, "Would you please excuse me?" His gaze was still hard on the woman.

The nurse nodded and bowed again before making her way outside.

With a sigh, Masamune sat down beside the futon Rin was laying on. He had his helmet and most of his armor off because even for him it became uncomfortable after wearing it for several hours. His body was aching and definitely fatigued.

He was tired. Very tired. Yet he couldn't go to sleep just yet.

He glared as hard as he could, almost as if intending to wake her. Shiorin however, was still unconscious. Her breathing even and her chest slowly heaving up and down.

The young lord grunted, "Imbecile.." and muttered incoherently under his breath as he watched her.

There were so many mysteries about her that he had not solved yet. Then again, how mysterious could a commoner be? It was not like he was aware of the daily shenanigans of common folk anyway.

Yet it was so strange. She was so powerful. At least, she could be if she wanted to. Judging by her scar and her fears, he figured that she must have had a hard past. Though that was exactly why he believed in her. He knew more than anyone else how hard it is to overcome certain struggles of the past and honestly, if he had the same kind of talent that she possessed, he believed he could achieve even greater things. This was an honest thought from the bottom of his heart.

The young lord sighed deeply. He went through so much trouble just to make her a part of his army. He was sure that if she would only fight, surely she would help him unificate Japan. Alongside Kojuro and Magoichi. He was sure of it. He did not want to stop believing in that extraordinary strength.

"Don't squander the opportunities I gave you…" Masamune whispered, though to no one in particular.

The one eyed dragon was convinced. In order for Shiorin to fight, she would need to overcome her fear and her past. She could do this, he was sure. He could do it too, after all.

Although the young lord seemed brash, big mouthed, and ruthless to many, behind that exterior was a young man who often faced the struggle of his past as well.

During his youthful years, he struggled with an illness. He got repudiated by his own mother and in the end, he lost his brother and as was very well known: he lost his father.

It was all a lot to deal with for a young Masamune and even now, it was still hard to move on at times.

Yet he overcame all of his tragedy. It was true that memories will never cease to exist, but he learnt to coexist with them. His experiences made him stronger and in the end, they made him the man who he was today.

This was why Masamune did not believe in coincidences, or pointless suffering. Or rather, he didn't want to believe in anything as such. Everything happens for a reason.

Everything.

Slowly but surely, he felt himself bend forward a little. His head hung low and his shoulders sagged in the progress. His body was tired, and he longed for sleep, yet he couldn't just yet. He had to. Yes he had to stay awake.

He had to…

For a moment his body had shut down just a bit until he suddenly startled straight up, a gasp leaving his lips. He looked around warily until something blue caught his eye.

Two pools of blue.

It took him a while, but he then realized that Rin had woken up in the process of him dozing off. How long was he out for? It kind of shocked him, because it seemed to him like he had fallen asleep for only a moment. Though, he couldn't tell.

Nevertheless, his earlier thoughts instantly surged back as soon as he looked at the young woman, who gave him a stare familiar to his own.

"Rin."

The girl seemed to be out of it as well, looking around in confusion. Although she still had not sat up to do so.

"I…" She softly started.

"So…you've finally awoken, huh?" He spoke just as quietly.

The girl looked at him strangely. Almost as if she had trouble recognizing who he was.

It worried Masamune for a bit, he admitted inwardly, until the girl suddenly looked up at him again with a terrified gaze.

Indeed, Shiorin needed a moment to recall the recent events. However when her mind flooded her with flashing images it became a little too much. She quickly sat up and gripped at her head, fingers already tangling through the black threads of her long hair.

It had come to her. The nightmares. The blood. The bodies. Everything. Even the terrifying man whom she had met before. She remembered him from so many years ago. He was suddenly there. In her village. At her house. With her parents…

Her parents…dead.

Of course, it took a good while before the pieces connected. It was as if all of her memories from the past one by one rushed to flash themselves before her eyes until recent times. She remembered, being surrounded by screaming soldiers. Then suddenly, the villagers were back. Suddenly, her parents were back and then, they died once more.

And this man she met. He was responsible. He killed them.

He came for her next. She could still feel his tight and cold grip around her neck. The spot still hurted.

Briefly, Rin held out her hands before her and stared at them, before slowly reaching to touch the skin around her neck. It indeed felt very sore.

"Rin?" Masamune tried again. This was very strange to witness. It was as if she was not in the same space as him at all. It was like he was watching her from another dimension or the sort. She did not seem to have noticed his presence at all, but at the same time it was also like she was trying to confirm her own existence.

Maybe this was not the right explanation. If he had to explain this to someone, he would've told them it was like he was watching Rin sitting inside a glass box and she was trying to escape it. She was trapped.

While he was musing, pondering on whether, or rather how to snap the young woman out of it, Shiorin got on her knees on the futon. She crawled a little and turned around warily. She was completely out of it.

"RIN!" Masamune yelled, this time loud enough to make her snap out of it and look him dead in the eye. Her blue pupils shrunk to the size of peas and the only sound she made was a tiny squeak. It was a long and whiny noise.

Honestly, Shiorin did not know what she was doing either. At the moment, all she saw were the flashbacks of her past. She lived that moment of her parents dying again and again. Their murderer looking at her and cutting her down again and again.

Her mother is getting ravished by that large body on top of her, again and again.

The more she experienced it. The more detailed the images became. Her past was no longer hidden. It was no longer a nightmare. This was her reality.

"D…"

Masamune raised an eyebrow but he was at least sort of relieved to hear some sort of reaction out of her.

"Dead…They're dead." Her voice became tiny when she suddenly smacked her arms around herself and scooted all the way to the back of her futon.

"Who?" The young lord was in no position to judge the state in which the woman was in right now, nor could he tell the cause. All he figured was that the sights on the battlefield triggered something inside of her. Once he saw this, he understood what Magoichi explained. "Rin…"

"Mother.." Her voice was soft, like a whisper. And Masamune actually did not hear what she said at first. "Father.."

For a moment, the young lord's eyes widened, but then he flinched when the girl suddenly started to weep and bawl loudly.

This confused the male even more as he was not familiar with such emotional or rather, mental outbursts. The closest he got was comforting Mego when she had a nightmare, but it was an off comparison. Not to mention it happened a long time ago, but he digressed.

How would he get her to be silent? How do you deal with someone like this? He had no idea, but he had to try.

"Rin! You got to listen to me. Calm down!" Of course he was worried because she was just breaking down completely in front of him. It was honestly very difficult to look at, even for someone like him.

This and of course, if she would continue, she would wake up the whole camp with her screaming.

"Mother…Father…" Her crying pleas became louder. Masamune could now clearly hear and slowly but surely, he understood the situation.

He remembered when he first asked Rin about her past, she told him she did not know anything at all, which was strange, but he did not put too much thought into it. Now the one eyed dragon realized that this woman in front of him, had years of suppressed memories hidden, only for them all to finally reveal themselves to her.

It made him wonder. If she did not know about her parents all this time, then she probably never had the chance to mourn their deaths. Personally, he could not imagine what that must be like. After all, such a thing is a process that takes time. It can last from several weeks to months to even years. It is not a process that should happen within the time span of several minutes.

He slowly started to pity her. Just a little bit.

To mourn someone is a long and tragic procedure. The final step should eventually be acceptance. This was something she needed to do on her own. Though, he guessed he should push her into the right direction. If she were ever to recover that is.

Masamune sighed deeply, groaned in annoyance and sat down on her futon. He shuffled over and covered her mouth and eyes with her hands, shushing her as calmly as he could.

"Shhh….you're going to wake everyone up damn it…"

At first, Shiorin was thrashing in his hold, but he held her close and she could barely move. After a few minutes, she stopped and all that could be heard was a mournful howl and a quiet sob as she squeezed her tears out forcibly.

The young lord figured that trying to reason with her at that very moment wouldn't work, so he decided to wait a little. The two just sat like that for the time being.

After a while, she finally quieted down, even though she was still sobbing silently.

He sighed.

"Listen…I know that it is hard. I know that whatever you must have seen, must be horrible, but you can't keep on crying. It isn't going to bring them back. Do you think your parents would be happy knowing that you nearly got yourself killed?"

Shiorin attempted to speak behind his hand.

He let go of her, but all that she could muster were a set of screams and weeps, followed by a few confusing words.

"…He killed them!" Was the only thing Masamune could get out of her incoherent stutters without any confusion. "They're gone!"

So her parents were murdered. He clenched his fist. It reminded him of his father.

While reciprocating her feelings, he practically screamed back at her, "Right! Does that not make you angry?!"

This made the young woman open her eyes for a moment, already red and swollen from her outburst.

Anger..? She did not even consider anger. All she felt was extreme sadness. She also felt sick when she thought about how they died.

It made her want to throw up.

She nearly gagged and held a fist in front of her mouth, shaking her head viciously while nearly falling over.

Now Masamune did have a heart. He was really starting to understand the whole act of a meek little girl that tries to survive and fend for herself out there. He was extremely relieved to know. Though, at the same time he could not deal with this pathetic display.

He figured it must have been harder for Rin to process all of this all at once, considering she never got to do it. Then again, she was a grown woman now. If there was a good moment to overcome her past, it definitely should be now.

Maybe easier said than done, but Masamune would speak from experience.

The young lord reached out for Rin once again and tightly grabbed her shoulders. Maybe a bit too rough, but he didn't care at that moment. He turned her towards him and shook her.

"Rin. Listen. That day…I saw a young woman. A woman who, despite her size, was still able to fend herself against several pirates. She told me she had done so for years. Pirates. Dangerous raiders who do not hesitate to kill villagers like you!"

The young woman was still hiccupping and quivering, and her weeping made her fast breaths hitch in her throat.

"I don't want to die…!" She whimpered.

"That is why you have to fight. Which we have told you countless times Rin." Masamune squeezed her shoulders with all of his might. "Fight. Or die. Fight, or either your parents would have died in vain."

When Masamune mentioned her parents, she started to weep louder again which made the young lord groan louder.

"Aren't you angry Rin?! Because I sure am! This world we live in is completely corrupted. We as humans do horrible things to other humans. But do you also know why? We want to survive. "

The girl's state did not change and she shook her head a few times, but Masamune wasn't sure what she tried to tell him.

"Aren't you angry about what happened to your parents? Aren't you angry about what happened to the villagers who suffered the pirate raids like you did? Aren't you angry about how messed up this land currently is?!" He shook her and for a moment, she was silent again, aside from a few occasional hiccups. After a while, she stared back at him, with her swollen blue eyes.

"You best stop this pathetic act right away. After all, I did not hire you so that you could waste my time, which I am sure I have told you before." He finally let go of her, then shoved her aside. "Of course, you feel grief for your loss. But being afraid will not do anything for you. They are dead. Your parents are dead. They are gone forever under the cold hard dirt." Masamune banged his fist onto a nearby cabin. It made the young woman flinch and stare at him bewilderedly.

However, he did not stop there, "Instead of weeping about all of this. Focus on the future. How are you going to make this world a better place? Maybe this is even more important for now: how are you going to take responsibility for the death of those you loved?!"

Shiorin's eyes widened.

Masamune was a bit surprised at himself as well. He wasn't sure how much of him actually got through to her, considering the state she was in. But what else was he supposed to tell her now?

Sugar coating anything wouldn't heal her either way. Not if she was going to be a soldier. She was going to keep getting confronted with death and blood. This was now her reality. Her life.

Eventually, she would learn. So did he.

Masamune watched the young woman. She actually stopped crying completely now, though her stare was somewhat…aloof. He wondered if anything that he said actually went through her.

She did seem to have calmed down and thankfully, so did he.

The following moments, nothing was said by either of the two.

Masamune just sat across from her and stared, while Shiorin did the same… just staring before her.

This lasted for another long hour, until the young lord finally decided that it was enough. He got up and was ready to leave the tent, but before he could take another step, something held him back. A small hand tugged his coat.

He looked over his shoulder to see the young woman cling tightly onto his clothes. She did not say a word.

However, she didn't need to. He understood.

For the next few moments, he did not go anywhere. Until he finally said, "We will be leaving for Oshu in the morning."

Shiorin still did not speak, but she let go of him and he disappeared from the tent. There was nothing more that he could do or say anyway. In the end, she was the only one who could make a change.

His words kept repeating themselves inside of her mind.

'Aren't you angry?'

Anger.

Kill or be killed.

Shiorin suddenly started to whisper those words softly within the darkness of her tent. She kept repeating them. Over and over again.

It made a shiver run down her spine, but she did not stop.

She chanted the words, until she finally fell asleep.