4.
The next several days brought a subtle change to the turn of events on Hiko's mountain.
The girl's foot had healed enough that she was able to hobble about the immediate environment by herself. No longer needing him to cart her from spot to spot. Her memories and her voice were a different story. Neither one was returning, to his chagrin. He tried to focus on the one advantage it did present.
She was a quiet child.
Obedient as well, she was quick to do as he asked and took to helping around the place with an enthusiasm that at first puzzled him. She genuinely seemed to enjoy helping him out, especially around his workshop. Despite his mocking, stern, gruffness and sharp quick rebukes, she gradually began getting past her fear of him. He set her to doing the chores early on in the mornings, while he went and practised his kenjustu, then spent the rest of his time either doing repairs around the hut, tending to the garden, or working on his ceramics.
That wasn't all just throwing clay on the wheel and making things. Once the thrown pots reached a particular stage of drying, he could carve them, an activity he sometimes reserved for the evenings as he could work on them at his leisure. A great time to relax, well into the evenings, drinking saké and creating works of art. Then would follow pre-firing, to dry the items sufficiently to be able to take the glaze. Another evening activity for him would be the glazing. Once all that was done came the main firing.
In between things, he'd experiment with different combinations of materials to come up with glazes. Here, he would measure out portions, mix them, and let the girl paint them onto the test tiles. He'd note what he'd used and the amounts for later reproduction if he got something he liked and wished to repeat the process. All this he carefully carved in kanji on the backs of the tiles. He found a happily willing subject, getting her involved with preparing the test tiles.
At least it kept her quiet and out of his hair. He'd even given her a small, thin, metal-tipped tool to carve whatever she liked on the test tiles. It would help to determine what pooling results came from the glaze puddling along the edges and the grooves, of whatever she carved.
Come to think of it, even though he was letting a girl stay in his home, she really didn't cause much of a ripple in his otherwise solitary existence. For that matter, he didn't mind having someone to boast about his talents with either. She accepted his careful explanations about what he did around the pottery shed with a grin and bright eyed curiosity.
All the same, he kept a steady eye on the progress of that foot. Once she was able to get around without bandages, he'd get her down off the mountain and into whatever authorities would take her in.
To say Hiko Seijuro disliked mingling with the village crowds would be an understatement. Hiko didn't just dislike it, he despised it. Over the years he'd developed a reputation of being an arrogant, disagreeable, recluse. That suited him perfectly.
He always came into the village with set destinations in mind, making his time amongst the crowds as short as possible. He had good business terms with thoroughly vetted, select, vendors whose wares he liked and desired. Anyone else was ignored, and if he had to interact with them it was with barely concealed sarcasm. The only few he genuinely got along with were the saké vendor, the chemist, the herbalist, and the local pottery crafters.
Though he would sell his basic pottery in town, his better items were commissions, or items he specifically shipped into Kyoto. He had his contacts and his shippers, and his talents were getting good attention. Like his saké bottles. They were bought by brewers and connoisseurs alike. For the brewers he'd glaze on the kanji of the makers directly on the bottles. For connoisseurs he'd get much more artistic, depending on what the client wanted. Other jugs he'd simply make for their artistic merit and sell them to whomever he deemed worthy.
Generally he never come off the mountain any more without a yoke of crates, stuffed with his wares. He had a middleman, his favourite saké vendor, who would store his items until he was ready to endure a day in the village to sell them.
That day was rapidly approaching and he had been having the girl help wrap items up in squares of burlap, sandwiched into the crates, and packed in snug with straw. Two crates strapped together and the long pole he used for a yoke and he'd easily cart four crates of wares off the mountain. On the morning of that day, he'd had the girl put on the clothes he'd found her in, long since cleaned and repaired.
The girl seemed blissfully unaware that he was taking her off the mountain. She just trotted alongside him, trying to match his steps to no avail as he let her carry the things he would need in town that weren't too much for her to handle. One last little thing to pay off her upkeep. At least he comforted himself with that thought. The less she knew about what was coming, the better.
He kept repeating that to himself as they travelled.
She was alive with curiosity, something he had noticed early on as she got used to the environment around the hut. A typical child, she loved flowers, bugs, birds and beasts. He grudgingly told her what things were, noting it was like pouring water into a sponge. She just kept absorbing whatever it was he told her about.
After a while, she'd lag behind, see he was getting too far ahead of her and she'd scramble to catch up. Then she'd flash a grin at him, like it was a enormous accomplishment. Hiko just shook his head and sighed. Once he dropped his wares off with his saké vendor, he'd stop by the doctor's to give her a once over. The foot had healed nicely, the throat though... she still couldn't speak above a whisper. Then there were the headaches. Though the scalp wound had healed, she still indicated head pain, which generally left her listless and nothing had returned so far as her past memories were concerned.
"Well," the doctor mused, watching the girl thoughtfully. She sat obediently, cautiously eyeing the doctor, then Hiko. "I wouldn't expect too much more as far as her throat is concerned. The larynx may be too far damaged, as for the memories," the doctor shrugged. "Only time will tell whether they return or not. The brain likes to sulk after getting an injury. Otherwise, she's come along quite a way."
"Did you expect otherwise?" Hiko grumbled, standing with his arms crossed, implacable as granite.
"With you, Hiko-san, yes. You've never really raised a child properly. However, you have done a good job bringing her around. Still plan on turning her over to the police?"
"What d'you think?" Hiko shot an annoyed look at the man, especially at his reference to Kenshin. "She can't stay up there," he nodded his head in the general direction of his mountain. "At least the so-called police can try and find any relations, or any reports of missing children about the place. If not they can at least take her to the orphanage in Kyoto."
The doctor suddenly huffed and gave Hiko a rueful chuckle. "Good luck with that," he said. "As you requested, I've done some discrete asking around. Nobody in the district has reported a missing child, especially a missing girl. Besides, they're too busy to take in a child."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just what I said. Seems that the entire district has been subject to a rash of thefts that finally caught the attention of the Kyoto authorities. Highly valuable items, like jewellery and such are vanishing out of people's homes. Usually in the dead of night. Interestingly, they are just small thefts but what's taken is nearly priceless. It's ruffling a lot of feathers amongst the upper classes. They want it stopped, so they drug our little force into the mess. As if we don't have any trouble around here..."
"Are you saying their gone?!" Hiko snapped.
The doctor shrugged. "Been gone, over several weeks now, shortly after this one arrived at your place come to think of it..." The doctor glanced up at Hiko, who was scowling even worse than normal. The doctor smirked. "Looks like your stuck with her for the time being."
"Which is not going to happen..." Hiko growled. He sighed, shooting a glare at the doctor.
"Since you've taken on her care and feeding, might I make a suggestion?"
"You're going to anyway, even if I don't want to hear it..." Hiko snarked. "And I have not taken on her care and feeding!"
"Get her some tabi and sandals, something to protect those feet. It's because she's been barefoot that she got that splinter in the first place."
Hiko's gaze rose skyward in exasperation. "What did I ever do to deserve this?" he grumbled then looked at the girl.
"On'nanoko," he growled, "C'mon."
As he turned for the door, she slowly got up and followed him towards the genken. She paused, glancing at the doctor, bowed, whispered 'arigato', then followed Hiko.
"Another thing, Hiko-san," The doctor said as Hiko began tugging his boots on. "Give the girl a name for kami's sake. You can't keep going around calling her 'girl' all the time!"
"On'nanoko is working just fine!" Hiko replied, lacing a boot up. "And if I wanted your advice, I'd've asked for it." He stomped his foot down to settle the boot, then snagged the other one. "She's not staying anyway, let the orphanage or the police deal with names!"
Finishing, he stood up to his rather distinct height and looked down at the girl who barely came to his hip. She stood looking up at him, her face expressionless, but he could easily see not only fear, but sadness in the depths of those dark eyes. He heaved a sigh, reaching just inside the doctor's entry for his mantle. The thick weave of the cloth settling heavily over his shoulders and he didn't bother with the cowl, just letting the dark blue collar lie loose.
"Let's go..." he said and with a grimace of distaste he began heading out into the village proper. Silent as a mouse, she fell in behind him. At first keeping up, then lagging, only to jog back.
Hiko knew, the minute he appeared in the market crowds, he knew, the doctor had been talking.
Ahead of him, vendors and customers, seeing him approach-which really wasn't hard considering he stood taller than nearly everybody else-carefully schooled their faces into polite, neutral, expressions.
However, Hiko's hearing was sharp and the minute he would pass, he'd hear the frenetic whispering of gossips. Worse were the occasional explosion of giggles and laughter behind him. His scowl only got that much worse. He made it a point to keep his hand lightly on the grip of his o-katana, drumming his fingers in agitation along the rayskin handle.
The girl, staring around in fear and trepidation, made every attempt to keep as near to him as possible. Eventually latching a hand on the blue trimmed edge of his mantle. Through no action of her own, she was creating her own spectacle, jogging behind the man, clutching his mantle and looking around at all the wondering townfolks. Most of the women kept their hand over their mouths, trying to hide their smiles, whispers, and laughter. The men, not bothering to hide it, would whisper hurriedly, heads close together, before erupting in guffaws.
Even worse were the not so subtly hidden references to history repeating itself as people compared the child to Kenshin from times past. Calling out questions to Hiko as he strode through their midst, all of which he promptly ignored.
By the time he reached a particular clothes vendor he tolerated, he was ready to savage anything that presented itself.
"Hiko-sama," the gentleman vendor greeted as Hiko stepped into the selling stall. "What can this humble servant get for you?"
Hiko's hand reached back, dropped on the girl's head, and very lightly clenched as he steered her around in front of him. She shot a fearful glance up at him, sank back against his legs and looked towards the vendor. She wrapped an arm around Hiko's knee.
"I need a pair of tabi and sandal's for this one," Hiko said gruffly.
The vendor, looking up at Hiko, dropped his gaze down. With a smile he squatted before the girl, "Well now!" he said affably, "who do we have here?" He glanced up at Hiko, "Taking on a new apprentice, Hiko-sama?"
"Hardly," Hiko bit out, "She's a girl. I'm not teaching Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu to a girl."
"A girl?" The vendor looked more closely at her. "What a fool I am! And who might you be?"
"She's not staying long enough for civilities," Hiko said flatly. "She showed up on my mountain with no idea who she is. I'm trying to turn her over to the police to take care of..."
"They've been hauled off to Kyoto. Bad series of thefts going on around there." The vendor held out a hand to the girl. "Let me see your foot, child."
"That's what the doctor mentioned. Seems I'm stuck with her for the time being, unless you want her?"
"Me?!" The vendor, having coaxed the girl to let him see her foot, let out a loud guffaw of laughter. She promptly shrank back against Hiko, nearly causing him to stumble backwards.
"Watch it!" he growled.
"I've got eight mouths to feed myself, I couldn't possibly feed another! Besides my wife, the gods truly blessed and all seven kids are sons! Eat me out of house and home, they do. What would I do with a girl?"
"Give your wife a break?" Hiko shot back.
The vendor just laughed, waving Hiko's comment aside and turned, searching around in his inventory. "You mentioned she has no idea who she is?"
Hiko rolled his eyes, trying to suppress the aggrieved sigh. He loathed making 'chit-chat'. "Head injury," he said bluntly.
The vendor stood up straight, turning with a pair of dark tabi socks in his hand. "Head injury?"
"I just said that," Hiko growled.
"You mean actual amnesia? Can't remember a thing? Not even a name?"
The look Hiko gave him, made him shake his head as he looked at the girl. "Poor little thing! Here..." he reached down and grabbed a second pair of tabi and added them the ones he had. "No extra charge on these!" He patted the socks in his hand and looked around. "Now where are those geta's?"
"Make it waraji's. She's liable to lose the geta's, rather have something she can tie on."
"Waraji's it is! I think I have just the right size over here..." the merchant bustled about the tables and racks of clothes. He found what he was looking for and exclaimed in triumph, producing a tiny pair of the lace on sandals.
As he settled up the price with Hiko he helped the girl to put them on, showing her how to thread the laces and tie them on. When he stood back up, grinning down at her, she was staring at one foot then the other, her hands holding the extra set of tabi. She looked up at Hiko, wonder and questions in her eyes.
"Doesn't say much does she?" the merchant commented.
"On'nanoko..." Hiko growled, handing the vendor his money.
She looked at Hiko for a split second then turned, bowing low to the shopkeeper. "Arigato." she whispered.
He smiled, delighted, and looked at Hiko. "What do you plan on doing with her?"
"I'm stuck with her for now. Unless someone here in the village is willing to take her off my hands."
"After the last rise in the taxes and food revenues around here?" The vendor suddenly looked quite serious. "The people can barely feed themselves and their families. No one around here is going to take in an extra mouth to feed. Especially if it's a girl. You being up on that mountain of yours and self sufficient, you don't see the suppression going on down here all the time. No one is going to just take her off your hands for you."
"I'm more than aware of what happens amongst the villagers. If I can't get someone local to take her, I may just end up taking her to Kyoto myself. She can't stay with me." Hiko replied sourly.
"Best of luck there..." the vendor sighed. "Sure you don't want to get her a new set of clothes? These things she's got on are nearly threadbare."
"And why would I do that, knowing she isn't going to be staying very long?"
"Out of the goodness of your heart, Hiko-sama?" The vendor smiled.
Hiko just shot a glare at him.
The vendor shrugged. "It was worth a shot. I've got seven sons to feed after all!" He jingled the change Hiko had paid him and chuckled.
Things honestly didn't get much better after that... Hiko reluctantly had to take the girl everywhere he went. The girl just followed along after him like a tiny shadow. Frequenting his particular vendors he had to tolerate and endure the same set of questions over and over again. Which left him more irritated than ever.
So much so, that after getting what he needed, he finally rejoined the saké vendor who tended both their wares as he had gone around town. This freed the man up to go and fetch lunch, leaving Hiko to 'mind the store'. He ended up sitting with his back up against a willow tree, the cord of a saké jug wrapped around his hand. With the bottle balanced just so, he slugged the drink back as he kept an eye on both his pottery and the saké being sold.
The girl slowly sank to the ground besides him, where she ground the heel of her hand into her right eye and stared at the new waraji's on her feet. She'd been fascinated with them ever since the vendor had showed her how to wear them. About the only thing she had said the entire time they'd been in and out in the markets was 'thank you'.
Hiko wondered if they weren't her very first pair. He surreptitiously watched her, noting she looked listless and tired. He heaved a sigh, he had been dragging her from place to place all that morning.
Reluctantly he corked the jug of saké, set it aside, and got to his feet. He peeled out of the mantle, roughly folded it and set it on the ground next to her. "Lay down," he said firmly, patting the bundle of cloth. "I'll be around the cart," he added, spotting a few customers making their way towards him.
His basic revenue was a hot trade in small, lidded pots, saucers, vases etc. As the afternoon wore on the girl joined him around the cart, helping him restock items from the crates inside the wagon. She'd scramble into the back and hand him items to resupply. Afterwards, she'd simply stick near to him as he bargained and haggled over prices with customers. Most of the time, he'd just state a price and remain implacable in dropping it any lower. Especially with his knack for sizing up the general character of a customer.
The crowds were still brisk, a huge variety of men and women of many different classes. Going about their daily business. He had just plucked the girl off the back of the wagon, when his hearing caught the sounds of a commotion in the crowds.
Glancing that way, he made out half a dozen people. Obviously a group that was together, consisting of five men and a woman. The largest man, barrel chested, pot bellied, and powerful, with a long thin moustache and his hair in a top knot, was pointing their direction. He yelled out loud in agitated excitement.
Hiko couldn't help but notice that the five men were all wearing swords. A glance at the woman and he figured she was probably carrying something of a weapon in the folds of her clothes somewhere. Stepping around the side of the cart away from the group, Hiko picked up his own sword where he had stashed it and slipped it back into place on his left hip.
"Momo!" the large man was yelling excitedly. "Momo!" He pointed in their direction, making quite a fuss as he began trotting towards them. He had dressed in fairly rich, finely woven cloth, in dark blues and grey's. The woman, several paces behind him, looked regal in a pale plaid pattern kimono and contrasting flowered obi. The other men were dressed practically, some carrying wares, that the group had obviously been buying. Hiko noticed that two of the 'men' were barely teenagers. The stockier man creating the excitement obviously was their leader.
Something about the man caused Hiko to study him through narrowed eyes. There was false note, he couldn't quite put his finger on. He could feel his own jaw clench as the man, still shouting, 'Momo' came barrelling their way. The man waved his hands in front of him, his eyes wide with excitement, a smile of relief on his face. He aimed straight for the girl.
Seeing the commotion being raised and the strange man, she promptly dove behind Hiko's legs.
"Momo, on'nanoko! What is it? I've found you at last!" The man babbled excitedly.
The girl was having none of it. Hiko could literally feel the fear radiating off her chi as she grabbed a double fistful of his hakama, just above his right boot.
"Toko-sama!" The stranger greeted Hiko by his 'trade name', "You've found our little Momo! Momo-chan!" He tried to get the girl to come out from behind Hiko. "It's your goshujin, we've found you at last!"
Hiko, his face inscrutable, looked at the overly effusive man, and his eyes fell on the woman, who stood back aways, her expression blank and as cold as a fish. The other men formed a loose ring behind her. The leader, still bubbling over with loud exclamations, kept trying to coax 'Momo' out from behind Hiko's legs.
Worse still, a small crowd of onlookers was beginning to gather behind them. Whispering and hiding behind their hands and fans.
"Toko-sama!" the man stood up, looking between Hiko and the girl. "You've found our little Momo!
We've been searching weeks for her, all over the country and in the villages. And here she is!" He looked at Hiko and bowed low. "I'm Shouta, the girl's master!"
Hiko, set like a chunk of granite, finally gave him the merest bow, "Ni'itsu Kakunoshi." He purposely used his 'other' name. No sense giving anything else away.
"Ahhh! Ni'itsu-sama!" Shouta greeted effusively. "I am deeply honoured!" He bowed again. "We've been looking everywhere for this little one. She got separated from us in the mountains." He held a hand out to his wife. "She is my wife's hand maiden, our little Momo-chan!" He tried to get the girl out from behind Hiko again.
Hiko could feel her shaking.
"Momo-chan?" Shouta asked, still trying to get her to even look at him. "We've found you! You can come home now..."
"You say you lost her in the mountains?" Hiko asked.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Shouta said quickly. "West of here, we were travelling from Osaka. Momo-chan, come here to your master."
"About that..." Hiko said. "When I found her, she'd suffered a head injury."
"Head injury?" Shouta straightened up and looked sharply at Hiko. "What d'you mean head injury?"
"Just what I said." Hiko growled, barely hiding the sarcasm. "It's left her with no memory. That's why she's trying to hide. She probably doesn't know who you are any more. She certainly doesn't know who she is." What was with naming the girl 'peach' anyway?
"No memory!? What am I sup..." Shouta started when the woman behind him suddenly cleared her throat. The sudden switch in tactics wasn't missed by Hiko.
"Have you got some papers of some sort proving you own her? I have been taking care of her medical and personal needs for several weeks now." Hiko pointed out
"Well, if its a matter of compensating you for your troubles, have no fear, Ni'itsu-sama. I am more that happy to you for your troubles. We're just delighted in finding her safe and alive. I am concerned about this memory loss though..."
"Just for people and names."
"She's still capable of serving?"
"Been helping me around my workshop and with the cart."
"Oh what a relief, thank kami for that! Can't go about retraining her again! She's learned so much." He reached inside his robes and extracted a flat leather pouch. Shouta dug around inside it, while the other four men all eyed Hiko.
"Here, here!" Shouta said reaching in and extracting a legal piece of paperwork. "The girl's servitude deeds, clearly stating she is ours..." He started to point out the words to Hiko.
"I can read it." He snarled at the man, taking the paperwork from him. He just gave it a cursory glance, his mind racing and feeling a growing ire building inside of him. Something about this didn't sit right, and the undeniable fact that the girl was clearly the property of this man. He handed the paperwork back. His expression growing more and more forbidding.
"On'nanoko," he growled, reaching down to her hand to pull it off his pants leg. "Come on around here..."
For the first time she spoke up. "Iie! Shishou, no!" Her grip tightened. She began to back pedal, trying to pull Hiko with her in an effort to keep away from Shouta.
"And as for compensation..." Shouta beckoned with his hand and one of the other men slapped a small leather bag into his waiting hand.
Hiko, sneering at the man, managed to pull one of the girl's hand's free and he crouched, careful not to turn his back on the men. He pulled her around in front of him. She promptly grabbed two fistfuls of his robes, looking at him with huge eyes full of dread. Trembling, she shook her head, her barely there voice pleading with him. "No, shishou, no, no!"
"On'nanoko," He said firmly, looking into her frightened face. "These are your people. You have to go with them." He began to prise her fingers off his clothes. She frantically began shaking her head, breathing rapidly.
"No, no, shishou, no, no, no...!"
"On'nanoko!" He said firmly, forcing her attention on him. "You have to go with them."
"Allow me, Ni'itsu-sama." Shouta said, interrupting them. He reached down, slipped his hands under her arms and plucked the girl off the ground.
He got an instant wildcat. As he lifted, she began to twist and kick, frantically trying to free herself, her eyes huge with terror. "Shishou?!" She tried to shriek, her voice breaking into a gargle. "No! No!"
As Shouta dropped her onto his hip, she promptly stiff armed him in the chest, rearing back, trying to get herself as far away from him as she could. She was shaking her head desperately, pleading with Hiko, and trying to kick her way free from Shouta's hold.
The woman suddenly stepped forward, as Shouta tightened his grip on the child and she snatched the leather pouch out of Shouta's hand. Giving Hiko a sneer of contempt, she tugged the drawstring open, blindly grabbed inside of it and shoved the money at him. She looked at him with distaste, her eyes contemptuously looking him up and down.
Hiko glared hard at the woman, sneering back at her and refused the money. She snorted in disdain and threw it at his feet, then turned and began walking, the four other men parting before her. Shouta, loudly and effusively trying to calm the girl with laughter and cajoling, promptly moved to be ahead of them.
The girl, still stiff arming and struggling against Shouta's hold looked back at Hiko, terror and betrayal written all over her face. She twisted just enough to reach one hand out in his direction.
"Shishou!" She managed to garble, "No! NO!"
Once Shouta had his group out of earshot of the villagers as they left town, he reached up and grabbed the girl's wrists, roughly swinging her off his hip. He dumped her unceremoniously on the ground.
"Get up," he snarled at the terrified child. "You've been more of a nuisance than you've ever been worth. I've half a mind to just leave you back there with him!"
"So why don't you?" the woman asked, looking distastefully at the girl who was gulping for air, tears running down her face as she looked between them in horror. "I never wanted a 'hand maiden' as you put, in the first place. You only bought her to do your dirty work for you." She looked at Shouta and mocked, "Who's ever going to suspect a child? And a girl at that. It's just another one of your bright ideas that is failing."
"And I have been training her damned well to do a specific job!" Shouta snapped, grabbing the girl's robes at the throat and giving the child a rough shake. "I said get on your feet, I'm not anywhere near done with you." He turned and looked at the woman. "Do you realize who she was with?"
"That disrespectful vagabond? He looks as sordid as the rest of this god forsaken village. He paid absolutely no respect to me or to you for that matter. Why would I care?"
"That vagabond is Ni'itsu Kakunoshi."
"Again," the woman asked, clearly irritated, "Why do I care about that?"
"Ni'itsu is a potter, and a kintsugi craftsman. He's known in the prefecture for it. He repairs pots with gold. He has to have a stash of it up in that place he lives in on the mountain. That's what I sent this little ingrate in to find." He sneered down at the girl. "Apparently that's where you've been staying, so you'd know where he keeps his gold."
The girl began frantically shaking her head.
Shouta looked back at the woman, who had just the faintest gleam of interest in her eyes at the mention of gold.
"That louche has gold? Here? In this disgusting place? I'm surprised that they could even come up with a gold coin between them all."
"Oh, that one has much more gold than you'd think. Kintsugi is a repair job done only for the most elite of Japanese. They're the only ones who can afford it!" Shouta chortled. He was almost rubbing his hands together in glee.
"And did you see that sword he was carrying? That is an o-katana. The samé and meguki on that things handle alone is worth a great deal but that length of sword itself is a highly desired item to those Western collectors! One way or another..." he looked down at the child, who was trying to crab her way backwards away from him. "She's going to go back up to that place and get them for me."
"Goshujin...?" One of the other members of their group cautiously asked.
"What?" Shouta demanded shooting a look his way.
"Are you aware that Ni'itsu Kakunoshi is reputed to be a swordsman?"
"Why would I care about that?" Shouta snapped, glaring at the man.
"Many pardon's, Goshujin-san. My family lives in the next village over. There are rumours that he knows how to wield that sword very well."
The woman snorted derisively. "A potter? Wielding a sword? All they know how to do is get filthy dirty playing with mud."
"But why would he be going around carrying an antique sword? Could it be a bluff?" Shouta asked, his eyes narrowed in thought and a smirk grew on his lips. "With his height, I bet that is what it is. He's just a potter and he carries that thing to fool folks into thinking he can use it. Oh, ho ho ho!" Shouta finally did rubbed his hands in glee. "A sword like that could get quite a bit out of those foreign barbarians in our port. I smell a nice profit sitting there, ripe for the plucking!"
He looked at the woman. "What would he be doing wearing an antique sword in a little village? It must be a bluff, I'm certain of it!" He shook his head and waved a hand, before stepping forward and grabbing the girl's wrist. She recoiled, trying to get away from him.
He shoved her at one of the men, who reached out and grabbed her. "Never mind. We've got a few jobs tonight around here and you..." he looked at the girl. "You're going to finish the job I sent you to do and relieve Ni'itsu of his gold and get that sword!"
He started to chortle again. He looked over at her, leering. "You fail this time, and I will dispose of you for good!
