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.‘You’ll help me then?’ replied Jack, both amazed and relieved.‘We’ll be rewarded with food.’‘Well, why didn’t you say so?’ said Saburo, grinning.‘That’s all the incentive I need!’The farmers threw themselves to the ground in gratitude.‘But I’m only agreeing to this,’ added Saburo quietly, ‘because it’s you who asked.I expect that I’ll be needed to save your miserable life again!’11A HELPFUL MONK‘Pester someone else with your childish games!’ growled the samurai, irritably waving Saburo away.‘But this is a real mission,’ insisted Saburo, pursuing the ronin across the square.‘Don’t take me for a fool.If there was a serious problem, the farmers wouldn’t be hiring young samurai like you.’‘That’s why they need your help.’‘You’re the one needing help.Now leave me alone before I’m forced to end your very short life!’At that, Saburo stopped in his tracks and let the ronin walk away.Returning to the entrance of Okayama’s main Buddhist temple, he slumped on the steps next to Jack.‘That’s the sixth ronin to say no,’ complained Saburo.‘They just won’t take me seriously.’Peering from beneath the rim of his hat, Jack surveyed the square.They’d been trying all morning to recruit samurai.But with market day over, Okayama was no longer as busy and the choice of ronin was limited.‘I can’t believe there isn’t a single samurai willing to help,’ said Jack.Saburo shrugged.‘Everyone’s out for themselves since the Shogun came to power.’‘Then why not look to yourselves for salvation?’ advised a small monk descending the steps of the temple.Dressed in white robes with a saffron-coloured mantle, he wasn’t much bigger than a child and carried a shakujō – a ringed staff – its pointed iron tip and six metal bands jangling with each step.The monk’s face was in shadow beneath a large conical straw hat.Jack had come across similar monks on his travels.They often hid their faces as a symbol of their detachment from the outside world.‘We’re not the ones who need help,’ explained Jack, bowing his head respectfully.He pointed to Toge and Sora, glumly crouching on their haunches nearby.‘The farmers need samurai to protect their rice harvest.But no ronin will help them.’‘And no ronin will listen to us,’ said Saburo, sighing.‘Then why not approach young samurai?’ suggested the monk.‘They can be just as brave.’Jack considered this.‘They might still be training and won’t have the sword skills.It’s too risky against a bandit like Akuma.We need warriors with battle experience.’‘Do you lack such experience?’‘Not entirely,’ Jack admitted, his mind returning to the attack on the Niten Ichi Ryū and the Battle of Osaka Castle.‘Have you not duelled adult samurai … and won?’‘Errr … yes,’ replied Jack, taken off-guard by such a knowing question.‘Then who’s to say there aren’t more warriors like you?’‘Because I’m …’ Jack trailed off.Because I’m a gaijin, he’d almost said.Yet maybe the monk was right.He, Jack, was willing to tackle the bandits.And if the Niten Ichi Ryū could produce warriors like Akiko, Yamato and himself, then why couldn’t there be other young samurai of equal skill?‘But this isn’t Kyoto,’ argued Saburo.‘There won’t be many sword schools here – if any! Where will we find young samurai?’‘Sometimes what you seek is right in front of your eyes,’ the monk replied, lifting the hat from his face.Dumbstruck, Jack and Saburo could only stare open-mouthed at the little monk with bright eyes and a smooth shaven head.‘B-b-but you’re supposed to be at the Tendai Temple in Iga Ueno … with Sensei Yamada,’ Jack finally managed to gasp.‘And you’re supposed to be on a ship bound for England,’ replied Yori.Back at the storehouse, Neko brewed a pot of sencha while Jack, Saburo and Yori caught up on each other’s news.Yori couldn’t believe all the trials and tribulations Jack had suffered; and Saburo was stunned to learn of Yori’s gruesome escape from the Red Devils at the Battle of Osaka Castle.All three of them mourned the tragic closure of their school, but Jack and Yori were pleased to learn from Saburo that Sensei Kano, their blind bōjutsu master, had safely returned the surviving young samurai to Kyoto before going into hiding himself.To Jack’s disappointment, there was no further word of his guardian Masamoto’s fate, following his banishment to a remote temple on Mount Iawo.But sorrow turned to laughter when Yori learnt of Saburo’s uneventful musha shugyō.‘No point taking unnecessary risks!’ explained Saburo, archly raising his eyebrows.‘What brings you to Okayama anyway?’‘Sensei Yamada sent me on a pilgrimage too,’ replied Yori.‘But a religious one.’‘Is Sensei Yamada here?’ Jack asked, eager to see the Zen philosophy master who’d been his closest mentor at the Niten Ichi Ryū.Shaking his head, Yori gave a sad smile.‘I think something died in him during that last battle in Osaka.Sensei Yamada’s been teaching me everything he knows, as if he expects to depart this world soon.’Jack and Saburo exchanged worried glances.‘Then why aren’t you with him now?’ asked Saburo.‘Life is the greatest teacher, he told me.That’s why he sent me on this pilgrimage, asking that I deliver a message to an old friend at the Okayama Temple.’Neko, a steaming teapot in hand, approached the raised platform with deference and poured out three cups of sencha.Saburo raised his cup in a toast.‘To the Niten Ichi Ryū!’ he said, hoping to lift their spirits.‘To friends!’ said Jack, still reeling from the fortuity of meeting both Saburo and Yori but overwhelmingly grateful to have them once more at his side.‘To friends, gone but not forgotten,’ agreed Yori, his eyes reddening with tears.The reunited young samurai drank in their friends’ honour [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.‘You’ll help me then?’ replied Jack, both amazed and relieved.‘We’ll be rewarded with food.’‘Well, why didn’t you say so?’ said Saburo, grinning.‘That’s all the incentive I need!’The farmers threw themselves to the ground in gratitude.‘But I’m only agreeing to this,’ added Saburo quietly, ‘because it’s you who asked.I expect that I’ll be needed to save your miserable life again!’11A HELPFUL MONK‘Pester someone else with your childish games!’ growled the samurai, irritably waving Saburo away.‘But this is a real mission,’ insisted Saburo, pursuing the ronin across the square.‘Don’t take me for a fool.If there was a serious problem, the farmers wouldn’t be hiring young samurai like you.’‘That’s why they need your help.’‘You’re the one needing help.Now leave me alone before I’m forced to end your very short life!’At that, Saburo stopped in his tracks and let the ronin walk away.Returning to the entrance of Okayama’s main Buddhist temple, he slumped on the steps next to Jack.‘That’s the sixth ronin to say no,’ complained Saburo.‘They just won’t take me seriously.’Peering from beneath the rim of his hat, Jack surveyed the square.They’d been trying all morning to recruit samurai.But with market day over, Okayama was no longer as busy and the choice of ronin was limited.‘I can’t believe there isn’t a single samurai willing to help,’ said Jack.Saburo shrugged.‘Everyone’s out for themselves since the Shogun came to power.’‘Then why not look to yourselves for salvation?’ advised a small monk descending the steps of the temple.Dressed in white robes with a saffron-coloured mantle, he wasn’t much bigger than a child and carried a shakujō – a ringed staff – its pointed iron tip and six metal bands jangling with each step.The monk’s face was in shadow beneath a large conical straw hat.Jack had come across similar monks on his travels.They often hid their faces as a symbol of their detachment from the outside world.‘We’re not the ones who need help,’ explained Jack, bowing his head respectfully.He pointed to Toge and Sora, glumly crouching on their haunches nearby.‘The farmers need samurai to protect their rice harvest.But no ronin will help them.’‘And no ronin will listen to us,’ said Saburo, sighing.‘Then why not approach young samurai?’ suggested the monk.‘They can be just as brave.’Jack considered this.‘They might still be training and won’t have the sword skills.It’s too risky against a bandit like Akuma.We need warriors with battle experience.’‘Do you lack such experience?’‘Not entirely,’ Jack admitted, his mind returning to the attack on the Niten Ichi Ryū and the Battle of Osaka Castle.‘Have you not duelled adult samurai … and won?’‘Errr … yes,’ replied Jack, taken off-guard by such a knowing question.‘Then who’s to say there aren’t more warriors like you?’‘Because I’m …’ Jack trailed off.Because I’m a gaijin, he’d almost said.Yet maybe the monk was right.He, Jack, was willing to tackle the bandits.And if the Niten Ichi Ryū could produce warriors like Akiko, Yamato and himself, then why couldn’t there be other young samurai of equal skill?‘But this isn’t Kyoto,’ argued Saburo.‘There won’t be many sword schools here – if any! Where will we find young samurai?’‘Sometimes what you seek is right in front of your eyes,’ the monk replied, lifting the hat from his face.Dumbstruck, Jack and Saburo could only stare open-mouthed at the little monk with bright eyes and a smooth shaven head.‘B-b-but you’re supposed to be at the Tendai Temple in Iga Ueno … with Sensei Yamada,’ Jack finally managed to gasp.‘And you’re supposed to be on a ship bound for England,’ replied Yori.Back at the storehouse, Neko brewed a pot of sencha while Jack, Saburo and Yori caught up on each other’s news.Yori couldn’t believe all the trials and tribulations Jack had suffered; and Saburo was stunned to learn of Yori’s gruesome escape from the Red Devils at the Battle of Osaka Castle.All three of them mourned the tragic closure of their school, but Jack and Yori were pleased to learn from Saburo that Sensei Kano, their blind bōjutsu master, had safely returned the surviving young samurai to Kyoto before going into hiding himself.To Jack’s disappointment, there was no further word of his guardian Masamoto’s fate, following his banishment to a remote temple on Mount Iawo.But sorrow turned to laughter when Yori learnt of Saburo’s uneventful musha shugyō.‘No point taking unnecessary risks!’ explained Saburo, archly raising his eyebrows.‘What brings you to Okayama anyway?’‘Sensei Yamada sent me on a pilgrimage too,’ replied Yori.‘But a religious one.’‘Is Sensei Yamada here?’ Jack asked, eager to see the Zen philosophy master who’d been his closest mentor at the Niten Ichi Ryū.Shaking his head, Yori gave a sad smile.‘I think something died in him during that last battle in Osaka.Sensei Yamada’s been teaching me everything he knows, as if he expects to depart this world soon.’Jack and Saburo exchanged worried glances.‘Then why aren’t you with him now?’ asked Saburo.‘Life is the greatest teacher, he told me.That’s why he sent me on this pilgrimage, asking that I deliver a message to an old friend at the Okayama Temple.’Neko, a steaming teapot in hand, approached the raised platform with deference and poured out three cups of sencha.Saburo raised his cup in a toast.‘To the Niten Ichi Ryū!’ he said, hoping to lift their spirits.‘To friends!’ said Jack, still reeling from the fortuity of meeting both Saburo and Yori but overwhelmingly grateful to have them once more at his side.‘To friends, gone but not forgotten,’ agreed Yori, his eyes reddening with tears.The reunited young samurai drank in their friends’ honour [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]