Testament received regarding recent events in
Hisato
I, Takahide Nishiro, set forth on the day in question to accompany
my uncle on a hunting expedition, as the weather was suitable for it.
Everything went smoothly, nobody bothered me, not even my retainer
Kawasu, until a messenger arrived and relayed that a samurai from the
castle, Sasakawa, the Warden of the Eastern Gate, had been found dead
in a small village south of our position. The lord chose me, as well
as the gamekeeper's son, who was present, to investigate and be
charged with the duty of recovering the deceased's body and
daisho.
Before we set off, we were joined by Sanjuro-san, the village
bailiff of Ariki. He turned out to be a most sympathetic and august
person, even though his servant Yip-Yip was short and disquietingly
silent. I despise those weak of spirit. Kigamuro-san, the second
samurai in our group, was quiet but with a solid head on his
shoulders. He did not bother me.
Once we arrived in the village, it was no problem talking to the
peasants that dwelled there. The headman explained that the samurai
had been found under a pile of branches, dead but without any visible
injuries. We inspected the body in a house nearby, and his neck
seemed to have been broken from a forceful blow of some sort. Maybe
an accident, but maybe not. The villagers cringed before us, pleading
to be spared as they were free from guilt, and none among out number
chose to kill any of them. Though, I must note, Sanjuro-san did have
a gleam in his eye, in addition to mumbling a lot about a 'box' of
his.
At this point Sanjuro-san wishes to continue the tale. You would
be wise to heed his words.
Many years have I, Sanjuro, been a keeper of justice for many
Lords and yet I never saw a case such as :
"The Foul Murder of The Noble, Most Wise and Yet Feared By the
Enemies of His Lord, Warden of the Eastern Gate."
Accompanied by a young servant, who shall remain nameless, I was
honoured to escort the Justice bringing wrath of our lord in the
forms of Nishiro&endash;san , a great man to be, I think, Kawasu-san,
his faithful yet excitable retainer, and the fearsome Kigamoro, son
of the Head Huntsmaster.
Indeed a murder had been committed and I was at my wits end to
discover How it had happened, luckily I had my Box with me. Yet I
refrained from using it. We questioned the villagers to no avail.
However, a search of the swamp revealed the Horse of the Warden of
the eastern gate. AHHH HAA!! I remember crying.
Nishiro-san is a cunning one and with the help of our Huntsman
fellow we learned that 2 people had left the horse in order to return
later. The six villagers including the headmans son-in-law KONO
admitted after a clever ruse on my part that two bandits had
kidnapped the headman's daughter and were holding the village to
ransom. The weak girl's name who was kidnapped was ASANO, she was the
wife of KONO.
The plan was that the ransom was to be put into a boat with Kono
and sailed to a nearby beach where the Bandits would take the Ransom
and give the girl in exchange. Hai ! Bukui! The bandits would find
more in the boat than just rice, they would find the terrible
Nishiro-san, his blade flashing like lighting amongst them and
ourselves in the trees at their backs. Ha Ha!
I should point one thing out now, that I did not trust the Kono
fellow and I thought something was amiss; I told His lordship to send
his retainer/servant in his place but young Nishiro&endash;san would
have none of it. Wisdom,they say, falls like raindrops from the sky
and yet sometimes wisdom is like a bucket of slops thrown from a
window over one's head. A lesson our young lord was soon to
learn.
We went to the beach with a local man and waited for the boat with
Nishiro-San and the man Kono to appear. Soon it became clear that
something was wrong. Why had the boat not arrived!! After some time
we hurried back to the village
Sometime later a wretched, wet and bloodied fellow covered in mud
and sand crawled into the village on his hands and knees. Away you
dog, we shouted, no Bushi this, with no swords at his waist. Who was
this horrid fellow ? we asked.
But wait!! Could this creature be …No!…of course not
!!….But.. OH my!!……Yes! it was Nishiro&endash;san,
nearly dead from the sea and an attack by the cowardly Kono who
struck him from behind. Kono was the two bandits!! Why the demon
would not escape us ! Luckily some samurai from Ariki arrived and
they were dispatched north & south to warn the people of this
dog. Then an idea came to light why not take the fastest boat in the
village and chase after the rascal. A champion good idea, who ever
had it, and soon we were off in a boat chasing the murderer.
After some hours we intercepted Kono's boat and he drove it in to
shore. There he ran for the swamp, leaving his wife Asano whom was
part of "The Gang". With a no thought for his injured master in the
boat, whom I stayed with, off ran the impulsive Kawasu into the swamp
reeds. Suddenly he was ambushed by the cunningly evil Kono who
proceeded to beat Kawasu badly with many Ninja-style weapons. May the
gods protect us, he was a Ninja !!!
Kigamoro ran to Kawasu's aid abandoning the young lord Nishiro to
the fates. Soon the Rash Kigamoro was stuck with many Shukiren
throwing stars. It seemed that I must aid these young ones, so with
Nishiro's permission I ran to help them. Too late, for when I arrived
Kono was dead. We recovered Nishiro's swords and those of the slain
Sasakawa from the boat, along with the villagers ransom …
Foolish people not to have told us the truth in the first place - it
would have saved Nishiro-san a swimming lesson. The head of Kono and
his woman were returned with our group back to Ariki by boat.
The judgement was to be that the woman Asano will be executed for
her part in this trickery after childbirth (for she was pregnant) and
the child to work his life in the village where the foul murder took
place.
I also recommend to my Lord, the death of the Headman of Hisato
village and three other villagers picked at random to teach the
peasants not to lie to the enforcers of our Lords will and Justice.
Their lies almost cost Nishiro-san his life.
Yours humbly, Sanjuro, Baliff and protector of his lord's peace in
the Town of Ariki.