TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN

'Have they, now?'

'Yes, my lord.'

'Did they bring Tenzo back with them?'

'Yes, my lord.'

'Good!' Koroku nodded approvingly. 'Have him wait.'

'Inside?'

'Yes. I'll be there soon.'

Koroku was an able strategist—the clan depended on him for it—but there was another side to his character: a tendency to be softhearted. He could be stern, but he could be moved by tears, especially where his own flesh and blood were concerned. He had made up his mind, though: he must do away with his nephew this morning. But he seemed to hesitate, and stayed for quite some time watching Kuniyoshi work.

'It's only natural,' he said. 'After all, firearms just arrived here seven or eight years go. Since then, samurai clans in all the provinces have vied with each other to produce guns or buy them from the ships of the European barbarians. Here in Owari we have a tactical advantage. There must be many country samurai in the north and east who have never even seen firearms. You haven't made one before, either, so take your time and work carefully by trial and error. If you can make one, you can make a hundred, and we'll have them on hand for later.'

'My lord!' The retainer came back and knelt on the dew-covered ground. 'They're waiting for you.'

Koroku turned to him. 'I'll be there soon. They can wait a bit longer.'

While Koroku was determined to make the costly sacrifice of punishing his nephew or justice' sake, he was torn by a conflict between his sense of what was right and his own feelings. As he was about to leave, he spoke to Kuniyoshi again, 'Within the year you'll be able to make ten or twenty serviceable firearms, won't you?'

'Yes,' said the smith, who, conscious of his responsibility, had a serious expression on his sooty face. 'If I can make one that I feel is right, I can make forty or even a hundred.'

'It's the first one that's difficult, eh?'

'You spend so much money on me.'

'Don't worry about it.'

'Thank you, my lord.'

'I don't suppose the fighting will let up next year, the year after that, or in the years following…. When the grasses on this earth all wither, and the buds begin to sprout again—well, do the best you can to finish it quickly.'

'I'll put everything I have into it.'

'Remember, it's to be done in secret.'

'Yes, my lord.'

'The sound of the hammer is a little too loud. Can you work so it won't be heard outside the moat?'

'I'll be careful about that, too.'

On his way out of the smithy, Koroku saw a gun propped next to the bellows. 'And that?' he asked, pointing to it. 'Is it the model, or one that you've made?'

'It's brand-new.'

'Well, let me see it.'

'I'm afraid it's not quite ready for your inspection yet.'

'Never mind. I have a good target for it. Will it fire?'

'The ball flies out, but no matter what I do, I can't make the mechanism engage as it does in the original. I'll try harder to make something that will work.'

'Testing is also an important job. Let me have it.'

Taking it from Kuniyoshi's hands, Koroku rested the barrel of the gun on his crooked elbow and made as if aiming it at a target. Just then, Inada Oinosuke appeared at the door of the smithy.

'Oh, you haven't finished yet.'

Koroku turned toward Oinosuke with the butt of the gun pressed against his ribs.

'Well?'

'I think you should come quickly. We were able to talk Tenzo into coming along with us, but he seems to think it strange and acts nervous. If things go wrong, he may tun into the tiger breaking out of his cage, as the proverb goes.'

'Very well, I'm coming.'

Handing the gun to Oinosuke, Koroku walked with long strides down the path through the forest.

Watanabe Tenzo sat just outside the study wondering what was going on. What kind of emergency had caused him to be summoned here? Aoyama Shinshichi, Nagai Hannojo, Matsubara Takumi, and Inada Oinosuke— the trusted retainers of the Hachisuka clan—all sat next to him, carefully observing his every movement. Tenzo had begun to feel uneasy as soon as he had arrived. He was thinking of making up some excuse and leaving when he caught sight of Koroku in the garden.

'Ah, Uncle.' Tenzo's greeting was accompanied by a forced smile.

Koroku looked impassively at his nephew. Oinosuke rested the butt of the gun on the ground.

'Tenzo, come out into the garden, won't you?' he said. His appearance was no different from normal. Tenzo was a little reassured.

'They told me to come quickly, said there was some urgent business to take care of.

'That's right.'

'What sort of business?'

'Well, come over here.'

Tenzo put on a pair of straw sandals and went out into the garden. Hannojo and Takumi went with him.

'Stand there,' Koroku commanded, sitting down on a large rock and raising the gun Tenzo realized in an instant that his uncle was going to take aim at him, but there was nothing he could do. The other men stood around him, as inert as stones on a go board. The leader of the bandits of Mikuriya had been placed in check. His face went livid. Invisible flames of anger radiated from Koroku. The look on his face told Tenzo tha words would be useless.

'Tenzo!'

'Yes?'

'Surely you haven't forgotten the things I've told you over and over again?'

'I keep them firmly in my mind.'

'You were born a human being in a world in chaos. The most shameful things are vanity in clothing, vanity in eating, and oppressing ordinary, peaceable people. The so-called great provincial clans do these things, and so do the ronin. The family of Hachisuka Koroku is not like them, and I believe I've already cautioned you about this.'

'Yes, you have.'

'Our family alone has pledged to harbor great hopes and fulfill them. We have vowed not to oppress the farmers, not to act like thieves, and if we become the rulers of a province, to see to it that prosperity is shared by all.'

'Yes, we have.'

'Who has broken this pledge?' Koroku asked. Tenzo was mute. 'Tenzo! You have abused the military strength I have entrusted to you. You have put it to evil use, doing the work of a thief in the night. It was you who broke into the pottery shop in Shinkawa and stole the akae pitcher, wasn't it?'

Tenzo looked as if he was about to make a break for it.

Koroku stood up and thundered, 'You swine! Sit down! Do you want to run away?'

'I… I won't run.' His voice quavered. He slumped down on the grass and sat as though fastened to the ground.

'Tie him up!' Koroku barked to his retainers. Matsubara Takumi and Aoyama Shinshichi were instantiy on Tenzo. They twisted his hands behind his back and tied them with his sword knot. When Tenzo clearly understood that his crime had been exposed and that he was in danger, his pale face became a little more resolute and defiant.