Chapter 216: Female Samurai Everywhere
In ancient times, samurai held the right to ride horses and bear arms, and even possessed the special privilege of executing commoners without impunity. In the rigid class system of the Japan, the children of the warrior class could only marry within their own class.
Some powerful samurai would also form marriage alliances with noble families of high birth, meaning they could marry the young ladies from scholarly families.
In this world where women could also become samurai, the same principle applied to the women of samurai families. If they were merely the daughters of ordinary samurai families, they were destined to marry big, brawny men.
Their entire lives would be spent worrying that their husbands could die at any moment. When their sons came of age, they too would go to war and face the same dangers. After their husband, they would worry about their son, never finding peace in their lives.
However, if they became samurai and accumulated achievements, everything would be different. They could gain more control over their marriage prospects and even have a delicate, well-bred young master from a scholarly family marry into their household.
Thus, over time, a woman becoming a samurai came to represent the pursuit of lifelong happiness.
Fighting while earning money to save up for a dowry, and if they encountered a desirable man, they would snatch him and make sure he couldn't back out—wasn't this the ideal life for a tomboy?
As this group of robust and formidable female samurai passed by, Shirou suddenly felt a chill run through him.
"Wait a minute! I think I smell a good man!" a burly woman walking at the front suddenly stopped and said.
"Where? Where? It's true! The smell of a perfect husband!" another woman beside her, who was a standard eight feet tall and eight feet wide, flared her nostrils, inhaling and exhaling, and shrieked.
"He smells delicious! Where is he?! Find him quickly!" several other women roared as if they were going berserk.
The female samurai flexed the monstrous, blocky muscles on their arms, their eyes glinting with the fierce light of hungry wolves. They extended their tongues, licked their lips, and scanned the surroundings, searching for the scent of a good man.
"Yukino, since we've already taken a turn, let's go back to our lodging!" Shirou decisively pulled the young Yukino back to their accommodation.
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After that, Shirou summoned the four farmers and arranged their subsequent work.
"So, now I must ask you to go out into the streets and find some strong samurai. Hmm... I ask that you only find male samurai, and invite them to come here and meet with me," Shirou said carefully to the farmers, emphasizing the point about only finding men.
"Yes... although we'd like to agree, sir. But with just the few of us, it's impossible. We've tried before, trying everything from dogeza (prostrating on the ground) to offering them rice for a meal," the older farmer, who looked aged despite being only in his forties, said pitifully.
"The ones willing to deal with us are all useless samurai who just want a free meal and run away the moment they hear about fighting mountain bandits. The stronger samurai won't even bother with us," another younger man chimed in with a tearful face.
"That's right..." the other farmers also showed expressions of helplessness and bitterness.
Shirou understood. That's why they had looked panicked earlier when they heard he wanted to go out—they had previous negative experiences.
'But now I, on the contrary, cannot go out.'
After all, Shirou was the initiator of this samurai recruitment, and naturally, he was to be the leader and commander of this battle. Leading soldiers in battle required dignity, so he had to act the part of a leader.
Even as a leader helping farmers fight mountain bandits—or perhaps especially because of this—he needed to demonstrate a more persuasive side.
Shirou had to show the confident demeanor of someone who could formulate strategies and had everything under control to give the samurai who came here confidence, making them trust him and join him in fighting the mountain bandits.
If he, the leader, also went out into the streets to solicit people, his persuasiveness would be greatly diminished.
'Moreover... it's really too dangerous to go outside right now...'
"It's alright. This time, tell the samurai who look strong that I am recruiting brave warriors for a battle and invite them to speak inside. If they are interested samurai, I believe they will honor the invitation and come over," Shirou said, encouraging the farmers with a friendly smile.
Shirou's composed and confident, sincere smile moved the farmers and gave them hope.
"We understand, sir. We will go out and try, and we will definitely find samurai willing to come," the leading strong middle-aged farmer agreed, pulling his companions to leave.
This time, with Shirou holding court, the farmers merely acted as messengers extending invitations to passing samurai. An equal conversation had now been established. Thus, some rōnin (masterless samurai) who were looking for work, upon hearing that a samurai was gathering men for a fight, agreed to come and see.
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The first person invited was a tall, portly samurai in his thirties with a fierce-looking full beard. He could be seen walking towards them from afar.
"Master, a samurai is coming," the young Yukino, who was peeking out from the doorway to check the situation, turned back to report.
"Yes, Yukino. You try him out," Shirou picked out a round tree branch, about the size of a wooden sword, from the dry firewood stacked in the corner of the house and handed it to the girl.
"Huh? Try him out? Master? Do you want me to duel him?" The young Yukino was stunned. She took the wooden stick and asked innocently.
She looked at the wooden stick in her hand, then at the tall, portly samurai slowly approaching outside, who was about four times her size. She thought, 'This must be a trial Master is giving me!'
The girl clenched her small fist, mustered her courage, and looked at Shirou, answering seriously, "I understand! Master! Yukino will do her best! I will definitely defeat him to show you!"
"No, no! I haven't gone to that extreme yet." Shirou smiled and shook his head at the girl, pointing to a blind spot next to the entrance, telling the girl to stand there.
"Huh? Isn't that an ambush?" the young Yukino looked at her Master, asking innocently.
"Just go for it. A truly capable samurai won't fall for it," Shirou reassured the girl, signaling her to prepare quickly.
"I understand." The young Yukino nodded, hid beside the doorway, and raised the wooden stick high.
When the sound of footsteps outside crossed the threshold, the young Yukino gathered her strength and swung the stick with force at the samurai's head.
The tall, portly samurai heard the rush of air, immediately raised his hand, caught the arm of the young Yukino holding the wooden stick, and flung her away with a sudden burst of strength.
At this point, the young Yukino's associated Heroic Spirit seemed to have also been juvenilized, so she couldn't exert even a tenth of Ushiwakamaru's fighting strength in her lifetime. However, her agility was still intact. Thrown into the air, she quickly regained her balance, flipped her body mid-air, and upon landing, backed up several steps until she was resting against the wall, completely unharmed.
Shirou was satisfied with the girl's performance. Even though she was still very young, she was indeed full of potential.
However, the assaulted samurai felt insulted.
"Bastards! Are you trying to make a fool of me?" The samurai who had just entered bristled, glaring at the young Yukino, and then looked at Shirou, who was sitting on the porch steps, angrily rebuking, "What is the meaning of this? If you don't give me a satisfactory explanation, I won't let this go!"
"Please don't be angry. There is a very urgent battle that needs to be fought, and so, we were forced to resort to this method to test the strength of the samurai we are recruiting," Shirou stood up and bowed, explaining.
"A battle? Are you fighting for a daimyō (feudal lord) or a castle lord?" The samurai sized up Shirou, noticing the unusual calm and steady demeanor of the other man. He suppressed his anger and asked.
"No, although it may be hard to accept, this time it is to help a farmers' village defend against mountain bandits. The only compensation is two meals of white rice per day; there is nothing else. What do you think?" Shirou explained the situation and asked with a gentle smile.
"Hmph! Hiring me isn't that cheap! You fellow! Don't joke with me!" The samurai's eyes blazed with anger upon hearing Shirou's words, and he was about to explode.
However, faced with Shirou's smile, and after glancing at the samurai sword with its exquisite hilt and tsuba (handguard) hanging on Shirou's waist, he finally let out an angry huff, threw up his hands, and turned to leave.
"Oh dear... it seems it still didn't work," Shirou said with a helpless smile. Although he tried his best to play the role of the host, charisma wasn't something you could summon on demand.
"Master, that's such a pity. He was such a skilled samurai," the young Yukino said regretfully.
"No, he could only be considered average. If I have the luxury of choice, I still hope to find companions of at least the upper-middle class. That way, our survival rate will be higher," Shirou shook his head, then looked at the girl and smiled softly.
"But speaking of which, Yukino, you dodged very well just now. You have great talent in agility and technique. If you train hard, you might surpass that samurai very soon."
"Really! Master, please train me more!" The young Yukino did not doubt Shirou's words and agreed, her eyes sparkling.
"Yes, I will teach you everything you can learn during this time," Shirou promised with a smile.
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Outside the street, the farmers continued to search the streets miserably for samurai who looked strong.
The next samurai came, and Ushiwakamaru again stood in the blind spot of the entrance, holding the wooden stick high.
This time, a tall, light-haired man with a headband and a cheerful smile walked up. He stopped at the door, smiled amicably, and said to Shirou, who was sitting on the wooden floor of the porch inside, "Let's not play this joke, shall we?"
This friendly-looking man had detected the young Yukino's ambush before even stepping through the door—he was at least an upper-tier samurai.
"Haha, that was indeed rude of me." Shirou scratched his cheek and smiled, signaling the young Yukino to put down the stick. He stood up and bowed to the man outside.
The man stepped inside, returned the bow to Shirou, establishing this good connection.
The man wore a headband with a long ponytail tied up, a cheerful and friendly smile on his face, and a crimson kimono. He had pulled one side of the collar down, revealing his sturdy chest and left arm. A bow and a quiver were slung over his back.
He carried a large sack of rice tightly tied with a hemp rope over his shoulder, though it was now more than half empty.
Shirou welcomed the man to sit down and poured him a cup of hot tea, explaining the purpose of his venture.
"I see, so it's to help farmers who have been invaded by mountain bandits," the man said, stroking his chin and nodding after hearing Shirou's words.
"What do you think?" Shirou asked the man.
"I understand. I'll take this job."
"That's wonderful! Master! Thank you, sir! You are a respectable and righteous person!" The young Yukino happily ran over and said to the man.
"Haha, but rather than saying I want to save the farmers, I'd say I appreciate your character. Let me lend you a hand this time," the man said, looking at Shirou.
"Having a skilled person like you help us is more reassuring than anything else. I am Muramasa... no, please call me 'Shirou.' May I ask your honored name?" Shirou asked, looking back at the man just as seriously.
"Haha, nice to meet you, General! Just call me Tawara Tōta," the light-haired man said with a hearty laugh.
"Tawara Tōta? The one who shot the giant centipede and slayed Taira no Masakado... Fujiwara no Hidesato?" Shirou said in surprise.
"Eh? You know me? That's an honor! There are even more impressive people around here, though. But speaking of which, this is a strange world, like several eras mixed together. It's interesting everywhere," Tawara Tōta rubbed the back of his head and laughed heartily.
He was an unconventional person, but at this moment, he showed a slightly troubled expression and continued.
"The only downside is that my Noble Phantasm is sealed. It was the bottomless rice bag granted to me by the Dragon God, and now it's almost empty. It's a headache."
"So that's how it is. Fortunately, in this commission, while we may not have much else, there's plenty of rice to eat," Shirou said with a smile.
"Mhm, as long as there's delicious white rice, I can stay anywhere. Hahaha," Tawara Tōta readily agreed.
"Master! What Lord Tawara Tōta just said," the young Yukino nearby reminded him.
"Right, the impressive person you mentioned earlier is whom?" Shirou inquired.
"Ah, that's a great swordsman living in the East Street. He wields an exaggeratedly long nōdachi (field sword). The strong warriors nearby are queuing up to challenge him. The way I see it, his duels seem to be over before they even begin," Tawara Tōta recalled the duel he had witnessed, nodding repeatedly in admiration.
"Oh, there's such a master nearby?" Shirou's eyes lit up as he asked.
"Master, let's go look for him now," the young Yukino eagerly suggested.
"No need to worry about me. If you want to see him, he's in the central area of East Street. The place with a crowd gathered around is definitely the spot. I'll help you screen the recruits here for the time being," Tawara Tōta offered proactively.
"Since time is very tight, and I am in a hurry to find five members, I'll entrust this place to you then." Shirou bowed again, handing the responsibilities over to the man.
"Five? So, this little samurai girl doesn't count?" Tawara Tōta looked at the girl and asked with a smile.
"That's right! Master! I'm a samurai too!" The young Yukino stood on her tiptoes, pointing to herself.
"No, children don't count," Shirou said, pressing down on the girl's head.
"Honestly... I beg you, Lord Tawara Tōta!" Although the young Yukino was dissatisfied, she still bowed and pleaded.
"Don't worry about it. By the way, what are your requirements for the samurai you want to interview?" Tawara Tōta asked.
"Well, I think each one should be at least around my level—maybe half a tier below upper-class," Shirou considered for a moment before answering.
"No, no, you are too modest. In my opinion, the composure you are showing right now is already more than enough for the upper-middle class. But I understand. I will select candidates based on being half a step below upper-class," Tawara Tōta agreed.
So, Shirou took the young Yukino and headed toward East Street outside.
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