The Shogun’s carriage moved steadily down the road. Flanking it on all sides, the front rear, left and right is a total of over 300 attendants. In fact, this is still on the small side. A typical Imperial voyage would likely have around 1,000 people.
This is because Toshogu is a sacred place where the first Shogun rests, and it is considered inappropriate to travel there in a large, noisy group. Despite this, there are over 100 soldiers providing escorts. This shows how much they are on guard against enemy attacks.
What more, the guards weren’t just human soldiers. Several karakuri automatons—creations of Hiraga Genko—marched in formation, their clockwork joints ticking softly as they scanned the surroundings.
“Some of them have interesting weapons.”
“Mm. First time I’ve seen those.”
“They’re called sasumata. They are tools designed to pin down an enemy, rather than cut them down.”
Karen explained.
The weapon resembled a long pole with a U-shaped tip. At first glance, it looked too simple to be effective, but no doubt some clever mechanism was built into it. Overhead, small flying constructs glided through the air, scanning the terrain below. Should anything suspicious draw near, they would unleash a sharp alarm to warn the procession.
“The blades spin to keep it in the air. Completely different from how birds or insects fly. I can’t believe someone figured out a way to make that work.”
I couldn’t help but admire the ingenious mechanism.
“In our country, we have a children’s toy called taketombo. Perhaps it works on a similar principle.”
“Oh? Did Karen-oneechan just say something smart for once?”
“Fufun, of course I did.”
She replied, puffing her chest with pride.
Nikou was said to be surrounded by mountains, which meant the procession would have to cross a pass along the way. According to the scouts, that was the most likely place for the ninja to launch an ambush.
At last, the entourage reached the base of the mountain pass. Although advance patrols had already checked for danger, obvious tension settled over the group.
“…From above.”
“Master?”
I was the first to notice.
I had been using detection magic just in case—but even so, I was a little late. Because I hadn’t expected the threat to come from the sky. Considering we had just been talking about the flying automatons, it felt like an inexcusable oversight.
Still, I hadn’t imagined humans would be capable of flight. Spreading strange wings shaped like boomerangs, figures began gliding slowly down through the air.
And not just one.
One after another, more appeared, all dressed in identical black attire. Their attire matched perfectly with the stories we’d heard—these were unmistakably ninjas.
“Watch out! The attack is coming from above!”
At my shout, everyone tilted their heads skyward, gaping in shock. It seemed none of them had expected such a method of assault, either.
“From the sky!?”
“What are those wings!? Some kind of automaton!?”
“And there’s so many of them!”
Most of the guards stood frozen, staring up at the figures in stunned disbelief. But they were the Shogun’s escort for a reason—not all were so easily shaken, and several quickly began to take decisive action.
“There’s no need to panic! We spotted them first—that gives us the advantage!”
“They’re descending slowly! Shoot them down with arrows while they’re in the air!”
“Target those mechanical wings! They’re bigger than the body and easier to hit. Once they’re broken, they’ll will fall like stones!”
Thanks to their quick thinking, the soldiers instantly snapped into battle formation.
But just as they were about to let their arrows fly, the ninjas hurled spherical objects down toward the ground. The moment they struck, thick smoke burst out with a violent hiss, spreading rapidly through the area.
“Damn it! Smoke bombs!?”
In an instant, the world turned hazy and gray. Our sight swallowed by a choking fog. Then came the thuds of landing bodies, followed by the screams of soldiers being struck.
“They dropped from that height!? What more, they can still move in this foggy field?!”
Some technique must be letting them see clearly through the haze, allowing them to distinguish friend from foe without trouble.
At this rate, the soldiers would be butchered without a chance to fight back.
“Mm… leave it to me.”
Fana raised her hands, summoning a sudden gale.
The smoke whipped away in seconds, revealing the ninja attackers prowling across the battlefield below.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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