Chapter 44: The Development of the Naval Force, Instructor

Ōigawa Castle – Isshiki Masataka

1561. Fall.

Michifusa completed the task I assigned to him the other day perfectly.

A man sat in the courtyard, his body tightly bound with ropes. It had been several days since we first captured him, and since that time, his appearance had turned rugged.

I could see in his eyes; he was looking down on me due to my age. Well, it wasn’t a big deal. I’d received similar looks whenever I visited Imagawa Residence anyway.

Standing beside him was a man. He came from a family of merchants, but he didn’t behave like one at all.

His name was Someya Torakichi, the younger brother of Someya Kumakichi, the seventh head of Someya Merchants, a member of Ōigawa Merchant Guild.

“This is Okuyama Chikamoto.”

“Good work bringing him here.”

Now kneeling beside the tightly bound Chikamoto, Torakichi bowed deeply to me.

I nodded at him before directing my gaze at Chikamoto.

“Why haven’t you cut off my head already?”

“That is something I will decide later. Along with the fate of the pirate crew that you lead.”

“…What are you trying to say here?”

And here I thought he was just a man who just didn’t know how to express himself. It turned out he could show his hostility just fine. Then again, it was only natural, he didn’t see me in high regard in the first place. Now, what should I do next…?

Well, he didn’t know what I wanted from him, so I could start from there.

“What I want is simple. Depending on your answer, I will spare your lives and your followers. All of them.”

His brow just moved. Guess that piqued his interest a little.

“Currently, Isshiki is trying to build its naval force, however, we are lacking in manpower.”

“I see. When it comes to leading a naval force, experience is important. Those accustomed to leading troops on land will only be a hindrance on water.”

“Yes. Even if we managed to build a naval force, without a proper commander, we wouldn’t be able to defeat the merchant fleet that Someya Torakichi over there leads. That is how weak we currently are.”

Chikamoto gave a deep nod. I could feel the contempt in his eyes subsided a little. Just a little more push.

“I hate to admit it, but yes, this guy is strong. He annihilated our Okuyama Pirates with ease, and we’ve subdued various merchant fleets before.”

From where I was, I noticed Torakichi’s grin. Aside from fights, this guy loved praises too, it seemed.

“Let’s get to the main topic. You’ve probably guessed it already, but I will give you a choice.”

“The naval force, huh? Sorry, but I have zero interest in joining the army.”

“Your ancestors used to serve the Hōjō clan, didn’t they? I heard it from Torakichi.”

“…So you know about that too. What am I saying? Of course you do. Yes, my ancestors used to serve Ise Sōzui¹This is Hōjō Sōun’s other name. Fun fact, there are actually no records of Sōun using the Hōjō name at all. The clan’s name change from Ise to Hōjō occurred after his death, during his son, Ujitsuna’s reign., the founder of the Hōjō clan. When Hōjō Ujitsuna²The second head of Hōjō, the father of Hōjō Ujiyasu, the current Hōjō’s head., the second clan head, came to power, they also served him. However, times changed. With the rise of Kajiwara and Enashi Suzuki clan, our families lost our place within the Hōjō clan.”

“Is that why they decided to leave Hōjō and become pirates at Kamitaka Island?”

Chikamoto nodded his head again.

“As I’ve stated before, the fate of the pirates who follow you depends on your answer. If you refuse, then I will have to behead all of the captured pirates and display their heads throughout my territory.”

“…”

He didn’t say anything. This meant he couldn’t give an immediate answer. Knowing their history with Hōjō, he probably had a deep distrust toward warrior clans in general.

However, I could tell that he was thinking about it. The fact that he didn’t immediately refuse my offer was proof of that.

“There is no need to give me an answer immediately. Listen to what I have to say first, then, I’ll leave you in Torakichi’s hands for a while. After that, you can discuss it with your comrades.”

“Fine. I’ll do as you say and hear you out.”

“As I’ve said earlier, our clan is trying to build our own naval force. But, we don’t have enough people who are experienced in naval warfare, and that makes engaging in actual naval warfare out of question for us. But with Ōigawa Castle being close to the sea, it’s a wasted opportunity to not build a proper naval force here.”

When I paused and looked at Chikamoto, he didn’t react even a little. He simply closed his eyes and listened without saying a word.

“Hence I decided to proceed with the plan to build one. To do that, we have to secure the ships. This matter has pretty much been resolved since we’ve acquired blueprints from the Seto Inland Sea. We haven’t been able to produce enough ships yet due to us adding our own modifications to the ships, but that’s a problem that we can resolve with time. Next, the naval force itself. We still lack a huge number of personnels. This is something that I realized after boarding on a ship myself, but those who are accustomed to fighting on land won’t be able to fight on sea properly. Hence we need more experienced personnels in this regard.”

“So that’s why you called me here. To secure said personnels.”

“Yes. I know that trusting you people is dangerous, but I planned to give you people preferential treatment to mitigate that danger. Of course, this won’t be a permanent arrangement. It will only last until the naval force has turned stable.”

If I were to give too much preferential treatment for them, or rather, the naval force in general, it would only create an internal division among our military. This once happened during the time Japan faced off against the world. All in all, there’d be nothing good coming out of an internal division; it’d only create a liability within our ranks.

“Preferential treatment?”

“First, hazard pay. In short, your stipends will be a little higher than they should be for a while. Also, I’m well aware that you pirates are outsiders—the worst case of outsiders, even, but I’ve taken that into consideration. As for how, I will appoint you as the Instructor of the naval force and grant you authority to mobilize the force. Of course, you won’t have full authority. Rather, I’m just giving you the authority to do whatever you want as long as it’s related to the training of the force. Next, there are those who are unable to fight among you pirates, right? Among them, those without a reliable source of income will be taken by either the castle or the merchants. Should any of them be treated unfairly, I will see to it that the person in charge of them be punished.”

“Even with such an arrangement, no one among your people would willingly follow my orders. After all, I’m just a lowly pirate.”

“Beat them into submission. I will write a letter of acknowledgment for a mock battle. I’m sure if you show them what you can do, they’ll come to accept you—although they might reject you at first. It’s not like they have the leniency to be picky. They are still struggling to build up the force from the ground-up, after all.”

Chikamoto fell silent again. But, the contemptuous look in his eyes was gone.

Instead, it was replaced by… excitement? I think?

“Let me say one last thing. In the future, there’ll be part of the clan who’ll come to soar through their achievements with the naval force, just like how it was with Hōjō that you once served. But, even if that happens, I won’t abandon any of you. I will not let you suffer through the regret that your ancestors felt. Hence, serve me. Show the world your strength and this time, do it for the right thing.”

“Your words have touched something within me. However, this is not a matter that I can decide on my own. I would like to consult with the rest of my men first.”

“Of course, I will allow you to do that. However, until I receive an answer, I will not withdraw our surveillance on you.”

“That is only natural.”

Well, that seemed to have gone well. My words should stir his heart quite a bit.

Though, who knows if he believed me completely or not. I’d assume that the pirates’ previous leader had told him things—especially their resentment toward Hōjō for abandoning them.

Anyway, this should give him a better impression of me than before.

For now, I’ll assign Hikogorō to keep an eye on him. If, by chance, anyone were to oppose this decision of mine, Hikogorō should be able to convince them. After all, he was the one who knew best about our naval force’s current state.

“Torakichi, you’ve heard everything, no?”

“Yes. From now on, I will treat him with proper decorum.”

“Do that.”

“Understood.”

“Okuyama Chikamoto. I expect a favorable answer from you.”

“Yes.”

The two bowed their heads, and that concluded discussion. 

I immediately called one of Hikogorō’s men and told him to bring Chikamoto to where Someya’s escort fleet was. That left me with Torakichi.

“That reminds me, Kumakichi is in town too, no?”

“Yes. He brought the kosode and uchikake you ordered from Kyōtō so you could take a look at them, Isshiki-sama.”

“I see. So, I’m assuming that he’s with Hisa and Mother right now? They’re probably taking a look at the goods.”

“Yes.”

Perfect timing. Now I could tell both brothers about my plan the other day.

“Torakichi, I need to speak to you and your brother. After he’s done with his business, take him to my quarter with you. Kojūrō will stand nearby. He will guide you both when you arrive.”

“…Understood.”

He bowed his head, seemingly anxious, like I was about to eat him or something. What was with that reaction, really? It made me feel like I’d done something wrong to him…

Whatever, that aside, I wonder what kind of reply will the Okuyama Pirates give me? Well, it was almost guaranteed that they’d agree with it, but my heart still wouldn’t feel at ease until they gave me their answer.