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"You needn’t worry about that. There is no way the city guard will allow the Europeans to get involved in their fights. It’s a sign of weakness, and would never be tolerated by the Daimyo, else those foreigners might attempt invasion." Togashi reassured him. He was confident in such a notion. But still, if the Europeans chose to act without being explicitly told to – well then, things might grow a little dangerous.

"I hope you’re right..." The boy muttered.

"Heh, brighten up lad, when we get our cannon installed, even we’ll be able to fight them." Morohira stated, slapping him on the back repeatedly.

"...It would be best not to rely on that. We’d need multiple cannon shots to take one down, and they only need to land a single ball to destroy us." Togashi warned, unwilling to take solice in such cheap reassurances.

"That’s quitting talk right there. Better not let me hear any of that when Jikouji gets back here."

"When will he be arriving?" Ii asked, seeming rather full of questions today.

"Have you not been listening? Rokkaku left down the road this morning to see if he was on his way – he came back five minutes ago, and reckons it’ll take another thirty for Jikouji to come." Togashi explained a little impatiently. Everyone else was well aware of the happenings, but this youngster had trouble keeping up, it seemed.

"Eh... so that’s what all the noise was about..." He muttered. He’d thought it was because Isabella had just returned that morning as well, sharing the new information as she came. It was a veritable feast of knowledge, though most of the questions came from Akiko and Rin, who were wondering about Tori. Isabella reassured them that all went well.

...

...

"So you’re all still alive then?" Came Jikouji’s greeting, as he descended the steps with a smith in tow. He was a balding, wiry looking man, who the word ’strong’ did not seem suited. One had to wonder whether he could even hold a hammer as he stared around the port sheepishly.

"That we are, aye. Is that the smith?" Morohira asked, getting straight to the point.

"It is."

"Will he be able to make exactly what we want..?" It wasn’t that he was trying to be rude, but the man really did look frail, and it was rather difficult to trust that he’d have any kind of competence.

At the expected question, Jikouji allowed himself a smile. The smith certainly did not look the part, but he was without a doubt the right man for the job. What they needed was not some burly musclehead, who could swing a hammer as though it was an extension of his own arm. They needed someone who had a mind for precision, and could handle things more... delicately.

"Have you made a cannon before?" Togashi questioned the man directly, who flinched, and looked around nervously, avoiding his gaze.

"A...A couple..." He managed to get out in a quivering voice. He was certainly a rather timid fellow and they could not help but doubt him further. What kind of smith was unable to handle people, at least, to some degree?

Togashi made no comment about his response, but instead, he looked toward Jikouji.

"Do we have the iron necessary to construct a cannon?"

"That we do, aye. I borrowed a little from the treasury, but we’ve got some quality ingots, ready to make us a quality little cannon."

"Heh... I only hope they don’t go to waste." He muttered. It was rather disappointing for them. They had expected a master smith of sorts, and had even considered the prospect of them getting a cannon a guaranteed one. But with all this... It was unsettling.

"Don’t be talking nonsense like that. Takeshi-san? Will you begin work right away, or do you need to rest?" Jikouji asked the smith. The sooner he proved his skill, the better it would be for him, so that the rest might stop doubting him so strongly.

"...I will... start." He decided, taking light steps toward the boat. When he walked, he did so on the tips of his toes, rather than the balls of his feet, or his heel, which made him look like a startled meerkat with each step that he took.

As he neared the ship, his anxiety grew, as he worried that he had not asked permission to board it. But as he looked back worriedly toward Jikouji, the old man simply nodded reassuringly, saying that he should do as he wished. There was no one else on the ship after all, so it was not as though he was getting in the way.

When Jikouji had approached him, he had been wary, thinking that he was getting swindled. No one wanted such complexities when it came to weaponry. All they craved was power. Even he had spent much of his time coming up with designs – but there was no one to even care. They simply wanted guns, and swords.

Yet the old man slid a sketch across his table, a sketch that could certainly be described as complex, and it resonated with him. He was able to believe his words from then on, likely more because he wished to believe them, than that he had actually trusted in the older man’s integreity. But either way, it made no difference. He would, with this, get his first opportunity at making a more complicated design.

The deck was larger than he thought it might be. He had exaggerated in his mind somewhat, preparing for a truly small deck. Though in truth, the size was not of great importance. He would merely alter the size of the cannon when making it. It was a simple enough procedure, though most cannons did tend to be of a similar size.

He imagined the track right at the prow of the ship, on the lower deck, and he nodded to himself. He felt much more comfortable now that he was away from prying eyes, but there was still that pressure to perform.

The wood would need to be reinforced with an iron coating, or at least brackets of some sort. It was too thin. But still, it was workable. He had already decided that the cannon would be slightly above the height of the oars, so that water – at least, not too much water – would be able to get in.

As he busied himself, Jikouji employed the help of Sasaki and Rokkaku in setting up a workshop for him. There were anvils of all different sizes to be carried down the steps, and it proved to be a rather hard task for the two men.

But since they had anticipated his coming, there had already been a building constructed that would belong to Takeshi himself, where he could do his forge related activities. Of course, there were bits and pieces outside as well. When he emerged, he was delighted by such a sight. Jikouji had taken great care in his attention to detail, and had modelled it as close to the smith’s home shop as he could.

His effort, without a doubt, had been appreciated. When one practised a craft for so long, it became second nature to wander to a certain location in search of the tools that they required.

"...It’s like the home shop..." He mumbled in surprise as he approached the place. Rokkaku regarded him condescendingly, as he wiped sweat from his brow. To him, it was a waste of effort making this feeble little smith so at home. If he could not pick up a hammer, then what was the point?

"That’s the idea." Jikouji agreed. "But if you see anything that you want changing, just let one of the lads know and they’ll get it switched up for you."

Takeshi took a single glance toward the ’lads’ that was referring to, and decided firmly that he wouldn’t do that. For someone like him, even a normal man was terrifying, nevermind these battle borne men ridden with scars and oozing experience.

"Ah, what did you think of the ship."

"...It’s a good ship... I.. I liked your mast mechanism." He said nervously. He truly had liked that little system. It was so rare to see such feats of engineering these days.

"Aye. It’s decent, isn’t it? Will you be able to work with what we’ve got?" Jikouji continued, having not received the answer he was looking for.

"Yup... It’s bigger than expected... But the wood is thin... so needs reinforcing." He was rather pleased that he was able to offer a somewhat technical answer to Jikouji’s question, so that he could attempt to prove he had some knowledge in regards to his craft.

"Aye, we’ve known that for ages, just never thought it worthwhile to do." Morojo stated gruffly, causing the smith to flinch. He seemed to take personal offence whenever an imperfection was mentioned in regards to the ship.

"Haha... well..." It was awkward for Jikouji to try and mediate. This was how they usually spoke to one another, yet Takeshi was so beaten down by a mere statement. "You can go inside and start working, if you like, Takeshi-san. All the tools you need should be in there." Instead, he merely provided the timid smith an escape route.

"...I will!" He scuttled off quickly, disappearing inside like a frightened rabbit, breathing a sigh of relief as he shut the door behind him. It was the middle of the day, and they had journeyed slowly, so neither of them were particularly tired. What was most important for Takeshi right now was progress. If he showed even the smallest amount of what he was capable of, then Jikouji knew that the others would accept him in no time.

But for now, most simply watched on. Rin and Akiko spent their time duelling each other, as the rest had a small snack for lunch, and Isabella spoke with Jikouji, filling him in on the various bits of information that they had missed. When he heard of the existence of Tori, an eyebrow was firmly raised, and his gaze tilted toward Morohira. But when he heard that they had blindfolded her, he merely nodded. It seemed he too was suspicious of the circ.u.mstances of the young girl’s appearance.