"Sir, this way."
Following Shimada, Enjou walked into the crowded camp. The first thing that caught his eye were the painful yet curious gazes.
To be treated with such respect by Shogunate soldiers, he must be some important figure. Although this important figure didn't have The Knave holding an umbrella for him and looked like a drowned rat.
"These people..." Enjou looked at the various-sized shacks before him. He lifted his foot, and his sole was covered in accumulated yellow mud.
They were clearly patients. In this environment, could they truly recover well?
"These are all patients from Yashiori Island infected with tatarigami," Shimada said, stepping back. tatarigami was contagious, and he didn't want to go mad and die like the people on the island.
"Is everyone here?" Hearing the commotion, the Hatamoto General walked out of his tent. He merely glanced at Enjou and paid him no further attention.
This made Enjou, who had just been about to explain something, immediately stop. If he had known the management here was so lax, he wouldn't have racked his brain for excuses.
He had even fabricated an identity as a light novel author for himself—though he hadn't put much thought into it; Enyu had mainly advised him.
However, what Enjou didn't notice was that after the Hatamoto General saw Enjou's retreating footsteps, his hand, which had been tightly gripping his sword hilt, immediately relaxed considerably.
It seemed this fellow named "Enjou" was truly incredibly naive.
"Everyone's here," Shimada winked at the Samurai.
"Hmph—, everyone up! Let's go!" The Samurai took a deep breath, then roared.
Accompanying his roar, the camp, which could have been described as quiet, instantly became noisy.
Regardless of the severity, all patients struggled to their feet. Perhaps due to the heavy rain or the war, the patients didn't have much to carry. In a short while, everyone in the camp had packed up.
Of course, it might also be the hope of a new life that gave them strength beyond their usual.
Seeing the scene before him, the Samurai nodded in satisfaction. He waved his hand and said, "It seems you still have some strength. Let's go! No one will care if you fall behind!"
With that, he strode to the very front.
The Hatamoto General's action was like a signal. Following his movement, a mighty procession set off towards the distant beach.
The Samurai was in front, the Ashigaru on both sides of the group, and the patients in the center.
The Ashigaru's speed was already superior to ordinary people, not to mention that most of the camp's inhabitants were patients infected with tatarigami.
It wasn't long before someone couldn't keep up.
"Hoo..."
A woman pulled her child with one hand and carried a rain-soaked cloth bag with the other. She felt a burning pain in her throat.
She knew her strength was about to give out.
Biting the handle of the cloth bag with her teeth, the woman's free hand rummaged through the bag, pulling out handfuls of grain and stuffing them into her worn pockets.
Every available space on her clothes was crammed full. Then, with a hardened heart, she released her mouth.
The grain, already swollen from being soaked in the rain, spilled onto the ground. The woman didn't pay attention to this; she just ran blindly, pulling her child and running frantically.
Her husband used to be a miner in Tatarasuna, but he had gone missing a long time ago.
Any valuables had been used up when she contracted tatarigami. The saved grain was the only "property" she had left.
But she didn't care about any of that anymore. As long as she could board the ship to Narukami Island, everything would be fine. So she had to keep up, she couldn't fall behind!
"Cough!" Her chest heaved violently. The pain, which had originally been only in her throat, spread to her lungs.
After a violent fit of coughing, the woman felt as if the bones had suddenly been pulled from her legs. She suddenly went limp, and then her vision uncontrollably dropped.
"Is this the end?" In a daze, the woman murmured. She wasn't afraid of death.
What she feared was only that her death would lead to the death of her un-grown child as well.
"Not yet."
The woman suddenly felt someone embrace her. Opening her eyes, she saw it was the "Sir" she had seen in the camp earlier.
"Your things." Enjou lightly hung the dried cloth bag on a tree branch, then turned around and roared at the distant Ashigaru:
"You useless lot up front!!! Stop!!!"
Enjou's roar was even louder than the Hatamoto General's. The sound waves even caused the raindrops to flip, forming silver-white waves of reflected light, distinctly different from other raindrops, causing the distant Ashigaru's footsteps to halt.
"Hoo—, hoo—"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The sound of footsteps stopped, replaced by heavy gasps.
"What do you want?" The Samurai stepped out, his body tense as he looked at Enjou.
"Nothing much." Enjou took down the cloth bag and handed it to the woman, who had recovered considerably. Then he spread his hands and said,
"I'm a bit tired. How about we walk for a bit?"
At this moment, Enjou had completely lost his previous imposing demeanor, looking just like an ordinary person.
The Samurai fumbled with his sword hilt. He recalled Enjou's sudden furious roar, and the malice in his heart weakened a few points.
"As you wish." The Samurai gestured, indicating a slower pace, then slowly walked to the front of the group.
They were dying anyway, there was no need to argue with him. The Samurai comforted himself with this thought.
"Thank... thank you, Sir." The woman held the cloth bag with one hand and pressed her child's head with the other, bowing deeply to Enjou.
"Heh heh, if you have time to bow to me, you might have already caught up," Enjou patted the child's head and, holding the back of his own head, followed the group like he was on an outing.
After Enjou's roar, the group, which had been moving like a forced march, immediately slowed down as if on a picnic.
Unfortunately, Yashiori Island's weather and road conditions almost deducted the score of this "picnic" to eighteen levels below ground.
The camp was neither far nor near the coast. As everyone walked, the rain grew lighter, and the thunder gradually ceased.
The surging sea in the distance appeared before everyone's eyes, exciting them all.
Inazuman people had almost all seen the sea, so they wouldn't be excited just by seeing it. What truly excited everyone were the two ships anchored by the sea.
"Finally!" Enjou saw the distant ships and almost jumped up in excitement.
The reason was simple: this was the smoothest mission he had ever undertaken.
Previously, whenever The Order assigned a mission to the Enjou Quartet, it always failed at the beginning due to various inexplicable accidents.
To be able to take the first step so quickly now was undoubtedly a great improvement.
"Everyone, onto the big ship." Perhaps due to the influence of Enjou's roar, the Samurai's voice unconsciously became much softer.
At his call, numerous patients, with smiles they hadn't shown in a long time, boarded the so-called ship bound for Narukami Island.
Enjou was naturally among them. He stood on the deck, reaching out to look at the moss on his hand.
Although he didn't know much about the Shogunate's situation, the ship's deck was creaking. Could it really be used?
Why was the Shogunate so poor?
But Enjou quickly shook his head, casting aside his wild thoughts. Perhaps Inazuman ships were just different?
Didn't he see a few Ashigaru also boarding the ship?
Those Ashigaru should know some sailing techniques. After some busy work, the musty-smelling sails were raised, and this seemingly rickety wooden ship sailed into the sea, propelled by the sea breeze.
Enjou looked at the Waverider following closely behind the wooden ship; that was the Hatamoto General's vessel. He only watched for a moment before turning his head away.
The sea was beautiful, but these fellows were a bit of an eyesore.
"Watatsumi Island, here I come!!!"
Facing the sea breeze, Enjou could no longer suppress his inner excitement and shouted loudly.
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