7.3
Taisa Mori bowed
to the Lord and left the tree house. He gathered the servants and the remaining
warriors including the freed slaves. He told them that they are to leave. A
pallenquin was build for Iza to travel in while he still recovered from his
wound. He asked the servants to armed themselves and carry the maximum load on
their back with the supplies.
"May I see my
father?" Ayuse indicated in signs for permission from Taisa Mori. He
nodded and saw Lady Noki had followed the young lady. Taisa also instructed Bento
to accompanied her. The group marched off leaving the two behind. Lady Ayuse
took to the treehouse and bowed to her father.
"My child,
there is nothing I can do for you now. Maybe the Taisa would be kind to find
you a suitable match and blessed you with happiness." Lord Noriake smiled
at his last surviving daughter. It was then, Bento approached the Lord and
bowed.
"Lord
Noriake, I would protect her. I would also like to request your permission for
me to court her and soon to be my bride." Hohei Bento asked of the Lord.
Lord Noriake
nodded and smiled back at his daughter.
"Amaterasu
blessed you, child." Lord Noriake spoke up. Then he asked them to leave
but Lady Noki refused to budged.
"My Lord, my
life belongs to you. I am forever in your debt." Lady Noki told the Lord.
She was saved by the Lord and had pledged to served him.
"Lady Noki, I
released you from my bond. Please go now before its too late." Lord
Noriake told the servant but she still refused to move. Lord Noriake stood up
and kicked at her.
"Be gone or I
shall have you killed now." But still Lady Noki refused to move. In the
end, Lord Noriake told her the new task of his.
"Protect my
daughter until she had married. Then you may joined me." With that Lady
Noki nodded and left with the young couple.
Lord Noriake
looked at the departed trio and then sighed. He moved to the armor unit and pat
it on the left arm. He took out the
remote from his tunic and activated it. The armor came to live and followed the
old man out of the treehouse. Their journey was not far as they soon descended
into the hole in the ground where the other machinations of the previous armor
master are kept. Lord Noriake key in the codes and armed the bomb with a set
timing for detonation. He then climbed inside the armor and sealed himself in.
Inside the dark
armor, he did not activate its power but sat there with his mind remembering
the older days when he was still on Nippon Land. He remembered the seven
virtues of Bushido;
"Gi" - The Right Decision. Rectitude.
"Yu" - Valor
"Jin" - Benevolence
"Rei" - Respect
"Makoto" - Honesty
"Meiyo" - Honor
"Chugi" - Loyalty
Lord Noriake recalled the words of Minamoto
no Yorimasa; a prominent Japanese poet and warrior.
In the battle at Uji, he committed suicide when his side was defeated. That
ritual was the earliest known instance of a samurai's suicide in the face of
defeat. His famous death poem was what Lord Noriake recited.
Like
an old tree, From which we gather no blossoms, Sad has been my life, Fated to
bear no fruit.
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