Black River Voyage (Part 2)

At Uraga, the whistling sea breeze howled, and the surging, angry waves battered the coastal reefs.

Fishermen with bountiful harvests moored their small sampans to the shore, dragging their nets to pack the day's catch into crates before hauling them to town to sell for coin.

However, the shore was crowded with many uninvited guests. One look at their attire revealed they were not there to buy fish; many carried swords and polearms, and some even held long, slender objects wrapped in white cloth—undoubtedly matchlock guns.

These coastal fishermen naturally would not go up and invite trouble upon themselves; they cared only for their catch and hoped it would not be snatched away by those men.

Because the Dutch had long since spread the word, many people concerned with the nation's fate had gathered on the shore, in addition to a large number of Rangaku scholars.

Among them were samurai, domain retainers, monks, ronin, as well as high-ranking, powerful daimyo and famous scholars. There were octogenarians and naive, playful children alike.

They had come for only one purpose: to catch a glimpse of the "Heavenly Dynasty" the Dutch had spoken of.

"Uncle, we have been here for nearly a month. The fleet the Dutch spoke of has still not appeared."

The speaker was a youth of fourteen or fifteen. Though his face was clean, his cotton garment and straw sandals marked him as a low-ranking samurai without a doubt.

(A low-ranking samurai was forbidden from wearing wooden clogs or silk clothing. A cotton garment, straw sandals, and a rusted sword were the standard kit.)

Beside the youth was a listless, middle-aged man who coughed incessantly even while wearing thick cotton clothes, yet he still reached out to pat the boy's head with affection.

"Torajiro, you are the legitimate heir to