"Ahem! Ichiro, take these four Gold Talismans and put them away properly!... Ahem! Don't wear them around your neck! Put them in the bamboo basket on your back. With so many family Samurai here, relax. They won't be lost!..."
The Sun had already slanted west, casting down golden-red evening light. The Samurai on both sides sat cross-legged on the ground to rest, eating simple dry rations and drinking water. Though they remained on guard, the atmosphere had eased considerably.
After Kakizaki Mitsuhiro handed the Gold Talismans to his trusted man, he finally recovered his composure. With a broad wave of his hand, several Samurai brought the four artisans over and delivered them into the hands of the Sanda tribe opposite. Sensing their ill-fated end, some of the artisans shed silent tears, some wailed in grief, and some looked numb, but none of it shook the Samurai's resolve in the slightest.
After all, these artisans had all been conscripted from the territory of the Matsumae Guardian under the pretext of "preparing against the Sanda raiders." They were not fellow villagers of these Kakizaki Samurai at all. Even if they had been, so long as they were not their own family, and the lord they served had made his decision, they would carry it out resolutely!
In the Wagoku of this era, a Samurai's compassion would only arise for Samurai of equal status, or for fallen warrior houses of higher nobility. As for lowly farmers and ordinary artisan households, they were simply not within the scope of a Samurai's respect. It was just like Europe in this era, where a knight's respect for women was limited to noble ladies of exalted status! When facing women from commoner families, there was no need to maintain etiquette at all; it was nothing like the