"A catapult? A counterweight trebuchet, at that?"
Kagome cried out in astonishment when she saw what the Hojo Army's Hatamoto Samurai were pushing forward from the rear.
Japan in the Warring States period had already begun using firearms on a large scale. Cannons, hailed as the formidable Kunikuzushi, were rare, but they did exist.
By rights, Kagome should not have been so surprised to see something as relatively antiquated as a catapult.
But what the Hojo Army had brought up was no ordinary catapult. It was a counterweight trebuchet, many times more imposing.
Or, to put it in more familiar terms, it was the Huihui Cannon once widely used by Tōdai's nomadic peoples.
This was a weapon that had never been used on the islands of Japan.
How could she not be astonished?
"You actually recognize the Huihui Cannon?"
Hojo Akitoshi was equally surprised that Kagome had recognized it.
Even girls from the future in Tōdai might not recognize this siege engine that had once reigned supreme.
What were the chances that a Japanese schoolgirl would?
Still, since she had recognized it, and her reaction had also-
Piqued the curiosity of Inuyasha, Kaede, and the conscripted villagers watching the spectacle-
Hojo Akitoshi was happy to explain.
"This is called a Huihui Cannon. It originated as a large siege engine on the Western Barbarian Continent."
"It works on a principle called leverage. One end carries a counterweight, while the other holds a stone projectile or whatever else is to be launched."
"The Huihui Cannons our army uses should be the largest of their kind. The throwing arm alone measures 15.2 meters."
"The counterweight weighs ten tons, allowing it to throw a load of ninety to 136 kilograms approximately 273 meters."
"Ah!"
As Hojo Akitoshi rattled off the Huihui Cannon's specifications with effortless familiarity, Kagome covered her mouth with her small hand.
The others, including Inuyasha, were even more impressed by the war machine humans had built.
"Lord Akitoshi, you've had dealings with the western barbarians, too?"
Following his example, Kagome also referred to white people as western barbarians.
"Yes."
Hojo Akitoshi nodded, watching the soldiers slowly push the trebuchets into their firing positions.
He watched them place specially made, hard ceramic jars into the trebuchets' slings.
Only then did he explain with a smile.
"Learn the foreigners' strengths to counter them. Since those western barbarians have useful things, naturally, I'll put them to use."
"All right. Since my men are ready, we can begin."
Rather than spend more time answering Kagome's many remaining questions, Hojo Akitoshi graciously signaled Akechi Mitsuhide, who had long been waiting.
Then, amid the creaking of winches, Akechi Mitsuhide swung down his saber beside the trebuchets.
With a rumbling crash, before the eyes of everyone present-
Dozens of trebuchets hurled the jars from their slings toward the forest where Yura of the Hair was hiding, like meteors falling from the heavens.
"What a sight!"
The conscripted villagers shouted at the top of their lungs. When had they ever witnessed such a magnificent spectacle?
Countless ceramic jars flew through the sky and fell into the forest one after another, like the Leonid meteor shower.
And when the jars struck the trees with a clattering crash, the noise was louder than the firecrackers they spent a fortune setting off at New Year.
"This is even livelier than New Year!"
Some villagers clapped and cheered among themselves.
"That's right! That's right! Even New Year isn't this lively!"
The other villagers heartily agreed, growing ever more excited as they watched the ceramic jars still flying through the sky.
"Heh, heh, heh."
Hojo Akitoshi chuckled as he watched the villagers marveling at the spectacle and thought of what was about to happen.
He wondered whether they would still be able to laugh afterward.
But they probably would. After all, they were watching the river from the safety of dry land.
Meanwhile, in the forest, inside a nest made of countless skulls and strands of hair-
Yura of the Hair was likewise staring in bewilderment at the things the Hojo Army was throwing through the sky.
"What are those for?"
The ceramic jars had not struck her lair, and their hardness would not have allowed them to do it much damage anyway.
Yet, for some reason, a vague sense of foreboding rose in Yura of the Hair's heart.
She absolutely refused to believe that Hojo Akitoshi would try to fool her with such childish toys.
Was he trying to pelt her to death?
Then he should have used stones, not ceramic jars!
Wait!
Though Yura of the Hair was a monster without a physical body, she inexplicably possessed a sense of smell.
As she caught the scent drifting on the wind, even the red comb that was her true body seemed to turn a little pale.
"That should be enough."
Silently calculating how many jars filled with incendiary oil had been launched, Hojo Akitoshi ordered Akechi Mitsuhide to switch to the special ammunition.
They had spread enough incendiary oil. It was time to add another substance to feed the flames.
Oil alone would not be enough.
As he signaled Akechi Mitsuhide to change ammunition, Hojo Akitoshi beckoned again.
Expert archers specially selected from the army stepped to the front, carrying flaming arrows.
Then they raised their bows and shot the burning arrows toward the distant forest.
By now, Kagome understood Hojo Akitoshi's intentions. The villagers, Inuyasha, and Kaede also realized what he was about to do.
"Set the mountain on fire?"
The words slipped out instinctively. In this Japan, where grand spectacles were few and far between-
What Hojo Akitoshi was doing would undoubtedly leave everyone profoundly shaken, and tales of it would spread far and wide.
"Precisely. Since ancient times, the weak have overcome the strong through two things alone: water and fire."
Confirming their suspicions, Hojo Akitoshi narrowed his eyes to conceal the cold gleam within them.
As he watched the flaming arrows arc through the air and fall into the forest, the forest fire he had been waiting for-
Suddenly blazed to life among the trees.
The incendiary oil ignited, releasing an immense amount of heat that dried out the moisture-rich trees and weeds in an instant.
Those dried trees and weeds, in turn, became fresh fuel for the flames.
"The mountain god is angry! Even an eruption of Mount Fuji could be no worse!"
Their faces drained of color, whether they were Hojo Army samurai standing outside the firebreak or villagers serving their labor levy.
They stared at the mountainside blazing like an erupting volcano-
At a calamity beyond the reach of human strength.
All that remained in their hearts was profound awe, along with boundless reverence for Hojo Akitoshi, who stood there watching it all.
What if these same methods were used not against monsters, but against human cities and villages?
Of all the human settlements built from wood throughout Japan, which could possibly withstand them?
"Lord Hojo Akitoshi is unrivaled under heaven! Let Hojo rule all beneath heaven by force of arms!"
Once the samurai understood this, they were swept into a collective frenzy.
Raising both hands high, they fanatically shouted, "Banzai! Banzai!"
Seeing and hearing the samurai's reaction, the conscripted villagers hastily dropped to their knees without a second thought.
They offered their absolute loyalty to their lord, their heaven-Hojo Akitoshi.
"Lord Akitoshi..."
Everyone around her had knelt, and the samurai were shouting fervently.
Kagome neither knelt nor shouted. She merely pressed a hand to her pounding heart and stared fixedly at Hojo Akitoshi.
As a girl from the future, she had never experienced an atmosphere or a scene like this.
Confronted with it so suddenly, she could not calm herself for a long time.
A great hero?
Hojo Akitoshi!
Unlike Kagome and the others, Inuyasha, that stubbornly defiant half-demon, stared at the wildfire, then surveyed the scene around him.
His heart felt as though it had plunged into an icy pit, chilled through and through.
As for Kaede, little needed to be said. Already one foot in the grave, she trembled in her hands and feet, half from fear and half from helplessness.
Before a Hojo Army like this, before a Hojo Akitoshi like this-
What did her meager abilities amount to?
He could overpower her with a single little finger, and she would have no way to stop him!
Sister Kikyo, you really have left me with an enormous problem!
With a bitter smile, Kaede wished the Shikon Jewel and her sister Kikyo's reincarnation had never appeared. How wonderful that would have been.
Hojo Akitoshi smiled, his expression gentle. These bumpkins were already terrified merely at the sight of a wildfire.
If you knew I'd added something else besides incendiary oil-
And just how powerful that substance was, wouldn't you be scared out of your very souls?
Before you continue