The Samurai and the Long-Nosed Devils Read Online Free Page B

step.
    The leader was bolder, however. Sensing his control of the situation slipping, he glared at his men and shouted, “What are we waiting for? Let’s sweep the streets clean of these beggars!”
    â€œI think that the heat must have affected your brain,” Zenta said to the leader. “Let me cool your head by cutting off your topknot.”
    In spite of himself the leader began to share the uneasiness of his men. But out of the corner of his eye he saw the bamboo blinds of the sedan chair twitch, and he knew that he could not retreat with the eyes of his mistress on him. “You can’t frighten me!” he cried and lunged forward, swinging his sword at the ronin’s smiling face.
    Zenta easily dodged the blow. He still had not raised his sword, and his eyes were narrowed in calculation.
    The leader made another slashing attack, putting all his strength behind the swing. When the ronin again evaded the blow, the leader felt a cold lump growing in his stomach. Resolved to lose his life rather than his topknot, he made a third desperate attack. His mistake was to focus his attention on the ronin’s long sword, and he didn’t see his opponent’s left hand whip out his short sword from his sash.
    The leader felt only a gentle tug at the top of his head. A moment later there was a tickling sensation around his neck. In stunned silence, he looked down and stared at the small knot of hair now lying between his feet. The rest of his hair, released when the topknot was cut off, hung loose down to his shoulders.
    With a loud wail of shame and anger, the leader threw himself on the ground. He tore open the front of his kimono, drew his short sword and prepared to plunge it into his abdomen. The rest of the men stood motionless, for no samurai would dare to interfere in the solemn rite of hara-kiri.
    But one person did. “Kotaro!” said a voice from the sedan chair, and a delicate white hand raised the bamboo blind. “What do you think you are doing? Stop this foolishness at once and get on with our visit to the shrine!”
    Kotaro, about to embark on a dramatic death to wipe out his shame, dropped his sword hastily and scrambled to his feet. “Yes, Lady Yuki, at once!” he stammered.
    As Kotaro straightened his clothes and gave orders to his men, Lady Yuki leaned out to study the two ronin. Matsuzo found her pale, narrow face rather overrefined. Her expression was one of complete boredom, but when her glance rested on Zenta, it showed a glimmer of interest.
    Matsuzo saw this interest and was troubled by it. They had enough complications without getting involved with a girl who looked as spoiled as Lady Yuki did.
    The sedan chair was finally lifted and the bamboo blind dropped back into place. Staring after the procession, Matsuzo gave a start when he heard a voice behind him say, “Are you really our new bodyguards?”
    It was the Portuguese with the gun.

Chapter 4
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    When Zenta nodded, the Portuguese said, “You arrived just in time. Those men didn’t know, but I could never have lighted my gun in time. Who sent you?”
    â€œWe were sent by Hambei, who was acting under Nobunaga’s orders,” said Zenta. “Have Lord Fujikawa’s men tried to attack you before?” “Up to now they were satisfied with a few insults,” replied the Portuguese. “When they got bolder, I simply pointed my gun at them, and that was enough to keep them at a distance. I wonder what made them attack today?” Zenta smiled. “I think your prestige slipped badly when you started to talk to them. You were using a woman’s style of speech.”
    â€œSo that was it!” said the Portuguese. “I learned your language from some women in a fishing village. I had been shipwrecked and had to spend a long time in the village recovering. With the men away at sea, it was mostly the women who taught me the language. I keep forgetting