Chapter 20 "Spoils of War"

Hello, my dears! Welcome back to the story room. Let's start now, yes? After our meeting, which lasted over two and a half hours, I was finally free to explore the safer parts of the island. I remember a flower field near our estate, which I wanted to visit. Picking flowers has always been a hobby of your father's. I would pick flowers, turn them into dyes, and use them on armor. Sometimes I'd sell it for a profit. Oh, the boost in Dopamine whenever I'd make a pretty armor dye! Since your father was free, he wanted to collect flowers. Of course, I had some help with me. I didn't want to risk the chance of encountering a large pirate patrol, or even worse, a patrol of rogue samurai scouting the area. After all, the eastern outpost has yet to be cleared. I took Nori and Zeth with me. I also took Joy since she makes one hell of a lunchtime sandwich. The taste of her sandwiches would always be phenomenal. We headed east, and once we reached the flower fields, I grabbed my large basket and started filling it according to color. Nori and Zeth helped, and Joy made our lunchtime sandwiches. By the looks of it, she planned to make two different types of sandwiches that day: an egg sandwich with a nice mayo spread, and a ham and egg sandwich also with a mayo spread. Just remembering it makes me drool!

I collected so many flowers that day. I had a full basket of white, black, orange, light green, light blue, purple, pink, and red flowers. The other baskets were only half full, but that was cool. I had more than enough to make dyes. However, my worries were confirmed when we came across a group of pirates with some more advanced armor that could still be dyed with enough effort. I called over Nori and Zeth, and they wasted no time. They were working on a combo attack, which I only saw when they attacked what looked to be the leader of the group of pirates. Nori hit the man so hard he flew a few meters into the air. Zeth then swung a finishing blow, knocking the pirate leader out. His men were stunned, frozen in place, making it easy to knock them cold, but they didn't work fast enough. One blew a horn, calling over reinforcements – a group of samurai from Clan Ishioka, the clan Lord Rukio was a part of. Along with them were a few pirates that looked like human tanks in their armor, still very stylish though. Nori smiled, and Zeth looked at him and smiled back. The sound of soaring caught all our attentions. Joy flew above the enemy and shouted at the two battle-hungry ground fighters, "Hey come on now! Leave some glory for me as well!!" She dropped something, and it stuck to a samurai with the Clan Ishioka banner on his back. Confused and in a panic, the samurai ran to the center of the group, and that's when poof! A cloud of smoke appeared from where the samurai stood. I couldn't see a thing since I was moving the flowers and the knocked-out bodies of the previous pirates they knocked out, but as the smoke cleared out, only the commander of the samurai group was left standing barely. If I'm going to be honest, he fell on his hind the moment the smoke cleared, and I don't blame him. A warrior monk, the lady of an enemy clan, and a woman flying behind them with seemingly glowing eyes – I'd probably soil myself if I were him. Props to him for not doing that, but he still fainted without them doing anything, so I can't be too impressed by the guy. I clapped as I spoke, "Good job, you three! I might have to group you guys together during our next raid on the enemy. I'm sure the others would be impressed, more scared, but impressed. It's getting dark. I think we can call it a day here and go back. I already fired a signal that we need help carrying our spoils." And so when help arrived in the form of your uncle and Lilliana, followed by around 30 Ishikawa Fighters, we were able to make it back to the southern outpost, which has been ours for some time. The still-out-cold foes were placed in a room where I personally stripped them of their gear. It had some wear and tear, but it's nothing Max can't fix. It's kinda unlikely, isn't it? Our star fighter can also somewhat repair armor, but it's still nothing compared to an actual blacksmith's work. We work with what we have. As if the moment the now prisoners came to, and when they did, they wore only a pair of shorts and a shirt that says "I was knocked out by people picking flowers" just to add insult to injury, and that was my idea hehe. Their armor and weapons were placed in the second ship to be transported to the mainland in a few days. We had to leave the island for a bit to speak with the royal assembly, meaning more nobles, and we also had to fix our base and get our treasures stored inside the storeroom built under our base on the mainland.

In a cave just behind the watchtower we made, I was making dye and using it on the armor. I made one that was crimson red with a darker gold lining. The shoulders had a royal design, and I made that armor for Taka, arguably the best emperor in all of the Four Winds' history. I took one of the large cutlass swords that the pirates had and made It look more royal, while still keeping that intimidating leader vibe to it. I used some of the dye and painted the wooden handle crimson red, using a series of chemical reactions to make the blade a brighter shade of gold.

I kept it on an armor stand that Nori made; apparently, he enjoys working with wood. I asked for one, and he gave it to me, a good man. As I was finishing off the design on the armor, I put a little something in the helmet—a picture of me looking at a sunset, wearing more casual attire than I usually do. Just then, Taka came into the cave and asked what I was doing. I replied, "I'm making something for you. Here, have a look. I'm almost done with it. It's a crimson set of armor with a golden lining, well, a darker golden lining. The sword has a crimson wooden handle and a golden blade. I used some of the spare crimson dye I had to make a design on the golden blade. I think it turned out well. I just have to finish the mask and cape. I mean, I've finished the cape; I just need it to dry out, so don't touch it."

Taka smiled at me since I didn't even look at him while I was talking. "You always stay focused when it comes to your hobbies, huh? And when it comes to eating sweets, of course. And I think the armor is stunning. If you can finish it before we meet with the royal assembly, I'll be sure to wear it a hundred percent. Maybe not the mask, though; I could wear it when I enter, but you know I have to remove it when I talk to the nobles. And you guys still Emperor, after all."

I smile, knowing he'll keep his word. "You better wear it. I'm making it just for that occasion. And maybe when you want to join us on the battlefield for a few raids on our enemies, capture a few pricks with me. Keep your power at stow when we do that, by the way. Don't want to take someone's life now, do we?"

He sat down on a rock and spoke once more, "There's something else on your mind, something you want. Out with it, or your lips are mine to kiss."

I scoff at him. "And what if I want that kiss, idiot? Anyway, fine, I'll tell ya. I want another ship, but our crew is still too small. I don't want to take all the best warriors on Yenchei. If I do this, the island would be defenseless. I have Gant's shadow clone power, but it just wouldn't be the same. I won't have that reassuring feeling. Plus, it's pretty selfish of me to ask for another ship; my pals would've been for it to make it a treasure ship. It'll follow us wherever we go, just to carry our treasure, even after our ship's expansion thanks to you, by the way. We still gather too much treasure during our adventures and raids."

He smiled, "You want to keep every trinket your crew collects from battle, right? Every spoil of war you collect: armor, swords, banners, shields, records, artifacts, money, and literally anything else you guys find interesting. I can arrange one of my ships to go where you go if you want, and I'll always be on it. It's about time my son has a try at being emperor anyway, only while I'm gone, of course. Plus, I wouldn't mind the extra time to spend with you. I mean, look at how cute you are, turning almost the same color as your dye, all red from blushing. You're adorable, cap."

I threw a small rock at him before speaking once more, "Oh, shut up. Your flirting is making me blush too much. I can barely think about what I'm doing, and that's your armor for royal assemblies and battle. Also, yeah, I'd like that—having a treasure ship guarded by the Emperor and his own elite guard sounds very reassuring. I think I'll leave some of the crew in Yenchei to watch over it while we explore. Also, I might leave Jo since he's expressed a desire to stay and help the people of this island. I'll leave Lilliana as well to act as my substitute in Clan Ishikawa. General Imuge also gets to stay; he'll command a group of his own samurai to protect the harbor from an invasion. Thanks, Taka, you're always here when I need ya most, helping me clear my mind even though I'm working right now."

He smiles and says his goodbyes as he heads back to the ship to rest. Just a few hours after he leaves, I finish his armor and sword. I'm quite proud of it, and he still has it to this day. It's like it was never work, as I always repair and maintain it. As I step out of the cave, I see a mask resembling a monkey hanging on a nail. I put my sign on it and laugh, knowing it came from Nori. I keep it on me at all times since then. I like monkeys; they're ferocious but still very cute.

Later, I take Zeth on a walk into the night. We head to the western outpost, which we had just cleared. The walk is partially to find night patrols sent by the escaped lord and capture them, taking their gear as spoils of our war. Just a few minutes later, we find a literal camp full of them the then being samurai and pirates alike sharing a meal. Since they're all against me, I hit Zeth's head as we get closer to the camp, enraging her. She hits mine back harder, which enrages me, so we need to blow off steam. We attack the camp of pirates and samurai serving Lord Ishikawa.

In the span of roughly 15-20 minutes, we capture a staggering 40 men and women, and the rest run south. Forgetting we captured the outpost, they are later captured as well. One man has a pretty sword whose sheath is a mix of black and green. When we go into the dark part of the road to transfer the prisoners, the green part of the sheath starts to glow a neon green, which is bright enough to see ahead but not enough to alert an enemy. I smile as I've just learned something which I can ask Jey to do to my armor to make it luminescent like that sword sheath. It's basic light magic, enchanting something with luminescent magic a side branch of light magic.

"And as the day came to a close, everyone laughed, since in that one day alone, the crew captured nearly 80 enemies whose gear has become our spoils. But the day is also coming to a close in our time, so go to bed, my dears. Good night."