◇ ◇

That night, when he refrained from a major showdown the next day, a boy in the corner of Willow River Castle was stroking its back as he fed a black cat.

The cat looks happy and looks up at the owner's boy, whether the bait was delicious or whether his caressed back was pleasant.

"Yay! Shingoro! Cat again!? It's tomorrow!

The name of the boy known as Shingero is only ten o'clock.

He also replied with a gentle expression to such a whispering novel.

"I'll say goodbye to Kuromaru for a while, too. I have to be cute for the rest of the night or so."

Black circles are the names of his black cats.

"If you have time to stroke a cat, you can polish even one of the spears, that's what a samurai is."

"It's over."

Yes, I smiled for a long time and looked behind me.

There were many polished spears placed there.

"Tsunosuke, you can't change what you do at any time. Even if it was before the battle.

If you brush your spear every day, you don't have to brush it in a hurry today, if you brush it as usual, its brilliance won't be lost.

Assuming there were those who brushed their spears so hard today, it is those who usually neglected to brush their spears "

A boy called Tsunosuke, with a bitter face, in the only words of serenity.

He is Yuzhen Andong, one of those around the horse, and the only one is a childhood friend.

Whereas the only young boy is a pale, the lucky boy is often in a disappointing shape after burning in the day.

On the feet of such a lucky boy, the black cat approaches him in a supple motion, sliding his face away.

Happy Jeong stared at the cat with his unmannered face,

"Hmm! Shingoro always makes sense!

Enough! Do whatever you want!

And only the mouth was brave, after the occasion.

It will be just the boy and the cat again.

"Dark circle... would you be happy? It gave me a chance to raise martial arts."

- Nyaa.

Like answering the boy's words, the cat makes a sweet voice.

If I tried to be a cat, I would have been delighted to be happy at this time when spending time with the boy was everything and he was getting more adorable than usual.

◇ ◇

The next morning...

It was not long before the sky began to whiten, but the great square in front of the two circles of Willow River Castle was filled with many soldiers.

By this time, the morning is very cold, and the breath of the soldiers is mixed with white.

But as a single person, there was nothing on this occasion that made this late autumn air feel cold.

Because everyone was putting their thoughts on the battlefield they were going to go to and burning into their mission.

What is its mission…

Dead and engraved the name of Tachibana...

It was something that involved the grief of

In it, there were only two of them, Yuki-jeong and Happy.

They are supposed to be well-known warriors and join the ranks as foot generals of the third party.

One young martial artist appeared before them like that.

"Oh! Are you lords here!

Dressed in a glamorous armor that stood out for a moment, with a refreshing smile characteristic of a good young man, this is what Santao Tachibana talked about.

A young man of weak crown twenty-five, he is entrusted with one of the pioneer teams of this battle.

So long as I tried to be happy and chaste, it was a longing existence from a very young age, and even if I was just called out, my chest rang.

"This, Lord Santao! Congratulations on being ordered to pioneer!

And, Happy Jeong shouted out loud, bowing his head.

Keep your head down for as long as you can.

"No, it's a big deal that you lords, at that age, will be entrusted with the formation!

Let's fight together and compete for it!

"Ha! Thank you for your words!

"By the way, lords... have you ever left it in the castle?

We're about to leave.

In that case… you will not have to say anything further.

It's also the samurai's job to go to war without the rest of their hearts.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

Next time we meet, count how many ranks we've named one another!

Saying so, Santao turned back to his place, spanning a beautiful horse with chestnut hair.

with blurred eyes at the way it was, the only thing I had been staring at, but as I suddenly remembered something,

"Tsunosuke. I've only left a few things to do, so I'm going back to the castle.

He'll be back before he leaves, so I asked for the rest. "

And when I spoke to my neighbor, Happy Jeong, I finished the word. No, I ran toward the castle.

"Hey! Wait! What are you going to do!?

And, hastily, Happy Jeong speaks on his only back, but the words never reached him.

………

……

- Nha...

The chirping sounded somewhere lonely.

"Dark circles... please know.

I won't be back here again.

That's why you have to live strong on your own. "

How far does the cat who was so spoken understand the only words that have lasted?

Do you understand everything, or do you not understand at all...

One thing I could say, however, was that the impending breakup of this life with her husband, the only one, was engulfing emotions that the cat couldn't contain either.

And that's the same for my husband.

He is saying goodbye greetings in words, but that power to hold the cat wasn't loose.

But the impending time of departure ruthlessly urges his decision.

He slowly let go of his hand as he came to the bamboo claw behind the castle.

But the cat doesn't try to cling to her husband's feet and leave.

- Nyaa...

In its longest appearance, an emotion that should never bud begins to appear.

- I wanna live.

Until last night, the iron will of "Dead for Tachibana" is about to collapse into the appearance of the cat of choice.

But he turned his back from the cat, as if to shake off an emotion that could be called "weakness".

"Be patient, be patient..."

A glimmer of tears flows down the boy's red cheeks that leave him unbearable.

- Nyaa... Nyaa...

The cat chirping, whilst still "don't cry," seems to comfort my husband...

I could cry extra.

"If… if there is such a thing as an afterlife, I will surely meet you again.

Why don't we take care of you then?

So… so… farewell today "

Leaving it at that, he ran off on the spot for only a long time.

Some will laugh when they break up with their cats.

But for him, it's a goodbye to his precious family. It couldn't have been without tears. It was important.

And some would regard his actions as irresponsible.

He knows that too.

But more than that, his mission was heavy.

"If tomorrow is the day to be forgiven, Dark Circle... I want to hold you..."

Whether it was a mourning or a wish, thoughts that I didn't know for a long time myself, leaked out of my mouth with tears.

But as the time to leave and the castle approaches, his body and mind return to reality.

Such a rendezvous with Happy Jeong et al was on the verge of exit.

By then, the only eyes had no tears, and all that was there was the usual serene smile.

◇ ◇

About two miles (8 km) from Yanagawa Castle, there is a land called the Eighth House.

As far as I could see, the fields spread, and they just waited for the seeds of wheat to be sown next to rice.

And there is a tributary of Tsukuba River flowing around it, so that it is stretched out.

On top of being unable to escape or hide, bold ambushes and marches are restricted by the river.

It was a great terrain to destroy the widows in the Great Army.

In other words, at the time the land became a showdown, the total annihilation of just 3,000 taihua momentum against 32,000 pot island forces was a decisive matter, so to speak.

The front line is Tadashima Hot Island and the second line is Mao Goto Tsuna, which is no different than when we attacked Castle Jojima.

Otherwise, the Hot Island Army, which divided the formation into fifteen parts, welcomed the general as Seung Mao, the son of Naomi Hot Island, and Mauri Hot Island to his staff, based in a land called Gouda, and received Tachibana momentum.

Tachibana, on the other hand, laid a formation in the eight houses in the structure of the five formations.

The main unit was Kono Zhenyu, the general, whose formation was placed in front of a large tributary at one end of the Tsukuba River, and it was necessary to cross a bridge called the bridge without doing it in order to go from the Hot Island army to its main unit.

In front of that bridge were guarded by the deputy general, Tachibana Zhenzu, and the father and son of the protégé, while the other three formations were placed on the front line.

The vanguard was led by three men, Ando Kusanagi and Masayoshi Ishimatsu, as well as Mitsuo Tachibana, with Thousand Handed Seiyun, the power of Yashima Sosei and Tsukuji Hiromen, the main brother-in-law, in the second inning, and Yukio Ando in the third inning, and only at ten o'clock.

Thus the idyllic country landscape until the day before was filled with 35,000 soldiers combined by the two armies.

And the tranquility characteristic of the war dominated the area before it began, where only a horse's voice was trembling in the cold morning air of autumn.

In such silence, a loud blurred voice echoed by Kono Makoto, the general of the Tachibana Army.

"No! Eh!"

He was a man who didn't like to exhaust his words.

That was the only thing he could do to encourage the soldiers.

It is a hanging voice that Tachibana Dao Snow used to encourage soldiers to storm, once making its name heard in Kyushu Yin as a 'thundering god', and if you try to be one of Tachibana's houses, all you have to do is hear the hanging voice, the impact of being scolded by Dao Snow and being whipped in the butt runs all over your body.

- No, thanks!

- No, thanks!

At some point, the hanging voice of "No", which began with Zhenxiao, spread to the entire Tachibana Army. By repeating that word, fear of death is blown away and courage is regarded as jumping into the enemy formation.

And...

The fire of the Battle of the Eighth House was cut and dropped from the assault of the abandonment of just 3,000 Tachibana armies.

"Whoa!!!

A beautiful horseback rider screams to paralyze the eardrums of those who hear him, and cleaves the first wave of the Hot Island Army.

"Don't lose! Few enemies!! Surround and destroy!!

The voice of Zhongmao, the vanguard of the Hot Island army, encourages soldiers whose feet have stopped at Santao's assault.

But Santao's assault didn't stop.

Strike through with the second and third battalions and push to Gouda's side.

Until the Gouda there were three bridges, each said one bridge, two bridges, and three bridges, but in time, until the bridge of Sanno, Santao and the army he led advanced at once.

The defeat and the vanguards of Ando Funaku and Ishimatsu also kicked the Hot Island Army.

The soldiers of Tachibana, trained by the Thunder God, slashed them deep and sharply into the enemy formation precisely as a result of thunder.

But the temporal strength of its Tachibana army was woven if taken to Naomi Hot Island and Mauri the Staff. They lay a formation of fish scales, forming a formation so that, even if the first and second formations collapsed, the rear forces could roll out one after the other, and, moreover, the formations, once torn, were soon rebuilt by the eunuchs of Zhongmao Hot Island, the vanguard general.

Therefore, Tachibana's vanguard, soon surrounded by troops of the Hot Island army, is stopped from gaining momentum and falls from the next to the next. Thus the earth, which was supposed to be a wheat field, was wet with the blood of the flowers.

Yashima in the second line of Tachibana and the army of Thousand Hands hesitated in the tragedy.

I was not sure which priority to give to helping the vanguard here, or to defending Ono Zhenyu once he had left the main unit.

After seeing how it was going, Yukio Ando and the only two at ten o'clock,

"Damn it! My Lord Mitao is still here!! Shingero!! We'll push it too!!

"Ok! Tsunosuke!! Let's go help Lord Santao!!

And, instead of the second line, he flew a horse to the vanguard's rescue.

The Hot Island army, which surrounded Tachibana's vanguard team, was suddenly confronted by an army led by young warriors who appeared, pushed from one bridge to two.

Especially when he stood at the head of the Second Battalion, waving an incredibly large spear from his slender arms with a brilliant judgment, defeating his enemies from next to next.

"No! Eh!"

That hanging out from the bottom of the belly is the only power that will last.

On the other hand, Joy Jeong followed him behind his back perfectly, defending such a long back, and helped him on the only path he could go without leaning against the enemies that surrounded him.

The Hot Island Army is hard to stop that breathtaking assault by two childhood tamers.

At last, he captured a standing around that made the sight of the two only long-time and fortunate chastity feel beautiful even within the battlefield of Santao clearly.

"Shingero! There! Let's go all at once! Eh!"

"No! Eh!"

If we cross this bridge, we already have company to help in front of...

It was the only time I had ever waved a spear so far as to exceed it, such as the limits of my strength, but its temper to help my companions and lead the Tachibana family to victory outweighed such flesh.

Gradually, Santao's back grows larger.

Almost there. The honor of protecting that back I admire is right there.

He proceeded to the honor as he kicked his impending Hot Island soldier one step at a time.

... and that was then.

- Nyaa.

You can't hear it, the squeal did go into your only ear.

"Dark circle? Such an idiot..."

But for a long time, without stopping his hand and his leg, he concentrated only his ears on its ringing.

There must be some wildcats out there who are running late. But he could not have misheard the voice of family to him.

Sure, that's the sound of dark circles.

And the sound came to his mind as a clear word.

"Don't go any further!

That seemed like the only warning of death from Kuromaru.

But he couldn't respond to that voice.

Because his instincts didn't allow it, such as putting his back in front of him to help and stopping his legs.

- Nyaa!!

"Don't go!!

That nostalgic voice that echoes directly in the back of my ear again.

It's hard to see him. But I could only hear the voice, and he was enough.

Nature and tears tell his cheeks, and in his head emerges a sweet dark circle to himself.

But the fighting spirit did not dull, but rather speeded up its legs.

Happy Jeong, who was protecting his back at that speed, was slightly delayed.

"Shingero! Too soon!!

Such words of happiness and chastity could not reach them for long again.

And...

- Pavan...

I thought one shot rang and my only leg stopped perfectly...

"Shingero!! Damn it! Get out of the way!!

Surrounded by several pot-island soldiers around him, Happy Jeong stretches his left hand desperately onto his childhood tame back, which is just about two steps ahead.

But its reach was unacceptable.

But as long as he fell from his knees, the soldiers of Hot Island arrived there.

I guess it was a bad place to hit the cannon.

His vision is already blurred and he can't put his strength into the spear in his hand.

But still, he was desperate to keep his enemies away and advance his body.

Spears and swords are relentlessly showered on its back.

"Shingero!! Whoa, whoa!!

"Don't come!! You can't come! Tsunosuke!!

The only long-standing cry came out of his heart to help the childhood tame life, and it was no longer out consciously in him.

The only long-lasting gaze is filled with the feet of all the soldiers at the same time as he falls to the ground.

And even the foot in front of it, it's blurring...

But... to him gaze nails one life.

Will the little life wrapped in its black hair come to him in a straight line to help his disappearing master's life?

"Ku... Ro... Ma... Kicha... Don't..."

His vision should certainly be blocked by distant consciousness and flowing tears.

But that wasn't a big deal.

Because the figure of that black cat, yet like a bead of light, had reached directly behind his brain with the radiance of life.

- Nyaa!! Nyaa!!

Its ringing, which gradually grows louder.

Of course he can't even hear any other noise. Because all five senses have already finished that function…

At this time, the Eighth House became just a boy and a cat.

Kuromaru moves its supple limbs diligently and runs straight towards the only long-time boy.

- I'm not dying, I'm not dying...

But for a long time I lived desperately.

He stared hard at the dark circle.

Until he felt that body of dark circles, he did not allow that consciousness to close.

But before the dark circle jumps into its chest...

"Ku... Ro... Ma... I... I... had you... happy... was..."

At the end of the day, I stopped feeling anything.

At that time...

One pot-island soldier was lifting his head in an attempt to snap his already snug and long-lasting neck.

Right there.

"Nyaaaa!!!

And a black cat struck the soldier in the shape of a ghost.

When he thrust the soldier with an unthinkable impact from that little body, he stood upside down with his whole body hair before the lamp of life was no longer crushed.

Its appearance is like that of King Jen.

What a simultaneous shooting at a single cat by the soldiers of Hot Island who feared so much glare.

Even if he is shot through his whole body, even more so, the cat does not leave his husband, pointing his face at the soldiers of Pot Island.

"Stupid cat!! First they will tear you apart!!

The Hot Island soldier, furiously exasperated, says so, turning his spear toward the dark circle, which can no longer move.

But...

That spear never pierced a dark circle body...

At the next moment, he made a loud noise, "How", and the Hot Island soldier fell down as a corpse.

Right in front of it.

"Let you touch Shingoro and Kuromaru…

I will not tolerate this Yukidashi Andozu-nosuke!!!

And, being wounded himself, it should no longer be time to stand, Happy Jeong stood up.

In that temper, Hot Island soldiers cannot even be attacked.

Then Happy Jeong jumped under the bridge, holding the remains of the dark circle for a long time.

and flushed their remains straight into the river.

"What are you doing! Follow him!!"

and the soldiers of Hot Island, who are killed by the voice of Admiral Akichi of Hot Island, who finally appeared on the spot, to Joy Jeong under the bridge.

Chastity fought desperately in that river to protect the remains of the only and dark circles that flowed slowly.

And when you make sure that figure flows far downstream,

"Even little cats live faithfully!!! This is Tachibana!! Did you know!!

And when he cried out, which also reached heaven, he scratched his neck on the spot, and threw himself into the river.

………

……

Boy and cat...

If the world was at peace, what bright future awaited them?

And their fate to die in battle, however distorted the historical facts may have been, could have been.

However, as one fact remains unchanged, in historical fact, a bridge called "Cat Bridge" still exists in Sane Town, Saga Prefecture.

The bridge is said to be the name of a black cat who stood up and defended the only boy.

It has to be thought there is nothing more than a definite footprint of a boy and a cat desperately living through this age.