[Historical Novel] Waves of Serenity Final Chapter (1) "At the very least, I want to live while cherishing the bonds between people."

Synopsis so far

16th century.
A boy of mixed foreign blood who inherited the "Kage-no-Ryu" swordsmanship, Iruka Kusuba, meets the beautiful Ming Chinese man, So Sokei, and they vow to fight together to create a "land for those who live on the borders" in the South Seas.
Sokei, who has connections with the Hosokawa Keicho family in Japan and eunuchs in the Ming dynasty, acts to protect the enormous profits of the tally trade, but the rival Ouchi clan sends assassins, and Iruka repeatedly engages in fierce battles with them.
After their second home, Gaja Island in the South Seas, is burned down by their former comrade Magotaro Nakabayashi, Sokei and his companions chase the Ouchi clan's tally ship toward the continental port city of Ningbo.
The mad monk of the Ouchi side, Kendo Sosetsu, attacks the banquet welcoming the tribute mission and burns down the town of Ningbo. Iruka, having joined forces with the Ming official Zhu Zijun and the warrior Yu Zhi-fu, manages to defeat the grotesque giant, Kojiro Gentaro, and heads toward Shaoxing Prefecture in pursuit of Sokei, who has escaped Ningbo, but...
An unparalleled, magnificent historical epic finally reaches its finale!

Main Story

Final Chapter

I

On the way to Shaoxing, the night grew deeper and deeper.
Fires were set in the villages along the way, and the corpses of brutally murdered villagers lay scattered about.
It was a sight one would want to turn away from, but thanks to it, he was able to follow the trail of the group without losing them.
"I'm sorry."
Iruka said on horseback.
"What are you apologizing for?"
"For what the Ouchi side did to the people of the Ming dynasty."
While pulling on the reins, Zhu Zijun had a look in his eyes as if he were pondering something.
"Is that, in short, because they are people from the same country as you?"
Iruka gave a small nod.
"Aren't the Ouchi people your enemies?"
Thinking that was true, he twisted his mouth.
"Even with that look on your face, deep down you're still a Wajin (Japanese). We don't feel that way at all. With this many people, you can't possibly feel deeply about every single thing each one of them does. You wouldn't last. Besides, Kendo Sosetsu, he was originally a man of the Middle Kingdom."
"I believe you said that before."
"He claimed to be born in the north, but it seems he was actually sold from Ningbo to Shuntian Prefecture when he was young. Then he crossed over to Wa and entered a Zen temple. We've investigated that much."
If that were the case, it would mean that the backgrounds of Sosetsu and Sokei were almost identical.
Two similar men, having returned to their homeland after time had passed, were now acting out a mutual slaughter in the name of feudal lords from different countries.
Zhu Zijun yelled at the official on night duty at a station along the way and had them change horses.
After doing so twice, they rolled into a hut they found by the roadside along the river and took a short rest. Iruka was also given some water from a leather bag and some dried meat, which he devoured.
"I've already sent a messenger ahead to Shaoxing. If they are waiting for us, I want to catch them in a pincer attack there."
While stretching his legs on the rough wooden floor, Yu Zhi-fu said something. Of course, it was in Chinese, so he didn't understand. Perhaps not even tired, he had an innocent smile on his tiger-whiskered cheeks.
"What is he saying?"
Iruka turned his face toward Zhu Zijun, who was sitting on a dilapidated chair.
"He says, 'Your military strategy is unbelievably amazing.'"
The young man was nodding along to the official's words.
"He says, 'I was born in Fujian, but I became a disciple of Master Wang Yangming in Shaoxing and learned swordsmanship. The Master is a famous general who suppressed a rebellion in Fujian seven years ago with a civilian militia, and four years ago he quelled the rebellion of the royal family's Prince of Ning in an instant.'"
"Huh."
Iruka felt with his tired head that the Middle Kingdom was indeed vast, to have such a person.
"He says, 'However, the Japanese sword technique is completely different. It's different from the sharpness of the blade, and you are skilled in how to handle it. Among them, you are a top-tier user. Since you are competing on equal terms with me, a genius who had no equal among Master Wang's disciples, that is certainly true.'"
"Well, thank you for that."
"He says, 'If possible, I would like you to teach me your sword technique. I don't think I can master it immediately, but I want to know the mechanism of how you unleash those movements with that kind of thinking.'"
"Ah, once this troublesome business is settled."
When Iruka smiled, he reached out a thick hand, and they shook hands.
His breath smelled of wild garlic, but his dark, round eyes were shining brightly. He was a talkative, friendly man. And he had inexhaustible energy.
"Once we settle down a bit, we'll be leaving again."
Zhu Zijun declared that, like the embodiment of his mission as an official.
The moonlight was clear.
While riding intently along the road where only each other's horse shadows could be seen, Iruka was thinking.
In the midst of this overly vast world, people live here and there.
It is just like the transparent, colored beads that are sometimes mixed into the sand on the beach.
It is rare for them to meet, and when they happen to exchange words and get to know each other, one wants to believe in the concept of bonds.
Nevertheless, people often end up hating and killing each other.
What on earth makes them do that?
Where does the power that makes them do that come from?
If possible, I don't want to do such things anymore. If the human world says that it cannot be avoided, then at the very least, I want to live while cherishing the bonds between people.
Once this battle is over, surely.

~ Continued to (2)