Necessary Corruption 4 (Patreon)

Necessary Corruption
Chapter 4

-VB-

“We will be growing these?” the farmer chief of the village nearest to my castle asked while staring at the opened bag of seeds I’d given them.

“Yes,” I replied. “You will grow and harvest as I have instructed you. In exchange, all of your food needs will be covered by the Takanoshi Clan.”

The farmer looked unsure. “W-What if we have a bad harvest, m-milord? I’m sure you are wiser than any of us here and know that this new crop would be good, but what if we do bad?” he asked apprehensively.

“As long as I have seen that you did your best to grow these, I shall see no harm done to you. You will continue to receive food from me, and you will try again until you can do it right.”

“Really, milord?”

“Yes.”

The village chief bowed his head and left. When he did so, I turned to Washimoto. “We’re going to the next village.”

This was a scene that was repeated many times over the southern quarter of my clan’s lands. I made sure to personally visit each of the villages I wanted for this endeavor. Part of this was because I didn’t want anyone to casually know that I would be growing massive quantities of poppy.

Mind-altering drugs have been around since before the ninjas and their hidden villages. They have been around even before some of the current daimyos and their lands. Nobles liked to dabble in using them, but most nobles and leaders who were smart enough to not touch them were the ones to survive. After all, no military leader could lead a battle when he was high on opium nor could the daimyo rule a land when he spent more time in opium dens than he did sleeping and administering combined.

That said, the same could not be said about its impact on the people. For at least a hundred years, the Land of Rivers suffered under waves and waves of foreign made drugs, particularly those made in the Land of Wind. It wasn’t just the Land of Rivers, either. Almost all Lands bordering the Land of Wind suffered, and it got so bad that the daimyos of these lands got together into a coalition and waged a war together with their chakra clans, the precursors to the modern ninja clans, against the Land of Wind.

The result of that war was still clear to see: the Land of Wind was never called the Land of Desert before, even if it was a desert now and have been for the past four generations.

These days, most drugs were made and sold by bandit clans hiding in the mountains and swamps between the borders of the daimyo controlled lands, and while my land was far from any of the border regions of the Land of Rivers, the narrow nature and the widespread river network of the Land of Rivers ensured that these bandits could easily transport their goods via river rafts, especially in the dead of the night.

I would have to get rid of them, but how could I do that …?

It was something I would have to think about.

In the meantime, I needed to prepare to meet my last person of interest.

I waited in my carriage while my head servant went to collect the man in question. I waited quietly as the door to my carriage opened, and a scruffy man dressed in barely acceptable yakuta bowed from outside.

“I, Kawayatsu Chushini, greet the lord of the land,” the man said while bowing deeply. “I am honored to be in your presence.”

“Hmm. Step inside, Kawayatsu.”

“Hai.”

The man quickly did so, and the door to the carriage closed, but he remained on his knees at the floor of the carriage. This wouldn’t do. “Please, take a seat across from me,” I said as I stroked the puppy I had prepared for this occasion.

He did so wordlessly but with a bow.

“How is the underworld these days?”

The man jolted in his seat. “I- I am unfamiliar with the criminals…”

“Try not to lie too much, Kawayatsu-san,” I hummed. “You are the leader of the Fanfan Gang at my own capital.”

The man froze.

“H-How may I be of service, milord…?” he asked warily.

I gave the bulky man a look over before sighing. “It is unfortunate that ninjas often intrude upon your business, yes?”

He looked up at me, confused. “They do, milord, but often times, it is the lords and daimyos who ask for their help…”

“Indeed. However, I am not particularly feeling up to hiring the ninjas to remove you lot. In fact, I have a use for you.”

“...?”

“Answer when you are spoken to,” I snapped, and the man quickly bowed.

“Apologies, milord!”

“Hmm.” I schooled my features from the frown that momentarily overtook me when I snapped at him. “I will take you in as my vassal, but you are to swear the loyalty of yourself and your gang to me.”

The man froze, imitating a stranded fish. “M-Milord...?!”

“In exchange, you will be given the right to collect taxes from certain areas of my land and I shall give you - and only you - something special,” I added. “But before that, a demonstration.”

I stroked the puppy once more before I snapped my finger.

One of the guards opened the door and bowed to me. “Hai!”

“Do it.”

This was the fifth person I’d hired and given power to.

The guard bowed again and then took the puppy from my lap.

And both I and Kawayatsu watched as the puppy yelped and then died, its entire body decaying to dust in two seconds flat.

Kawayatsu froze, seemingly unbelieving of what he had just seen.

I snapped my finger again.

The door closed and I focused back on the gang leader.

“I will grant you your own power that may even rival the weaker ninjas. Will you accept the vassalage?”

“H-Hai!”

“Good. Bow.”

When he did, I placed my hand on his greasy head. “Use this power well for the sake of the Takanori Clan,” I chanted and felt another two “charges” worth of my power leave me. “Rise.”

He did so, and looked at me in wonder. “A-Are you a seijin, milord?”

I laughed at the absurdity of his question. “No, just a vengeful lord. This will be your job,” I said and handed him a scroll I’d hidden in my sleeves. “I trust that you can read and keep the information within this scroll secret?”

“Yes, milord!” he bowed and took the scroll with both of his hands.

“Good, good,” I hummed. “Then I will expect you to deliver the result next spring. Know that just as greatly as I reward those who perform well, I will also punish those who fail miserably.”

I snapped my finger, and the guards outside opened the carriage door. Kawayatsu stepped outside, bowed deeply and remained there as the door closed.

“Remember Kawayatsu, your gang, yourself, and your family all live on my land, and none can leave so easily after failing me.”

“H-HAI!”

“Let’s go then,” I said to the driver.

Ah… After a full month’s journey, I was finally back home.