Black Arrow Lord Ch. 02

A weapon is double-loaded -- as might happen by accident or during the excitement of a battle -- but a proofing house does this on purpose. The loaded weapon is held in clamps and then fired by a man pulling the trigger by a string from outside of the room. It must be done three times and the gun must not explode or flash back. Then it may receive the mark."

He pointed, "I can see from this far away that not one of Jans' guns has such a mark. They were made on the island of Java. The gunmakers there are skilled, but they cannot cast or forge whole barrels. They wind strips of steel over a bar and hammer it at the seams so that it is welded. After that, they bore it and finish it.

This is called the Damascus method and it can make a fine weapon -- but do not ever make the mistake of double-loading it. The barrel might explode.

Valdemar had to stop and wait often as he explained it and he added, "These are at best third rank guns and so they cost a trader less to buy. I did not know you or even how life goes here, but I thought that I would offer the best that I could get, thinking that you might wish to buy the weapons to arm more of your men in case they had to fight with them one day.

Every one of mine was made for military service to last a long time in hard use.

There is also one mark on every one of my rifles which neither the maker or the proofing house put there. If you run a fingertip along the left side of the triggerguard, you will feel the small notch that I put there myself into the metal with a little metal file.

I did that before I walked away from the warehouse, so that I'd know if there was anything dirty going on. I said nothing of it to Jans."

The truth of Valdemar's words was known in moments. He offered the list but Maeda said that it would not be needed.

"Maeda-san says that he lost two good men to just such a happenstance as you told of. These others which you say are his look similar to what Jans sold here before, but I am not one who would know of these things."

There were some more words from the daimyo then and the boy translated, "Lord Maeda wishes to know what price you wish to sell for."

Valdemar looked down in thought for a moment, "Please tell him that I wish to make a request first. If it is possible, I would like to have the man who Lord Maeda believes is the most used to weapons such as these to take the one of his choice and try it.

It is important to me that the quality of what I sell is seen. That man must know that the sights will likely need to be adjusted for him and I would be happy to do that, and then the man must be pleased with the results."

Valdemar mentioned his price then on a per weapon basis and when he heard of it, the daimyo nodded and looked pleased. He turned then and gave orders which resulted in a lot of nodding and perhaps a little unsettling to Valdemar, Oda seemed pleased to hear them as well.

As some sort of preparations were being made, Lady Hoshino entered and knelt next to the Daimyo as other women set out the little bowls and poured tea. The focus of the conversation left Valdemar and he watched the others out of interest, though he was careful not to seem to be staring at anyone. Valdemar noticed that he was provided with a bowl and that Kōichi was not, so he asked.

"I am no one in this room," the boy said, "The woman who poured your tea is my mother." He then gave Valdemar a quick set of general directions regarding etiquette for the situation. As he listened, Valdmar looked at lord Maeda once and he saw the lord nod once as though approving. Kōichi stepped over to continue.

Somewhere in the middle of his instructions, Kōichi looked at Valdemar's face for a moment and said very quietly, "Maeda-san will test you outside. He believes that a true daimyo must be able to remain impassive. Remember two things; Maeda-san is the law here so he can do as he wishes.

And a daimyo does not show that he is upset to anyone in public. He holds his emotion away from those who are below him."

After that remark, Kōichi continued with the abbreviated lesson and would answer nothing of Valdemar's quiet questions unless they related to tea.