‘He said to thank you for your offer, but he wasn’t in need of a job.’

They resumed their search.

‘What about him?’ suggested Sora, pointing to a well-dressed samurai with a long moustache, plump jowls and a visible paunch.

‘No,’ said Jack, realizing the man was too affluent to be a ronin. ‘We need to find hungry masterless samurai.’

‘How about that one?’ said Toge.

A stick-thin warrior with pinched cheeks and a shabby brown kimono wandered through the market.

‘Possibly,’ replied Jack, taking a sip of tea while he considered the man.

The samurai drew closer. As he passed a fruit stall, he slipped an apple into his kimono sleeve.

‘He’s definitely hungry,’ said Sora.

‘He’s also a thief!’ muttered Toge.

Jack was inclined to agree with Toge’s disapproval. They needed honourable trustworthy samurai. But under the circumstances, they couldn’t be too choosy.

All of a sudden there was a commotion in the crowd and an old woman barged her way through. Raising a gnarled walking-stick aloft, she began to beat the hungry samurai around the head.

‘You pathetic excuse of a samurai!’ she shrieked. ‘Hand back my apple!’

‘I … I … was going to pay,’ protested the samurai feebly, scrabbling for his purse.

‘You’ll pay all right!’ she crowed, thumping him again and again.

The samurai cowered under her blows. Dropping the apple, he ran as if his life depended upon it. The surrounding shoppers burst into laughter at the sight of the warrior fleeing an old woman half his size.

‘No good,’ said Jack. ‘Any recruit has to be brave, at the very least.’

With potential candidates few and far between, their quest was proving even more difficult than he’d expected.

Then a tough, battle-hardened samurai strolled past the tea house. Judging by his frayed kimono with no affiliating mon, the warrior was a ronin seeking work. Furthermore, his sayas displayed the scars of numerous fights.

‘He’s our man,’ said Jack.

Toge hurried over and bowed to get his attention.

‘May my master have a word?’ asked Toge, directing the ronin to Jack, his face shielded beneath the straw hat.

Intrigued, the ronin curtly nodded his agreement. He sat down at Jack’s table, placing his swords close by his side. Sora immediately poured out some sencha.

‘Thank you for taking the time to join me,’ said Jack, toasting the ronin with his cup. Adopting his guardian’s name, Jack introduced himself. ‘My name’s Takeshi.’

The samurai bowed his head. ‘I’m Honen. How can I be of service?’

‘I’m seeking samurai on behalf of Tamagashi village – to defend them against bandit raids during the winter.’

‘An honourable if inglorious cause.’

‘But a worthy one,’ countered Jack. And, guessing the ronin would appreciate directness as well as a challenge, he added, ‘The bandits’ leader is the notorious Akuma, the man they call Black Moon.’

‘He’s a fearsome warrior. Killed hundreds of men, I hear.’