Turning his attention to the opposite end of the bunkhouse, Jack immediately spotted Nakamura and Sayomi. They knelt before a bearded man with coal-black eyes and a broad chest. He wore a breastplate as dark as the night and around his head was tied a blood-red hachimaki. The bandanna, reinforced with a steel plate, was as potent as any crown.

‘That’s Akuma!’ whispered Sora, trembling at the sight of his village’s tormentor.

Jack laid a calming hand on Sora’s shoulder, but he too was struck by a chill of fear upon seeing the man known as Black Moon. The bandit leader’s malevolent presence dominated the room and he gazed upon the proceedings with the predatory glare of a killer shark. Jack noticed the bandits never looked directly at their leader and always kept a wary distance.

Akuma snapped his fingers and a girl appeared, bearing food and a pot of sencha. Bowing low, her eyes averted, she poured out a measure of green tea and handed him the cup.

Without even tasting it, he said, ‘The tea’s cold!’

‘But I just made it –’

Akuma brutally struck the girl with the back of his hand.

‘I said, the tea’s cold.’ His tone was calm and even, as if nothing untoward had happened. But blood trickled from the girl’s lower lip and a red welt bloomed across her cheek.

‘Sorry, my lord,’ she sobbed, scurrying off to bring him a fresh pot.

A man was dragged in by two bandits and dumped at Akuma’s feet. Dressed in a tattered farming smock and trousers, the prisoner quivered in terror.

‘I warned you not to resist,’ said Akuma, selecting a rosy-pink slice of salmon from a plate of sushi and popping it into his mouth.

The ragged farmer prostrated himself on the dirt floor. ‘I was only thinking of my family. I won’t do it again. I promise –’

‘No, you won’t,’ interrupted Akuma. ‘I accept your pitiful apology.’

The farmer looked up in amazement. ‘Thank you, O great Akuma, thank you!’ he cried, bowing over and over.

Akuma rolled his eyes, quickly bored with the man’s overt display of gratitude.

‘Now roast him on the fire!’ he ordered.

The two bandits seized the farmer and hauled him towards the blazing hearth. The room fell silent as everyone watched in grim fascination.

‘B-b-but my apology!’ pleaded the farmer, struggling wildly in the arms of his captors.

No longer able to stand by and watch, Jack drew his sword. But Hayato prevented him.

‘No! It would be sheer suicide!’

‘But we can’t just do nothing,’ protested Jack.

‘We help him, we die – it’s as simple as that.’

‘He’s right, Jack,’ said Miyuki, although she was clearly as uncomfortable with the situation as they all were. ‘There are too many of them. We can’t sacrifice the village’s safety for the fate of one man.’

A horrendous scream pierced the night.