A Time Traveller's Guide To Feudal Japan

Chapter 340 - Cheating

"There are all sorts of technologies I can bring to this world," Gengyo mused as he wandered the palace corridors alone after his bath, "electricity, for instance, that would change everything. It would give us such an advantage in these wars would be unfair. But... I am unsure whether I wish to do that. To give development such a hard push forward."

His robe was loose upon his skin and the wintery air about the place was soothing after his time boiling away in such a warm bath. Most of the others had already gone to bed, despite it still being early evening. They had agreed to tend to their celebrating tomorrow, when they could meet it with excitement and actually enjoy the occasion like they were meant to.

Seizing the opportunity for a rare bit of quiet time, Gengyo engaged in some thoughtful reflection, as he looked upon the stump of his arm, wondering whether the trouble he’d have to go through to get a new hand would be worth it. Whether the consequences it would have on the world would be worth it.

"I don’t want to live in such a complex world anymore," Gengyo realized. "For all the comfort technology brings, it takes so much away from you as well. This here... these cold walls without air-conditioning, this is where I truly began to feel alive. That feeling is more important than anything else, than a hand, than even victory. I want to hold onto it for as long as I can, until I enter the grave like the rest of us moral folk."

But such a simple conclusion wouldn’t be allowed. There were thousands of little voices in his head, each of them giving rise to an opinion. "But if it is depth of experience that I crave, to live without a hand would only be to miss out..." came another line of thought.

"Perhaps a hand... perhaps the technology required for a hand... perhaps that doesn’t have to lead to a complex world. Not if I can control it. Not if I work on my hand in secrecy and then dispose of my tools once the job is done. Even if I were to the hand, I could always make another, and the finder would not be able to glean anything too important from it," Gengyo supposed.

"Is the weaponry I brought not of the same vein though? I’m wishing against technological progression when I’ve already forced something into play, aren’t I? But then, I wouldn’t say so. True, the revolving rifles like we have were nowhere to be found at this time, but nor have we truly created something new. We have merely improved what has already existed. The effect on history is therefore minimal," Gengyo said to himself, wandering along a quiet corridor, lured towards one of the many open palace balconies.

"Shall I do that then?" Gengyo asked himself. "Shall I give myself space to work on my hand in secret? And then dispose of everything once the job is done?"

He was beginning to run out of excuses for not getting it done. And then when he began to really consider doing it, he grew excited. He hadn’t become a robotics engineer by accident, after all. He did it because he had a passion for it, and there was no one in history who had achieved his peak.

He felt guilty at the same time though. As though he was using a cheat system in one of his favourite games. Regardless, he had laid out the rules of use for himself and he vowed not to let it go beyond what he had said, else it would ruin what he had created.

The open air of the balcony quickly won its way past the hot afterglow of his bath and he began to a shiver.

"Going to need materials," he told himself, "and a space to work... Could ask Takeshi. Need to make sure that what I use is never found. Need to avoid the temptation of making a computer... Then again, for a reasonable hand, I may have to use a computer," he scratched the back of his head as he walked away, before pulling his robe tighter to him, wondering just how far he could push the boundaries of his ’cheating’ without feeling completely guilty about it.

Akiko was waiting for him back at their room and had urged him to be quick about his wanderings, for she was already exhausted and wanting to go off to sleep. But as Gengyo turned his feet towards his room, about to head there, he made a slight detour, knowing that with such thoughts on his mind, he’d never manage to sleep anyway.

On the door of another room, he gave a few tender knocks, before standing waiting expectantly for the person inside.

"Miura-dono..." Takeshi said in surprise, "I thought you would be asleep by now." It pleased Gengyo to see that the little smith was still fully dressed and all the candles in his room were still lit. He hadn’t attempted to sleep either.

"Couldn’t sleep with a mind full of ideas," Gengyo defended himself weakly. "I need a space to work whilst I set about restoring this hand," Gengyo said, pointing to his stump. "I need it to be away from prying eyes. This is not the sort of technology I want to fall into anyone’s hands, for it would only be a matter of time before it fell into the enemy’s."

"I see," Takeshi nodded his understanding without asking any undue questions, seeming to understand. Gengyo was grateful for that. "There is a space under the castle," Takeshi recalled, "even deeper than the wine cellars. If you were to work there, I don’t think anyone would ever wander in on you. Do you want me to have some materials delivered down there? I’m just about to order some as well."

"That would be brilliant," Gengyo beamed before he began to list the various rare metals and oils that he needed, watching as Takeshi’s eyebrows raised more and more in surprise.

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