EDIT: Coming from:
https://animebase.me/threads/kamisutari-049.755866/#post-22074646
This post encompasses a B-rank mission containing the following storyboard elements:
- (custom) Steal an important monument (3)
“So anyway, I hope all you boys are in good shape, ‘cause these statues are heavier than sin.”
Hawke finished his pep talk with a clap of his hands and a flourish, and then unceremoniously marched back over to join his Brothers in the center of the sculpture park. The baker’s dozen men plus Hawke himself watched from the cool shade while the local volunteers began the laborious work of preparing the Hangurian sculptures for transportation. It turned out that watching soft-handed artists and artisans fumble and hurt themselves in trying to handle the much larger, coarser tools of stonework was quite amusing.
The whole thing had been Misk’s idea. Hawke was old enough to remember the Freehold well, even if its heydays were long past when he came into the world, so the idea of disturbing one of the few remnants of its existence did not much appeal to him. Dirty Misk and his boys made a good case for conservation however, in so many words, and then shared some
very compelling numbers about the value of these statues on the open market. Thinking back on it, Hawke saw no reason why every Dom, Rick and Barry should be free to put their greasy fingers on such important historical works of art. Better to let a private collector take proper care of them.
There were, however, a lot of statues and not a lot of Brothers to prepare them for transport, and Hawke’s mere suggestion of back-breaking manual labor was met with actual, honest-to-the-Gods boos. He could have come up with some intricate way to move the lot using chakra, but where was the fun in that? Instead, the Brothers went from village to village and enlisted volunteers among the local snobs who knew and appreciated the sculpture park. At first their recruitment efforts met some resistance; it seemed the idea of moving the sculpture park did not appeal to everyone and willing workmen were hard to come by. When Hawke exempted the first conscientious objector from work by beating him half to death and severing his dominant hand at the wrist, however, morale took a turn for the better. But, just to be on the safe side, the beatings continued until morale improved to satisfactory levels.
“Put your back into it!” Hawke bellowed from his position under a statue of Ieyasu Nobunaga, and felt in that moment like the man’s diplomatic equal. Wagons had been confiscated from the local villages for use in the conservation effort, along with enough hay to fill a small lake and the horses needed to pull it all to market. It was a significant undertaking, but one that Hawke felt good about committing to as he ate another grape from the vine he was holding. Misk, allowed more leash by virtue of his annual good idea, was drawing a purple moustache on a statue of Sai Inuzuka using the juice from his own grapes. The action agitated a few of the volunteers, but after Hawke personally beat the man to death over the course of the workmen’s thirty minute lunch break, things seemed to calm down once again.
It took the volunteers most of the daylight hours to prepare the statues for transport. They had to be arranged just so in the wagons, and secured so as not to slide or shift during the journey to come. But as the sun set over the valley Hawke looked over his caravan and felt immensely pleased with his efforts. The statue of Sai Nobunaga had been too large to fit, but Hawke had agreed to carry it himself. He needed the exercise anyway.
Soon everything was ready for the Brothers to depart, so all the volunteers were gathered in the now empty sculpture park and thanked for their services in true Brotherhood fashion.
“We appreciate the hard work, boys,” Hawke told them while adjusting the statue he was carrying on his back. “Now you’ve got all this space to put your own statues in, yeah? Better do it fast, too, because if folks start asking too many questions about where the sculptures have gone, then I’m gonna come back here and kill all of your families. Understood?”
The chorus of affirmatives that followed brought a smile to Hawke’s face. It was always nice when things worked out.
And with that the Brothers departed. They would need to find a place close to the nearest marketplace to set up camp. It would not do to march the entire collection into town, so a buyer would have to be found first.
- Leaving for LM 41