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The night has arrived. We have armed ourselves with swords and bows.  We will split into two groups. One, led by Ōishi will attack the front gate, the other, led by his eldest son will attack the back.  When we succeed in killing Kira, a whistle will sound. We begin at the sound of a drum…
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Mitsuharu of the Fūma ninja clan crouched under the window, listening with keen ears for any sounds inside.  His coloured, cloak, so obvious in the day, now hid him better than black ever could. Hearing nothing but the quiet muffled sounds of people going about their nightly business, he quickly glanced left and right down the alley, then stood up and entered through the window.  This deep into the castle, no one expected intruders, so the windows and doors were usually left unlocked...
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Johnny looked down and pursed his lips as he mulled over everything he had just seen.  Then he looked up as a thought came to him. “You did a great job explaining the types of swords, and even the progression of materials in the earliest blades.  But I noticed that while most of the swords here are made from steel, you barely mentioned the progression of materials from iron to steel.”

The shopkeeper brightened.  “That’s because the use of steel in a sword was a complex, though interesting historical development...

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Johnny walked into the sword shop.  Inside, there were swords from all eras adorning the walls.  To his left, he could see swords from Europe, and to his right swords from China and Japan.  At the back of the shop was the shopkeeper who looked up as the bell jingled. As Johnny approached the shopkeeper, he couldn’t help exclaiming to himself, “Ah, but which should I choose?” "That’s a great question, son,” said the shopkeeper, who had obviously overheard Johnny’s not-quite whisper. “To know that, you’ll need to know about the history of these fine weapons..."
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Gavin heard the arrows whizzing over his head from the archers in the rear and saw the line of horseman charging toward him.  He anchored his pike in the ground, one of thirty men whose job it was to hold the line. As the line of cavalry reached him, he felt the pike bend as it absorbed the weight of the horse driven onto it.  The horse’s rider jumped off and drew his weapon. Gavin quickly dropped the now-useless pike and drew his own sword…
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