After entering Komatsu Forge, I teamed up with Yuna to defeat a group of Mongol and rescue local peasants.
Meeting Taka at the hidden forge, Jin pledged to defend the town so Taka could craft the tools needed to free Shimura, beginning with a search for Taka's missing assistant, Yuriko.
I navigated across the rooftops of Komatsu Forge, listening closely for any sign of Mongol patrols in the vicinity. Hearing screams and the sounds of heavy combat nearby, I sprinted to intervene before more civilians were killed.
I found a group of enemy forces torturing a helpless peasant surrounded by fallen samurai. I initiated the attack by quickly eliminating an archer.
Then I dodged a second archer's incoming arrow just as Yuna provided arrow support from a nearby ledge.
I advanced on the remaining enemy archers as additional Mongol soldiers rushed in to reinforce their ranks. Maintaining an aggressive offense alongside Yuna's long-range fire, I cut down the remaining enemies and secured the immediate area.
Yuna climbed down from her high vantage point to greet me. She explained that Taka and a handful of surviving villagers were hiding nearby after a brutal Mongol raid swept through the settlement days earlier.
Realizing the soldiers we had just defeated were merely scouts for a much larger invasion force, Jin insisted on holding Komatsu Forge to protect its residents and secure the blacksmithing equipment.
A mission started entitled "Hammer and Forge" and refusing to flee any longer, Yuna agreed to assist and guide Jin toward the survivors hideout, while he paused along the trail to scavenge arrows from the fallen enemy forces.
Along the way, we encountered a trapped villager separated during the initial attack. Yuna persuaded her to join us, promising safety at the forge where the remaining families were taking shelter.
She noted that while the forge remained functional, the survivors dared not light the fires for fear of signaling their location to the surrounding patrols.
Reaching the hidden shelter, I found Taka, who expressed both relief and astonishment at my arrival. Jin informed him that he requires his blacksmithing skills to craft specialized climbing equipment to infiltrate Castle Kaneda and rescue his uncle.
Taka agreed to forge the tools, but explained that his work would prove impossible without his primary assistant, Yuriko, who remained trapped elsewhere in the occupied town.
Vowing to defend the town from the approaching Mongol army, Jin volunteered to venture back out into the streets to track down Yuriko.
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