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Prologue
“My lord, it is I: Kousaka Masanobu. I have returned.”
The clear resonant voice cut through the chorus of insects from the garden to the motionless man looking up at the night sky at its edge.
He replied, “Mmn... I thank thee for thy labors.”
On one knee behind his lord, Kousaka looked up to see his master’s gaze upon the plants swaying in the cool wind.
“How fare the provinces around the capital?”
"My lord. The rumors of Akechi’s alliance with the Ikkou Sect are true. The rogue has roused the commanders there and intends to drive the anti-Nobunaga coalition into headlong confrontation with Oda.... Matsunaga Hisahide, Araki Murashige, and others have already joined him. He has contacted Eizan Enryaku Temple as well.”
“Is’t so.” The broad shoulders turned slowly to reveal a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties with a long, angular face. His deep black eyes, though cool at first glance, glittered with pride and hints of the indomitable will concealed in their innermost depths. His thick lips tightened abruptly.
"Accursed Oda. Those he wronged in his past life return now to demand retribution. I blame them not for’t. ‘Twill be harder now for Oda to suppress the provinces around the capital.”
“The stubborn resistance of the onshou in the area has held Oda back up to this point, but he can no longer afford to overlook them now that they have banded together.” Kousaka paused, then added, “Oda has stopped his drive east to begin gathering his troops to exterminate the anti-Oda forces. My lord—”
“Hmn.”
The man stepped back into the room and took his seat its head.
“The provinces around the capital will become another of Oda’s bases. He will not allow the forces arrayed against him to strengthen further. ’Tis well. If Oda is stretched, the unification of theKantou will become that much easier. That is the reason for which I called thee here, Kousaka.”
“My lord!”
“The Houjou have begun to move.”
Kousaka looked up abruptly.
“Thou hast heard of the theft of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ from Toushou Shrine?”
“Yes. It was two months or so ago, if memory serves. But is Obu-dono not searching for it with the «nue» of Shimotsuke?”
“Obu was killed three days ago.”
“What...!”
Kousaka involuntarily half-raised himself to ask, “Killed...by whom?!”
“According to the «nue» who escaped, the assassin was a servant of the Houjou. I sent Obu in an attempt to retrieve the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’. Though they were not certain, they sensed what might be onshou activity in Nikkou. If the Houjou do indeed hold the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’—if the Houjou should have the use of such a tool, then even kanshou could not stand against it. If the mirror is not sealed, ’twould mean our doom.”
Kousaka’s expression was also extremely grim.
“... My lord.”
“Danjou. I charge thee with the task of recovering the Tsutsuga Mirror. If thou canst not do so, use any means at thy disposal to destroy it.”
The man gazed at him with eyes that scorched the air.
“To unify the Kantou, we must destroy those troublesome Houjou. They must die ere they become the great evil standing in the way of our unification of the country.”
Kousaka’s expression as he looked at his master Takeda Shingen was much more serious than usual. Shingen stared into the distance, his eyes burning with the ambition he had not been able to achieve four hundred years ago.
“Ere long we shall set forth to subjugate the Houjou.”
Shingen’s gaze fixed again on Kousaka.
“One day thou wilt lead the army that will conquer the southern Kantou. But first the Tsutsuga Mirror must be found and destroyed.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I cannot guess at the schemes of the Houjou. Be on thy guard, but make all haste. The fate of our clan hangs in the balance. Dost thou understand me?” Shingen asked sternly.
Kousaka prostrated himself and answered, “I do, my lord.”
“Let me be clear: we will subjugate both the Houjou and the Date in the Northeast. Once we have finished punishing the Ashina of the Aizu, we will prepare a pincer attack on the Houjou. And—” Shingen cut himself off, then spoke more forcefully, “—of the one who was my earlier vessel.”
“...”
Kousaka was silent, but his eyes flashed. Shingen asked cautiously, “Thou art certain of what thou glimpsed of his true form?”
“With all respect, my lord. If it were not so, I cannot think that Saburou Kagetora would have been at his side. Faced with a being with power equal to Kenshin, the only one capable of sealing that enormous power—the only one able to stand in Kenshin’s place would be Saburou-dono.”
Shingen pondered Kousaka’s reply for a moment, then smoothly stood and walked past him back to the edge of the garden.
“Thou wouldst say Saburou is the only one who might control him?”
“As Kenshin’s proxy...”
“...One day we shall have to deal with him. To leave him to Saburou is akin to entrusting him with a bomb of infinite destructive capacity. He is more a danger than the Tsutsuga Mirror. ’Twould be best to destroy him ere he falls into Oda’s hands.”
“What is your will, my lord?”
Shingen turned, his decision made.
“In any case, the extermination of the Houjou comes before all. I entrust the Tsutsuga Mirror to thee.”
“I am at your command. But if I threaten the Houjou,” Kousaka’s brows creased, “Saburou-dono wouldst, belike, come to their aid.”
“...Because they are his true father and brothers?”
Shingen thought for a moment, his eyes lowered slightly.
“Indeed, I do not think he would attack his own kin. Saburou...Kagetora...” he said the name contemplatively, looking out at the garden. Insects chirped.
“Though ’twere for but a short time, he was adopted into our clan. Still, I never called him my son...”
“My lord.”
“Hath he lived all through these four hundred years...?”
Shingen sighed, then smiled slightly.
“Kenshin too hath forced cruel things upon him...”
Bell crickets chirped nearby. Nothing of summer remained in the night wind. The end of August was near.
Lord and vassal fell silent, listening to the sounds of the garden.