Author's Note: Ah! It wasn't a fluke, I can keep writing.
Please have fun reading, I have a bunch of ideas for this and other stories floating around my noggin so if people are interested I'll keep writing.
Chapter 4
Re-Estize
Capital of the Kingdom of Re-Estize
Gazef Stronoff, Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom, Champion, bodyguard, confidant and personal friend of the King, knelt in middle of the throne room. Before him, seated on his throne, stood his majesty, the king Rampossa III. All around them were gathered the great nobles of the kingdom, the clerics from the temples and even representatives from the guilds, in fact, the throne room was so full several dozen people were waiting outside, trying to hear what went on inside.
Behind Gazef, kneeling on the floor, were the other members of the Warrior Band, wearing the strange armours they had been gifted in the demonic castle. Gazef supressed a shudder has he remembered the visage its ruler and the dread and might of its vassals as he passed judgement. Even now he felt a cold sweat thinking of the men who had come as ambassadors, as they waited outside the city. Having travelled from the Katze plains to the capital alongside them, he had had the chance to get to know them relatively well. What had shocked him the most had been the respect and politeness they afforded him paying no heed to his status as a commoner.
Has his thoughts wandered, Gazef saw the king raising his hand calling to attention, the nobles slowly fell silent and looked expectantly at the Warrior-Captain. Most of the members of the noble faction did nothing to disguise their disdain for Gazef, and even some from the Royal faction showed contempt for him. He sighed, the Kingdom was rotten to the core, he'd known that for years, all he could hope for was to help however he was able to help excise the cancer festering within.
"It brings us great joy to see you safely returned Warrior-Captain." The king spoke, Gazef winced at the exhaustion he heard in his liege's voice. "While it seems your mission was successful, much seems to have happened. Tell us of your journey."
"It is as you say, your Majesty." Gazef replied bowing his head. "By your orders, I set out with the Warrior Band to find and punish the marauders that were assaulting villages around E-Rantel. We found several destroyed villages with most of the population killed, I sent part of my band back to ensure the survivors were protected and continued. The path of destruction led us to the village of Carne, near the Great Forest of Tob, but instead of finding marauders and bandits, we found a strange unknown group of warriors with several captured knights. After some initial confusion, the villagers made it clear they had been saved by these warriors from the knights…"
"And did it not occur to you those warriors were in league with the bandits?" Interrupted Count Lytton of the Six Great Nobles.
"When we consider what happened that seems most unlikely." Gazef answered trying to keep himself calm.
"Now now, allow the Warrior-Captain to finish his tale before we start arguing amongst ourselves." Spoke Marquis Raeven softly before Count Lytton could say anything else. "Please, continue."
Gazef suppressed an involuntary shudder. He had a visceral dislike for the Marquis, a cold-hearted opportunist, but he could not let it show lest it shame and endanger his king.
"My thanks, Marquis." He said before continuing. "As I was saying, the villagers explained to us they had come under attack by the knights, several members of the village were dead, but that those strangers had come to their rescue and driven off most of the warriors while capturing a dozen of them. Their leader introduced himself as Takeda Shingen, and as I was later told, they use their names in a reverse order so his given name if Shingen and his family name is Takeda. He told me he was a daimyo, a lord of his land and that he was a vassal of the Shogun, his leader and lord, and was here on his orders and those of Atsuko Aimi, one of his masters. I apologise but I do not recognise these titles."
"Has anyone here heard tell of the titles my Warrior-Captain has said?" Asked the King to assembled nobles.
None stood forward, a few mumbled negatively and most just still.
"No matter, we will learn in time." Rampossa said after a while. "Continue."
"Yes, your majesty. This Lord Takeda and his men wore armour of a quality I had never seen, his own seemed leagues above everything else. I apologise, but as you see the armours of my men, their story will come soon, his own seemed of a completely different quality."
The crowd murmured again gazing at the soldiers' armours, their quality was undeniable, and they wondered just how Gazef's men had come to wear them. The more discerning and knowledgeable amongst them also noticed they were enchanted, and a cold sweat ran down their backs as they considered the implications and the new might of the king's soldiers.
"If all this had been a surprise to me, what came afterwards was truly shocking. Out of one of the peasants' homes came a bright shining light and before I knew it there was an angel before me. So bright was her light I had to avert my eyes and lord Takeda introduced her and Atsuko Aimi, the Angel of the Shogun's Realm."
This time it was the clerics interrupting the tale, shouting in outrage and confusion.
"I swear by what I saw my lords! My men and the citizens of Carne can confirm my story. I cannot swear by what she is, only what we saw and were told." Gazef protested.
"Let him speak!" Shouted the First Prince above the noise of the throne room. "I grow tired of these interruptions."
Tall, powerfully built, with a regal stature, the First Prince, Barbro, towered above the rest of the royal family and many of the nobles. A man used to command and to be obeyed, his tone brokered no disagreement, and the throne room finally subsided. A few members stammered or murmured some half-hearted apology before Gazef spoke again.
I don't think anyone else, maybe aside from Marquis Raeven, could have silenced the room that easily. Gazef thought to himself. Anyone else would have simply led to more arguing, but because he is the heir presumptive and married to the daughter of Marquis Boullope, he has enough pull with both factions to be able to call for silence.
Gazef was troubled, his loyalty was to the king and kingdom, both of which he loved dearly. Unfortunately, the king's sons were not half the man Rampossa was. Barbro was in the pocket of the nobles and thought nothing of the people and his responsibilities. Spoiled from birth, he wholeheartedly believed in his own divine right and that the people existed to serve his desires and goals. He would be a terrible and cruel king.
The second son, Zanac, was little better, Gazef thought, while in many ways the complete opposite to his brother, smaller, fatter, weaker but also far smarter and intelligent, he had made himself an ally and counted as his chief supporter the Marquis Raeven, a man Gazef considered a snake and quite possibly a traitor. He had not forgotten how this entire mission had been clearly laid out like a trap to kill him, and he suspected someone like Raeven would have been involved.
All these thoughts flashed in Gazef's head in a mere heartbeat. Oh, if only the princess Renner could succeed her father, he lamented.
"As I was saying, we were introduced to the Lady Aimi, and another of their lords, a Uesugi Kenshin, who explained to us they were foreign to this land and had found themselves in the middle of a vast plain surrounded by mists and undead beings. At this time, I believed them to be nomads or a wandering group, but my conceptions would be shattered." Gazef continued telling his tale trying to finish it more quickly now before he was interrupted. "Before we could speak further, some of their men reported the village was surrounded by more soldiers. Me and my men realized these were more of the men we had been sent to spot and that we had fallen into an obvious trap, I prepared to sally out as to avoid drawing the villagers into more danger. The lords Takeda and Uesugi briefly conferred with the Lady Aimi and convinced her to lend me their support. I was in no position to refuse their help."
Several grumblings broke out from the gathered nobles but a stern look from the Raeven and Boullope kept them silent, for now.
"Nevertheless, with our combined forces, we numbered more than 600 men. Their forces were professional, well organized and eager for the fight."
"We can see you were victorious, Warrior-Captain, please tell us simply, how would you rank their soldier's strength?" The king interrupted.
"Even the weakest of their soldiers struck me as being stronger than an average imperial knight." Gazef answered.
The room exploded with conversations and debates as nobles tried to comprehend how that affected the local balance of power. One thing was clear, whoever got these men to support them could become the kingmaker in the entire region.
Such petty people. Thought Gazef. They think they can control those monsters.
"And what happened?" Asked the prince Zanac stepping forward.
"The enveloping force was composed of magic casters and summoners. Based on their tactics, equipment and the angels they summoned, I can only conclude they were one of the famous Slane Theocracy Six Scriptures…" Gafez tried answering before being interrupted.
"Preposterous! How could that be? This is a grave accusation!" Shouted a minor noble from the Noble faction.
Before the disturbance could continue a loud crash was heard and a straggled cry went out. All eyes went to the massive wall of muscle that had just punched the offending noble in the head. That figure was known to all in the room, the Adamantine rank Adventurer Gagaran of Blue Rose.
"I've had it with the constant interruptions! Let the Warrior-Captain finish his story before I lose my patience." She shouted to the room as her teammates tried to restrain her and Lakyus, the leader of Blue Rose shook her head sadly.
"Under normal circumstances, Lady Gagaran would be in a very big problem because she struck a noble. However, as it stands, he was warned." Raevan joked chuckling.
Several figures in the room chuckled as well, marquis Boullope and the king amongst them. Gagaran had the courtesy of blushing as she was led out of the room by the rest of Blue Rose and only Lakyus, as a noble lady in her own right, stayed. Normally there would have been no way for adventurers, no matter how accomplished and famous, would have been accepted inside the throne room during a formal audience. The situation, however, was exceptional, and as many people as possible had been invited to provide their knowledge and insight.
"As I was saying, we sallied out of the village to engage the scripture. It was soon clear they had not expected the other warriors, and we caught them by surprise. They attempted to overwhelm us with summoned angels but we, and I must confess me, and my men did little, crushed the angels before catching the summoners. Their leader tried to stop us by unleashing a powerful angel from a summoning crystal, I had never seen the like."
"The Lords Takeda and Uesugi had pulled back to protect the Lady Aimi when the angel was unleashed but she, the lady, defeated it by firing a single arrow from her bow. I do not believe I would have triumphed had they not been there." Gazef said finally finishing telling the tale of Carne village.
"And afterwards?" The king asked as Gafez had stopped talking.
Silence permeated the room now. The Warrior-Captain remained as if frozen in place for a while.
The King remained silent looking at his friend and loyal vassal.
"We… we were invited to their fortress in the Katze plains." Gazef finally restarted haltingly. "We accepted as I felt we had to acquire more information about these powerful people… We were taken to their fortress; they called it the Iron Castle."
"My King, I had never seen the like, a vast fortress of such might and splendour I cannot believe it was built by human hands. In size it is larger than all E-Rantel. The keep is larger than the royal castle and seems as tall as a mountain. The wealth and power on display left us all awestruck. But nothing could have prepared us for the ruler of fortress." Gazef say in sternly.
At this all the assembly seemed to take a step forward as if to better listen to what Gazef was about to say.
"In a vast Throne Room, much larger than this own, seated in a strange way on a raised platform was a monster unlike anything I have ever see." Gazef continued, his voice lowering as he remembered Takeo's aspect on his armour.
If, at that moment, a single pin had dropped onto the floor, if would have echoed in the room. The silence was oppressive as waited on Gazef to finish his story, but none dared compel him to continue as if they knew the danger and terror that knowledge would bring.
"The lord of the Castle, they called him Shogun, Osamu Takeo is his name, was surrounded by several of his vassals, all similar to the lords I had already met. The most terrifying thing were his manners. How could something so obviously so powerful and terrifying be so polite?"
Questions assaulted everyone in the room but still, they kept silent.
"What he is I do not know, I have never seen or heard of the like. While I only saw him seated, he is obviously unnaturally large and just as powerful. He looked to me as if he was the cross between an ogre and a demon. Clad all in red as if on fire and the flames were his armour, he addressed us politely and welcomed us to his home. He took in the villagers and offered them a home. He adopted two of the village girls from Carne. A figure cloaked in shadows that stood below him was introduced has his brother, Katsuo Hideo and husband to the Lady Aimi. I did not see any family resemblance, but that information chilled me to the core."
"We met twice, on the first day he exchanged basic pleasantries with us before leaving to rest. His vassals took care of us, cared for the villagers and ensured we were healthy. We rested in rooms of such wonder and wealth I was left unable to speak. The following day, we were invited once more into the throne room where we were to speak with the shogun and meet the empress."
"Empress? What empress?" Barbro couldn't contain himself any longer and interrupted Gazef, he was barely understanding the tale Gazef was poorly telling. "Was this shogun not the ruler of this land of monsters?"
"I was left with the same doubt, my prince. The lords that have come with me as emissaries explained it to me. Apparently, the role of the empress is to act as a spiritual leader and to protect her subjects while the shogun is the wielder of actual political and military power and manages the domain." Gazef answered the confused prince, and he saw many in the room had had the same doubts. "Forgive me for I am no storyteller, and my telling can be quite boring."
"Worry yourself not, Warrior-Captain." Rampossa spoke. "Finish your telling of the events so we may properly discuss them."
"My tale is almost finished my king. As we entered the throne room, we saw the many creatures and beings that swore allegiance to shogun and empress. Monsters, humans, demi-humans, angels and demons, and many others I am unfamiliar with. He bade us well, expressed sorrow to see us leave, asked us to escort his emissaries and gifted us these armours and weapons you see. And that was all, within the hour we were leaving the castle alongside the emissaries and their guards. We made our way to E-Rantel to gather supplies and so I could send a messenger ahead to the capital, then made out way to Re-Estize and to your majesty to report all that had occurred." Gazef finished his tale looking directly at his king.
Silence hanged in the room for a while as the assembly digested the full tale. Some shook their hands, some looked doubtful, some worried, some just bored. Through it all the king and Marquis Raeven remained deep in thought looking at Gazef. The silence prolonged until an unsuspecting figure spoke up.
"Father, should we not welcome the messengers?" Asked a young female voice, the princess Renner.
"Ah Renner, you are correct, we need to welcome them, but before that we must discuss how we shall receive them." The king answered his daughter with a smile.
"But is it not disrespectful to keep them waiting?" Renner asked concerned. "They made such a long journey, saved our citizens. We must welcome them and express our thanks."
Rumblings stirred through the room, nobles muttering about the Golden Princess, the Airhead princess. The princess's guardian, Climb, flinched imperceptibly to all but Gazef.
Hold strong. Gazed willed Climb, do not give them a reason to complain, they'll only hurt the princess.
Raeven smiled to the princess and bowed his head slightly before answering.
"Of course, princess, we must welcome them warmly, but we must be careful. Such a seemingly powerful group showed up on our border and is now at our door. We must be careful as we're unsure how to properly welcome them and do not wish to insult them."
"We shall welcome them tomorrow afternoon, right after lunch, which we shall offer them." The king spoke up cutting Renner before she could answer.
"Father! That is much to soon!" Barbro shouted over the murmuring nobles. "Tomorrow? When they only just arrived today?"
"They have saved citizens of our country, helped my most loyal vassal, defeated and captured the offenders and have come now seeking friendship. I will not insult them and keep them waiting as a show of hubris. I shall welcome them as newly arrived friends. As I hope would any of you were you in my place." The king answered making it clear it was not up to discussion.
Voices rouse in the throne room as several people argued back and forth on the when and how to deal with the strangers.
Unaware of all this, outside the capital, stood a small army. They were not an army of course, only messengers and heralds, diplomats, bringing friendship. Daimyos Takeda Shingen and Azai Nagamasa stood together in the middle of an assembled camp. They'd been left a few hundred meters from the gates of the capital. They'd taken the time to set up a camp and rest their soldiers. Now both lords sat on cushions, with a table laid before them, servants waiting on the sides, with simple foods and tea as they waited for word from the city. Behind them, stood twenty great guard samurai, standing like statues facing forward.
"Do you think we'll be left waiting for long?" Asked Shingen after a while.
"I'm afraid so, a king won't simply meet strangers when they show up, even if they have helped his vassals." Nagamasa answered.
They both sighed, their Shogun had commanded them to come and establish friendly relations with the Kingdom of Re-Estize but the more they saw the more they doubted they could get much out of any treaty with them. So far, all they had seen and learned, and Gazef and his Warrior band had been most forthcoming with information they perhaps shouldn't have shared, had painted a picture of a weak divided kingdom, held together by the barest of threads.
"It feels familiar does it not?" Nagamasa asked with a smile.
Shingen smiled, they, the direct named vassals of the Shogun, had been Daimyo lords, warlords if he was being honest. Legends they had become, fighting for the lands of long-lost Japan. Then in death, risen to serve a mightier lord and cause. He shuddered thinking of his lord and master, he might not be lord of Kai anymore, but he thought he was probably happier now then he had been, he assumed, even if couldn't remember most of his life.
"Should it collapse, it would only become the ground upon which we would establish the glory of our lord. And truth be told Azai-dono, with the likes of Oda and Uesugi by my side now… Well, I can only pity our enemies so much." Shingen answered with a predatory smile.
Nagamasa let out a laugh and reached for his cup.
"Please, we are all equals now, call me by my name. And I can only dread for the poor fool having to fight the Tiger of Kai, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven and the God of War, not to mention so many more in our company." He said looking to the side. "You can join us if you wish Fuma-san."
A small shadow appeared beside Nagamasa, a shadow that could not be for it was against the other shadows. Where there had been nothing now stood a man dressed in full ninja garb, black as night, kneeling beside the daimyos. Shingen noted his clothes compared to his own red armour and to Nagamasa's formal clothes, the kimono etched in gold and purple with the Shogun's emblem etched onto it. We all serve our lord in our own ways, he thought reaching for his own cup and drinking from it.
"My lords, I thank you for your invitation, but I must keep vigilant and be sure you are protected, and I am not detected. I have taken the liberty of sending some of my men into the city to scout ahead and look for threats. We shall hear from them shortly I hope." He said not looking up.
"First off, you do need not kneel before us, are we not all equal, created by the hands of the Supreme Beings? Secondly, Shingen here oversees my protection, see how he sits beside me? We are safe, rest. We are in the middle of the camp, with sentries to warm us. If anyone comes from the city, you will have more than enough time to conceal yourself before being seen." Azai said smiling.
"I agree with Nagamasa here, sit, relax with us." Shingen said raising his cup to Kotaro. "And as he said, call me Shingen, we are all equal here."
Kotaro allowed himself to be convinced and stood to take a seat besides the daimyos, servants rushing in to set another cushion, cup and more food.
"And as to our equality… I fear I am not so certain of it." Kotaro began after seating and drinking some tea. "After all, I alone was sculpted by the Shogun's brother and…"
"And that means nothing now." Shingen cut him off. "You heard the Shogun, they have made peace and embraced each other as brothers once more. Katsuo-sama will be regent if the Shogun is indisposed. Heavens forbid anything happens to the Shogun, of course."
"Indeed, it is as Shingen said, worry yourself not." Nagamasa reinforced.
"Thank you both for your trust." Kotaro said bowing his head.
They remained drinking and eating with each other while waiting for any news from the city. The sun lazily moving across the sky.
"Quite a pleasant afternoon we're having." Shingen said cheerfully. "An afternoon spent in good company really is the best for a man's soul."
"Indeed, it is." Kotaro answered. "But I'm afraid it is becoming insulting of our would be hosts to not even invite us into the city."
Nagamasa narrowed his eyes as he took another sip of tea.
"I concur. Have your agents returned yet? What do they have to say?"
"They are returning as we speak, I can see them approaching us."
"Uh? I see nothing." Shingen said looking into the city and the fields before them.
"My apologies, they are invisible, and I only see them because I have the detection skills to break through their methods."
"Ah yes yes, how could I forget. Very well, let them through." He said gesturing to his great guard bodyguard to remain in place.
A gift from the Shogun, the guards of the Supreme Beings, had been more than any of them deserved, but the Shogun had been inflexible and so they had acquiesced to his desires. Still, while they were far weaker than any of the daimyos, they were amongst the strongest in the camp.
The ninjas came before the daimyos, bowing low, 20 of them noted Nagamasa, I'm certain we had 30 with us, did something happen? No, they would not seem so calm if it had.
"Where are the rest of you?" Kotaro asked his men.
"Still gathering information and a few remain in the throne room." One answered.
"The throne room? You made it inside the throne room? Undetected?"
"Yes, my lord, they have no anti-stealth measures implemented. It was as if we simply walked in. We detected only two weak would-be ninjas, but they did not detect us. If you would allow me, I would relate what we found."
"Report." Kotaro said.
The ninja retold, word for word what had been discussed inside the throne room and how they were debating how to receive the messengers. The Ninja added several opinions of his own describing nobles and figures that had stuck out, such as the would-be ninjas, the warrior that struck the noble, the representatives of the guilds, the royal family, amongst others. Aside from the throne room, ha said most of the capital had nothing to offer, the guilds were still being investigated, and they'd even catch signs of a thriving underground and crime syndicate.
After the ninja finished the report, he was interrogated by Kotaro, who then questioned all other ninjas to confirm details. When he finished, he nodded satisfied and turned to Shingen and Nagamasa who had remained silent, waiting.
"I am curious about those ninjas, see what you can learn about them. Aside from that, for now, it seems we have little to worry about." Nagamasa commented.
"No armed forces aside from the royal palace and these adventurers." Shingen mused. "What a weird nation."
"How would you have me and my men proceed?" Asked Kotaro.
"Keep searching and gathering information. Leave a few of your ninja to make sure we aren't snuck up on, but divide the rest between the guilds, this criminal underground and the most powerful nobles. Obtain as much information as we can, maybe even something to use as blackmail. Do not get caught or involved." Nagamasa ordered.
"We hear and obey." Kotaro said kneeling.
"We hear and obey." Echoed the ninja before vanishing once more.
Shingen and Nagamasa seated in their places once more. Without words they brought out a board and started playing Go.
"They are being most rude." Shingen commented placing his piece.
Nagamasa nodded, placing one of his own.
"Do you think they can conceive we could conquer this whole city with the forces we have with us?"
"Probably not. I doubt they can comprehend our Shogun's might. We have a full sonae with us, it would be enough."
"Just the both of us and our great guard would be more than enough to breach these gates and put the city to the sword."
"It would only be just to do so, they disrespect our Shogun, they insult our Lady. Death would be a kindness." Nagamasa said with a cruel smile.
"But we're not going to do that."
"No, we're going to obey our lord's orders, carry out his will. But we'll keep our eyes open. But still, I am disappointed in the Warrior-Captain, I expected better of him."
"We can only expect so much from a stranger, let us hope, for his sake, he comes to see the might and divinity of our Shogun in time."
"Indeed… Do you really believe we could conquer this land as it is?"
"I don't see what could stop us, as it stands, even our ashigaru are stronger than most of the local fighters. With the professional ashigarus in the ranged and melee Kumis we'd be able to secure the gates and walls, and then we and the samurai forces would be able to crush the castle. We could conquer this entire city in a few hours."
"But still, we might be far stronger than them, but we lack the numbers to hold this kingdom, we'd have to spread ourselves to thin. The Shogun is wise, he'll get what he desires out of them soon."
"Indeed, and besides, even if this kingdom is weak, there is much we don't know about this world. We could conquer this kingdom only to find a great power right on our borders that would match our strength."
"A fair point, to remain hidden would have served us better but events have led us here. The die is cast as they say."
"Who says that?" Shingen asked curious
"It's in some books in the library, it was said by a general from a far away land, Caesar I believe his name was." Nagamasa answered thinking briefly. "Either way, it is nearly time to report in, anything special we should discuss before?"
"I do not believe so, just tell your wife what we learned and that we await to enter the city and to speak with the king." Shingen said smiling.
"It is the strangest thing, to be married to a woman that is also married to another man." He said smiling and shaking his head.
"You were there first were you not? Her daughters are your daughters." Shingen asked curious.
"They are indeed but it is still strange, we died to I guess our marriage was finished, now we find ourselves serving the Shogun, my former allies and enemies both serving alongside me. What I can say for sure is that I am proud of my daughters, what more can a father ask for."
Shingen raised his cup high above before draining it one single movement.
"Well said."
They remained in silence for a few minutes before Nagamasa spoke once more.
"She contacts me now."
Tetsu no Shiro
Throne Room
In the throne room of Tetsu no Shiro, Oichi, sister of Oda Nobunaga, stood seated before her brother and the Unifiers, the Shogun, the Shogun's brother and sister-in-law.
"I have made contact." She said to her audience. "He has used the correct code."
"Report." The Shogun commanded.
Oichi bowed low, her head touching the floor before rising slowly and starting to retell, one for word, everything Nagamasa had learnt. She learnt nothing of Shingen's comments and ideas.
When she finished reporting she remained waiting, the [Message] spell still active to contact Nagamasa. The Shogun stood deep in thought, how wonderful he looked, she thought, such a mighty lord to serve, so wise and powerful.
"Tokugawa-dono, your thoughts." He spoke at last.
"My Shogun, it would seem this kingdom is under the misguided idea they are superior to us, while nothing would give me more pleasure than to correct them of their mistake, I believe for now we should seek to deal with them fairly. We are yet blind in this land and need to understand our circumstances. I would advise Takeda-dono and Azai-dono to keep the peace and wait to meet with the king, to avoid demands."
Nobunaga and Hideyoshi stewed in their anger but nodded to Ieyasu agreeing with his measured opinion.
"As expected of the man who waits for the cuckoo to sing. Patience can be a virtue." Hideo said smiling.
"Even still, if they won't deal with our messengers equally, perhaps a change of strategy is in order." Takeo said musing. "Oichi-dono, please tell your husband, to extend my invitation to the king for us to meet personally to properly discuss a treaty between our nations. Have him make it clear I am willing to travel to where he so desires."
"MY SHOGUN!" The three unifiers interjected at the same time before looking at each other unsure.
"Please Toyotomi-dono, speak." Nobunaga said eventually.
"Thank you Oda-dono." Hideyoshi said bowing slightly to him before bowing deeply to Takeo. "My Shogun, forgive me for speaking out of turn, this is beneath you, you need not concern yourself with dealing directly with lesser kings. We your loyal vassals, must take it upon ourselves to carry out your will."
"Toyotomi-dono, I appreciate you concern and understand your position. Unfortunately, as we have just learned, these people will not deal fairly with us if they believe themselves to be superior to us. I must meet them personally to express our positions and deal with them directly without subterfuge."
Back and forth they went, each daimyo trying, in turn, to convince Takeo to not lower himself to dealing with such underserving people. Takeo was unmoved, he would meet them king himself, he would see these people face to face, and that would help him come to a decision on how to proceed in this world. Hideo and Aimi remained silent but seemed to nod slightly to Takeo as he spoke. He took it as a sight of support.
"My decision is final!" He said final, cutting the conversation. "Oichi-dono, tell Azai-dono to suggest the nearby city of E-Rantel for the meeting. It is close to us so it'll be useful to understand our surroundings."
Oichi bowed low and transmitted the message to Nagamasa.
"With that matter settled. Oda-dono, you mentioned another matter of concern. What is the situation? How goes the cleansing of the land?" Takeo asked.
"The cleansing goes well, Uesugi-dono as informed me the land surrounding the castle will soon be cleared for cultivation. Based on some rough calculations we estimate to be able to farm a total of 10000 koku with our current manpower. If we establish an emigration agreement with the kingdom, we estimate to be able to increase that value 100-fold. Pending proper manpower of course." Nobunaga explained going through a stack of papers he had collected. "No, my Shogun, the matter I wish to bring to your attention is related to your ashigaru."
"What about them?" Takeo asked curious.
"The sonae assembled and sent as bodyguards for Takeda-dono and Azai-dono, is comprised mostly of samurai and ashigaru, the ashigaru kumi are composed of professional ashigaru from our PoP system, the samurai kumi are composed of samurai and regular ashigaru from our PoP system."
"We are aware, what of them." Aimi interrupted.
"My Lady, new ashigaru have reported for duty, as if they had been spawned."
"What!" Hideo cried out.
"How long did it take?" Aimi asked.
"A full day."
"Same as the old spawn NPCs time." Takeo mused. "Only the Ashigaru? No one else?"
"Only the PoP NPCs, my Shogun." Nobunaga said.
"Aimi, Hideo, com- attend me." Takeo said rising.
They stood up and walked towards Takeo, who gestured to the NPCs to remain where they stood, as he himself walked forward.
"What is it?" Asked Hideo.
"What do you make of this?" Takeo asked avoiding answering.
"It seems some of the game systems remain active." Aimi answered.
"But only on the castle? Are we still affected by them?" Takeo asked.
Understanding dawned on Hideo and Aimi.
"What do we do?" Hideo asked.
"We live our lives as best we can. And keep our attention to any signs we might see in one another." Aimi said.
Takeo and Hideo nodded, for now, it was the best they could do.
"With that said, what do we do with the spawning ashigaru?" Takeo asked.
"We can get an endless supply of weak soldiers. I don't see the problem." Hideo said.
"For starters, food, we lack the food, secondly, weak for us, strong for the standards of this world as we have seen."
"In that case, it would do us good to increase our fighting power." Aimi said. "Perhaps a careful spawning of chosen troops? They only seem to spawn if they spend enough time outside the castle."
"Then we shall carefully monitor the numbers of soldiers. For now only professional ashigaru?" Hideo suggested. "They are only level 29 but that could be helpful as it is. How much food do we even have?"
"Enough to feed the castle for a few months, the current inside farms are unable to feed everyone but provide roughly 10000 koku per year."
"How much is a koku?" Hideo asked confused.
"Roughly 150 kg of rice, about enough to feed one person for a year."
"So we'll need to increase our production a lot, even if we're aiming for 20000 soon, correct?"
"Yes, but we'll need much more than that if we're to sustain ourselves." Aimi said. "We should increase our numbers by quality first, concern ourselves with quantity when we stabilize."
"Very well, we'll keep increasing our numbers slowly and sustainably." Takeo said before returning to his seat.
"I have decided, we shall make use of the respawning ashigaru. We shall carefully increase the number of professional ashigaru, our strongest PoP soldiers. Toyotomi-dono, I entrust you with calculating the appropriate numbers of ashigaru, keep in mind our food production and any subsequent deals we establish with foreign entities. We'll expect a weekly report." Takeo commanded.
"I hear and obey!" Hideyoshi said bowing deeply.
"With this I believe our business is concluded. You may leave." Takeo ordered. "If anything occurs, call upon me."
Takeo left the throne room, with Hideo and Aimi with him and went to their rooms.
"The meeting has concluded." Nagamasa said to Shingen, telling him what had been decided by their shogun.
"Now I really want to storm this city." Shingen said furious.
"Indeed, but we have our orders."
"Just a little bit of murder?"
"No."
"Shame." Shingen said finishing his tea.
Finally, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, they saw a messenger coming from the city.
"About time." Growled Shingen.
The messenger group, a noble and some guards, were led by the soldiers to the daimyo, who remained seated. The noble, an older stern looking men with a moustache, stood tall and spoke directly to both.
"Greetings my lords, on behalf of King Rampossa III of Re-Estize, I apologise for the delay in welcoming you into the royal capital. The king as agreed to meet with you tomorrow, for now I wished for me to escort you to a mansion that shall serve as your residence and to guide and answer any questions you might have. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Baron Montserrat, and I presume to be speaking with the Lords Azai and Takeda." The baron said introducing himself.
Nagamasa roused himself fully and stood taller than the baron, looking calming at him.
"Ah, we perfectly understand, worry yourself not. I understand it must be hard to deal with complete strangers. As you have deducted, I am the daimyo Azai Nagamasa of Omi, envoy of the Shogun Osamu Takeo. Seated here besides me is the daimyo Takeda Shingen of Kai, known as the Tiger of Kai, the head of my assigned bodyguard. Please understand, him and me share the same rank. Extend our thanks and greetings to his majesty the king." He said doing a slight bow, almost just a nod.
Shingen also stood up and copied the bow but remained silent.
"Now, as the hour grows late, if you would allow me, I will escort you inside the city. I fear I must ask that your soldiers remain outside. We shall, of course, provide food and drinks for them all." The baron said nodding to them both.
Nagamasa nodded and gestured to the great guard, still standing behind them, to follow him and Shingen.
"We will leave most of our forces, but I hope you will raise no concerns about a small personal band, our personal guards, only 20 men." He said cheerfully.
The baron was doubtful if it was only 20 men, he saw the arms and armour they had and had heard the Warrior-Captain's tale. These men were more than able of killing him and his small escort. He resigned himself internally, he hoped Gazef would be able to handle the foreigners.
"Of course not my lords, it pains me you feel the need to protect yourself with them but we understand. Please, follow me."
Shingen gestured towards one of the samurai on the side and briefly spoke with him, telling him to keep the men quartered and fed and to report in if anything happened. Meanwhile, Nagamasa seated himself in his carriage and gestured for the baron to lead the way, Shingen calmly sat himself on a horse that was brought to him and rode alongside the carriage.
Followed by their great guard, shadowed by unseen ninja, guided by nervous local guards, Azai Nagamasa, envoy of the Shogun, and Takeda Shingen, entered the capital of the Kingdom of Re-Estize.
PS:
I didn't go into it during the chapter because it wasn't as relevant, but anyone wants to understand how many men are in a sonae and its organization I put it beneath. Some of you will probably know where I pulled this info from.
I'm open to any reviews, criticisms and ideas you want to tell me but I'm not commissioning art for this story, at least for now, so please stop dming me just to try and sell me art.
Go 5-10
Kumi 15-150
Sonae 100-1000
Sonae around 700
2 Ranged kumi (5 go each, 2 teppo go, 3 yumi go) 25 soldiers, 5 ko-gashira, 1 command unit
2 Spear kumi (2 go each) 10 soldiers, 2 ko-gashira, 1 command unit
2 Pike kumi (3 go each) 15 soldiers, 3 ko-gashira, 1 command unit
Command unit: mounted samurai, 5 retainers, (Spear achigaru)
Ko-gashira – sergeant
Samurai Go
1 samurai mounted 2 spearmen, 1 archer, one teppo
1 samurai foot, 2 spearmen
Samurai Kumi
10 mounted samurai, 20 foot spearmen, 10 foot archer, 10 foot teppo. 1 samurai acts as commander
15 foot samurai, 30 foot spearmen
5 Mounted Samurai Kumi
5 Foot samurai Kumi
150 skirmishers, 286 infantry, 50 cavalry. 486 soldiers
Command HQ
Takeda Shingen, 10 Great Guard
Azai Nagamasa, 10 Great Guard
Signalers, 5 men, bells, drums, trumpets
Messengers: 4 mounted samurai with 8 foot ashigaru
Doctors, pages, scribes, grooms (basic npcs brought along for simple services)
Metsuke 2, with 4 sumo warriors
Banner group (Hata-gumi), 1 mounted samurai (Hata-Bugyo), 15 ashigaru with banners for signalling
Baggage train (Konida) 1 mounted samurai (Konida-Bugyo)
150 porters, 15 pack horses, 15 pack drivers.
Azai Nagamasa Baggage
20 porters, 5 pack horses, 5 pack drivers
Extra:
Not shows 30 ninja, Fuma Kotaro, 50 shadow demons.
Extra servants for Azai Nagamasa, 1 carriage and 4 horses.