"Mm… Miura Tadakata. Now there is a man to be reckoned with. I wish to know more about the man. Tell me about the battle at s.h.i.+geto. Tell me how he fights." He motioned with his head for the men to follow. With the information they bore, they had earned the unusual goodwill of their Lord, and they trotted back towards the castle, and towards his residence.

"The defending Imagawa army had 12,000 men, and he 1,500. They suspended trade for a while, but never truly took the threat seriously. He is said to have a G.o.d by the name of Zerok on his side. He shrouded men in fire, and punched a hole in the riverside wall for the invading forces to charge through. Imagawa's men routed and were hacked to pieces."

"Interesting… His strategies are unconventional. What of his field battles?" s.h.i.+ngen excelled on the field. He had mastered all the old scrolls, their formations, their tactics, and most importantly, their application on the field. He considered such an area his forte, for in such a domain he could make use of his famed cavalry. That was not to say that in siege battles he was lacking.

"Apologies, my Lord, we have no information on his field capabilities."

"Very good. His experience in that area is lacking, then. We draw him away from the border fortresses, and force him into a pure field fight. If we fight conservatively, on the plains, then he will not have the opportunity to employ tricks, and we can undoubtedly best him. I'll force him to kneel, and pledge his allegiance to me."

He dismounted, pa.s.sing his horse off to another servant as they pa.s.sed through the castle gates, and headed towards his home. Despite the heavy equipment that he wore, he displayed no signs of fatigue, nor did he even sweat. He was extraordinarily fit, as were all the men under him.

"I fear that might be difficult, Lord, he is a cunning man. For him to rise to such a bait would be foolish." One of the servants spoke, evoking a flinch from the messengers either side of him as they winced on his behalf.

s.h.i.+ngen paused and whirled on the man, his eyes narrowing as he beheld him. He spoke quietly, his voice full of menace. "Do you think I require lecture in military affairs?"

Instantly realizing his mistake, and knowing his life was on the line, the man showed no hesitation in throwing himself to the floor, bowing continually, his stomach in the mud. "Forgive this foolish servant, oh Lord! My tongue walked ahead of itself! A man such as I who has never fought in a battle could never presume to tell you how to fight!"

"Tsch." s.h.i.+ngen left him like that, continuing back to his residence, his mind awhirl with schemes and possibilities, and full of intrigue, the name Miura Tadakata weighing heavily.

He slid open the door to his residence, only to have one of his generals burst out in excited panic, his face flushed red from urgency.

"Woah there, Masatane. What's the hurry?" He smiled seeing the young man, fully armoured just as he was. With his generals, though they were servants, he treated them like friends, for they had earned his respect.

"Lord!" The man quickly bowed, opening his mouth to speak, but as he looked past him, he caught sight of the messengers. "…You've heard, Lord?"

"I have. Worry not. Gather the twenty-four generals, we'll meet in the council room."

The man bowed once more, utterly obedient. Had s.h.i.+ngen ordered that he slice open his stomach on the spot, he would have done so without the slightest hesitation.

s.h.i.+ngen moved on ahead, removing his shoes, and heading towards the designated room. Even his residence was built with war in mind. Everything important was held nearby. All his generals held a room in this house. They took priority even over his own wife and children.

In the council room there sat a long table, with a detailed map of the surrounding provinces taking centre place. Every time they came together to discuss something, it would be there, demanding their attention, and reminding them of the grand goals that they had once proposed so that they could never forget, and never stagnate.

Maids hurried around preparing the room for the expected company, laying a small cup of tea in front of their Daimyo, as he a.s.sumed the head of the table, and sat down with legs crossed upon the cus.h.i.+on.

"My Lord…" One of the messengers broached tentatively, unwilling to irritate the Daimyo further, seeing that he was deep in thought.

s.h.i.+ngen looked up at him, bringing the cup to his lips, allowing the warm and calming flavour into his mouth, before motioning for the man to speak.

"The Imagawa men that gave us this information… What shall we do with them?"

"Mm… Who are they?" He questioned, tapping looking off into the distance, with the matter not capturing his full attention.

"Yos.h.i.+moto's advisors. Men of standing, Lord. They desire to be useful to you."

"Do they now? And where are such men?"

"I can bring them here if you wish, my Lord."

"Go."

The messenger departed, and the generals began to filter into the room, each of them sparing their Daimyo a bow as they entered in through the doorframe, before taking their respective seats. Each man knew his place, and there were no quarrels.

Their Daimyo did not yet speak, and so they too remained silent, nodding to their fellow generals as they entered, helping themselves to tea.

When the messenger returned with five elegantly dressed men in tow, they still had not yet spoken a word. All heads turned to those five, judging them. Their hair was neatly cut on the sides, and pulled back in an oiled topknot. Over their fine silk kimonos, they wore a pair of wide stylish trousers, and a wakizas.h.i.+ and katana could be found at their waists. Of course, such weapons were for ceremonial practises only. They were not men of war.

As they entered, they all bowed extremely low, and introduced themselves to Takeda s.h.i.+ngen, who paid them absolutely zero attention, and erased their names from his mind. They were men of administration, something he cared not about. Those he had in place currently were more than good enough.

They muttered away for a while, explaining the roles they had served, what they had achieved in the past, how regrettable it was for Imagawa to have met such an unfortunate end, how they wished to serve s.h.i.+ngen.

The generals evidently shared the same distain for them, as they too remained quiet, ignoring the men's introductions, as though they were nothing more than background entertainment.

"I have a question." s.h.i.+ngen said slowly, interrupting a man that was in the middle of a fervent rant, his head coated in sweat as he felt the pressure around the room. All attention focused on him as soon as he opened his mouth. He had absolute command over every single individual present. "Why me?"

His question apparently caught the Imagawa officials off guard, as a shrill "pardon?" was issued in response.

"Why me? There are other warlords that would benefit from this information, and be more likely to incorporate you. Oda n.o.bunaga, for instance. He has more reason to sweep through into Mikawa than I."

"W-well… in light of the Takeda-Imagawa alliance… we had thought that you would wish to avenge him."

The room fell into a dead silence. Everything went completely still. s.h.i.+ngen breathed in deeply through his nose, his hand falling to his hip, before quick as a snake, he drew his wakizas.h.i.+, and stabbed the point through the table with anger. "DON'T F.U.C.K WITH ME!" He roared. The five of them cowered as one, their faces completely white.

Lowering his voice slightly, he leaned forward, the only sound to be heard was the creaking of his armour as he stared them down with narrowed eyes. Every single one of his generals had turned to them with the same murderous expressions. "Tell me, are you liars, or are you fools?"

The men glanced at one another in blind panic. Neither choice was particularly good.

"If you are liars, how can I trust you? If you are fools, why do I need you?"

"F-forgive me Lord… I-I don't understand..?"

"Hoh… He doesn't understand." He turned to converse with his generals, motioning towards the man. "He doesn't understand, he says. So, a fool then." He paused a moment, to wet his lips with another sip of tea. "Allow me to enlighten you, then. Every man knows that Yos.h.i.+moto was a n.o.body. The alliance between us was not because of goodwill, but convivence. Any man of any standing who could not see through that is, again, a fool. Now, I ask that you speak plainly, and tell me why you came to me and not n.o.bunaga."

He was not a man that enjoyed talking with acute pretence coating every word. "Hurry up." He motioned with his hand, as they panicked once more, turning to each other, begging one of them to speak up and say the right thing, to quell the rage of this disgruntled tiger.