Kanbe’e, consumed by rage, could only manage a perfunctory response. However, Hideyoshi, standing beside him, immediately sensed Kanbe’e’s inner turmoil. Exercising his legendary talent as a "captivator of hearts," Hideyoshi intervened with brilliant presence of mind.

  "My Lord! For Kanbe’e’s son to receive a character from your esteemed name—it is an honor beyond words, a joy supreme! With this, Kanbe’e’s loyalty is finally vindicated! Moreover, that Shojumaru shall be raised at Gifu Castle under the care of Lord Nobutada—we are truly blessed! My Lord, if I may, I have one more humble request."

  Nobunaga remained silent. Sensing this was his only chance, Hideyoshi pressed on.

  "I heard this from Kanbe’e just now. There is a father and son—Matazaemon Kato and his heir, Yoshinari—who remain in Arioka Castle. Though they were enemy generals under Araki, they cared for Kanbe’e and protected his life until the very end. When the time comes to punish the Araki clan, might you spare the lives of these two? They are the ones who saved Kanbe'e's life!"

  Nobunaga looked down at Hideyoshi and Kanbe’e alternately with cold, piercing eyes.

  "Very well. Ranmaru, take down their names!"

  Perhaps Nobunaga instinctively felt that this was a man he must never turn into an enemy, for he uncharacteristically granted the request. It was because he felt an unfathomable "terror" radiating from this man who had crawled back from the earthen dungeon of Arioka.

  Having said his piece, he rose with the sharpness of a hawk taking flight and departed into the inner chambers. Watching his back, the group finally exhaled, released from the suffocating tension. Even after their master had left, the air in the Great Hall remained as cold as if it had been frozen solid.

  Leaning his frail body against Zensuke, Kanbe’e offered his thanks to Hideyoshi.

  "Lord Hideyoshi... Regarding earlier... I am profoundly grateful."

  "Kanbe’e, do not fret. Saving your life is the same as saving mine. I wish to meet this Matazaemon Kato soon myself. I won't be satisfied until I can meet him in person, clap him on the shoulder, and thank him with my own hands. Well, at any rate, your return to service has been officially permitted. You’ve come all the way to Kyoto without a moment’s rest—it must have been hard. I am sorry for that. Leave the rest to me; I’ll handle the Lord and keep him in good spirits. You have nothing to worry about. We’re brothers in arms, aren't we?"

  Hideyoshi slapped Kanbe’e’s thin shoulder firmly, laughing with his usual cheerful expression. There was likely no lie in his words. Hideyoshi was a man who worked his way into people's hearts and would protect his comrades no matter what.

  Kanbe’e bowed deeply to Hideyoshi, promising to rejoin the camp at Miki Castle after a brief period of recovery, and they parted ways. Hideyoshi’s sun-like warmth was the same as it had been a year ago.

  However, Kanbe’e’s heart did not clear as it once would have. Even though he was saved by Hideyoshi’s kindness and the plea for Matazaemon’s life was accepted, Nobunaga’s inorganic eyes—eyes that saw lives only as "numbers"—were burned into his mind and would not leave.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  (Lord Hideyoshi... even your talent as a 'captivator'—how long can it restrain that Demon King’s madness? And I... how much longer can I continue to wear this mask?)

  Since leaving Arioka Castle, his schedule had been a dizzying blur. He had succeeded in showing Nobunaga a "paper-thin" facade of loyalty. Once placed in his palanquin, Kanbe’e quickly fell into a deep sleep brought on by sheer exhaustion.

  He woke a short while later and gazed at the night sky through a gap in the palanquin. Watching the late autumn moon from the swaying carriage, Kanbe’e let his thoughts wander.

  (A single character... 'Naga.' Does that man truly intend to settle everything with just that? Does he believe that my suffering, Shoju’s terror, and even Hanbe’e’s soul can be cancelled out by the price of a single name?)

  Kanbe’e remembered Fuji, the young girl who had shared the earthen dungeon at Arioka. Fuji had staked her fragile life to sustain his, only to wither away... Her pure smile still haunted his mind. Meanwhile, Nobunaga had tried to kill Shojumaru out of selfish suspicion and now sought to liquidate that debt with the paltry compensation of "bestowing a name." There was no "emotion" or "mercy" there. There was only a massive "will," and the binary choice of whether to submit to it or not.

  (For nearly a year, I licked the dirt of hell to avoid betraying the Oda. Yet that man arbitrarily branded me a traitor and tried to erase Shoju. And his apology is merely the character 'Naga.' To what extent does he trivialize human life?)

  Kanbe’e suddenly recalled the face of Dashi, Murashige’s legal wife. In contrast to the rugged Murashige, she was a young bride—not even twenty when they met—possessing a fragile beauty. Like Fuji, she had been captivated by Christian teachings and had received baptism. He remembered her quietly praying, always wishing for her family’s safety and the peace of the land.

  He had not seen her during his imprisonment at Arioka, but rumors on the wind told him she remained in the castle.

  (Lady Dashi... your prayers will not reach that Demon King. The more Murashige clings to his pride at Amagasaki, the more Nobunaga’s blade will turn toward those of you left in the castle. That merciless blade shown at Mount Hiei, Nagashima, and Echizen... Though you beg for mercy, he is a man who will strike down those prayers along with your heads using the axe called 'rationality'...)

  Kanbe’e once thought the "peace" he sought to protect was the same as the "order" Nobunaga proposed. But now, that perception was crumbling with a resounding crash.

  In war, Kanbe’e had always believed in holding only the ringleaders responsible, seeing no need for unnecessary bloodshed. He believed this also allowed for the expansion of his own forces. However, Nobunaga had carried out unparalleled "mass massacres" in his wars against religious factions—the burning of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, and the subjugation of the Ikko-ikki in Nagashima and Echizen. While the religious nature of the enemy was a factor, Nobunaga’s policy of "rooting out" (negiri) was now about to be imposed on the Araki clan. Kanbe’e could not possibly agree with this direction.

  (I managed to survive. But is the path ahead merely a life of being consumed as that man’s 'pawn'? Winning battles, seizing castles—is what awaits at the end just another version of hell?)

  In the shadows of the swaying palanquin, a cold, clinical light took root in Kanbe’e’s eyes. Nobunaga had ceased to be a "lord to look up to" and had begun to transform into a "monstrous violence that must one day be surpassed—or ended."

  As he rose again as a strategist, blind loyalty was gone from Kanbe’e’s heart. In its place was a quiet but fierce ambition: the question of how to reshape this irrational, chaotic world with their own hands.

  Kanbe’e finally began to understand the meaning of the words his benefactor, Hanbe’e Takenaka, had left him on his deathbed:

  "If the time comes to change the world... you are the only one who can do it, Kanbe'e. ...I leave it to you."

  (Hanbe’e’s last request... could it be... to change this warped world from its very foundations? Perhaps... to end that man...)

  Wrapped in such thoughts, Kanbe’e drifted back into sleep.

  Produced and written by a Japanese author, rooted in authentic Japanese history. Translated with the assistance of Gemini (AI).