Throughout today, Jishin was plagued by a bad premonition. Since he knew about the upcoming storming of the Alliance's positions, he slept very poorly. Tossing from side to side, he cursed his own body, fervently wishing to fall asleep.
When he finally managed to do so, he was woken up by servants after a mere couple of hours.
As a result, the clan head came to his study in a rather foul mood.
As if that wasn't enough, fragmented reports from the front lines began to arrive, and no matter how one wished, they couldn't be called positive.
Despite all efforts, the damned lesser clans had somehow sniffed out the planned counteroffensive and prepared a decent defense, in which not only the Sumada but also the Mizuno attacking from the other side were stuck.
'Two great clans attack a bunch of lowly degenerates and can't win! Thankfully, my father doesn't see this. I would be unable to face him after such a humiliation.'
Thankfully, the assault pressed on, causing the Alliance to retreat, albeit with considerable struggle.
But the issue was that they were retreating in an organized manner, biting back at every step, rather than running away and exposing their backs to the brave warriors of the Sumada.
The decisive assault didn't happen, so right now, the Sumada commanders were slowly and methodically pressing on the Alliance ranks, hoping to eventually break them thanks to an advantage in overall power.
Here lay another reason for Jishin's anger. The young clan head fervently wished to be where the fate of his people was decided instead of warming his backside on the cushions in the Citadel.
After all, why did he become supreme if his talents would never be put to use? Given the situation, Goro's son was utterly at a loss as to how his father for all these years not only maintained his power but also developed it.
Even his lazy friend Shiro was defending the clan's interests on the battlefield right now; meanwhile, he, Jishin, sat here like some cripple!
"Don't bother, head," Jishin mockingly whispered to himself. "You're the clan's leader and shouldn't risk yourself in some insignificant conflict... Oh yes, insignificant. Keep lying, old skins. Gods forbid I'll be remembered for not taking this fight!" the son of Goro understood perfectly why the family heads were so concerned about his health.
If something happened to him, the whole precariously built system would collapse again, and there was no one else as convenient a candidate.
After all, even the head of the Shadow Stone, despite his huge political influence and connections, was weak - an unacceptable trait for the head of a great clan.
However, Jishin couldn't ponder this thought for long, at the same time postponing dealing with another pack of documents. Something made him tense and pay closer attention to the entrance door.
"Let us in!"
"There are too many of you. It's not allowed..."
"Very important information has come. We must be heard," someone's smarmy voice insisted.
"Hey, let them all in!" Jishin barked, involuntarily running his fingers over an expensive katana lying near him.
True, the family heads needed him, but still, it didn't mean he could let his guard down.
At that very moment, the sliding doors adorned with patterns moved to the sides, allowing passage to a delegation of family heads residing in the Citadel, along with the head of the Shadow Stone.
And Jishin didn't like the expression on the faces of those who came in.
"What happened?" he growled, unable to hide his concern. Something bad was clearly brewing.
Having paid their respects to their leader, the warmasters lifted their heads. Somewhat unexpectedly, their gazes shifted to Io Sumada, suggesting he should start.
"Head," Io took a short pause. "We've just received very important information. It has been revealed that another coup attempt has taken place in the Mizuno clan, but this time, it was successful. Several influential families of the water clan attacked their own leader."
Jishin's heart sank.
"We're hearing conflicting rumors, but even considering only the most favorable, the head of Mizuno is in a very critical condition. Right now, the best healers are fighting for his life, but they are struggling. Because of this, the Mizuno clan is currently in a very shaky position. Different families are pulling the blanket of power to themselves and can't come to a consensus. Those loyal to the head are still in the majority, but in such a situation, they are uncertain."
"This is bad," Jishin remarked dryly, though far more colorful expressions were spinning on his tongue. "But why have you all come... To report this incident to me?" he demanded, looking at the kneeling warmasters.
"Jishin-sama," the elder of the Oro family began, habitually chewing on his dry, narrow lips. The elder of the once-hostile Horuko family nodded solemnly, supporting the speaker. Goro's son immediately disliked this. The sky would fall to the earth before Oro and Horuko would agree on anything. "We accidentally overheard about this whole situation and..."
The elder paused as if choosing his words, though it was clear he already knew what he wanted to say.
"We have all heard of some obligations, perhaps even a friendship, that bound you with the current head of the Mizuno clan. And although the peace treaty concluded between you was a violation of everything our ancestors believed in, we accepted your will."
"Elder Oro, now is not the best time for word games. Please, speak succinctly and to the point," Jishin declared coldly, looking condescendingly at the assembled, as befits a man of his position.
"As you say, master," now Horuko spoke. His sickly appearance added nervousness to the situation. "If you want to hear it straight, then as loyal servants, we are ready to tell you. If the peace you made with Katashi Mizuno had some foundation in the form of their strength and the Alliance attacking our borders, now the situation has decisively changed!"
The warmaster's tone became solemn.
"Treaties can only be between equals! But now Mizuno is on the brink of collapse, while we, the Sumada, as ordained by the Kami, are at the apex and stronger than ever. Give the word, and we will sweep through the lands of the cursed water-wielders with fire and sword. We will burn their homes, kill their men, and subjugate their women. There will be only one great clan left in this part of the continent. Their children will forever be our servants!"
"And what about the Alliance?" Jishin asked deceptively calmly. "What about them? After all, we are holding them back together."
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"Once we deal with Mizuno, it will be the Alliance's turn," Oro waved away this time, rejoining the conversation. "Yes, the war against them will be harder. And we will have to push ourselves. But I'm sure we can handle it."
Jishin looked away from the preaching elders and noticed Io watching him attentively.
Well, the current clan head didn't know if the head of the Shadow Stone leaked the information about Katashi's injury on purpose or if the family elders found out themselves, but what he could definitely say was that Io was equally indifferent to both outcomes.
Unlike the inner circle of both clan heads, Io had never fully believed in the idea of peaceful coexistence.
That meant he would be satisfied with whatever decision Jishin made. That's why he couldn't expect any help from him now.
And any anger from the clan's top brass would fall exclusively on Jishin himself. Only he had to bear the responsibility for what he would say next.
Unbidden, Jishin's mind flashed scenes of when he first met the then-prince of the water clan. How, over the years, they met in wars or mere border skirmishes of their clans.
Their conversations and plans, competitions, and rivalry.
And Jishin understood the elders waiting for his decision all too well. The hatred that had permeated his clan was so strong that he himself felt its suffocating grip on his throat.
He just had to give in, and so many potential problems could be solved.
Why think about establishing peace between the great clans when you can simply destroy them and leave only one, your own?
How easy it is. You just have to say, "Yes." It can't even be called a betrayal…
"No," Jishin shook his head stiffly, then straightened the collar of his garment, as if it had started to choke him. "We will not become oathbreakers and will keep our promise. Our armies will not attack the lands of Mizuno and will continue the attack on the Alliance."
"Jishin-sama!" Elder Oro exclaimed indignantly. "For the well-being of the clan and our great ancestors, reconsider! What are you talking about? We are not pathetic samurai, clinging to their sorry honor at every turn. We are warmasters! If we want something, we take it! It has always been so and will be."
"Don't presume to teach me what it means to be a warmaster!" Jishin snapped sharply, slashing the air with his hand. "I know perfectly well without your words."
"Then why do you refuse to follow this path, master?" Horuko retorted heatedly. "And what are we even discussing? Those pigs killed your father, Goro Sumada. Your filial duty..."
"Silence!" Jishin abruptly stood up, a roaring stream of his prana spilling over into his prana channels. The sickly elder Horuko flinched but froze immediately when the bare steel of the katana lightly touched his trembling throat.
Beside him, Jishin stood as the very embodiment of rage. His eyes blazed with fierce madness, and his fingers gripped the hilt so tightly they turned almost white.
Everyone tensely froze as the situation reached a boiling point. No one noticed, but as the clan head began to move, Io, without getting up, managed to subtly shift a couple of meters towards the exit.
"Vermins! Freaks! Dogs! Who else wants to challenge your leader's decision?! Don't be shy, speak up. As soon as I cut off the head of this mangy cur, I'll deal with the rest of the traitors. Well?!"
He was met with ominous silence.
"Master, please forgive me," Horuko's quiet voice shattered the silence. He spoke with his eyes cast down to the floor. "I did not mean to challenge your authority. I apologize for my mistake and impudence. Hatred for Mizuno blinded me."
"Remember who you serve in the future," Jishin paused, then decided, sheathing the katana. "And this - so that you clearly remember my words in the future."
The swish of the blade and a faint groan were the only sounds that could be heard.
Heavy drops of blood began to fall on the tatami, quickly absorbed, spreading into ugly blotches.
Horuko himself clutched the left side of his face, where the blow had landed, with fingers contorted from pain.
"Remove your hands," the cold voice of Jishin standing over him made him shudder.
Slowly, Horuko complied, revealing the wound. The clan head's strike not only split his cheekbone and left cheek but also cut through the eye socket.
Goro's son scrutinized the ruined eye, then nodded contentedly.
"Let it remain so. I forbid healers from touching this wound; let it heal on its own. It should serve as a reminder to you for your insolent words."
Jishin walked back to his seat and confidently sat down, laying the bloodstained katana on his knees.
"Now, all of you return to your duties. The Alliance army is not yet defeated, and we have much work to do. You're dismissed."
The elders bowed and hurried to the exit. The staggering Horuko followed. The blow had shaken his brains well inside his skull box, and despite the warmaster's toughness, he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
"But you, Io, I would ask to stay."
"Did you want something, Jishin-sama?" Io asked, his tone pointedly polite.
"Yes, I want you to deliver my order to Shiro the Serpent as soon as possible. I wish for him to abandon all his affairs and head to Mizuno immediately to heal that accursed Katashi! Judging by the reports from the front, he can revive even the dead. Although wait, damn it!"
Jishin grabbed his face with his palms and vigorously rubbed it.
"If we send him like this, they'll simply kill him. So, a missive and credential scrolls need to be prepared. He also needs to be briefed on who to approach and who to steer clear of. May yokai take you, Katashi, how untimely you landed in such trouble. Couldn't you have taken more care? Yet now I have to deal with all this!"
"Jishin-sama..."
"Io, just don't start! You understand perfectly well that I couldn't have acted otherwise. They should be grateful to me for not killing him on the spot and only taking his eye. If I hadn't done that, it would have shown that the clan head's position means nothing, and they can say whatever they want."
"You could have agreed to the attack on Mizuno... Also, how about finally putting away your katana?"
Turns out, due to all the turmoil, the blade had remained on his knees, smearing them with blood.
"Damn it, thank you." The young man cursed, looking with disgust at his stained trousers.
"As for Mizuno, I gave my word, Io," Jishin sighed wearily. "If I just brush off my own decisions and words so easily, what kind of leader am I? I don't want to view this world through the eyes of a traitor."
"You're still too young," Io shook his head in disappointment. "Politics work by different laws. And betrayal is only called betrayal when doing so benefits you. Don't worry. I will ensure that Shiro-kun receives the necessary information and escorts for his mission. Meanwhile, you prepare the scrolls and missive."
"Thank you, go now."
Jishin waited a bit to be sure Io had left before calling in his personal messenger. He had a number of them. This particular lad had risen with him from the very bottom, and he trusted him as he did himself.
"Master?" inquired the young warrior, his voice stern, with a nose crudely cleaved and clumsily stitched back together.
'Even though I trust Io, it's better to play it safe. I'll send my own messengers to Shiro with the same order. That will be more reliable.'
In addition, the Sumada clan head understood perfectly well that today's events would likely not go without consequences. The elders of the ruling families were not used to simply wiping such humiliation off their faces.
Yes, if Goro had said something like that, they would have humbly accepted his will. But Jishin was not Goro.
Therefore, it would be better to start preparing for possible troubles unless he wanted to end up like the head of Mizuno.
'Damned Katashi, listen, don't you dare die! I won't clean up your mess for you! Fight for your life like you've never fought before, because I've sent someone to you who can turn the impossible into the possible.'
Jishin looked around suspiciously, then pulled out a white bottle of sake and a cup from a nearby cabinet.
Everything inside him was still knotted up, not yet willing to relax.
As if he didn't have enough problems already, these had piled on top.
The poisonous to ordinary people liquid gulped down his throat, and Jishin grimaced, then stared at the bottle for a few seconds and poured himself "a second." In recent months, he had begun to understand one of his uncles better.
Without a way to relax, everything around him seemed too irritating.
Strange reports were coming from the north. Rumors were that the war between Hizoru and Avasaki was taking some nasty turns.
There were tales of warmasters going mad, refusing to follow orders, and starting to sow death.
On one hand, there was nothing unusual about this.
Warmasters became renegades for various reasons, often because they couldn't bear the surrounding nightmare.
The human mind is a sturdy thing, able to get used to almost anything, but some things drive even it crazy.
But unlike ordinary renegades, these warmasters didn't try to hide or rob someone. On the contrary, they went into the thick of it, sparing neither themselves nor others.
Witnesses reported that they acted as if they had become immortal, joking, singing songs, and laughing, while absolutely not feeling pain.
No matter how much they were sliced, burned, or torn apart, they persisted in their insane revelry, mocking and insulting those who tried to kill them.
If only it were just a couple of warmasters... Yet, dozens of the most diverse and unrelated warriors went mad. They could be both great clans and unknown loners.
And in light of these events, the news of the plague that had started in the territory of Avasaki rang an ominous bell.
Jishin involuntarily remembered Shiro's ramblings, warning about the impending end of the world and the invasion of chaos.
Somehow, all these rumors had too foul a stink.
'Don't let me down, Serpent. Katashi must not die, or the whole plan is ruined. And when you return, we'll discuss those legends of yours again. I feel I should learn more about them.'