A moment of silence settled within the cave. Takeda Shingen leaned against the opposite cave wall. Her iron fan rested across her knees. Her deep crimson eyes swept over Yoshimoto and finally settled upon that face, still faintly flushed with embarrassment.
"Co-ward." Two syllables. Crisp. Decisive.
Yoshimoto's face instantly shifted from red to livid. "What did you say—"
"I called you a coward." Shingen tilted her head. Her voice was lazy, yet utterly confident. The loose collar of her kosode, in that posture, slid half an inch lower. The exposed honey-hued skin was half-veiled, half-bare. The full, heavy curve was cinched tight by the fabric of her collar, carving an exceedingly deep horizontal crease. It quivered faintly as she spoke.
She remained as bold and unrestrained as ever, utterly unselfconscious before those whose worth she acknowledged. "I know all about you. You can't leave home without at least forty guards. You only dared to shout your battle cry when the enemy's blade was already at your face. And your first instinct after being pulled into this mountain was to hide behind a white elephant." Shingen let out a scoff.
"The mighty lord of three provinces. The First Archer of the Tōkaidō. Terrified of death to this degree, and you still dare claim you're not weak?"
Yoshimoto was beside herself with fury. "That's called caution!"
"The difference between caution and cowardice, is that when you win, it's called caution. When you lose, it's called cowardice."
After speaking, Shingen's gaze swept past Yoshimoto and landed upon Shinji, still seated against the wall. Within her deep crimson eyes, that irrepressible interest surfaced once more. "Kishin Nakai Shinji." She spoke his name again.
And then, she stood up. She was half a head taller than Yoshimoto, if not more. Her towering, 1.7 meter frame was startlingly conspicuous within the cramped cave.
When she had first entered Mino, she should have still been wearing armor over her kosode. But most of it had been shed when Mount Hakurei swallowed her. The sash of the plain kosode beneath was tied loose and low around her waist. It still traced the impossibly slender curve of her waist with perfect clarity. Truly, a body of lavish, full curves and striking, heroic beauty.
She walked before Shinji. She directly nudged Imagawa Yoshimoto aside. Then she crouched down. One knee to the ground. One leg propped up. She leaned forward. Nearly the same distance as Yoshimoto had been. But an utterly different presence.
Yoshimoto had acted on pure impulse. Shingen was completely deliberate. Her deep crimson hair cascaded down from her shoulders. The collar of her kosode, in that leaning posture, was utterly lost. The plain fabric sagged downward with gravity, nearly brushing against his arm where it rested across his knees, only a single layer of cloth between them.
The fine sheen of sweat upon her honeyed skin glistened faintly in the dim light of the cave. She looked down at him. Her deep crimson eyes were less than an inch from his crimson demon gaze. The same color red. Yet entirely different lights.
"What the Takeda clan can offer you, is ten times more than the Imagawa." Her voice was pressed very low. Yet it carried the savage confidence of a wild beast.
"The mountains of Kai. The plains of Shinano. And what the Takeda clan is poised to seize next, the easily defended, difficult-to-assault hill country of northern Mino. Three provinces, linked as one. What can that coward Yoshimoto give you? A single shrine? The title of shōshin of two provinces? No, the two provinces were given to you by that idiot woman Hōjō." She scoffed again.
"But what I can give you is not merely land. Not merely the title of a so-called guardian deity. I can give you, half of the realm that I shall conquer!" She cared not whether he was demon or god or ghost. Only because he was strong enough. Ruthless enough. His martial prowess was sufficient. His strategic cunning, even more so.
That single maneuver he had deployed against Uesugi Kenshin, even merely reading the reports of it still left Takeda Shingen marveling. Shinji was the only existence she had ever encountered who was worthy of such an offer.
After speaking these words, Takeda Shingen's deep crimson eyes did not shift away. Her palm still rested upon his shoulder. Her breath fell upon his cheek, carrying the heat of her body.
Yoshimoto, who had been shoved aside, watched with a face that had turned utterly green. This woman—!
Across from them, Oda Nobuna could also no longer sit still. She, too, had failed to win Shinji over. But such a "demon prodigy", if she couldn't have him, she absolutely could not let anyone else have him either.
Especially Takeda Shingen. This woman was far more dangerous than Imagawa Yoshimoto. She was the equal of the Dragon of Echigo, a terrifying opponent with no weaknesses whatsoever! Nobuna would rather Shinji stand behind the Imagawa than let him ally with the Takeda.
If that happened, she would have no chance at all! The golden-haired girl shot to her feet and charged over in two steps, directly wedging herself between Shingen and Shinji.
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT—WHO SAID ONLY YOU TWO GET TO FIGHT OVER HIM!" Her golden slit-pupils blazed like twin flames. "I have chips too! The immortality of the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven! In the entire Warring States, I am the only one who cannot die! Cooperate with me, and you'll have no worries about your backer suddenly vanishing one day!" She thumped her own chest. Her kosode swayed with the impact.
"The Imagawa will age and die! The Takeda will age and die! Only I—"
"You already said all this last time." Shinji finally couldn't help but speak up, asserting his own presence. His crimson demon eyes swept across the scene before him. Facts had proven, even if each of them was a daimyō ruling over one or even multiple provinces, the heads of their respective clans, in the end, they were still three women.
This posture, were they treating him like produce at a market bazaar? And what's more "Since I've already chosen the Imagawa, then it's the Imagawa." He spoke. Simple. Direct. Not a shred of room for negotiation. Nor did he intend to feign ambiguity and borrow the momentum of all three houses simultaneously. There was no need. One house meant one house. Wanting was wanting.
Shingen's hand finally withdrew from his shoulder. Her deep crimson eyes blinked once. She wasn't angry. But she wasn't smiling either. Nobuna's mouth opened. The fire in her eyes also dimmed as her eyes closed.
Yoshimoto was stunned. She hadn't truly believed Shinji would be swayed just like that. He was a yōkai of immense power and uniqueness. But she had, in truth, been prepared for a bidding war.
After all, what the Takeda had laid on the table was indeed more than what she had offered. Sharing the realm with a yōkai… she wasn't opposed to the idea. If she was honest with herself, she even rather desired it. But she truly wasn't prepared for it yet.
"Why?" This time, even Shingen couldn't help but ask.
"I've already invested too much in her. There's a certain sunk cost." Shinji's tone was flat, and entirely self-righteous.
This was, in fact, the truth. From the very beginning, when he had borrowed the blade to slay the thunder-beast. To signing the pact with the Imagawa. Deploying his Hyakki Yakō across Suruga. Forming the fleet to raid Echigo. Taigen Sessai's dying entrustment.
The amount of thought and effort he had poured into the Imagawa truly exceeded what he had invested in all other factions combined. The sunk cost was far too high.
Switching allegiances would be the equivalent of starting over from scratch. And transactions should be equal. What he wanted was a partner. Not a vassal. And he had no intention of "marrying into" anyone's house. The demon warrior's sidelong glance instantly saw through Takeda Shingen's true design.
Shingen, having listened, remained as disdainful as ever. Even seeing that Shinji had pierced through her intentions, she was utterly unbothered. "Just because of that?"
"There is one more reason." Shinji glanced at Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto, caught by that single glance, went rigid from head to toe. Her heart was pounding with apprehension. In the end, she really wasn't that bold.
"Because compared to all of you, I like her more." He spoke. A black-haired, straight-banged beauty. Such a simple, self-evident truth. How could one not understand?
Imagawa Yoshimoto promptly froze. And then, the color red began to surge upward from her neck. Past her jaw. Her cheeks. Her earlobes. The tips of her ears. Like a pot of boiling water, bubbling and steaming outward.
"L-like…?!" Her voice had completely transformed. She was utterly unrecognizable from that righteous, self-assured young daimyō of moments ago.
Shingen watched this scene. Her iron fan couldn't help but slap against her palm. "…That's it?" The valiant, battle-hardened Takeda Shingen had completely failed to account for factors like personal preference and emotion.
Yoshimoto directly buried her face in her hands. Not another muffled sound emerged. Nobuna stood off to the side. The corner of her mouth twitched twice. Her expression no longer knew whether to be fury or sheer speechlessness.
Yamagata Masakage and Shibata Katsuie exchanged bewildered glances. Maeda Toshiie shrank in the corner, her large eyes spinning wildly. She muttered under her breath, So romantic, and was immediately silenced by a single glare from Nobuna.
And at this moment, Shinji added one more sentence, unhurried, unruffled. "Though she still can't compare to Kikyō, this is also the truth."
Yoshimoto: "…"
Her hands dropped from her face. A pair of bright, luminous eyes glared at him. On her thoroughly flushed face, four colossal characters were unmistakably written.
That last sentence... was completely unnecessary. She was grinding her teeth again. …That miko!
Takeda Shingen also rose from the ground. She dusted off her knees and tucked her iron fan back at her waist. Her deep crimson eyes shifted from Shinji and settled upon Yoshimoto, who was still seated on the ground, practically emitting steam.
She looked at her for a very long time. Then she let out a huff, as though finding the whole affair rather tiresome, and turned toward the cave entrance. "Let's go, Masakage."
"My lord, are we—"
"Climbing the mountain. My things are still up there." She paused at the cave entrance and tilted her head back to glance at Shinji. "As for you, one day, you will discover. The Takeda are far more worthy than the Imagawa. And so am I." With those words, her deep crimson hair swayed once within the white mist. Her silhouette vanished amidst the Buddha statues.
The Tiger of Kai was, after all, no ordinary mortal. She would not weep and wail. Would not put on maidenly airs. What she desired, she would seize through martial might. Through conquest. She would prove, that she was worth more than all others.
Silence returned to the cave.
Oda Nobuna also rose to her feet and brushed the stone dust from her kosode. Her golden slit-pupils swept across the cave as well. Then she clicked her tongue. "We're leaving too. Katsuie. Toshiie." She spun on her heel and headed straight for the cave entrance.
"My lord, are we—"
"Going to find my things." The Celestial-Eye Peacock. And the Leopard-Tail God. Plundered they may have been, but as long as a single breath remained in her body, she would never let them go.
Amidst this, Shibata Katsuie glanced at Shinji. The bold, brash warrior maiden nodded at him with an inexplicable look of profound admiration. The System panel flickered at that moment.
[Shibata Katsuie: Affection +4. Current Affection: 50]
[Affection Stage Change: Loyalty (Trust)]
[Note: The target holds your 'loyalty and righteousness' in the highest regard. She believes you are one who keeps his word, one worthy of following. If she did not already have a liege, she would choose to follow you.]
Back in Kiyosu Castle, her Affection had already climbed from thirty-one to over forty. And over this past half-day, from the forest of Buddhas to this cave, Katsuie had witnessed this yōkai draw his blade and cut down Guardian Spirits to save her lord with her own eyes.
She had watched him, amidst the tug-of-war of three factions, choose without the slightest hesitation the camp he had already staked. Not for maximum gain. But because he had invested the most. Because he liked her. A yōkai. Choosing someone for the simple reason of liking them. Absurd. Yet Shibata Katsuie was precisely the kind of person who would be moved by such absurdity.
Because she herself was the same. Following Oda Nobuna had never been about profit. It was because she had recognized a kindred spirit. And now, she had glimpsed the shadow of that same spirit in him. And so her Affection rose. Rose to fifty.
If, at just over thirty, Shibata Katsuie would trust Shinji, while remaining loyal to her liege, then now, she would hesitate between the commands of her liege and the commands of Shinji. Perhaps even… lean toward him.
[Second Talent Unlocked: Cursed Arts (The 'Curse' and 'Art' unique to Divine Artifacts)]