Daring Gambit

There was a moment where Seiji didn’t immediately acknowledge what Yumi said to the full depth. He just simply nodded in agreement with the plan and then paused once it sunk it. “What?!” he nearly shouted in surprise.

A moment later, the tent flap opened with Nerine armed in defense of Seiji only to see him waving her off. She looked between the two of them and around the tent trying to detect any sort of threat. Once she felt satisfied that there was nothing wrong, she retreated back to her patrol.

With calm back in the tent, Seiji focused back on Yumi after that stunning remark. “Nakanoi’s army? Did I hear you right?” She nodded again to confirm it as he felt his body weaken for a moment. It might have been the strongest blow he had felt since coming to this world. “You’re crazy. That’s not possible. Getting the men that left with Komagata will be easy, my father and I trained all of them and they have some loyalty to me. But Nakanoi…that’s…”

He paused trying to figure out the angle that she had. Sure, he could tell that if she had their army it would be easy, but that was never going to happen. Seiji struggled to see what sort of plan she could have put together to make such a miracle possible. “Yumi, Nakanoi is the head family that Komagata belongs to. That’s not going to happen.”

Chapter 540 – Daring Gambit

“That’s why it will happen,” she answered confidently, but she understood why he couldn’t see it. There were a lot of pieces in play and they only worked out because Komagata retreated to their territory.

“You’re not making a lot of sense.”

“Aya’s going to take Nakanoi regardless. Komagata’s retreat was all part of her plan. She was going to use his retreat to march on Nakanoi and demand his head. And no doubt Komagata plans to use his family connections to retake the territory lost. While he’s viewed as less than favorably amongst the Nakanoi clan, hence why he lacks the clan name, out of pride they wouldn’t allow Aya to just take territory that they view as their own. I wouldn’t be surprised if they plan to execute him and claim his territory for his failure to lead.”

“You make it sound like they’re going to solve the last of Aya’s problems. But how is that going to give you their army?”

“They’re going to give you their army.”

“Me? I guess that makes a little more sense, but I’m not seeing how.”

“It’s like I said they’re going to want Komagata dead.”

“Didn’t you say that you think they do.”

“The plan is to make it certain.”

Seiji paused again taking in everything from Yumi. The confidence that she carried never dropped. ‘She’s not like what I remember…is this what happened to her in this world? We all changed…I guess…but I never would have imagined I’d hear her say to kill someone.’ He wasn’t sure if he could rely on what he knew about her going forward. “But wouldn’t that upset Aya? Doesn’t she want the satisfaction?”

“Oh I never said we were going to kill him. We’re just going to make sure that Nakanoi wants him dead. In the end, we’ll capture Komagata and hand him over to Aya who will do the deed.”

“We’re still basically killing a man, even if we’re doing it indirectly.”

“You’re getting squeamish over sending someone to their death?”

“Not at all, that’s part of my job as a General. Just making sure you’re not passing off personal blame for a technicality.”

“No, I'm aware of what I’m doing. My planning already has seen the death of many in this war. I’ve had to deal with the weight of that as well. Like you said, this world requires you to become an adult sooner. We might be teenagers in the real world, but we’ve all lived long enough here that’s not the case. Not that being an adult makes killing people okay, but this is the reality of this world and what needs to be done. The only difference is I’m not going to play by the same rules as Aya.

“You’re worried I’m going to become a ruthless killer like she is, but that’s not the goal. We could conquer Nakanoi pretty easily with the forces we have and those you can pull in from Komagata, but that would be a lot of death and no doubt with Aya in charge more than necessary will die. I’ll do it differently and get the same results. I’m going to do this my way, Seiji.”

A smile came over his face hearing that from Yumi. Seiji pounded his fist into his palm with everything that he needed to understand about Yumi’s motives. “That’s a plan I can get behind. Will there be anyone else coming with us?”

“No, it’ll just be the three of us. This is going to require the full involvement of each of us to pull off. So I’ll explain the whole plan, but we need to get on the road. Time is already getting away from us.”

“That urgent.”

“Yes, we’ve got to catch up to Komagata after all.”

“You’ve got all the angles.”

“That’s my job in this mission.”

“Fair enough.” Seiji stood up with their meeting concluded to his content. While he pulled up the rug he snapped his fingers in a short subtle code signaling Nerine. By the time he finished with the rug, she entered the tent. “We’re heading out tonight.”

“Understood. I’ll prepare the horses.” The Atlantean departed sharply with the sense of urgency read in the room.

Yumi looked back from the tent entrance to Seiji once she left. “You two have gotten pretty comfortable with each other.”

“It’s nothing like you’re trying to suggest. And if it were, we both already agreed that nothing’ll happen while we’re inside here.”

“It’s not like what happens here is going to be erased when we leave. I think.” Actually, it wasn’t something that she had considered too closely until she mentioned it. It was just something that seemed like a natural assumption. The experiences within the world should carry on outside, which did present some concerns of their own. Having to reconcile years of a life that happened, yet didn’t. Whatever was the case, she didn’t want to forget the time she had here. It felt too valuable and important to just disappear.

He continued to pack what he needed for the trip, which had been light to begin with since he abandoned everything to join Aya. “Then there won’t be any issues waiting.”

“Alright. I’ll meet you by the horses.” She left the tent then having to do her own packing as well. ‘I’m actually surprised a little that I didn’t get a denial from him. I guess a lot has changed…’ In a way she felt like she was going to miss the old Seiji, though he still had the same sort of charisma about him, but matured in such a way that he felt like a natural leader. She wondered if this might have been what he would have been like as an adult in the real world without this world’s influence on him.

There was little for her to pack as most of what she needed was stored within her mind. Seiji would cover the fighting part and Nerine the subterfuge, all she needed was her words and the pieces to play. Anything remaining would be handled by either Aya’s servants or possibly Yuki and Saki. The two would be returning with Aya and likely thrown deeper into more of Aya’s machinations. Only her plan would be able to free them from Aya’s hold and not die in the process.

Celebrating continued through the camp and likely deep into the night. But it would make their departure that much easier for them. With enough money to survive as well as supplies, they packed their horses and left the camp behind for a three month venture.

About an hour into the steady ride and any light of the camp completely out of sight, Yumi pulled her horse up close to Nerine. “How extensive is your network?”

“I have someone within Komagata’s inner circle if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I need to know where you have spies. The plan relies greatly on the work you’ll be doing for me.”

“I understand.” Nerine began to relay to her the extent of her spy network. With people spread throughout the region and even with Matsushina’s domain quite deeply as well, Nerine had clearly done well for herself.

Yumi couldn’t help but be impressed with the work that she had managed, especially in such a society. “That’ll be just what I need. I’m going to explain to you what I need you to handle. We’ve got a lot of pieces to move and little time to make it happen.”

Recounting the plan to Nerine was pretty easy as she picked up on the small details quickly. While Seiji listened and understood the general sense of what she was planning, the nuances of relationships and politics went a little over him. The world was tightly connected in unseen ways that only people like Aya could pick out. And it took a lot of effort for Yumi to notice such details.

By the time they arrived at the border village of Komagata’s former territory, the sun had already begun to rise. A long day of fighting and then a night of travel required some rest. Nerine arranged the lodgings given the more famous nature of Seiji while Yumi did her best to be invisible and listen. When Nerine returned with their arrangements, the recon was finished. It was a village, there wouldn’t be a lot of gossip.

Tucked away in a small store room, they had their humble rooms. Normally, Yumi would have elected that they camp, but she wanted to stop in the village for some intel. While Seiji looked around the ground giving Nerine time to rest, she sat across. “I was able to confirm that Komagata passed through here in the early evening. He was beating a quick retreat, but took food and supplies from the village. The locals weren’t too happy about it, but couldn’t really say no to someone with an army at his back.”

“That’ll work in your favor then. I’ve sent out the message to my spies. I should hear back from them by the time we’re ready to leave.”

“Good, we’ll need to start things moving.” Yumi looked towards the bar covered window of the storehouse seeing the mountains peaking over the edge. Somewhere near there was where Komagata currently fled to. “There’s an old outpost in the mountains where the Nakanoi Clan used to watch over the neighboring lands before Komagata came in. Nowadays it was pretty much a training grounds for the monks.”

“Seiji’s family also goes there in the summer to train. So it’s well maintained, even if it is not a military outpost anymore.”

“It’s going to become Komagata’s home for a while. We’re going to need to keep him there after his resupply in order to move to the next phase of the plan.”

“That will easily be done. My spies will have the word spread.”

“Time to stir the pot on that family tension.”