Puppeteer

This wasn’t the request that Seiji expected. He had to look up at the brother to make sure that what he said was serious. ‘Is he really handing leadership over to me? This is going to throw a wrench in the plans.’ The more that he looked at him the clearer it became. He was serious about having him lead his soldiers.

Seiji paused his grabbing up papers to focus directly on Masahiro. “But you’re supposed to be hunting down Komagata for your father.”

“And I’m using all the resources that I can to make sure it happens.”

‘But the whole point is that the two of you are supposed to fight. If I help you, it’ll look like I’m supporting the younger brother and it’ll strengthen his position for the throne. All of the effort we’ve made to position me to replace them will be lost.’ Yumi might have understood the political landscape better, but he knew enough to know what was at play.

This was partially swallowing pride and part an intentional move on his part. ‘He’s apparently smarter than we gave him credit for. He’s only interested in a win and not about it being himself that does it and knows where the wind is blowing.’

“I report to your father though. You would need his approval first.”

“I already have it.”

‘Of course you do. The old man doesn’t want fighting between his sons. Though does this mean that he’ll take away the position from Kichiro?’ The more that Seiji thought about it the worse things got in his mind. Like he was telling Yumi, this was a dangerous game that they were playing and Masahiro just tried to drag him into the center of it before they were in position to do anything.

This sort of news wouldn’t make Kichiro happy. ‘He’ll know if I’m with Masahiro that their father supports Masahiro over him and that his claim is in jeopardy. I only see two outcomes if he’s backed into that situation. He attacks us to try to prove his strength or he goes more aggressively on Komagata. Depending on how bloodthirsty he’s feeling it could be more than just his army against ours, he may try to have him killed or even me.’

These were worst case scenarios in Seiji’s mind. It was possible that it could go much less severe, but he didn’t think it would with how upset Kichiro was in the court. ‘I knew I was going to be getting in the middle of a sibling rivalry, but this wasn’t the way I wanted to do it…’

Chapter 545 – Puppeteer

This was a big decision to make and he couldn’t do it immediately. He was able to buy himself some time with the brother to think it over. It wasn’t much as he had to head out soon, but it would be enough to visit Yumi again. Despite some panic setting in and wanting to rush over to discuss things with her, he waited it out. He already made regular visits into the city, doing so too often might get the wrong people’s attention.

It was near the late afternoon that he left to visit Yumi. He had several hours to sit on the situation and calm down some. Though the roller coaster analogy being used felt more accurate than ever before. He really didn’t want on this ride anymore. The only ending that seemed to come was a crash and he didn’t know how they would look in such a situation. Unfortunately, they were already on it. So he couldn’t back out.

Seiji really hated situations that removed his control.

A knock on the door surprised Yumi as she looked over at Nerine. There was a head shake from her to indicate that it was no one for her. The following knock that answered it confirmed it to be Seiji. Confusion fell over her face at his unscheduled arrival. But Nerine opened it for him as he hurried in. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got a big complication.”

“Alright.” Yumi signaled to Nerine to check out the perimeter while they talked. She went back over to her desk while Seiji walked over next to her not keeping his usual distance. “What happened?” The worried expression covered his face, something that he normally kept well in check.

There was no dancing around the subject, so he went straight in. “Masahiro wants me to lead his men.”

“Oh, this is sudden.”

“Sudden, that’s all you have to say? The plan is falling apart, Yumi!”

Internally, some panic ran through her mind and body, but she kept it in check. Seiji already had more than enough for the both of them. Plus, she couldn’t show any weakness in front of him. The only thing that she offered in this mission was her mind, the strategy. She couldn’t let him see any lack of confidence in the plan. “It is unexpected, but not outside of the realm of possibilities. Given the way they were, I didn’t really give it good odds of happening. Especially since it would weaken his position and I didn’t think he’d want to be giving you all that power.”

“People aren’t easy to predict.”

“Yes, which is why Aya’s such a rare individual to be able to do that so well. But it doesn’t change the goal. Just the tactics.”

“What, you have a plan for this as well?” He found a little relief to know that she had a strategy for this situation. As much as he trusted Yumi, this was the first time she was being tested. She was bound to make mistakes. Seiji wanted her to succeed, but this seemed like a different hurdle to take first.

She nodded to him. “I just move some things around. While it’s not the perfect situation anymore, it’s not undesirable. This puts you in control of Masahiro’s army. The men already like you, so they’ll follow you and not him. All that remains will be taking Kicihiro’s forces and then the old man’s reserves.”

“But won’t this put control in the hands of Masahiro rather than me in the end? The whole point was to make the two look incompetent so that I could take over.”

Yumi could see where he was worried. “That’s what he thinks will happen, but all it does is weaken his own position. In the short run, he’ll show himself to be smart in picking someone capable to lead. However, all that’s going to do is show to others that he’s not a strong leader where it counts. With Aya and Matsushima at their throats after the Komagata incident, they want someone that is proven to be a strong military leader. If he turns to you for that, everyone’s going to see him as being too weak to protect the territory.

“In the end, his leadership won’t have that much value or need because the one that keeps them safe is you, not him. It’ll be easy to remove him from power at that point. We can consolidate everything under you with him thinking that he’s winning the whole thing.”

At this point, Nerine re-entered the room having finished her sweep of the whole area. She gave them both an affirming stare that there were no issues. Yumi invited her over to catch her up on the changes occurring with the Nakanoi clan. Once the details were explained, she shifted to the plan for Nerine. “With these changes, the risk of open conflict with Kichiro has increased to an almost certainty. So we’re going to have to guide him carefully.”

She pulled out the map that they had been using. They currently directed Komagata’s forces to the west right now and Kichiro’s troops to the north. “The troop morale within his troops are poor already and they’re tired of being pushed. We’ll drag things out a little more to increase his incompetence. And bring them to the breaking point.”

“They’re just following orders, Yumi.”

Nodding to Seiji’s concerns, she knew what he was trying to say. He had sympathy for them, especially with the way that she made Kichiro treat them all. “And we need them to stop following his orders. They need to be willing without question to change allegiances to you. Bring them to breaking point and you come in as their savior. And you’ll have captured both forces. That’ll completely defang the elder brother.”

Things seemed good so far as he listened to her plan. Though the older brother still felt like a concern to him. “He’s going to get pretty upset over all of this. He’s the chosen heir in his mind and pretty much ready to fight Masahiro over it. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Masahiro wants me to fight his brother as well. It still feels like these two are on a collision course.”

Yumi pushed the map back and faced forward to stand up and look at Seiji directly. There was the piece that she didn’t tell him in so many words yet. He roughly accepted some death, but out of sight was easier to handle than knowing who they were and being there. “I’m going to be straight with you Seiji. These changes are pretty serious. Before only one person had to die to see us to the end. Unfortunately, like you said they’re on a collision course harder than ever before.

“Yes, Masahiro wants you to fight his brother. He wants you to fight his battles for him and take the credit for your successes. He thinks you’re an easy target for him to manipulate. And from everything that I’ve learned about Kichiro, he’s already made more than a few plots to have his brother killed. The most recent was actually the other night. Thanks to Nerine, we’ve kept him alive for now. But that will end before we’re done here.

“Seiji, both of them are going to have to die now. With the fires we’ve stoked here, they’re wolves at each other's throats and only the end of one of them is going to leave them satisfied. But we can’t allow one to remain alive and be a risk to your succession of power.”

These were the words that he didn’t want to hear, even though they had been the entire time. Each time he spoke with Yumi it had been in her words. He refused to hear it because she wasn’t being direct with him. It gave him just the right amount of deniability that he could lie to himself. ‘I have to face my hypocrisy.’

He closed his eyes with the thoughts weighing on him. It shouldn’t be such an issue, he knew. This was the world that they currently lived in and even more they weren’t real, but that was a road long since passed up. “I really hate being like this.”

“Like I said before, it’s a good thing. But you needed to know everything without anything held back. Because more than likely you’re going to be there when they kill each other.”

‘Because you’re going to make sure that happens. Damn, we’re right bastards aren’t we?’ Tilting his head back he looked up at the ceiling pondering everything that led them up to his point. It wasn’t easy to take in, but he had resolved himself to do this with her. There was no backing out. “Right. I knew and I accepted it. This is also part of being an adult. Got to deal with my worldly naiveties and this gray morality.”

He slapped his cheeks restraining himself not to scream a battle cry to get himself back on track. “Right, this is the course and we see to it. What’s the end game then?”

“Once you have both of their armies and the brothers out of the way, all that remains is support here and the last thread.”

“Old man Nakanoi.”

“That’s right. You’ll bring back Komagata and take his army as well. Return to Nakanoi with him and have everyone accept your leadership. Once that happens, Nakanoi dies.”