Chapter 9 - The Uesugi Clan

April 19, 1578

"Even a life-long prosperity is but one cup of sake; 

A life of forty-nine years is passed in a dream; 

I know not what life is, nor death. Year in year out-all but a dream. 

Both Heaven and Hell are left behind;

I stand in the moonlit dawn, Free from clouds of attachment." A woman with sake in her hand came to view, gazing at the fire in the middle of her tent while she sang a poem.

Her voice was raspy, maybe from all the injuries and heartache that had finally begun to take a toll on her body. Or maybe she was just tired. Tired of all the endless wars and battles that ravaged her beloved homeland. Memories of all that was lost overpowered all that was gained, as they played in her mind. Without smell or sound. So close, yet so far.

"Look at me, the dragon of Echigo, being faint of heart."  She said to herself as she took a sip of her sake. " However, maybe I should have at least given my clan an heir, a proper heir. However sadly the only man I ever considered worthy is no more." 

Then suddenly the odour of faeces and piss began to fill the air of her tent, however she was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice. With the sake and fire giving her a soothing feeling to counter the pain.

"I wonder what were his last words, before-" But before she could even finish her thoughts, the world turned upside down multiple times prior to her seeing a headless body that dressed similarly to her with blood spread out.

And then nothing.

…

"Ah f#ck it."

Arno selected the [Uesugi Clan] after a lengthy phase of deliberation. 

However the reason for his choice was simple, the mere thought of having to live the next few days without vision in this manor filled with power hungry individuals was honestly frightening. The sooner he regained his vision, the sooner he could regain control of his surroundings at the very least. 

And it's not like he would not get the chance to see Oda Nobunaga and Yasuke in the near future anyway. So he had to just bite the bullet and choose the monks. Hoping they could heal him.

[ *Ding* Congratulations on the host choosing 'Uesugi Clan' as your beginning Clan, please wait for further information…]

After picking the Uesugi Clan, all the options disappeared one by one as a notification appeared. 

[ *Ding* Spawning the 'Uesugi Clan' in the host's location. In 3…]

Followed by.

[ 2..]

"Wait a minute! Not here!" Realisation of what the System was proposing struck Arno, which prompted him to halt the System's actions.

[*Ding* Request to halt pending…]

"No, no stop, stop, stop for peace sake!" Arno trying his best to not stifle his plans of regaining his vision. Pleaded while the anxiety of unintentionally hosting a massacre of close to a thousand people gripped his consciousness.

[*Ding* Request accepted.] 

[*Ding* Spawning of 'Uesgui Clan' has been halted.]

"Thank you!" A sigh of relief left Arno's mouth, with his ability to see still being on the table as well as his potential guilt being averted. A sigh of relief was deserved. "It's like the System is trying to give me a heart attack." 

[ Maybe it is.] Guide sneered, 

"Am going to act like I didn't hear that." However Arno chose to ignore potential problems with Guide's statement and place his full attention to a daunting decision.

Where was he going to spawn the Uesugi?

"Guide, could the system possibly spawn them outside the city?" Arno asked, with the preconceived understanding that spawning them inside the city was in no shape or form possible. 

As that fact that despite boosting a significant population, a thousand people suddenly appearing in the city would definitely notify the Frontier Guard, which would then in turn notify Gurd. And with how the current political situation was at the moment in time, Gurd would definitely not mind having a few sacrificial lambs to be in the Household guards' good graces. 

A thought that annoyed Arno, but he had to accept it and come up with a plan to counter all possible threats.

[ It is possible Your Majesty, however the system can not spawn units in places it has never seen.] Guide seemed to have crushed Arno's plans before they could even properly formulate.

"F#ck." Arno muttered as he began scratching his head again, but thankfully Guide was not done talking.

[ But the System is neurologically connected to all units created by it. Which allows it to see and feel any, and everything a unit sees and touches.] Guide said nonchalantly, however Arno was anything but nonchalant.

" So that's how you knew about the information gathered by Hanzo's Shadow." As he was finally connecting the dots that eluded him, but he chose to ignore at that time.

[ You are correct, Your Majesty.] 

"I see." Guide's reply made Arno start to look at the System in a new light and also ferment a plan in his mind. " This might work." 

"Hanzo's Shadow." Arno commanded, grabbing the attention of the Hanzo's Shadow who was still kneeling since he was first summoned.

"Hai."

"Call the rest of your men from my shadow." 

And within a heartbeat two more figures appeared from his shadow, one male and one female, with the same amount of finesse as their leader. 

"Kage." They simultaneously said, while kneeling behind their leader.

"I shall be briefing you all on a new operation." Arno said with his hands behind his back, taking a more confident stance. " But first, what are your names?"

Arno asked this because he did not know any of their names and while it was easy to just call all of them 'Hanzo's Shadow'. For this operation Arno needed to know their individual names so that he could better coordinate with Guide.

"We have none." The female Shadow raised her head and said, but immediately after she said that she felt a strong killing intent directed at her, that made her instinctively want to grab Arno and escape the room she was in. However, she knew if she were to move even a muscle. She would lose her head.

"Ah…I mean… My apologies Kage, however we Hanzo's shadow are not given a name upon birth. Only our master may give us one." She said this time with her head bowed, not daring to raise it once again.

Arno, thanks to Guide not saying anything, was oblivious to the things that were going on around him as held his chin and said, " I am not good at names, but for now I will give all of you a codename, is that fine with all of you?"

"Hai, we would be honoured, Kage." The leader spoke for that group of ninjas. 

"Good, and your codename…will…be; Green Oni." He said to the male ninja

"Your's; Red Oni." And then the female ninja.

"And lastly you will be; Black Oni." And last but not least the leader.

"We are eternally grateful for the names you have bestowed upon us, Kage." They said softly in unison, as to not alarm the household guards of their presence.

" No need to thank me, I just described the colour of your masks." Arno said with no expression on his face, however inwardly he was ashamed of himself.

 " Now let me brief all of you about Operation 'Welcome home', this will be a recon/tracking/tactical withdrawal operation that will be heavily reliant on coordination of all operators. So you all will have your work cut out for you ladies and gentlemen…"

…

The Church of Esmarie, the Water Goddess. Southern Frontier City 

"Oh Love of the Sea, Queen of the Rivers, Harbinger of Rain…"

In a huge chapel whose marble floor, seats, and blue merles depicted a woman made of water holding a bowl as if offering to those who saw her a sip. The air in the chapel smelt like that of the ocean despite there being no beach or ocean for that matter.

The centrepiece of this chapel was not the statue of the Goddess, but the bowl she held. The same bowl that was being prayed to by a kneeling man. While a woman sitting in one of the seats watched.

"...I only ask that you to give me strength so that I may not cut that brat's serpentine tongue and that-" But he was interrupted by the woman sitting in the seat. Causing his eyes to open and give his full attention to her.

"Are you certain, you want to ask the Goddess to give you strength to cut the tongue of one of her descendants?" Valerie asked, finding the whole situation ironic.

Now, if this was any other person who disturbed Furum while he prayed to his Goddess. He would have their heads as no one in the city would dare say anything, and if they were a woman… well clergymen are also human. 

"My love, I only wish to beg for her permission not to cut his tongue."

But Valerie, to him, was more than just a woman. She is the apple of his eye. When he first met her, he thought she was nothing but a sinking northerner. No brains. No grit. Just another one night stand.

"Hmph, permission. You do not need the Goddess permission to be a coward. You already are one." She scoffed at his statement, while her facial expression morphed into disgust as she said. "And when have I ever been your lover for you to call me 'my love'." 

But that one night stand never came. No matter what he tried. Trickery, intimidation, blackmail. And lastly, one he personally regrets, bribery. Only to find out that she had deeper pockets. Then him, the court chaplain. None of them worked, no matter how many times he tried. In the end he gave up and wallowed in his disgust that a northern woman had more financial sway than him, and then eventually disgust turned into jealousy.

Jealousy turned into hatred, hatred fueled his lust and his lust eventually turned into obsession. Obse- Love that he did not expect. 

Instead of going to the brothel everyday, he now goes weekly. And that was only because every time he met Valerie he could not help but want to ravage her right where she stood. In front of people if he must. 

However, she always stayed around her people. Making it hard for him to do anything without alerting the Von Moore family as she was a part nobility that served the Von Moore. His inability to get her only grew when she became the barony's bookkeeper.

" My love, surely you jest. From the moment I met you I knew we would be lovers." He said with a smirk that was highlighted by his grey beard, that in all honesty was a choice. Even him looking old was a choice, because with his level of strength he could look like a 20 year old again. But he chose to look like a fossil.

"Pathetic. You did not even deny that you are a coward." Valerie muttered while sighing, but thanks to Furum's sharp senses he heard what she said. 

"That I may be, but I will prove to you what I already know is to be true. We were meant to be together." He chuckled and closed his eyes once again as he said. " Now please lower your voice my love, I must beg my Goddess to grant me the strength and wisdom on how to proceed."

Valerie heard this and could not help, but mutter.

"You are not worthy."

….

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Total War : Shogun in another world