“It’s…!?”
Juubei-san was speechless. So the rumor was true — the Takeda army was now controlled by the Shadow Strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke.
“Lord Shingen has perished, and all of the Takeda Four save Lord Kōsaka have been thrown into the underground dungeon. He begs us — somehow stop Kansuke, save the Takeda.”
“Lord Kōsaka is feigning obedience to Kansuke while plotting to retake the Takeda.”
The kunoichi who had introduced herself as Tsubaki added. So — Kansuke hid Shingen’s death and used the corpse to seize control of the Takeda. The Four Heavenly Kings who noticed were thrown in the dungeon; only Kōsaka, having faked submission, moves as Kansuke’s underling. That’s the picture.
“Frankly, the Tokugawa owe the Takeda no such kindness. But at this rate, Kansuke’s masked soldiers will overrun us. A pitiful position to be in, but — the choice of whether to save the Tokugawa, or the Takeda, rests with these guests from Belfast.”
Ietsu-san fixed his gaze on us. So — at this point, breaking into Tsutsujigasaki and dealing with Yamamoto Kansuke is happening, then.
“What will you do, Touya-san?”
Yumina, knowing the answer perfectly well, deferred to me with a please make the call expression. And the decision-power has come around… Whatever — it’s fine.
“We’re going. I’ll infiltrate Tsutsujigasaki. Would rather get to the Nilya Ruins with peace of mind.”
“You have our gratitude.”
The kunoichi — Tsubaki-san — bowed her head.
“In that case — small team only. Me, Tsubaki-san, and Leen.”
Tsubaki-san who knows the Takeda interior, and Leen with her magical expertise — we should manage. Paula, sorry, but you stay behind. When I told her, the stuffed bear stomped both feet and vibrated with whole-body fury. Impressive [Program], honestly.
“Right, then off we——”
“Wait, wait! In broad daylight? Wait until nightfall, isn’t that better?”
I’d been about to charge ahead when Elze made the sensible point. Right — night means fewer eyes, easier to slip through unseen.
We settled on infiltrating at night and broke for rest.
There was still a lot to do — I [Gate]‘d back to Yae’s house to inform Nanae-san and Ayane-san that Juubei and Jūtarō were safe, then went home to Belfast to let Lime-san know I’d be staying out the night.
I was also asked to ferry supplies — sake, food, arrows, oil — from Oedo into the fortress via [Storage]. Not tiring, fine by me. Ietsu-san paid me properly too — quite a bit, actually. Maybe I should genuinely start a delivery business… By the time all this was done, night had fallen.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“All right Tsubaki-san — please picture a place near the Tsutsujigasaki manor where you can see it clearly. As remote as possible would be best.”
“Understood.”
I clasped both of Tsubaki-san’s hands as she closed her eyes. Was a little tense with Yae too, but holding the hands of a woman I barely know is its own kind of tension… Actually — whether I know her or not, holding a woman’s hand is tense in itself, and the female contingent of my party is shooting daggers at me right now! Scary!
Whatever — let’s just finish quickly. For my own wellbeing.
“[Recall].”
I focused magic and pressed our foreheads together. Tsubaki-san was tall — about my height — so unlike Yae I didn’t need to stoop. A large single-story manor surrounded by a series of moats, and the castle town clinging around it, came hazily into my mind. That’s the Takeda main camp, Tsutsujigasaki.
“[Gate].”
I stepped back from Tsubaki-san and conjured the light-door toward Tsutsujigasaki in the keep.
“Off I go. Kōhaku — anything happens, contact me.”
[Understood.]
Kōhaku and I can communicate via telepathy across considerable distances. If anything happens here, I can come back immediately.
Leen went through first, then Tsubaki-san, then me last.
The other side of the gate opened onto a moonless night sky, stars wheeling overhead. The area was dense forest — in the distance, the faint glow of torches. Tsutsujigasaki manor, that has to be.
“That’s what we’re infiltrating…”
I deployed [Long Sense] to scout. The manor sat ringed by moats, several bridges, and naturally the gate was shut.
In front of the gate, helmeted and armored men with spears stood guard.
Pushing my sight further past the gate, white walls ran in a labyrinth-like layout, with a well along the side. A little further beyond was an open patch with garden shrubs — perfect cover. Right — let’s transfer there first.
“[Gate].”
I called up the light-door — and tried to step through. But I just passed through it, advancing only one step.
“Wait, what?”
I tried again. Same result — no transfer, just walked through it.
“What’s happening?”
I cocked my head in confusion. Never had this happen before.
“It’s a barrier set by a talisman. Blocking [Gate] from transferring.”
“Barrier?”
Leen explained, watching me try. Right — Duke Ortlinde mentioned something like that before — [Gate] could be blocked by a simple barrier. This is what he meant.
“Almost certainly Kansuke’s work. I alone can pass through the gate by claiming to be one of Lord Kōsaka’s messengers — I’ll destroy the talisman.”
Tsubaki-san started to head off toward the manor — and Leen, arms folded, stopped her.
“Don’t. Breaking the barrier risks alerting the one who set it. Even if they can’t tell who broke it, putting them on guard isn’t a good move.”
“Then what?”
Tsubaki-san asked. Right — only one option here.
“Leen. The transparency spell you used to hide your wings — let’s slip in with that. You and I vanish, follow Tsubaki-san, through the gate. That should work, right?”
“Not transparency, it’s vision-… never mind, fine. Stand there.”
I stood in front of her as told. She held out her hands and began gathering magic — and a magic circle resolved at our feet.
“Light, bend — guide of refraction — Invisible.”
The circle at our feet rose up and passed through our bodies. Once it passed the top of our heads, it quietly vanished.
“They’ve vanished…”
Tsubaki-san let out a small noise of amazement. Eh? Already gone? I can see my own body, my arms, and I can see Leen?
“Leen — the spell doesn’t apply to us?”
“Of course not. If you couldn’t see your own body, that would be impossibly inconvenient.”
“Ah — your voice still comes through, I see.”
Tsubaki-san sounded a bit relieved. So we really are invisible to her.
Leen smirked, slipped behind Tsubaki-san — and abruptly groped her chest with both hands.
“FUH——AAHH——!?”
“Touya, just because she can’t see you — what are you doing?”
“T-Touya-san!?”
“That’s not me! That’s Leen! I’m right in front of you here!”
I shook the surrounding trees to prove my location. In any case, even invisible, the touch of someone hugging from behind should make it obvious it’s not me!?
“Nn… ah, w-wait, not so much… aun!”
“Hmm, surprisingly there’s a lot here… You hide it under your clothes? This is quite—”
“Enough already!”
“Ow!?”
I chopped Leen sharply on the head. What is this 612-year-old doing. Read the situation!
While Leen crouched, clutching her head, Tsubaki-san covered her chest, face crimson, and backed away from us. See? Now she’s wary.
I called out to reassure Tsubaki-san.
“It’s all right now. I’ll keep beating her until she behaves.”
“On the rear?”
“You — stop talking!”
Tsubaki-san backed up another step at Leen’s joke. Can we even pull off an infiltration like this? I had a faint worry — make that a massive worry.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“A messenger from Lord Kōsaka. Pass me through.”
“Confirmed. One moment, please.”
The two gate guards examined the token in Tsubaki-san’s hand and slowly began opening the heavy doors. No side-postern, here.
Leen and I slipped through the gap, transparent. Tsubaki-san followed after; the gate closed again with another heavy sound. Whew. Made it in.
“By the way Leen — this invisibility magic. Does the barrier block it?”
“Barriers basically repel magic trying to interfere with the protected zone. But [Invisible] is interfering with us, not the zone — so it’s fine. Since we’re not interfering with the barrier, you can also [Gate] out of inside the barrier.”
Right — [Gate] interferes with the destination, that’s the issue. Then — first up, the Takeda Four held in the underground dungeon. [Gate] them out. If they can fight, having them on our side would be a huge plus. I floated the plan to Tsubaki-san; she agreed at once.
“The dungeon’s this way.”
We took off after Tsubaki-san, running through the moonless dark.