"I will provide the army and lead it myself."
His eyes turned cold.
"And I will rid you of that pathetic Daimyo, Norihiro."
Sadamasa did not look impressed.
"Do not grow overconfident," he said.
Urakami let out a short laugh, as if the warning amused him more than it concerned him.
"And why should I not?"
"Because I know Norihiro," Sadamasa replied calmly. "He is clever, patient, and dangerous. If he truly intended to strike the North and even the capital, then he must have believed he had a real chance of succeeding. A man like that is not someone you dismiss lightly."
Urakami laughed again, louder this time.
"A provincial Daimyo dreaming of seizing Kastoria? Of taking the capital?" He shook his head with open mockery. "That sounds less like ambition and more like a tale he spread among his own people to make himself appear greater than he truly is. Men do that all the time. They invent grand futures so others will trust them."
Sadamasa's gaze hardened slightly.
