The so-called ritsuryō provinces were administrative divisions the Eastern Isles had used since ancient times.
The realm held some sixty-odd provinces, each governed by a kokushi and possessing its own systems of taxation, conscription, and justice. But by the Warring States era, the provincial kokushi had long since become titles in name only, supplanted by daimyō who carved out their domains through force of arms.
Though they nominally still required the sanction of the shogunal government in Kyoto, the daimyō held actual sovereignty over their provinces.
Musashi Province, the heart of the Kantō plain: four hundred li east to west, one hundred sixty li north to south—larger than the world Kōbe Hikaru had lived in before his death. Many places that once shared no border now did; many roads once impassable from certain directions had become passable.
Its population ranked among the top three of the Kantō provinces today—though, owing to the presence of yōkai and other factors, in sheer numbers it was no greater than in Kōbe Hikaru's original world, and might even be fewer, and more concentrated.
Its north connected to Kōzuke, its south bordered Sagami, to the west lay Kai, and to the east Shimōsa Province and Kazusa Province.
It was a crossroads of communication—and, more than that, a land beset on all sides.
The Hōjō clan had spent generations of effort to win this land. And now it was to be handed to a yōkai?
Kōbe Hikaru leaned against a veranda pillar, the crimson oni mask covering his face, hiding the faint drift of thought across features slowly coming back to life after the Nine Mutations.
Only a pair of purple-veined demon eyes remained, gazing through the mask's slit at the Lion of Sagami across from him.
He did not answer at once.
He was thinking.
Hōjō Ujiyasu's timing for this visit was, in fact, just right.
And those four words—enfeoff you with Musashi—sounded at first like immense sincerity, but on closer thought they were more intriguing still.
"How much of your northern garrison did Uesugi devour?"
Kōbe Hikaru did not mince words.
Indeed.
Though Kōbe Hikaru had seen through the Uesugi clan's divide-and-conquer tactics and shattered three thousand troops in a single stroke, tearing down Uesugi Kenshin's wall, the Hōjō clan had still taken losses.
It made sense, on reflection: if they had truly suffered no losses at all, how could those three thousand Uesugi troops have encamped so securely across northern Musashi Province?
Before Kōbe Hikaru went to the Uesugi camp, they must already have clashed with the Hōjō forces.
And won a total victory.
Hōjō Ujiyasu tapped her folding fan once against her knee, then went still.
"Forty percent."
As she said the figure, the corner of her mouth twitched again, though her tone held steady enough.
Forty percent.
The main Hōjō force deployed in northern Musashi Province had lost more than forty percent during Uesugi Kenshin's southward advance.
They had numbered under three thousand to begin with; now fewer than two thousand remained.
With such strength, they could no longer hold the northern defensive line for long.
After all, the south still needed guarding against Imagawa—and against a stab in the back from Takeda, who called themselves allies while eyeing the land like a tiger all the while!
In other words, Musashi Province was now land the Hōjō clan could not hold.
Kept in hand, it was a burden.
If Uesugi Kenshin recovered his strength and marched south again, this would be the first place devoured… though that would likely take a very long time.
And if Takeda Shingen suddenly turned coat, Musashi Province would be gravely imperiled.
Better to hand it to someone who could hold it than to have it seized.
That way, at least in name, Musashi Province could still belong to the Hōjō.
Compared with the other two Kantō houses, each with a general possessing a divine artifact, Hōjō Ujiyasu truly had it hard.
You could say that among the so-called three houses of Dragon, Tiger, and Lion in the Kantō—the Dragon of Echigo, the Tiger of Kai, the Lion of Sagami—she, the Lion of Sagami, had it hardest of all.
Then again, to maintain a balance of power without the body of a god or buddha—her ability was more than sufficient.
She dared to decide, and knew how to choose what to keep and what to give up.
"So this is no reward."
Kōbe Hikaru's voice came from beneath the oni mask, flat in tone, yet it laid Hōjō Ujiyasu's hand utterly bare. "You're offloading a burden."
"You can't hold Musashi, and you don't want it falling into another power's hands, so you find someone to stand in front and entrust it to them."
"In name it stays Hōjō territory; in reality, I'm the one to defend it, the one to carry it."
"You sit in Odawara Castle: advancing, you can claim Musashi remains under Hōjō rule; retreating, you can shift Uesugi's assault pressure onto me."
Kōbe Hikaru's reasoning was clear—and in a way, this amounted to jacking up his price on the spot.
The main hall fell silent for a breath.
At this, the folding fan in Hōjō Ujiyasu's hand snapped shut and came to rest fully beside her knee.
She did not deny it, nor was she even embarrassed.
The purple eyes beneath her long hair looked straight at the crimson oni mask, and the corners of her mouth lifted instead—a smile carrying the frankness of one who, once seen through, drops all pretense.
"You're right."
She admitted it openly. "I truly can't hold Musashi—at least not in the short term. But this land is vital to the Hōjō clan. It's the northern gate of Sagami. Lose Musashi, and Sagami becomes the front line, forced to face pressure from both sides at once."
She shifted her posture, the hem of her deep-purple kimono spreading across the wooden floor, her hair falling over a chest that rose and fell slightly.
"But think about it—isn't this a good thing for you, Your Excellency?"
"You're within Musashi Province right now, and clearly you're using it as your base. If Uesugi Kenshin comes again, no matter whose Musashi it is, you'll have to fight."
"The only difference is whether you face the Uesugi clan's two-province army as an isolated yōkai stronghold, or meet them with the resources of an entire province."
"Provisions, manpower, intelligence—these you can't gather alone. I can give you a whole province's worth outright."
"This is win-win."
Win-win.
Imagawa Yoshimoto had used the word; now Hōjō Ujiyasu used it too.
The daimyō of this era were, in every respect, far more pragmatic than he'd imagined.
Faced with a yōkai, so long as it could communicate and so long as there was profit in it, they would court it without reservation.
Though such yōkai were, in every respect, exceedingly rare.
Most lesser yōkai never developed their minds and had no wisdom, while more powerful yōkai seldom made enemies or allies of organized human powers.
Indeed, were Kikyō not at his side, Kōbe Hikaru would have no wish to involve himself in the strife of the human world either—there were benefits, yes, but it was exactly like pulling chestnuts from the fire; one careless move and it all blew up.
Fortunately, he had Kikyō.
She could handle the pressure from the human sorcerers.
And he had the support of the great Kantō earth, enough to withstand the suppression of a nation's military might.
In the midst of it, Kōbe Hikaru was silent for a moment.
He knew there was real sense in what she said.
Kaede Village lay in the heartland of Musashi Province. Uesugi surely wouldn't come again—but there were still the powers over in Kyoto. Once they attacked, he couldn't flee, and wouldn't flee; rather than take the blows passively, better to seize the resources of all Musashi to prepare for war.
But…
He still would not take Musashi Province.
Not that he didn't want to—he couldn't.
A yōkai holding an entire province—such a thing was not without precedent.
The Inu no Taisho of the Western Provinces had held a whole province, presiding over a land of the Western Lands. Even now, though he was dead, that domain had not fallen; the widow and followers he left behind remained numerous—a force the human side could not oppose even by mustering tens of thousands of troops.
The Far Eastern Country too, it was said, had a yōkai realm.
Going further back, the old Demon King of Mount Ōe, Shuten-dōji, had once even occupied Tanba Province in the capital region, and Ōtakemaru had likewise been lord of a province.
But those were all true great yōkai—even the pinnacle among great yōkai, very likely nearing the rank of yōkai king, with other great yōkai serving beneath them.
He had not so much as touched the threshold of a great yōkai.
If word got out, the exorcists, onmyōji, and every temple and Shrine across all Kantō and even the Eastern Isles would turn their spears on him.
To say nothing of Kyoto's Onmyōryō—word had already spread that they were weighing an imperial decree ordering each province to root out demonic fiends on its own.
He didn't need that kind of attention right now.
At least not now.
In the same way, if his strength were sufficient, Kōbe Hikaru would not begrudge granting the people of this era win-win protection—but for governance and politics and the like, he had no interest at all.
This was an era where individual martial power reigned supreme.
Even if collective strength still couldn't be ignored, that was not what Kōbe Hikaru sought.
And so.
"I don't want Musashi Province."
Hōjō Ujiyasu's brow twitched, and then Kōbe Hikaru went on: "But you can give me something else."
Kōbe Hikaru held up a finger.
"The same terms as with Imagawa—my Night Parade of Twenty-Three Demons must be recognized within the Hōjō clan's sphere of influence as well. Within both Musashi and Sagami, build shrines for them, weave legends, have the people make offerings."
"Let my yōkai gather dread on your lands."
A second finger.
"In exchange, if Uesugi Kenshin marches south again, I'll hold them off for you."
He paused, privately wondering whether this counted as getting something for nothing.
Still, he continued: "Either way, if she comes to attack Musashi, I'll have to fight—so this too is win-win. There's no need for anything so extravagant as enfeoffing me with a whole province."
Hōjō Ujiyasu picked up her folding fan again, turning it over in her palm.
"You really are just like the rumors say—shrewder even than that Imagawa Yoshimoto woman."
Her assessment was blunt.
The terms Imagawa Yoshimoto had agreed to only after Kōbe Hikaru had her gritting her teeth—this yōkai before her now offered up of his own accord. And he asked only for the core of them, wanting none of the empty titles that would draw fire onto himself.
"Nothing at all like those yōkai with heads full of nothing but slaughter—no wonder you could beat Uesugi Kenshin to his knees!"
Hōjō Ujiyasu remarked with feeling, then composed her expression. "I agree to all these terms. And beyond that, I'll add one more—I'll give you an even better condition."
Hōjō Ujiyasu rose, the skirts of her deep-purple kimono sliding off the floor, and walked to the doorway of the main hall, then turned around.
Word by word, and with weight, as though each fell with a ring, she said:
"This Shrine of Kaede Village."
She pointed toward the torii beyond the door.
"I will make it the local Shinto center for both Musashi and Sagami."
The hall fell silent once more.
The two heads of Momiji and Botan poked all the way out from behind the paper door of the side hall, mouths gaping into O-shapes.
Naoe Kanetsugu, bound to the pillar, had gone beyond merely widening his eyes—his mouth had fallen open too.
Hōjō Ujiyasu continued: "Imagawa Yoshimoto built shrines and set down legends for your yōkai in Suruga—grand enough already. But I'll go a step further than her."
"Not merely building shrines, not merely enshrining lesser yōkai."
"I will formally petition the Shinto Sōja shrine of Kyoto to elevate this Shrine into the Shinto center of two provinces, and enshrine you—Demon Kōbe Hikaru—as a true god."
"Not some spontaneous folk ghost-tale, nor a household guardian deity set up by Imagawa Yoshimoto in her own name—but a true god guaranteed by me, by the Hōjō clan, in the name of a provincial lord, reported to the central authority and formally certified by Shinto."
A true god.
Within the faith system of the Eastern Isles, a true god was fundamentally distinct from ordinary earth gods, mountain gods, and yōkai legends.
A true god was recognized by state-level Shinto institutions, holding a formal divine name and shrine rank, its Shrine enjoying official offerings and upkeep.
To become a true god meant that what he gathered would no longer be only dread—but also faith.
Dread and faith: two faces of one whole.
Fear and reverence were both embodiments of the human heart.
For yōkai, dread was the source of power.
And faith—that was what even gods and buddhas drew upon.
For a moment, even Kōbe Hikaru was shaken.
This woman…
"You're mad," Kōbe Hikaru said.
"I'm perfectly clear-headed."
The corners of Hōjō Ujiyasu's mouth lifted again. "Uesugi Kenshin has Bishamonten, Takeda Shingen has Fudō Myō-ō, and my Hōjō clan has no god at all—but now, I can make one myself."
She closed her fan and turned to walk out of the main hall.
"Once I'm back, the documents will be sent to Kyoto."
"As for whether you accept—"
She turned half her face aside, her long hair drifting over her shoulder. "You've no reason to refuse, have you?"
Her footsteps descended the stone steps, fading into the distance.
Kōbe Hikaru stood at the doorway of the main hall, watching that deep-purple figure pass through the torii and vanish onto the mountain path at the village entrance.
Kikyō came to his side.
Her white robe and red hakama clung to her body in the morning breeze.
"A true god."
She softly repeated the words, her jet-black eyes on him.
Kōbe Hikaru did not turn.
His gaze fell on the plaque above the torii—that old wooden board, its inscription long since blurred beyond reading.
Or rather.
This Shrine had, in truth, always been but a wild country shrine with no god.
But from now on, that would change.
"Looks like this Shrine…"
He lifted off the crimson oni mask, revealing a pale, handsome face.
"…will need a new plaque."
Just as Hōjō Ujiyasu had said, for such a win-win—such a magnanimous gesture of thanks and courtship—Kōbe Hikaru had no reason to refuse.
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉