"It is Monkey, then," Koroku said.
"Do you know him?" the retainer asked.
"He was a quick-witted kid we kept here for a while. He swept the garden and took care of Kameichi."
"But isn't it strange that he's come here as a messenger from Oda Nobunaga?"
"That makes no sense to me either, but what does he look like?"
"Respectable."
"Oh?"
He wears a short coat over his armor, and it looks as though he's come quite a distance. Both his saddle and stirrups are covered with mud, and he's got a wicker basket for meals and other travel supplies on his saddle."
"Well, let him in and we'll see."
"Let him in?"
“Just to make sure, let's take a look at his face." Koroku sat on the veranda and waited.
It was a distance of only a few leagues from Nobunaga's castle to Hachisuka. By rights, the village should have been part of the Oda domain, but Koroku did not recognize Nobunaga, nor did he receive a stipend from the Oda clan. His father and the Saito of Mino had supported each other, and the sense of loyalty among ronin was a strong one. Actually, in those troubled days, they esteemed loyalty and chivalry, along with their honor, even more than did the samurai houses. Although they were fated to live as savage plunderers, these ronin were bound together like father and children, so that disloyalty and dishonesty were not tolerated. Koroku was like the head of a large family, and he was the very source of these iron rules of conduct.
Dosan's murder and Yoshitatsu's death the previous year had caused one problem after another in Mino. And there had been repercussions for Koroku as well. The stipend paid to the Hachisuka while Dosan was alive had been cut off after the Oda blocked all the roads from Owari into Mino. But even so, Koroku was not going to forget his sense of loyalty. On the contrary, his enmity toward the Oda intensified, and in recent years he had indirectly aided defections from Nobunaga's camp and had been one of the major plotters of agitation in the Oda domain.
"I've brought him in," the retainer said from the wooden gate. Just in case, five or six of Koroku's men surrounded Tokichiro as he came in.
Koroku glowered at him. "Come here," he said, with an imperious nod.
An ordinary-looking man stood before Koroku. His salutation was also ordinary. "Well, it's been a long time."
Koroku stared fixedly at him. "Sure enough, it's Monkey. Your face hasn't changed much."
In contrast to his face, Koroku could not help being surprised by the transformation in Tokichiro's clothes. Koroku now clearly recalled that night ten years ago near the Yahagi River, when Tokichiro, dressed in a dirty cotton tunic, his neck, hands, and feet covered with grime, had been sleeping by the riverbank. When a soldier had shaken him awake, he had responded with such big words and such fighting spirit that they had all wondered who he could be. Under the light of the soldier's lanterns, he had turned out to be nothing more than a strange-looking youth.
Tokichiro spoke humbly, seemingly without any sense of the distinction between his former and present status. "Well, I've been quite negligent since I left. It's good to see that you're in your usual good health. I'll bet Master Kameichi has grown up. And your wife is well, too? You know, coming back here for a visit, ten years seem like an instant."
Then, looking around at the trees in the garden with heartfelt emotion and staring at the roofs of the buildings, he talked on and on about his recollections of scooping water from that stone well every day, of being scolded by the master, perhaps, next to that stone, of carrying Kameichi around on his back, and of catching cicadas for him.
Koroku, however, did not seem to be moved in the least by such memories. Rather, he focused on Tokichiro's every movement and finally spoke sharply. "Monkey," he said, addressing Tokichiro as he had done long before, "have you become a samurai?" It was obvious, though, from Tokichiro's appearance, that he had. Tokichiro, however, was not in the least disconcerted.
"Yes. As you can see, I still receive only an insignificant stipend, but somehow I'm on the verge of becoming a samurai. I hope you're pleased. In fact, today I rushed all the way from my post at the camp at Sunomata, partly because I thought you might be pleased about my promotion."
Koroku displayed a forced smile. "These are good times, aren't they? There are even people who will hire men like you as samurai. Who's your master?"
"Lord Oda Nobunaga."
"That bully?"
"By the way…" Tokichiro changed the tone of his voice a little. "I've digressed a bit about my personal affairs, but today I've come as Kinoshita Tokichiro, on the orders of Lord Nobunaga."
"Is that so? You're an envoy?"
"I'm coming in. Excuse me." With that, Tokichiro took off his sandals, went up the steps of the veranda where Koroku was sitting, and sat down, taking the seat of honor in the room for himself.
"Huh!" Koroku grunted and sat unmoving, right where he was. He had not invited him to come in, and yet Tokichiro had marched up unhesitatingly and sat down. Korok turned toward him and said, "Monkey?"
Though Tokichiro had answered to this name before, this time he refused. He simply stared fixedly at Koroku, who teased him for his childishness. "Come, come now, Monkey. You've suddenly changed your attitude, but," he said, "until now you've been talking to me like an ordinary person. Do you want to go through the formality of being addressed as Nobunaga's envoy from now on?"
"That's correct."
"Well, then, go home immediately. Get out of here, Monkey!" Koroku rose an stepped down to the garden. His voice had taken on a rough edge, and he had a dangerous look in his eye. "Your Lord Nobunaga may think that Hachisuka is within his territory, but nearly all of Kaito is run by me. I don't recall that I or any of my forebears have ever received a single grain of millet from Nobunaga. For him to look at me with the air of a lord of a province is the height of absurdity. Go home, Monkey. And if you say something rude, I'll kill you!" He glared at him and went on, "When you get back, tell this to Nobunaga: he and I are equals. If he has some business with me, he can come himself. Do you understand, Monkey?"
"No."
"What!"
"It's a shame. Are you really nothing more than the chief of a gang of ignorant bandits?"
"Wha-what! How dare you!" Koroku jumped back up into the room, facing Tokichiro with a hand on the guard of his sword. "Monkey, say that again."
"Sit down."
"Shut up!"
“No, sit down. I have something to say to you."
"Hold your tongue!"
“No, I'm going to show you your own ignorance. I have something to teach you. Sit down!"
"You—"
Wait, Koroku. If you're going to kill me, this is the place, and you're the person to do it, so I don't suppose there's any reason to hurry. But if you cut me down, who's going teach you anything?"
“You-you're crazy!"
"Anyway, sit down. Come on, sit down. Put away your petty selfishness. What I want to tell you is not just about Lord Nobunaga and his relationship with the Hachisuka clan. It starts with the fact that you were both born in this country of Japan. According to you, Nobunaga is not the lord of this province. Now these are quite reasonable words, and I agree with you. But what I find impertinent is your claim that Hachisuka is your own domain. You're mistaken."
"How's that?"
"Any piece of land that is said to be personal property, whether it be Hachisuka or Owari, or any bay or inlet, or even a single clod of earth, is no longer a part of the Empire. Isn't that correct, Koroku?"
"Hm."
"With all due respect, to speak this way about His Imperial Majesty—the true owner of all land—no, to be standing over me, grasping a sword in front of me as I tell you this, is an act of the grossest disrespect, is it not? Even a commoner wouldn't behave that way, and you're the leader of three thousand ronin, aren't you? Sit down and listen!"