piratejournal | First Contract ¤ Audio [Forward dated to after agreeing to join with Motochika]

[The silence is broken by the sound of three gunshots fired in quick succession, far quicker than should be possible with beginning of the 17th century technology, at least with only one gun. After a moment, a woman speaks.]

Hear us now! We are the Saika Faction! The red bell rings. The pact we have made shall be known to all! Let it toll! Let the bell call out across the land!

[Some time between her arrival and this entry, Saika must have somehow managed to get her hands on an appropriate bell, because it rings for a few moments before she addresses the journal again.]

I am the Magoichi Saika, leader of the glorious Saika Faction. For those of you that have not heard of us, we are the finest mercenaries of our land and time, one that we share with the likes of Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida. We are here to announce our alliance with Motochika Chōsokabe and the crew of the Katabami until such a time as our contract has been broken or expires. Should there be any other members of the Saika out there, resolve the matter of your own contracts and come here when you are able. That is all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thank you... And in turn, I shall keep myself aware of any of your group I should happen across. The Saika Faction, as you called them?

Yes, that's us. I appreciate it. [There's just one thing, if she's really going to look.] Should you encounter them, could you tell them that I am the third Magoichi Saika? There might be some confusion if they are from an earlier or later time period than I am.

Hmm... I must confess, I haven't heard of your group until now.

Then it is unlike that any of the others are here. We take much pride in our reputation in our skill and efficiency, and we wouldn't refrain from reestablishing that unless we wanted the anonymity. In any case, do not let it trouble you.

And yet still I find myself curious. I missed most of our nation's history due to being sealed away in my Prince's mausoleum. I'd like to know more about your group.

Very well, I have no qualms of passing down our history, though I'm afraid there is little to tell that would seem significant to outsiders.

The original Magoichi Saika was a wandering mercenary. He was an early adopter of arquebuses and he took pride in how his lifestyle allowed him to travel the world and help whoever he chose. His skills and charisma eventually gained him a following among like-minded individuals, and thus the Saika Faction was born. Unfortunately, by this time Magoichi was an old man. He passed his name and position on to a man he'd been apprenticing for some time and soon died of natural causes.

The second Magoichi was... [She pauses for a moment, trying not to let the memories overwhelm her.] ... he was a very honorable man. Though he too valued his freedom over all else, anything he agreed to do may as well have already happened. It was under him that the Saika flourished and gained our reputation. It was also under him that I learned the ways of war. Those days... were our most peaceful. We did not go into battle as often, as the leaders of the many provinces were not as ambitious, not as inclined to turn to their armies on a whim to expand their territory. Or perhaps it didn't really change and it only seems that way to me, since I did not have as many responsibilities back then.

In any case, those halcyon days did not last. The Demon King, Nobunaga Oda, rose to power and began to spread his militarism over the land. We were contacted by a man named Kennyo Hongan-ji, the head of the temple at Ishiyama Hongan-ji. Though that man was... well, calling him a corrupt monk would be putting it lightly, our leader was a devout Buddhist and agreed to a contract with him. It was of no use, though. Even we could not stand up to the Demon King, and in the siege, both our leader and Kennyo were killed.

After a period of mourning, I took on the name of Magoichi and began to reconstruct our forces. Our reputation had suffered with our loss, and we were forced to take jobs we would not even look at before. But we endured and were rewarded for our patience with a contract with Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who filled the power vacuum after the death of the Demon King at the hands of his mad dog, Mitsuhide Akechi, who himself was killed by Hideyoshi's forces. We worked with him until he broke the terms of our contract. We wandered for a bit, during which Hideyoshi was betrayed and killed by Ieyasu Tokugawa, and we only did small jobs until we received offers of alliance from both Ieyasu and the remnants of Hideyoshi's forces, led by Mitsunari Ishida. We chose Ieyasu and worked to gain him other alliances until the time came for him to battle Mitsunari at Sekigahara.

After this came events that I can only call surreal, in retrospect. We received reports of the remnants of Nobunaga's forces gathering in Kanegasaki. In order to prevent them to from interfering with Sekigahara, we went there to disperse them. There we found the Demon King's sister, Oichi, and a monk who'd been advising Hideaki Kobayakawa, Tenkai. Tenkai killed her, saying her blood would resurrect the Demon King. Though we killed him, we were unable to prevent him from coming back. We chased him to Honnō-ji and sent him back to his eternal slumber. I cannot say what happened after that, as I was brought here after the battle.

-That... was an awful lot to take in. But she recognized a few of the names. She spoke of the Sengoku period, something she had read about as closely as she could in the modern world. Though the history books deviated quite a bit from her tails... but some things stood out, regardless.

Namely, the fact that this was a Buddhist before her, which made her Tojiko's enemy by default. And also that a bloodrite had been used in what sounded like a Shikaisen ritual, meaning her prince and her colleague were not the only ones to receive an immortal body in history, presenting another possible threat...

She didn't reveal either, and spoke calmly.-

I see. That was quite enlightening.

[If there's anything Magoichi would infodump, it's the history of the glorious Saika Faction. History is its own kind of immortality, after all, remembered and passed down through the ages.]

Our story is perhaps not the best one to hear if you wish to know of the country's history, though. Even among those I recognize from home, the events leading up to Sekigahara vary, sometimes greatly, and that is not considering those that share our names but not our appearances or personal histories. You may consider getting the story from someone else, for what they tell may be more consistent with the history of your own world.

I can understand that. After all, it has gone down in history that my Prince was a man. -... What?-

If your method of referring to her is the most common, I think I can understand the confusion. Nevertheless, that is a shame, to be be remembered wrongly.

[The idea doesn't strike her as terribly strange, though. Her counterpart from Chōsokabe's world is a man, too.]

Well... Yes. As far as the public at large, at the time, was concerned, she was a "man". But I had hoped by the time of her resurrection, the world would be a little less, what's the word...

Sexist.

You would think, wouldn't you? In my experience, though, the world only moves forward when it's being dragged.

[Then the rest of her words register in her mind.]

Hold a moment. Did you just say she was resurrected?

[Considering the Oda family came from demonic stock, she hopes she hasn't just told her faction's history to one who might use it for... nefarious purposes.]

Yes, as a shikaisen. A Taoist Hermit, to put it in simple terms.

First Contract ¤ Audio [Forward dated to after agreeing to join with Motochika]

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