piratejournal | 002. voice

[Mitsunari's voice may not be a familiar one as he uses the journal so infrequently. Today he's actually bothering with it because he's realized there's a practical, productive use he can get out of the darn thing. What is that, you ask?

He can spread propaganda for a dead guy!]

"Hideyoshi Toyotomi."

If you have never before heard this name--my lord's name--commit it to memory immediately. You are no longer allowed to claim ignorance of his existence.

Lord Hideyoshi was an exemplary person. A paragon! His noble ambition was to unify the Land of the Rising Sun once and for all! Though his life was cruelly extinguished by Ieyasu Tokugawa, I am speaking now to ensure that his memory persists.

When you hear that name, understand that it commands respect! Know it belonged to a man whose magnificence will never, in all of time, be matched by another!

...

And if you are aware of my lord's works and still choose not to acknowledge his greatness, know that your behavior is absolutely unconscionable!

[So! ...Any questions?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Now there's a question that brings back memories, good and bad.]

He saved me. I devoted every fiber of my being to him in return.

[Such a noble beginning...]

Was it very long ago?

Yes. And though it has been years, my recollection of that day has not faded at all.

I will always cherish that meeting.

[He can't help sounding this wistful when he thinks about Hideyoshi.]

I understand the sentiment well.

[It is far too easy for her to sympathise, lonely as she has been; his loyalty strikes a chord with her own.]

His Majesty was only a regional warlord when I joined his army, but I knew that he would ascend to heights unmatched by every other man vying for rule. His ambition and brilliance left an immediate and lasting impression... I felt that he would reshape our country, as it desperately needed.

[He's never easily accepted the idea of others sharing his sentiments, always convinced that they do not understand as well as they claim to... but he can't deny her words ring true.]

Who was this man you served?

[He'll never accept another as a match for Hideyoshi, but loyalty in and of itself is not a trait he will condemn. Better that than the alternative.]

[She speaks with pride and reverence.]

The Wei Emperor, Cao Cao.

[As far as lords go, one could do worse than to serve under Cao Cao. He doesn't share her admiration, but he's no fool, and he can see where she's coming from. His response is really just a vague sound of acknowledgement, but by Mitsunari's standards it may as well be a glowing endorsement.

It interests him that she evidently met Cao Cao before he became the figure Mitsunari--and everyone else--remembered him as. If she could tell even then that he was destined for success...]

I believe... had you met Lord Hideyoshi, you would have recognized his worth.

[There were many who could not see in Hideyoshi what Mitsunari thought was obvious, and as far as Mitsunari was concerned it was a character flaw of theirs rather than an issue on Hideyoshi's end. It sounds to him like Xun Yu does not possess this character flaw.]

Your loyalty and discipline are testament to the kind of leader he was, I'm sure.

[She means it sincerely.]

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