One by one, everyone left the room, until only Daichi and Jun remained. “Woman, why do you still cling to me?”
“I….I…..wanted to know what this shortcut was you were talking about.” Jun’s soft voice contrasted the roughness of the warrior’s.
Daichi sighed. “Well, to put it simply: The military politics of this land are fundamentally a bloody game of King of the Hill.”
“I don’t understand.”
“What is your name?”
She paused before answering, wondering if she should tell him. “Jun.”
“Well, Jun, the Shogun is supposed to be an unquestionable military authority. But, before things were as civil as they are now, being an ‘unquestionable military authority’ meant that everyone had to be either too respectful or too afraid of you to defy your will.”
“Y-y-you mean, the Shogun had to be the most powerful warrior, or else people wouldn’t follow him?”
“Yes that is it exactly. Now, if someone thought they were more powerful then the Shogun, they would prove it so……by killing the Shogun in fair combat. Whether you wage war, or fight one on one, or anything in between, if you killed the Shogun, you were the Shogun. And chances are nobody would fight you for decades until you weakened.”
“B-but that’s not true now is it?”
“Things have changed since then. Shoguns started surrendering their titles in exchange for their lives and properties. Then the whole King of the Hill game ended when one of the Shoguns admitted inferiority to the emperor, who has had a significant influence on who becomes the Shogun since then. Also, it is common for Shoguns to name heirs. But…….” Daichi stared at the wall blankly.
“But what?”
“Regardless of what the Emperor says, regardless of what the Shogun says, if Shogun Isamu Honma is killed by Okuri in fair combat, Okuri will unquestionably become the Shogun.”
