The Secret Plan: Not a Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, but a Night Parade of Giant Preta

[The Desert East of Hiratsuka]

In the Awa army, Hosokawa Minbu-no-shō, Miyoshi Moku-no-kami, Satomi Uma-no-kami, and Unakami Tenzen of Sō were holding a council of war.

"So at last we march into enemy territory. Now then, Minbu-no-shō-dono, we're not stopping at Hiratsuka?"

Satomi Uma-no-kami asked. His dog-warriors were dog-beastfolk, but Uma-no-kami himself was a middle-aged human man.

"Uma-no-kami-dono, Musashi stands to profit most from that dungeon, so there's the danger that ninja and the like will work mischief against us. On top of that, calling at Hiratsuka means fording the dry valley twice over. The footing is poor, so a host this large would lose time to it, and we can't rule out a flash flood should rain fall up in the Land of Ke."

Hosokawa Minbu-no-shō answered. A somewhat tall, elderly man, his head gone quite white.

"As for the Satomi house, we merely wish to subjugate a dungeon rich in water. If Musashi or anyone else means to assert vested rights, that's another matter, but if no one is subjugating it, there's no reason it shouldn't become Satomi property."

"Not Satomi's, but Awa's. If the Satomi alone gain in strength, my own house of Miyoshi falls at a disadvantage."

Miyoshi Moku-no-kami was a middle-aged woman with very much the air of a woman-warrior. Her red-armored troops were tanuki, but Moku-no-kami did not have a tanuki's face.

"Now, now, you two. There's no point counting the pelts of tanuki not yet caught. No, I don't mean Moku-no-kami-dono's red-armored tanuki. I'm told that here at Hiratsuka, Minbu-no-shō-dono would unveil his secret plan. A strategy by which we could win even without the dog-warrior corps or the red-armored troops, against the very dungeon that swatted aside that Tsukuba Naiyaku-no-jō."

Unakami Tenzen, who stepped in to mediate, was an elderly shrine maiden. Of these four, probably the eldest.

"Ah, the secret plan, yes. It is the 'Night Parade of Giant Preta.'"

"Eh? The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons is no use to us this time. Even Minbu-no-shō-dono knows full well that my red-armored troops cannot transform while on a foreign campaign."

Miyoshi Moku-no-kami's red-armored troops were tanuki, but for tanuki to transform and stage a Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, a dungeon's power was needed. Naturally, it could not be used in enemy territory.

"Not the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, but a Night Parade of Giant Preta. A dungeon is bound to have traps. Against a tower-type dungeon with ramparts and moats that makes heavy use of pit traps, Preta are effective. That's why, this time, I called in every Preta I could from the lands west of Sumō, from Ide and the countries beyond. The dog-warrior corps and the red-armored troops are a powerful force, but they're a poor match for this dungeon; on their own they lack both the staying power to defend and the strength to land the decisive blow."

"It's a wonder Sumō let them through. There's a barrier on the western side of Sumō, and slipping past it should be no easy thing."

Unakami Tenzen was impressed.

"We detoured through the desert region south of Sumō. Preta can keep active for days on end with no need to eat or drink. We resupplied with the liquor Uma-no-kami-dono had readied for us at the southwest corner of Sō, then passed through the desert between Musashi and Sō. That's how we managed to bring the Preta this far unmolested."

"So that's what the liquor was for. I'd wondered why there was so much of it. And how do you mean to use the Preta?"

"When a pit trap is found, the Preta link their arms and legs together on the ground to form footing, and everyone other than the Preta (the dog-warrior corps, the red-armored troops, and the rest) moves across the top of them. The Preta they've passed over then advance to the front and cover the ground again. In this way, the pit traps can be avoided. This is what we call 'endless track.'"

In short, something like an army-ant bridge. There were no army ants in this region, mind you. Not unless it was a pest dungeon.

"I knew the tactic of building a siege tower out of Preta to cross moats and earthworks, but…"

Miyoshi Moku-no-kami was impressed.

"Indeed, fierce as my dog-warrior corps may be, they are weak against traps. I see. So the Preta make up for the dog-warriors' weakness."

Satomi Uma-no-kami finally grasped the intent behind Hosokawa Minbu-no-shō's pouring of vast sums of coin into scraping together hordes of mercenaries when he already possessed a powerful dog-warrior corps.

"Used well, the Preta are powerful. And this time, what's more, there are a hundred thousand of them. Among the Asura there are those who loathe the Preta for no reason at all, but this time there are no Asura in our host, so there's no trouble on that score."