"Ah, that's right. I forgot something," Hideyoshi said, as if he had suddenly remembered. "I should congratulate you. Being awarded the province of Tamba should make you happy for a while. But I think it's natural after so many years of devoted service. I pray that this marks the beginning of better fortune for you, and that you prosper for many years to come."

"No, all of His Lordship's favors are honors beyond my station." Mitsuhide always returned courtesy for courtesy with great seriousness. But then he continued. "Even though I've been granted a province, it used to be held by the former shogun, and even now there are a good number of powerful local clans who have shut themselves in be­hind their walls and are refusing to submit to my authority. So congratulations are a lit­tle premature."

"No, no, you're too modest," Hideyoshi protested. "As soon as you moved into Tamba with Hosokawa Fujitaka and his son, the Kameyama clan capitulated, so you've already had results, haven't you? I observed with interest the way you took Kameyama, and even His Lordship praised you for the skill with which you subjugated the enemy and took the castle without losing a single man."

"Kameyama was just the beginning. The real difficulties are yet to come."

"Life is worth living only when we have difficulties in front of us. Otherwise there's no incentive. And nothing could be sweeter than having restored peace to a new domain given to you by His Lordship and governing it well. Why, you'll be master there yourself and able to do anything you like," Hideyoshi said.

Suddenly both men felt that this chance meeting had lasted much too long.

"Well, until we meet again," Mitsuhide said.

"Wait just a minute," Hideyoshi said, and suddenly changed the subject. "You're a learned man, so perhaps you'll know this. Among the castles in Japan right now, how many have donjons, and in which provinces are they?"

"The castle of Satomi Yoshihiro, at Tateyama in the province of Awa, has a three-story donjon that can be seen from the sea. Also, at Yamaguchi in the province of Suo, Ouchi Yoshioki built a four-story donjon at his main castle. It is probably the most imposing in all of Japan."

"Only those two?"

"As far as I know. But why are you asking about this now?"

"Well, today I was with His Lordship, talking about various castle designs, and Master Mori was eagerly explaining the advantages of donjons. He strongly advocated including one in the design of the castle that Lord Nobunaga will be building at Azuchi."

"Huh? Which Master Mori?"

"His Lordship's page, Ranmaru."

Mitsuhide's brow furrowed for a moment. "Are you a bit doubtful about this?"

"Not especially."

Mitsuhide's face quickly returned to a nonchalant expression, and he changed the subject and chatted for a few minutes. He finally excused himself and hurried off toward the interior of the palace.

"Lord Hideyoshi! Lord Hideyoshi!"

The great corridor of the Nijo Palace was busy with people coming and going to visit Lord Nobunaga. Again, someone called.

“Well, Reverend Asayama," Hideyoshi said as he turned around with a smile.

Asayama Nichijo was an uncommonly ugly man. Araki Murashige, one of Nobunaga's generals, was noted for his ugliness, but at least he had a certain charm. Asayama, on the other hand, was only an oily-looking priest. He approached Hideyoshi and quickly lowered his voice as though he were privy to some important matter.

"Lord Hideyoshi?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"You seemed to be having a confidential discussion with Lord Mitsuhide just now."

"Confidential discussion?" Hideyoshi laughed. "Is this the place for a confidential discussion?"

"When Lord Hideyoshi and Lord Mitsuhide whisper for a long time in the corridors of Nijo Palace, people are going to be startled."

"Surely not."

"No, absolutely!"

"Is Your Reverence a little drunk too?"

"Quite a bit. I drank too much. But really, you should be more careful."

"You mean with sake?"

"Don't be a fool. I'm cautioning you to be more discreet about being on familiar terms with Mitsuhide."

"Why?"

"He's a little too intelligent."

"Why, everybody says that you're the most intelligent man in Japan today."

"Me? No, I'm much too slow," the priest demurred.

"By no means," Hideyoshi assured him. "Your Reverence is quite knowledgeable in just about everything. The samurai's weakest points are in his dealings with the nobility or with powerful merchants, but no one surpasses you in shrewdness among the men of the Oda clan. Why, even Lord Katsuie is quite awestruck by your talents."

"But on the other hand, I've achieved no military exploits at all."

"In the construction of the Imperial Palace, in the administration of the capital, in various financial affairs, you have shown an uncanny genius."

"Are you praising or disparaging me?"

"Well now, you are both a prodigy and a good-for-nothing in the samurai class, and speaking honestly, I will both praise you and disparage you."

"I'm no match for you." Asayama laughed aloud, showing the gaps where he had lost two or three of his teeth. Though Asayama was much older than Hideyoshi—old enough to be his father—he thought of Hideyoshi as his senior.

Asayama could not accept Mitsuhide so easily. He recognized that Mitsuhide was intelligent, but he was unnerved by Mitsuhide's dry wit.

"I was thinking that it was just my own imagination," Asayama said, "but recently a person famous for discerning men's personalities from their features has expressed the same opinion."

"A physiognomist has made some sort of judgment about Mitsuhide?"

"He's not a physiognomist. Abbot Ekei is one of the most profound scholars of the age. He told me this in the utmost secrecy."

"Told you what?"

"That Mitsuhide has the look of a wise man who could drown in his own wisdom. Moreover, there are evil signs that he will supplant his own lord."

"Asayama."

"What?"

"You're not going to enjoy your old age if you let things like that out of your mouth,” Hideyoshi said sharply. "I've heard that Your Reverence is a shrewd politician, but I suspect that a political hobby should not be pushed as far as spreading such talk about one of His Lordship's retainers."

*    *    *

The pages had spread out a large map of Omi in the wide room.

"Here's the inner section of Lake Biwa!" one said.

"There's the Sojitsu Temple! And the Joraku Temple!" another exclaimed.

The pages sat together on one side and craned their necks to look, just like baby swallows. Ranmaru separated himself from the group and sat modestly on his own. He was not yet twenty, but he had long passed the age of a man's coming-of-age ceremony. If his forelock had been shaved, he would have had the appearance of a fine young samurai

"You just stay the way you are," Nobunaga had said. "I want you as a page, no matter how old you get."

Ranmaru could compete with other boys in terms of grace, and his topknot and silk garments were those of a child.

Nobunaga studied the map carefully. "It's well drawn." he said. "It's even more accurate than our military maps. Ranmaru, How did you come up with such a detailed map in such a short time?"

"My mother, who is now in holy orders, knew that there was a map in the secret storehouse of a certain temple."

Ranmaru's mother, who had taken the name Myoko when she had become a nun, was the widow of Mori Yoshinari. Her five sons had been taken in by Nobunaga as retainers. Ranmaru's two younger brothers, Bomaru and Rikimaru, were also pages. Everyone said that there was very little similarity among them. It wasn't that his brothers were dull children, but that Ranmaru was outstanding. And this was not just in the eyes of Nobunaga, whose affection for him was unending. It was obvious to anyone who saw him that Ranmaru's intelligence stood far above that of the others. When he frequented the generals of the field staff or the senior retainers, he was never treated like a child, regardless of his clothes.