User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater ∂: Those Who Change History, chapter 3


 * ONE YEAR LATER::

“These are your orders,” came a booming male voice at the head of a large chamber. “Our contracts have been finalized, and your assignments have been decided. Each of you will travel to and work under the individuals mentioned here.”

Before the man stood a number of dark-clad individuals, each with visors obscuring their faces and a sinister sheathed black blade in their left hands.

“Uesugi and Toyotomi, come forward.”

Two of the men in the array of soldiers removed their visors and stepped forward. Both were young, no older than twenty in terms of appearance, but their expressions belied peerless experience in fighting mighty foes.

The younger one saluted in the manner of his organization, holding out his sheathed blade horizontally before twisting his wrist so the blade was vertical and bringing his hand holding the blade against his chest. “Sir! Toyotomi Hideyoshi will serve to the best of his ability!”

The man at the head of the room glanced at a scroll in his hand. “Toyotomi Hideyoshi,” he began, “You will travel to Kiyosu and serve under lord Oda Nobunaga.”

Hideyoshi nodded in acknowledgement. At this point, the second man stepped forward and saluted similarly.

“Sir!” the second man, who appeared a year or two older than Hideyoshi, exclaimed. “Uesugi Kenshin will serve to the best of his ability!”

“You, Uesugi Kenshin,” the man in charge stated, glancing at his scroll once more, “will travel to Suruga and serve under lord Takeda Shingen.”  The one called Kenshin nodded in acknowledgement.

The man looked up to address all the soldiers in the room with a booming voice. “Over the past year, the beasts known as Aragami have ravaged our land and taken many lives. But we, the Kamigui, rose up to fight them. With our forging techniques, we were able to craft for ourselves the means to fight back against the Aragami. The blades you hold in your hands are called God Arcs and are just as much Aragami as they are steel — but in this form, they bow to your will. Use them well to fight the Aragami under your assigned masters. Understood? Now, dismissed!”

The Kamigui agents gathered in the room dispersed, with Kenshin and Hideyoshi leaving to make preparations to travel to their respective destinations. As a mercenary organization, it was the job of the Kamigui to serve as bodyguards against the Aragami to those who were willing to pay for their services, but as the Kamigui were the only ones with the means to fight against the Aragami, their services were considered essential and were employed by both warlords and small villages alike — anyone could hire a Kamigui agent as long as they had enough money.

And now, two of the age’s most powerful warlords had contracted the Kamigui for a single agent each.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi would travel to Kiyosu, in the province of Aichi, to serve under Oda Nobunaga, who sought to unify the land.

Uesugi Kenshin would travel to the province of Suruga to serve under Takeda Shingen, who led the forces seeking to halt Nobunaga’s ambitions.

As for where these two men’s journeys would take them… only history could tell.

TO BE CONTINUED