Chapter 264: By the Candlelight

By the candlelight, a few days out from Imagawa Yoshimoto's beloved castle, Gengyo sat, quill in hand, studying a map. He would stare at it for a while, before his hand would dart across the page, and he would etch a series of characters, making notes. He wanted knowledge of every bit of useable farmland and notable settlement in all of Mikawa.

As he worked, his unreasonable hopes for consolidation lay in Imagawa's supposed incompetence. He prayed that the man – in all his wisdom – had neglected to truly see to his land, and had overlooked certain valuable nuggets in the process. Nuggets that would be of use in the weeks to come. Of course, he knew the folly in such hopes, for there were plenty of competent – and greedy – officials under him.