628
The Grand Plaza of Karatsu Castle.
Nabeshima banners rippled in the wind.
Hundreds of samurai and court officials filled the stone-paved square.
At the highest raised platform stood Park Seong-jin alone.
Behind him, the Goryeo warrior detachment held formation without the slightest tremor.
Their mere presence thinned the breath of Karatsu itself.
The wind paused.
Into that pause, Park Seong-jin's voice fell.
"Carry it out. Immediately."
The single command rolled beyond the platform.
It shook the keep, the corridors, the rooftops.
Silence came first.
A suffocating stillness among the bowed samurai.
Park Seong-jin spread his arm and pointed to the center of the plaza.
There lay Nabeshima Motonari, prostrate.
"He may have cast away his son."
Park Seong-jin's voice dropped a register.
"But to me, there is Nabeshima Motonari, who surrendered his country."
"From today, he is the lord of Karatsu."
"He shall inherit the title of daimyō."
The Karatsu officials collapsed first.
They bowed quickly—too quickly.
After them came the samurai.
Hundreds struck their foreheads to the stone in unison.
Steel armor and plated cuirasses crashed against the ground.
The roar shook the plaza.
It sounded less like loyalty,
and more like survival.
A senior Karatsu minister tore his voice upward.
"We receive your command—!!!"
Shouts followed in a wave.
"We shall serve Lord Motonari as our new master!"
"The land of Nabeshima shall follow the will of the Goryeo general!"
"We shall restore the soul of Hizen!"
In Goryeo terms, it was abdication.
In truth, it was the moment a conqueror's hand rearranged order.
Mototake bowed.
Not to his son.
To Park Seong-jin.
"I, Hizen Nabeshima Mototake."
"Hereby relinquish the authority of clan and domain to my son."
"And submit to the will of the General."
His voice trembled.
He could not lift his head properly.
When the words ended, the old order of Karatsu broke completely.
At the center of the plaza, Motonari slowly rose.
The scars on his knees—wounds taken on Iki Island—remained clear.
They looked like the very marks of Hizen's humiliation.
Park Seong-jin descended from the platform.
He grasped Motonari's shoulder.
Then he placed the sword hilt into his hand.
The samurai inhaled sharply.
The sword was not merely a weapon.
It was proof of the hand that held a clan's sovereignty.
Park Seong-jin spoke low.
"From this moment, you govern the lands I choose not to strike."
Then he raised his voice again.
"I hereby recognize Nabeshima Motonari as the lawful new lord of Hizen, Karatsu, Iki, and Nageshima!"
Motonari brought both hands together.
He bowed deeply to Park Seong-jin.
"O General of Goryeo."
"From this day forth, the soul of Hizen shall serve your will."
At that instant, wind howled across the keep.
Banners flipped.
Sunshades shook.
The plaza rang with mingled cries—submission tangled with despair.
Hizen was reorganized that day.
Reborn beneath the conqueror's feet.
The man who arrived as a discarded pawn became daimyō.
Mototake, who sacrificed his son to cling to power, lost his standing.
He now stood in a position where he had to curry favor with that very son.
On a raised platform atop the hill behind Karatsu's keep, overlooking the open sea.
After the dust of war settled, Park Seong-jin sat quietly.
Like a man resting for the first time in years.
The wind carried the chill of late winter.
The scent of the sea washed his breath clean.
Soon, Song Yijeong appeared with a tea set.
"Have a cup."
Park Seong-jin lifted the teacup.
Steam rose from the surface.
Warmth spread into his fingertips.
Song Yijeong asked,
"Did you expect it to turn out like this?"
Park Seong-jin laughed openly.
"I knew it wouldn't end with force alone."
"I figured some other measure would be necessary."
Song Yijeong smiled.
"You sound like someone who knows their nature well."
Park Seong-jin shook his head.
"This is my first time here."
"My first time dealing with them."
"Then where did you learn?" Song Yijeong asked.
Park Seong-jin set the cup down.
"People are the same everywhere."
He looked beyond the sea.
"Those who move by greed."
"Those who move by anger."
"Those who bow their heads out of fear."
"That clan had all three today."
Suddenly, he clapped once.
"Ah. Nearly forgot."
"Send a memorial request for credentials to Gaegyeong."
"Motonari's appointment."
"Jurisdiction over Karatsu."
"Iki Island administration."
"We should have sent it earlier. We're late."
Song Yijeong laughed.
"We'll need one more Yun Dam."
Park Seong-jin nodded.
"Yes."
"From Nangju to Tsushima."
"Izuhara."
"And now Iki as well."
"We're short on people if we're going to build a system."
He drew a deep breath.
"Hiyu."
"People matter most, yet no one bothers to raise them."
"I don't understand why no one actually makes people."
Song Yijeong smiled faintly.
"They don't know people matter."
"They follow anyone who says pleasing things to their ears."
Park Seong-jin tipped his chin toward Song Yijeong.
"We need scholars too."
"Wandering scholars?" Song Yijeong asked.
"Yes."
"A country doesn't run on martial skill alone."
"They mock lawmen and ritualists."
"But politics is done by people, in the end."
Song Yijeong nodded.
"True."
"They neglect their own foundations and cling to oddities."
"It's unreliable."
Park Seong-jin exhaled slowly.
"Hiyu."
"It'd be good to have more people."
"But with more people comes more work."
A subtle worry rose with the steam of the tea.
Song Yijeong spoke again.
"The new daimyō seemed solid."
"Young, loyal, and sharp."
Park Seong-jin narrowed his eyes.
He did not lift the cup.
"But it'll take time for him to rein in this castle's retainers," Song Yijeong continued.
"They served the previous generation."
"They won't acknowledge a son who was once discarded."
The wind paused again.
In that pause, the sounds inside the castle grew clearer.
Almost peaceful.
But both of them knew.
Peace wears its most dangerous face right after war.
"There will be another assassination attempt tonight," Song Yijeong added.
Park Seong-jin nodded.
"I told them to prepare already."
"Two men per post," Song Yijeong replied.
Park Seong-jin waited for the tea to steep.
Then he took a sip.
The sea breeze brushed his sleeves.
"There will be more work now."
Song Yijeong smiled gently.
"Yes."
"Now the real war begins."
Park Seong-jin turned his head.
"The mainland?"
Song Yijeong chuckled, shoulders shaking.
"Heh."
"We should give them a surprise."
"The pirates will be pirated."
Park Seong-jin laughed softly as well.