Who are you? 】

[Oh, you don't know me yet, haha, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Akechi Kogoro Gen Nobumitsu, and I am a military advisor next to Uesugi Echigo Mamoru Mori. 】

[So you're the wise Kogoro...... Hum! Are you here to persuade me to surrender? Bah! Stop dreaming! I'm not going to surrender! 】

Ita gritted his teeth with hatred, and his face was hideous, and Wise Kogoro estimated that if it weren't for his hands tied, this guy would definitely pounce and eat himself in one bite.

[Haha, Lord Fujigoro is so funny, do you think I'm really here to persuade you to surrender? 】

[Hmph! Isn't it? 】

Seeing his arrogant and disdainful appearance, Wise Kogoro frowned, he still looked like this after losing the battle, with the virtue of [Heavenly King Lao Tzu first, I second], it is really annoying, he doesn't care about the feelings of the people around him when he speaks and acts, he only cares about whether he is happy or not, no wonder this guy has offended all the people of the Date family in history.

[So, Lord Fujigoro, since you feel that you are about to be persuaded by me, then please tell me, what are the characteristics of you that attract me that deserve me to come and persuade you to join me? 】

【……】

Ita was stunned for a moment, wasn't the person in front of him for this?

Are you putting me to death? Then I've already come to my senses! 】

[Alas......]

I covered my eyes and forehead with my left hand, making a look of "this person is too 2B, and I don't know where to complain at all", and sighed leisurely.

[Even if you are ready to realize this, I am not mentally prepared yet...... Don't worry, I'm not here to persuade you to surrender or to kill you, but to give you a word of notice and put you back in a few days. 】

Itami had already put on an awe-inspiring expression that looked at death as if he were at home, and when he heard that Wise Kogoro didn't kill him, his tense nerves immediately relaxed for a hundred years.

[You really don't kill me? 】

[If you want to die now, I can order someone to cut off your head right away!] 】

【You!! 】

[Okay, it's boring to always talk about these irrelevant topics, it's noon, let's have lunch!] …… By the way, you come and let go of Fujigoro-sama's hands, I don't want to feed him one bite at a time. 】

Seeing that Itami finally replaced the attitude of not being good at the beginning, Wise Kogoro also breathed a sigh of relief, this kid is really too difficult to make people feel uneasy, I really don't know how such an [unhappy] guy has gotten along with a guy like Date Masamune who has not been very good-tempered for most of his life in history.

Ita has been tied up for more than twelve hours, and his hands and arms are too numb to move. After the flag on the side loosened his rope, it took him a full seven or eight minutes, from moving his fingers slightly at first, then shaking his arms sharply, and finally making sure that his hands were fully regained before he showed a hint of a smile.

It was around this time that the subordinates brought the food and drinks, and because of the victory in the battle, the elated Uesugi Keihu made an exception to allow the people in the barracks to drink some wine, and the atmosphere in the various barracks was jubilant, as if it was the New Year.

【Come!】 Lord Fujigoro, don't be there by yourself, let's have a drink of two, this is a good wine for some years...... Well, it smells good! 】

Although Wise Kogoro was very enthusiastic and even took the initiative to pour a glass of wine for this little ghost, the latter didn't seem to appreciate it very much, but looked at Wise Kogoro with strange eyes, and didn't look like he wanted to drink at all.

What a clever man Kogoro was, he immediately guessed what Itami was thinking--this guy was worried that he was poisoning the wine!

Pouted, the opinion of Ita in his heart was lower, this guy's mind is inevitably too simple, if he really wants his life, he can come up with a random method to come out, and can he still use the disgraceful means of poisoning?

But he didn't bother to explain anything, he was polite enough to Ida today, if this kid didn't appreciate it again, it would be shameless for the two of them, and he couldn't lower his posture again.

He picked up the wine glass, regardless of Ita's expression, took a sip, sighed twice in his mouth, then picked up his chopsticks and ate a mouthful of food.

Ita really saw that he had nothing to do after eating and drinking, and he was still not very relieved, after all, Japan was different from the Ming Dynasty, and they ate separately. But at this time, I suddenly heard Wise Kogoro say:

[What a disappointment, Lord Fujigoro, I thought you were a fearless person. 】

[What do you mean?! 】

[It's not interesting, I just think that if it was Katakura Kojuro Keixuna-sama sitting across from me, he would have drunk this glass of wine very happily, and praised the mellowness of this glass of wine loudly, and then took the initiative to pour me a glass too.] 】

[Do you know Kojuro? 】

[Of course, the previous peace talks were completed by him...... He was a powerful samurai, and no matter how hard I tried to make things difficult for Naoe, he didn't have a trace of anger, and always spoke to us in a polite tone. 】

[Kojuro has always been so good-tempered, which is really admirable. 】

Ita nodded truthfully, and he also admitted that he was far from catching up with the old Katakura Jingzuna in terms of emotional control and grasping the proportion of things.

[But it's a pity.] 】

[What's wrong?] 】

Ita couldn't help but ask.

[To be honest, among my retainers, some are good at charging into battle, some are good at overall planning, and some are good at careful planning, but there are no talents like Katakura-sama who are both civil and military, and if such a person can be used by me, it would be great. 】

[For you?] Do you want to hire Kojuro? 】

Ita's eyes tightened, he knew that Katakura Keixuna was indeed very talented, but he didn't expect his talent to be so great that even the wise Kogoro, who was an outsider, knew it.

Attention was all attracted, and he even forgot to ask the question of why Wise Kogoro thought that Katakura Keixuna was both civil and military. I just want to know what the latter is.

[Yes, Katakura-sama is talented, he should have a place where he can display his talents, it's too wasteful for him to stay in the remote Okuba, and I also heard that because of his low background, the old ministers in the Date family are very squeezed out of him. 】

[It's true that he's arranged...... Wait a minute! What does all this have to do with you?! Don't think about digging the foot of the wall from Date's house, Kojuro won't betray Date's family casually! 】

[I know this, that's why I feel sorry for him...... Well, with all that said, you're still not going to drink my wine? 】

Without hesitation, Ida took a sip of his glass, then refilled himself with a glass.

Wise Kogoro was not surprised at all, and even a little proud in his heart, he had already figured out Ita's inner thoughts, the other party seemed to be fearless on the surface, but in fact he still had some scruples, but a momentum of not admitting defeat was supporting his every move -- he proved to Wise Kogoro that he would not lose to Katakura Kojuro, and when the latter could do it, he could do it himself.

【Wise Little ...... Wise sir, are you really not going to kill me? And you're going to put me back? Won't you regret it? 】

This time, it was Idami's turn to speak first, and he finally couldn't help but ask the question he was most concerned about. It seems that he still has a lot of scruples about the wise Kogoro in front of him.

Wise Kogoro already had chopsticks to hold a piece of burdock on the plate, but when he heard him get down to business, he had to put down his chopsticks -- there was no way, he was taught by his father to be strict about the family rules set by his father back then, and he was not allowed to discuss official business during meals, and even if he had to say it, he needed to stop eating, put down the dishes and chopsticks, sit upright, and speak solemnly.

Although Akechi Mitsuhide has retired and left Akechi's house for quite some time, his harsh teachings to his son still haunt Akechi Kogoro, who still maintains a code of conduct that he doesn't know whether to applaud or say pedantic.

What he said to Ita before can be regarded as small talk, after all, the two didn't talk seriously about official business, but just talked about their views on Kojuro Katakura. But then, Wise Kogoro decided to talk well.

Under the influence of Wise Kogoro, Itami was no longer inconvenient to eat and drink, so he had to change to the same posture and expression as Wise Kogoro.

[Lord Fujigoro, you can rest assured, regarding your personal safety, I and Uesugi Echigomori-samaru can fully guarantee your personal safety, and your other generals at all levels who have been captured by us, that is, your colleagues, can also be guaranteed their lives, we will strictly supervise the soldiers and generals to prevent them from having any bad intentions towards you, just stay in our camp for a few days, at most five or six days, Lord Date Misakumori will send someone to take you back. 】

[This is true, not only will you not kill us, but you will generously let the lord take us back? 】

[Yes.] 】

[Then I'm strange, people who march and fight, all they want is interests, you are so good to us, what do you want? …… By the way, I figured it out, you want to demand the ransom that the lord needs to pay when he takes us away, right? 】