Yusuke Santamaria

Provincial lord of the Arioka Castle, Murashige Araki, rebels against tyrannical despot Oda Nobunaga, and makes a stand at his stronghold castle. He decides to take siege but is subsequently surrounded by Oda's forces, leaving its denizens isolated and in need of allies. With the sensitive support of his wife Chiyoho, Murashige struggles to keep his hot-blooded retainers in check, while also protecting the castle and its people. One day, a young samurai is murdered within the fortress with the mysterious killer unknown. A succession of bizarre incidents follows. The suspects are Murashige's close retainers and the people inside the Arioka Castle's land. Outside, enemy troops lie in wait. Inside, traitors lie to conceal themselves. As suspicion runs rampant, Murashige seeks the help of a prisoner in his dungeon—dangerous master tactician Kanbei Kuroda—to solve the mysteries.

In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events.