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Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 7

At the south of Mount Inaba, the town acts as the first defense line against the invading army of the Owari province.

The most important feature of Kinkazan and Mount Inaba is their very steep slopes. In terms of the difficulty of traversing them, they can be easily compared to Mount Hiei in Kyoto.

「This castle has excellent geographical advantages. From the viewpoint of an Onmyouji, the Inabayama Castle is fit to be the fortress of kings. Thinking of it this way, I can understand why Viper-dono and Oda Nobuna, who both have ambitions of conquering the entire world, would want to conquer this place so desperately. 」

The one talking to Takenaka Hanbei’s new retainers and sharing her thoughts on Inabayama as an Onmyouji while acting as a tour guide at the same time was Hanbei herself.

Hanbei was lightly clothed to the point of not even wearing and shoes on her feet, and was adorned in her trademark silk-like clothing. When Yoshiharu asked her about why is she not wearing anything on her feet, she simply answered:

「Because shoes are heavy and make my feet hurt, *SOB!* 」

Hanbei was riding a horse, though it would probably be more fitting to call her mount a donkey instead, because it was just too small to be grouped up with regular horses. She was straddling it in a sideways posture with her legs placed closely to one another, giving her a look of a distinguished lady from the upper echelons of society. And once more, when she was asked why didn’t she get herself a bigger horse, she answered:

「Because big horses are scary! *SOB!*」

「No matter how delicate you are, as a warrior, it’s should be embarrassing to be riding your horse like this. 」

Yoshiharu mumbles while holding the reins of Hanbei’s mount.

「Hanbei-chan, what do you mean by excellent geographical advantages? 」

「Uhm… what I meant is that If there is no river close to the town, the town won’t be able to flourish for long due to water supply issues. Similarly, if there are no mountains close by, it will increase the difficulty of defending your territories. So for any fortress fit for the kings and rulers, it must be a place with nearby rivers and mountains. 」

「I see, as expected of a master of Onmyoudo, which is actually a knowledge which focuses heavily on feng shui. 」

Yoshiharu nodded and agreed with what Hanbei said.

It was still a bit hard for him to accept everything about her because of how ridiculous both of her familiars, Zenki and Goki, were. Yoshiharu even thought that all of this might just be another illusion conjured by Hanbei, but if that was the case, then the marks from Zenki’s claws and fangs on his neck would become an unsolvable mystery, since illusions shouldn’t be able to bring physical harm to humans.

「Ah! I’m really sorry for yes…yesterday. I’m already reflecting on my actions! I mean it! 」

After glancing at the bandages around Yoshiharu’s neck, Takenaka Hanbei bowed down to him deeply and apologized for the behavior or of her familiars. As she was doing so, Yoshiharu kept wandering who was the master and who was the servant here.

「I…I…I have a history of being bullied by others… w-which made me become a little bit of a masochist… 」

「Oh, I see! So Hanbei-chan is masochist…. Ehhhhhh!? 」

「Ah! I’m sorry, sorry, sorry for being a filthy masochist! *SOB!* 」

Looking at Yoshiharu’s extremely alarmed face, Inuchiyo proceeded to explain that in the Mino province, being masochistic was considered the same thing as being introverted.

「Ah, now I get it. So because you were bullied, you became an introvert, huh? 」
「Yes. That’s why I had to see if you people would bully me once you get angry during our first meeting, because I’m chronically afraid of strangers… *SOB!*」

「Well damn…but really, a masochist?! 」

「It’s ‘introvert’ in Mino, not masochistic. 」

Inuchiyo stressed once again

「Have you misheard it so perversely on purpose, Yoshiharu-san? 」

「Is…Is it!? Oh, it’s a small thing actually! But even if you were a masochist, that would be no problem for me because you’re so cute, Hanbei-chan! 」

Yoshiharu replied.

「Y-Yoshiharu-dono, does… does that mean that you’re planning to bully me harshly?! You want to gather all of my retainers in one place so that you could all bully me and push me around?!! *SOBSOBSOB!* 」

「Push? It’s not a sumo contest! And no, it’s not like that at all! 」

「I’m wrong? Are you angry at me?! 」

「I’m not. But Hanbei-chan, since you have not been under the Saitou-clan until now, don’t tell me there is a very terrifying person resising in Inabayama Castle now. 」

「The previous head of the Saito clan, Viper-sama, was a very, very, very, very scary person! *SOBSOBSOB!*」

「I see. Yeah, that geezer seems scary alright. 」

「The new head of the clan, Saito Yoshitatsu-sama is much better compared to Viper-sama, but such a tall and big man as him is still scary. 」

「Maybe you shouldn’t get so hung up on people’s appearances alone? 」

「I’m sorry! Are you going to bully me? 」

「Who said anything about bullying you!? Hanbei-chan, you should be afraid of going onto the battlefield, not people bullying you. To be honest, now that I’ve seen you in person, I didn’t expect you to have the resolve to actually goand take up the position of Saito clan’s advisor at all. 」

「That’s because there are two very scary people in the Owari province right now: Viper-sama and Oda Nobuna, The Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven. When I think that these very scary people are going to invade Mino from Owari, I can’t sleep from fear, so no matter what, I have to protect Mino to make sure that doesn’t happen *SOBSOBSOB!* 」

「Ahh… So that’s it… 」

Yoshiharu nodded his head repeatedly now that he had a full picture of what was actually going on.

「When it comes to the notoriety across the rest of Japan, Dosan-sama and Nobuna-sama are really in the league of their own.

Inuchiyo added.

「On the other hand, Azai Nagamasa from the Omi province seems like a friendly and strong warrior. 」

Nagamasa stepped into the conversation as well.

「*Tsk!*… How can that sissy be regarded a strong warrior? 」

「Shut up, you shit eating monkey! He is a strong warrior, and that’s an undisputable fact! 」

「You shut up, sissy Omi monkey! 」

「Both of you seem like such a good friends. 」

Inuchiyo remarked.

「「Good friendship my ass!!! 」

「Uhm, Sagara-dono, Azai-dono. I think I should make it clear, but I will not join either the Owari province or the Omi province.If I betray Yoshitatsu-sama now, I will definitely be hated and bulliedfor as long as I’ll live, especially when Owari has Viper-sama and Oda Nobuna-sama. Maintaining a good relationship with the two of them is definitely going to be impossible! 」

「Damn, our plans have been exposed already! 」

Yoshiharu started to panic.

「It’s because of your big mouth, you Owari monkey! 」

Nagamasa grumbled.

「Alright everyone, stop arguing with one another now. The problem that needs our immediate attention now is going to be Yoshitatsu-sama and the people around him. 」

Ando Iga grumbled while holding onto his back.

「Being promoted to such an important position as the strategist at such a young age, who knows what terrible things will happen to the young Hanbei? 」

「*Whimper!* 」

「Oi, old man, you’re too careless with your words! See what you did now? Hanbei is all scared because of you! 」

「Oh, yes, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry for scaring you, Hanbei. 」

「Oji-sama. I think I should manage somehow, because there are so many cute squirrels here in Kinkazan. 」

The small Hanbei said. For some time now, squirrels have been gathering on her head and knees. It was almost as if they were being naturally attracted to her.

「Good morning, cute squirrels. See, I’ve brought sunflower seeds for you guys. Squirrels are not going to bully me, and that’s why I love them so much. 」

「Hmm, I want to feed them too, but for some reason they don’t want to come anywhere near me at all. 」

Inuchiyo said, displeased.

「It’s your fault for wearing that tiger hat. Which squirrel in its right mind would ever want to take food from a tiger? 」

Inuchiyo was shocked beyond words when she heard that.
「In the past, Viper-dono bought a bunch of squirrels as a source of food from overseas. After that, they ran away onto Kinkazan. Over the twenty-something years, their numbers have grown quite a bit. 」