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Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 4

With that said, Hachisuka Goemon plucked out one hair from Yoshiharu’s head, brought out a straw doll from inside her chest, and started stuffing the hair inside of it.

「W-What’s that? Are you going to use that to cast a curse on me or something? 」

「No. It’s for the forging of a master-servant pact between us. 」

「If it’s a contract you wanted, then shouldn’t a written one be enough? I could just give you my stamp on it and that would be it. 」

「I’ll have Sagara-sama get promoted and become my new trunk without fail. That was your
pwomise with Kinoshita, right? To get pwomoted? 」

「Yeah, that was my promise with the old man… alright, got it! I’ll serve under the Oda clan, even if it’s going to be the last thing I’ll do! 」

Kinoshita Tokichiro from the world that Yoshiharu knew was a sharp man for throwing his lot with the Oda clan. According to history, the Oda clan based in the province of Owari, which was only a small clan at first would eventually rise up to be the clan that would conquer all of Japan.

However, now that things ended up the way they did, Yoshiharu had no idea what would become of the Oda clan that has been deprived of the person who would become its future hero. One thing was abundantly clear for him though.

History has been changed.

Even then, instead of Tokichiro who had fallen at the beginning of the road to realizing his ambition of rising to power by working under the daimyo who would one day unite the country, Yoshiharu, who had cultivated his knowledge of the Sengoku era through video games, decided to use that knowledge he obtained as much as possible to fulfill Tokichiro’s dream instead of him.

And also, if he can manage to live on in this world, then maybe someday he will be able to find his way back to his original world.
「Sagara-sama, since the battle is still continuing, it would be better for you to march while
holding the spear with the flag of the Oda clan on it so that you could avoid getting attacked. 」

「Yeah. I haven’t used a spear before, but sure, I can give it a try. 」

「Fufun, it seems that at least you’ll meet Kinoshita’s expectations. Even though you’re young, you seem like a promising person. 」

「Have you considered that I might just be an idiot posing as someone smart? 」

「You might, but… fufu, the same can be said about me. 」

Goemon made some hand signs, and the leaves around her body scattered around. When they fell back to the ground, she was already gone.

(So… is this a game after all?)

No, the corpse of Old Man Tokichiro was way too real for it to be just a game. This is definitely reality. But that also means that if he ever ends up losing in a battle, the only thing awaiting him is going to be unavoidable death. And if that’s the case….. then this isn’t the time to be frightened and shouting.

「Before I realized it, I had time slipped into the Warring States era, huh? Old man Tokichiro, I’ll definitely carry on with your dream and succeed with it! And then I’ll avenge your death! Uoooooooh!!! Alright, let’s do this thing! 」

As Yoshiharu took up Tokichiro’s armor and weapon, he psyched himself up and let adrenaline take him over as he readied his newly-obtained spear and went back to where the battle was unfolding in the Nōbi Plains.

Back on the proper battlefield, both sides were engaging in a constant back and forth with one another, switching from offense to defense and then going back on the offense whenever the right occasion was presenting itself.

Yoshiharu readied his spear and the flag of the Oda clan that he mounted onto his back, put the spear forward and proceeded to launch himself against the foot soldiers of the Imagawa clan.

However, even though these guys were the ones who were responsible for Tokichiro’s death, he just couldn’t bring himself to actually kill people whom he wasn’t harboring any actual hatred towards. That, and the realistic nature of everything that was now happening before him was completely different from the scenes the he witnessed in the games that he was playing. The faces of the foot soldiers were even clearly visible under their helmets, from their eyelashes to every single crack on their lips.

These guys are actual living beings… Is what Yoshiharu wanted to scream out loud, but he couldn’t.

(There’s no doubt about it. It seems that I really have been transported to the Sengoku era Japan. However, as for why that happened… I’ll think about it once I survive this battle!)

「Uraaaaaaaaa! 」

Yoshiharu was using his spear to try to keep the enemies from approaching him, but he soon became tired after swinging it around without much of a plan to it.

The enemy foot soldiers were wearing armor, and for Yoshiharu, who had no practical knowledge of how to fight with a spear, it didn’t seem like he would be able to kill them the way he was now, so he simply resorted to dodging the slashes and thrusts that were coming towards him thanks to his movements that got him the 「Avoider of Balls」nickname. But even with them, his breathing gradually grew heavier and heavier, and he took small wounds here and there. If it wasn’t for his dodging capabilities, then he would’ve been turned into a corpse full of holes in a matter of seconds.

For one hour, this exchange of blows continued on the grasslands of the Nobi Plain.

「Haa… haa… haa……! 」

Yoshiharu was occupied enough with just protecting his body, so he couldn’t even attempt to actually kill even a single enemy, not that he had any intentions of doing so in the first place. Thankfully, eventually the situation on the battlefield shifted in favor of the army of the Oda clan.
「Everyone, gather your courage! One more push is all we need to secure victory! 」

The soldier who was clad in full armor while riding on a horse was shouting as he was pushing his way across the frontlines. It would seem that now was the time for the cavalry unit to launch their attack, which should be enough to crush the foot soldiers of the Imagawa clan.

「Infantry! Someone return to the headquarters, and protect the Lord! 」

The foot soldiers received the order from their superior, but since all of them were blinded by the ambition of taking the head of at least one of the enemy soldiers in order to make a name for themselves, not a single one of them was eager to go back to the headquarters of the Oda clan.

He didn’t like the idea of claiming the enemy’s neck himself, and since it seemed like the victory of the Oda clan has been pretty much decided already, Yoshiharu had a certain idea pop up in his head.

(I’ll go to the headquarters!)

While running as fast as his feet could carry him, he glanced at the one giving the cavalry their orders.

Clad in magnificent armor and a helmet, it was once again a girl.

(Imagawa Yoshimoto, Matsudaira Motoyasu, and now this military commander of the Oda clan is a girl as well. Just what is going on in this world?)

He naturally didn’t have the luxury to think about it now, so while holding his spear tightly, he
headed to the Oda clan’s military headquarters.

It was a really chaotic battle, and so they had already sent the guards who were supposed to protect the general to the front lines, therefore the headquarters was virtually empty and vulnerable to a surprise attack right now, and sure enough, by the time Yoshiharu reached the camp, a unit of the Imagawa clan’s army suddenly appeared out of nowhere, probably with the intention of launching a suicide attack.

This meant only one thing: Oda Nobunaga’s life was in danger right now!

(Oh damn! Old man Tokichiro aside, if even Oda Nobunaga ends up biting the dust here, then the history of Japan as I know it will be impossible to bring back onto the right track!)

Toyotomi Hideyoshi ended up conquering all of Japan, but it was all because Oda Nobunaga, the daimyo whom he was serving, ended up more or less consolidating the Sengoku era. If both of them ended up perishing at pretty much the beginning of their road to glory, then Tokugawa Ieyasu (name that Matsudaira Motoyasu assumed alter in his life) who established the Tokugawa Shogunate also not be able to unify Japan. Ieyasu continued to serve these two for throughout the most of his life and waited for the death of his master to snatch the whole of Japan for himself at the very end.