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Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 1

Chapter 2 : Dearu ka!

Nobuna’s group was slowly marching on the highway towards the north.

「Damn it, why do I have to be the one to look after you?! 」

From above the horse, Shibata Katsuie had a sour expression on her face as she complained. Right now, Yoshiharu was grabbing onto the reins of her horse from the ground, since for the time being he was appointed as Katsuie personal attendant.

After the Dragon God incident at the Ojaga pond, without even having the time to go back to the castle, Nobuna announced to everyone that「The appointed time is approaching」, and just like that they began to move towards the border between the Mino and Owari provinces.

Nobuna seemed to have a principle of galloping off on her own ahead of the army, and this time was no exception. As a result, all of her retainers needed to chase after her while shouting 「Princess, please wait for us! 」. After she left, Yoshiharu seemed to have collapsed on the ground in hopes of cathing himself a breather, but much to his woe, he learned that he’ll have to accompany Nobuna on her business while acting as Katsuie’s attendant.

Without even knowing the reason, Yoshiharu was thrown into the Sengoku era, and on top of that he doesn’t even have time to rest now. Thanks to that, his chances of finding hisw ay back home don’t look all that promising.

「Well, the Princess sure looks like she’s busy… oh, wait, since she’s a daimyo, then should I call her Lord instead? 」

「Y-You! To refer to the princess as ‘she’, do you want to be beheaded that badly after all?! 」

Katsuie kicked Yoshiharu’s butt while riding on top of the horse.

「Oi, Katsuie. Where are we even going? What are we going to exterminate after the Dragon God? 」

「Oi, Monkey. If you stop speaking to me respectfully, then I swear on my honor…! 」

「Woah! Don’t brandish your spear at me! 」

While nimbly dodging the tip of the spear. Yoshiharu pulled on the horse’s reins while Katsuie simply sighed.

「Haaa… seriously, you really are an incorrigible monkey. We are going to meet the Viper of Mino after this. 」

「After a Dragon comes a Viper, huh…. What sort of spooky encounter are we going to have this time? 」

「Goodness gracious, you really don’t know anything, do you? By 「Viper of Mino」, I meant the daimyo of the Mino province, Saito Dosan. Nobuna-sama is going to adopt Dousan’s daughter as her step sister, and plans to deepen the relationship between the two clans by becoming relatives with her. 」

「Take her in as a sister? Isn’t she looking for a wife? 」

「Idiot! Nobuna-sama is a woman, so why would she be looking for a wife?! 」

「Ah, that’s true. 」

「In the times we currently live in, verbal promises are not as reliable as alliances and blood ties. While forming alliances, if the daimyo or feudal lord is a male, then he takes in a wife. But if the daimyo is a woman, then instead of looking for a spouse, she takes in a sister. That way, as the relationship between them deepens, an alliance is going to be eventually formed as a natural point of progression. 」

「So it’s that complicated in the case of female daimyo, huh? Are there many of them to begin with? 」

「Yeah. If the firstborn child is a girl, it is decided that that she will inherit the family. A monkey like you wouldn’t know about it, but in the world of warriors, that much is common sense. 」

「Hmm. Now that you mention it, Imagawa Yoshimoto was a girl as well. 」

「What!? So you were a spy of Imagawa Yoshimoto! I’ll pass judgement upon you! 」

「You’re wrong! Lower your spear, damn it! 」

As they travelled down the road, Katsuie proceeded to explain the circumstances surrounding Oda Nobuna and her retainers in the simplest terms possible. There were a few subtle differences, but all in all, this seems like the Sengoku era he was familiar with after all, since it was more or less matching the knowledge he learnt from playing the Sengoku era games.

Nobuna was the ruling daimyo of the Owari province, the next successor of the Oda clan. In that regard, she seemed like the Oda Nobunaga who appeared in history textbooks or the Sengoku games alright. It should be a year since she had lost her father, as a result of which she succeeded the leadership of the clan even though she was a woman.

While Owari is a big province receiving benefits of trade from the harbor it holds, its soldiers are relatively weak, and the province itself is surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Above all, the one who held the name of the number 1 daimyo of the Tokaido region, the daimyo of Suruga, Imagawa Yoshimoto, is boasting that she would someday rise to rule the whole country by assisting the declining clan of the Ashikaga Shogun in the capital so that she could start her own conquest of Japan.
East of Owari, the Matsudaira clan, which was ruling over the small province of Mikawa was obeying the orders of the Oda clan for a while, but ultimately the became the followers of the Imagawa.

As a side note, inside the Oda clan itself there are many people who didn’t swear their allegiance to Nobuna because of her bad reputation which brought her the nickname 「 The Fool of Owari 」, which meant that the Oda clan was nowhere near the capacity to and fight against the Imagawa clan.

If the entire Imagawa clan started its march towards the capital, it was clear to everyone that the entire Owari province would be crushed like an ant, with no one being able to stop them. That’s why Nobuna had the idea to form an alliance with the daimyo of the great province sharing the borders with Owari in the north, Saito Dosan, the Viper of Mino.

「That viper Saito Dosan has the audacity to call himself a daimyo now, but it seems he was a simple oil merchant from the capital not that long ago. 」

Katsuie has a sour expression on her face. It seems like she doesn’t trust Dosan at all.

「A merchant got promoted to the lord of the Mino province? Maybe he was a retainer serving the previous daimyo, and… 」

「He exiled the previous and took Mino over from him. Not to mention that even though he’s supposed to be a former merchant, he’s a strong and capable opponent in battle. That’s why he’s widely known and feared as The Viper. Lady Nobuna’s father, Nobuhide-sama has fought Dosan countless times as an enemy, and now she’s planning to hold a meeting with that man… I am worried about Nobuna-sama’s safety. 」

Katsuie once again let out a sigh.

「If you’re worried, then why not think of a plan to oppose Yoshimoto without forming an alliance with Dosan? 」

「Don’t make it sound simple! If only all of the Owari province at least could unite themselves under Nobuna-sama’s banner, then we could have a chance to oppose her… but the people are not willing to do it at all. Haaa… 」

「Hey, Katsuie. If you worry too much, wrinkles will show on your face. 」

「I said not to drop the honorifics with me, you monkey! I am still 18, so there are no wrinkles on my face! 」

Katsuie brandished her spear from atop her horse and tried to cut Yoshiharu’s head off with it, but he managed to dodge all of her swings magnificently.

「Restless monkey! Can’t you stay still for even a moment?! 」

Katsuie’s face gets redder and redder as she was getting more serious about trying to violently stab him with the spear.

「Don’t try to stab me seriously, it’s dangerous! 」

「Haa… Haa… Haa….I-I can’t hit you at all….! What a nimble little monkey you are… 」

「Being left behind by Nobuna sounds pretty dangerous. Is theentire province in a dispute
or what? 」

「Shut up. *Tch!* Why did talk about the princess with a monkey like you?! If you talk about
this conversation with anyone, I’ll have your head for sure! 」

Yoshiharu thought that bringing up the subject on her own and then getting angry about it was cruel towards him.

「Hey, Katsuie, wouldn’t it be fine for you to just silence those who oppose Nobuna? Aren’y you her chief retainer or whatever? 」

「…..I- I am in actuality her younger brother, Nobukatsu-sama’s retainer. The chief retainer serving Nobuna-sama suddenly got busy due to overwork, so it’s just that today I am serving her chief retainer in their stead. 」