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Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 2

「Was… was that supposed to be a pun? 」

Yoshiharu muttered to himself, and Katsuie glared at him with disgust, as if she just saw a maggot. Having been looked down upon like that, Yoshiharu was trembling with disgrace.

「We’ll soon be arriving at Shotokuji. Monkey, you go to Nobuna-sama, and don’t you dare leaving her for even a second, you hear me?! 」

Shotokuji. It is a town built around a temple on the borders of Mino and Owari provinces (The town where the influence of temples started), and a neutral zone where both provinces’ military could not enter. As such, it was the most logical spot for holding a meeting between Oda Nobuna and 「The Viper of Mino」Saito Dosan.

Nobuna would take in Dousan’s daughter as her step sister depending on the meeting’s result. However, if by chance Nobuna ends up displaying her usual hot-headed attitude that earned her the reputation of a fool, Dosan will surely be disappointed, and he might even become reluctant to hand his daughter over to someone like that, but in the worst-case scenario, he might even try to assassinate Nobuna right then and there for making a fool out of him, or she might even call him names like a baboon or old geezer, just like she did with Yoshiharu.

When he went to Nobuna’s side, he found her sitting on her horse with a melancholic expression and her brows knitted together. Her hair were tied into a brown bun in the back, and despite going to an official meeting with another daimyo, she still had her usual eccentric getup.

Maybe it was because of the high temperature, but one sleeve of her robe was let down. She was still keeping the black arquebus on her shoulder and had gourds filled with water tied onto her waist along with the tiger’s skin. On the side of her upper body where the sleeve was hanging down, there was something peeking out that could only be described as a part of a black bra, which contrasted with the whiteness of her fair skin. Even though he didn’t really want to, Yoshiharu had to reluctantly agree that her breasts, while not the biggest, were pretty. But that was the only good thing about her that he was willing to admit.

No matter how he looked at it, she doesn’t look like a Sengoku era daimyo at all, and someone who didn’t know her at all could mistake her for some brigand teenager because of her young age.

(As expected of a fool…)
Yoshiharu sighed in his mind as he stood besides Nobuna.

「Huh. You were still here? 」

She glared at him as if she was looking at a legitimate monkey instead of a human being.

「Yes, I am still here! Now keep your promise of hiring me as your foot-soldier! 」

「Good work. There, carry my gourd for me. 」

「Woah…..wha…?! 」

While he was trying to lightly catch the gourd that was thrown at him, this time she stepped on his head. Turning around once nimbly on Yoshiharu’s head, Nobuna got down on the ground from her horse and proceeded to go towards the town with magnificent steps.

「Alright! I am fired up!「

「Don’t use people’s heads as a pedestals! 」

「My Lord, a report: it seems that Dosan-dono has already reached the main temple building. 」

A girl with a small stature who looked like a servant reported to Nobuna while bowing her head deeply.

「Dearu ka! I better go change then. 」

「Huh? You’re going to change after all? 」

「Why are you making a surprised face, monkey? 」
「Oh, no, don’t get me wrong, I think that’s good. After all, there’s a saying that the clothes make the man. 」

「Hmph. A moneky will always be nothing more but a monkey. No matter, a foot soldier like you shouldn’t be allowed to step into the temple’s main building anyway, so you can wait for me in the garden along with Inuchiyo. 」

The page called Inuchiyo nodded at him without speaking any words. She looked to be a little bit younger than Nobuna, and asidefrom looking like a small girl, her face also looked like that of a porcelain doll.

「Inuchiyo. If the Viper tries to do anything funny, you have my permission to cut him down on the spot. 」

「Understood, Nobuna-sama! 」

「And if he tries to resist, you can feel free to use Monkey here as a meat shield

At that time, it’s fine to use that Saru as a ‘Monkey shield’.「

「At least call me a human shield, damn it! 」

「…..Understood. 」

*THWACK!*

This time, the straw sandals that Nobuna took off hit Yoshiharu’s face at ferocious speed.

「Carry those for me as well! 」

Yoshiharu felt like he was going to break down in tears at any moment now. He also wondered if foot soldiers always had it so tough everywhere else. He was slowly starting to regret his decision of becoming a soldier in Nobuna’s service.

As for Nobuna herself, she already made her way to the main temple building of Shotokuji.

In order to avoid conflict, the soldiers of both armies were very far off from the main temple, but Yoshiharu and Inuchiyo were in the large garden that was completely visible from the main temple building itself.

Furthermore, there was a girl samurai from Mino there with them as well. She probably had been given the same duties of a page as Inuchiyo. She was an intelligent looking pretty girl, but Yoshiharu felt somewhat bothered by the fact that her forehead seemed to be strangely large. He greeted her with his eyes but she didn’t respond to him.

(Maybe I should ask her for her number… ah, but this is the Sengoku era, so of course there are no cell phones here. Well then… )

Yoshiharu was about to open his mouth…

「….Private conversations are forbidden. 」

But he was rebuked by Inuchiyo.

Already in the main temple, the viper of Mino, Saito Dosan was seated on his seat. As expected of a Sengoku era daimyo with a long military career, he had a magnificent presence. Although he was aged, there was no loose muscle on his body. With a physique like that, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he were to say something along the lines of: 「If I strip down, the sight is going to be awesome! 」. He also seemed like someone who could break 10 tiles of solid concrete stacked on top of each other with his bare hands alone.

That being said, this bald individual seemed like someone who’d be a terrifying opponent to be faced in battle, but at the same time he had something of a lecherous aura around him. In other words…

(He really is a baboon geezer.)

Not only that, but even though this was supposed to be an important official meeting, he was wearing informal clothes and was opening and closing his handheld fan nonchalantly, giving off the attitude as if he was thinking: this is just the brat from the Oda clan, so who cares, as well as: should I cancel the agreement? Should I kill Nobuna right here, right now and be done with her? No, going as far as killing isn’t required just yet.

That was the troublesome impressions he was giving off.

(Well,I can’t really blame the guy though, since I’m finding myself thinking like that more and more often.)

Yoshiharu nodded to himself.

It seems like Dousan must’ve seen Nobuna in her foolish garb while she was coming to the temple from somewhere, so if Nobuna is going to come to the meeting in that dirty garb of hers, then perhaps he thought that coming to the meeting while wearing formal clothing would be a stupid idea, and that’ why he entered the main temple building in an informal attire.

「That Nobuna sure is late. 」

Dosan said while yawning as if he was bored with the amount of waiting he had to do. It was then that…

「Sorry for making you wait, Viper of Mino. 」

Suddenly, Nobuna appeared in the temple building, causing Dosan to spurt out the tea he was about to swallow from his mouth. Yoshiharu did the same, standing there with his mouth agape as if he had really turned into a monkey as he stared at Nobuna in disbelief.

Whatever appearance she had before, whether you call it weird, nonsensical, punk or mistaken goth loli clothes, they were gone now. The clothes she wore right now weren’t the strange ones she wore till now!

Her brown hair was now let down and she was wearing a gorgeous kimono. Right now, she didn’t look like a「Fool of Owari」at all. Instead, she looked like a proper female feudal lord and the heir to the Oda Clan.