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Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 3

Her soot-covered filthy face was no more, and she put on a makeup that made her skin look as white as ceramic, accentuating the smoothness of her skin, which made one think that for someone who had a skin this pretty, no cosmetics at all should be required. Right now, her face has clearly surpassed the faces of all the 2D girls from the games that Yoshiharu was playing. Her long eyelashes, her straight nose, her small lips, it was all a perfect balance.

She was, to put it simply, beautiful. No, just the word beautiful was insufficient here. Even in terms of cuteness, she was placed much higher than anyone else. Right now, he looked like a primand proper female feudal lord, there was no doubt about it in Yoshiharu’s mind.

And from those eyes full of confidence, without making people scared, an impenetrably powerful sparks were glittering.

(Oh, Oh, Oooooooh?!)

In this moment, Yoshiharu could only react like that, and not because he possessed a limited vocabulary for a person from a modern-day Japan. He was just stunned speechless by what he saw, but he wasn’t the only one.

Everyone who was lucky enough to lay their eyes on Nobuna right now could only react with an incomprehensible groan because of how charming her current appearance was.

Of course, all of that applied to Saito Dosan as well.

「U……Uooooooh? W-W-W….What a…. what a stunning beauty! 」

He had the exact same expression as Yoshiharu, except he shouted what he was thinking out loud.

While Dosan was roaring, Nobuna moved inside of the temple building with elegant steps, and sat opposite to Dosan.

「I am Oda Kazusanosuke Nobuna. My childhood name is 「Kichi」 but I don’t want to be called Kichi by you, Viper of Mino. 」

「Ah, y-yes, as you wish. My name is Saito Dosan… 」
Unbecoming of his age, Dosan was blushing, and he couldn’t look Nobuna directly in the eyes even while he was speaking to her.

While brandishing the hand held fan and muttering 「Forgive my rudeness」, he started turning the tea cup on his palm.

「Dearu ka. 」

Nobuna proclaimed with her high-pitched voice.

「Y-Yes, exactly. 」

With an expression as if Dosan was lost somewhere on the border of ecstasy, he gave such a simple reply.

(That sly Nobuna, in order to take Dosan by surprise, she must have deliberately keeping her appearance of a fool until the very last moment… what a frightening girl! 」

Yoshiharu thought as such, but then he felt that someone was tugging on the sleeve of his school uniform, and when he looked down to see who that was, it turned out it was actually Inuchiyo.

「I know what you’re probably thinking, and it’s not like that. The clothes that Nobuna-sama was wearing before were the garments that she’s usually wearing, and it was not a deliberate manuever on her part.」

「I see. So she’s actually a fool after all! 」

Although he said that, say that, if a foolish, barbarian fashioned soot-covered girl suddenly changes to a high class beauty right in front of him, both Dosan and Yoshiharu probably control the thumping in their chests.

(After all, men from both in the past and present are weak to cliché developments like that, yeah.)
Yoshiharu nodded to himself.

(*Tsk!* I-It’s just Nobuna! M-My heart isn’t throbbing for her at all!)

They repeated those Tsundere-like words in their minds where no one else could hear them.

In the meantime, Nobuna, who was playing with her hair in her fingers, said:

「The gazes of men sure are annoying. Especially of that Monkey in the garden. That’s why I hate these sorts of clothes. 」

She then took a sip of the tea which was prepared for her, displaying perfect manners as she did that.

(This is bad, it’s mortifying to think that I was actually captivated by her, if only for a brief moment!)

Yoshiharu scolded himself while grinding his teeth as hard as he could.

「Viper! I need your power right now. You’ll give me your daughter so that I could make her my younger sister, right?! 」

However, while blowing the heat off the tea, Saitou Dosan, one of the Daimyo of the Sengoku era, the one feared far and wide as 「The Viper of Mino」had recovered from the damage of the shock he took from Nobuna and with his eyebrows raised, he returned to his fully intense serious expression.

「Now then, I wonder about that. Oda Nobuna-dono. 」

(Amazing! He recovered from it! This old man is frightening!)

Without even realizing it, Yoshiharu’s body began to shake.

「Or rather, instead of Nobuna-dono, I should call you 「The Fool of Owari」. If you want to form an alliance with me, then I’m afraid that I’ll have to test whether or not you’re worthy of it or not. 」

「Hmph. A test, huh? What exactly do you want to test? 」

「Your ability to rule and command, since, I have a few questions about it. I have heard that you became known as 「The Fool of Owari」in the first place because you were unable to unite the province you are supposed to be ruling over together. 」

His words were for someone who was known as a Viper, but that piercing gaze, that deep voice of his, and even the way in which he has chosen to attack Nobuna showed the fearsome fighting spirit that was so intense that it felt like it could swallow regular people whole if they were not careful.

「Depending upon your answer, I may take your life as well. Kukuku. 」

He finally said it! There it is! While laughing naturally he declared his killing intent right to Nobuna’s face!

(So this is what the Viper of Mino, Saito Dosan is actually like?! That’s scary as shit!)

Yoshiharu thought to himself. If it was him sitting there with Dosan instead of Nobuna, then he would definitely break under the pressure in less than 3 seconds.

This meeting… it isn’t an alliance meeting, at all. This is an all-out psychological warfare.

This is a battle between Saito Dosan and Oda Nobuna, a 1 vs. 1 battle.

However, even while being threatened by the beast like the Viper of Mino, Nobuna didn’t step back even one inch.

「If it’s you, you should be able to understand my true power with just one look. 」
「I don’t judge commanders with just their appearance alone. Even if right now I am a balding old man, in my younger days I was a handsome young man. Using my appearance, I became close to the previous daimyo, but back then my heart was already not the one of a human, but of a venomous viper instead. 」

「I see. I can’t even imagine it after looking at your baboon geezer’s appearance right now. 」

「Fufufu, that’s because once you start aging, the inside shows on the outside as well. 」

(So Nobuna’s beautiful appearance is not going to be enough to defeat him, huh? )

Yoshiharu grinded his teeth.

「Now then, can I ask you a few questions, my foolish princess? 」

「Go ahead. I’m curious what they might be. 」

Nobuna and Dousan glared at each other with serious looks on their faces. They were so fierce that even now you would think that they would go for each other’s throats at any moment now.

In front of the crafty old Viper, Nobuna had her chest puffed full of confidence. Nobuna was not even shaking a bit before Saito Dosan’s sharp eyes that would instantly make normal girls start trembling. Rather, it looked like she was looking down on Dosan haughtily.

(This girl, although she is cheeky, maybe she’s really amazing after all.)

Yoshiharu murmured.

At last, their verbal battle began. If she can’t meet Dosan’s expectations, the talks of alliance will be cancelled, and she may even be killed.

「First question. Why are you known as 「The Fool of Owari」by your people and your retainers as well? 」

(He got straight to the main point! She can’t make any excuses about that!)

Yoshiharu covered his head, but Nobuna didn’t even flinch.

「It’s actually the opposite! The retainers around me are all fools. 」

She glared at Dosan while smiling fiercely.

「You say that, but it is you who roams the streets in a foolish getup. 」

「You’re wrong. While heading out, I am just wearing efficient, easy to move in clothes. 」

「Hou…? 」

「I might be a female daimyo, but if I wear a noble’s clothes and ride the horse to battlefield, my mobility will decrease, right? Wearing a lady’s ceremonial dress like Imagawa Yoshimoto is out of the question for me. It will just result in failure in battle before it even began! 」