3 bar menu

Volume 1 Chapter 3 Part 1

Chapter 3: The Oda Clan is noisy

Kiyosu castle, the main castle of the Owari province, and the headquarters of the Oda clan. After finishing the meeting with Saito Dosan at Shotokuji, Nobuna finally had the time to return there.

While they were on their way back, Yoshiharu was once again in charge of holding the horse’s reins from the ground, and he was continuously rained down with verbal abuse. It gotten so bad that he was thinking of actually killing her and usurping her position on three separate occasions.

However, while Nobuna had an unpleasant look on her face, she sometimes showed a smiling face like a the one belonging to a proper girl her age. When he was glancing at the lovely smiling face which looked like that of a little squirrel, his determination of usurping her position was being easily melted.

(Meh, it’s fine. I’ll forgive you… n-no, it’s not like I seriously fell in love with this foul-mouthed girl, mind you!)

Upon reaching the Kiyosu castle, as if Nobuna forgot about Yoshiharu, she immediately entered the main citadel and left him behind.

(Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I last seen Goemon. And since there’s not even a trace of her anywhere, then that probably means that she’s not in the area.)

If that shinobi always stays somewhere nearby while mixing with the shadows, then knowing that would at least give him some peace of mind.

(However, I cannot have her by my side 24/7.)

Is what Yoshiharu thought. Besides, it may be her principle not to interfere in other’s private lives, and Yoshiharu was more comfortable with that too.

「That being said… what should I do from now? 」

「… Come here. 」His school uniform’s sleeve was pulled by the servant Inuchiyo, and he was then pulled to the outermost region of the castle.
「Hm? What’s wrong? 」

「Nobunaga-sama commanded me that I should show you a place where you could live.

「You serious? Thanks! I am hungry, and I am full of wounds here and there, so getting them treated would be nice as well. 」

「….If it’s food, there’s a lot of it. 」

That Nobuna, even though she has a foul mouth, she has surprisingly good parts about her too.

While Yoshiharu’s eyes were wet, he followed Inuchiyo.

「You’re wearing some unusual clothes, Yoshiharu-san. 」

「Ah, you mean this school uniform? It is considered perfectly normal in the world that I came here from. 」

「… Are you perhaps a barbarian then? 」

「No. I came from the Japan in the distant future. 」

「… Suffering from some sort of brain damage? 」

「Wrong! Why doesn’t anyone believe me? No, is believing me impossible? 」

「… We’ve reached our destination. 」

In the direction Inuchiyo pointed, disorderly tenement houses were present.
(Uwah, they look so poorly made as if they were ready to fall apart at any moment.)

Yoshiharu faltered for a moment when he saw what his new living accommodations were supposed to be. There wasn’t even any magnificent hedges between the houses, just some kind of a poor excuse for one made out of patches of grass that were sticking out here and there.

「I-Is this the place where warriors live? I imagined a more magnificent mansions would be prepared for those who are going to fight for the clan.

「This place is Five-leafed Aralia Houses. Lower classed warriors live here. 」

「Does that incluse you as well, Inuchiyo? 」

「Yes. 」

「And what about that big-boobied Katsuie? 」

「Since Katsuie-sama is a chief retainer, she has a magnificent mansion entirely for her. 」

「*Whistle!* Well it’s fine, at least you said there’s a lot of food, right? Let’s have ourselves something to eat immediately then! 」

「This building is going to be serving as your house, Yoshiharu-san. It means that we’re neighbors. 」

Yoshiharu immediately entered the house, and sat down on the floor.

It’s small, and seems like a dirty tenement where wind will enter from the cracks in the walls but for Yoshiharu who, who was thrown into the Sengoku era without any prior notice or explanation, it was more than what he could have hoped for, because now he’ll at least have a roof over his head and a place where he’ll be able to sleep in peace.

The tatami mats on the floor were old, probably due to them being passed down as old stuff from the Chief retainer-class mansions.

「Inuchiyo… you said there’s going to be food… but I don’t see it anywhere. This room is totally empty. 」

Inuchiyo, who had followed inside without words, opened the sliding screen and pointed towards the garden.

「It’s there, in the garden. 」

「Oh, is it a vegetable patch or something like that prepared in there garden? 」

「… Something similar. 」

He ran to the garden, but there were no vegetables growing there. Furthermore, there was no such thing as eve a grain of rice either.

「Where is it? Where’s the food? 」

「… Here. 」

Inuchiyo plucked a leaf from the poor excuse of a hedge between the buildings, and started gathering them for Yoshiharu to eat.

「This is the leaf of Five Leaf Aralia. It’s tasty if you boil it with water. 」

「Wait, we’re going to eat our own hedges? No way! 」

「… But they’re really tasty. 」

「If you eat the hedge, won’t the neighboring houses be completely visible? Isn’t it trespassing on our privacy? 」

「…??? I don’t mind it though. 」

(Ah, yes, she did say she’s my neighbor.)

Yoshiharu remembered as Inuchiyo was silently gathering leaves. She looks like she’s not very sociable… but could it be that she’s actually a kind person at heart?

「Since it’s my food, I’ll pluck it on my own, you don’t have to trouble yourself with this. 」

「……I see. But I’m going to eat them as well, so we might do it together. 」

「You’re just going to eat leaves? I’m just saying, if you won’t start eating more nutritious stuff, you won’t ever grow taller, you know? 」

「Mu~~… 」

「But I see now. Since Katsuie is a chief retainer, she’s eating delicious food and her boobs became plump and bouncy as a result. I see. 」

「……Breasts are just a decoration. 」

His cheek was being pinched. Inuchiyo didn’t have an expression on her face as usual but that comment of his probably made her angry, so Yoshiharu regretted his words.

「Sorry. I won’t talk about breasts again. It’s a decoration, yeah, I think it’s a decoration as well. 」
「…..Your words lack sincerity. You’re spouting lies, Yoshiharu-san. 」

「Sorry. I lied. I like big bouncy boobs after all. 」

He was once again pinched on his cheek. Even though Inuchiyo looked like a small girl, the strength of the grip of her fingers was truly something else.

「It hurts!!!! 」

「… Once you get your payment at the end of the month, you can buy fish and rice, so you’ll have to work hard and serve Nobuna-sama to earn your money, Yoshiharu-san. 」

「A-Alright. 」

「Good. You can go and dig the roots out now. 」

「R-Roots? 」

「If you roast Five Leaf Aralia’s roots, they can be used as medicine. If you’re out of options, you can get money if you sell it to the merchants of the town. 」

「I see. 」

(With Inuchiyo as my neighbor, I think I’ll be able to get by.)

Yoshiharu felt relieved at that thought. To him who doesn’t know left from right this world, Inuchiyo who explained everything with kindness was really like a savior to him.

She didn’t smile at him yet but she doesn’t actually show that she hates him either.

(Thank you, Inuchiyo. I’m really lucky to have such a kind neighbour like you living next to me. Your boobs are small, in a 「they’re not really there at all」way, but I promise I won’t ever mention it again while talking to you.)

Yoshiharu swore an oath in his heart.

「…The leaves are eaten after boiling. 」

Inuchiyo removed her sandals and returned to the room, poured water in the
pot and started cooking the leaves they both gathered.

「Oh, oh! Sankyuu! But I really want to eat rice after all. 」

「San… kyuu? I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that means. 」

「Sankyuu is a barbarian word and its meaning is ‘to be grateful for something. 」

「Barbarian…..Nobuna-sama likes the language of Barbarians. You like it as well, Yoshiharu-san? 」

「In my world, all Japanese people learn the language of the Barbarians at school. 」