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Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 6

What remained was just a small flower lying on the tatami mat.

「Ah, huh? What is going on, Inuchiyo? Where’s Hanbei? 」

「… Strange. There are no blood traces left on the tatami mat as well. 」

「Found him! Here! 」

Apparently, there seemed to be one more person in the room with them!

Azai Nagamasa pulled a dagger out from near his chest gallantly and threw it towards a pillar in the depths of the room.

「Ah! Please…please, don’t…don’t…don’t bully me! 」

Whoever was hiding behind the pillar, it was obvious that they have been frightened stiff by Nagamasa’s action.

And from the shadow of the pillar, a small girl promptly rolled to Yoshiharu’s legs and started begging for forgiveness. Judging from her delicate and small build, she must be even more petite than Inuchiyo. With her big black eyes and long eyelashes, she could totally be the kind of girl that people would liken to a little squirrel as they gushed over her.

「Please don’t bully me! *Sob!, *Sob!* 」

Yoshiharu was about to reflexively say: 「It’s ok, no one here will bully you. 」, but before he could finish his sentence, the small girl who was just crying her eyes out pulled the famed dagger 「Toragozen」 our from her waist and swung it right between Yoshiharu’s eyebrows.

With his dodging skills that could be compared to those of the heroes in American spy movies, Yoshiharu managed to avoid it, but he couldn’t stop himself from screaming out in fear, and he also noticed that his pants seemed to be a little bit more wet than they were just a moment ago.

「Woahhhhhh?! What the hell are you doing?! That was dangerous!!!! 」

「!!!!! 」

The small girl in front of them started shivering and rolled herself into a ball. Her fear of them seems to have increased even further.

「*Sob!*… *Sob!*… As… as expected, you people will bully me after all! You guys will definitely bully me! *Sob!*… *Sob!*…. 」

「Not at all, we won’t bully you, I promise, so please stop with the sneak attacks! 」

「Loud… such a loud man…. so terrifying, gonna… gonna get bullied by him… *Sob!*…*Sob!*…. 」

「Ahhh, I’m sorry about it, it’s my fault, okay? I’m not angry at you at all. I promise that I’m not going to hurt you, so don’t be afraid. Come, let me wipe your tears to prove that we are good people. I’ll even return this dagger to you, so here, hold onto it. 」

(Something about Yoshiharu-san’s tone feels creepy…)

Inuchiyo thought to herself while narrowing her eyes.

「Why are you looking at me like I did something wrong, Inuchiyo? 」

「…You even prey on little children, not caring about the time and place. You really are the worst, Yoshiharu-san. 」

「You’re reading too much into it! 」

「*Sob!*….Hanbei is not a child. Hanbei… is 14 years old now. 」

「See, Inuchiyo> Hanbei-chan is basically a grown-up lady here. 」

「Lei….di….? 」

「*Sob!*…. Thank you… mister… 」

「So please, don’t cry while trying to stab me with that dagger, okay? 」

「It’s dangerous, so I’ll be taking that away. 」

Inuchiyo said as she took away the dagger from the girl.

「This dagger is the famed blade 「Toragozen」, which means that this child is the real Takenaka Hanbei. 」

Inuchiyo said while nodding her head when she finished inspecting the dagger in her hands.

Yoshiharu and Nagamasa regained their senses and let out a shriek.

「Ehhhhh? This snot-covered girl is the real Hanbei? The one who outsmarts Nobuna all the time?! 」

「You want me to believe that this is the world renowned military adviser, Takenaka Hanbei? No, that’s simply not possible! 」

Though Inuchiyo said that, Yoshiharu was still in doubt about the legitimacy of her claim. It’s true that this pale girl is similar to the history’s Takenaka Hanbei, who was supposed to be of a really poor constitution and health, but can this really be true? Is this sobbing young child really the one who devised the horrible 「Ambush from all sides 」strategy and a trap taking after the legendary Zhuge Liang’s「Stone Sentinel Maze 」?

While Yoshiharu was having his doubts, Nagamasa was also thinking to himself:

(That dirty monkey seems to be good at dealing with brats. In that case, will I really be able to coerce her to join me before this Monkey staches her away to Nobuna?)

On the flipside, Yoshiharu arrived at a certain conclusion while patting Hanbei’s head to not make her as wary of them as she initially was.

(Damn, no matter if she’s really Takenaka Hanbei or not, this kid is even harder to deal with than Nene!)

「Your hand movements are getting more and more creepy. 」

Inuchiyo mumbled to herself.

「*Sob!* I won’t be naughty anymore. So please don’t bully me… 」

She cried while plastering a talisman onto Yoshiharu’s forehead.

「Hey, stop trying to put some strange talismans on my forehead! 」

「Takenaka Hanbei’s Kagemusha, Zenki, has come back to life! Sagara-dono, prepare yourself! 」

Seemingly out of nowhere, the fox-Hanbei from before appeared in the room once more and tried to pierce his claws into Yoshiharu’s neck.

「Oi, why is this Shikigami alive once more since Inuchiyo killed it?! Ouch, it hurts, damn it! Blood, blood is flowing out! My neck is bleeding now because of him! 」
「See… You became angry in the end! As expected, you are angry at me! *SOBSOBSOB!*

「What the hell!!! He is the one who is making me angry, not you, ok!? 」

「UWAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! 」

「Hmmm! For the crime of making my master cry, you will pay with your life! I’ll sink my claws in your neck! 」

「Wa…Wait, wait, wait! If this goes on, I will really die due to blood loss! Inuchiyo, help me!!! 」

「Being bullied by such a small child yet having such a blissful expression on your face…Yoshiharu-san, you really are perverted. 」

「Oi, Hanbei. I am one of your new retainers! is your new aide! I’m not here to bully you, so you can’t sick your Shikigami on me and be rude to me, you understand?! 」

「No mercy to anyone who makes Hanbei cry! I will definitely kill you! 」

Yoshiharu’s and Zenki’s screams reverberated throughout the room, making the whole scene look like an image taken straight out of hell.

After dispersing the other ronins from the shop, Ando Iga came back to the room as soon as he heard that there was a commotion going on.

「I’m so sorry, Sagara-dono! This child has been sickly, cowardly and not right in the head since she was young. Because of the combination of these three characteristics, people used to bully her a lot, so whenever she meets someone for the very first time, she will always use her powers as an Onmyouji to test if these newly-met people are easily angered! 」

「No one will remain calm after being made to eat shit like that! Hey, geezer, stop staring and help me take this goddamn thing off my neck! 」

「*SOBSOB!* He’s angry, he’s all red with anger now! 」

「How dare you make my master cry? This crime can only be punishable by death! 」

「Ugh, you’re all so loud! Why not just let this monkey die? With this Nobuna-dono will… 」

「All of you! There will definitely be people who will have jealous thoughts towards Hanbei, who finally managed to become a strategist of the Saito clan at such a young age, so I implore you to do your best to protect her so that her move to Inabayama castle for her first day of work goes smoothly! 」

「Compared to that, I’m more afraid of being bullied to death by Hanbei herself! 」

「And I still don’t believe it. There is no way for this weak child to actually be the real Takenaka Hanbei. 」

While desperately fighting with Hanbei’s Shikigami, Yoshiharu started to seriously worry about his future as he let out a deep sigh in his heart.

* * *

The next morning, Takenaka Hanbei and her new retainers climbed Mount Inaba, also known as Kinkazan. The mountain was given this nickname because of how the whole mountain was colored gold by the flowers when the seasons rolled around and Beech flowers were in full bloom.

Saito Yoshitatsu’s castle, Inabayama Castle, is a gigantic fortress that utilizes the approximately 330-meter tall Mount Inaba as a natural shield for its residents. The Nagara river flows at the north side of it, while in the east stands Megumiyama and Kiso Mitakesan. In the west, Kinkazan, Ibukiyama, Yorozan and Suzukayama all provide a natural wall made of mountains to protect it from invaders.