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Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 12

That is why the usually calm and composed Nagamasa was suffering from a massive panic attack.

「O-Oh, Niwa Nagahide-dono! It is a pleasure to see you, but I’m afraid that I must ask you to move aside now so that I can go help Nobuna-dono!」

The man himself didn’t even realize that he was actually shouting at the woman in front of him while sweating all over, but Nagahide’s lips only curved up in her signature smile as she stood in front of Nagamasa, blocking his way without showing the slightest intention of moving aside.

「Nagamasa-dono. I’m sorry, but I do not regret to inform you that before heading out, Nobuna-sama gave me, Niwa Nagahide, one explicit order. 」

「O-Oh really? A-And pray tell, what might that order be? 」

「This is Sagara Yoshiharu’s battle. If any despicable people try to interfere with it you are to kill them all like the vermin they are, no matter who they might be, without exceptions, even if one of them was Azai Nagamasa. 」

The usually gentle and demure Nagahide was now emitting a strong killing intent all around her. The katana that was usually near her waist was also gone from there, as she held it in her hand, ready to strike at any moment.

「….I-If you kill me here, the Azai clan and Oda clan will become enemies! 」

「If that is how things end up, then it cannot be helped. It seems like Nobuna-sama has already made her decision. The Oda clan managed to get this far precisely thanks to Sagara-dono’s hard work. If his rewards for his own efforts were taken away at the last minute by someone else, Sagara-dono would regret if for the rest of his life and youd haunt Nobuna-sama about it, and she must know that as well. 」

「H-Hmpf! So that means that she is intending tobreak the promise of marriage between us? 」

「If we can conquer Mino by ourselves, I think there will be no further need for that. 」

「You think the Aazai clan will just ignore what happened here today? Without the alliance with us, how do you guys plan to conquer the world?! 」

「Hehe. Our clan’s princess is very childish, and she dotes on that Monkey of hers more than she should have If anyone dares to harm him, her belonging, I think she might just go into a blind rage. Then, to say nothing of the Azai clan, she would not even care about the entire world t take her revenge. 」

Nagahide’s face still displayed her smile, but the killing intent emitted from her body had Nagamasa and his soldiers totally subdued. If they tried to continue onwards, Nagahide will definitely not hesitate to cut down Nagamasa where he stands.

「…. How can this be? Building a castle in just a day… conquering Inabayama Castle….. that’s… unbelievable. 」

He had used all the methods at his disposal that he could think of, even the utterly despicable ones. But when he heard that Iga Ando, whom he was holding captive, was saved from his imprisonment by a group of lowly bandits, Nagamasa was already besieged by a dreadful premonition: a premonition that that in the end, he’s going to be defeated by the combined forces of Oda Nobuna and her pet monkey.

Acknowledging his own failure, Azai Nagamasa ordered his troops to stop their advance.

For the matter of kidnapping Iga Ando, he had left instructions in Sunomata. He should be able to hide it, if only barely, and Nobuna should not ask anything more about it. But in regards to the hidden relationship between him and Saito Yoshitatsu, he must think of a way to stop him from spilling the beans before it’s going to be too late.

Besides, the marriage between Nobuna and himself hasn’t necessarily failed yet. Even if Nobuna manages to conquer Mino by herself, if she breaks the marriage pact that has already been made between them, she will damage her own reputation beyond repair.

「You should withdraw your forces from here, Nagamasa-dono. 」

「… I understand. But I cannot allow my men and myself to simply stand idly by and do nothing. I must at least receive a reply from Nobuna-dono. Our marriage and the alliance between Azai and Oda clans, will it be concluded successfully? I must have the answer to that question today. 」

「Very well. There are times when one needs be gracious, after all. The battle is about to be finished, so please come to our base with your subordinates to wait for Nobuna-sama there. 」

(I haven’t given up on conquering the world and the Oda clan!)

Nagamasa whispered that to himself, and while bearing the humiliation, he nodded his head and went after Nagahide.

* * *

In this battle, Yoshiharu has made a gamble, and he won.

Turning Inuchiyo into Torachiyo and having her prowl the forest at the foot of the mountain was a huge success. The patrols of the Mino soldiers had all started shouting:「The tigers had come down to the forest!! 」 and fled their patrol routes. Walking the now deserted path, Yoshiharu climbed the peak without a single injury while cursing 「That damn Nagamasa, marry Nobuna?! Dream on! 」, and successfully snuck into the castle by dusk.

Goemon, who was walking in the front, threw a smoke grenade to block the guard’s view. In the confusion, Yoshiharu opened the castle gate, and through the smoke he ran to one of the peaks of the mountain known as 「Tengu’s Rock 」 and swung the spear with Nobuna’s gourd attached to it down. After that, everything seemed to happen in a flash.

「Damn, damn, damn that Monkey! Shitty Monkey, lousy Monkey!!!! 」

The weeping Shibata Katsuie swung the spear in her hand, and with her troops, she charged to the open gates of Inabayama Castle like a flood.

Yoshitatsu, who was in the middle of the fortress, was shocked at the numerous Oda flags at the front of the gates and with a sigh of 「So it’s all over, huh? 」, he finally decided to surrender. Right then, Nobuna had finally fulfilled her father Nobuhide’s dying wish, and had become the new master of the Mino province.

The first thing Nobuna did as the new Daimyo of Mino was to send out a letter to Saito Dosan, who had retired in Owari, telling him to come to Mino immediately. And due to the influence of The Mino Three, confusion in the towns had been controlled and bare minimum of riots broke out.

Mino had been under the leadership of The Viper for quite a long time, and the towns had been directly governed by Viper himself. With the support of The Mino Three and Viper, Mino obtained Nobuna as a new Daimyo without incident and returned to normal within a week. No, after Nobuna restored the policies that Yoshitatsu had abolished, the towns will surely be doing even better than before.

Besides, in contrast of the rumors that The Fool of Owari was a selfish tyrant, the Oda clan’s army had been well disciplined.

「Those who are going to be rowdy to the villagers will be publicly executed and made an example of. 」

Such a law was passed down, making the Owari soldiers wary and keeping them from laying their hands on the villagers.

「Though there are rumors that she is a scary Daimyo, unexpectedly, she’s a wise ruler. 」

「When Nobuna-sama rode past just now, there was a very nice odor in the air. 」

The town’s residents had all welcomed Nobuna as their new Daimyo. And with a new master, Inabayama Castle and the towns of the Mino province were slowly enveloped by nightfall.