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Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 4

Yoshiharu then realized that he screwed up…

(Damn, I said the wrong thing when I should be saying things that the other party wants to hear!)

…and he immediately regretted his actions.

「H-Hanbei-chan is currently searching for her uncle who was kidnapped by Azai Nagamasa. Because of the search warrant, Inuchiyo and I had to retreat for now, but Goemon and the Kawanami Group should be helping her with that. 」

「Now that you mention it, I heard from Inuchiyo that when you guys captured Inabayama castle, you were together with Hanbei, weren’t you? Don’t tell me… you were planning to keep Hanbei from being labeled as a traitor, and so you gave up that castle? You haven’t forgotten about the reward, have you?! 」

(Damn, she found out!)

「No, it’s not like this. If I just killed Hanbei, who had just declared that she has no intentions to revolt, and captured the castle, would you really be happy with such an outcome? 」

「No. Actually, doing it like this fits your style more. But, you gave up a whole fortress for the sake of a girl after going through much difficulty to finally gain control of it…. you’re really an idiot. 」

「I…I’m the kind guy of guy who just won’t give anything up! Don’t lump me together with that bastard Nagamasa ! His so called maturity is just an excuse for him to throw away what’s most important to him after he deems that he no longer needs it. 」

After a brief silence. Nobuna opens her mouth and calmly said:

「… I’ve decided to marry Azai Nagamasa after all. 」

…..

………..

「Huh… EEEEHHHH?!!!! B-But why?! What happened?! 」

Yoshiharu opposed Nobuna’s statement with a series of unidentified sounds that made it look as if he had at long last managed to master the monkey language.

「Didn’t you hear Inuchiyo’s report? When that guy failed to persuade Hanbei to hand the Inabayama Castle off to him, he then proceeded to kidnap Hanbei-chan’s uncle! He is that kind of a dirty bastard who plays with women’s hearts for his own benefits! 」

「For the sake of unifying the world, it’s okay for me to marry such a man. Besides, you are just a naive idiot who chose Takenaka Hanbei over me, remember? 」

「H-Huh!? 」

「I-I-It does not mean that I want you to be my husband! I’m only stating the facts here! If I marry someone like you who would’ve kept flirting with girls everywhere he went, they you would eventually end up giving a castle or an entire province if only a girl asked you to do it, right? If that’s the case, how long will I wait until I can fulfill my wish of uniting the world! Bah, forget about the world, I won’t even be able to conquer Mino like that! 」

「Oi! Don’t tell me you are throwing a tantrum just because I gave up Inabayama castle to save Hanbei-chan? Why must you be so god damn petty now of all times?! 」

「It’s not like that! IDIOT! 」

Nobuna’s voice starts to shake.

「What… What I want is to conquer Mino while Viper is still alive! After being banished from Mino, he’s been aging rapidly day by day, almost as if his age was starting to catch up to him. I’m sure that… I’m sure that his days are already numbered! He spent his life contributing to the prosperity of the Mino province, so I do not want him to die banished in Owari! I am the only one to which Viper passed on his dream. Me, not Yoshitatsu. I am the only one who can see his lifelong ambition finally come to fruition! I want to prove to him that his choice wasn’t wrong, and I don’t want him to regret choosing me as the successor of his dream! 」

Faced with that sudden confession, Yoshiharu was stunned speechless.

(Soo that’s why Nobuna seemed so anxious and fretful this entire time.)

If Nobuna was stull her old self, then everything would’ve been resolved during the time when Azai Nagamasa first proposed to her with her saying 「I want to marry the man I love and that’s final」as she would’ve rejected him, but she did not even send out a rejection letter for Nagamasa’s proposal, and recklessly rushed into Mino letting her troops get beaten up by Hanbei’s strategies before shamefully retreating. And now, with her leaving Aoshuu to move to Komakiyama; Nobuna’s persistence towards getting Mino with her own strength only grew stronger, like a fire that has been turned into an inferno by the blowing wind.

Something had changed inside Nobuna. Even though she was standing in front of him, she was no longer the Nobuna from before. Yoshiharu couldn’t understand that sudden change of hers or what caused it, and he wasn’t even given the chance to do so. Besides apologizing, there was nothing he could do.

「Besides, compared to Inabayama Castle, isn’t Hanbei herself more important? What I’m getting at is, if I can’t conquer Mino and will have to marry Nagamasa in the end, you wouldn’t care about it in the least, right!? Since you have chosen Hanbei yourself, then just shut your mouth already and leave me alone! 」

「Eh? I chose Hanbei-chan over you? What do you mean? 」

「Haven’t you been totally mesmerized by Hanbei!? Isn’t Hanbei more important to you than me? Isn’t that why you helped her in the first place?! 」

「W-W-W-What you just said is just a big misunderstanding! 」

「You are the one who is misunderstanding things here, Monkey! Besides, what makes you, a mere monkey, think that you have the right to say anything about my marriage? Who do you think you are to me?! I’m Owari’s Daimyo, Oda Nobuna! 」

「I know that without you saying it in my face! 」

「Have you already forgotten about the reward? If that’s the case… then you really are an idiot! 」

「Eh.? Nobuna? 」

Nobuna then straighten 3 of her fingers and said:

「I’m not a dilly-dallying woman! I’ve decided! I’m giving you three days! If you won’t conquer Inabayama Castle in 3 days, then I will go and marry Azai Nagamasa of the Omi province! 」

「O-Oi, what do you mean by three days!? What’s with such a rash decision…!? No, definitely no! No matter what, you can’t marry that kind of a guy just because you’re angry at someone and you want to have a last word in an argument! 」

「Shut up! All of this was caused by you not capturing Inabayama Castle when you had the chance! And yet you are shameless enough to act all suave in front of both Hanbei and me! In the future, just protect that cute little kitten Hanbei and live the rest of your life in happiness together with her! 」

「No, no, no, no ,no! My relationship with Hanbei-chan is not something like that! It’s all a misunderstanding… no way… don’t tell me that you’re actually jealous about her?! 」

*WHACK!*

Nobuna knocked Yoshiharu to the ground, and then she stepped on his face with her foot, using her whole body’s weight to do so.

「Uwahhh!? OUCH!!!!! God damn it woman, don’t step on my face like that! I’m just trying to stop your marriage! As a revenge for you not introducing me to the number 1 beauty in the world, I will definitely not allow you to find your own happiness before I do! ! I haven’t given up yet, so just you wait! I will definitely stop this marriage from happening, or my name isn’t Sagara Yoshiharu! 」

「Oh, I see! If you wish so strongly to stop me from Marrying Azai Nagamasa, then capture Inabayama castle in 3 days for me! I would very much like to see you do your worst! 」

「Thanks for the encouragement! Now I will definitely capture that castle, just so that I could rub my victory in your fat, stupid face! 」

Just when the both of them finished quarreling and Yoshiharu left, Katsuie and the retired Saito Dosan came to Nobuna’s side one after the other. it seems like the both of them overheard the conversation between Nobuna and Yoshiharu.

「Dumb… you’re too dumb! How can you choose the marriage with Azai Nagamasa just because you can’t think of a better way to capture Mino! To do such a foolish thing just because of the territory of Mino, this isn’t like you, Nobuna-chan! 」

Dosan’s seemed so furious that it was almost like he might have a stroke and die on the spot right then and there.

「Nobuna-sama. I am very sorry for my rudeness… but I simply cannot bear it to see you acting like this any longer! 」