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Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 8

She threw a smoke grenade onto the incoming Mino army soldiers and started slashing her way through them.

「Uwahhhh! Leader! Are you trying to let leader die!?!!? 」

「No matter if the enemy is thousands or ten of thousands, I will definitely stop them here! 」

「Guys! Right here is the best chance we bandits can have at becoming true warriors! Charge! 」

「Uwahh, where the hell did all of you people’s personal opinions go!? 」

The Kawanami Group may be good in guerrilla warfare techniques, but in the end the numbers of the opposing army were just too overwhelming. On top of that, more than half of the Kawanami Group’s members were still building the castle. No matter how strong Goemon and her people might be, it’s too reckless for them to think they can to stop the Mino’s army of 8000 men.

「Wait, Goemon! Don’t die so easily! 」

Yoshiharu lifted his spear and rushed to the battlefield too, trying his best to dodge the enemies’ attacks and cover Goemon. Though he hated fighting, Yoshiharu didn’t want to abandon Goemon.

「This whole situation is just me being selfish; how can I let you die for such a reason! 」

Yoshiharu swung the spear with all his might, using up all the strength in his body.

「Goemon!「

「I-It’s dangerous here, Sagara-sama! 」

The sound of the fired muskets echoed all around them. No matter how skillful Yoshiharu is in dodging regular attacks, he could never hope to dodge an actual musket bullet.

(I’m going to get hit… I’m so going to get hit!)

Yoshiharu thought while shutting his eyes, thinking that this was the end of the line for him, but the bullet that was heading towards him mysteriously never reached its target…

「Uhhnyaa… 」

… because Goemon came in between the bullet and Yoshiharu. While opening his eyes, he saw the small body of Goemon falling limply into his arms.

「Go…Goemon? 」

「…Sagara-samai. Are…Are you alright? 」

「Goemon! No! Don’t die on me! Goemon!!!! 」

「It’s okay… Sagara-sama… hahaha, i-it’s just like I told you… desiring too much at once is never a good thing… 」

「Oi, Goemon! This isn’t real, right? Don’t scare me like that, you hear me?!, Oi, Goemon! 」

「As a man…. there will be come day…where you are going to have to make a choice, Sagara-sama. At that time… you need to be strong enough… to make a choice that you won’t regret… 」

「….Goemon? Goemon! 」

Yoshiharu shook Goemon’s body… but there was no reaction from her at all. It was as if Goemon has fallen asleep. Yoshiharu hugged Goemon’s small body and shouted like a madman:
「WHY?!!!!! IT SHOULDN’T HAVE ENDED LIKE THAT?!?!!!!!!! 」

In the games that he loved playing so much, this is not how this story unfolded. They even built the castle in a day, and yet they still didn’t succeed. And now Goemon, the one who believed in him the most, died just like that in his arms.

「Even though I knew the way to build it from the start, even though I haven’t even cheated, don’t tell me that 「Sunomata’s One Night Castle」cannot be build in this version of the Sengoku era?! 」

(Goemon had died for me…. Haha, as expected, I don’t have the talent to replace Old man Tokichiro. As expected, I can’t fulfill Nobuna’s dream. To protect Nobuna’s dream, I’ve lost Goemon… in order to want something, one must lose something first. This might be the law in this era. But I myself am still living in this world! Even if I’m the last one standing, I won’t give up. This is the battle for Goemon now! I will see this through, even if it kills me!)

Yoshiharu roared and ran, all the while carrying Goemon’s small body, rushing towards the army of 8000 soldiers.

「Damn you all to hell, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!! 」

Not wanting to give anything up might just mean having to give everything up.

But, at that moment…

「Ta…Takenaka Hanbei Shigetora, is here to help, in the name of upholding justice… no, in the name of more than just that! 」

「Oh~! Zenki, present! 」

「Goki, present! 」

「The Twelve Heavenly Knights are all present and accounted for! Our names are too long, so we will skip them this time! 」

「H-H-H-Head of The Mino Three, Iga Ando is also here to help because I’ve other choice… *SOB SOB!* 」

Takenaka Hanbei, was leading the rest of the Kawanami Group while sitting on top of a small pony while commanding the troops around her. The shikigami army as well as the Kawanami Group who had finally managed saved Iga Ando started their attack on the Mino army from the back.

「Ohhh….Hanbei, you’ve betrayed me as expected! You traitor! 」

The big bulky man right in the middle of the Mino army, Saito Yoshitatsu himself, stared at Hanbei, and shouted, but Hanbei did not cry, nor show a hint of fear at that. Instead, she commanded the troops around her with ease and ordered them to attack using the eight triagrams battle array, while she herself served as the vanguard against the Mino army.

「Although I’m indebted to you, Lord, Yoshitatsu, I’ve decided I will contribute all of my knowledge and strategies to Yoshiharu-san! Even if I have to bear the name of traitor, I won’t regret this choice! 」

Hanbei, the young girl who was usually so scared of macho men, was acting as if she was a completely different person. She was exuding lots of confidence and passion as she was getting closer to the battlefield.

The Mino warriors had already experienced themselves that Hanbei’s talents as a strategist and her strength as an Omyouji are nothing to be trifled with, so they were all shocked by this turn of events and fell back on the ground dumbfounded.

With her knowledge, Hanbei had even played around with Nobuna, who had defeated the strongest bow of Tokaido, Imagawa Yoshimoto, as if she was dealing with a child. Considering that she just conquered Inabayama castle with only 17 subordinates as well, Hanbei’s reputation had already spread throughout Mino. With the selfless heart thanks to which she returned the fortress back to Yoshitatsu, she can be called an unparalleled example of what it means to be a true general.

This same Hanbei, having the resolve of becoming a traitor, now risked herself to save Sagara Yoshiharu who is still just a lowly vice-captain in Nobuna’s army.

The Mino army went into total disarray after the assault of Takenaka Hanbei and Iga Ando, and Yoshitatsu’s base was immediately broken through by Hanbei’s shikigami army. The soldiers lost all their morale, and even their battle formations were all messed up.

「To think that even Iga Ando would betray me…! 」

Yoshitatsu spat those words while gnashing his teeth.

「Iga Ando! You are also one of the people who benefited from me getting the rule over Mino back from my father! How dare you betray me now ?! 」

「I…I…I, Iga Ando had no intentions to betray you my lord! Definitely not! B-But, Hanbei…
Hanbei… 」

Looks like after getting saved by Hanbei and the Kawanami Group, Iga Ando was totally swept away by his own niece’s determination, and had to agree to stand with her on Yoshiharu’s side, albeit unwillingly.

The head of the Mino Three has surrendered to the Oda clan!

This news spread like wildfire to the other two members of The Mino Three: Inaba Itetsu, the one called 「Stubborn like a rock「 by his peers, and the muscled old man Ujiie Bokuzen, who didn’t possess any nickname himself. Both of them aren’t people that are easily swayed by the situation, but both of them had immense respect for Hanbei. Luckily, neither of them were lolicons. No matter if it’s the brilliant strategies that repelled the fierce Oda clan’s army every time they attacked, or the gracious act of returning the Inabayama Castle to its original owner, all of it had scored many points for Hanbei in their eyes. Both of them had determined that if she met a suitable master, Hanbei would definitely calm this Sengoku era and become a person that would be more than worthy of the title 「Current Zhuge Liang 」.

It’s a pity that Yoshitatsu does not have the same capacity for Hanbei as they have.

If Hanbei disappeared from this world, this era might just remain just like it was forever. Once both of them thought of this, they sighed in unison. But after looking at Hanbei now…

「Even after knowing that they are outnumbered, Hanbei still tried to help. It seems like this Sagara Yoshiharu is quite a capable lad himself. 」

「Look at Hanbei’s expression! She’s almost like a different person now. It looks like she finally met her true master and flew to the sky after finally spreading her wings! 」