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Volume 2 Chapter 5 Part 1

Chapter 5: Gifu

「Eh. Aren’t you Zenki? Where did Hanbei-chan go? 」

「It seems like Hanbei-sama isn’t used to being around such rough men as the ones from Owari’s army, so she had me disguise myself as Takenaka Hanbei and act on her behalf. 」

Just that night when Mino changed hands to Nobuna, Yoshiharu had finally managed to bring Hanbei to Inabayama Castle after quite some effort, but in the end the one who appeared was not Hanbei herself, but the fox yokai Zenki disguised as her.

Without much time until the beginning of the reward ceremony, Yoshiharu and Inuchiyo could only bring this fake Hanbei in and report to Nobuna, who was sitting high up while turning her globe in her hands.

「Takenaka Hanbei Shigetora, present! 」

「Yeah, he… he’s Hanbei. 」

「Dearu ka. 」

Under the intense glare of the retainers retainers of the Oda clan, Zenki still retained a calm smile, and, using the smooth voice of his, he said:

「I am Takenaka Hanbei Shigetora. In the battle of Inabayama Castle, your tactics were truly magnificent, so I am here to express my congratulations to you, Oda Nobuna-sama. 」

「Ahh, I see. So, what do you want in exchange for your services to me? 」

Nobuna’s face was filled with displeasure, but Zenki simply maintained his poker face and said lightly:
「I did give Sagara-dono quite a bit of trouble before. Though I am beginning to understand how capable you are as a leader, I do not mind the thought of aligning myself with Sagara Yoshiharu at all. 」

「Did you hear that?! That Takenaka Hanbei had the gall to say something like that right to Nobuna-sama’s face! 」

The retainers of the Oda clan started to whisper among themselves.

「I see. 」

Nobuna said while grabbing an arquebus from an aide, and then without any hesitation she pulled the trigger while aiming at Zenki’s forehead.

「Ehhhhh~?! 」

The retainers were all stunned by this sudden development. No one had a chance to even react to this quick turn of events, let alone to try to stop Nobuna or even speak against what she was about to do.

「Ah….! 」

Zenki shouted shortly and then disappeared with a puff of smoke.

「Woah! Nobuna!? What the hell are you doing!? That’s messed up! 」

「Monkey, this is not a real person, right? He’s just a familiar made from a piece of paper, correct? 」

「Yeah. It’s a Shikigami. 」

「You knew about this, and yet you still brought him here? 」

「Well, so what? Didn’t you tell me yourself that you do not believe in demons or monsters? 」

「Yes, of course I do not believe in them. What we have just seen is an illusion. The real Takenaka Hanbei, show yourself quickly! If not, the next bullet is going to be aimed straight at you! 」

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Nobuna started shooting her arquebus at the ceiling, pillars, and everywhere around the room.

「Nobuna-sama, there seems to be a small child hiding here! 」

Hanbei, whose teeth were clacking together with a rhythmical sound due to how scared of Nobuna she was has been held up by Katsuie by the collar like a small cat and brought to Yoshiharu’s side.

「Ahh, ahhh, woahh…I…I’m gonna be bullied… D-D-Don’t bully me, please! 」

「What’s going on, Hanbei-chan!? Where did the gallant strategist that was present on the battlefield go!? 」

Hanbei hurriedly hid herself behind Yoshiharu, and he patted her head while repeating :「It’s ok, It’s ok. 」over and over again. If she did not use her Shikigami to test the other party, Hanbei would most likely not appear here at all. But Nobuna in front of them had just seen through Zenki’s disguise in just one look, and even shot at the Shikigami without any hesitation.

「Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yoshiharu-san. S-S-S-S-S-Save me! T-T-T-T-T-T-Think of something, quick! *Tremble Tremble!* 」

(As the saying goes, weak girls are cute, so I will protect this child with everything I’ve got!)
Yoshiharu couldn’t help but to think that.

「I got it, I got it. Oi, Nobuna, don’t go shooting that arquebus of yours around in front of other people! The demure Hanbei-chan is crying now because of you! See? 」

「Huh? What ‘demure Hanbei-chan’? I thought this brat was a squirrel from Kinkazan tha somehow found its way here! 」

「What right do you have to say that about others? Didn’t you act like a monkey and run around towns of Mino while gloating to everyone that you’re their new Daimyo?! 」

「What?! You damn monkey! You like to show your manliness in front of that wild Kinkazan squirrel, huh? Do you want to go against me because of it or something!? 」

「What I was getting at is that you shouldn’t go swinging your arquebus around your future retainers! Can you take the responsibility if it misfires and actually ends up hurting someone? 」

「You understand, don’t you? That I hate all these Omyoujis and demons or yokai or whatever. Hmph, it seems like animals do gather together after all. Looks like you guys mix well with each other especially well. 」

Reluctantly passing back her arqebus to the same aide who gave it to her, Nobuna returned to her seat.

「Okay then… Takenaka Hanbei, tell me clearly who you wanna serve. Of course, I have no problems accepting you as my direct retainer and letting me train you to death! 」

「I…I…I’m happy about your offer, Nobuna-sama, but y-y-y-y-you’re too scary! I…I. I feel like will be bullied by you a lot! 」

「Oh really? How about going over to Katsuie to swing some swords or thrust some spears one thousand times in a row to find out? 」

「Such a demure brat can never survive in the battlefield! Let me use my hellish training methods to train you from scratch! Heiyaaaaaa! 」

Katsuie who leapt out to the courtyard before anyone could react swung the long spear at a thick tree, and the latter was cut in half in an instant and fell into the nearby pond.

「D-D-D-D-D-D-Definitely not!!!! Uhhh, Uhhhhhhhh……*sob!!!!* 」

「Hehe~hehe~hehe. In terms of intelligence, she should be up there with me. Let me teach Hanbei-dono all the devious plans and cunning strategies I know of! What strategists need are guts! Heiyaaa! 」

Saito Dosan, who arrived lifted a giant rock in the courtyard and threw it into the lake.

「Ahhhhhhh….Uhhh. Uhhhhhh *Sobsob* 」

「Ahh, really guys! Stop scaring Hanbei already! She is really crying now!「

While hugging Hanbei’s trembling shoulders, Yoshiharu lectured the overly energetic Dosan and Katsuie.

「In the end, she’s an introvert, so it should be obvious that this kind of brat can never serve under Viper. She did cause a big fuss while serving under Yoshitatsu, right? Then I think it’d be better for me to retrain her from scratch myself. 」

「Uhhhh. If I can’t be together with Yoshiharu-san, I want to retire back into the mountains. Yoshiharu-san, the people in the Oda-clan are bullying me!!! 」

「Ah.. well, you see, tere’s no helping it. That’s just how it is with her, so can you let Hanbei be by my side and help me out? 」

「Ugh, so infuriating! But… I guess It’s not impossible. *Ekhem!! Takenaka Hanbei! From now on, work hard as the Monkey’s advisor. But…. 」

「B-But…? 」

Hanbei asked while trembling like a leaf in the hurricane.

「But don’t hang around him all the time! If you dare to steal him from me, then I promise that I will find you wherever you may try to run and I will put a bullet right between your eyes. 」

「Hyiiiiii!!!!!! *Tremble, tremble!* 」

「Oi, Nobuna! I thought I told you to put down that damn arqebus!!! 」

With this, Hanbei could finally stay with Yoshiharu, and has officially part of the Oda-clan. Nobuna and her retainers were also finally seated, and began their real after-battle review.

At the side of Nobuna sat her would-be fiancée, Azai Nagamasa, with his face showing absolutely no emotions. But Nobuna too did not care about Nagamasa at all, and just went along with her own after-battle formalities.

First and foremost was the decision concerning the surrendered Saito Yoshitatsu.

Yoshitatsu, the huge man of 6 feet and 5 inches, had been prepared for his death, appearing before Nobuna in a fully white attire and siting in a perfect seiza position.

But that messed up face of his, after showing a serious face, caused Katsuie to laugh out loud. Which in turn caused everyone to whisper to each other.

「Don’t laugh, 12 points. 」

「Riku, this isn’t the time to be laughing. 」

「Yes, I’m very sorry, Nobuna-sama! 」