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Volume 2 Chapter 5 Part 3

「Damn you, Azai Nagamasa! Nobuna-dono, I need you to hear that until yesterday, I was hold captive and imprisoned by Azai Nagamasa! 」

Once Ando Iga was brought forward, he couldn’t stop throwing curse after curse at Nagamasa. 「That damn, accursed, fucking…! 」he was saying those words non-stop.

Nagamasa became pale in the face and said nervously:

「W-What are you saying? 」

But…

「Nagamasa was in cahoots with Saito Yoshitatsu this entire time! He kidnapped me in order to threaten Hanbei and helped Yoshitatsu gain control of Inabayama Castle back… Ugh, why is a scoundrel like him now sitting next to Nobuna-dono as if nothing had happened?! Don’t tell me that you’re still deluding yourself that you are going to be Nobuna-dono’s husband after all that you’ve done, you snake?! 」

But even though that one matter was out of the bag now, Azai Nagamasa wasn’t as simple of a man to allow such a small setback to stop him. There’s no helping it now that that angry Iga Ango revealed his involvement with Saito Yoshitatsu, but Nagamasa was now racking his brain in order to find a way to never let the truth about the incident at Sunomata be exposed. After a short while, he opened his mouth and started explaining as such:

「Because I took care to hide the head of the Mino Three, Iga Ando, the residents of Mino started to spread rumors like: 「Saito Yoshitatsu has decided to finish off The Mino Three who were interfering with his plans」. Judging from the results, I would say this also contributed to the other two members of The Three, Inaba Itetsu and Ujiie Bokuzen, finally deciding to defect to Nobuna-dono’s side. 」

「Although this man’s words are full of lies, this reason is good. 73 points. 」

Nagahide showed that she was still paying attention to the conversation that was currently going on.

「You damn sissy! You speak nothing but lies, and yet you have the nerve to spout even more of them right in our faces?! 」

Yoshiharu started to scratch the tatami like a cat while gashing his teeth in anger.

「Oh, so it was like that? Then that would mean that Inaba and Ujiie defecting to Nobuna-sama’s side wasn’t from the efforts of that damn Monkey. 」

Katsuie chipped in involuntarily.

「So it’s like that, huh? Oi, Iga Ando or whatever! From now on, as the head of The Mino Three, work hard for me along with your niece Hanbei! You understand? 」

However, Nobuna did not seem interested in that matter and did not ask anything about Nagamasa any further.

「Oi, oi, don’t tell me you are just going to ignore that bastard Nagamasa and how he worked against you?! 」

Yoshiharu glared at Nobuna and Nagamasa with all his might.

「Ohh, Hanbei! It’s been hard on you to you serve under the Saito clan. I see that now, and I’m so sorry that I’ve let you down! 」

「It’s ok. Because of Uncle, Hanbei has finally met her own master. 」

「Is that so, is that so? Hanbei, you’ve become quite strong throughout that time when I was not around you, huh? 」

With this, the efficient Mino Three had finally assembled and become Nobuna’s direct retainers.

The Uncle and niece pair hugged each other tightly while feeling a sense of joy for each other at this beginning of the newest chapter of their lives.

With all this, almost all the issues following the conquest of the Mino province have been resolved.

Yoshitatsu’s treatment and the rewards for the retainers who showed exceptional bravery during the battle were settled, so now the only matters that needed to be taken care of were Nobuna’s marriage with Azai Nagamasa and the reward that she promised to give to Yoshiharu for building a castle in Sunomata and conquering Inabayama Castle in a single day. Once those two matters will be settled as well, the meeting will be ended for good.

「For the one who conquered Inabayama Castle, no matter what kind of reward may be requested by him, it will be fulfilled. 」

Hanbei spoke the promise that Nubuna made with Yoshiharu aloud, albeit with a tinge of bitterness in her voice. The time has come to see whether Nobuna willactually stay true to her word or not.

「Based on my just and fair judgement, the one who has the right to claim the promise is Katsuie, who has accomplished the most during the battle. 」

「That’s right, Nobuna-sama! I had accomplished the most, so I have the right to get the reward from you! Yay~~! 」

「Nobuna-sama, forgive me for saying this, but in my opinion, your judgment in that matter is too unreasonable.

Hime, this is too unreasonable, 12 points. For the building of the castle in Sunomata in just one day, causing The Mino Three to defect from theMino province to Owari, obtaining the enemy strategist, Takenaka Hanbei and volunteering for the suicide mission to sneak into Inabayama Castle, I believe that the right for the promise of any reward he might desire should be given to Sagara Yoshiharu-sama. This is the only choice if the reward is to be fair and just, in my opinion. 」

With a wide smile on her face, Nagahide seemed to understand what Nobuna was trying to do here, and raised such an objection to her choice.

「*Tsk!* So there’s no way for me to avoid it, huh? 」

Nobuna knitted her eyebrows together in displeasure, spat on the floor and turned towards Yoshiharu.

「It…It can’t be! Nobuna-sama, surely you won’t…?!!! 」

Ignoring Katsuie who was sobbing on the ground, Nobunaturned to Yoshiharu’s side and approached him, to the point where their faces were almost touching each other and they could feel each other’s breaths on their necks.

Yoshiharu was so nervous that he couldn’t move. It’s been so long since he could look so closely at Nobuna’s delicate face, after all. Such a bright sight right in front of him forces Yoshiharu to involuntarily swallow his saliva.

「Say it out loud, Monkey. What do you want your reward to me? And make sure to say it clearly without stuttering. 」

「….D-Don’t keep your face so close to mine. You’re making it hard for me to say anything. 」

「Stop caring about needless details so much! just say it when I want you to say it! 」

Both of them looked at each other in silence due to being nervous. From the bystanders’s standpoint it was an instant, but to the both of them, it was an unbearably long moment. Nobuna’s face started to show a tinge of red on it, and as she was looking at Yoshiharu, she almost looked as if she was about to cry. 」

「Y-You damn Monkey! If you don’t say it now, I will be snatched away by Nagamasa! Hurry up, say that you want me as your reward. Hurry up and say it! 」

Nobuna said something that couldn’t have been more tsundere-like if she tried, and it made Yoshiharu even more confused as he sank into a deep feeling of helplessness.

(He…Hehehe! As my reward, I want you to marry me, Nobuna… yeah, right. If I went and said something like that, Nobuna would definitely end up being confused and won’t know what to do… t-that being said, I have no interest at all to marry someone as impulsive and stingy like her… then again, maybe… just maybe it would be alright for me to say it in order to teach that stuck-up brat a lesson?)

At this moment.

At the back of the sweating Nobuna, Yoshiharu saw Azai Nagamasa and Niwa Nagahide. Azai Nagamasa sneered, his expression saying:「Just a lowly foot soldier getting a reward? What a joke for someone like him to have ulterior motives on for the head of the Oda clan」.

He was openly mocking the panicking Yoshiharu.

(Just shut up and wait, you asshole. I will tear that mocking sneer right off of your ugly mug!)

Nagamasa’s reaction agitated Yoshiharu, but it aso allowed him tocement his determination as to what kind of a mind-blowing request he would ask of Nobuna.

But on the other hand, Niwa Nagahide smiled gently and looked at Yoshiharu.

「Yoshiharu-sama. Please make your decision using your own eyes, since you’re the only one who can see what is best for Nobuna-sama. 」

Using an expression almost as if she was advising him, Nagahide spoke wordlessly to Yoshiharu.

「Protect Nobuna-sama from falling into the hands of Nagamasa, and make sure that she fulfills her dreams. That is a reward that you should choose. 」

(Choosing such a reward… can it even be done? What I really care about, and what I want to wish for is…)
And then, he himself noticed it.