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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 10

Knowing Yoshiharu’s identity now, Sakihisa got even more overbearing than before. As someone who was born in the Heisei period, Yoshiharu immediately flared up.

「Even if you’re the noble from the Sengoku era, isn’t that a little too much! And I won’t allow you to treat Nobuna like a monkey! Who do you think you are relying on to rebuild this Imperial Palace after you allowed it to degrade to such a sorry state, huh? 」

「Such a small thing is an obvious act for warriors serving us nobles! There is absolutely no need to be grateful to them whatsoever! 」

「You…you parasite…! Choose your words more carefully, or else I promise I’m going to beatyou to death, you senile bastard! 」

Yoshiharu shouted as he gnashed his teeth and clutched his fist.

「Ohh, don’t you dare laying your dirty hands on me! I don’t want to be infected with whatever malicious dieseases that you might be carrying! 」

「Y-You bastard…….! 」

「Hohoho! You’re really gonna raise your hand against me? If you do such a thing, the Oda clan will immediately be branded as traitors! 」

「… huh?! 」

「Oh, what’s that? Getting cold feet, are we? Come and punch me with that fist of yours if you have the guts to do it! Or maybe you’ve finally noticed the difference between you and me? Now kneel down and beg for forgiveness, you ignorant monkey! 」

It would be okay if he was just a masterless ronin, but Yoshiharu is Nobuna’s retainer now. Even if he wanted to do that, there’s just no way he could raise his hand at the Kampaku without Nobuna suffering the consequences for it.
「Damn…DAMN IT…….! 」

Right now, he can only swallow his own pride, and though he hates it, he has no other choice but to lower his head…!

「I… I am sorry about what I have done. 」

Yoshiharu endured the humiliation and apologized to Sakihisa.

「Hohoho? That defiant glare and that rude monkey language. I can’t see a shred of repentance from you. As expected, it looks like I’ll have to punish you properly. 」

(He’s coming at me! He’s going to come at me for real with a kick this time!)

「My shoes will be dirty from it, but there’s no helping it. This time, I will force some humility into you directly with my legs! I’m going to kick all your teeth out, so that you would never be able to utter anymore rude words towards me with them! 」

(What!? Am I really going to allow him to do as he pleases?! But… but if I don’t do that, then Nobuna will… )

Yoshiharu prepares himself as he steeled his resolve.

「Hohohoho! I will make you understand just how lowly your status and position truly is! 」

「B-Bastard…! 」

Yoshiharu braced himself for the incoming impact, but at that exact moment…

「This monkey is my pet, so if you punish him instead of me, I’m going to be troubled! 」

Someone appeared before him gallantly.

It was Nobuna.

Wearing Namban kabuto, her red cape fluttered behind her like flames. At Nobuna’s side, there was only Akechi Mitsuhide and a few retainers who were touring around Imperial Palace with the sedan that carried Imagawa Yoshimoto in it.

「So this is Oda Nobuna, huh!? Are you here because the Imperial Palace has not appointed Imagawa Yoshimoto as the Shogun yet? And with using that as an excuse, you planned to attack and kidnap me?! 」

「Monkey, what’s with this old man? What’s that about attacking and kidnapping? Don’t tell me, you ended up getting yourself involved in some kind of mess again? 」

「He might be an old man, but he’s unexpectedly bloodthirsty. And he seems to be the Kampaku, Konoe Sakihisa. 」

「Ahh, dearu ka. Kampaku, huh? So as to say, that fellow responsible for appointing positions to the Buke? He’s supposed to be the one? 」

With an indignant expression, Nobuna observed Konoe Sakihisa from her steed.

「Ugh! How dare you addressing me as ‘That fellow’! You barbarian! Get off your steed now! 」

In response to Sakihisa’s rants, Nobuna seems to have flared up too.

「Sakihisa! If you are really thinkin about the future of this country, then assisting us is in guiding it down the correct path would be the right thing to do! Now hurry up and appoint Imagawa Yoshimoto as the Shogun! 」

「Ri-Ridiculous, unforgivable! I will never allow it! 」

「I see. So not only do you refuse to cooperate with the rightful Shogun, but now you also dare to abuse Himiko-dono’s authority to bully my subordinate… and I also heard that you actually chased all the barbarian missionaries out of Kyoto. That’s why Kyoto is so dead and desolate. The ways of the nobles are exactly the same as before, and it saddens me to see it. 」

「Shut up! 」

Just when Sakihisa is getting ready for another kick, Nobuna’s steed neighed loudly and kicked a pile of sand and dust right into his face.

「Ara, this is so unbecoming of me, but I hope you will understand that ot wasn’t intentional. After all, the horses of Owari are really rough, hohohoho! 」

「*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!* O-Od-Oda Nobuna! I will definitely not forgive you this crime of insulting me! I will make sure to do everything in my power to not let Imagawa Yoshimoto to be declared as the next Shogun! 」

Though Yoshiharu also said 「Forget it, let’s end this here. 」 and tried to stop Nobuna from aggravating Sakihisa any further, after looking at Yoshiharu’s bloodstained nose, she said:

「People who dare to be rude to my pet monkey are being rude to me by extension! My anger can’t be appeased unless I finish off that black-teethed geezer for good! 」

And she became even more furious.

Finally, with Akechi Mitsuhide’s persuasion of 「It will be impossible to make progress if you continue to mess things up in front of the nobles of the Imperial Palace, Nobuna-sama. 」 they were finally able to pull Nobuna apart from Konoe Sakihisa.

「Unbelievable. When we set out from Gifu, we should have already received the appointment from the Imperial Palace, so why… oh, I know! The delay must surely be the failt of that Konose Sakihisa, wouldn’t you all agree?! 」

That night, after returning to To-ji in Kujo, Nobuna ordered the best chefs of Kyoto to cook cuisine with the thickest flavor possible as she continued to rant about how she despised the Kampaku without end. Just to mention, when the chefs brought the cuisine over, they kept whispering, 「What’s this food full of rural flavor? The highest quality ingredients are all destroyed by the Miso… My culinary skills… My pride… 」 as they wept, but no one paid any attention to them.

Sitting at Nobuna’s side was Takenaka Hanbei. After creating new talismans at the Abe no Seimei shrine, she had returned to Nobuna. Also present was the representative of animals, Yoshiharu, and finally, the always arrogant Imagawa Yoshimoto with her high pitch laughter.

「I have been waiting for a very long time already, Nobuna! Just how much longer do you need me to wait before I can become the Shogun? 」

「You’re noisy! Didn’t I tell you to go to Kiyomizu shrine and take a nap that you so desperately wanted? Why are you even here? 」

「How can I sleep at such a high place!? If I fall down, won’t I be on my way to heaven!? 」

「Ahh, is that so? Then what marvelous idea do you have to speed things up? This problem is mostly your concern, after all. 」

「Such a thing is something that I will of course let my subordinate figure out for me! Motoyasu, Motoyasu, where are you?! 」

「Takechiyo isn’t around right now. At least try to use your brain a little! 」

「Ara ara… When a person like me starts thinking about complicated things, I feel like my head will explode from all the excess activity. Letting my head be troubled by actual work is just inelegant of someone of my position. 」

「Is that so? Then you will definitely live a long and carefree life. 」

Nobuna ate her Miso filled rice as she grumbled.

「…Delicious! This Miso filled rice is just fabulous! I must reward the chefs for their efforts! 」

(Damn it, here we go with the daily life filled with nothing but Miso!)

Yoshiharu was so angry that he threw the chopsticks onto the ground.

「Why are we back to eating Nagoya cuisine again? I’ve had enough! We are finally in Kyoto, so at least try to eat some Sanuki Udon for a change! 」