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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 13

At this time, Mitsuhide, adorned with her bell accessories, walked in and while saying:

「I’m terribly sorry! 」

And she knelt in front of Nobuna.

「I failed to appease the Kampaku Konoe Sakihisa’s anger, and so he has raised an extremely demanding condition for the appointment of the new Shogun! 」

「That black teeth guy did that? How annoying. Monkey, it’s all your fault. 」

「Why am I the one being blamed now? 」

「Because you assaulted that black-teethed guy. 」

「But in the end, you were the one that made things worse, weren’t you?! 」

「No, it’s all my fault! 」

Mitsuhide said.

「Those nobles have the authority to appoint the Shogun, so it’s natural that they will stop the Oda princess from turning Imagawa into a puppet Shogun and taking all the authority for herself. 25 points. So, Mitsuhide-dono , what condition did they gave us? 」

The always gentle and mature Nagahide beautifully ended the conflict, prompting Mitsuhide to recount the condition Sakihisa gave them.

.

「Before the end of the month, we have to contribute 120,000 kan to the Imperial Palace… this is an impossible task . 」

「T-that’s not good! Er, but what’s so difficult about this ? Ahh, I’m joking, of course!」

After coming back to the room, Katsuie had wanted to use jokes to help lift the tension a little, but instead, the atmosphere had turned even more sour. After an intense glare from Nobuna, she once again started weeping.

「 I really don’t understand any of this… Who can help explain this… Uwahh, Uwahhhh…!!! 」

「So as to say, they had requested an extremely huge amount of money, Katsuie-dono. 」

「I see. Eh, wait a minute? My monthly salary is 100 kan, a single year will be 1200 kan… So as to say, with my salary, I can have that amount within just 10 years!? Yay, problem solved! 」

「Wrong, if it’s 120,000 kan, with Katsuie-dono’s salary, we’d need 100 years. 」

Mitsuhide said without any mercy.

From the viewpoint of the modern era, it’s a salary of a top executive in a word class company.

「One…one hundred years!? Oda clan doesn’t have such a large amount of money! Ok, as long as all of the Oda retainers work for free in these 10 years, we should be okay… For now, let’s just pay him by installments… 」

「He said we need to pay all of it by this month, or else the appointment will never come. 」

Mitsuhide said.

「There’s only a week left before the end of the month. 」

「What an unexpected turn of events! 」

「…He’s shameless! 」

Everyone starts talking among themselves.

「So as to say, the start of Tenka Fubu isn’t going to be so easy… My father had once contributed 4000 kan to the Imperial Palace, causing quite a shock amongst the Sengoku Daimyos. But right now, this request for 120,000 kan is just ridiculous. 」

「So as to say, they do not understand what gratitude is. 」

Just when Nobuna and Yoshiharu looked at each other, an envoy brought along an even more shocking news.

Saito Dosan, who had escaped back to Mino after being chased around by the old women, returned with the information.

「Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen suddenly declared a truce between themselves after their battle ended up with a stalemate! They had heard that the Oda army occupied the capital while the both of them were fighting, so the both of them have decided to temporarily stop fighting…. and now these two who are supposed to be rivals are suddenly teaming up! 」

「That’s too fast… 」

Nobuna whispered quietly.

「They had been fighting so fiercely just three months ago. It’s far too strange… Perhaps if it was just Shingen, who had always been hoping to head towards the capital, but to think that Uesugi Kenshin, who had always seen Shingen as his rival would actually… 」

「I’ve miscalculated… 」

Nobuna whispered again.

「The situation can only be given 13 points. Just what should we do now, Nobuna-sama? 」

「Even if we have Viper protecting our hometowns, he is severely outnumbered. What’s most worrying is the legendary speed of Shingen and his well-trained cavalry. Even if all three armies of Oda, Matsudaira and Azai clans are to fight him together, it would be extremely difficult to achieve victory. Right now, we can only increase the defense of Mino before Shingen will get the idea of heading towards the capital. 」

「T-T-T-T-This isn’t good! If Shingen starts to head to the capital, my Mikawa province will be the first target for the Takeda cavalry! 」

Matsudaira Motoyasu was so scared that her tanuki ears couldn’t stop shivering.

「It is definitely not an option to leave our provinces unguarded. Since The Miyoshi Three are gone, I will leave the defense of Kyo to Juubei. 」

「Nobuna-sama is correct, but with just Mitsuhide-dono alone, we are still short on manpower. 」

Nagahide commented.

It hasn’t been long since Mitsuhide had joined them, and she was once a ronin. Though she has a 50-man arquebus squad now, She had no real subordinates working under her.

「Yeah. Then I will put Inuchiyo under Juubei. Saru’s corps are to all guard Kyoto too. The rest are to follow me back to Gifu Castle. Takechiyo and Nagamasa too, hurry and go back to your castles! 」

「UNDERSTOOD! 」
Not being extremely hasty with her decisions, Nobuna’s movements did not have any hint of hesitation in them. Not waiting for Shingen to make the next move, she had led her troops out of Kyoto.

With a single command, Nobuna’s retainers gathered their armies and headed out.

「That Takeda Shingen is coming to the capital…? I-I’m running away too! 」

Looking at the panicking Imagawa Yoshimoto who was trying to run away, Nobuna stepped onto her twelve-layered kimono and roared,

「Aren’t you the next Shogun?! If so, then stay here at Kiyomizu-dera! 」

「No! Compared to the position of the Shogun, I care more about my life~! With that Takeda Shingen as the opponent, how can you dumb Owari soldiers possibly think that you’ll win~!? Even this elegant me can’t do anything to that his cavalry, so I can only ally with Shingen and do whatever he wants me to! 」

「I have been wanting to ask for a while now, but just why is Yoshimoto being called The Strongest Bow of Tokaido? 」

Yoshiharu asked.

「Because she had allied herself with the two elites of the eastern provinces, creating the ‘three province alliance’ between Takeda, Hojo and Imagawa clans… 」

Hanbei said.

「I see. But it’s not confirmed that a battle with Takeda Shingen will break out. If my gaming knowledge is correct, Takeda Shingen should be an extremely careful person. If we lead the whole army back to increase our defenses, he should not move out in response! 」

「Ah. Wait a minute! 」

Nobuna stopped only Yoshiharu.

「Monkey. The condition that Sakihisa demanded, I have not given up on it yet. You are going to Sakai. 」

「Me? But what about the defense of Kyoto? 」

「I’m going with you. 」