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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 8

Wearing armor that barely belonged in this era and patrolling around the Imperial Palace Yoshiharu was mumbling to himself. The main thing on his mind was the appointment of Imagawa Yoshimoto as the new Shogun.

At the moment, the provinces of Owari and Mino are basically empty, so there isn’t any time for them to waste here, but the one in charge of negotiating with the Imperial Palace, Akechi Mitsuhide, hasn’t been able to get into the core of the matter to meet up with the Kampaku, who was in all likelihood not in Kyoto right now.

「And anyway, other than Juubei-chan, there isn’t anyone with enough manners to negotiate with the nobles in the Oda clan. Let’s just wait patiently. 」

The newcomer Mitsuhide is still considered a newbie in the Oda clan. To Yoshiharu, she was quite an obedient junior. Born into a good family, Mitsuhide had always been cheerful yet serious, both charming and energetic, and Yoshiharu couldn’t see any traces of violent tendencies similar to those of Nobuna in her.

The only thing that irked him about her for a little bit is that her forehead is just a bit too wide for his liking. But with such a unique trait coupled with Mitsuhide’s eloquent tongue, she could easily be counted as an exquisite type of a beauty.

Sagara-senpai~~… Once he remembered those admiring eyes of hers gazing up at him, his heart started beating faster.

(No, no! I absolutely cannot think of Juubei-chan in such a way when I already have Nobuna… n-no, what the hell am I even saying?! I-It doesn’t matter what I personally think about Nobuna! As long as I am a retainer of the Oda clan, it remains a fact that she is my master, and I am her servant! And in this Sengoku era, it is an ironclad rule that a master and servant absolutely cannot be allowed to be together due to the difference in their social standings… no, even if the two of us were to be on the same level in terms of status, she’s definitely not someone with whom I would’ve wanted to be in a relationship with… uwahhh!)

Just when Yoshiharu is shaking his head like a crazy man, he tripped on his own leg and fell forward, meeting the stone floor below him with his face.

「This is the Monkey of Owari, huh? 」

「Talking to himself and then tripping over his own legs… he’s just as strange as the rumors suggested. 」

「There’s no helping it, he is a monkey after all. 」

Curious kids who were in the middle of their exploration of the Imperial Palace started talking among themselves, smearing Yoshiharu with hurtful words.

「Oi, oi! This is someone really famous and fierce you’re slandering right here, you know?!. Now scram and get out of here before you get yourselves into trouble! 」

「Hey, look! The monkey seems to know human language! 」

「Correct, I’m a monkey! Qnd if one of you brats dare be mischievous around me, I will show them what for with my dirty claws! Hwaaaah! 」

「Wah! Scatter! 」

The mischievous kids shouted excitedly and then made a strategic retreat.

However, there was a single child who stayed and stood at Yoshiharu’s side…a young girl, who had her hair done in a neat pageboy hairstyle, and who was wearing a white and red miko attire. She had long eyebrows and big eyes, and a face which was not unlike that of an exquisite doll, but she was otherwise expressionless.

「… 」

「Hmmm? What is it, missy? Is there something you want to say to me? 」

*Tug* She tugged at Yoshiharu’s sleeve.

「… 」

The small girl’s gaze landed on the tattered remains of the Imperial Palace’s walls.

「You’re here to visit the Imperial Palace? Though it’s currently like this, the people living here are some extremely powerful people. They will be furious if they discover you here, so you better go back home. 」

「… 」

「Uhh. Why do I keep having the feeling that I have to take you to have a look inside… I just can’t do anything about handling kids now, can I? 」

(After I return to Mino, I must bring back lots of Kyoto souvenirs for Nene. Kanbayashi’s tea might be too bitter for her, so maybe I should just go and buy some Yatsuhashi for her? But there’s two flavors of Yatsuhashi too, the soft and the hard ones, but I don’t know which one of these two is the authentic Yatsuhashi. Anyway, this child should be around Nene’s age.)

Thinking of his sister’s face, Yoshiharu held this small girl’s hand, stood up and said:

「I got it. Since it’s not my courtyard anyway, I will permit you to take a look inside. 」

「… 」

Walking right up to the wall, the gaze of the small girl stopped on the edge of it.

「… 」

Her mouth was still shut tight, but Yoshiharu could faintly hear her voice as she was saying:

「Lift me higher. 」

「I got it I got it. Wait a minute. 」

Yoshiharu lifted the girl up, allowing her to see the courtyard above the wall.

「…Ah! 」

「Hmm? What is it? 」

「… 」

「Is there something strange about my face? No? Okay then, hurry and look into the courtyard. 」

*Nod*

The modest courtyard featured a huge Sequoia tree right in the middle of it. On the thick trunk, numerous thick grass ropes were tied tightly around it. Upon lifting his head, Yoshiharu realized the tree was also ridiculously high.

(Wait a minute… was there ever a spiritual tree like that in the Imperial Palace? Aren’t spiritual trees supposed to be in Shinto shrines instead? As expected, there are differences between this world and mine…)

At a branch of the huge Sequoia tree, a white kite was entangled.

「… 」

「Ahh… let me guess, you want me to take it down for you? 」

「… 」

「Yes… please. 」

Once again, Yoshiharu vaguely heard her voice.

「Ok, I’m taking it for you. But is it really ok to just trespass into the Imperial Palace like this? like this… eh? You really think it’s okay? 」

Somehow, through just her eyes, it seems that she could communicate with him.

「… 」

「I got it. If Nobuna sees this, I’m gonna be scolded like crazy by her, so I’m just going to do this for you this one time, okay? 」

「… 」

The small girl seemed very happy. He could sense that this was the case, even though he expression remained the same from the moment that he encountered her. But since her face was still expressionless, then why did he think that?

「Uhh… How mysterious. Why do I understand whatever this child is thinking about? Huh? Don’t tell me… could it be that this child is the ancestor of the Sagara family? No, no, that cannot be. The Sagara clan should be descended from a Daimyo at Kyushuu, right? 」

「… 」

Not at all… that is what the small girl seemed to be saying.

「Okay. People are always calling me a monkey, but it’s true that I’m quite confident in my tree-climbing skills. Wait here for me and don’t go wandering anywhere, you hear me? 」

「… 」

The small girl didn’t nod this time, but once Yoshiharu thought: (She’s totally different from the chatty Nene, so there really are kids that don’t like talking much, huh?) , a warm feeling rose from his heart as he left the small girl on the grass patch at the edge of the courtyard.

The lightly dressed Yoshiharu walked into the courtyard and started climbing up the tree.

「Hoo…Hoo…Hah…Hah… T-this is a little high… even for me… Damn, I’m getting dizzy from looking down just a little. 」

Finally climbing up the branch with much difficulty, he held the kite in his hands and was about to call out to the girl triumphantly, but then…

*SWOOSH!!!*

A sudden gust of wind started blowing….

「Ah…Huh? W-Whoa!!! 」

… and Yoshiharu’s body was blown into the air together with the kite.

「Oi! It’s too high! I’m going to fall! Damn it… WAIT! 」

(Is my life really going to come an end at such a miserable place as this?! Ahh…. was that idiom 「Even monkeys fall from trees 」actually a prophecy of the fate that was awaiting me?!)

*THUD!!!!*

Not even having enough time for a flashback, Yoshiharu’s butt hit the ground of the courtyard. He had tried his best to protect the back of his head with one hand, so his head didn’t receive too big of an impact, but due to not releasing the kite from his other hand, he could not assume the entire protective posture.