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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 9

As a result…

「IT HURTSSSSSSSSSSSS! THE BONES IN MY BODY ARE BROKEN!!!!!!!! 」

Though it’s not hard to dodge things like arrows or spears, the ground is, unfortunately, something that you won’t be able to dodge no matter how hard you try.

Looking at Yoshiharu who was rolling around the ground in agony, the girl ran up to him with quiet steps. She then placed her small hands on Yoshiharu’s wounds. His neck, belly, chest, hands and thighs were all in a pretty bad shape, but as soon as the girl’s fingers came into contact with them…

… they all have been healed In an instant.

「…Ah!!!! Huh? It suddenly…stopped hurting? My bones… they are not broken anymore? 」

「… 」

「Eh? Were you… were you the one who healed me just now? B-But how? W-What is going on here? 」

「… 」

After bowing to Yoshiharu without saying another word, the small girl grabbed the kite from Yoshiharu’s hand and ran hastily into the midst of the courtyard.

「Ahh? Oi, oi, wait a moment! Don’t go! 」

Just when Yoshiharu was frantically preparing himself to chase after her, he suddenly noticed,

「This is a part of the Imperial Palace… so who was she anyway? Some kind of God? 」

「Who’s there?! 」

A shout rang out from within the building.

「Damn it! I guess I should just run and worry about such things later! 」

But because the fleeing Yoshiharu was wearing armor, he became stuck in the gaps of the palace’s walls.

「Fuck! You’ve gotta be kidding me! I won’t be able to get out?! 」

At that moment, those kids whom Yoshiharu had told to scram earlier gathered around him. They must’ve been watching him all this time instead of leaving like he told them.

「He’s a monkey after all! 」

「Crawling into the courtyard by himself, yet he can’t get out now! How stupid is that?! 」

「Is he trying to get some oranges to eat? 」

(Damn. If Nobuna were to see me in such an embarrassing stat, it would definitely be used as a joke for a whole month…!)

「I am not… letting her screw me over like that! UWAHHHH!!!!! 」

With sheer force and determination, Yoshiharu managed to free himself from the wall that confined him, but since he seemed to have used much more strength than he actually was planning to use, the remains of the wall that surrounded him got reduced to little more than piles of dust and ash.

*Rumble!* *Rumble!* *Crumble!*
If one were to consider the future, what Yoshiharu did was equivalent to destroying the walls of the central palace of Tokyo.

「Huh!? What the hell are you doing!??? 」

But that was still not the most troublesome part of this whole situation. What was the most troublesome was the fact that after Yoshiharu freed himself from the wall, the momentum carried him forward, and he ended up landing right in the face of a noble who was just getting off from his sedan.

「Geez. Is today my unlucky day or what? Is it Friday the thirteenth? 」

「Ouch! Y-You knave! To actually dare attack me, who the hell are you, and what do you think you’re doing?! 」

Traces of the blood from the noble’s nose were trailing down his pale white face. Noticing that, the unlucky noble who was knocked down by Yoshiharu was swinging his hands at him while baring his black teeth in a show of extreme fury.

This noble was around the age of 30. No matter if it’s his Heian attire or deliberate black teeth, or his white face and neat eyebrows, all of this things exuded an aura of nobility. However, it would seem that even among the nobles of the Imperial Palace, this particular guy must have been pretty high in the hierarchy.

「I am the elder of the Fujiwara clan, Kampaku Konoe Sakihisa! To be this rude to me and even physically assault me, you must have a huge death wish, brat! 」

Konoe Sakihisa in front of him shrieked and shouted loudly, asking the guards around him to attack Yoshiharu and restrain him.

「Elder cockroach? What’s that? A relative of bugs of some sort? 」

「You don’t understand the situation you’re I, brat!? Then allow me to enlighten you! I am the most noble out of all nobles! In other words, I’m the descendant of the Fujiwara clan, the greatest clan in the entirety of Japan! That’s why people address me as the elder of the Fujiwara clan! My position has nothing to do with cockroaches, or any other bugs! 」

「Ohhh, I see. Cool. 」

Yoshiharu brushed that information off. Though he was the one who had crushed into him, he wasn’t feeling especially bad about it, because that Sakihisa fellow didn’t seem to be a good person at all.

「I am the Kampaku! The Kampaku! 」

「Uh-huh. I have no idea what’s going on and what you’re talking about, but you seem quite stubborn, huh? 」

「Damn it…! At least show a little bit of fear of me after learning who I am! 」

「Even if you say something like Kampaku, the only thing I can think of is Old man Tokichiro’s name. 」

「How can such a lowly name like Tokichiro be counted in the midst of nobles!?」

「Old man Tokichiro isn’t born in a noble family. He’s just a commoner. 」

「Shut up! How can a commoner possibly be in the position equal to that of the Kampaku!? You damn weasel, let me teach you a lesson about proper manners! 」

(What the hell is this person talking about?)

Just when Yoshiharu was standing there enjoying the fuss that the old man in front of him was making, Konoe Sakihisa suddenly took out a ball and with a coldly-sounding「Take this! 」he sent it flying with an elegant roundhouse kick.

The fast moving ball headed right towards Yoshiharu’s face.

*PLAK!!!!*

The strong impact caused the ball to instantly sink right into Yoshiharu’s face, and right afterwards, bright red blood of his was splattered everywhere.

(This guy who keeps speaking nonsense… Not just his reactions, even his ball kicking speed is not normal… He’s not just a regular old man!)

Yoshiharu thought, but then…

「It hurrrrrrrts! What the hell are you doing, you senile bastard! The hell is with that kicking technique of yours! 」

「Ohhohoho! This is the secret technique passed down by the Konoe clan for generations! So, how is it, brat? You liked it? Because there’s more than that came from! 」

「This old bastard… he’s supposed to be a noble, and yet he’s so bloodthirsty… 」

Konoe Sakihisa, the Kampaku. Even though from the outside he looked just like a weak and pale-faced old man, underneath this guise of his was quite a number of muscles on in his body. Being a noble, yet loving horse riding and hunting, he is actually quite energetic and strong for his age.

It’s sufficient to say that Konoe Sakihisa’s final objective is to revive the Imperial Palace after its former splendor has severely diminished, because doing that would also increase the prestige of the whole Fujiwara clan, but he also wanted to do it because that would be a power move that would allow him to control all the Daimyos and their warriors across the entire country.

「I will never acknowledge that Imagawa Shogun who lost to the Fool of Owari! Think about it! The Ashikaga Shogunate had fallen to such a sorry state, Kyoto had been drawn into the war and even my personal garden had been snatched away by bandits, not to mention that the Imperial Palace has been almost reduced to a total ruin! That’s why I will never allow any violent warriors to rule over Japan ever again! It would be best for Himiko to open up a brand new era of governing with me by her side! 」

(Looks like this time, I have offended a really troublesome fellow.)

Yoshiharu thought to himself.

「Anyway, against a bastard like you, I will use every skill at my disposal in order to teach you some manners! 」

「Stop, stop! I’m the retainer of the Oda clan! I’m just here to be on a lookout duty under Nobuna’s orders! 」

「Shut up! Don’t you dare to sprout ridiculous lies! How could there ever be a guard that destroys the walls he’s supposed to be guarding, huh?! 」

「Oh, I know! I am Sagara Yoshiharu, the one behind the 「Sunomata’s One Night Castle! Surely you must’ve heard of it, right? 」

「Hou hou? 」

Sakihisa laughed deviously.

「Hohoho! So you’re that famous Monkey, huh?. That foolish princess from Owari, to actually send an unknown animal like you over to the sacred grounds of the Imperial Palace! in the end, she’s just a country bumpkin who knows nothing about procedures. A monkey’s commander is a monkey after all. Such a dirty look is unfitting for my eyes, and yet you lowly soldiers have desecrated this sacred place with your unworthy presence! 」