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Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 7

「Juubei! In Masanori Temple, didn’t you proclaim to understand the ‘world’ that Nobuna spoke of? That’s why you called out your name! Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about it? 」

「B-But, b-before moving out into the world, we must first unify the country itself…! 」

「It’s not like that! If you just destroy the Namban-ji like this and bully a pure girl like Frois-chan, do you think this would give us Japanese as a whole the reputation that would allow us to proclaim our names with pride to the rest of the world?! 」

「Ugh, shut up, Gorilla! But, but if I lose to you, I will be sent to the kitchens of Gifu Castle and will lose my place at Nobuna-sama’s side! Rather than suffer such humiliation, I’d rather just commit seppuku and die! 」

「In the future, people will write about this, saying ‘ Akechi Mitsuhide was a general that went against her master, Oda Nobuna’s orders and banished the barbarian missionaries from Sakai against her will’! 」

「Ahh, aaaah! I hear nothing at all! Nothing at all! Shut up, shut up, shut up!!! 」

「Uwah, has she completely lost her mind? 」

「Shut up, shut up, shut up!! *Pant!*, *Pant!* Uwahhhh! 」

「J-Juubei? Hey, hey, snap out of it! 」

「*BITE!* *BITE!* 」

「Don’t bite me! what do you think you’re doing!? Have you really turned into a mindless animal?! 」

(Once she loses her reason, she reveals her fangs, huh?… With this, it seems like Juubei no longer cares about listening to anyone…)

Yoshiharu couldn’t help but think that.

(Oh yeah! But the more serious a brat is… the easier she should be to bluff! Since what happened is most likely Juubei being deceived by Tsuda Sogyu, then let me return the favor!)

「Listen, Juubei! In Sakai’s Kaigi Gunshu, there are actually lots of Christians. If you destroy this Namban-ji today, then half of the Kaigi Gunshu will become Nobuna’s enemies! 」

「What? Is that true? 」

「Of course there are people like Tsuda Sogyu who hate Christianity among them! But Sakai’s economy is built on the foundation of trading with the western barbarians, so no matter what, protecting them is more important than anything else! 」

「Ugh… I guess you do have a point there. 」

「And, to have a stronger foothold in city’s economy, she also became a Christian herself in secret! 」

「What did you say!? Th-that’s too much of a surprise! No, I can’t do this anymore! Let’s call it quits for today! 」

(It took less than 5 seconds to bluff her. Tha’ts gotta be a new record for sure.)

「There have been a few merchants who converted to Christianity, that’s true, but… 」

Just when Frois almost let the cat out of the bag, Yoshiharu’s hand leapt over her mouth as he silenced her and put his index finger to his mouth while making a 「Shhh! 」sound.
「Th-th-that was such a close call! To think I was almost deceived by Tsuda Sogyu and directed onto a path of no return…! From now on, we must protect this Namban-ji at all costs! 」

「Really? Is what you said true? Thanks! Juubei-chan is really a good girl! 」

(Anyway, though on the surface she seemed like the plotting and scheming type, she just might be a silly and gullible type of girl)

Yoshiharu thought, since she was baited into revealing Tsuda Sougyu’s name all too easily. If she doesn’t learn to be more doubtful of others, she might just be in for more suffering further down the road.

「W-w-w-what are you talking about, you damn gorilla! Don’t just add ‘-chan’ like you’re close to me! It’s disgusting! 」

「Why? Haha. That’s why I said Juubei-chan is such a tsundere. 」

「…Tsundere? 」

「Ah, that’s right, you don’t know about them yer. Well, tsundere women are… how should I put it? They like acting all tough and fierce towards the guy they love on the outside, only to be completely smitten with the object of their affection on the inside. I get it now, so Juubei-chan was harboring such feelings towards me all along? I see, so that’s how it was. I feel really moved! 」

「Huh!? What dumb things are you spouting now? I’m good towards most things, but when it comes to you, then I! ABSOLUTELY! HATE! YOU! 」

Maybe it was because of Yoshiharu, but the normally polite Juubei’s speech is becoming more and more rude by the second.

「Yes, that’s it! That is what being a tsundere is all about! I’m such a popular guy! My confidence has been restored! 」

「W-W-W-What nonsense are you saying!? If you dare say such disgusting things again, I’m gonna cut you down where you stand! I mean it! 」

「Now wait just a moment…!!! 」

The mercenaries started to interfere.

「This isn’t what you told us, Boss Akechi. 」

「Even if you are letting this evil Namban-ji off the hook, you should at least kidnap the sister or something. 」

「Though she is a barbarian, she has decent looks, so she could fetch quite a high price if we were to sell her at the slave market. 」

「…!? 」

The monk who looked like the leader of the whole group stood up while the other mercenaries started to close in on Frois while muttering some truly despicable words under their breaths.

「Y-Yoshiharu-san…! 」

「Leave it to me, Frois-chan… is what I would normally say, but I don’t have any weapon on me now, and I’m now undercover as Saru, the apprentice of the Uiromochi store owner… 」

「If you don’t wanna get stabbed, then beat it, brat, and don’t stand in our way! 」

「You brute, stop it! 」

*BLAM!!!!*

Shooting a tanegashima shot at the sky, the one who protected Frois was Akechi Mitsuhide herself.

「I thought I said from the very beginning that you are not to do anything to the priests or sisters! To have such a despicable attitude towards a missionary, I, Juubei Mitsuhide, won’t just stand by and do nothing! 」

*BLAM!!!!* *BLAM!!!! BLAM!!!*

Under Juubei’s rapid firing, the mercenaries all cried 「 Uwahhh!!! 」and 「She’s is surprisingly terrifying! 」 「Boss, don’t just stand there, help us out! 」 and they all ran out of the church.

The leader-like monk looked at all this silently and then,

「Haaa… 」

Exhaled deeply from his nose and left the church too.

(Though I have no idea who he is, that fellow is not someone to be trifled with… If he took out his tanegashima too, I don’t think things would have ended the way they did…)

Yoshiharu sighed out in relief.

「I’m really grateful for your help, Mitsuhide-sama. If my breasts were really touched by those unlawful people, I would no longer be qualified to stand before the face of God in the afterlife. 」

「P-priestess, don’t puff up your chest and swing that pair of breasts around so pridefully around me, okay!? 」

「Juubei-chan is actually a good girl. But can you change the habit of just being fierce to me? That would really be appreciated. 」

「Y-you’re annoying! Because you aren’t a human being but a subspecies of a monkey, it’s perfectly okay for me to be fierce to you whenever I want! 」

「So now that the competition is fair again, what should I do…? 」

Just when Yoshiharu started mumbling to himself, Mitsuhide screamed:

「No! With this, the deal to bribe the Kaigi Gunshu is going to be null and void! Damn you, you blasted Gorilla! how dare you deceive me like that?! 」

「It’s your fault for being so gullible in the first place. Besides, it’s wrong to play dirty tricks in the competition. 」

「But…what if both of our cuisines aren’t chosen?! What are we going to do then?! 」

「We will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let’s just do our homework and see if we can come up with the ultimate dish to satisfy them. 」

「On the topic of the culinary showdowns, I, Juubei do have confidence in my culinary skills… But I’m totally not used to making original dishes, and I couldn’t think of any good ideas up to this point… 」

「Same here… Compared to those Owari idiots who are so obsessed with Hatcho Miso, there are many culinary experts here in Sakai. If this goes on, we will all go down without showing anything noteworthy. 」

「Wha… If that’s the case, I will be sent to the kitchen together with you, Gorilla… no, I don’t want it… even if the alternative is death, I don’t want it! 」