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Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 8

Looking at the two of them, Frois suggested:

「Umm… How about using takoyaki to compete? 」

「「Takoyaki??? 」」

「Yes, Takoyaki. 」

Frois said patiently.

As a matter of fact, Takoyaki as a dish was invented by Imai Sokyu a few years ago. Though it is technically the same as Monjayaki, the difference lies in that it needs western sauces to be put on top of it, which is the reason why it is so popular in Sakai, and the round shape in which it is commonly made makes it very suitable for carrying it around to eat on the go as one pleases.

「Looking at Imai-sama’s Takoyaki business getting bigger and bigger, other merchants have all tried to compete with it with their own snacks. But no matter how hard they tried, they could not shake the popularity of the Takoyaki at all. 」

「I, Juubei, don’t really understand. I don’t wanna comment much about the sauce thingy, but I do not think the taste of it is all that good. 」

「Juubei. Don’t say things like that. Especially in front of Kansai people, these words are forbidden. 」

「Eh? Why? 」

「Because the merchants of Sakai tried to use different types of dishes and quisine against Takoyaki but they had all failed. But… If it’s improving on the foundation of Takoyaki, so as to say, inventing new flavors of Takoyaki or something, I think the success rate will be much higher than if we tried to do something else entirely. 」

「A new flavor of Takoyaki, huh?! If it will taste better than Naya’s Takoyaki, then it will definitely sell! This might just work! 」

「And once everyone gets hooked on it, they will fork out money to buy it for themselves! 」

「But, if that’s the case, then as the inventor of Takoyaki, won’t Imai Sogyu have objections against it? After all, If he gives up on the Takoyaki, his business will definitely suffer because of it. 」

「…You do have a point there, and this is actually the biggest problem that we would need to tackle… to tell you the truth, I did not notice it at all… 」

Frois frowned with a troubled expression on her face.

「I’m really sorry. Please forget what I said just now. 」

「No, no, it’s not a problem at all. If Imai Sogyu objects to the results of our competition, then, all we need to do is just execute him for being a nuisance. 」

「What the hell do you mean 「It’s not a problem at all」, Juubei?! Everything you just said would be a huge problem if you went along with it! 」

「I really don’t see the issue here. If someone is standing in your way, the best thing you can do is to get rid of that someone. I, Akechi Mitsuhide, am nothing if not efficient in that regard, and I will never dilly dally with important things. That is the one thing I will never compromise on if I can help it. 」

「You… Don’t you think about how other people will react to the questionable way in which you are doing things? Okay, let’s do something different here. Here is a question for you, Juubei: if you were to see a mama duck bringing a group of her ducklings crossing the road to get to the other side, what would you have done? 」

「The only think that should be done in such a scenario of course: I would maintain the pace with which I was going and keep moving forward, and if the mother duck or any of her young would be blocking my path forward, I would just caught all of them, killed them, cooked them and eaten them up. 」

「Yeah, that’s what I was expecting you to say… you should really learn to just do a little detour in such a scenario, you know? 」

「Ahahaha… 」

Frois smiled in an uneasy manner.

But putting the matter of Mitsuhide’s homicidal tendencies aside, it looks like they’ve finally managed to discover the way thanks to which their victory in the cooking competition would be pretty much guaranteed: they are going to try and come up with new, never before seen flavors of Takoyaki.

But there was still one issue to which they needed to find a solution: since Imai Sokyu’s fortune is most likely going to be affected by their invention, they needed to find a way to help him either minimalize the losses his business was going to suffer, or help him recover from said losses that much faster.

* * *

Later that day, nighttime, at Imai Sogyu’s residence.

After waiting for Nobuna and Mitsuhide to finally go to sleep, Yoshiharu went to Sougyu’s tea room alone in order to discuss business with him.

While keeping a totally calm and collected face, Imai Sougyu acted just like he usually did, even in the face of warriors.

Yoshiharu took a big gulp of tea that he prepared for him, exhaled and muttered:

「 Delicious. 」

Initially he was trying to sit in a perfect seiza position just as the ceremony required, but since it soon become too uncomfortable for his legs, he returned to sitting cross-legged.

「What an open and hearty way of drinking you have, Sagara-dono. It’s almost seems like a waste for someone like you to be a warrior. 」

Imai Sogyu seemed to be very interested in Yoshiharu, who in his eyes was a peculiar entity sitting right on the boundary between commoners and warriors. But even though he was happy to know that, this is not what he came to talk with him about tonight. Yoshiharu’s mind was already made up, and he musn’t allow himself to be taken off topic.

「The princess of the Oda clan was like this too, in the past. When I first met her 10 years ago, she was still a kid who was so innocent that she was wearing flowers in her hair

wearing kiddy flowers on her head, but she was not shy at all, and she even got close with those missionary priests who were sent here by the order of the western barbarians, even though people were afraid of them and didn’t trust them at all. But her, she came right up to them and started to bombard them with all sorts of questions, like: 「Is the world flat or round? 」or 「Why don’t the barbarian ships sink even when they are so heavy? 」… truly, her curiosity knew no bounds. At that time, I had felt that she was different from other people around her, and that if given enough time, she might achieve something truly monumental in the future. 」

Sogyu closed his eyes while reminiscing about the past.

(Though he is strict in terms of business, he is still someone who must admire Nobuna,)

Yoshiharu thought.

「Yes, I also heard that she really liked the western missionaries. 」

(Don’t tell me… could it be that the first love that she had feelings for 10 years ago was actually one of the missionaries?)
Another thought suddenly popped into Yoshiharu’s head.

(I wonder… are those missionaries…? )

He decided to pursue that thought of his.

「Are the missionaries with whom she was so enchanted back then still in Japan? It has been 10 years since then, so I’m sure she would want to meet them again. 」

「It’s unfortunate, but those missionaries, or to be more precise, the one that Nobuna-sama was particularly fond off, has already passed away. 」

「…Is that so…? 」

「Now, what business matters do you want to talk about with me? 」

「Ohh, yeah, that. 」

Yoshiharu sat up straight.

「It’s about the culinary showdown between Akechi Mitsuhide and myself. I think we both agree that if we won’t serve the best dishes possible, then the Kaigi Gunshu will not even notice them. Putting someone like me – someone who doesn’t have any experience with cooking whatsoever – aside, even if it is Juubei, I can’t really say for sure if she has a chance to impress the Kaigi Gunshu or not. 」

「You have a point. Just what is that sly Tsuda Sokyu planning to pull off here? 」

Looks like he wanted that idiot Mitsuhide to destroy the Namban-ji, and that’s why he picked this showdown as a cover-up for it. Though Yoshiharu wanted to say it out loud, he ultimately decided against it in the end. The whole Nanban-ji incident was over now, so there was no need to talk about it anymore.

「Old man Sogyu. We have thought of a way to secure our victory and create a never-before-seen dish that everyone will buy, and that is Takoyaki. 」