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Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 6

Nobuna seemed to be asking for help as she looked in the direction where Yoshiharu was sitting, but then she saw that Yoshiharu had already disappeared.

「Eh, where is Monkey? Where did he go? 」

「Nobuna-dono, Sagara-dono left after leaving these words behind: 「That culinary showdown was my battle with Mitsuhide. Since I’ve lost, then I will accept defeat. The one who won is Juubei, so I’m off to embrace my new life as the manager of the kitchens. 」 and left towards Mino by himself. 」

Imai Sougyu answered.

「Ehhhhh? Wait a minute! But I haven’t said anything yet! 」

「Hmph. Though it a showdown, I’ve done a very rude thing to Imai-sama. All thanks to me Juubei, you must have done something to the money right? As for the interest, how about 10% for every 10 days? 」

Maybe because she was growing up in a financially poor environment, Mitsuhide seemed very calculative whenever money were involved.

「Nobuna-sama. That irritating Gorilla….no, Sagara-senpai is no longer around now, and Kyoto is now safe. Let the two of us tour around Sakai and rest for a while. From now on, I, Akechi Mitsuhide, will always stay by your side! 」

「……Shut up, idiot! You damn kumquat! What are you so happy about?! Are you really that dense that you cannot read the room to such an extent?!

Nobuna’s patience had finally ran out and she exploded. Until now, she was always trying to keep her emotions in check in front of Mitsuhide and the others because of the difference in social standing between her and her underlings, but she had now reached a point where she could not endure any longer.

「……Eh….N-Nobuna-sama? 」

「I’m going after Monkey! If he only left a short while ago, then I should still be able to catch up to him if I go fast enough! 」

「Ehhh? Please wait, it’s too dangerous! 」

「Juubei! If you really want to defeat Monkey, do it fair and square! Souyu, I’m taking your horse! 」

Nobuna shouted while shaking off Imai Sogyu who tried to stop her. In an instant, she was on the horse and darted out of the residence to chase after Yoshiharu who had disappeared before anyone could notice him.

「…..To think Nobuna-sama would…. Nobuna-sama would…… 」

Because of the stern scolding she received from Nobuna, Mitsuhide stood in the room in a daze, unable to move at all.

Nobuna was right with what she said. She had won the competition unfairly, and yet she was boasting about it left and right without even trying to consider what others might be thinking about it, but that is just who she was as a person. Once Mitsuhide was fixated on something, she would not let it out of her sight while throwing everything else that didn’t matter aside. Even Saito Dosan had warned her many times about this habit of hers. 「But, this habit of yours is actually your strong point too. There will be a day when you will do something unheard of because of it」, is what he once said to her. Though she had been praised like this, she had never worried about it.

「Well, now that is has come to this, why don’t you come and drink some tea with me? 」

Imai Sogyu, who had lost sight of Nobuna returned to the room and said consolingly. Mitsuhide apologized to Sogyu while wiping the tears that started to form in the corner of her eyes.

「…..Really, I’m so sorry. 」

「You had really done too much against Sagara-dono, but that’s not the worst thing about it. Instead of just him and Nobuna-sama, you also managed to offend Maeda-dono and her friends. After an offense like that, you are most definitely going to be isolated from the rest of the Oda clan. None of this would have happened if you just stepped down when you had the chance and accepted that the duel between you and Sagara-dono ended in a draw. That would have been the best course of action for you, but now it might just be forever beyind your reach. 」

「But… but I was always taught I shouldn’t be merciful towards the opponents against whom I am fighting, and that I should always crush them with all my might. 」

「From what I can see, for Nobuna-sama her retainers are basically the same as her family members. Compared to The Mino Three who had their own way of thinking, there is a fundamental difference between them. And I believe that this is also Nobuna-sama’s strongest point. 」

「…..I am sorry, but I am afraid that I don’t understand what you are talking about at all. For me, family is family, and retainers are retainers. My only family is my mother, and I would never go as far as to start treating retainers as anything more than that, because I’m not as close with them as I am with my family. Moreover, other retainers are just opponents who are competing with you for fame and power in the clan you belong to. 」

「It’s not like that at all. 」

Imai Sogyu’s normally calm expression seemed to be a bit agitated by what Mitsuhide said while he explained it to her.

「I had known Nobuhide-sama for more than 10 years. Thinking back on it now, Nobuna-sama had always grown up under the lack of what we could call a normal family love. Nobuhide-sama could be said to be her only family, but since he was always busy with wars and managing the Owari province, he had no time to care for his daughter properly. Nobuhide-sama passed away early, and that western barbarian priest that Nobuna-sama treated like her own brother died soon after, and er only actual brother tried to constantly take away her position as head of the clan. 」

「Nobuna-sama should have her mother too. As long as her mother is around, even if she had lost her father, she should be able to endure even the worst of hardships… 」

「…. Ahh, so you don’t know. Nobuna-sama… she was never loved by her mother. Moreover, she was deeply despised by her. The reason why Nobuna-sama has such a temper is also due to her not getting any motherly love. 」

「How can that be. That genius…. someone like Nobuna-sama was actually….. unloved? 」

「When the ordinary people look at you and judge you, being extremely smart can make people think you are actually a fool. Even one’s own mother is no exception from that rule. 」

「But… but my mother….. 」

「Akechi-sama’s mother is smart too. After seeing Akechi-sama’s pure, confident look, it’s obvious that you received lots of your mother’s affection, because she probably knew that this was what you needed the most. Though you gals are both geniuses, the road that Nobuna-sama walked is much rougher than the one you took. 」

(So that’s it…)

Mitsuhide finally remembered. At the Namban-ji, Frois had talked about Nobuna’s past, which she learned from Yoshiharu.

Either acting like an obedient girl for her mother’s affection, or fulfilling her dream of Tenka Fubu even if she is laughed at as a fool… Nobuna weighed both choices and chose…… to abandon the motherly love that she should have had but never received.

「……So that is actually true….. But, Nobuna-sama had never revealed any form of sadness in front of her retainers…. She was always cheerful and energetic….. 」

「After the victory at Okehazama, Nobuna-sama had once happily reported to her mother, but her only response was, ‘To come to your own mother with an attire stained of blood and filth and reeking of death, is that what a princess of the Oda-clan should do?’ and she was sent away without her mother sparing any more words for her. This is just a rumor passed around by the common folk though. 」

Imai Sogyu said with a bit of a pained expression.

「So, for Nobuna-sama, the existence of family members isn’t important. Her real family are the retainers staying at her side. The one thing she cannot endure is the sight of her retainers trying to do politics and harming each other. It must have made her recall the unhappy memories of her brother and her fighting for the position of the head of the clan. So, she is not being unreasonable for flaring up at you like that. 」

「… I’m going back to Kyoto, 」

Mitsuhide said with her head down. The warm tears in her eyes were dropping one by one onto the back of her hands.

「Aren’t you going after Nobuna-sama? 」

「…..That is the mission for that Gorilla. She… she hates me now, so I have no right to do that. 」

「Akechi-sama had just joined the Oda-clan, there was much that you didn’t know. You must get along with the other people from now on. 」

But because of her guilt, Mitsuhide could not raise her head and look forward.