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Volume 4 Chapter 2 Part 6

At the same time, he even asked the genius artist from the north, Hasegawa Tohaku, to draw paintings on his walls, ceilings and pillars. He had turned his whole house into a world of the「Genji」, and would often immerse himself in it for days on end.

Who would have thought that the 11th generation of an esteemed Sengoku era clan would become such a frivolous fellow of a Daimyo.

Such a man as Asakura Yoshikage had no interest in war. This time, he reluctantly sent out forces because Nobuna attacked Echizen first, so he only did that to quell the flames of war.

「It’s true that there are still uncertainties, but by simply bringing our plan this far, we already have a firm chance of winning this war. A commander that keeps commanding his troops to battle, letting huge amounts of soldiers die due to wars is nothing but a shortsighted idiot. As long as we have geographical and timing advantages, then victory will soon be ours. 」

Though he hated wars, once he went into one, Yoshikage was always proving himself to be a remarkable strategist.

「Once Oda Nobuna dies, give the position of the ruler of the world to my son, Nagamasa. 」

Hisamasa lowered his head deeply to the much younger Yoshikage.

「This can be done. I have no interest in troublesome things like ruling the world. I’ve heard that Nagamasa is an elite, so no matter if it’s Kyoto or the world, I will leave them all to you. But, all the beautiful pieces of art in Kyoto are to be sent to my Ichijodani, because I do not wish to see the pieces of arts in Kyoto destroyed during the course of war. 」

That was Asakura Yoshikage’s only wish. This man really held zero interest in conquering the world. He felt that such a mundane thing can be left to the Azai clan who was closely related to the Asakura clan.

And because of this, Yoshikage who had no ambition, nor even desired one, was able to see an even clearer battlefield.

As for the last of the 3 men…

「It’s no good if the leader of the troops isn’t a man! If a lass like Oda Nobuna is really able to conquer the world, I will be troubled. I will fully dedicate this Mount Hiei’s forces to the two of you in order to make sure that it won’t ever happen! 」

He was the heavily built monk that had just retreated from the battle with the Oda clan’s Shibata Katsuie. Yes, despite running away from the battle, Shokakuin Gousei was still drinking his wine lavishly.

He was the leader of Mount Hiei’s monk army. Before Buddhism came, Mount Hiei was worshipped as a spiritual mountain. As it was a center for training large amounts of Buddhist monks and spreading Buddhist culture, it had thousands of battle ready monk groups at the same time, just like an independent province, but there wouldn’t be another man like Shokakuin, who was direct and frank without any pretense in the monk troops.

No killing? No alcohol? What was that? Swinging his metal rod in the battlefield and drinking wine was what he loved the most, alongside eating meat and borrowing money, though once borrowed, he would never return the money. Once, the Ashikaga Shogunate wanted him to return their lent money, and Shoukakuin replied:

「Want it? Talk to the metal rod in my hand then! 」

That was just the sort of outlaw he was. And also:

「To give the world to such a young lass, the very idea is ridiculous! I’m disappointed at such a world now! And all these female Daimyos? Ha, they are just weak lasses who only know how to use their charm to lure men into depravity! 」

Driven to fury by the world that had given birth to so many female warriors and grumbling, 「Women will only shake my resolve!」, Shokakuin hated female warriors with all his heart.

「Azai-sama, Asakura-sama, don’t let these unclean women do whatever they like anymore! I had just crossed swords with those Oda brats, so their defenses are surely slackened now! We should launch a night assault on them now! Using the darkness of the night as cover, we should attack Sakamoto with our full force! What? But what If we fail? All we need to do is to retreat back to Mount Hiei and then try again! It’s as simple as that! 」

「What a bloodthirsty monk you are! 」

Asakura Yoshikage laughed, but the cautious Hisamasa had other worries on his mind.

「….But Yoshikage-sama, come December, won’t the path back to Echizen be sealed with huge amounts of snow? 」

「The Oda clan’s army is much more anxious than I. In this battle, the Oda clan’s army will be the first to fall before that happens. 」

「Uhh…But, to face off with the enemy… Instead of doing nothing, how about we send out some assassins to kill the commanders of the Oda clan’s army while we still have the chance to utilize the element of surprise? Especially that Shibata Katsuie that was able to face off against Gousei-sama! if we don’t kill her as soon as possible… 」

「Shibata Katsuie and Niwa Nagahide are both female warriors. They are nothing to fear, so you do not need to worry. 」

「Uwahahahaha, I will personally send Shibata Katsuie who had forgotten the roots of femininity to the heavens, but if it’s about assassinations, I have an arquebus specalist, Sugitani Zenjuubo, who sniped Oda Nobuna as she escaped from Echizen. 」

Shokakuin asked a young monk to bring Sugitani Zenjuubo, who was hiding in Mount Hiei after sniping Nobuna, over to the main hall.

Zenjuubo was the one who used Sagara Yoshiharu as bait to attempt to assassinate Nobuna, and after that he had successfully shot 2 bullets at Nobuna who was coming back to Kyoto. He was a truly merciless assassin.

But….

「….I can’t take it anymore, leave me alone!」

That Zenjuubo was now totally drunk, and was tumbling about in a fit.

「Oi, Zenjuubo! What happened to your ambition of sniping Oda Nobuna and becoming the world’s best sniper? 」

「….I, I failed to snipe that woman twice. World’s best sniper…? My skills are useless, no, what’s useless is me myself…..!!! 」

Gousei laughed with:

「She was hit two times in her abdomen; even that Oda Nobuna couldn’t escape death in the end after receiving injuries like that! That must be Buddha’s punishment towards her for trying to conquer the world even though she’s a woman! 」

「….I want to kill my prey with a single shot! Giving pain and suffering to a prey after shooting, it isn’t my style! Of course, I like seeing others suffering, but if I don’t kill them at my first shot I can’t be called the world’s best now, can I?! 」

「Oh? Then why did a sniper with such a killing style like you failed? 」

Asakura Yoshikage, who was originally unconcerned about this topic, began to have an interest in what Zenjuubo is saying. Maybe that’s because he wanted to know more about the philosophy behind killers.

「….If I aimed at her head, she would have definitely died, but I…couldn’t take the shot. 」

「Oh? You couldn’t have taken the shot? Why is that? 」

Zenjuubo hugged his head with anguish and screamed:

「….I don’t know! …I DON’T KNOW! …That lass’s smiling face was just too bright, I feel that an insect like me should never dirty her face…. Why, why did I have such a delusion… What happened to me, even I don’t understand it! 」

Asai Hisamasa couldn’t help but fume:

「If you had aimed at Oda Nobuna’s head, we would already…..! 」

But, Asakura Yoshikage stopped him immediately, saying:

「Don’t say meaningless things anymore. It will not change the result of what has already happened. 」

「Yes, but since I shot her in the abdomen 2 times, that should mean that at least one shot should have penetrated her intestines. But even so, that lass didn’t die on the spot, which means that I have failed not once, but twice. That Oda Nobuna might really be blessed by the heavens….. 」

Listening to this, Gousei shook his head and said:

「 This man is useless now. Scram. I, Gosei, don’t want such a useless subordinate that can’t even hold an arquebus anymore! You have been charmed by Oda Nobuna’s looks! 」

「…. Don’t blame Sugitani Zenjuubo so harshly. It isn’t quite so evil a thing as you make it sound.「

Asakura Yoshikage laughed while saying:

「This man does have a heart which loves elegance. 」

He then opened the book of 「The Tales of Genji」.