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Volume 4 Chapter 4 Part 13

Yoshiharu explained and rushed out of the room with the speed of an Olympic champion runner.

「I…I…I…It’s not like I like Nobuna or something!! I…I…I … I just want to fix that petty woman’s bad habit of always backing out from the rewards promised to her retainers or twisting them to screw with them! Yes, those retainers who were denied their rightful rewards will definitely be angry with her, and might revolt at any moment! It’s a responsibility of me as a retainer to prevent that from happening, and that’s why I must go! 」

Running out of the room and the building, he proceeded to run down a street under a moonlit sky.

「Nobuna should be at Honno-ji now. I had visited there during my school trip to Kyoto, but that Honno-ji was different from the one where Nobuna is staying. It’s the new Honno-ji that was built on another location after the original Honno-ji temple was burned down during the ‘Incident at Honno-ji’. So this Honno-ji of the Sengoku era should probably still be at the side of the Myoukaku-dera where I was staying previously… 」

(Ahhh… This is Kyoto of the Sengoku era. It sure is different from the modernized city full of public streets that I saw during my school trip.)

He was using my own two legs to run through the straight dirt paths of Kyoto of the Sengoku era. Yoshiharu was so excited about that that he almost let out a shout of joy.

(Nobuna… the attack at Okehazama, the siege of Inabayama Castle, heading towards the capitial, and your life’s greatest crisis, 「The Retreat at Kanegasaki」so far, you have survived all of them.)

In the history that he learned from Sengoku era strategy games, Oda Nobunaga would fall for the ‘Entrapment of Oda’ orchestrated by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. But this world’s current Shogun is Imagawa Yoshimoto, who you spared in battle of Okezahama, and after coming to Kyoto, she had been engrossed with soccer and playing around rather than performing her official duties.

(She can’t even thank Nobuna enough for making her a Shogun, so her plotting a revolt against her is pretty much impossible. But if that’s the case, then who is the mastermind planning a revolt against her in this timeline? If it’s really like ‘Even if the method is different, the flow of history won’t change’, then there will definitely be someone secretly plotting the ‘Entrapment of Oda’ from the shadows, and we don’t even know who that might be! The historic knowledge I have from the games and this world has started to split apart, and I will become more and more useless from now on.The guarding strategy during Kanegasaki also failed. Maybe some time in the future… no, most likely very soon, I won’t be of help to Nobuna anymore… but, even so, there is definitely one thing that I must do no matter what… and that thing is to stop 「The Honno-ji Incident」!)

Thankfully, Mitsuhide, who admires Nobuna so much would never think to revolt against Nobuna in this world. However, Hanbei had once mentioned, ‘The strength to return history to its path’ to him. if it really exists, then there might be someone else replacing Mitsuhide and launching 「The Honno-ji Incident」 . That person may be among Nobuna’s retainers now.

(Or maybe, it’s someone that I have not seen before or that I have yet to meet. I have no idea how it will happen, but even though I have no idea how, I will definitely protect you. The future where you did not die at Honno-ji, the other future that I was not born in, no matter what, I want to see it together with you. I must have come to this Sengoku era for this reason alone.)

A thing like being delayed by the Mori clan and arriving too late to stop 「The Honno-ji Incident」… he definitely does not want it to happen.

I’m just a useless high school student compared to old man Tokichiro, but I will surpass him in just this. No, I must surpass him! Even if the only way to do it would be to take her place and be burned to ashes at Honno-ji… then I am willing to take your place if it means that you will get to live, Nobuna.)

* * *

At night, Yoshiharu finally reached his destination.

Honn-ji of the Sengoku era at night was almost like a fortress. It had drains leading outside it to prevent it from flooding, the walls that are as high as one could see, and the overall style of the architecture it was build with was evoking the sense of epicness that would make every human who’ve seen it exclaim, 「Is this really a temple, or an entire city packed inside of a temple? 」. As such, it was a place most suitable to house Nobuna.

「Oh! Guards! It’s been tough on you! Please pass a message saying that Sagara Yoshiharu is here to collect the promised reward to Oda Nobuna! 」

「Sagara-sama, please wait. 」

「….Eh? 」

The gates were opened immediately, and the servants brought Yoshiharu inside.

「It’s here. Nobuna-sama is waiting for you inside. 」

Being brought to a certain room inside the castle, Yoshiharu can’t help but swallow his saliva. The guards then left without even giving him a chance to say a proper thank you to them.

Thanks.

(Ah…Ehhh? They let me in just like that? What is going on here? Nobuna…could it be that she wants to cancel my reward again? Oioi, don’t tell me that is really going to be the case! Or maybe it’s the other way around and…)

Suddenly, he became stressed. His stomach clenched, his throat went dry and his heart was thumping like it was almost going to explode. Yoshiharu almost pathetically whimpered:

「I think I should go back… No, no,no,no,no,no, this was the decision of my petty master! And, it’s just a k…k…ki…kiss anyway! I won’t do anything more than it! B…Bu…But, there isn’t anyone else around… w-what the hell am I talking about!? UWAHHHHH~! 」

With trembling hands, he violently pushed the doors to the room open… only to see that there was someone in there already. A girl sitting in the seiza position, wearing a white robe… but it wasn’t Nobuna.

It was Shibata Katsuie.

「Uhhh, Uhhhhhhh…. 」

With an expression like she was almost on the verge of tears, Katsuie shivered on the spot.

「Ehh, why is it you, Katsuie!? 」

「No, no, no, uhm, didn’t I promise you before that if you came back alive, I will let you touch my breasts all you want? …..Uwahhhh! I… I said that thinking that you would definitely die, but who would have expected that you would really come back alive…! So, to fulfill that promise, I have made up my mind and prepared myself! 」

「H…Huh? I had forgotten all about that promise because you said it so casually! Rather, where is Nobuna ? 」

「Uwahh, Uwahh, uwahhhhhh… C…Come! Touch them! Don’t be merciful and touch my breasts all you want! *Sob*… I’m about to be sullied by a monkey… *Sob*Sob*Sob* Ahh… Save me.. Mother….! 」

「Don’t be like this, I said I have something to talk about with Nobuna… And since you hate this to the point of crying, it should be alright if I don’t touch you, okay? I’m the one who should be crying with you hurting me like this! 」

「Sa…Sa…Samurais do not go back on their word! Do you want me to commit seppuku, Monkey? Just how much of a bastard are you….! 」

「….If I don’t touch it… You will commit seppuku? 」

「I…Is…Isn’t that obvious!? If I abandon the promise exchanged using our lives in the battlefield, I…I…I won’t be able to call myself a proper samurai anymore! Doesn’t that mean I can only commit seppuku to regain my lost honor!? B…Bu…B…But to be touched by a monkey like you, ahh, maybe seppuku would be a better alternative after all…? 」

「….If I touch them, you will let me go meet Nobuna? 」

「*Sob!*… *Sob!* *Sob!*… Ahh, I got it! I will let you see her! So hurry and touch them, hurry and get this over with! 」

「Uhh… I had totally forgotten all about the promise made before the 「Retreat at Kanegasaki」 at that hellish battlefield, but there’s no other choice for me here, right…? 」

(So to get to Nobuna after coming to Honno-ji, I must first break through Katsuie’s Boss battle, huh?)

「Well, Nobuna has rejected my rewards countless times before, so it should be okay for me to accept such an extra reward, right? 」

Yoshiharu’s arrogant mind began acting up again.

「Cough… Well… There’s no helping it then. Since you say you will commit seppuku if I don’t touch them, my only choice is to touch them. It’s only natural to help each other out when in need, after all. 」