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Volume 4 Chapter 5 Part 2

「Anyway, Nobuna-dono, I heard Hisahide had prepared lots of strong drugs to keep you in a blurry state for quite some time. Please be more careful about the drugs this woman prepares. 」

「Ugh, Yoshiharu has lectured me about that already. I will be more careful next time. 」

「Hisahide, you should be more careful too. It’s not good to dote excessively on a child while saying ‘so cute, so cute’. Miyoshi Nagayoshi ruined his health due to drinking your drug for long periods of time, right? So I think it’s time for you to grow up past that as well. 」

「What should I do? I might never grow up in this lifetime. See, I have no husband even now, so~ 」

「Uhh, such a lamenting tone, please don’t look at me like that. 」

Looking at the birds disappearing beyond the horizon, Nobuna laughed softly.

「Such beauty, it’s almost like we are in one of my dreams. 」

On impulse, she sang the song she loved so much.

「’A man’s life of 20 years, compared to the age of the world, it’s like a fleeting dream. Those that were born in this world, will not be spared from death… But I do not think so. Life is short. The end will come no matter what. Maybe, the world itself is nothing but a dream, but, isn’t the dream that I saw after drinking Danjo’s drug a dream too? No matter which world we are talking about, everything that is in it can be said to be nothing more but a dream. 」

But when Dosan tried to respond to that statement of hers, Nobuna laughed and continued:

「But, I love this dream of a world much, much more! Because, there are comrades that are chasing after the same dream as me in it! No matter what kind of beautiful dream, it would be too lonely to follow it alone. No matter what kind of imperfect dream, even if I’m in a world that won’t change to something I hope for, even if that lecherous Monkey was a little frivolous, or a breasts-obsessed fiend… I still love this world where I can be together with everyone! 」

Dosan and Hisahide felt exactly the same as Nobuna did. Gently caressing Nobuna’s head, they hoped to properly convey the words that they could not bring themselves to speak out loud to her.

Dosan prayed sincerely, hoping that this peaceful time could continue like this forever.

「Senpai, let us accompany Nobuna-sama and eat some Takoyaki! That way, I will be able to meet my old master Dosan-sama too! 」

「God damn it Juubei-chan, learn to read the room a little! This isn’t the time for us to interrupt them when they are having such a heartfelt moment! 」

「Ugh, I guess you do have a point there. Anyway, Senpai, the 50 arquebuses that I lent you at Kanegasaki, it’s about time you gave them back to me. 」

「I’m sorry, but I can only return about half of them. 」

「The interest is very high. If you don’t return them as soon as possible, the money you would need to return to me will become higher and higher, you know? 」

At the foot of Mount Azuchi, Yoshiharu and Mitsuhide stood guard, protecting Nobuna. They were both quarreling with each other as per the usual.

「But, Juubei-chan, you are the first to become a master of a castle. Damn it, I thought I would be the first. Damn it! 」

「Hoho, Sagara-senpai could not be compared to this genius Mitsuhide. Isn’t this normal for the fair Nobuna-sama to be an excellent judge of accomplishments? 」

「After leading the back troops in the 「Retreat at Kanegasaki」, my reward was just a single persimmon, and the promise of a kiss was completely ignored, like I expected. Instead, why was Juubei-chan given Omi’s 50,000 dan worth of land in Sakamoto? I can’t accept that; don’t you think it’s unacceptable? And, that persimmon was rotten to boot! Don’t tell me that was a punishment for touching Katsuie’s breasts!? 」

「For a monkey like you, a single rotten persimmon should be more than enough, Nobuna-sama said so very angrily, Senpai. 」

「Ahhh…. even Katsuie said after that, ‘Though I agreed to let you touch them, I didn’t say you could rub them!’ and is now aiming for my life… What the fuck is wrong with this life of mine? 」

「She was obviously merely joking. Besides, if Senpai’s life is ever going to be truly threatened, this genius swordswoman, the esteemed and beautiful Akechi Juubei Mitsuhide will protect you by staying by your side your whole life, so there is no need to worry! 」

Mitsuhide smiled as she held onto Yoshiharu’s hand.

(Once again, she looks like she has a hidden agenda or something, but other than that, she is such an honest and cute kohai with a nice smile, so it’s hard to stay suspicious of her for long.)

Yoshiharu thought as his gaze met hers.

Mitsuhide’s thoughts began to wander to what happened during her stay at Honno-ji, when Nobuna had suddenly called her over.

* * *

「At that time, Nobuna-sama was….. 」

Nobuna requested the other retainers to leave as she began her secret discussion with Mitsuhide.

「To control Mount Hiei, I wish for Juubei to control the eastern side of Lake Biwa, the area of Sakamoto. The Sakamoto area connects Mount Hiei and the gate of Kyoto, a strategic point of interest. I don’t want this location falling into the hands of the Azai and Asakura clans. Juubei, build a castle there in accordance with your own tastes. 」

「Understood. I shall oversee the construction work in Sakamoto immediately, and guard against the Azai-Asakura allied forces. 」

The talented Mitsuhide accepted Nobuna’s order, and immediately replied:「Let’s start with the designs. 」 as she began discussing with Nobuna the details of the castle.

「As for the castle, I wish for you to do this. 」

Nobuna started voicing some of the ideas she had in mind. 」

The era of mountain fortresses was already over. To adapt to the era of the arquebuses, the future fortress would find greater success on flat lands.

With a mountain fortress, because it’s an obvious target, an arquebus squad can very quickly destroy the walls under concentrated fire, easily compromising the entire base.

The most important thing a fortress needed in this era of arquebuses was….

Water.

「If we dig a wide trench beside the fortress and fill it with water, it will effectively defend against enemy attacks. 」

If one wanted to use 「water」 effectively like this, castles constructed near lakes or rivers are obviously more suitable than mountain fortresses. These are called 「a castle on the plains」, or to be more accurate, a 「water fortress」.

「If we build a castle at Sakamoto, the best choice is to place its back to Lake Biwa, then dig a trench around the front of it to form a ‘water fortress’. A base on water like Sakamoto Castle will greatly speed up Nobuna-sama’s travels across Lake Biwa as well. With this, any future emergencies like the one at Kiyomizu-dera will be dealt with swiftly too. 」

「And though it has nothing to do with battles, Hisahide-dono had built a strange 4-storey castle at Tamonyamajo in Yamato, which can only be described as a magnificent building that seems to be shining with a bright light. I, Mitsuhide, having heard this name, visited Yamato and performed intensive research on the building methods of that castle, and I think that I am going to build something like that in Sakamoto: a castle that will make people feel that soon this chaotic era will end and peace will come back to Japan! Wh…What do you think about it, Nobuna-sama? 」

「Juubei, that idea is fabulous. Though it’s kinda bad to use Danjo’s creativity, you are really a remarkable genius! 」

「Not at all, not at all. Your praise has me a bit flustered, Nobuna-sama! 」

(Ahhh, I’m praised again by Nobuna-sama, my talent is truly terrifying!)

「Let’s do it like you said, but Sakamoto Castle won’t need any temporary masters. 」

「Hmmm, what does that mean? 」

「I’ll give you Sakamoto castle. You will be the real master of it, and this land worth 50,000 dan! 」

「M…Me being a Daimyo of an entire province!? But, I, Mitsuhide have only joined the Oda clan recently! A-And if we think about the contributions, Sagara-senpai who lead the back troops at Kanegasaki deserves to be the master of that castle much more than I do! 」

「Anything is fine for Monkey. He’s just an idiot who became excited from rubbing Riku’s breasts, after all. 」