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Chapter 6.1. Takeda Shingen
Takeda Shingen. He was called the strongest military commander in the Warring States period. His rivalry with Uesugi Kenshin, the god of war, is well-known, and I remember thinking as a child that I didn’t understand why he was the strongest since he couldn’t increase his territory despite being called the strongest.
The old man in front of me named himself after Takeda Shingen. He dares to use that name to gain a reputation in this era. As the name “Strongest” implies, he’s the boss who is protecting his territory around here, cultivating the fields and trying to secure as much food as possible, which is a good thing in an abandoned town. As proof of this, there is alcohol here. If they couldn’t afford it, they wouldn’t be able to open a bar. The people who live in the abandoned town can’t get liquor, so it’s this guy’s skill.
Well, he’s anachronistically wearing Shingen’s samurai armor that he brought from some museum.
Sakimori was always appalled at Shingen, without regard for his appearance. It is a terrible thing to be unaware of one’s appearance.
His head is glowingly bald, and although he’s in his fifties, he’s muscular and looks like a gorilla sitting on his haunches. When he frowns, he looks more and more like a gorilla, so the rumor goes.
“There you are, Sakimori. Thanks for getting the job done so quickly. Hey, bring his reward.”
Shingen ordered his men and brought the reward in a box. Ten canned goods, ten ration coupons, and one hundred thousand yen. The money’s in an envelope; the bills were newly issued ten years ago. The old money no longer works.
“Indeed. I received my reward.”
I put a lot of effort into my eyes, wishing I could get the hobgoblins’ payment too, but Shingen was all over the place and just nodded. Damn it, there was a dead hobgoblin, wasn’t there? I burned it, but you can tell from its size, right?
“Looks like you had a bit of a tough job. Do you want something to eat? I’ll buy you a drink.”
[A chocolate, please.]
Without a pause, Shizuku expresses her opinion. Ignoring her, she climbs on my shoulder and brings her lovely face close to Moon’s. I tell her that I don’t have any chocolate, and she leans on my shoulder as if I’m carrying her on my shoulder. I can’t see what’s in front of me because my face gets stuck to hers. She’s an astral body, so it’s in a state where I can’t touch her, but it’s hard to see in front of me.
[I would like a piece of chocolate, please. If there is no sweetness, I will wither. After all, it’s me Shizuku. Hey, hey, chocolate please.]
She has no intention of retreating from in front of my face. I sigh a little and reluctantly tell Shingen.
“Chocolate, please. We’re out of stock.”
“Hm? I’ll give you three pieces of chocolate. Then, bring three pieces of chocolate and give them to Sakimori. And a can of beer.”
The sweetness was precious, but he would easily give me three pieces. I did it, Shizuku said, flipping her body in a cute dancing motion. But hey, now that you’re asking me to talk about the Hobgoblin, right? Shizuku-san, do you understand?
The beer can and chocolates were placed on the table, so I put the chocolates in the box and opened the can. When I put it in my mouth, I drank the lukewarm beer. I want a cold beer.
“Hey, Sakimori. Won’t you be my subordinate soon? I think it’s hard to live alone.”
Shingen takes a bite of the jerky his men left behind and his drinks. Sakimori doesn’t take a bite. He doesn’t like jerky because he doesn’t know what the original meat is.
“Sorry, but I refuse. You can submit a request any way you like. As you always have.”
I take another sip of beer and sigh. It’s lukewarm.
[Cooling]
I can’t stand it anymore, and since it’s a waste of time to drink lukewarm beer, I consume precious mana. It consumes about 5 mana, so that’s good.
Cold air blows out from Sakimori’s hand and cools the beer. It’s delicious because it’s so cold.
“Do you have a good whiskey?”
Shingen asks with the tip of his mouth raised, and I glance at the woman standing by the wall, who gives a small nod and brings the whiskey and a bowl.
[Ice Creation]
I create and put ice the size of a volleyball in the bowl. Water magic is useless for anything but living. Even if I try to suffocate or freeze them, the enemy will run away from me. It’s faster to burn them than to take the time to freeze them.
“It’s convenient. You can make a living with that magic alone. At least in the outer city.”
“I don’t like living without stimulation.”
He smiles and watches Shingen’s men break the ice with an ice pick. The shards of shattered ice are somehow beautiful, and as Sakimori watches, he thinks.
This is the only hard-boiled place where I can have this kind of conversation. If the old man at the ice shop had a hard-boiled conversation, people would think he was a weird old man.
Inwardly, not knowing what Sakimoei was thinking such a stupid thing, Shingen offered him a whiskey, and Sakimori relaxed for a while, chatting with him. A woman quickly sat down next to him and poured me some sake. So I stretched out my nose, and Shizuku’s cancer approached her face.
I was in the middle of enjoying my drink, chipping away because I couldn’t get drunk. A girl jumps in through the door.
“News nya! Great news nya~!”
It was Karin who entered as if singing. She’s Karin, the informer. She’s a nuisance who appears everywhere, but her information is useful to a certain extent. She has a unique skill, [Cat Transformation], and can move like a cat. She’s like a cat, and good at stealth.
“Great news? It’s unusual for you to say such a thing. Did the country’s military move in?”
“There’s no way a military vehicle would move that easily when there’s so little gas left in the tank. I found something strange. And at multiple points.”
Shingen smiled at Karin, who was wagging her tail and doing her nyan-nyan dance and tossed her a bundle of jerky. Karin accepts it with a nyan, and while tucking it into her pocket to show a glimpse of her chest, she waves her index finger in the air.