Chapter 10 - From a Greeting, to Tears

From a Greeting, to Tears

Translator: Nisarah   Editor: Nisarah

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From a Greeting, to Tears

Koji 2nd year (1556 A.D), 1st Month, Omi Province, Kutsuki Valley.

“Shogun-sama, happy new year. Mere words might be unable to convey my gratitude. Still, Please allow me, Takeda Magoinumaru, to extend my deepest gratitude for your care in the past year.”

I said that while prostrating myself. Behind me, Denza and Kouzukenosuke were also silently prostrated.

After I left Kumakawa, Kouzukenosuke chased after me. He said it won’t look good if I give a new year greeting to shogun-sama while being accompanied by only 1 person.

“Happy new year. But you don’t need to give such a stiff new year greeting. I’m happy that I can see you, Magoinumaru. Have you been well?”

“Yes, well I have somehow managed to survive.”

I emphasized the word ‘somehow’ on purpose. If he asked me about that ‘somehow’ I would be able to say what I actually wanted to say.

“Magoinumaru-sama, what is your meaning by ‘somehow’?”

After hearing that question, I pulled up the fishing line I’d just let down with all my strength. With a tone as if to say ‘it’s all your fault for asking’ I explained the meaning of ‘somehow’

“To tell you the truth, my grandfather and father are currently in a midst of conflict. Grandfather wishes to disinherit Father and give the position of next clan head to my uncle, Saburou-sama.”

After my explanation is finished, the surrounding becomes rowdy. It stands to reason that Father is the Shogun’s younger brother-in-law. Disinheriting my father is no different than slighting the Shogun. There’s no way that the shogun’s vassal can overlook this.

“At the recent battle in Tanba Province, Grandfather suffered a disastrous loss. Due to that, he has been constantly blamed by our vassals. That is why I think Grandfather wishes to no longer oppose Miyoshi. To that end, Grandfather must have thought of  me and Father as stumbling blocks.”

I raised my hand and let my sleeve cover my face while crying sorrowfully. it’s an act though. The shogun’s vassal becomes rowdier. Good.

I want to make the Ashikaga move and become the support for me and Father. Though I don’t think Rokkaku and Asakura will do anything.

Grandfather’s wife is a woman from the Rokkaku clan. That’s why the current Rokkaku clan is in a delicate position in which their in-law and their nephew are fighting against each other. If I was the head of the Rokkaku clan I would just watch on the sideline.

As for the Asakura clan, they just lost the famous Souteki ^[1] . They will first focus on fighting against the Ikko Ikki rebels[2] and taking care of their internal affairs.

In other words, this fight will be a fight between Uncle and Grandfather versus Father and the Ashikaga clan in front, while in the back, it will be a fight between Miyoshi clan and Ashikaga clan.

The chance of winning for two sides is 50-50. The remaining problem is who should I side with?

Grandfather will deploy 1000 men while Father will probably also deploy 1000 men. For both of them, an additional 100 men of mine can become big support. Logically, siding with Father is the best. But I want to hurry up and get into the position of the clan head, so it might be better to side with Grandfather to kill Father and then….

But even if I side with Grandfather, it’s impossible for me to become the clan head. After all, the blood of the Ashikaga clan is running through my veins while Grandfather wants to cut his relationship with the Ashikaga clan.

That’s why I judged siding with Father is the best. The purpose of my visit here is to make Denza and Kouzukenosuke attain great merit so they can acquire suitable positions. With that, I can raise my influence in the clan.

“Shogun-sama. Please, would you become Father’s ally?”

“Of course! Your father is my younger brother-in-law, while you are my nephew. There is no way I won’t assist. I will immediately write an official statement that the rightful lord of Wakasa Province is your father!”

“Thank you very much”

I once again prostrated after Yoshiteru said that. Ah, I almost can’t hold back my laughter. With this, Father has gained the Sei-I Taishougun’s support. The citizen that has been adopting a wait-and-see attitude will now lean toward supporting Father. Is this enough for Father to win…No, I need to do a bit more.

“As I was focused on talking, I had almost forgotten. This is a new year present from myself. It would be an honor if you are willing to accept it.”

Denza handed the tachi to me, I put it on the board, and handed it to one of the chamberlains who was waiting upon the Shogun on his side.

I remember this chamberlain. If I’m not wrong his name is Mitsubuchi Fujihide.

“A good tachi has arrived in Obama so I had pestered a merchant named Genshirou to sell it to me. As it is a tachi too large for me to handle, I would like to present it to you, Shogun-sama.”

“Oh! This is a good tachi. Whose creation is this?”

“It’s a creation of Sakakura Zeki School’s Masatoshi.”

The Shogun draws the tachi from its sheath, exposing the beautiful blade of the tachi. He then proceeds to admire the tachi from various angles. You need to strike the iron while it’s hot, so this time I called Kouzukenosuke.

“Kouzukenosuke.”

“Yes.”

Kouzukenosuke stepped forward and handed me an expensive-looking lacquer box. The contents of the box are, of course, the shiitake. This time, I handed the box to a man named Wada Danjodai [3]. He checked the content of the box and showed a surprised expression. I’m feeling a bit better after seeing his expression.

“My, these are!”

Wada Danjodai handed the box to the Shogun. He also looked surprised after he saw the content. I can’t donate any money to the shogunate, but giving them the shiitake should be enough to show my loyalty to them. Now, I just need to strongly push the shogun to go to the battle.

While prostrating, I secretly glanced at my surroundings. I catch the shogun grinning to himself. I should be able to push him to agree with my wish. I just need to bring soldiers from outside of Wakasa since I don’t want the Wakasa’s citizens to be deployed as soldiers to the war.

“With all due respect, For us, there would be no greater honor than for shogun-sama to accompany us to the ba…”

“You bastard!! Are you planning to drag our lord to your war!?”

One of the vassals that’s been waiting upon the Shogun, Yanagisawa Motomasa[4] shouted. He glared at me with a threatening attitude. He’s right. I want to drag the shogun to the war so our opponent’s morale will fall.

In this era, the influence of the Shogun is still strong among the citizens and the farmers. Even among daimyos, they might think the shogun is annoying but they still can’t ignore his influence.

“Shin’emonjo! Don’t make Magoinumaru cry! He’s my nephew!”

That’s when I realized the fact that tears are streaming down my cheeks. It seems that Yanagisawa Motomasu’s shout made me cry. I thought that I’m quite resilient after all my experience of getting scolded harshly in my past life but it seems like this young body cannot handle them.

“But my lord! You cannot go to war,  you ought to think about how to protect yourself! Are we not here, secluding ourselves in the Kutsuki Valley for the sake of defeating Miyoshi in the future!?”

Yanagisawa Motomasa rebukes the Shogun harshly. He’s right. In the end, Ashikaga’s enemy is Miyoshi. The shogun can’t forget that fact.

Still, I had thought that everyone here has forgotten about that fact since they have stayed in Kutsuki Valley for quite a bit of time, but it seems like I was wrong. This is why they said an excellent vassal is troublesome. But it’s not like I’ve no hands to play. Motomatsu, Allow me to use your reasoning then.

“W…What are you saying? Is it not because that shogun-sama needs to help my father? If you just gritted your teeth and watched from the sideline, Wakasa will fall into Miyoshi’s hands, strengthening them. On the contrary, by helping my Father, the ties between my clan and shogun-sama will be even tighter and at the same time, we succeeded in chipping away at Miyoshi’s strength while strengthening the Ashikaga clan. Will doing so not bring us one step closer to defeating Miyoshi? Hick,” I say while sniffing and trying to stop my tears.

Shogun keeps nodding deeply to my every word. It seems like I tugged his heartstring. He loudly closed his folding fan, then stood up.

“Maginomaru is right. In this emergency situation, we ought to send soldiers to help my younger brother-in-law in Wakasa. But as it will be hard for me to also march to the battle, as such, Wada Danjodai, I will entrust this matter to you. This matter ends here,” he declared.

“Yes!”

Everyone answered in unison while bowing their heads. Good. With this, the advantage lies in Father. I just need to wait until people who sided with Grandfather are caught and judged. At least, I will have their territories forfeited and give them to Denza and Kouzukenosuke. Now then, it will be a spectacle to see who has sided with Grandfather.

“Magoinumare, my child.”

“Y…Yes?”

I panicked because the Shogun suddenly called me. I deepen my bow. Did I earn his displeasure somehow?

If I ruined the Shogun’s impression of me here, his earlier promise will be for naught. Until I leave this place, I need to be extra careful in front of the Shogun.

“You’ve done well. It must take you quite a bit of trouble to prepare both the tachi and the shiitake mushrooms. I am truly happy about your thoughtfulness. Do not worry about your father. I will definitely help him.”

“Yes. Thank you very much for your care.”

Thus, I’ve got the cooperation of the Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

T/N: Yeah! finally after all the build-up!

[1] Asakura Souteki/ Asakura Norikage. He’s said to be the pillar of the Asakura clan at that time and the Asakura clan’s most talented general. https://samurai-archives.com/wiki/Asakura_Norikage ↵

[2] A Rebellion group that was formed by various Japanese Buddhist sects. They opposed the rule of daimyo . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikk%C5%8D-ikki ↵

[3] Wada Koremasa, a vassal of shogunate. Danjodai is his court title it means ‘Inspector of the Boards of Cencors’. As always, you can ignore the title as it has no ties to the actual position. https://sengokujidai.org/characters-and-clans%E3%80%8C%E4%BA%BA%E7%89%A9%E3%83%BB%E6%B0%8F%E3%80%8D/busho-s-z%E3%80%8C%E6%AD%A6%E5%B0%86-s-z%E3%80%8D/wada-koremasa%E3%80%8C%E5%92%8C%E7%94%B0%E6%83%9F%E6%94%BF%E3%80%8D/ ↵

[4] Another vassal of the shogunate. Shin’emonjo is his other name. Unfortunately, I can’t find English source for him but here is the Japanese one: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9F%B3%E6%B2%A2%E5%85%83%E6%94%BF ↵