Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: The Reason to Choose Owari Nonetheless
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“No.”
Baek Il-yeong looked at her as if to ask what she meant, but Ikoma Kitsuno just let out a hearty laugh and shook her head as if to say it was nothing. Then, as if to keep him from asking again, she quickly continued.
“That aside, you're quite bold. When you throw it out there so openly like that, it makes it hard for me to dodge the subject.”
The atmosphere in the room shifted.
No, it wasn't just the atmosphere—the gentle mood he'd shared with Nohime vanished entirely, and now sitting before Il-yeong was nothing less than the shrewd leader of a merchant guild.
—Tap, tap.
She lightly drummed her fingers on the game board. Was it just his imagination, or did it feel exactly like a merchant tallying an abacus?
“Hmm.”
At last, a small sigh broke the silence.
At the same time, she looked at Il-yeong and asked,
“Nobunaga. I heard that child proposed marriage. Is that why you're doing this? To save Owari Province, which anyone can see is at a disadvantage in these chaotic times? If so, that's awfully kindhearted of her.”
It was a fact that Nohime—Kicho—knew as well, even if unspoken. The story itself was prime material to drive gossipmongers wild.
A warrior who had crossed over from Joseon, leaving some shadowy past behind.
And a princess daimyo carving a path of hegemony to stabilize the turbulent political landscape.
“It's a bestseller, in every sense.”
Word was that storytellers weaving related tales popped up frequently around Owari and nearby regions. Il-yeong let out a hollow chuckle and nodded at her words.
“I see.”
He had to admit it—even by modern standards, it was a pretty entertaining story.
But a story was just a story.
“That's not entirely wrong, but first, let me correct you.”
Il-yeong shook his head at her question and spoke. He answered her as she nodded for him to go on.
“Owari will survive just fine without the help of the Ikoma Guild. No, it won't end with mere survival.”
History proved it.
The path Oda Nobunaga would tread made the current reality seem like mere beginnings.
But Il-yeong knew as well.
“Ambition is important. But I'm a merchant, remember? I buy potential, but I need evidence to back it up.”
If that was all he had to say, it would amount to nothing more than empty posturing.
Ikoma Kitsuno smiled.
And Il-yeong, watching her, smiled too.
“Do you see Owari as lagging behind?”
“Yes.”
She nodded without the slightest hesitation. It was a starkly realistic view, excluding her fondness for Oda Nobunaga, whom she'd known since childhood.
She pulled something from her bosom and placed it thunk between them.
Before he could say a word, she unfolded it.
“This is...”
“A map.”
It was a map depicting the entire archipelago. Though it differed somewhat from the modern maps he knew, the overall shape was much the same.
—Slide.
Her finger came to rest on one spot.
The place her finger touched was none other than the land labeled Owari Province.
“Owari is peculiar.”
She lightly scratched it with her nail and met Il-yeong's eyes with a smile.
“Its terrain features fertile plains at the mouths of three rivers, making self-sufficiency easy. It's also on the route from the eastern mainland to the capital Kyoto, so commerce thrives and money flows. As a result...”
Her finger slowly traced around Owari.
In fact, all the way to Totomi, Suruga, and Mikawa, Imagawa territories.
Mino, held by Saito Yoshitatsu.
Sagami, under Hojo Ujiyasu.
Echigo of Uesugi Kenshin.
Kai of Takeda Shingen.
She circled every terrain surrounding Owari before continuing.
“The Oda clan's soldiers are weak. Relatively speaking, that is. No amount of internal family squabbles can turn weak troops into strong ones.”
Il-yeong nodded at her words.
It wasn't wrong at all—Owari's soldiers were weak precisely because the province was prosperous compared to others.
“And it's surrounded by so many powerful lords.”
Just look at the ones she'd listed.
—
Imagawa Yoshimoto, called the Tokai region's foremost warrior, the Number One Bowman of the Coastal Road.
Saito Yoshitatsu, the unfilial rebel who slew his father, the Viper of Mino and heroic tyrant Saito Dosan.
Hojo Ujiyasu, the Lion of Sagami.
Uesugi Kenshin, the Dragon of Echigo, revered as a god of war.
Takeda Shingen, the Tiger of Kai.
—
Ikoma Kitsuno gave a faintly bitter smile as she met Il-yeong's gaze. Then she uttered one title that many were slowly forgetting, though it hadn't faded entirely.
“In contrast, Owari is...”
“Owari's Great Fool.”
Il-yeong completed her trailing words.
Ikoma Kitsuno nodded readily and said,
“Owari once had a tiger too. Though it's dead now.”
The tiger Ikoma Kitsuno referred to was the previous daimyo and Oda Nobunaga's father, Oda Nobuhide. She squinted awkwardly around her eyes, genuinely regretful.
“With all this, can you expect me to readily choose Owari as my merchandise?”
She had a point.
Honestly, even Il-yeong—who was brimming with conviction—felt his resolve waver inwardly. What more needed to be said?
Yet at the same time, a surge of awe for Oda Nobunaga welled up.
'This lineup, and yet...'
It hit him anew why modern Japan held Oda Nobunaga in such high regard.
But that admiration was fleeting.
Il-yeong looked at Ikoma Kitsuno, who shrugged as if the conversation were over, and opened his mouth.
“Around April or May, the Imagawa forces will march.”
“Pardon?”
At Il-yeong's abrupt declaration, Ikoma Kitsuno blinked in confusion, but he ignored it entirely, locking eyes with her brown gaze and pressing on.
“Imagawa Yoshimoto seized control of Mikawa amid the chaos there, and at Takeda Shingen's proposal, he forged a three-province alliance with Hojo, Takeda, and Imagawa, eliminating threats to his rear.”
He took a sip from his teacup.
The lukewarm tea slid down his throat, and as Ikoma Kitsuno's face grew rounder with surprise, he continued with a faint smile.
“Takeda Shingen will check Uesugi Kenshin—likely at Kawanakajima. That will free Imagawa Yoshimoto to dispatch his maximum forces to Owari.”
“B-but then Suruga will be left empty.”
Ikoma Kitsuno's voice trembled slightly as she cautiously interjected, her words coming as if she'd memorized them.
But Il-yeong just shrugged once and replied,
“He has a son.”
“Ah...”
“In that case, he'll invade with at least 25,000, possibly over 40,000 troops.”
History recorded Imagawa Yoshimoto mobilizing 25,000, so exceeding that was plausible too.
“Factoring in output and minimal garrisons...”
Ikoma Kitsuno rapidly calculated in her head, then stared at him with a hardened expression, convinced his prediction held water.
“...It's not an impossible scenario.”
No, it was quite likely.
Imagawa Yoshimoto had clashed not just with Nobunaga, but with Nobuhide before her.
Il-yeong drained his teacup in one gulp, licked the last drops from his tongue, and delivered his final words to the silently listening Ikoma Kitsuno.
“He'll time it so reinforcements can't arrive easily, taking castles one by one. Personally, I predict Washizu and Marune.”
“...So you're reaching out to me to stop that?”
If Il-yeong's prediction was accurate, Owari was a candle in the wind.
With early February just past, they had maybe three months at best. Nobuyuki's rebellion was still unresolved, and the coming war seemed to spell Owari's doom.
Ikoma Kitsuno pondered.
Though she'd drawn a line as a merchant, her personal fondness for Oda Nobunaga was real.
'Somehow, I have to save that child and her people...'
But no easy answer came to mind.
So she watched Il-yeong pour fresh tea into the empty cup, awaiting his response.
—Drip.
The tilted cup filled with tea, a few droplets from the pot's rim falling to form small circles. Il-yeong gazed at it briefly before speaking quite matter-of-factly.
“We win the war.”
“Pardon?”
It wasn't some hopeful platitude or comforting murmur.
Just a flat statement, as if it were a foregone conclusion.
“The problem comes after.”
Il-yeong's gaze drifted past Okehazama, to what lay beyond. He envisioned a girl who must be fifteen—no, sixteen by now.
“The one who waits until the hototogisu cries.”
He had to meet that girl.
Thus, he met the dazed gaze of Ikoma Kitsuno and laid out the real point.
“I need to go to Mikawa. Help me.”