Chapter 117
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Midnight Dream (Part 1 Complete / Hiatus Notice)
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Times have changed.
Sometimes, having a dream carries many meanings.
It could grant enlightenment, like Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream, or offer revelations of the future or past, as the common prophets claim.
Of course, it wouldn't resonate with everyone.
The same held true for Matsudaira Motoyasu, but in this moment...
She couldn't help but feel a strange thrill as she gazed at the scene before her through the eyes of a third party.
"Congratulations on ascending to Shogun!"
Amid the cheers of countless people with unfamiliar yet somehow familiar faces, one man flashed a satisfied smile.
And instinctively, she realized it.
The man in his late middle age, bordering on old, seated at the head position and addressed as Shogun—that was her.
Whether it was a spiritual flow reaching her through the medium of this dream, or merely a fleeting delusion like a leaf drifting by, she couldn't tell.
'Me, as a man.'
Even if it was just a dream, it was ridiculous.
Yet for some reason, he resembled her father, drawing a wry chuckle from her even as she couldn't tear her eyes away.
That was when it happened.
"Mm."
The gaze of this other self—who had lived as a man, unlike her—seated upon the Shogun's throne, turned beyond the vast audience hall.
And the moment Motoyasu followed that gaze...
―Dr-r-ruk!
Dozens of closed doors opened in unison, one after another, as if on cue.
'That's...!'
Motoyasu stared at the scene revealed there, her eyes widening in rare agitation.
It was only natural.
What filled that space was none other than the panorama of the entire archipelago firmly in her grasp.
But that vision lasted only a moment.
'W-What is this...?'
Her body shook.
No, was the world itself shaking?
The dizzying upheaval of the world led her not to the resplendent hall, but to an entirely different space. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself at the center of an unfamiliar plain.
―Flutter.
Flags symbolizing various clans whipped in the wind.
Yet among them were family crests that didn't exist in her memories.
'Where...'
Instinctively, she searched for 'herself'.
And soon, she spotted herself seated imposingly like a mountain beneath a flag labeled Eastern Army, her eyes flashing.
Once again, she was a man.
But slightly younger than the version she'd seen before.
'Time is flowing backward.'
Her sharp mind grasped it immediately.
Whether this was truly a prophetic dream of her future or merely a false delusion, one thing was clear: battle was imminent.
―Dong, dong, doong-doong!
Drums raised the morale of each force, echoing across the plain. Soon, the flags blending myriad patterns in the whipping wind surged like a single wave.
"Charge!"
"Waaaaah!"
A shout from some unknown soul.
With that as the signal, they charged across the battlefield, soon clashing in savage fury.
"Kuaaagh!"
"Gahk!"
"Dieee!"
An ashigaru's body dangled limply from the spear tip gripped by a mounted samurai, his abdomen pierced through.
"Hup!"
The stench of blood from those collapsing under the blow of a samurai wearing a demon-faced mengu brushed her nose, while arrows arcing through the air pierced throats and eyes in an instant, claiming lives.
"Guhk!"
One life plummeted into the mud.
In mere hours, the plain was soaked in blood. Amid the hell where they slaughtered one another, Motoyasu stood alone, blankly surveying the field.
'...This is.'
It wasn't fear from the unimaginable brutality.
She simply shuddered instinctively at the meaning embedded in this war.
She turned her gaze to the opposing Western Army flag, contrasting the Eastern Army banner under which her male self stood.
"......"
The atmosphere where the leaders raised their banners, watching the battlefield, was far from bright.
They too had realized it.
This battle would end in defeat for the Western Army.
'We lost.'
And the moment she confirmed it...
Time rewound once more.
―Boom!
"Invading Joseon was a delusion from the start!"
"How dare you speak to the Regent like that...!"
"Not just Joseon! Luzon, Thailand, the highlands, Ryukyu...!"
Voices tangled in blame: the invasion of Joseon was a mistake, why didn't they stop the senile Regent, and so on.
Then, with another blink...
―Roar!
―Rumble!
The brief glimpse of closed and opened eyes filled with black and red.
'Here...'
Another unfamiliar space.
"The enemy is at Honno-ji!"
A temple burned beneath a pitch-black sky where the moon had vanished.
The enemy is at Honno-ji!
(The enemy is at Honno-ji!)
With that incomprehensible shout, a nameplate bearing the temple's name crashed to the ground, embedding itself squarely in Motoyasu's vision with its trajectory.
「Honno-ji」
A temple she'd heard of before.
But why was it burning?
Unable to hide her questions, she scanned her surroundings. Taking a step forward, she soon stood before a certain man.
"Kuh, ku ku ku."
Wearing no proper armor, just white sleepwear-like garments and gripping a sword, the man chuckled with madness in his eyes as he drew his blade.
"Gahk!"
A man trembling in his grasp had his throat slit, blood spraying forth. The sword-wielder, with disheveled hair and blood-soaked clothes flapping, burst into mad laughter.
"Ku ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
The sight was chillingly terrifying, worthy of being called a Demon King.
―Roar!
The flames engulfing the temple burned fiercer and hotter. Amid the scorching heat, he bellowed at the soldiers trembling despite their overwhelming numbers.
"I am the Sixth Heavenly Demon King, Oda Nobunaga! Ku ha ha ha ha ha!"
He dropped the spear in his hand to the ground, still laughing maniacally as he strode into the flame-filled temple interior.
"Ah, aah."
"Kuuh..."
All watched in stunned silence, unable to speak or act—like prey paralyzed by overwhelming fear.
Motoyasu too followed the man who called himself Oda Nobunaga, entranced.
The searing flames couldn't touch her.
Before she knew it, she stared blankly at Oda Nobunaga inside the temple, on the verge of collapse, gripping a short sword expressionlessly.
"No helping it. Can't be helped."
The man who had been laughing madly moments ago was nowhere to be seen; now he was eerily calm. She watched him blankly, and he slipped a faint smile before slowly thrusting the sword into his abdomen.
―Stab.
And at that instant...
"Haaah—!"
"What happened?!"
Matsudaira Motoyasu, who had been sleeping neatly, bolted upright, shaking off sweat-drenched bangs. Naturally, Hanzo, on guard duty, rushed into the room in worry, fearing something had gone wrong.
"......"
Normally, Motoyasu would have smiled calmly and sent Hanzo away.
But now, she could only stare blankly into space for a moment.
'...What was that.'
Though time had reversed, the vivid dream still proclaimed she would grasp the entire archipelago.
'No, that's not it.'
Could this dream be summed up in just that one statement?
...Absolutely not.
This short, intense dream, woven with fragments of reality, held far more meaning than she thought.
Her unifying the archipelago.
The clash of daimyo armies numbering perhaps hundreds of thousands, divided into Eastern and Western Armies on an unfamiliar plain.
The unnamed Regent's invasion of Joseon sparking division.
And finally, Oda Nobunaga's death.
Reviewing them in reverse order drew a single long line. She silently pieced it together, soon unable to suppress a wry chuckle.
'Oda Nobunaga draws near becoming the Ruler of the Realm, only to be betrayed and lose her throne. Her successor invades Joseon in the Regent's name, but faces criticism as a reckless delusion with disastrous results. In the end, the realm splits into two forces, and I claim the archipelago...'
Too intricate to dismiss as mere delusion—like a scripted tale or events that had actually unfolded.
The only question was the invasion of Joseon.
'Why on earth?'
In the current reality, was there any reason to invade Joseon? She shook her head.
Thus, she blinked vacantly, unable to reach a quick judgment.
But then...
"I'm fine, so go back for now..."
"Kch!"
As she spoke, Hanzo suddenly drew a short sword from his bosom. Before she could say more, he spun and hurled it at the window.
―Clang!
The instant the dagger flew, an arrowhead piercing the window clashed with the blade and fell to the tatami.
"How dare they...!"
Just as Hanzo prepared to pursue...
"Wait."
Motoyasu, regaining her composure, reached out and untied the paper scroll from the arrow's end, unfolding it.
―
I have come to relay your grandfather's words.
Hirate Hikage.
―
"...Coincidence, or inevitability."
With that murmur, she flashed a meaningful smile.
Hirate Hikage.
The yaksha from Joseon.
He sought to meet her.