Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Father? (2)
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“In that case, may I take him as my adopted son, my lord Daimyo?”
“...Pardon?”
Il-yeong's voice rang out, but he wasn't the only one startled. Mori Yoshinari and the other retainers fell silent for a moment as well—Hirate Masahide's words were a shock in themselves.
Who was Hirate Masahide?
He was Oda Nobunaga's guardian and foster father, the head of the esteemed Hirate family, a man not easily granted audience. For such a figure to propose adopting a Joseon man as his heir was something no one could readily accept.
Yet Hirate Masahide continued calmly, his expression impassive.
“I have a clever daughter, but she's still too young and lacks any talent for martial arts, so she can't be of much help in these troubled times. I've been worrying about it, and though he's from Joseon, he has considerable ability. If you permit it, I'd like to take him as my adopted son.”
Masahide's words seemed logical enough, but to the retainers, they could only be interpreted as him fabricating a pretext to promote a Joseon man.
Naturally, the retainers bristled with opposition. Maeda Toshiie, who had just turned sixteen, chewed her lower lip with her sharp left canine, muttering under her breath.
“...Why a Joseon man...? Why not adopt me as your daughter...!”
She didn't dislike Hirate Masahide. In fact, she respected him deeply. That's why his choice baffled her all the more.
She irritably ruffled her red short-cut hair and glared at Il-yeong's back. He was big and well-fed, with a handsome face, but that was it. Toshiie couldn't bring herself to approve.
At that moment, a beauty with long indigo hair, who had been sitting beside her enjoying drinks poured by a pretty boy, chuckled softly.
“Toshiie. What are you saying, when your own father is alive and well? You even served as the lord's page once.”
“That's why, if you're going to promote someone, make it me...!”
“Heh.”
Snap—
In response to Maeda Toshiie's words, the woman with indigo long hair flicked open her fan, covering her mouth as she smiled faintly.
Toshiie wasn't so naive as to miss that it was the fond amusement of an older sister watching her little sibling's childish jealousy, so she shot her a glare—but sadly, it posed no threat to the woman. She simply smiled brightly, thinking to herself.
‘Why say something like that in front of all the retainers...? Hmm.’
That was when it happened.
“Even so, he's still a Joseon man, Lord Hirate.”
She turned at the low voice and let out a small chuckle, nodding.
“Oh my?”
“Hm? What is it?”
Maeda Toshiie, who had been about to pop a fruit candy into her mouth, paused and asked her back. But Niwa Nagahide just smiled enigmatically and gave a cryptic reply.
“Nothing. Things are just getting interesting.”
“Even so, he's still a Joseon man, Lord Hirate.”
Il-yeong turned toward the voice echoing through the banquet hall. The man who came into view was somewhere between youth and middle age.
‘...Who’s that?’
If he could voice opposition to Hirate Masahide like that, he had to be one of the key retainers. But Il-yeong's question was resolved sooner than expected.
“What does that matter, Lord Sakuma?”
“It’s obviously a problem. No matter how close we are, he’s still a foreigner from another land.”
‘Sakuma?’
Il-yeong could only be stunned.
Sakuma. In this era, there was only one lord of the Sakuma clan.
‘Sakuma Nobumori!’
The man who had served Nobuhide and then came to serve Nobunaga, devoting himself to the Oda clan until he and his eldest son were exiled late in life due to repeated battle defeats.
His end was unfortunate, but early on, he was indispensable to Oda Nobunaga. So what was the problem here?
‘No way this sours their relationship...?’
He didn't know if Hirate Masahide and Sakuma Nobumori had ever clashed historically, but at least in Il-yeong's memory, there was no incident like this. Of course not—it was something his intervention in this world had caused.
“A foreigner from another land...? In the past, we traded extensively with people from Baekje and Gaya, and sometimes even intermingled bloodlines. Even among our renowned artisans today, some descend from Baekje and Gaya.”
“You know there's a difference between a mere artisan and someone entering a family's retainers as an adopted son.”
Unaware or uncaring of Il-yeong's growing anxiety, Sakuma Nobumori and Hirate Masahide stared each other down, continuing their calm exchange that was anything but.
“But taking an adopted son is ultimately Lord Hirate's decision. I understand your concerns, Lord Sakuma, but since we're not granting him a fief, what issue could there be?”
“Lord Kawajiri, that's not what I...!”
Upon hearing the surname of the man behind Hirate Masahide, Il-yeong felt the world spin.
‘...Now even Kawajiri Hidekata?’
He too was a retainer who had served Nobuhide and held a significant position. The difference with Sakuma Nobumori? He ended his life with seppuku.
‘Haha. We're screwed.’
Looking at the situation objectively, Il-yeong felt wronged enough to be suddenly proposed as Hirate Masahide's adopted son against his will, but now the early retainers who supported Oda Nobunaga were quarreling over it. He couldn't help but truly worry about the butterfly effect.
‘At the very least, I have to prevent this until I've risen to a position I can handle...!’
He'd only just buttoned the first button. If these three pillars supporting Nobunaga fell out here, it would be a total disaster.
‘Wait... but...’
Then, Il-yeong felt a strange sense of dissonance and slowly lifted his head to look at Nobunaga's face.
From her perspective, this sudden squabble among her retainers might be unpleasant, but her expression was far too serene. She was listening to their debate as if she'd anticipated it.
And that didn't fit Nobunaga's usual demeanor at all, so Il-yeong focused intently on the three retainers' conversation as a thought flashed through his mind.
“In the end, even if he's from Joseon, he's fluent in our language, skilled enough with the sword to cut down Nobutomo himself, and adept at command—what problem could there be?”
“I agree. What do you think, Lady Mori?”
“I-I think... of course it's fine!”
Sakuma Nobumori barely spoke beyond his initial objection, while Masahide and Hidekata listed reasons why adopting him would be acceptable. Some retainers nodded or murmured in agreement.
‘So that's how it is.’
Only then could Il-yeong chuckle at Nobunaga's serene expression and the three retainers.
‘They’re damn good actors. Annoying as hell.’
This was all theater. Certain of that, Il-yeong relaxed and sought mental calm by gazing at Yoshinari's ample bosom—specifically, the flesh peeking from her armor.
The situation was simple.
‘If they agreed outright, there'd be discontent, so Sakuma Nobumori raises a mild objection to naturally share Hirate Masahide's thinking with the retainers.’
Sakuma chimes in a bit then falls silent, Kawajiri Hidekata concurs, and public opinion forms organically.
‘And of course, Nobunaga knew all along.’
This time, even Il-yeong had to be impressed. Past era or not, politicians were politicians.
“...It seems I misspoke, Lord Hirate.”
In the end, their brief ten-minute debate concluded as scripted, with Sakuma Nobumori offering a light apology first.
Of course, against an equal, it might have shaken power dynamics, but the opponent was Hirate Masahide, so the other retainers accepted it without issue.
Once the debate wrapped up, Nobunaga flashed her signature arrogant smile and asked Hirate Masahide as if she'd been waiting.
“Have you thought of a name, foster father?”
Curious himself, Il-yeong perked up his ears. Masahide soon spoke softly.
“How about changing the hanja 'Il-yeong' () to our way of reading it: Hikage? The meaning—'shadow cast by the sun'—fits perfectly for a retainer who silently follows at the Daimyo's back.”
“Hirate Hikage...”
Hirate Hikage.
Mulling the name, Nobunaga looked up at Il-yeong, who was watching her. She licked her red lips like a cat and asked.
“What's your answer?”
All eyes turned to him.
The three retainers.
Even Maeda Toshiie, who had vented childish jealousy.
Even Niwa Nagahide, sipping sake poured by her pretty boy with an intrigued smile.
Not just them—every retainer gathered there watched him silently, awaiting his response. Il-yeong gave a wry smile and spoke inwardly to his parents, alive and well in the modern world.
‘Sorry. But first, your son has to survive.’
Who was it that said?
A child without parents is an orphan, a wife without a husband is a widow, a husband without a wife is a widower—but there's no word for parents who lose a child.
‘Though there is ',' but it's too poignant, so I'll skip it.’
Having neatly rationalized it to himself, Il-yeong straightened and replied with a faint smile.
“Hirate Hikage, eldest son of the Hirate family, pays his respects to the Daimyo.”