Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Unexpected Events
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The moment they let out a startled "Eh?", the two plunged straight into the pond. It happened so suddenly that there was no time for any other reaction.
However, Niwa Nagahide didn't get angry.
She had clearly seen the arrow aimed right at the two of them.
'Who the hell could it be?'
Was it her strategist instincts? She quickly sifted through the list of people who might pull off something like this.
First, the many families under the Oda clan.
Not likely. The pieces didn't fit.
Fundamentally, those still by the current Daimyo's side couldn't easily back out now. Even if Nobuyuki won, the best they could hope for was a remote post at best—and at worst, they'd face a purge.
'Besides, there's no reason to assassinate Hikage.'
He was just a favored retainer. There were more than enough people to replace him. It would make far more sense to target Hirate Masahide instead of Hirate Hikage.
So who else, then?
Her thoughts eventually settled on Nobuyuki.
There was definitely a motive.
But even so, it only stirred mild suspicion. After all, wasn't it obvious that Nobuyuki held some fondness for this man?
She couldn't figure it out.
The moment Niwa Nagahide reached that conclusion, time, which had been crawling along slowly, suddenly sped up again. And the inevitable result was...
Plop!
With that sound, Il-yeong and Niwa Nagahide, cradled in his arms, half-submerged into the pond. Startled koi flicked their tails frantically and hid in the mud, while the ninjas who spotted them leaped over the wall and drew their swords.
"Are you alright?"
"...Yes. But this doesn't seem like the time for casual chit-chat."
Il-yeong agreed.
So he immediately pushed himself up and stared down the ninjas encircling the pond.
Drip, drip—
Water droplets fell.
His silk robes, heavy with water, flapped around him, and his carefully styled hair was soaked and disheveled.
And that was just the start.
Niwa Nagahide was drenched too.
Of course, unlike Il-yeong, who had plunged straight into the muck, she had only touched water—which actually gave her an erotic allure.
But neither the ninjas, nor Il-yeong, nor she paid it any mind.
Swords were pointed right at them.
Who had time to worry about trivialities?
Il-yeong's gaze fixed on the ninjas.
Not all of them had come down from the walls.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue. He'd spotted three ninjas on the trees, drawing their bowstrings. And no sooner had Il-yeong done so than one of the surrounding ninjas let out a sharp whistle.
Whoosh!
Arrows sliced through the air in a barrage.
Sharp arrowheads stretched toward Il-yeong and Niwa Nagahide to pierce them in one go, and as if to make sure, the ninjas thrust their swords forward.
"Hup!"
"Hah!"
Perhaps aiming for a silent takedown, the attacks were eerily quiet aside from faint grunts of effort. The epitome of an assassination.
"Lord Hikage."
At that moment, Niwa Nagahide's whisper reached Il-yeong's ear.
"Duck."
He shot her a look as if to say, "What?", but the arrows were already closing in—more than enough time had passed. So Il-yeong half-tricked himself into complying and ducked down into the pond.
And in that instant.
"Now!"
With Niwa Nagahide's sharp cry, a flurry of shuriken shot out from all directions, embedding into the backs of the ninjas lunging at Il-yeong and Nagahide.
Immediately, Il-yeong sprang up and drove his fist into the solar plexus of the ninja in front of him.
"Gack!"
A dry cough burst out.
At the same time, Il-yeong seized the handle of the momentarily loosened sword, wrenched it from the ninja's grip, and slashed across his throat.
Slash, thud—
The muddy pond water turned red.
The midday flesh heap crumpled, and Il-yeong spun the sword in a graceful arc, eyeing the panicked ninjas.
His wounds throbbed.
No new injuries, but he couldn't stop the old ones from reopening.
"...How many times is this now?"
Twice? No, three times?
He could barely remember. He half-wondered if the physician might kill him at this rate—but hey, this time it wasn't from sex, so maybe it'd be fine.
"Over here for now."
Even amid the chaos, Il-yeong pulled Niwa Nagahide behind him. She naturally slipped behind his broad back.
He gripped his sword.
No time to feel the familiarity of killing that had grown on him—ninjas began appearing one after another on the surrounding rooftops, filling his vision.
—Wh-what?
This was an unforeseen development. The eyes of the apparent leader ninja trembled. They numbered fewer than ten, sent to assassinate him and her—yet the ninjas surrounding them had to be at least twenty.
They couldn't move rashly.
Even those on the trees with bows could only draw their strings in check against the arrows aimed at them.
Silence fell.
In that gap, Il-yeong turned his head slightly and asked Niwa Nagahide behind him.
"...How did you know?"
He knew about ninjas, of course.
But he couldn't help wondering how she had known.
Niwa Nagahide parted her lips to answer, but the response came not from her, but from atop the pavilion.
"Out in the open, maybe not—but inside where the Daimyo resides, Koka Ryu ninjas always stand guard. Lady Niwa herself was once threatened before."
"That's right. Thanks to them, I survived."
Niwa Nagahide was one of the key ministers set to lead Owari. That was why she'd faced an assassination attempt, something all high ministers endured at least once. Of course, she'd been saved by the Koka Ryu ninjas that time too.
Il-yeong's gaze landed on the stern-faced Koka Ryu jonin he'd definitely seen before.
Was it because this was an internal clan matter?
Or just for stealthy movement?
She wore the simple garb of a lowly maidservant, standing atop the pavilion. Her thigh was slanted open, seemingly torn in her haste to climb the roof. The slope made the subtle bulge of her thigh oddly erotic.
Il-yeong found himself staring at her legs before he recalled her name.
"Takigawa Kazumasu."
"...Yes, that's me."
Surprised that Il-yeong remembered her name? She gave him a strange look for a moment. But then...
"...Hup!"
As one who had given up on life shot an arrow at Il-yeong, determined to complete the mission, she immediately hurled a small shuriken, knocking not just the archer but the nearby ninjas off the tree.
"Lord Hirate!"
But she couldn't block the flying arrow, so with a groan, she leaped from the pavilion—at that moment.
—Hup!
He swallowed.
Predicting the arrow's path, he angled his dangling sword upward and cleaved it. The split arrow veered left and right, embedding into the wall.
Snap—!
The delayed sound grazed his ears.
"A-are you okay?!"
Niwa Nagahide, finally grasping the situation, asked Il-yeong's condition in a frantic voice.
"Yeah, more or less..."
Maybe because of the explosive movement just now.
His wounds had definitely reopened, but he didn't mind much. There was no helping it.
"Subdue them."
At Takigawa's cold command, shuriken, poison needles, and arrows rained from the pavilion, taking down every ninja with feet in the pond.
—Gack!
—Argh!
No matter how accustomed to pain their training made them, they couldn't endure the agony of bone-deep strikes.
With the situation under control, Takigawa approached Il-yeong, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head.
"...I failed in my duty. My apologies."
Il-yeong didn't know it, but Takigawa's primary protection targets had solidified as Nobunaga and him. Thus, she furrowed her brow with humiliation at failing her ninja duty and a strange fear toward Il-yeong.
Her knee in the pond muddied her fair legs with filth, but she didn't care.
After witnessing Il-yeong's true face.
Someone like a demon from hell might lop off her head for this.
But then.
Il-yeong's hands gently grasped her shoulders. Thinking punishment was coming, Takigawa closed her eyes, her body trembling slightly—that instant.
"Ah, no. Why are you kneeling here?"
Il-yeong's utterly unexpected, flustered voice rang in her ear. She peeked up in confusion, meeting his embarrassed face.
And then.
—Jonin. All subdued.
As the Koka Ryu ninjas reported from behind, she rose following his hands. Then she asked Il-yeong.
"...Your orders."
He was the only one who could issue them here.
But the response was already set.
It was a disturbance during the banquet.
So first, halt the banquet and inform the Daimyo.
Takigawa thought so. Nagahide too. Even the fallen ninjas.
"Hm."
But.
"Lock them up for now. I'll inform the Daimyo tomorrow myself."
Il-yeong's eventual words shattered everyone's expectations.