Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Chaos in Mino and the Rapidly Changing Situation
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“...I see.”
“Y-Yes!”
The ninja sitting before Baek Il-yeong nodded frantically at his words. The two other ninjas still locked in the prison glared at him murderously with bloodshot eyes for spilling their confession so easily, but Il-yeong paid them no mind.
Clang— The short sword fell to the floor with a hollow ring. At the same time, he sorted through the ninja's confession.
'Saito Yoshitatsu.'
It wasn't an Oda retainer or anyone from Oda Nobuyuki's faction who had sent the ninja—it was Saito Yoshitatsu of Mino Province. After cross-verifying everything, there was no room for doubt.
The motive was more than sufficient.
Nohime had defected to the Oda clan, after all. The only reason it hadn't occurred to him right away was his complacent assumption that they wouldn't go this far.
Il-yeong's expression hardened.
This was already the second grudge tying him to the man, even though they'd never met face-to-face. He hadn't sought it out, but he couldn't just let it slide.
“Th-Then, what about me...?”
At that moment, the confessing ninja cautiously rolled his eyes toward Il-yeong. Only then did Il-yeong acknowledge his presence and respond.
“Ah, right.”
His indifferent gaze settled on the man.
Il-yeong stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before flashing a grin and speaking to the ninja.
“You've earned great merit. I'll make arrangements for you, your family, and your acquaintances to live in Owari Province, so recite them all.”
“Th-Thank you!”
Clearly an unexpected reward, the ninja's eyes widened as he hurriedly listed them out.
Family members and even local acquaintances.
Il-yeong committed every name to memory precisely, then glanced at the Koka-ryu ninja standing behind him and said,
“Write them down.”
“...Yes.”
Basic writing tools were on hand for interrogations, so the ninja nodded and carefully jotted down all the names from the session.
The moment the final period was inked.
Il-yeong's smile vanished. Without hesitation, he turned and issued the order.
“Lock him up again, and kill everyone he named.”
“...W-What?”
The ninja's trembling gaze sought confirmation.
Despair and fury twisted his face, as if begging for this to be a lie he'd misheard.
Il-yeong's eyes finally turned back.
He met the ninja's upward stare steadily, then silently left without another word.
—Ah, aaaaagh! You bastard!
A scream laced with sobs erupted behind him. Soon after, the ninja thrashed wildly, nearly splintering the chair he was bound to. If the belatedly reacting Koka-ryu ninja hadn't subdued him, the chair might have shattered.
Il-yeong paused on his way out of the prison and glanced back.
'...Dirty work.'
It wasn't a command born of pleasure or bloodlust. This was a warning. War with Mino was inevitable now, so a declaration like this wasn't a bad move.
Haa— He exhaled.
His white breath scattered like haze. Il-yeong brushed back his damp, frost-stiffened hair and continued on.
The banquet would end soon anyway, so heading up to rest first wasn't much of a breach in etiquette.
'Tiring...'
A weary haze settled over Il-yeong's face.
*
Mino Province.
The land once ruled under the Toki clan's name had become the Viper of Mino's domain.
Flicker.
Torchlight danced.
At the same time, a woman standing before an elderly man—aged yet imposingly robust—shed tears.
“...My lord.”
“Don't cry, Momomaru. No... Mitsuhide.”
A voice heavy beyond the old man's years rang out. But his words only brought more tears.
Though unknown outside Mino, the man was in dire straits. No—'dire' was too hopeful; the situation was utterly hopeless.
The fire in the old man's eyes slowly dimmed.
In its place burned a rage he'd thought long worn away and forgotten.
“I took you for a stubborn, inept child. Was I wrong?”
He'd quelled the retainers' discontent and rallied their hearts.
Young as he was, he'd devoured the clan so swiftly that even the Viper of Mino struggled to respond. In the end, all the Viper could do was smuggle his beloved daughter Kicho out to Owari.
“Praying that Oda Nobunaga—that brat—is no fool. Heh.”
They'd clashed many times before.
So despite his words, he wasn't overly worried. Instead, he gazed at his niece-by-marriage, Akechi Mitsuhide, and spoke.
“The tide has turned against us, but I'm going to meet my daughter. Don't throw away your precious life—lead the clan and flee.”
“...But!”
“Enough!”
Thud— The old man's foot slammed the tatami.
He fixed his gaze on his niece, like a daughter to him, and continued.
“How much attachment do you think I have left?”
No regret colored his deep timbre.
“I was a mere commoner. A peasant, no more than wild grass.”
One of countless masses.
His only distinctions were his sturdy build and handsome features.
He'd owned but a handful of dirt.
Thus, the young Viper had hungered, coveted, and seized endlessly.
He became a monk.
An oil merchant, then met a man of the Toki clan and forged ties.
He became Nishimura Gankuro.
Nagai Norihide.
And finally, Saito Tatsuoki.
On the day he severed old bonds and claimed this land as his own, he became Saito Dosan.
Haa—
Fragments of the past scattered on his breath.
The man who'd lived a life of wild ups and downs had become an old man. Amid the flickering torchlight, he silently regarded the few loyal retainers who remained and spoke.
“I'd shed all those flaws and become Dosan at last. What attachments or stubbornness could linger?”
The land in chaos, the era in turmoil.
Old ghosts of a bygone age must yield to the new heroes rising—that was the flow of time.
“But I won't simply scatter to the winds.”
Clink— His armor rattled.
At the same time, embers reignited in his fading eyes as he declared,
“I'll go to meet my daughter.”
I'll burn till the end of my days.
Arrogant, foolish girl.
If you truly wish to succeed the Viper of Mino, sink your fangs into this father's throat.
The old man rose and strode from the hall. Dozens of samurai followed silently in his wake.
“...Ah.”
She stared blankly at Dosan's receding figure.
His words from long ago surfaced.
—If things grow perilous, spare your life and bide your time. Seek refuge with Asakura.
Akechi Mitsuhide slowly stood.
And for a long while, she etched the Viper's final moments into her eyes.
*
The situation was shifting at breakneck speed.
Owari's internal strife was trouble enough, but the assassins dispatched from Mino had upended the Oda clan entirely.
—Bam!
A fist slammed the table.
Beards quivered in fury, and some retainers had brazenly donned armor to declare to Oda Nobunaga,
“Give the order, my lord, and we'll charge Mino this instant and bring them to their knees!”
Even those showy displays soon fell silent as they read the room. And for good reason.
—Grind.
Oda Nobunaga's teeth gnashed.
Her face was never cheerful, but today it was especially contorted, giving a clear glimpse into her fury.
And that was just the start.
Mori Yoshinari, newly elevated among the heavy retainers from the prior incident, had come in full armor. Hirate Masahide rarely let his expression harden so, yet he sat silent. Niwa Nagahide set her fan down neatly and stared down the retainers wordlessly.
“Ahem.”
Only then did some retainers realize their overreach and restrain themselves. It was then that—
“Niwa.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Oda Nobunaga's icy voice cut through.
Niwa Nagahide picked up seamlessly, as if she'd been waiting.
“The news is belated, but upon realizing the sudden shift, I looked into it. Mino has already fallen to Saito Yoshitatsu.”
It was after the trio from Mino who'd come as reinforcements had all defected to Saito Yoshitatsu. But the shocks kept coming.
“Saito Dosan is said to be preparing for battle with a handful of retainers. Given the time difference, they may have clashed by now.”
Suddenly, all eyes turned to Kicho—Nohime—sitting darkly in the corner. Mino was her homeland, Saito Dosan her father.
Yet something felt off.
“...Damn it all.”
Oda Nobunaga's expression was far too foul. The assassins warranted anger, true, but she hadn't been attacked herself—why such rage?
Naturally, the retainers couldn't guess.
The reason for her wrath.
Oda Nobunaga's gaze flicked to Il-yeong, sitting silently in his seat.
'Twice already.'
This made twice.
Whether that madwoman killed her own father or used his skull as a drinking cup was none of her concern.
But that her madness had nearly killed Il-yeong twice? That mattered.
—Grind.
Her teeth ground again.
And at that moment.
“M-My lord!”
Bam— A samurai messenger burst in, prostrating desperately before her and shouting,
“Urgent dispatch! Saito Dosan has...!”