Translator: Flowingcloud Editor: Arocks141
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Solicatidation
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁
“Why are you holding your neck?”
Oda Nobunaga was slightly curious.
Let’s be honest.
I don’t want to be killed.
I don’t want to be cut down.
I don’t want to die.
“The Oda Nobunaga that I know killed people. Cut them down. Even if they were his retainers or Buddhist monks.”
He folded the folding fan with a snap.
That sound made my backbone shudder.
I wondered fearfully if I shouldn’t have said that.
No one knew when Oda Nobunaga would just pull out the small sword on his waist.
“It’s true that I kill. However, I do not unreasonably cut people down for my selfish desires.”
“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to kill.”
“I won’t cut you down. You are the benefactor that saved me, I am not dishonorable enough to cut down someone who saved me.”
Come to think of it, I haven’t heard many stories where Oda Nobunaga willingly cuts down a traitor. 1
Even the Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, was cut down when he revolted.
Jodo Shinshu Buddhist uprisings were different, but it was an act that can be properly assessed. 2
I was acknowledging that Oda Nobunaga may have created a Japan where state and religion are separate. 3
Will I be cut down even if I don’t start a rebellion?
“You can’t trust me?”
“There’s a saying that’s been handed down: ‘If the bird does not sing, I will kill it’.”
“What’s that?”
“Yes, a saying that expressed the temperament of the three: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, appeared at the end of the Sengoku period:
Oda Nobunaga said, ‘If the bird does not sing, kill it.’
Toyotomi Hideyoshi said, ‘If the bird does not sing, make it’.
Tokugawa Ieyasu said, ‘If the bird does not sing, wait for it’.” 4
Once again, Oda Nobunaga smiled while he pulled his fan out and spread it.
“Hahahaha, that’s tasteless.”
It seems like Oda Nobunaga has the most artist appreciation within the three.
If that’s the case, why wait until the bird sings? This was created after they died that simply expressed their temperaments. It’s not something that can be relied on.
“Are you not willing to be my vassal?”
If I wasn’t willing, would I immediately be cut down?
He might not cut me down if he says, “No, I won’t kill you,” but if I was asked if I was willing to be his retainer or not, then it wasn’t that I hated it.
This is something sensitive.
Becoming a retainer, the lord of a castle, and possessing territory.
However, this comes with heavy pressure and responsibility.
It’s similar to suddenly becoming the company director of a first-class company.
However, if it’s the Oda Nobunaga’s Army Company that we’re talking about, it’s definitely a black company where abilities rule. 5
Then, how about a part-time job? I should feel more at ease with a part-time job.
Then, what’s the part-time job equivalent in this era? What’s their role?
A free-loader? I’ll be working, more or less, so that’s different, right?
The answer that appeared is “guest”.
“If it’s as a guest, I’ll undertake the role as an ally, otherwise known as cooperative workers, an advisor so you can say.”
“Guest? Ally? Cooperative worker? Advisor? I’m saying that if you become my retainer, I will grant you a castle and territory you know?”
“Yes, to be frank, I don’t want to become a retainer. The responsibility is too heavy. I don’t hate Oda Nobunaga, rather, you’re a military commander that I like, but I don’t want to be the company director of the Oda Nobunaga Army Corps Company where abilities rules.”
I understand that my explanation sucks, however, I believe that the right thing to do is to not conceal anything from Oda Nobunaga and to be at his side.
I thought that this was sincere.
“I don’t understand, but you’re my lifesaver. If you’re serving at my side, then that’s fine.”
It seems like we’ve come to an agreement for the time being, but since it’s a verbal agreement, we’ll have to leave behind a written document, later on, to be legitimate.
If I remember correctly, promises in this period were signed with a blood seal, but I wonder if Oda Nobunaga will write one? 6
If it was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he famously wrote to his retainers to swear an oath of allegiance to Hideyori, but I wonder what happened? 7
It was said that Oda Nobunaga was not afraid of gods, but he maintained the Atsuta Shrine and built shrines and temples. Furthermore, I’ve also heard that he was from a line of Shinto priests. I wonder what the truth is. 8
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁
This is the last chapter of this teaser novel! Feel free to pick it up! Message Flowingcloud on Discord if you would like your translation linked in the ToC!
- Flowingcloud: It’s a bit weird, even in Japanese, but the MC is implying that he doesn’t want to kill anyone, but simply kills the traitors because he has no choice if he wants to pursue his ambitions.
- Flowingcloud: Oda Nobunaga took down religious groups which tried to rebel, and was considered to be cruel, etc. at that time and even now. http://bit.ly/3bobcCo
- Flowingcloud: The author is technically wrong. Religion has always been a crucial part of the Japanese government until post-World War II and has no relationship with Oda Nobunaga. From the Meiji era till World War II, religion was used to justify the emperor regaining power in the country (real political power was held by shoguns for hundred of years before the Meiji era). It was only after they lost World War II that Japan separated religion and state due to pressure from Western powers (notably America). Do note that the author is a nationalist.
- Flowingcloud: These three famous three-verse poems (each line is three verses in Japanese) are written in the famous historical book Bushido.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido:_The_Soul_of_Japan - Flowingcloud: If you haven’t read enough isekai, black companies are just companies that exploit their employees (e.g. unpaid overtime, etc.). Also, the MC will continue using these sh*tty company references for a good while so just pay attention. The author themselves is probably being exploited by black companies.
- Flowingcloud: To be exact, the term was ‘神文血判’. Literally means ‘God-written Blood Pact’ which means that when you leave your blood on the paper as a signature, then it’s being overseen by the heavens (aka the gods).
- Flowingcloud: Hideyori is his son. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyori
- Flowingcloud: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atsuta_Shrine