SKM – Chapter 37

Translator: ShimizuA    Editor: Arocks141   Proofreader: –    TLC: –

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Arc 2 – Tenth Year of Eiroku Era, Tenka Fubu

Early May, 1567

As if it had been calculated, a messenger from Nobunaga arrived just after Shizuko finished eating the tempura. The content was for her to come to a designated place as soon as possible. She quickly tidied herself, then headed for that place. She reached there about five minutes later. It seemed that Nobunaga had reached there first and had been waiting for her while sitting at a dry stump.

“P-Pardon my tardiness.”

Shizuko bowed and apologized as she walked briskly to Nobunaga. However, Nobunaga didn’t seem to mind it, and when he glanced at her, he gestured in a direction with his chin. Shizuko understood that he wanted her to sit around there, and chose a place with a lower ground than Nobunaga.

When she looked closely, Nobunaga was alone. Not to mention his page, but none of his Umamari and officers were to be seen. Even though he was here, sitting right in front of her.

“From this moment, answer my question truthfully, without telling any lies.”

His tone was sharp. Nay, not just his tone, his eyes, expression, even his atmosphere too. An aura or energy as sharp as a katana exuding from him. Exposed to this, Shizuko unknowingly straightened her back.

(Is-is this perhaps the real Nobunaga…?)

Shizuko often read sentences like ‘Nobunaga’s subordinate was shriveling by just being near him’ in literature, but up until now she thought it was just an exaggeration. But now, sitting in front of Nobunaga, she finally found out that that literature was not exaggerated or anything. To be honest, she felt like she wanted to run away right there and then.

“Shizuko, you are not of this world, are you?” ¹

Rather than a question, it was more akin to a declaration. Being suddenly struck with Nobunaga bluntness, and coupled with being engulfed by his aura, made Shizuko’s head go blank.

“…!!”

“Let me elaborate. You are not born in this turbulent time. Of course, you are not from Namban either. Somewhere different… You are from someplace different from here, are you not? Anyway, it is clear that you were not born in this Hinomoto.”

“Eh, ah, um…”

“You can only answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Do not be afraid, I will not behead you as long as you tell the truth.”

His word could be taken as that on the contrary, if she were to lie, her neck would be chopped. He had cleared his men, and above all, Nobunaga was convinced that Shizuko would answer with “yes”.

“…Yes.”

And Shizuko resigned. He may not present any proof, but she thought Nobunaga must have a definite proof that led him to this idea. In fact, Nobunaga showed no reaction to Shizuko’s reply. As if it was just a matter of course.

“Hmhm, As expected.”

“Um… if you don’t mind my asking, but when did you realize my true origin?”

Shizuko timidly asked Nobunaga, who was caressing his chin. She had paid meticulously close attention to her surroundings and behaved as close as a person from the Sengoku era should. However, it seemed that Shizuko herself was the only one who thought so. ²

“I can’t imagine how much money and effort was spent to give you that much knowledge. Given that, it’s impossible that whoever it is would just leave you alone. Also, I didn’t see any influence of those Buddhist monks on you. You neither praise the Buddha’s teaching nor do you despise it. And the deciding factor was the fact that when I thought you were indifferent to money, you spent money like a fool to teach your skills to others.”

“Eh, errmm…”

“Do you follow me this far? Your very existence itself was unusual. While you are careful to not slip when, where, or whom you learn these technologies from, you generously give out those technologies without expecting any reward in return.”

“T-that‘s because, so they can be of use to my lord…

“Even so.”

Nobunaga cut off Shizuko before she started spewing excuses.

“You never ask me for a reward, even once. Everything you want is always things that will benefit me later. I never saw it being used for your own self-interest.”

According to Nobunaga, he couldn’t find out what she actually desires in things she requested. In the Sengoku era, when a vassal served their lord for a long time, it was common sense to reward them for their deeds. If the lord neglected to do so, things like alienation, betrayal, or moving to serve another were naturally bound to happen. The reverse was also true. When a vassal did their job poorly, they would be deemed worthless and kicked out.

However, Shizuko was neither greedy, moody, nor irresponsible. She did as she was ordered in silence. And she was never arrogant over her success. She had made many achievements in just two years of service, but she would not say anything unless Nobunaga went all-out to reward her. Nobunaga felt a kind of fear in her attitude.

“After that… that’s right, there’s one more. Shortly before I met you, I met a mysterious old woman.”

“An… an old woman?”

Nobunaga gave a little nod hearing Shizuko’s words.

“Indeed, it was when we were going back from Kogaike pond. Suddenly, we were surrounded by thick fog, then our front and rear fell into chaos. As I was alert of the surroundings, an old woman suddenly appeared in front of me. Ignoring my surprise, the old woman said: ‘The “Sword” will bring along the “Era’s bastard”.’ ”

“ ‘Era’s bastard’ …?”

“A bastard is a child outside the legitimate lineage. I don’t know exactly what she meant by ‘era’ , but since it is often used in words that describe time, I thought it might have similar meaning. In other words, if that old woman’s words are correct, the most logical conclusion was the idea of you being someone that was born into a different era from us. But then, if I were to tell this story to others, they might think I’m going crazy.”

In fact, Nobunaga threw those words with a bitter scowl that made one wonder if he indeed did try to tell somebody about it.

“Either way, you have cleared my doubt. Well, as long as you keep your promise, I will protect your life. Therefore, you will continue to show me your talent.”

Shizuko nodded deeply to his words and then looked at Nobunaga’s face. There was the charismatic Nobunaga who drew in many people, not the Nobunaga with a sharp blade-like aura earlier.

———————————————————————–

Surprisingly, Nobunaga didn’t force her to hand over all of her knowledge. He ordered her to do her jobs like she had been doing up until then. This was a measure to prevent distrust from people around them due to a sudden change in his attitude towards Shizuko. But it was not like nothing had changed.

“I will assign you the role of ‘Oda Clan Advisor‘. Use that knowledge and quick-wittedness of yours for my sake.”

Shizuko was given the title of “Oda Clan Advisor”. Although the name was different, Shizuko thought that it substantially would be the same as an Otogishu³, but decided to confirm it just in case. Because, for Nobunaga, there was a case where he seldomly created a new post.

“My lord, what kind of position is the Oda Clan Advisor…?”

“Basically, it’s not much different from what you’re doing now. You answer my questions and do my orders faithfully, only that. The needed authority that I will give you each time will be different. However…considering the future, it’s unwise to rely solely on the wolves for your personal protection. Shizuko, I will give you 500 soldiers and an Umamawari.”

“Hogya! Ah, yes… I will gladly receive it. Also… um, can I use those soldiers as I’d like?”

“Hou, do you have something in mind already?”

“In the West, there was once a country called the Roman empire, where their soldiers did not just excel in combat, but also were experts… specialists in city construction. Imitating that, we can create a unit that specializes in technologies such as civil engineering and construction, that is, a unit composed of people who are both Kurokuwa and soldiers.”

Kurokuwa (lit. Black Hoe) was the popular term for those who were in charge of civil engineering work from the Sengoku era to the Edo era. They were incorporated into the army and operated as the Kurokuwa corps, and were involved in strategic engineering work such as the construction of encampments and bridges. When dealing with the aftermath of a war, they were also in charge of detaining PoW and burying the dead. In the civilian sector, the Kurokuwa achieved renown for their contribution to farming in the production areas, and among them, the earthwork “Kurokuwa” group from Chita district in Owari became famous.

Shizuko was thinking of creating a combat engineer unit to improve the social life infrastructure, public works such as flood-control development, new fields development, road maintenance and so on in various places. Naturally, since it was a unit to protect herself, it would be a problem if they couldn’t fight to some extent. However, she basically adhered to the proverb, “a wise man keeps away from danger” ⁴. If it were to become dangerous, they would be withdrawn immediately without considering the difference in strength.

“After that, I would like to have time to solidify my foundation.”

“And the reason for that is?”

“Niccolo Machiavelli, a diplomat in the Republic of Florence, a country in the west, once said: ’The most important thing to keep in mind for those who suddenly inherits a position of power or anything is, first and foremost, to lay the groundwork immediately’. Up until now, I have never managed hundreds of people at once. Then, first of all, I have to think up a system to manage those soldiers that will be the foundation.”

Shizuko regretted saying so much. She just carelessly mentioned Machiavelli’s name and also his teaching while at it. As she turned her gaze toward Nobunaga while hiding her mouth with her hand, sure enough, he had a very wide smile on his face. However, to Shizuko, that smile looked like nasty one.

“These Nikkoro Makaabelli fellows said good things. Shizuko, I’m sure you know what I will be saying next, don’t you?”

“Y-yes.”

Shizuko understood that he wanted her to send a manuscript of “The Prince” published by Niccolo Machiavelli. It was considered to be the founder of objective and modern political science in the present day, but in Europe during the Renaissance era, it was added to the Syllabus of Errors and burned down as part of the Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church. Machiavelli himself continued to be accused of being “the author of vices who prefers betrayal”, and until it was re-evaluated in the eighteenth century, it was viewed with disdain. That was how much “The Prince” was full of problems for the morals and religions of medieval Europe. However, neither had anything to do with Nobunaga.

“The Namban can keep their morality to themselves. I have the set of values of Hinomoto.”

——————————————————————————-

After that, the questions from Nobunaga continued. The content of his questioning was diverse, from Shizuko’s personal stories like what clothes she usually wore, what kind of food she liked, were her parents and siblings still alive and strong, whether she wanted to meet them again or not, to social and political questions such as what kind of political system the place she lived had, how they managed their army, their scale, the weapons variety, was it being attacked by another country, how they defended if they were being attacked. And he did not just listen to her explanation.

‘Would democracy not just bring forth a ruler as foolish as the masses?”

‘Compulsory education will bestow a certain amount of knowledge on many, but it will bury the excellent few. They should give talented people a better environment.’

‘It’s good to establish a constitution or law, but aren’t the penalties too light? In particular, just imprisonment for those who fill their pocket with the country’s money was preposterous, they should be beheaded.’

‘Crush the mass media that do not take responsibility for what they say. Even if you think it was being fair, incompetence has no value in society. Rather, it was harmful.’

‘Despising other craftsmen is unneeded incompetence. The same goes with arrogant craftsmen. What is the value of a craftsman who does not continue to hone his skills for the rest of his life?’ ⁵

He mercilessly cut her off on what he thought was a problem, and stated his own theories. One can chalk it up to how their sense of value and views of life and death were different, but from Nobunaga perspective, the world of Shizuko where incompetent and foolish people could still live seemed strange. But it wasn’t Nobunaga to stop at ‘foreign countries are weird’.

“If there is a place where no one is paying attention, ordinary people will not come there, and the criminals will settle in instead. To prevent that you use this broken window… theory. It was really well thought out.”

“In my country, they set up a security station where they needed it, and they had a few people stationed there. They patrolled a fixed area and enforced minor order violations.”

“Fumu, not a bad idea. Let’s analyze it immediately. Hopefully, it can be used as a countermeasure against spies.”

(…I’m already tired…though.)

Shizuko let out a heavy sigh. At first, he only asked lightly about her life. But soon, she gradually expanded the scope of her story, and she was eventually made to explain the Japan where she lived. She thought for a moment that he was going to completely extract her knowledge from her, but when she saw Nobunaga’s face, she realized that she was wrong. His carefree youthful eyes, his honest smile, and his energetic curiosity. It feels very sincere and fascinating, that one can’t help but be charmed by it. Shizuko suddenly wondered if this kind of feeling was what they call a boys admiration.

“Gelding a horse is also a good idea. Castration suppresses its temper and makes it easier to handle, and even if it is robbed by the enemy, it can not be used for breeding, and it does not become excited during mating seasons. There is a trend among the warriors that they prefer runaway horses, but you can throw away such boring thoughts. And as for the horseshoe… Hmm, it’s worth considering them too.”

“…Um, I’m sorry to disturb you in your thoughts, but I think it’s time to return to the estate. I think the sun will set soon.”

As though he only noticed after being pointed out, Nobunaga looked up at the sky. The sun was setting in the west. He thought that it would take one or two hours before it set completely, so he silently stood up and dusted his bottom.

“You’re quite right. Let’s go back.”

“Y-Yes!”

Sighing in relief, Shizuko also stood up. She was relieved that she was finally released as she dusted herself. But, that sweet thought didn’t last long. Nobunaga went towards Shizuko, and said something to her with a smile.

“Well then, let’s continue after we have had dinner at the estate.”

1. Arocks: I guess his aura isn’t the only thing sharp about him.
2. Arocks: No. She had not. She most definitely had not.
3. TN: advisor-cum-storyteller
4. Arocks: A wiser man opts for a ticket to another nation, but I can get what Shizuko is getting at.
5. Arocks: Ngl, this Nobu is really epic. These are all well and true problems of modern governance.