Chapter 22: Yield the Flesh to Claim the Bone

Imagawa Residence – Isshiki Masataka

1561. Summer.

“I shall provide an explanation.”

Everyone turned their eyes on me.

Good, good, keep doing that. Focus on me instead of Tsubaki next to me.

“First, please take a look at this.”

I spread out the large bundle of papers that Yukime gave me in front of me. Everyone here was staring at me with curious gazes, save for one—Nagamochi¹Like with Tsubaki in the previous chapter, I will drop Nagamochi’s honorific in the narration for consistency purposes since the MC goes back and forth with having it in and dropping it. He mostly dropped it though. who seemed unsettled.

“What is this, Masataka?”

“I believe it would be easier if you were to read it yourself, my lord. Please, Yasutomo-dono.”

“Mm.”

Yasutomo-dono then picked up the bundle of paper and brought it to Ujizane-sama. He picked them up and began to read them. Soon enough, his expression turned to one of shock.

Seeing his expression, Yasutomo-dono, followed by Motonobu-dono, approached him and read the papers as well. None of them said anything, but it was clear from their expressions that what was written on those papers was that serious.

“Nagamochi, this is your handwriting, is it not?”

Several of the papers Ujizane-sama tossed landed in front of Nagamochi. He managed to keep his expression from faltering, but his whole body was shaking.

“U-um… t-that’s…”

Now, everyone’s gaze was focused on Nagamochi instead of me. His face was devoid of emotion as he started to sweat while reading the text.

“W-what an outrageous accusation! Who on earth came up with such a ploy?! Believe me, my lord! I have nothing to hide from you!”

“But everything is written there clearly, Nagamochi. In your own handwriting. ‘Please make an arrangement for me to earn Motoyasu-sama’s favor. Convey this to Tsuratatsu-dono’. And that is just one of many.”

Yasutomo-dono glanced at all the letters and handed them over to Nagamochi. The letters that made it clear that Udono Nagamochi had given up on serving the Imagawa clan from the start.

“T-there must be a mistake! I-I cut down Tsubaki with my own hands, there’s no mistaking it! That woman is a fake! This is all a part of Masataka-dono’s ploy!”

“What would I gain from plotting against you, Nagamochi-dono? One of my subordinates who was guarding the castle gate found Tsubaki-dono and protected her. She told us that there was something that she had to tell Ujizane-sama no matter what. After hearing the details from here, I decided that Ujizane-sama indeed needed to know about it, so I brought her here.”

“Don’t mess with me! Just what are you trying to pull here?!”

Nagamochi then grabbed the bundle of papers in front of him and threw them at me. The papers hit the side of my head and scattered all over the place. Getting agitated in such a moment only made you look desperate, you know?

And he looked extremely agitated—well, you know what that meant.

“I’d hoped that you’d admit it with your own mouth, but it can’t be helped. Tsubaki-dono, please.”

“…Let me extend my gratitude for the opportunity.”

Tsubaki turned to me, gave a small bow, then turned to Ujizane-sama and gave a deeper bow.

“It truly has been a long time, Ujizane-sama. Let me apologize for my husband’s wrongdoings.”

“Tsubaki, what exactly happened at Hikuma? Could you tell us the details?”

“Yes.”

Nagamochi was still making a fuss nearby, but that wouldn’t stop us from proceeding. Besides, the other retainers were pinning him down, making sure that he wouldn’t interfere.

Time to get down to business.

“My husband, Inoo Tsuratatsu, has indeed been exchanging letters with Matsudaira Motoyasu. Their goal was to capture the castles that belonged to Imagawa between Hikuma and Okazaki. Father also tried to contact Motoyasu. When Motoyasu declared his independence after Lord Yoshimoto’s death at Okehazama, that was when Father tried to contact him. Their agreement was for Father to bring Kaminogō Castle as an offering for his subservience.”

As she said, Nagamochi had been plotting to betray Imagawa for a while now, but things hadn’t been proceeding as smoothly as he had hoped.

“However, there were problems that hindered the arrangement. My younger brother, Nagateru’s hold over Kaminogō was strong. Since Father couldn’t offer the castle to Motoyasu, Motoyasu naturally didn’t accept his subservience. Hence after hearing Tsuratatsu had struck a deal with Motoyasu, Father began sending me letters to act as a mediator between him and Motoyasu.”

Ujizane-sama let out a groan, while the eyes of the retainers turned bloodshot. It was a natural response, really. They hated Motoyasu—like, really hated Motoyasu. Such a response against someone who wanted to side with such a man was pretty much warranted.

“I have one more thing to add. When we brought Tsubaki-dono under our protection, we were entrusted with this letter. It’s a letter containing everything that has been explained just now, as well as an apology to Ujizane-sama. It seems Tsubaki-dono originally planned to hand this letter to me before following Tsurayoshi-dono to the afterlife.”

What I took out from my pocket was a letter that had not yet been opened when I first received it from Yukime. It was a letter from Tsubaki, addressed to someone else.

I handed it over to Yasutomo-dono for him to check.

“This is definitely Tsubaki’s handwriting. I can personally attest to it.”

At this point, Nagamochi’s fate was pretty much sealed. Even his face had turned lifeless and pale now. Guess he had given up.

“To anticipate other developments, we will contact Nagateru in Kaminogō for his testimony. As soon as the result of further investigation is decided, Nagamochi’s fate will also be decided. Until then, we will confine him in his residence in Suruga; under our constant surveillance. The same confinement will also be subjected to Tsubaki… Masataka, I will entrust you on that matter.”

“For you to believe the words of the wife of a traitor… Please accept my endless gratitude, my lord.”

“This… can’t be…”

The father and daughter’s reactions couldn’t be any more different. Nagamochi was dragged out of the room by the retainers who had been pinning him down.

“Understood, my lord.”

I bowed my head toward Ujizane-sama, who, not long after, left the room with a dejected face. Even the other retainers looked lifeless as they left, leaving me, Tsubaki, and Yasutomo-dono in the room.

“Are you not leaving, Yasutomo-dono?”

“There is something that bothered me.”

He got up from where he was sitting and sat down right in front of us. Then, he carefully studied Tsubaki’s face.

“May I ask something foolish?”

“Please.”

A bad premonition seized by heart. This was the very thing that I didn’t want to happen. Hence I had been trying to make everyone’s attention focused on me, Ujizane-sama, and Nagamochi.

“Who exactly is this person? I don’t believe this is the Tsubaki that I know.”

“…As expected, we can’t fool you, Yasutomo-dono.”

There was a reason why he was able to stay as the clan’s advisor for so long, I guess. Even her own father failed to notice, so I had thought that the disguise was flawless, but it seemed that I was wrong.

Not everything could go smoothly, I guess, huh?

“Could you please elaborate?”

“To tell you the truth, Tsubaki-dono has indeed been slain by Nagamochi. However, during our investigation on Hikuma, we had the opportunity to contact her beforehand. That was when she handed us the bundle of papers and her final letter. I had planned for her to be protected so that she could testify against her father’s defection herself. However when Tsurayoshi was slain in the following melee, it seemed like she chose to follow her son.”

“So you decided to use this method?”

“Yes. After all, one could easily fabricate a letter or two, but if the person herself comes forward to testify on top of the letters, it will be hard to argue against. Hence my reckless action. Please forgive me. In hindsight, I should’ve notified you beforehand, Yasutomo-dono.”

Yasutomo-dono let out a light sigh as he stared at the face of the woman beside me.

“Masataka-dono, I don’t want you to misunderstand, so I will say this straight. I am not angry at you. Everyone knows of your hard work to support the clan, hence I believe that there must be a good reason behind your action from the very beginning. What interest me the most is not your intention but this disguise work. A shinobi technique, huh?”

My heart jumped when I heard that. Sakae was a top secret group that only few people know, even among the higher-ups of Imagawa.

To think that he could make a guess of their existence just from this…

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this. However, I would love it if you were to include me in any such ploys in the future.”

After saying that, Yasutomo-dono left the room.

“Please forgive me. My technique is inadequate…”

“No, it wasn’t your fault. Yasutomo-dono was the outrageous one to notice such a thing in the first place…”

And so, the matter of Inoo Tsuratatsu’s defection that had shaken Hikuma Castle and Imagawa clan had come to an end.

Now, I could finally pick up and welcome Ohisa-sama to Ōigawa.