Chapter 23: A Glimpse to His Childhood

Okazaki Castle – Hisahime

1561. Fall.

“Motoyasu-dono, a letter from Masataka-sama has arrived.”

When I peeked into the room, I found my younger brother and his wife, Sena-dono, inside. Not only them, Hattori Masashige-dono¹This is him, THE Hattori Hanzo, the legend who was also known as THE DEVIL, the man who was immortalized as THE ninja. A footnote isn’t enough to describe him tbh, so I’ll recommend you to look him up. was also there. He was someone who helped my younger brother capture Okazaki Castle.

My arrival seemed to have interrupted their conversation.

But it didn’t matter, my business was urgent too. Though I felt bad for interrupting them, I came into the room without hesitation.

“Ohisa-sama? What’s the occasion?”

“Masataka-sama has sent us a letter. For both me and you, Motoyasu-dono.”

“Did he use the same method as last time?”

“Yes. Someone who claimed to be a shinobi serving Masataka-sama gave it to me.”

When they heard my words, my younger brother and Masashige exchanged glances with wry smiles. Come to think of it, Masashige was born in Mikawa, but his father was a powerful lord in Iga²His father was Hattori Yasunaga, the first Hattori Hanzo. At one point in his life, Yasunaga chose to serve Matsudaira, so by extension, his son, Masashige (or Masanori, he changed his name), also came to serve Matsudaira.. I believe the Hattori clan was among the three great shinobi clans of Iga³They are the Hattori clan, the Momochi clan, and the Fujibayashi clan..

Now I understood why they made those wry smiles. But I didn’t say anything to that, and instead just nodded and continued walking.

“My apologies. He got the best of me again.”

“There’s no need to fret about it. The Isshiki aren’t our enemy yet. There is still time for us to grow stronger in the meantime.”

“I will do my best to meet your expectations.”

After saying that, Masashige left the room, as if swapping places with me.

Now, it was only me, my younger brother, and Sena-dono who were left inside the room.

“Should I also leave?”

Sena-dono asked my younger brother with an anxious voice.

“There’s no need. You can stay here.”

“Is… that so? Then, I will take up on your kindness.”

It was a sweet exchange between them—a scene that always made me unsure of what to say or think about.

No matter. Without hesitation, I sat down in a spot even closer to my younger brother compared to where Masashige had sat down—right in front of him.

“In the letter addressed to me, he mentioned that the post-war cleanup is taking more time than he expected, so he’ll come and pick me up after the rice harvest is over. He told me to wait for a bit longer.”

“I see. What’s in this letter then?”

Saying that, he opened the envelope, unfolded the letter, and began to read. After he was done, he folded the letter again without saying anything, but there was an impatient look on his face.

“My lord? Is something the matter?”

It seemed Sena-dono also noticed something strange in his behavior. Unable to contain herself, she called out to him before I could.

Her question snapped him back to his senses.

“…This is a warning from Masataka-dono.”

““A warning?””

Sena-dono and I replied at the same time. My younger brother nodded his head slightly before continuing,

“The incident at Hikuma Castle has been resolved. According to the letter, several Imagawa’s retainers were trying to use Inoo Tsuratatsu, the late lord of Hikuma Castle, to contact me so they could switch their allegiances to me.”

“And you didn’t know about it, Motoyasu-dono?”

“I didn’t. Although I did contact Inoo Tsuratatsu, it was because I thought if we gain control of Hikuma, we could prevent Imagawa from attacking us while we’re expanding our influence in Mikawa. However, I’m not familiar with the names being mentioned in this letter at all.”

“Perhaps they were just trying to take advantage of the situation.”

To me, that was a rather dirty way of doing things, but I suppose this was just their attempt at trying to survive. The people mentioned here also had family that they desperately wanted to protect, so I couldn’t fault them much.

Motoyasu-dono, Imagawa-sama, even Masataka-sama—all of them too, were just trying to survive this turbulent time.

Dismissing it as a dirty way of doing things would be a disservice to them. After all, they were doing pretty much the same thing as Motoyasu-dono.

“However, I do recognize the name Udono Nagamochi. He was one of the Imagawa retainers that came from our Mikawa. If I remember correctly, his son is still here in Mikawa. He’s one of the castle lords that refused to submit to us. The lord of Kaminogō Castle, Udono Nagateru. So he was executed as well. What a shame. If we could use him, we could probably take Kaminogō and Yoshida Castle in one fell swoop…”

Sena-dono sat a distance away, trying not to disturb my younger brother. Perhaps because I happened to be looking at her, she looked at me and tilted her head.

This won’t do. I have to keep her in the conversation as well. What should I say here?

“Sena-dono, are you familiar with the Isshiki clan?”

“Of course. My aunt, Hana-sama, is married into the clan. At present, they’re the newest among Imagawa’s inner circle.”

“What do you know about its current head, Mastaka-sama?”

“Um… I personally haven’t spoken to him much, but the lord played with him often, together with Ujizane-sama. They often got scolded by Taigen Sessai-sama, but Masataka-sama got scolded the most often among the three.”

“Oh, my! So he was quite the troublemaker when he was young?”

Now, he didn’t give out the impression of a troublemaker, but rather that of a capable person. Even now, he was giving my younger brother trouble. The fact that my younger brother was so mindful toward Isshiki even after picking Oda’s side meant that he held him in such high regard.

“He was indeed quite the troublemaker, but at the same time, he was also good at studying. I remember Sessai-sama praised him often. I also heard that many girls my age wished to marry him, saying that he has a promising future. His father, Masafumi-sama, also seemed to trust him deeply.”

“What about you, Sena? Did you also want to marry him?”

Suddenly, my younger brother barged into our conversation with a frown on his face. It seemed like he was jealous.

“No. I’ve always preferred a man who makes me feel compelled to protect.”

I felt sorry, but laughter burst out of my lips.

Seeing my younger brother making such an amusing face before I left Okazaki made me feel refreshed. I had to send my gratitude to Sena-dono for making him do that.