Chapter 27: Ruler of Eastern Mikawa, Sakai Tadatsugu

Yoshida Port – Isshiki Masataka

1561. Fall.

Riding the horses Tadatsugu prepared for us, we left Yoshida Port. Shōbei had already set sail ahead of us—he put his business before everything, so this was just a matter of course.

Anyway, even though it was already late, the plan was to go straight to Okazaki and spend the night at a lodging that Tadatsugu had arranged for us. We’d only enter the castle the next day, greet Motoyasu and Ohisa-sama, then take the latter with us back to Yoshida Port.

With Ohisa-sama with us, we would probably have to spend a night somewhere along the way. It was just, we didn’t know if it’d be at an inn at the port, or on the ship.

“Things around here seem pretty calm, considering.”

“Because the lord has been doing his best.”

Tadatsugu and I rode side by side. Ahead of us were the escorts he had brought along, behind us were Michifusa and the other retainers I brought along, and behind them were the guards that we brought from Ōigawa, walking in a straight line.

“Still, both Yoshida Castle and Kaminogō Castle are still under Imagawa’s control, so I can’t say with certainty that things are completely calm.”

“It’s only natural. Their castle lords pledged loyalty to Imagawa. They won’t just abandon their posts.”

“Unfortunately, you are right. Which is all the more baffling that Matsudaira and Isshiki are trying to form a marriage alliance at such a timing.”

What Tadatsugu said was probably his true feelings. He probably didn’t expect that the marriage would go through at all. Maybe, he thought that the proposal would put Isshiki under suspicion from Imagawa, and force us to abandon them. Yet, Motoyasu went through with it, and even went as far as sending Hisa-sama off to our side, as if announcing that he held our Isshiki in high regard, and that he was serious with this marriage proposal.

The fact that the marriage went through probably frustrated Tadatsugu. He probably lamented the fact that he misjudged the overall situation, but this was practically a game of reading each other’s intentions, so it couldn’t be helped. In the future, this guy would become a troublesome guy to deal with. In the history, after Matsudaira managed to take full control of Mikawa, they’d later assign him to rule Eastern Mikawa. He was, for all intent and purpose, the Ruler of Eastern Mikawa. Oh yeah, as a side note, the Ruler of Western Mikawa existed too. He was someone named Ishikawa Kazumasa¹He was one of Motoyasu’s most trusted councilor and served him faithfully until one day, following the death of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi’s reign, Motoyasu, or rather Ieyasu at the time, decided to go against Hideyoshi. Though the conflict only happened for a short while, Kazumasa was dismayed by the fact that it happened at all, and decided to switch side to serve Hideyoshi instead., and he was someone who accompanied Motoyasu in Suruga back when the latter was sent there as a hostage.

After Motoyasu announced his independence, he was the one who took Lady Tsukiyama and her son Nobuyasu, who were still in Suruga back then, to Okazaki. It was nothing short of impressive, really.

Anyway, that aside, with those two in charge of Mikawa, using shinobi to sow discord wouldn’t be very effective anymore. Hence we had to delay Motoyasu’s progress on unifying Mikawa for as long as we could.

Considering that, sending as much support as we could to both Yoshida and Kaminogō Castle was crucial. It made it all the better that our side managed to regain control of Hikuma Castle.

“I share your sentiment. In fact, Ujizane-sama sent someone to watch over me.”

“Please accept my apology for the trouble we caused.”

“No need, it wasn’t all bad, after all. The person he sent was quite capable, so he’s been taking care of our territory’s affairs alongside the other retainers. In fact, even the commoners have been noticing his hard work lately.

“I see. From your account, he sounds like an earnest fellow. May I know of his name?”

“Okabe Masatsuna-dono. I’m sure you’ve heard of him already.”

“The same person who is the second son of Okabe Chikatsuna-dono? I see. The Okabe clan is known for their loyalty, so it isn’t strange for someone from their clan to be tasked to watch over someone.”

“Indeed. He’s been a tremendous help, I can consider myself lucky.”

The ride took considerable time, and we spent some time exchanging such conversations along the way. We arrived at a post town—several post towns away from the port where we started.

From here, Okazaki Castle Town was pretty much within our arms’ reaches. But suddenly, the situation changed. A panicked man approached Tadatsugu and whispered something in his ear.

Tadatsugu let out a look of surprise, making me wonder what exactly had happened. From what it seemed, it couldn’t be good news. Hopefully, this wouldn’t affect us in any way…

But of course things wouldn’t proceed that way. With a shameful look on his face, Tadatsugu turned to me.

“I beg your forgiveness, but we have to stop here for today. Since this is something that even our side hasn’t expected, we will cover the costs of your lodgings. I’ll send someone to look for an available inn to host everyone, so please wait for a moment.”

“Wait for what exactly?”

Michifusa, who had been listening from behind, urged his horse to step forward and walked in front of Tadatsugu.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you the details. However, I’ll assure you that this matter is not something that is going to cause you harm. However, depending on the circumstances, you might have to stay for a few nights.”

“Are you scheming something against us?”

“I understand your suspicions, and I believe that you have the right to feel that way toward us, but please understand that we’re doing our best to handle the current situation. The matter will be resolved with time, but until then, please bear with us.”

Tadatsugu bowed as he said that. Judging from his surprised expression just now, I guess he was telling the truth, and there truly was an emergency happening. Also, if he was telling the truth and time really would solve the problem, then things would be fine.

“Michifusa, stop. Write a letter to Ōigawa. Relay my instructions to Masatomo and Tokimune.”

“Just them and not the rest, my lord?”

“There’s no need. It will only trouble Tokimune, if anything.”

“Understood.”

And so, we ended up staying at the inn that Tadatsugu found. But, after a while, we found out that time didn’t solve whatever problem their side had at all.