Chapter 48: Suruga’s Lords, Stirring Up Imagawa

Imagawa Residence – Isshiki Masataka

1561. Winter.

The day after I invited Okuyama Chikamoto and Someya Toramasa to join the naval force, both of them came to the castle to take their vows to become retainers of Isshiki.

Someya Toramasa asked my permission to bring a man named Heisuke with him, an apprentice who had been assisting him as his right-hand man to command the escort fleet for years. Of course, I agreed to that.

If taking in one more person could improve Toramasa’s capabilities, then I had no problem with it whatsoever. On top of that, I also agreed to hire the people that Someya employed in their escort fleets as part of the force. They’d be working under Toramasa once we established the naval force proper. For the time being, though, they’d be helping out with the shipbuilding with the shipwrights.

Then, not long after, Okuyama Chikamoto, escorted by Koyama Fusasuke, came to the castle, declaring to me that every single one of the pirates were willing to serve Isshiki.

As planned, those among them who actually engaged in piracy would be assigned various tasks to make up for their crimes, while Chikamoto would be placed under Hikogorō’s command for now, just like Toramasa.

Also, the pirates’ would be housed in the quarters reserved for the naval force’s personnels, along with their families. As for those who were unable to take to the sea, they were assigned to the merchants so they could help out. Of course, our side also kept their personal wishes in mind.

Some of them went to the castle to work as servants, but most of them decided to work for the merchants instead.

After that, things calmed down considerably. Fall passed and it was now winter. Since Ōigawa was so close to the sea, the winter was almost unbearable. It was times like this that made me miss having hand warmers around.

As a substitute for it, I stitched pockets on my casual clothes and put some stones that had been heated over a fire beforehand inside them. The warmth felt just right. When I first took a needle and was about to stitch the pockets, everyone freaked out and tried to stop me, but after I showed them what it was that I made, they all practically rushed to imitate me.

By the way, the casual clothes that I was talking about was a kind of padded jacket. To be more specific, it was a haori stuffed with cotton, and it was surprisingly warm.

Alright, enough about this almost unbearable winter that I didn’t know I’d ever get used to or not.

Right now, I was at the Imagawa Residence, fulfilling the summon that Asahina Nobuoki-dono delivered a while ago.

Accompanying me was Hisa, Hikami Tokizane, Isshiki Masaaki as a bodyguard, and a handful of soldiers as our escorts. Since our purpose to come here was to offer our greetings regarding our marriage, there was no need to bring too many people.

“Finally, you are here. You’ve made Ujizane-sama waiting.”

“I apologize. It has been quite busy back in the castle, I had not had the chance to take a step out until now.”

As a consequence of that, bad rumors about me had spread through the Imagawa Residence like wildfire. This was something that I found out through Sakae’s report.

Seriously, those people, saying whatever they wanted without knowing the full story. What a pain. It was like this too back when Inoo Tsuratatsu decided to rebel and declared a war on us. Our Tōtōmi was surrounded by enemies. To travel out of our territories immediately after being ordered to wasn’t a wise move, especially if the matter wasn’t even an urgent one.

But the problem was, there were many people who stood beside Ujizane-sama who failed to understand this. The prime example of this was Katsurayama Ujimoto-dono. His clan owned a vast territory in eastern Suruga and it bordered Imagawa’s, Hōjō’s, and Takeda’s territories. And maybe because of that, they had a good relationship with all three.

If the Three-Way Alliance was still standing strong, this wouldn’t be a problem, but that wasn’t the case right now, wasn’t it?

His connection with Takeda was a ticking time bomb and on top of that, he also whispered all sorts of things into Ujizane-sama’s ears from the side¹In history, this guy betrayed Imagawa to join Takeda when Takeda invaded Imagawa’s territory..

“Please wait here. Ujizane-sama is receiving another guest now. It has been quite some time since they started talking. They probably haven’t received a satisfactory answer from the lord yet.”

“I’ll wait here, then. Hisa, this way.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

I took Hisa’s hand and sat down on the tatami in the room. After telling me that he’d come back to call us when Ujizane-sama was ready to receive us, Nobuoki-dono then left the room.

Hisa stared at the scenery outside the room with a nostalgic expression. Right, she told me that back when Matsudaira was still under Imagawa, she used to be tutored by Sessai-sama too.

“Feeling nostalgic?”

“Yes. I spent so many years in this castle. In fact, I feel more at ease here than in Okazaki.”

“Your words alone made the harsh journey here all the more worth it.”

“Yes. I’m glad I insisted on coming along.”

I didn’t actually need to bring Hisa with me. Even for a man like me, walking along the coastline here from Ōigawa was tiring. For Hisa, who hadn’t traveled much, it would for sure be even more tiring, and yet she insisted on coming along.

Even until the moment we were about to go, Mother was still trying to persuade her to not go, yet she went anyway. Her stubbornness and determination was something else. It was hard to imagine that she was Motoyasu’s sister.

After waiting for a bit longer, the sound of a creaking door echoed from the corridor. It seemed like the other guest had finally finished their business.

Who was it anyway? I glanced at the corridor that they were about to pass through. A shadow appeared on the shoji screen, then a figure emerged.

“If it isn’t Yoshiaki-dono.”

“You are… Masataka-dono? That means the lady beside you is Hisahime-sama?”

“Yes. I heard you’ve been assigned to Yoshida? What business brings you all the way here?”

“That’s none of your business. I will take my leave now.”

He glared at me, or rather, at Hisa, as he walked down the corridor. Right, Kira Yoshiyasu took Tōjō Castle from him before switching allegiance to Matsudaira. Still, he should blame his own incompetence for that, not Hisa. 

“Sorry about that. You must’ve felt uncomfortable by that.”

“Please, don’t be. I have long prepared myself to face such a treatment.”

She said those words with such a composed look that it almost fooled me. Unfortunately for her, I noticed her trembling hands.

Moments like this made me wonder if she even wanted to rely on me.

Whatever words of comfort that I’d say to her now, she’d probably just brush it off.

So, I just placed my hand on hers without saying anything. She stared at me surprised when I did, but that was enough to help her regain her composure. Good, good.

After waiting a little longer, Nobuoki-dono finally returned.

“Ujizane-sama is ready to receive you. Shall we go now?”

“Alright. Let’s go, Hisa.”

“Yes, Dear Husband.”

The goal this time was to introduce Hisa to the lord and to make those people who couldn’t stop running their mouths shut up for good.