Emperor's Armed Forces in the Warring States

Prologue (Part 3)

This is the beginning of Part 3.

As mentioned in the postscript to the previous chapter, the story takes place in early 1556. This prologue will be comprised of 5 parts and is the main current situation of the Kamisato family, the de facto protagonists of the novel.

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1

Hisahide Hirate was troubled by a request from a certain woman.

"Are you going to ask for my son too?"

He could refuse, but the problem would arise after that. After all, the person who made the request was someone he couldn't easily turn down.

"Well, I also value my life. If it were a famous horse, I wouldn't give it up for a samurai's share, but if it's my son, I'll give him up willingly."

Hisahide made a decision.

Now, about that person.

"It's good you brought him here. I want him to grow up as friends with our child. From an early age, our child needs to make as many friends and acquaintances as possible."

"Haha, my foolish son can only hope to be a good friend. I'm worried about that."

"You don't have to be so strict. Is your father, Masahide-dono, in good health?"

"Yes, he became a Zen monk and left the secular world, but he's in good health."

"I think it would have been fine for him to turn to the Jōdo Shinshū and become a monk. But everyone has their own path."

"My father had his own reasons."

The woman in front of him was younger than him, but her words conveyed a lot, making Hisahide nervous.

By the way, the last job Hisahide's father did in the secular world was to arrange the marriage between this woman and his former lord. He had truly agonized over this marriage, and it would not be wrong to say that he became a monk after seeing it through to the end. His father would speak behind the scenes: "To be honest, it's much better to keep serving the former lord. I'm too scared to serve that woman."

In fact, even Hisahide could not discern the true nature of the woman in front of him. His father had a tendency to overthink things, and that might have made him fear her more than necessary, but even Hisahide was troubled by what he saw with his own eyes.

Based on the information he had, in the first place, she was not born in Japan, and her real parents were said to be Siamese. Her real father was killed by a Japanese who would be her adoptive father, and her real mother became a concubine of said Japanese, so she became an adopted daughter and became Japanese. Her real mother then turned to the Jōdo Shinshū sect and became a nun at Honganji Temple. Before that, her real mother had a connection with the Takeda clan, and gradually rose in position as a nun through that, and now she is even seen as the mother-in-law of Ken'nyo Honganji in secret. As a result, there are even those who call the woman's real mother the "Vixen of Honganji" behind her back.

The woman in front of him was also tossed around by this, becoming a child of the Sanjō clan, who were the Seiwa Genji descendant, and even became engaged to the clan's head, Harumichi Koga. Then, as a member of the envoy to the Ottoman Empire, she traveled to Aqaba. Furthermore, when the woman declined her engagement with Harumichi Koga, his former master proposed to her which she accepted, marrying him and giving birth to two children within three years, and she is currently pregnant again. His former lord himself was said to complain behind her back, unsure whether he was serious or joking: "I never thought she would be so fertile. Thanks to her, our life is going to become difficult."