Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 110 - 68: Has Aman, that old beast, already died?_2

Chapter 110: Chapter 68: Has Aman, that old beast, already died?_2

This time it was a large-scale mobilization. That very day, a swarm of miscellaneous soldiers and Ashigaru began gathering at Nagano Castle, and there was even an unexpected unit—the Lord of Shoushan City, Oda Nobuaki, Oda Nobunaga’s own third uncle, showed up without a word, leading his Household Retainers and Lang Faction in tow.

Oda Nobunaga issued order after order, and in the end, only Oda Nobuaki responded, making Nobunaga’s opinion of this uncle skyrocket. He even felt a bit ashamed, recalling how he set fire to his uncle’s stable when he was a kid. He hurried to throw a feast to welcome him, but once the troops and horses were assembled, Oda Nobunaga, valuing speed above all, didn’t even bother to gather the Ashigaru to rally morale at dawn the next day. He simply took off at the head of his cavalry and young retainers, leading the charge out of Nagano Castle, following the course of the Otaigawa upstream.

The rest of the troops followed in batches. Harano couldn’t escape either, forced to go along with the army since he was still acting as "Medical Magistrate"—he couldn’t just quit that job at a moment’s notice, or he’d never be able to stay at Takeshige Manor again. Basically, he had no choice but to show up—Nobunaga had rallied the troops for a massive showdown and only managed to bring along his own uncle as backup. He was already feeling more than a little frustrated, and if Harano asked to go home now, Nobunaga would probably eat him alive, no soy sauce required.

So best not to push his luck, just tag along and see what happens!

He continued leading his thirty Ashigaru and a string of ox carts to battle, trudging slowly along the Otaigawa. He was even toying with the idea of swinging by Hibi Village for a look when a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old young retainer, dressed in exquisite chest armor with a Sun and Moon Helmet, a Yongle Coin Banner stuck behind his back, galloped up, shouting from afar, "Order from the Lord of Upper General! Everyone pick up the pace, encamp at Inaba Land!"

Once he got close and saw the Cyan Jade Gourd Banner, he stopped yelling, hesitated a moment, then slowed his horse, nodded politely to Harano, and said with perfect manners, "Lord Nozawa, the Lord of Upper General is already at Inaba Land. He orders all follow-up troops to speed up. Please hurry as well, my lord!"

"Got it, thanks for the heads-up." Harano, noticing the boy’s unfamiliar, delicate face, grew curious and asked, "May I ask who you are, my lord?"

"Forgive me. I am Niwa Gorōzaemon Nagahide. Lord Nozawa, just call me Manchiyo," he greeted from his horse, hands together in the proper salute, cut an impressive figure, but after a moment’s hesitation, tugged his reins and gave an embarrassed smile. "Lord Nozawa, I still have military orders to carry out, so I must take my leave now."

"Of course! Lord Niwa, go ahead!"

Niwa Nagahide nodded to Harano, flashed a smile at Maeshima Shichiro nearby, then urged his horse into a gallop again to urge on the other units.

Harano watched him go, unconsciously muttering, "Why is he so young?" Feeling kinda weirded out.

He actually knew about Niwa Nagahide. When "the monkey" changed his name a second time to "Hashiba Hideyoshi," the "Ha" supposedly came from this guy. This Niwa Nagahide also did pretty well as one of Oda Nobunaga’s major retainers, even became a Family Elder and one of the Legion Commanders. In Taiko 2, though, his portrait looked even older than Katsuyori Shibata’s, with a crazy long beard, so Harano always assumed Niwa Nagahide and Shibata were the same generation, at least in their thirties. Who could’ve guessed he was just fifteen or sixteen, only just starting out as a young page for Nobunaga!

Ah Man loved a good scene. Noticing Harano staring off at Niwa Nagahide’s back, she couldn’t help riding her calico mare over, also taking a few glances, but not seeing anything odd. She couldn’t resist asking, "What’s up with that kid? He got something weird about him?"

"Nope, just thought he looked pretty decent." Harano withdrew his gaze and asked offhandedly, "You know him? Niwa Gorōzaemon Nagahide?"

"Of course!" Ah Man, the pro, answered right away. "Just look at his family name—you know he’s from Niwa County, a major local power, even a bit stronger than the Maeda Family overall. The only problem is it’s been around forever, so their power’s kinda scattered, split into seven or eight branches. He’s from the main line, a son of the Tamako Niwa branch... was it the third son, or the fifth? Anyway, he doesn’t have inheritance rights.

As for him, he’s the son-in-law of that big idiot Oda Nobuhiro—yeah, the one who got captured alive by the Imagawa family at Anxiang City. I think he just got married last year, so at best you could say he’s Big Dummy’s niece’s husband, not that I’m sure Big Dummy even acknowledges him—he always looked down on his older illegitimate brother."

Harano stroked his chin after listening, realizing Oda Nobunaga actually wasn’t just randomly picking pages. They all seemed to be younger sons of local aristocrats with no inheritance rights—there must be some deeper reasoning here.

As he pondered, he instructed Ah Man, "Keep an eye on him for me from now on. If anything happens, let me know right away."

Given that Niwa Nagahide would do so well in the future, Harano figured he’d make a good case study. Hanging out with him and Maeda Toshie later on might help avoid a bunch of nasty pitfalls.

"Why though!" Ah Man didn’t instantly agree, instead getting even more curious.

"If I say watch him, just do it! Why so many questions!" Harano complained, then made up an excuse. "He looks like he’s got potential. I bet he’ll make his mark someday, so it can’t hurt to keep an eye on him early."

Ah Man glanced at him, then looked back in the direction Niwa Nagahide disappeared, doubting Harano was making sense again. She couldn’t help saying, "Seriously? He doesn’t even look like he weighs a hundred pounds! Somebody like that, Ah Qing could cut down three in one go—can’t imagine he’s got any future!"

"Enough, quit talking crap!" Harano wasn’t going to bicker with her; arguing with a motormouth was self-torture. He said bluntly, "Anyway, just pay extra attention to that kid. Now get moving and put the speed on—we’ve gotta reach Inaba Land... by the way, where is Inaba Land?"

"Inaba Land is sixteen or seventeen miles northwest of Hosokawa Castle. You’ve been to Hosokawa before, right? From there, you go upriver along the stream for ten-something more miles and you’ll hit Inaba Castle. Go four or five more miles west of that, and that’s Inaba Land."

Ah Man answered and galloped off, waving her horsewhip around as she ran. Instantly, she was in full transformation, shifting from ninja to family elder, shouting, "You idiots, hurry up already! Even dung beetles walk faster than you lot! Stop dawdling! Push those carts! If I don’t see Inaba Castle in an hour, none of you are eating tonight!"

She had a naturally pushy presence, and after previously smacking around a few lazy Ashigaru, all those middle-aged and older soldiers respected her. They just started pushing the ox carts without complaining—after all, in Japan, so long as your status isn’t high, getting yelled at is just the norm, nobody cares.

Ah Man rode up and down, urging everyone on, and the convoy picked up speed by thirty-five percent, surging straight toward Inaba Land. The moment the wagons moved out of sight, though, a small head popped up from the bushes by the road. The face was delicate, fox-eyed and charming, but dressed as a little boy, with a quirky topknot bobbing wildly.

She watched the departing convoy for a moment, listened carefully, then brushed some stray leaves off her head, and said curiously, "That sorta sounded like the voice of that old beast Ah Man... Ah Yu, stick your head out and take a look, is that old beast over there?"

A second head popped up beside her, dressed and looking exactly the same, staring for a while before shaking her head and chuckling. "Probably not. That chest armor goes for dozens of kan, an iron cannon nearly a hundred, and that horse’s worth at least a dozen kan. Ah Man could never have that much cash. You must’ve just heard wrong, Ah Qian."

"Good point, must’ve been my mistake." Ah Qian nodded, gazing into the distance at the petite figure clad in fine armor, peach-shaped helmet, and with a little banner on her back, feeling Ah Man was too broke to be showing off that kind of flash. But she couldn’t help frowning and murmuring, "Where the heck has that old beast run off to? Why hasn’t she linked up with us yet—don’t tell me she’s already dead?"