Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 116 - 72: A True Friend!

Chapter 116: Chapter 72: A True Friend!

"Lord Maeda, what is the meaning of this..."

Nozawa hurried forward for a look. Sure enough, the lord of Hosokawa Castle, Maeda Toshimasa, was kneeling by the roadside, dressed in coarse hemp robes, his hair tied with a hemp strip, barefoot in straw sandals, accompanied only by Family Elder Okumura Iefuku and a horse—a picture of humble honesty and deference.

When Maeda Toshimasa saw him approach, he managed a bitter smile: "Such is the world, Lord Harano. Please pardon the sight."

Earlier, when Oda Nobunaga passed this way en route to Inaba Land, Toshimasa hid in the castle anxiously, wondering what he would do if Oda Nobunaga came to his door seeking men or rice, demanding that he send troops to aid in battle. But as it turned out, Oda Nobunaga passed by without entering—he did not spare Maeda a glance.

This left him even more indecisive. In theory, even if Oda Nobunaga did not demand his support, since the battlefield was so close to his castle, upon learning of the news he ought to have taken the initiative, thrown his full efforts behind his "lord" to secure victory, and fulfilled his basic feudal obligations. But at the time, he was sure Oda Nobunaga would most likely suffer defeat and come fleeing back, and he was unwilling to waste Hosokawa Castle’s men for nothing. He also had no idea who would control the Lower Four Provinces of Owari in the future, and didn’t want to muddy himself in these troubled waters.

So, he did nothing at all.

And in the end, Oda Nobunaga won a decisive victory in a single battle. Because he had done nothing, his inaction now became a crime—and worse, he alone was at fault, without a single companion to draw fire. Previously, everyone had colluded in privately begging to delay mobilization; as the saying goes, the law cannot punish the masses, and there was nothing Oda Nobunaga could do then. But the battlefield this time was just over ten li from Hosokawa Castle—others could feign ignorance later, saying they hadn’t expected Nobunaga to go himself, but Maeda had no such excuse.

He had even heard yesterday that even though the patriarch of the Sakuma Family at Inaba Castle was absent—and they were only loosely affiliated with the Oda Shinsei faction—they still managed to send out seven or eight armored Lang Faction warriors and fifty or sixty ashigaru. Compared to that...

He felt even more cornered.

He bitterly regretted not rushing to Inaba with lavish gifts of wine as soon as he heard of Nobunaga’s victory; in the end, he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the man—Oda Nobunaga just hurled an inkstone from the tent, nearly hitting him in the head, and ordered him to get lost on the spot.

So, all he could do was come back and kneel here, waiting to beg forgiveness as Oda Nobunaga passed by.

This world is just like that: you must have keen eyes, follow the strong, or risk destruction for yourself and your entire clan at any moment.

But none of this could be explained to Harano. All he could do was offer a bitter smile.

Harano could likely guess a good deal of it himself. After all, that half-collapsed Hosokawa Castle had left a deep impression on him; the Hosokawa Family was indeed miserably poor. Not wanting to sacrifice more lives was a sentiment he fully understood. But understanding was one thing—there was nothing he could do to help. So, he could only offer a few vague words of comfort, and waited for his ox-drawn carts to catch up, planning to leave together.

True to form, his ox carts were indeed the slowest in the world. They still hadn’t caught up when Oda Nobunaga, accompanied by his horsemen, followers, and young retainers, rode up in haste.

Oda Nobunaga reined in before Maeda Toshimasa, gave him a look of disgust, and could not even be bothered to waste words. Not waiting for him to plead, he simply said, "Enough. Inukoma has already pleaded your case. For her sake, I’ll let you off this once."

He paused, then looked up toward the distant Hosokawa Castle, lowered his gaze to Maeda Toshimasa, and said meaningfully, "Remember, it is only for Inukoma’s sake that I have spared you this time!"

Maeda Toshimasa let out a long sigh of relief, hastily pressed his face to the ground regardless of mud soiling his graying hair, and choked out, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your magnanimity!"

He had passed this test—for in matters such as these, if they were made serious, they could be deadly serious. Should Oda Nobunaga take offense, he could order him to commit seppuku or simply seize Hosokawa Castle and slaughter most of his family; the other local clans would have little room to object.

After all, he himself had failed in loyalty to his lord; the fault was his alone.

"Enough, enough!" Oda Nobunaga waved his riding whip impatiently, about to send him on his way, but then saw Okumura Iefuku hand over a horse laden with large bundles to Ikegami Keisuke—no doubt a costly offering. The word "scram" hovered on his lips but did not escape; instead, he switched to a milder tone: "Return to your home. Reflect well. If you relapse, there will be no mercy next time!"

With that, he turned to Maeda Toshie and another young page, saying, "Well then, you’ve both worked hard of late. Go home for a while and visit your families!"

He was, in fact, quite decent to his own people. Maeda Toshie and the young page bowed and thanked him in unison, then left, supporting old Maeda Toshimasa as they went.

Oda Nobunaga looked up at the sun, instructed his followers to rest and water the horses before moving on; he himself dismounted and waved to Harano. "You too—come here!"

Harano was unconcerned. He had to wait for the ox carts anyway, so he accompanied Nobunaga to a shady spot to rest for a while. Nobunaga, in his particular way, rested grandly: Ikegami Keisuke had brought along a horse whose only cargo was a massive saddlebag, from which he fished out folding stools, a small folding table, wine-sacks, kettles, and a jumble of oddments.

Nobunaga dragged over a stool and sat, motioning for Harano to take one too. He grabbed a leather wineskin and was about to toss it to him, but then remembered Harano’s squeaky-clean ways and that he didn’t drink. Spotting Ah Man staring hungrily at the bag, he tossed it to her instead—with uncommon generosity.

He tipped his head back and drank a mouthful of wine, moistening his throat, then gazed off at the distant Hosokawa Castle. Disgust clouded his face once more as he asked, "So—tell me—what do you think should be done with these people?"