Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 76 - 46: Crossing Over Is So Difficult!

Chapter 76: Chapter 46: Crossing Over Is So Difficult!

"What a coincidence, Nozawa-dono! I was just about to visit you, and here you are on the road!" Maeda Toshie also saw Harano, spurred his horse to his side, swung off nimbly, pulled out two bottles of sake from his saddlebag, and grinned, "I happen to have gotten my hands on two bottles of Winter Storage. Let’s try them together in a bit!"

"You’re more than welcome, it’s indeed quite the coincidence." Harano didn’t expect him to come running over again, so he replied with a casual pleasantry while quickly glancing down the road, just in case he brought that devil Oda Nobunaga with him.

Maeda Toshie misunderstood, thinking Harano was looking at his followers. He immediately waved to the hindquarters of his horse and shouted, "Hachiro, come greet Nozawa-dono." Then he smiled at Harano, "His name is Mura Hachiro, a retainer I recruited recently, he’s got decent skills. If there’s ever something and I can’t make it, I’ll send him instead."

Last time he went home, it was to pick up a few retainers—he’d spent all his money on horses and swords, so hiring people himself wasn’t an option. He had to go mooch off his old man, Maeda Toshimasa. In the end, though, the batch of seasoned adults Maeda Toshimasa picked for him didn’t spark his interest at all. Having finally escaped home to get a job, he didn’t want to be hemmed in by others again, so in the end, he only chose this Mura Hachiro, who’s even younger than himself.

Harano took a glance and saw that Mura Hachiro was clad in plain clothes, draped with a six-mon short haori, and had a tachi slung at his waist. He looked young but rather capable. Harano took mental note—if this kid doesn’t get himself killed, in the future he’ll probably become a household retainer of the "One Million Koku of Kaga", maybe even one of the most senior. Not likely to be low-ranked, so it’s definitely worth remembering him.

Mura Hachiro also looked up to memorize Harano’s face, but didn’t dare stare. Seeing Harano nod in greeting, he immediately knelt on the ground to pay a formal salute.

Harano waved it off, indicating it wasn’t necessary, then gestured with his hand to invite them in. He led Maeda Toshie and Mura Hachiro back to Yayoi’s house. Once home, Harano asked Yayoi and Apei to prepare a few dishes to treat Maeda Toshie, and even cooked some extra, so the Momoi brothers could eat and chat with Mura Hachiro in the yard. All in all, quite a thoughtful reception.

He just refused to drink. Alcohol had tormented him so much throughout his life—nearly ruined his childhood—that he absolutely detested it. Even though he’d grown up, become more broad-minded, and wouldn’t interfere with others drinking, he himself would rather die than drink. It would destroy too many things he’d stuck to while rebuilding himself.

Maeda Toshie, however, genuinely believed sake was a treasure and was eager to drag him into it. But after earnestly trying for a while and failing, he could only resign himself to drinking alone. By the time the dishes ran through five flavors and the sake through three rounds, he wiped his hands on his thighs and said seriously, "Nozawa-dono, do you perhaps have some misconceptions about Oda Sanmaru-dono?"

Harano sighed inwardly, knowing full well Toshie was up to no good. Sure enough, the guy’s got mischief in mind and is trying to set him up again. Harano resolved firmly: no matter what, he’d refuse—he absolutely would not become a retainer for Oda Nobunaga.

That household retainer position is really not as easy as it sounds. Take this very situation: Maeda Toshie, he can refuse, and as a guest Toshie has no reason to force his host, worst-case he’s a bit annoyed inside. But if he becomes Oda Nobunaga’s retainer, forget about the whole "adoptive father-son" drama. Just imagine Oda Nobunaga, that madman, getting drunk and insisting he drink, ordering him to drink—would he dare refuse?

How many people born in the ’90s and ’00s have encountered similar things? You don’t want to drink, but the boss tells you to. Do you drink or not? If you refuse in public and embarrass the boss, you think you won’t get screwed over afterward? To keep your job, you just have to force it down. How awful is that? Isn’t it humiliating and degrading?

That’s how crappy it is in modern times—it could only be worse in the old days. If Oda Nobunaga gets drunk and insists on forcing you, and you stubbornly refuse to drink, you really think he wouldn’t just lose it and come at you, fists and kicks flying? Or on a whim, put you in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t spot—either obey and drink, or commit seppuku in apology? Your call!

If you won’t even obey such a trivial order as drinking, what could you possibly be relied upon to do?

Fine, so for survival’s sake you’d drink—but what if it’s something more serious?

What if he orders you to round up all the villagers protesting the taxes and hang them? Do you follow the order? If you do, you betray your conscience; if you don’t and try to dodge, you risk your life; your fate completely decided by whatever mood Oda Nobunaga’s in at the time!

For Harano, having truly time-traveled, he’s sure to face lots of these things in the future; it absolutely won’t be glossed over in a jokey way like in some novels. That’s why, he knows, becoming a retainer is off the table. It’s not just about getting used to bowing and swallowing your pride—it’s an endless stream of this kind of aggravation, and you’d have to abandon so much that a modern person needs to hold onto.

Of course, if he could "fit into the times," it would be easier—not being a modern person, there wouldn’t be so much to insist on; just go around hacking and slaying. It’s just that he’s incapable, with some ideas too stubborn to let go, and really can’t blend in.

Harano just played dead there, not wanting to talk about Oda Nobunaga, drinking his tea in silence, neither nodding nor shaking his head. This made Maeda Toshie misunderstand, thinking Harano really had some deep-seated prejudice against Oda Nobunaga, so he quickly added, "There are indeed a lot of rumors about Oda Sanmaru-dono out there, but rumors stop with the wise. With Nozawa-dono’s intelligence, surely you’re not one to actually believe them?"

Harano had no way to shut him up, so he could only go along, sighing, "I have heard some... rumors. The words are pretty absurd, hard to take seriously."