Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 79 - 47 What Should I Do?

Chapter 79: Chapter 47 What Should I Do?

"Sealed Judgment Documents" were a type of document stamped with a seal from Japan’s Middle Ages up to the end of the early modern era. There were usually two kinds: red-sealed and black-sealed. But during Japan’s Warring States Period, there wasn’t much difference between the two—they were both official documents for issuing orders, commonly used for granting land, assigning property or fields, moving supplies, or making administrative adjustments like shifting someone’s position.

Right now, Harano was holding a "Black Seal Judgment Document," also called a "Black Seal" for short. The gist of it was that he’d been assigned a house to move into, effectively granting him Owari residency, and, more importantly, allowing him "as in the manner of post-horse transmission"—which basically meant he could freely use the regional relay horse stations and travel unhindered anywhere. The "as in the manner of" bit implied he had the authority to pass through towns, castles, and checkpoints like an urgent messenger—no one was allowed to delay him, and he should be granted passage and convenience immediately.

As for who issued it, it was Sawaki Tenguyemon Kosei—the adoptive father of Sawaki Fujihachiro Ryoji, currently the acting City Guardian of Nagano Castle. The stamp used was the legitimate "Nagano Castle’s Seal," officially recognized by the Court.

Of course, the paperwork had Sawaki Kosei’s name on it, but it was obviously at Oda Nobunaga’s orders.

Harano could more or less guess what Nobunaga was thinking—total chuunibyou from any future era: "Thirty years east bank, thirty years west bank. Right now you might oppose me, but never mind, I’ll let you move in and see what kind of person I am. Sooner or later, you’ll be hugging my thigh, begging to join me."

As for the "post-horse transmission" permission, this was basically Oda Nobunaga showing off his own magnanimity. Even though he granted Harano a home and registry, it wasn’t to tie him down to Owari Province—he was free to leave anytime, nobody would stop him. It also considered his occupation, making it easier for him to travel as a doctor.

This all fit perfectly with Oda Nobunaga’s style at this age: full of confidence, convinced he was one of a kind, determined to win people over with skill, hard work, and enemy heads, not with nagging or pestering.

After reading the "Black Seal," Harano silently... well, wasn’t convinced at all. His independent streak was never going to budge, not in a hundred years. Showing off confidence and generosity was pointless. If anything, he just felt that whether you’re from whatever country or whatever era, seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boys always think they’re the main character of the world, as if everyone should revolve around them. There’s a kind of naive, precious little-innocent vibe to it.

He put the document away and asked Maeda Toshie, "Did Lord Oda Sanmaru say anything else?"

Maeda Toshie shook his head. "Nope. Lord Sanmaru just told me to handle this and drop the stuff off."

"Then please thank Lord Oda Sanmaru for me. You can tell him I totally understood his intention and am very grateful!" Harano raised his cup for Maeda’s help with thanks—after all, they really did give him a house, which was a generous move and deserved some appreciation. Way better than the Hosokawa Family anyway; they failed to recruit him and didn’t give him a damn thing—not even a strand of hair. Like, if you don’t at least top up ten 648-yen bundles to fill the gacha pool, how do you expect to pull an SSR general that’s limited across the whole server? So clueless!

"No problem!" Maeda Toshie was a good sport, downed a big mouthful of sake, and agreed right away.

Harano then switched topics and started asking about the attendants around Oda Nobunaga. With nothing better to do, might as well gather some intel—just in case they needed to interact later, it’d be less awkward sorting out who was who.

Maeda Toshie, loosened up by booze, was happy to gossip—and anyway, this wasn’t a secret. Oda Nobunaga had them running all over the place all day long, so anyone who paid attention would have figured out his crew in no time. Toshie went down the list, naming all the pages and household retainers close to Nobunaga.

Harano listened for a while but didn’t get much useful info. Most of the names weren’t familiar at all—not from his own time, and not from playing "Taiko 2" either. Probably most of them died halfway, or just weren’t all that talented—no big achievements, couldn’t break out.

After chatting a bit more, Maeda Toshie had finished off all the booze he brought and was about seventy or eighty percent drunk. He decided to call it a night and, taking Mura Hachiro, headed off for Hosokawa Castle. His business was done, he was near Hosokawa anyway, so he figured he’d go home for a night and check on his family—he’d bought a toy for Ah Matsu, so he could bring it home for her and give her the ol’ "lift you high" treatment.

Harano escorted him to the edge of the village before turning back to Yayoi’s house. Just as he reached the gate, Ah Man burst out, face full of curiosity, and asked, "What did that turd ball from the Maeda family want with you?"

This chick reeked of gunpowder. If it were the United States, she’d have been arrested ages ago. With how she smells, she must have just finished mowing down a school with a machine gun. Harano wafted air in front of his nose and shot back, "You finished practicing with the iron cannon? No problems?"

"What problems could there be? It’s super simple stuff. I’m crazy smart, of course I picked it up instantly." Ah Man looked casual, then went right on with a hopeful look, "Hey, can you help me fix up the iron cannon later? Add the cover you talked about, okay? It’s kinda awkward to use right now."

She really had the thickest skin—helping Harano carry the iron cannon for just one day, and now she talked like it was hers. Harano just shrugged it off. "Sure, I’ll help mod it for you whenever I get a chance."

Ah Man was satisfied, then remembered the earlier topic and asked curiously, "So, you never said what that turd ball was here for. Is he trying to scam us again?"

"Just came to deliver an official document." Harano led her to the dirt floor, took out the "Black Seal" for her to see, and asked, "By the way, where’s Takeshige Manor? What kind of place is that?"

Takeshige Manor was the location of the house Nobunaga gave him. He’d already asked Maeda Toshie, but Toshie only knew it was near Nagano Castle and hadn’t been there either—not much help.

Ah Man, who’d been learning to read every night and was improving fast, had enough literacy now to get through the "Black Seal," albeit stumbling. "Oda the Big Idiot just straight up gave you a house for nothing? He really is a wastrel, not much better than you!"

The temporary little maid Yayoi was cleaning up nearby. Hearing this, she glanced over in surprise, then, after a moment of thinking, her face grew anxious and worried. But Harano only cared about where the house was and didn’t catch her expression at all. He just hurried Ah Man, "Less nonsense, have you actually been to Takeshige Manor or not?"

"I haven’t been, but passed by a few times. Seems fine!" True to her professional street-urchin training, Ah Man ran all over the place and genuinely knew the area. She quickly dug up a hand-drawn map, rummaged in her memory, and pointed northwest of Nagano Castle, "About here—beside a tributary of the Changliang River, there’s a lowland and a small lake. The manor is by the lake. Its main products are lotus seeds, lotus roots, fish, isinglass, and feathers. It’s one of Oda the Big Idiot’s personal domains."

The map was one of Ah Man’s hand-drawn specials, without a scale, so Harano couldn’t tell the distance at a glance. He asked, "How far from here?"

Ah Man thought for a second. "On foot it takes about an hour and a half. On horseback, since horses go about three times as fast as walking, it’s just half an hour."

Harano nodded—he had a rough idea now. Last time he walked to Nagano Castle it took over four hours, a little more than two hours by the old reckoning—so Takeshige Manor was just over an hour’s walk from Nagano Castle, or only twenty minutes by horse?

Put that way, Takeshige Manor was basically Nagano Castle’s suburb. Did that make him a city dweller now?

Ah Man saw him pondering and asked, "So, when do you plan to move in?"

Harano hesitated a second and then shook his head. "I’m not sure yet. It’s kinda far."

That freebie house was honestly a bit out there. If he really moved, his daily quest number one—"Go to Ise Mountain, check for fog, see if I can go back to the modern world"—would be screwed. No way he could walk more than three hours every morning up Ise Mountain, check the fog, then walk three hours back again. That’s a whole day wasted right there.

But not moving, just free-riding at Yayoi’s house, had its own troubles too. The bottom line was, it made pushing his "improve life" plans pretty tough.

For instance, this thatched hut was anything but comfy—cold in winter, hot in summer, and mosquitoes would go nuts in the summer. Straw mats were murder on his back, too—wake up aching every morning. It desperately needed a makeover—maybe just tear it down and rebuild. But he was only renting, and he’d never heard of a tenant tearing the place down to rebuild it for the landlord...

And setting up a mini chemistry lab was a non-starter—locking up your host’s home, restricting access, running top-secret experiments—not exactly treating the host like a human being.

Hibi Village was just as poor—tiny, ordinary, and nearby the only bigger castle was the totally run-down Hosokawa Castle. Everything was a hassle—even regular steel was hard to find, never mind talking about running a business and getting rich.

If only Nobunaga’s gift house were near Hibi Village, that’d be perfect—too bad, no chance. Nobunaga couldn’t just carve out land from the Hosokawa Family for him.

At least, right now, there was no way Nobunaga could do that. He was just an heir, not even the real lord of Nagano Castle yet. Most actual power was held by the handlers his old man planted around him—a total figurehead for now.

Harano was completely torn—couldn’t decide, which made Ah Man curious: "What’s so far? Too far from Hibi Village? What’s to miss about this dump? There’s nothing here—why the hell are you so attached to the place?"

"You wouldn’t get it!" Harano couldn’t explain it to her either. He thought about it, then said, "Let’s just go check it out tomorrow—see what the place is like first!" Maybe Takeshige Manor would turn out to be a giant cesspit, and he’d just hold his nose and run right back—it’d save him the trouble of agonizing over it.

"Sounds good. I’ll take you there tomorrow!" Ah Man was interested in Harano’s new house, too—she wanted to check it out so next time she could drop by and freeload some food.

Finally, Yayoi finished cleaning the dishes and plates, quietly slipping out with a worried face—was kind-hearted Lord Sanmaru really leaving for good? What should I do? I really don’t want him to go!

She hesitated a moment, then hurried off to find her mother, Ah Ping, to see if she had any good ideas.