Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 91 - 56: Family Dog-Blood Drama, Still at 8 PM

Chapter 91: Chapter 56: Family Dog-Blood Drama, Still at 8 PM

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

After the funeral ceremony, Ah Man exclaimed in delight. She never expected that tagging along with Harano would let her witness such a sensational scene as a "filial son sticking incense upside down and the deceased’s coffin being desecrated." This was more than enough material for her to brag about for two years—Did you know? Before that idiot Oda Nobunaga met his end, I saw him stick the incense upside down into the burner with my own eyes. That’s when I knew he was doomed for sure!

She kept pestering Harano for those five kan of coins. With Oda Nobunaga pulling off something like this, blatantly being "utterly unfilial," there was no way he could ever "keep the father-son hierarchy" again, no way to remain head of the big clan, and no way to demand absolute loyalty from foster sons, household retainers, or local warriors.

In a certain sense, the Oda Danjo Chonosuke family was done for—disunity and everyone splitting up was just a matter of time.

Harano didn’t bother arguing that it was still early, just mused, "Why did he do that?"

He knew Oda Nobunaga was an Oddity, but this couldn’t just be chalked up to ignoring etiquette. Even in our morally relaxed modern times, he’d never seen anyone make a scene at their own father’s funeral altar—this was way off the charts. This was so outrageous that even outrageousness itself would be shocked—unbelievably outrageous!

"He’s just lost it! He’s a complete fool, and there’s no way we could ever figure out what goes on in a fool’s head!" Ah Man didn’t care the least bit about Oda Nobunaga’s fate, nor did she share Harano’s curiosity about the rise of the Sixth Celestial Demon King. She only cared about her five kan of coins. Tugging on Harano’s sleeve, she said, "Anyway, don’t forget our bet. I’m definitely going to win. If you renege, your butt will rot!"

"But... this isn’t something you can just explain by going nuts, is it?" Harano didn’t care about the issue of butts rotting. What really bugged him was still not knowing what was going on. He was feeling distinctly unsettled inside.

Ah Man stopped chasing for her bet in advance. She trusted Harano’s character and believed she’d get her money in the end. Now seeing how seriously he took this, she too started musing, "He really did lose his mind this time, kind of went off the deep end. Maybe there really is some inside story... Want me to snoop around?"

"Go, go! Quick as you can!" Harano immediately agreed—nothing else to do, and satisfying his curiosity sounded great.

"Give me some money, I’ll go buy some booze and see if I can get something out of those Mosen Castle guys!" As she spoke, Ah Man reached into his chest and snatched a string of large coins, then spun around and dashed away. Who knows if she was planning to treat herself while she was at it.

Harano didn’t mind a little money being gone, but didn’t like the idea of her drinking. He called after her, but she pretended not to hear, ducked through the crowd, and vanished. All he could do was grumble in his heart about that wild child, shake his head, and head back to his assigned tent.

The Danjo Chonosuke family seemed worried that the local warrior clans would cause trouble during this period. They decided to nip potential unrest in the bud by dragging everyone over for the funeral, forcing the heads of the clans, local warriors, lang faction, and their people to be separated. But they weren’t allowed into Mosen Castle. Each group was given a tent and had to camp around Juewang Mountain. What’s more, even after the funeral, nobody was allowed to leave right away—they had to wait for talks or further notice before heading home.

Harano, who’d only just managed to get Owari residency and was still just a "wandering samurai," was too low-ranking to get a good view of the excitement. His lodgings weren’t great either, stuck in a remote spot that took ages to reach. He was just trudging along when he bumped into Maeda Toshimasa and his retinue.

From afar, Maeda Toshimasa greeted him with a bow: "Isn’t this Lord Nozawa? Long time no see."

"Yes, it’s been a while!" Nozawa replied politely, then glanced at the three unfamiliar household retainers behind Maeda. He asked, "What about Lord Shinichiro? Has he recovered?"

"Thanks to your miraculous hands, Lord Nozawa, Shinichiro is completely recovered now. He’s minding the home!" The Danjo Chonosuke family didn’t trust the local warlords, and the feeling was mutual. The heirs were all absent—Maeda Toshimasa was no exception. He’d left his eldest son, Maeda Rikyu, and family elder Okumura Iefuku behind at Hosokawa Castle as a precaution, and came by himself as a hostage, using the excuse to also gauge the political winds.

After answering Nozawa, he asked with concern, "Lord Nozawa, are you living in Takeshige Manor now? How’s life over there?"

"Not bad. The scenery’s pretty nice."

"That’s good, that’s good!" Maeda Toshimasa seemed relieved, then gave Nozawa a meaningful look and added, "If things ever get uncomfortable over there, you can always move back to Hosokawa Castle. There are nice scenic spots around Hosokawa too."

He’d always thought highly of Nozawa—after all, he was a Five-Star Medical Expert. Even after being turned down once, he didn’t get discouraged. He assumed maybe someone of Nozawa’s noble background would look down on a lowborn warrior family like his, and was even considering whether he should make a bigger commitment and directly marry off his adopted daughter Ashi to him. Then, without a word, Nozawa suddenly moved into Oda Nobunaga’s domain, vanishing without a trace.

He’d been rather disappointed, but with all this trouble with the Oda Danjo Chonosuke family, he decided to mention it just in case. He hoped Nozawa might consider moving back, since Owari was clearly headed for chaos—blood would likely be spilled. Having a medical expert in the family could mean one less death. He’d seen and heard too many inheritance struggles among Warrior Clans, all ending in rivers of blood; now it looked like Danjo Chonosuke’s house was headed the same way.

Nozawa could pretty much guess what he meant, and knew there was at least some genuine goodwill in those words. Even if he had no plans of moving, he responded earnestly, "Thank you very much for the offer."