Chapter 8:  Mino no Viper, The Sado

Clatter! Pound! Clatter! Pound! Clatter!

The sound of hooves and feet, a small army, but still a large amount of people, they were all headed to somewhere. That somewhere was the neighboring province, Mino.

“Mino?” A person with barely any sense of geography in her world, a person with no sense of geography here.

“It’s our neighboring province, the place of merchants other than Sakai and those neutral places.”

“Why go there?”

“Of course, it’s because…”

It was for a conference for renewing a treaty and such topics, but there was no such thing as too much protection for the daimyo, especially one that isn’t too loved by everyone or exactly feared to the point of submission.

Rena, Paru, and Yui were up front. A good leader, at least one who has courage, will lead their army from the front. Though in Yui’s case, it’s just seen as, ‘That fool Yokoyama has done something stupid again.’ They were riding horses. Yui on a sleek black horse, dressed in easy to move in clothing that still looked quite nice. Unfortunately, Rena had to ride with Paru as the prison girl didn’t know how to.

A bit of dissatisfaction on Rena’s part. Some unhappy and some looking forward to the day which their lord manages to reach her dream, everyone was marching along. This was just one of the steps on their way to the conquest of Japan. Even if not everyone believed in Yui, she could confidently lead an army and they would follow with their lives.

Mino, the place of the Viper. The Viper, a man who built up his reputation from nearly nothing and overthrew the old daimyo, developing the great market place that is now Mino. The name of that man was, Shinoda Marisuke, a slight sadist he was.

A pair of people viewed slightly differently by others were having a conference. Two retainers or servants were the only people other than the lords inside the room that they were speaking in. Unlike the normal clothing that Yui wore most of the time, now she was wearing something extremely formal, a kimono that would be considered a pain to wear and move around in in Paru’s mind.

Sadly for Paru, she was clueless as a person from the Heian period who traveled to the future. As a fighter, it’s not like she would know anything about tea ceremonies. Actually, if Habu ever tried, there would be a bunch of broken cups and spilled tea all over the place.

“Shinoda-san, I take that as you agreed to meet up that the treaty should be renewed or I guess recreated.” With a business tone, Yui started the conversation.

“Hehe… Yokoyama-kun, you can really read what people are thinking… But if only you put it to good use.” He chuckled.

“I should say that to you… Isn’t calling a daimyo, especially a girl, -kun, a bit strange?”

To Paru, it was a conversation with a lot of things hidden. Despite the simplistic exchanges, the atmosphere was like that standstill time during big fights. Seeing Paru show a very ponkotsu expression, Rena nudged her.

“So what are your true intentions?”

“… Well, I would just turn over Mino to me… I mean, if tea spills… You don’t just leave it and continue on with what you’re doing… You wipe it up… Of course if more and more ends up spilling, wiping everything up may be a problem… So, it would be better if the tea wouldn’t spill in the first place…” Yui smiled and stated her true feelings.

“Hahaha!”

Paru nearly jumped at the suddenness of Shinoda’s laughter. The Habu girl was somewhat understanding, but somewhat not. Being a good fighter and part-time leader of Habu, she was just a bit ponkotsu, wobbling and leaning on Rena. The pale girl didn’t really mind, but at the moment, such a thing was awkward, so she pushed the ponkotsu back in place.

“…”

“Yokoyama-kun, do you really think I would?” Shinoda gave a trickster’s grin.

“Yes. After all, we do have the same goal. I want to unite Japan as a whole. That will allow merchants and everyone to prosper. Isn’t that what you want? It may be good now, but there is always something better and worse.”

“How can I trust you to achieve that goal?” He smirked.

“You don’t you just believe.”

“Why should I?” A sadistic smile appeared on his face. All of Shinoda’s expressions so far were of the same genre.

Paru, being one from the future, actually somewhat knew what would happen. Yes, somewhat knew, yankee and history don’t go together at all and it’s unlikely that the ponkotsu Paru has figured things out yet. Either way, she interrupted. It was a gut feeling.

“Japan will be united though. I’m from the future.” All eyes went to Paru. Seeing a strangely dressed girl who Yui had brought along say that the draem of uniting Japan will happen didn’t exactly seem too convincing. Then again, Shinoda was different from all those other lords, many who had inherited the status.

The Viper smiled. Owari’s daimyo had a somewhat normal look on her face. The attendants from Mino were surprised. Rena was giving off a vibe which said that she was too shocked for words, mostly because it was rude and secondly because most people don’t say so in such a matter of fact manner.

Everyone was silent. Paru didn’t back down.

“That’s kind of stupid to think like that.” Shinoda pointed out the obvious. Yui had a slight frown on her face.

“…I’m serious.”

“But… Bwahahahaha! That’s perfect!” Suddenly, he bursts out in laughter, trolling everyone.

“Eh?”

The trolling Viper grinned and nodded. He was strange, had similar views to Yui, but was a bit different in the fact that people didn’t openly speak badly about him. That was the power that Shinoda had obtained.

“You have more to develop, better skills and ideals than my son…” He rubbed his non-existent beard.

“…Meaning?”

“Well, there’s that treaty renewed… But maybe… Just maybe, I’ll hand Mino over to you… Just remember to fulfill my dreams Yokoyama-kun.”

“Hrm… Of course I will. And I’ll do it with all my might.” Yui gave a confident smile other than her mysterious ones.

“What? That senile old man… Just handing over my province to a fool?”

A man smashed his fist onto a small table. His close retainers around him didn’t say anything. They were afraid that it would aggravate his anger even further.

“My lord… What shall you do then?”

“…Of course… I should-”