Chapter 17

"Lord Toyokichi, I'm sorry you have to return first."

"Since Lady Kyouko's childbirth is near, please go back and be with her. Thanks to your help, I have finally become a castle lord. We will do our best from here on out."

A few days after the successful construction of the temporary fort at Suma, Koki decided to return to the new territory. This was because he received news that Kyouko, who was pregnant, was about to give birth.

Around them, the major renovation and reinforcement of Suma Castle were underway. The construction of the temporary fort and the great victory over the Saito army had earned Toyokichi a fief around Suma.

To solidify his control, the major renovation of Suma Castle had begun. The Hachisuka party supervised the construction and managed the transportation of building materials via the Nagara River, with some directly participating in the construction.

Koichiro was informing the surrounding villages that the land had become the domain of the Kudaka family. He led troops to negotiate taxes with local samurai and village leaders and confirmed the number of troops to be provided in times of war.

Koichiro seemed to excel at such tasks, working like a fish in water. Koki thought that Koichiro was like Seiki of the Kudaka family, though Koichiro was more proactive.

"Lord Toyokichi, don't you want to see Lady Nene?"

"I do, but until Suma settles down..."

Suma Castle was a fortress that could fall to a Saito family counterattack at any time. It was not a place to leave women and children.

"Lord Taki also seems to be steadily expanding his territory, so I will do my best too."

The Oda family had been winning consecutive battles recently and had deeply penetrated Mino. If things continued smoothly, Mino would soon belong to the Oda family.

"Considering the situation with our neighbors, I should probably return, right?"

"Long Island is a troublesome place."

On the surface, nothing seemed to be happening, but it was unclear when Hattori Sakyo would plot something. Koki thought it was best to return for now.

"Lord Shinchi, thank you very much. I look forward to working with you again. And Lord Matazo too."

"Yes."

Rikuya returned to Kiyosu first to report the battle situation in Suma to Nobunaga. It was unexpected that Nobunaga himself would come for an inspection right after that.

"Lord Shinchi, thank you so much!"

Koki and his party, who were leaving Suma to return to the new territory, were seen off by Toyokichi, who waved until they were out of sight. They hurried back to Shinchi, and Taikai and others welcomed them.

"Lord, your wife is about to give birth."

"That's serious! Kyouko!"

"Welcome back, Mitsu."

Kyouko, who was about to give birth, greeted Koki as usual. She still called him Mitsu. At first, Taikai and the older retainers had mixed reactions, but they had gotten used to it and no longer minded.

Even Seiki, the shadow power player who managed the finances of Shinchi, was called "Kiyochan." Moreover, Kyouko was the strongest in the Shinchi family in terms of physical strength, even surpassing Yoshizumi and Ito. She was also proficient in tea ceremony, flower arrangement, medicine, etiquette, cooking, and sewing, and many people secretly thought she was the most capable member of the Shinchi family.

"Are you okay? It's your due date, isn't it?"

"The due date is just a guideline. It's normal for it to be a little late."

This was Kyouko's first child, and Koki was worried and flustered. Kyouko, being a doctor, remained calm.

"Actually, the contractions have started, but they're still weak."

"Where's the midwife?"

"I have her on standby, so it's fine... Here it comes..."

"Midwife! Hurry!"

"It's fine."

Despite being a first-time mother, Kyouko calmly called the midwife and then went into labor. Koki, who was only flustered, was told by the midwife, who was over seventy, to leave the room as he was in the way.

Koki's dignity, being treated as a nuisance by the midwife, was almost zero.

"Brother, your leg shaking is annoying."

"Is it?"

"It sounds like a construction site."

In the waiting room adjacent to the delivery room, Koki and Seiki were waiting anxiously for Kyouko's delivery. Koki couldn't stop his leg shaking, even when Seiki scolded him.

"Your sister-in-law would have delivered quickly and easily."

"No, I can't be at ease."

Koki's face darkened, thinking about the possibility of an accident.

"It's fine, brother. You're about to become a father, so you need to calm down. You were brave on the battlefield, but you're a coward now. Besides, there are things to check, like the development status."

"Later... No, should I hear it now?"

Thinking it might distract him, Koki decided to hear the report from Seiki.

"The land reclamation is going well. The reclaimed land won't stabilize for a while, but we have a crust stabilizer from Kanagawa, so it should be much faster."

"That's the material you were transporting for the military, right?"

"Since we can't return it anyway, and we can reproduce it if we have the materials, it's fine to use it."

They used the sand and gravel they paid for, poured it into frames made of quick-drying concrete, and drained the remaining seawater with pumps at night.

"We need to secure the land quickly."

The newly created land would be divided into farmland, residential areas, commercial areas, and industrial areas.

"We'll build nitrate sheds, shiitake cultivation factories, and ironworks. We'll also invite craftsmen and build kilns. I want to start making sake, miso, and soy sauce. There are plenty of koji samples in the food production factory in Kanagawa, so we can increase them. The possibilities are endless. With the expanded territory, my range of action has increased."

"Brother, you need to fix your laziness."

Seiki, Koki's younger brother, was a complete shut-in. While there were economic reasons for joining the spaceship crew, it also suited his personality. He stayed inside the ship and immersed himself in his hobbies during his free time.

He was intelligent and knowledgeable about accounting and finance, but he often heard from Kyouko, "You should go outside sometimes!"

"I do, as you say, move around the territory occasionally."

However, it was only to the Shinchi family residence, the new Shinchi Castle under construction on the reclaimed land, and the important areas managed by Kiyomaro and the robots. This was because Seiki was a shut-in.

"Usually, the shadow prime minister of the Shinchi family, who doesn't show his face. It's a good title."

He also had a bit of a chuuni disease.

"Brother is the top, I'm the shadow prime minister, and the top for internal affairs is Taikai. I'm properly educating the successor, Yasuyoshi."

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

Yasuyoshi was still young, and there was a possibility he could be brainwashed by Seiki. Koki sincerely prayed for Yasuyoshi's safety.

"Also, the patterns and characters of this era don't suit me, and the writing is hard to read. I plan to improve them."

As he said this, Seiki showed Koki a beautifully bound book.

"What? Is this 'The Tale of Genji'?"

The text was printed with woodblock, and the illustrations were borrowed from the database in Kanagawa... no, from the data of Seiki's hobby books and anime. Edited on a computer, the 'Tale of Genji' was illustrated with moe-style women and handsome men in period-appropriate clothing.

"I also have 'The Ise Stories.' The problem is that mass production takes time. There are also issues with manpower and territory. Brother, let's annex Long Island and Kuwana."

"Is that the reason!?"

Still, they needed to deal with the area to advance into Ise. Koki decided to annex Long Island and Kuwana. Kuwana was one thing, but Long Island needed to be weakened further.

"Ogya! Ogya!"

"What! So soon!"

"That's what I said, brother."

Seiki's prediction was correct, and Kyouko gave birth to a girl safely in about an hour.

"How cute. Let's name her 'Ai.' 'Princess Ai.'"

"For Mitsu, that's a good name."

"Haha, I have a great sense of style sometimes."

Koki announced the name he had struggled to decide on while holding his newborn daughter.

"It's not a boy, though..."

Taikai looked disappointed, but that was how things were in this era. Without a male heir, the Horio family might lose their position as a major vassal of the Shinchi family.

"Don't worry, I'll have more."

"That's right. Lady, you could have about ten more."

"Maybe that many?"

"Lord, please try your best."

"Pressure from an old man... I didn't expect that."

Koki never thought he would receive pressure to have more children from a man over forty.

"By the way, when will Lord Seiki welcome a wife?"

"Wha?"

Taikai's question made Koki and Kyouko look at each other in surprise.

"Seiki..."

Seiki, who had an excellent mind but was a shut-in and a bit of a geek, often described his ideal woman like this:

"A big-breasted beauty who suits twin-tails! Someone like Mel from 'Magical Girl Melty Queen.'"

"Kiyochan, such women don't exist in reality."

Kyouko had seriously advised him a long time ago, but it didn't seem to have much effect. Koki, as an older brother, had heard about Seiki's ideal woman.

But he thought such a woman was unlikely to exist in this era.

"(Is there even a woman with twin-tails in this era?) I think it would be useless to force a political marriage on Seiki."

"He's a difficult one..."

For Taikai, marriage was about connections between families, so the idea of a woman's physical appearance was hard to understand. However, he also realized that forcing it would likely fail.

He remembered that when Taikai had once suggested Koki take a concubine, Kyouko had not objected, saying, "Maybe it would be fine with me," but Koki himself had refused, saying, "I don't need one."

These brothers were not bound by the common sense of samurai.

"Someone like this."

Seiki then handed Taikai a piece of paper with his ideal woman drawn on it. It was an illustration of Mel from 'Magical Girl Melty Queen' from his database.

The significant generation gap made Taikai's eyes widen as he stared at the drawing.

"I've never seen an artist like this... The style is quite distinctive..."

Seeing the super-futuristic moe art, Taikai was so shocked he could hardly speak.

"I drew it."

"You're unnecessarily versatile..."

In fact, Seiki was good at drawing. He had once aspired to be a manga artist but gave up for economic reasons. He had also once published a doujinshi at NeoComike with his hobby friends.

"I'll look for her..."

If Taikai had remained a major vassal of the Iwakura Oda family, he would not have accepted such an unreasonable request. However, as a major vassal of the Shinchi family, he adapted to the changes in his environment and put the drawing in his pocket.

After all, his position and financial situation were much better now.

"Maybe among the daughters of the court nobles?"

"Daughters of the nobility, how exciting."

"That's a good idea."

Finally, the lord had a child. Taikai, thinking he needed to establish a branch family of the Shinchi family through Seiki's child, would start searching for a bride.