Chapter 27

Immediately after the battles in Iga and Kii ended, Masahiro, who serves as the secretary to Mitsuteru, was suddenly summoned by his younger brother, Kiyoteru.

In fact, Masahiro hardly knew Kiyoteru.

He had heard that Kiyoteru, who managed the finances of the Shinchi family, was an excellent person, handling not only money-making and development within the domain but also production and confidentiality through new technologies. However, he had rarely seen Kiyoteru's face.

The other retainers were in a similar situation, and he had heard that the person he saw most often was Hori Hironori, who handled internal affairs, and his assistant, Yamaji Yasuyoshi.

It was such a Kiyoteru who summoned Masahiro.

Masahiro was greatly intrigued.

He wondered what business he had been summoned for.

"It's about time I got married, my sister-in-law and Hironori have been nagging me."

"That is a good thing."

Many retainers were worried about Kiyoteru's bachelor status.

They wanted him to establish a branch family with a child born from a wife, to continue the financial management and maintain the current favorable situation.

The retainers were also concerned about the future of their children.

"I think it would be troublesome to take a wife from a samurai family."

"That is true."

While many families would be willing, there was a risk of issues arising in the power dynamics with the Oda family.

The Oda family might incite a conflict between Mitsuteru and Kiyoteru and take advantage of the situation to seize the Shinchi family's economic power and technology.

It might be an overreaction, but this was the era.

Masahiro thought it was better to be cautious.

If he were to take a wife from among the retainers, there was a risk of excessive influence from the in-laws.

Masahiro also thought it would be better to exclude samurai daughters from the list of candidates.

"Thus, I thought about taking a noblewoman as a wife."

"A noblewoman...?"

It wasn't a bad idea, but the Shinchi family's origins were questionable.

There were ways, but it would require a lot of work.

"I'll leave the noblewoman strategy to you, Masahiro."

"Are you sending me to Kyoto?"

"There's also the matter of my brother's appointment."

Here, Mitsuteru wanted to officially receive the rank of Ise-no-Kami to legitimize his rule over this land.

If he did, many would follow without resistance.

"I've prepared the donations to the court and rewards for collaborators."

"Then I will ensure its success."

While his career was progressing smoothly, if he succeeded in this, his reputation as a diplomat would also rise.

Masahiro resolved to do his best.

"Then, what kind of noblewoman are you looking for?"

"Since a high-ranking noble family would be troublesome, a lower-ranking one would be fine, right?"

The fact that he was accepting a noblewoman was the important part.

"Any other conditions?"

"Appearance like this."

As he said this, Kiyoteru handed Masahiro a drawing.

"Master Kiyoteru, what is this?"

"My ideal woman."

The drawing depicted a large-eyed girl with unusual clothing and hairstyle.

Masahiro was surprised by the unfamiliar style, but it was an illustration of Mel from "Magical Girl Melty Queen," which Mitsuteru and Kyoko had previously seen and been amazed by.

In a super-future, it was a popular magical girl anime among young girls and older friends.

"Quite a unique style of portrait..."

Masahiro, like Hironori before him, was greatly shocked by the moe-style illustrations popular in the super-future.

The shock was significant because he had never seen such a style before.

"Before, Hironori said he would look for her, but he's busy."

Hironori, the top retainer handling internal affairs for the Shinchi family, was extremely busy as the domain expanded with each battle.

He was far too busy to search for Kiyoteru's wife.

From Masahiro's perspective, Hironori seemed to have a lot on his plate, and he felt guilty about burdening him with this task.

"So, I'm assigning this to you, Masahiro."

"I will do my best..."

It was an extremely unreasonable request, but Masahiro, now Mitsuteru's secretary, the head of the intelligence department, and a diplomat, was one of the key figures in the Shinchi family.

To repay his lord's favor, he decided that finding a woman who matched his lord's brother's preferences was not a big problem.

(Does such a woman really exist?)

Putting aside his doubts, Masahiro set out for Sakai on a ship from the Shinchi navy.

"Are you Mr. Honda Masahiro? We have been well taken care of by Mr. Shinchi."

Upon arriving in Sakai, Masahiro visited Tsuda Sōeki, the head of the Tawaraya, one of the Sakai merchants.

When he announced his visit, Sōeki appeared immediately and greeted Masahiro.

"The Oda family has asked me to assist Mr. Shinchi in his appointment."

The Oda family had business dealings with the Tawaraya.

Through this connection, they had asked for help with Mitsuteru's appointment.

Nobunaga was considerate of Mitsuteru, who had grown from a nominal brother to a close ally.

"We are also eager to assist Mr. Shinchi in his appointment."

After the Chinese porcelain auction, the Tawaraya began trading with the Shinchi family.

The largest transactions were the supply of dried shiitake mushrooms and honey to temples in and around Kyoto, and the commission to exchange bita coins for Yongle Tongbao.

Thanks to this, all the Tawaraya's copper coins were converted to Yongle Tongbao, which was highly trusted in transactions.

Since the Tawaraya had helped the Shinchi family gain this trust, they were willing to fulfill reasonable requests.

"If we show our gratitude to the nobles we are acquainted with and make a donation to the court, the appointment is certain."

"That's good to hear."

Masahiro had been worried that the Shinchi family's questionable origins might be a problem.

"Mr. Shinchi's origins are unknown, but there are many ways to handle this."

Sōeki had already asked a noble he was acquainted with to alter the family tree.

"Claiming to be a branch of a prestigious family or an illegitimate child is not uncommon. Since you have the power and control over the land, there is some leeway. Moreover, if you need a noblewoman, it will help sustain the nobles' lifestyle. They don't live on air, after all."

The poverty of the nobles and the court in this era was severe.

Many had lost their income from their estates and were struggling to make ends meet.

"Would you like to go to Kyoto with me, Mr. Honda?"

With Sōeki, a great merchant, the process in Kyoto went smoothly.

They visited several nobles, and Sōeki greeted them with gifts, and they welcomed Masahiro with smiles.

"Mr. Shinchi's dedication to the court is deeply moving."

The donation of 10,000 kan in Yongle Tongbao to the court, and an additional 2,000 kan to the intermediating nobles, naturally put everyone in a good mood.

"The appointment as a Lower Fifth Rank, Ise-no-Kami, has been decided."

"Thank you very much."

The family tree was fabricated to make Mitsuteru a branch of a branch of the Minamoto clan, slightly lower in status than the Oda family, to show consideration for Nobunaga, who also made large donations to the court.

This was a noble consideration.

The rank was lower than Fifth Rank Lower to avoid making the suspiciously low-born Mitsuteru a noble.

Simultaneously, the nobles who received money worked to give him a higher rank than the Kitabatake father and son, who held the position of Ise Governor, to protect their interests.

"Everything has gone smoothly."

The nobles explained that a messenger from the court would soon be sent to the Shinchi family.

"It's a pity about the Shogunate."

They had also tried to secure an appointment as a guardian from the Ashikaga Shogunate, but it failed.

The Shogun Yoshiteru had ordered the Kitabatake family to return Ise.

This puzzled the Kitabatake father and son.

They lived in Kyoto as nobles, maintaining the assets they had built in Ise and receiving travel expenses from Mitsuteru. They also sent seasonal gifts to the Shinchi family in exchange for information about the situation in Kyoto.

They had a comfortable life with a few retainers and even ran a sword school.

They had no ambitions for Ise, and their retainer group had already disintegrated, making it impossible to govern if they returned.

The Kitabatake family was actually troubled by Yoshiteru's demands.

"Mr. Shinchi's name is not to his liking."

It seemed he was upset about the unauthorized use of the name.

However, both Mitsuteru and Kiyoteru had used this name for a long time.

Moreover, they had refrained from using their original surname, Ashikaga, out of consideration.

It was frustrating to be criticized by someone they had been considerate towards.

No one knew their original surname, so their consideration was not understood, and this made them even more upset with Yoshiteru.

"Even Mr. Kamakura Shugo tried to mediate, but it didn't work."

Nobunaga, who had served Yoshiteru in the capital, had tried to mediate, but it didn't go well.

"Receiving the rank is enough."

Accepting a guardian position might lead to unreasonable requests.

Masahiro had been told by Kiyoteru that it was not necessary to push for the guardian position.

"Thank you for saying that. Next, this is also a bit of a problem..."

The other matter was Kiyoteru's marriage.

"Is it difficult?"

"No, as you know, the nobles are all in poverty. Since a lower-ranking noblewoman is acceptable, there were many applicants."

They all hoped for financial support from the wealthy Shinchi family.

"But a girl with such an appearance..."

The noble held the illustration of Mel from "Magical Girl Melty Queen."

Even Sōeki, a skilled merchant, was perplexed by the moe-style illustration.

The nobles were also used to handling unreasonable requests from generous sponsors.

"I've handled many requests before, but this is a different kind of challenge."

The noble sighed in front of Masahiro.

Masahiro understood the difficulty but knew it was a direct order from his lord.

He was relieved that Kiyoteru was not the head of the Shinchi family.