Chapter 3

In the 22nd year of Tenmon (1553), July, in Kutsuki Valley, Kutsuki District, Omi Province, at Kutsuki Castle, Kutsuki Masatsuna.

"Grandfather, Kutsuki is poor."

Bamibumaru muttered as he gazed out the window of the castle.

"Bamibumaru, you always say strange things. If Kutsuki were poor, there would be no rich places. Isn't that right, Umebashi?"

"That's right, Lord Bamibumaru."

When Umebashi and I refuted Bamibumaru's words, he showed a dissatisfied expression. The July sunset was hot, and the cicadas' noisy chirping made it even hotter. I could see sweat running down Bamibumaru's cheek to his throat. However, he continued to look outside without any concern.

I didn't mean to lie. In the three years since Bamibumaru became the head of the family, Kutsuki has been growing richer day by day. The retainers and vassals who might have been anxious about Bamibumaru at first now unconditionally believe in him. The development of Kutsuki has been remarkable.

"Why do you say such things?"

"It's almost time for dinner. It will probably be a mixed grain meal with millet and foxtail millet again. I want to eat white rice."

I couldn't help but laugh. Umebashi also smiled, looking troubled.

"There's no help for it. It's because of the clear sake you made. People from all over Japan come asking for clear sake. To make clear sake, we need rice. We have to reduce our own consumption to make it."

"I didn't expect it to get this bad."

He said it in a small voice. Was he regretting it? I laughed again, finding it amusing.

When Bamibumaru became the head of the family, the first thing he did was make clear sake. When he suddenly put ashes from the hearth into the cloudy sake, I thought he had gone mad. But after a night, the sake had become clear and tasted good. When we started selling it, it was immediately traded at a high price. It became a must-have for New Year's celebrations and other auspicious occasions, and was even used in military ceremonies. Now, it has become a specialty of Kutsuki, and merchants come from far away.

"The woodworkers and lacquerers were delighted. Because the sake is clear, they want beautifully lacquered cups, which sell like hotcakes. Kutsuki's lacquerware is not inferior to Hino's. No, according to a letter from the Asukai family, Kutsuki's lacquerware is now more highly regarded, even in the capital."

When I praised him, Umebashi enthusiastically followed up.

"Lord Bamibumaru suggested painting the zodiac signs on the cups. They are very popular."

"You can't fill your stomach with lacquerware."

Bamibumaru said it softly. I laughed again, and Umebashi also burst out laughing. My grandson has a knack for making people laugh.

"You're a troublesome one. Isn't that right, Umebashi?"

"..."

When I asked Umebashi, he had an ambiguous expression. It was a good sign; Umebashi didn't nod in agreement with my words. He must have been convinced by Bamibumaru. Even if the words came from his grandfather, he couldn't criticize his lord, Bamibumaru.

"Autumn is coming soon. It will be the harvest season. Then we can eat white rice."

Bamibumaru shook his head.

"No, we'll buy rice from elsewhere. There must be a good harvest somewhere. We'll buy it cheaply and sell the clear sake at a high price. That's better."

He was thinking of something strange again.

"Hmm, ... Why don't you buy it now? Then you can eat white rice."

"The price of rice is high now."

"I see. Then, should we wait for the harvest and have the merchant buy the rice?"

"Yes, that's my plan. Grandfather, please help me."

"Understood."

He wanted me to help write a request to the merchant. It would be a joint request from Bamibumaru and me. Normally, Bamibumaru's name would be just a formality, but in Kutsuki, it's the opposite. My name is the formality. I laughed again.

Well, Komuya Genshiro, a major merchant from Wakasa, has been coming to Kutsuki himself for about a year now. For a merchant of Komuya's size, a small lord like Kutsuki wouldn't be worth much effort. It seems Komuya is quite impressed with Bamibumaru... Perhaps I should have a heart-to-heart talk with him. It might be necessary to know what the merchant sees in Bamibumaru.

In the 22nd year of Tenmon (1553), July, in Kutsuki Valley, Kutsuki District, Omi Province, at Kutsuki Castle, Bamibumaru.

As I stood there with my grandfather and Umebashi, I thought again that this wasn't a dream. How many times have I thought this? It's strange. I was born in the Showa era and lived for over twenty-five years. I spent a similar amount of time in the Heisei era. Before I knew it, I was over fifty. Once you're over fifty, you're in the final stage of your life. You can't help but understand what kind of life you've had. It was a life without anything special, an extremely ordinary life.

I never got married. I liked women, but I thought marriage was troublesome. Fortunately, I was the youngest of three brothers, so my parents didn't nag me much. I thought I would live an ordinary life and die without anything special happening. I had no complaints. When I was a kid, I wanted to be famous, but I no longer thought that way. I didn't want to be pursued by the media and live a cramped life. I wasn't just being bitter.

I wanted to leave something behind, so I decided to write a book. I've always liked reading, and I didn't intend to sell it. It was just for my own satisfaction. I thought I would post it on a novel website and be content with receiving some praise and criticism. I liked history, so I decided to write a reincarnation story. I would be born as the son of a small lord in Mino, serve Oda Nobunaga, and help him achieve his goal of unifying the country. That was the story.

I did some research. Methods to enrich the domain, simple ways to make money. There weren't many good ones. The ones that seemed easy were making clear sake, cultivating shiitake mushrooms, producing cotton thread, and making soap. The others were abolishing checkpoints and promoting free markets. Modern knowledge isn't very useful in the past. Of course, you can't make an airplane in the Stone Age. The same goes for the Sengoku period. Our current prosperous life is the result of accumulated knowledge from the past. Ignoring that accumulation is meaningless.

Still, I ended up in this era for some reason. At first, I thought it was a dream. After all, I was a baby. It was impossible, and I thought I would wake up to reality if I slept again, but it never happened. I laughed when I realized this was my new reality. After living an ordinary life for over fifty years, this was unexpected. I couldn't help but laugh. I must have been a strangely cheerful baby.

If I was going to live in this reality, I needed to know where and when I was, and who I was. Fortunately, the people around me spoke Japanese, so I understood I was in Japan. From their clothing and hairstyles, I knew it was before the Meiji era. From their conversations, I knew it wasn't the Edo period. It was the Sengoku period, probably between 1540 and 1560. I couldn't be sure because I didn't know what the era names represented. However, names like Azai, Rokkaku, Miyoshi, and Asakura kept coming up, so I had a general idea.

I also realized I was born into a fairly prominent family. The house I lived in was clearly not a peasant's, and I was treated with importance. There were many people around me, so I thought it was at least a samurai general's household. However, I didn't know the location. I knew it was in Omi Province, but I didn't understand Kutsuki and Kutsuki Valley.

Of course, I had thought Kutsuki was Kutsuki. I was wrong, and I got the wrong information. I learned a lot from this mistake. Lake Biwa, which I knew, was called Lake Awaji. My mother, Aya, called it Lake Awaji, and it was called that in the Manyoshu.

So, I learned that I was the heir of the Kutsuki family, which ruled Kutsuki Valley. In other words, I was born into a local lord's family in Kutsuki District, Omi Province. The family had 8,000 koku, which would be a hatamoto in the Edo period. However, it wasn't a large domain in this era. It was rather small and rarely appeared in history, just one of many.

"Is something wrong, Bamibumaru?"

I realized my grandfather was looking at me with a puzzled expression, probably worried about my silence.

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"I see, you often get quiet, Bamibumaru."

"Is that so?"

When I looked at Umebashi, he nodded. Hmm, I should be more careful.

According to my grandfather, the Kutsuki family was a branch of the Sasaki Genji, a collateral line of the Sasaki Genji of Omi. The Sasaki Genji were active in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the Kamakura period, and were trusted and favored by Minamoto no Yoritomo. They expanded their influence throughout Japan, centered in Omi, according to my grandfather. Four major families emerged from the Sasaki Genji: the Kyogoku, Rokkaku, Ohara, and Takashima. The Kyogoku and Rokkaku are well-known, as I had researched them when I decided to write a book.

The Kyogoku family grew larger when Sasaki Takauji appeared at the end of the Kamakura shogunate. Takauji was a famous Basara daimyo and a top-class warrior. He was also good at reading the times. He made significant contributions to the downfall of the Kamakura shogunate and the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate by supporting Ashikaga Takauji. In the Muromachi period, the Kyogoku family was appointed as the governor of provinces such as Izumo, Iwami, and Hida, and was a prestigious family with the status of one of the four offices and seven heads in the shogunate. However, they declined due to the rise of the lower ranks. The Kyogoku family would revive during the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

On the other hand, the Rokkaku family was not as adept at navigating the political landscape. Due to their loyalty to the Kamakura shogunate, they were not as highly regarded in the Muromachi shogunate as the Kyogoku family, despite being the main branch of the Sasaki Genji. However, they were still the governor of Omi and were somewhat respected. The Rokkaku family's influence grew during the Sengoku period when Rokkaku Takayori emerged and wielded significant power in the politics of the Kinai region. However, after Takayori, the Rokkaku family gradually lost its power and eventually declined, never to recover.

When the Rokkaku family gained power, it was during my grandfather's time, and they had to follow Takayori. Takayori died last year, and my grandfather seemed to have mixed feelings. He looked resentful, sad, and relieved... I understand, there are people who make you feel that way. As you get older, you become more susceptible to such sentiments. Takayori must have been a man my grandfather couldn't help but be aware of, both positively and negatively.

The Kutsuki family was not directly related to the Kyogoku or Rokkaku families. They were a branch of the Takashima family, a different lineage. The Takashima family expanded their influence in Takashima District, Omi Province. Kutsuki is in Takashima District, so that makes sense. The Kutsuki family also produced branches such as the Nagata, Higashiyama, and Tanaka families, all in Takashima District. Together with the Takashima, Kutsuki, Nagata, Higashiyama, and Tanaka families, and the Yamasaki family from a different lineage, they were known as the Takashima Seven Heads.

However, their influence was limited to the southwestern part of Takashima District and did not extend to the northeastern part. The seven families combined had a size of about 50,000 koku, which was far from comparable to the Kyogoku and Rokkaku families. In the late 1560s, the Azai family expanded their influence into Takashima District, and most of the families were either destroyed or subjugated. After that, I haven't heard of any of them except the Kutsuki family. They might have perished with the Azai family.

The Takashima family was called the Sasaki Echizen family because they inherited the position of Echizen-no-kami. They had a high status but little power. It was meaningless. In Kutsuki, my grandfather and the retainers only called them Sasaki Echizen. This had been the case even before my father died, and I think they disliked the name. I also disliked it; it was the reason I was suffering.

The only thing I knew about the Kutsuki family was Kutsuki Moto-tsuna. He helped Oda Nobunaga when Nobunaga stumbled during his campaign against the Asakura of Echizen. In a sense, he was Nobunaga's savior. However, he was not highly regarded by Nobunaga. By the time of the Battle of Sekigahara, he was a small daimyo with about 20,000 koku. Not only Nobunaga, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi also did not highly regard him.

During the Battle of Sekigahara, he switched sides from the Western Army to the Eastern Army and made a significant contribution by dealing the final blow to the Western Army. However, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not highly regard him either. The reason was that he did not inform Ieyasu in advance of his defection. Ieyasu suspected he was playing both sides. It might have been true. Moto-tsuna seemed to be an unlucky and incompetent man. Despite making significant contributions in historical moments, he was not recognized. He was a strange man. Given his age, I seemed to have been reincarnated as this strange, unlucky man. It was a laughable situation.

However, knowing history, I thought I could do better. At least 30,000 to 50,000 koku in Nobunaga's time, 70,000 to 100,000 koku in Hideyoshi's time, and more than 100,000 koku by siding with Ieyasu at Sekigahara. Then, I would arrange for my son or grandson to marry into the Tokugawa family to ensure the stability of the Kutsuki family. That was my plan.

I never expected my father to die in battle. But that's when I realized it was the Sengoku period. If the enemy had attacked, I might have been killed too. I was only two years old at the time, but I was still in a life-or-death situation. I had no choice but to act to survive. It was good that I encouraged the retainers, but I was worried about the attention I received. I recited the "Atsumori" to get through it. As a result, my mother found me strange and creepy. If I had a younger brother, there might have been a succession dispute.

Kutsuki is not safe. There are people who target Kutsuki. I need to protect myself. Fortunately, the Ashikaga shogun's family fled to Kutsuki right after that. The Kutsuki family had served the shogun loyally for generations. My grandfather, in particular, was highly trusted by the shogun. That's why they came to Kutsuki. They came when I was born, and I heard they had come to Kutsuki several times before that. As long as the shogun is here, a small fry like Sasaki Echizen won't attack.

Kutsuki is convenient. It's close to Kyoto but surrounded by mountains, making it difficult for large armies to move. Omi Province is also within the sphere of influence of the Rokkaku family, who are close to the Ashikaga shogun's family. From the shogun's perspective, it probably seems relatively safe. However, I didn't know the shogun's name was Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Given the era, I thought it might be Yoshitane, and his interest in swordsmanship seemed to match. But his name was Yoshiaki, which was confusing. Did he change his name, or was there a reason he was called Yoshiaki instead of Yoshitane? Or was I born into a world with a similar history?

Yoshiaki made peace with Miyoshi Nagayoshi after about a year. I'm grateful; that year was significant. We didn't recover all the losses from the defeat, but we were able to reorganize. If we had remained in chaos, Sasaki Echizen would have attacked. We were able to prevent that. I wonder how things are going with Miyoshi Nagayoshi.

"Grandfather, how is the shogun's battle with the Miyoshi family going?"

"The shogun's situation doesn't seem good."

My grandfather's face clouded over. He was worried, and he had a deep connection to the shogun.

"He might come to Kutsuki again."

"Yes, we should prepare."

"That's right."

He might flee here again. It didn't last two years. Kyoto must be uncomfortable with the Miyoshi family around, and Kutsuki might be more comfortable. He might settle here like a cat.

Two years ago, when the shogun Yoshiaki had just lost his father Yoshizumi, he relied heavily on my grandfather. He also doted on me, who had lost my father at the same time. I felt bad