Chapter 17: The Hunting Season

  On a sunny summer day, riding a fine horse galloping across a vast green meadow, not far away the yellow wheat waves swaying in the wind, the river flowing alongside the lush trees, and the distant mountains dotted with occasional villages where farmers are harvesting crops amidst shouts and calls, truly a beautiful rural landscape.

  The Nukata District is located in the western part of Mikawa Province, bordering Owari Province to the northwest and connecting to Mikawa Bay to the southwest. The district is divided into two parts by the Yahagi River and has been one of the most prosperous areas in Mikawa Province since the Heian period. In the early Kamakura period, Ashikaga Yoshishige, the second head of the Ashikaga clan, who was also the shugo (military governor) of Mikawa Province at that time, sent his illegitimate son to this area as a local lord, which led to the emergence of the powerful branch family of the Ashikaga clan, the Kira clan.

  This piece of history, Kiryū Manzaburou, can be said to be well-known, almost every day someone is muttering about it. The family's retainers and descendants consider the honor of their name more important than life itself, and also equally important are the lands they govern. Although the Kiryū clan inevitably declined after the rise of the Imagawa clan, a dead camel is still bigger than a horse, the high-ranking officials of the house still firmly believe that the Kiryū family will continue to control Mikawa Province, at least Western Mikawa Province.

  Kira Kanematsu was troubled by this matter. The sixth day of every month was the regular evaluation day for the Kira family, and with less than ten days to go before the evaluation day, how could he explain to those stubborn retainers: "Can't tell them that the Tōjō family is going to resist the Imagawa family, so the main house has to lower its status and surrender to the Imagawa family? If I really say that, the vassals will surely make a big fuss!"

  Looking up at the big sun above, Kirishima MITSUMARU was scorched to a crisp, and he let out a sigh, muttering to himself: "This weather is really abnormal, it's so hot! Just a few days ago it was still cool and breezy, how did it get this hot all of a sudden?!"

  "Master of the mansion! A deer! We just shot a deer!" Several samurai in casual clothes rode over on horseback to report their achievement, and upon hearing this news, even several attendants serving beside Kira Yoshinaka showed some eager expressions. Yamagata Sanjuro looked for permission with his eyes, seeming to be somewhat moved as well.

  "Hunting originally means practicing archery and horse riding with live targets. Today, as soon as we went out, we hunted a deer, it seems to be a good omen, you guys go try too!"

  "Yes!" The group of people excitedly jumped up, each holding a bow and searching for their horses. Under the leadership of Yamagata Jiro, they rushed out to hunt. No one bothered him on this leisurely day, which he liked best. The group ran away and hid in the shade of a tree to take a short rest. As soon as he lay down, he fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, he realized that the sun was already westward. He found someone sitting next to him dozing off and looked up in surprise: "Huh? Yabei, why didn't you go hunting?"

  "Ah! The safety of the master must be guaranteed, and since Lord Yamagishi is neglecting his duties, I, Honda Yorozu, will take over!" Honda Yorozu rubbed his eyes and bowed deeply.

  "Oh! So that's how it is! I've heard your horsemanship isn't very good, and you're not skilled in military tactics either. As for marksmanship and archery, you don't even have a clue... It seems this rumor wasn't entirely unfounded after all!" Kiryū Mimasaka said with a smile.

  "Who is it that has been slandering me, Mōri no Hachirō!" Hachirō's face turned bright red with anger as he was provoked by Kira no Kanetsuru. This guy had just tried to stir up trouble between him and Yamagata no Sanjirō, but didn't expect to be stirred up himself by Kira no Kanetsuru. Now, in a rage, he said: "I'll confront him face-to-face!"

  "Ah! Don't mind such details, if you're really not good at it then there's no way around it. But I heard that Yabei is very smart and studious, has already read through 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu?"

  "Ah! I am but a humble student of the military arts, and my understanding is shallow at best. I dare not claim to have thoroughly read the works of the great masters!"

  Kira Yoshinaka decided to win over this future old fox, and threw out another bait. "The head of the house loves people who can read books, the best scholars in the country are all in the main house, if you have time, the main house will introduce you to the master of the main house, ōguchi Hyōsuke and Nishiyama Sōren."

  Yahachi thanked the master of the mansion, and the master was truly kind to Yahachi! Bonta Yahachi was stunned by this sudden happiness and eagerly expressed his desire to serve as a loyal retainer of the Kira family.

  Unfortunately, his good mood was soon broken. Bonten San'ya, who had been dozing off behind Bonten Hachirō, suddenly woke up and whispered, "Hmm, brother! I need to go to the toilet!"

  "Cough, cough... Let's go to the toilet in the woods! Be careful not to run around wildly, or else monsters will come and catch little kids!" Bando Yahachi awkwardly coaxed his mischievous younger brother aside, still trying to continue spreading his own made-up words. Just then, they heard the urgent sound of horse hooves from afar. It was Yamagata Zentaro returning from hunting, with a string of wild chickens and rabbits hanging from his saddle. Today's harvest seemed quite satisfactory indeed.

  "Master of the mansion! Today's harvest is exceptionally rich! There are wild chickens, rabbits, deer, and wild boars. I don't know what reason they all ran out of the dense forest!" Yamagata Zentaro excitedly showed off his spoils, piling up a pair of game like a victorious warrior inspecting the first fruits of war. The group of foolish samurai enthusiastically piled up their own catches and shouted out the names of those who had caught what prey.

  After hunting, it's natural to have a picnic. Before leaving, I didn't expect to catch so many prey. Taking back so many prey to Saigyo Castle at once would be too conspicuous. If some bad rumors spread in the town below the castle or if I were caught by my vassals, it would be no different from looking for death. So, I eliminated a part of the prey on the spot and sold some to nearby farmers, only bringing back a small amount of prey to Saigyo Castle.

  About thirty people having a picnic together is quite interesting, although the lack of seasonings makes the food not very tasty, but it can't stop the enthusiasm of a group of samurai, this is eating with the head of the Kira family, in the shogunate it's like eating with the lord and his attendants, these guys are very excited, as if they were the attendants of the Kira family.

  However, it's not wrong for them to think that way. The shogunate had a high-ranking samurai daimyo serving as the gosho (御相伴众), and local powerful samurai also had similar organizations called Tomo no za (同朋衆) or Ami-shu (阿弥衆). The so-called Ami-shu had a very low status and were not of samurai origin, they did not have the qualifications to become a daimyo's vassal. For example, famous people like Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (観阿弥) and Zeami Motokiyo (世阿弥), who were well-known for their artistic talents, followed the daimyos and entertained them with performances, they were just low-ranking servants.

  For example, among the same group of friends as Owari's Tiger Oda Nobuhide, there was Take no Ukita, the stepfather of a certain monkey who later became famous. Another relatively well-known member of the same group of friends was Tsukahara Bokuden, who was loved by Oda Nobunaga and was later killed by Inu-Kai, becoming a famous murder case, which in turn led to the Inu-Kai exile incident.

  Of course, he wouldn't say anything discouraging at this time. A group of people finished their picnic and set off again after cleaning up. When they passed by the lower town of Nishijō Castle, a small episode occurred. At some point, a rumor spread within the lower town that the dark sky in the east might be a sign of something ominous happening.

  At that time, it was widely spread in the town, and it is said that a monk who passed by Saijo Castle said so. The townspeople saw this monk's treasure appearance and couldn't help but feel convinced. Zentaro let out a light "hmm" and said: "When I left Saijo Castle this morning, there was no such rumor, how did it spread throughout the entire town in the afternoon?"

  "Are you fooling around? Don't mind them!" Kiryu Manzoumaru curled his lips. The mountain ascetics of this era, combined with Japanese legends, liked to play tricks on people with supernatural things. According to legend, the mountains couldn't be visited because of the tengu, the riverside couldn't be visited because of the kappa, bridges couldn't be crossed because of the tsukumogami, and homes had to beware of the zashiki-warashi. In short, there were monsters everywhere.

  "Let's go, we should head back." He looked up at the eastern horizon which seemed normal and urged the crowd of onlookers to return to Saigyoji.