Chapter 68: Island Left Joins

  Kiriyama Mantsumaru appeared in the island house as Kyoto nobleman Nishijo Saburo, although it caused a certain degree of vigilance from the island family, his pure Kyoto accent and a pair of fine samurai horses, as well as a small surname servant who looked like a big shot at first glance, were not something that the island family, a rural clan in Heguri village, could afford to provoke.

  The islanders treated the guests with great enthusiasm, or rather, seeing Kijirō Manzōmaru and his entourage of twenty-odd people dressed to the nines, each riding a fine horse, they looked like high-class samurai from medieval Japan, which made Shimotsuke no Kojirō even more enthusiastic. He immediately ordered someone to catch fresh fish in the Hirakawa River to make soup, brought out carefully stored Japanese rice and steamed it to serve freshly cooked rice, and his youngest son, Sannosuke, had caught a wild deer and roasted its meat.

  "I didn't expect that the guests from Kyoto would come to our island city, I can only ask the guests to eat some rough country food, sorry!" One of the island friends had an expression of embarrassment, but seemed very pleased with himself. According to his previous description on the way here, he also roughly knew about the special situation of the island family, that in Kōfuku-ji Temple and even in Yamato Province, their island family's food was the most exquisite.

  "It's nothing, thank you for the warm hospitality of Lord Toyotomi. To be honest, we were a bit too sudden with our visit." Kira no Sanrō smiled and said: "I'm really sorry to have disturbed Lord Toyotomi's life, Zentarō."

  "Yes!" Zenjirō took out a finely crafted short sword and handed it over with both hands.

  "This is..."

  "This is a short sword made by Sakai's famous craftsman, although it's not as good as the rib difference, but it's better suited for family self-defense, and I happened to buy one more in Sakai, so I'll give it to Lord Bungo."

  "This is too much... Alright! I, Tomo no Yoshio, will humbly accept it!" Tomo no Yoshio pretended to decline at first but soon accepted the gift with a smile. The short sword made by a famous swordsmith was worth at least twenty ryō, and as a warrior, he could tell the quality of a weapon.

  Kira Yoshinaka didn't care about the cheap habits of Shima Yoko, and Shima Yoko couldn't figure out this mysterious Kyoto nobleman. Kira Yoshinaka was thinking of how to take away future Shima Sakonosuke, and the two exchanged some bland pleasantries. Suddenly, Kira Yoshinaka changed the subject: "I get along very well with your son Saemon, I wonder if I can bring him to Kyoto?"

  "This... isn't very convenient, is it?" The color drained from Toshinosuke's face. He had only one son, and you were going to take him to Kyoto? What would happen to the Island family then? Besides, he still hadn't figured out who you really were - maybe you were some kind of swindler or a spy sent by the Tsukuike family, and the Island family would be ruined.

  "Don't refuse hastily, what if I want him to be a close attendant of our family?"

  "Excuse me for asking, but which noble family in Kyoto does the Western General belong to?"

  The meaning of this sentence is very simple, wanting me to let the island family's legitimate child serve as a close attendant, you also have to show your own identity, don't use that set of private visits to deceive me, country people are not so easy to cheat, the island family's vassals also stand up with ill intentions, seemingly waiting for the house owner to give the word and bind this group of people, the atmosphere suddenly becomes strange.

  Kiriu Manshōmaru knew something was wrong with a glance, so he stood up suddenly and said: "It seems that the first time the main house goes out in disguise will be exposed! Well! Zentarō!"

  "Yes!" Zenjirō hastily took out his clothes and, with the help of Kozuke, changed into his own outerwear, a yellowish-brown straight-sleeved garment with the crests of the Ashikaga and Hosokawa families printed on it. The people of Shimada's household gasped in unison, "This... is this really the Lord of Kyoto? No way! Why would the Lord of Kyoto come to our humble place? Could it be..."

  "Hatakeyama... Lord Oyakata!" The trembling voice of Shima Tomoyuki hastily prostrated himself on the ground, and all members of the Shima family in the simple large room fell to their knees, including Shima Saizō who was playing with Taki Kōjirō and Honda Sanmi.

  "Wrong! It's not Hatakeyama, it's Yoshida Udagawa-sama!" Yamagaki Zenjirō immediately corrected.

  "Yes! Yes! Lord Kiryū no Miyake has arrived! It's really... it's really...". Tomo no Island, this small local tyrant, had never seen a Miyake of the Ashikaga clan before. Whether it was Hatayama or Kiriyu, it was something he didn't even dare to think about. "But why would a noble from Kyoto come to their house? Is it just for Sainari?"

  One of the islanders cast a questioning glance at Left Inner, saw that he was still staring blankly with a foolish expression, and sighed inwardly making a decision: "I heard Kyoto is in chaos, it's too dangerous to go there, so no matter what I won't let Left Inner go!"

  "Everyone, get up." With a wave of his hand, everyone stood up, including the islanders. The islanders were all silent, not knowing how to react to this unexpected guest. Island friend was thinking about how to refuse this matter without losing face in front of the noble person.

  Kira Kōzuke also had concerns, worrying that being too forceful would mess things up. So when everyone present was slightly distracted, he walked over and asked Island Sōemon: "I, Kira Kōzuke, want you to be my attendant, are you willing?"

  "...Island Left Inner looked at his father, but saw that his father was blocked by a well-dressed young man. The appearance of this young man he still remembered, and seemed to have surpassed his archery skills. He couldn't see his father's hint, only seeing the young man smiling and nodding at him. Island Left Inner involuntarily nodded back at him."

  "Alright! From today on! Shimizu Naoki is now one of Kiryū Sanzaburou's close vassal samurai!" Kiryū Manzaburou loudly declared, and immediately the Kiryū family's Mawari samurai and attendants followed with loud cheers to celebrate. Takigawa Keijirō and Honda Sanmi were excitedly hugging each other, celebrating that their duo had upgraded to a trio once again.

  "The promise of the Honke remains valid, a fine horse will be given to you by the Honke, a famous sword and strong bow will also be given to you by the Honke. All you need to do is swear an oath to the gods that you will forever be loyal to the Honke, and all this will be yours! Now the Honke asks you, are you willing?" Kiryū's voice was gentle, but it shook everyone like a great drum.

  Everyone, including Island House, fixed their gaze on his small body again. The obscured view of the island friend was about to speak, but he was pressed by two Maori warriors and didn't dare move. He was anxious to jump up, "Should I shout loudly to stop them? But will this have any bad effects? What if..."

  Before the island friend could weigh the pros and cons, Island Left broke the silence: "I, Island Left, make a vow to Shakyamuni Buddha to serve Lord Kira Yoshinaka!"

  "Bastard! How could you agree to this!" Island friend almost fell over when he heard these words, several family ministers also stumbled, this young master who had been silent from childhood to adulthood suddenly made a shocking move.

  "I'd rather serve with loyalty, but you insist on making vows to the gods! And it has to be in front of Shakyamuni Buddha, don't you know that our family is an official of the Kofukuji Temple? The Kofukuji Temple worships Shakyamuni Buddha, how did I end up with such a foolish child?! It's infuriating!" Island Tomo was so angry he almost fell over, luckily several Kiryū samurai caught him in time.

  To outsiders, the head of the house seemed overly agitated and was indeed unable to say anything more. Since the oath had already been sworn, it could not be changed, and Yoshitsugu's retainer, Zenjirō, who was grinding ink, stood by silently while Nakajō Hidetada assisted him in drafting the oath document.

  They also knew that Kiryu Oyakata was a ruthless man who would take things to the extreme, leaving no room for the Shimada family to change their minds later on.