First of all, sorry about the delay, I had other things on my mind and I couldn't publish this on the time I intended it to be... just for the heck of it, of course. (In case you weren't there when I posted the first chapter, the coincidental pattern of me posting these chapters is: First chapter was posted on April 2nd, Second chapter was posted on April 16th, Third chapter was posted on May 2nd... hence this chapter was supposed to be up on May 16th, but whatever about that. It was funny to notice that, because again, it was pure coincidence.
Also, when I look at this chapter as a whole... it seems to me more like a filler with a sort of a connection to the chapter after it, and if you look at the ending I sticked to it, if you omit the last 2 one-line paragraphs, it could very well include the next event already. But at the end, I decided it to be in the next chapter.
And before I forget, there is an asterisk somewhere in chapter 2. It's actually a referrence to a cool little one-liner I've heard in a game, and the original one-liner was: "Tell me, boy, have you never lifted anything heavier than a pen?" , or something like that. Just in case you wondered why I placed an asterisk there.
Comments about the reviews from last chapter:
Kaioo: Of course I'm planning to include large-scale battles in this, I'm getting a little excited just by thinking about how to make them as I write this. But... I think there's a kind of misunderstanding in that review. While Incident at Honnouji is indeed the final stage for Nobunaga's -STORY MODE- , I think the way you used the word 'musou' in there is wrong. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 'musou' referrs to the circle-button type of attack. By the way, I'm going to be a little more real than an actual Samurai Warriors game... well, not by much, but still... Nobunaga doesn't have any 'levels' or 'healthbar' in this story. He won't just come and say 'I'm level 50 (70 if SW2XL, 20 if SW1 or SW1XL) full stats full healthbar, prepare yourself.' . (I didn't understand the question about Nobunaga having a 'musou' , he does have that type of attack, and I showed it (more or less) .)
Mega1987: Yep, poor bandits... NOT. :P (They DID get musou'd though, ya?)
Audi: I'm glad that your imagination is also up and running, but... I'm not there yet! ^^' Oh, and at the 'Okehazama 2.0' , I already made LOTS of referrences to Okehazama, mostly to show exactly how powerful Nobunaga is, like being outnumbered ten to one in both bronze valkyries and bandits, and even directly mentioning it at some points... and maybe an incoming 'dream' will be about that, so... yea, there are plenty Okehazama referrences in this already... not that another one wouldn't fit though. :P
*Having trouble coming up with a name for this chapter, weeeeeeeeeeeeeee... *
Reviews are most welcome; Enjoy!
Louise went almost straight to bed after reaching the academy... and to be honest, Nobunaga also thought that it would be fine if he went to sleep a bit earlier. "Ah, now that I think of it, Nobunaga..." Said Louise as they walked together towards the dining hall to eat their dinner, remembering something. "I see you entering my room every morning to wake me up, but you don't sleep in my room... so where DO you sleep?" Louise asked. "In the room of one called Guiche de Granmort. You do know him, don't you?" Answered Nobunaga, much to Louise's shock. 'Sure, Nobunaga was a conqueror or whatever he was, but sleeping in Guiche's room?! It doesn't matter how much of a genius Nobunaga is, that's just insane...!' Louise thought to herself, Nobunaga reading her facial expression well enough to understand at least a part of it.
" 'You can't be serious', is proabably what you're thinking, but I assure you that all I do there is sleep, and nothing else. I'm a married man, you know, even if my wife is most probably not in this world, but in my old one; I do hope she is still alive." Said Nobunaga, a bit of a smirk forming on his face. Even the fact that Nobunaga was married was new to Louise. 'I can only imagined who was the woman brave enough to marry that demon king...' Louise shuddered.
. . . *で、 あるか* . . .
The next morning
. . . *で、 あるか* . . .
When Nobunaga woke up, there was a little grin on his face. Somehow, he knew that it would come eventually. Nobunaga waited patiently for -that- dream to come, and it finally did. The dream that would surely come to be Louise's greatest fright regarding him, and portrayed so well that it would seem like a nightmare more than anything else. Nobunaga did cruel things, and oh boy did he do many of those... like burning away buildings with his enemies still inside, doing whole massacres against the Honganji, who were just monks who just happened to oppose him, and later against the Saika village, leaving only despair for poor Magoichi when he arrived... but -that- one was sure to be one of the first places in terms of cruelty.
Just as he got up from... Guiche's, bed, apparently taking his time, suddenly the door of the room was forced open. When Nobunaga immediately looked towards the door to see who it was, he saw that it was none other than his... master turned apprentice Louise, and she was standing at the door, apparently wanting an explanation to the dream (or was it a nightmare) that she just had, still sweating, even though just a bit. "W-What's going on...?" In the few seconds of silence, Guiche got up to sitting on his bed, waking up from the door's noise bumping on the wall from the force Louise put into it. Nobunaga chuckled, seeing Louise's facial expression. "What happened, Louise?" He asked. Of course, he already guessed it, but he asked anyway, just to see her response.
"Just what was... that nightmare...?" Louise asked Nobunaga, looking at him straight in the eyes. "Do you call -that- nightmare...?" Nobunaga chuckled at Louise, almost outright laughing at her. "Um... Can you two tell me what is going on...?" Asked Guiche. "It seems like Louise and I have strange dreams every night since I arrived at Halkeginia... all of them about either my world's past, or future. Now, assuming you had the same dream as I had... ... I could imagine how it could be classified as a nightmare for -you-, Louise, but it clearly wasn't a nightmare for Nobunaga." Nobunaga explained the situation to Guiche roughly, turning towards Louise in the middle. The demon king still remembered that time... and it was glorious.
The story of the dream started in showing two people, a man and a woman, standing in what seemed to be the top floor of a castle, the peaceful view of outside of the castle being visible. It would have been a perfect romantic story between the two, rather than a nightmare, as the dream showed them in a romantic way, as if they were totally in love with each other... if it wasn't for what came afterwards. "Oichi... ... Do you like flowers...?" A voice echoed throughout the castle, persumably the man's, as he held some flowers in his hand. "Lord Nagamasa..." Another voice echoed, as Nagamasa attached the flowers to Oichi's hair. "I am sorry, Oichi... we cannot just ignore your brother's assault against the Asakura. I know it is painful for you, as you are his sister, but... there is no other way." Said Nagamasa, not mentioning Nobunaga's name yet. "It's ok... if we must fight my brother, then so be it." Responded Oichi, to lower the burden on Nagamasa.
The sky then became covered with dark clouds, a mysterious red hue breaching the clouds, painting the earth in the color of blood. The dream switced its scenery to what seemed like a dark forest although the strange red hue still remained. "The Azai have betrayed us!" A soldier's scream could be heard. "So you have turned your back and betrayed me, Nagamasa...? Rearguard! I am counting on you to keep us alive!" Louise's nightmare started right there. 'That's...! Nobunaga's voice..!' That was all Louise managed to think inside the dream. And indeed, it was a battle where the Oda were forced to retreat, due to the Azai betraying them against the Asakura... the 'Battle of Kanegasaki'. A lot of screams were heard. The lives of many warriors were lost. "We've finally driven them off... Azai... Asakura... you will soon learn, that crossing me is the most foolish thing you can do on this earth." Were Nobunaga's last words before the dream switched its scenery again.
Nagamasa and Oichi were back at the castle, just outside its gates, facing away from them. Suddenly, a huge army appeared in the distance, led by one man, surrounded by his retainers. When Louise looked closer, the man leading the army was, again, none other than Nobunaga himself, beside him being Mitsuhide, Hideyoshi, and a few others Louise didn't recognize, but Nobunaga sure did. "This man needs no mercy. Destroy them all." Said Nobunaga, pointing his sword at Nagamasa.
The final scene in the dream was the most shocking one for Louise. On the same top floor of the castle, the point from which the dream began, was Nobunaga, with his back turned towards Oichi, who was then crying for the loss of her beloved one, his skull right before her eyes, along with two others, those of his father, and his ally he tried to protect from Nobunaga. Something was strange, however, as those skulls seemed to have had their top parts missing. When Louise turned her attention towards Nobunaga, she noticed that he was drinking from what seemed to be a small golden plate, two of his retainers at the corner of the room drinking too from similar plates... that was when Louise figured out what Nobunaga did. "Oichi..." Said Nobunaga, Louise wanting the dream to end already. "... DO YOU LIKE FLOWERS?" With that repetition of the first line in the dream, and Nobunaga raising his golden cup carved from skull as if he was celebrating something with the usual 'cheers', the dream ended.
Nobunaga and Louise continued their conversation outside Guiche's room. "How can you call THAT anything other than a nightmare?!" Louise asked, her voice raised. "Think about it... I lived in that world. Things like that were not enough for me to even shed one tear. Nagamasa betrayed me even though I had my own little sister, Oichi, marry him so they could very well live happily ever after... so I killed him, took Oichi back, and destroyed the Azai completely along with the Asakura which I intended to destroy in the first place. This is about the normal reaction you'd get from anyone." Was Nobunaga's response, explaining step by step how he worked in that situation. "Even if you were a noble, that's... that's too cruel! Your sister was crying in front of your face! Didn't you feel at least one bit sad for her?!" Louise asked.
Nobunaga chuckled, making Louise even more furious. "Of course I felt sad for her. After all, she IS my sister. However, it was her choice of love is what brought pain upon her, and not Nobunaga." Nobunaga explained his point of view. He sure was cruel, and that wasn't new, even to Louise. But he was not necessarily bad either, and Louise could tell that too. It was just his morality core that was messed up... or so Louise thought anyway. "Well, don't you have other things to care about than Nobunaga's past, Louise?" Nobunaga tried to change the mood, and change the subject from his past to something else... like the first day of Louise training under him. That, and she had some classes that day.
When Louise's classes were over, Nobunaga couldn't help but raise a brow at what he saw while he was walking with Louise in one of the corridors, walking towards Louise's room. 'If I remember correctly... that is none other than Count Mott.' Nobunaga thought to himself, as indeed the same Count Mott from last time walked right behind them, in the same direction. "You there with the black armor, stop for a moment." That time Mott was actually trying to talk directly with Nobunaga, another thing nobles would only rarely do. Regardless, Louise and Nobunaga both stopped, Nobunaga turning around first.
"Now what business could you ever have with Nobunaga?" Said the demon king, refering to himself in third person. "I see, so you are the one behind the rumors I've been receiving lately. An imposing man with strange hairstyle, black armor, and the symbol of a five-petaled flower on some sort of red mantle on his back, who goes by the name of 'Nobunaga'." Count Mott described all the details he heard about. Those descriptions were rather accurate, a thing which alerted Nobunaga a bit. "May I ask how do you know so much about me...?" Asked Nobunaga. "Oh you will know pretty soon even if I don't tell you. You are pretty famous, after all. Well, I am a busy man, so you will have to excuse me." Was the only response given from Count Mott, before he passed through Nobunaga and Louise with a small grin on his face, heading for the gate.
"... Is that so?" Said Nobunaga a few seconds after Count Mott passed them, as if responding to what he said. "Why in the founder's name are you so famous all of a sudden?" Louise asked Nobunaga right after his... interesting late response. "If I am to take a guess, it's probably the scene I caused at one of the capital's roads, with the bandits. You know, there were some eye witnesses to that incident. Also... corpses don't just disappear." Nobunaga answered, the last part giving Louise the chills. "After you rest a bit in your room, we'll start your first training session. Make sure you take that intelligent sword of yours." Said Nobunaga, the two continuing on their path, all obstacles then gone from their way.
After a while, Nobunaga and Louise left the tower where the dorms were, Louise standing in front of Nobunaga, although with a bit of distance. "Well, we're here... can you really make me stronger with this...?" Asked Louise, Nobunaga chucking in response. "Before we begin, there is something you must understand. With these training sessions, -I- am not making you any stronger. What will make you stronger, is non other than YOU, Louise, as I am only giving you some directions." Nobunaga said, explaining why he laughed in a way. "Partner's right on that one little lady - no one can make you stronger if it doesn't come from you in the first place. Now, try to draw me!" Derflinger commented from Louise's back, backing up Nobunaga's words.
Louise was hesitant to draw Derflinger, and Nobunaga could sense that, by the fact that Louise's hand was shaking when she drew Derflinger, her grip on the sword being frail. While Nobunaga knew he shouldn't laugh at her, he did something which could very well be considered that way. What Nobunaga did was slowly walk in towards Louise, closing the distance. Then, when he came withing reach of Louise's hands holding Derflinger, he suddenly reached with his own hand towards the holding point where Louise held Derflinger, and pulled it from Louise's hand with force, the runes on Nobunaga's left hand glowing since he was then holding a weapon. "W-What are you doing?! You almost hurt me!" Louise shouted at Nobunaga.
"While this sword is lightweight, allowing you to get used to it with ease compared to the other swords, your grip on the sword was so frail that I could take it away from you without using much of my strength. You also hesitated when you drew your sword, and your hands were shaking. Do you understand what I am saying?" Said Nobunaga, returning Derflinger to Louise's back where its sheath was. "Y-Yes..." Replied Louise, understanding Nobunaga's words somewhat. Louise could swear she heard Derflinger holding himself not to laugh at that point, either from her lousy attempt to draw him, or from Nobunaga's successful attempt to snatch him from Louise's hands.
"Now, try to draw your sword again. This time, pay attention to your grip on the sword. I will try to do the same thing I did last time." Said Nobunaga, moving back about the same distance as earlier. The process repeated two more times, each and every one of them Nobunaga successfuly took the sword from Louise without needing to use almost any real power at all. However, Nobunaga noticed that Louise started to pick up what he was trying to teach her, and that was a positive sign. "Are you sure you're not just making fun of me...?" Asked Louise after the third time. "What gave you -that- idea...? You're getting better and I don't even think that you realize it." Nobunaga replied. "I am...? But all you did was take my sword from my hand a couple of times..." Louise doubted, Nobunaga chuckling again. "Surely you don't expect to -seriously- challenge Nobunaga on your first day of training? But those are indeed your first steps as a warrior." Replied Nobunaga.
Suddenly, a green-haired woman approached the two. "Excuse me, you two." She said as she approached, Louise turning around. "If I remember correctly you are... Miss Longueville, the headmaster's secretary... how can we help you..?" Said Louise, identifying the woman. "Actually, the headmaster wants to see you two, Louise de la Valierre and 'Oda Nobunaga'." Said Miss Longueville, trying her best not to butcher Nobunaga's name, and she indeed didn't. "For what reason?" Louise asked in a rather polite way. "I don't know the exact details myself, but it appears that a letter from the royal palace has arrived, and it persumably has something to do with you two." Replied the secretary. "Is that so...? So that, is what Count Mott was doing here..? Interesting." Said Nobunaga to no one in particular. None the less, he followed the secretary to the headmaster's office without causing any trouble at all. Louise just prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid in the headmaster's office... ... prayed to the founder of course.
When the now group of three reached the headmaster's office, Miss Longueville knocked on the door, possibly the polite thing to do. "I've brought them, like you wanted." She said to the headmaster, who was obviously behind the large door... which Nobunaga almost mistaken for a gate of his old world... and boy, were those freaking big-ass gates. "Ah, come in." The voice of a rather old man was heard through the door, the secretary opening said door in response. From Nobunaga's initial sight of the headmaster of the academy of magic of Tristain, that headmaster was indeed quite old, but when Nobunaga looked at him, it seemed like he was far from being weak or senile. "Thank you, Miss Longueville. Sit down, you two." The headmaster said, Louise pulling Nobunaga to one of the couches which were in the room, surprisingly quite far from the actual desk of the headmaster.
"Well... as you may or may not know, I received a letter from the royal palace today... and it mentioned you, 'Oda Nobunaga'." The headmaster said, as if opening a speech... which Louise didn't want to happen, because it may or may not take all day. "Is that so...?" Nobunaga replied with what almost seemed like his signature words, the headmaster nodding before continuing to the point. "I won't read the whole letter to you, but it was written that there were reports to the palace about you killing a group of bandits in the capital. Honestly, I was shocked about how descriptive they were with the goreish sight 'Oda Nobunaga' persumably left there lying on the ground in the middle of the road. First I must ask you, Nobunaga... is that true? Did you really do all that?" The headmaster asked. Louise turned to face Nobunaga, who sat beside her, as if asking him to be careful with his words, or else who knows what they would do with him. Obviously, Louise thought it was not going to end well.
"Why yes, it indeed happen. Although honestly speaking, we were attacked first, and all 'Oda Nobunaga' did was defending himself and his 'master', and not just attacking random people, who happened to be all bandits." Was Nobunaga's response. "Hmm, so it really did happen... then let me ask you another question, Nobunaga, before I tell you two why exactly I summoned you two for this conversation... I do understand why you killed them... but from the description of the corpses by the time you left them, they were in such a bad shape that I couldn't think of anything else but the fact that what it takes to take the life of another human being couldn't possibly require such actions... so why -did- you continue to take it to such extremes, while the bandits were already dead?" Asked the headmaster.
Louise then remembered what Derflinger told her to do, moments before Nobunaga cut down the bandits... 'I sense a terrible power swelling inside mah partner, there's no tellin' what atrocities he might do to them! If ya don't wanna lose your mind right here and now, better turn around before he does that.' . "I don't know what is the image that forms inside your mind about 'Oda Nobunaga', but let me remind you that the bandits numbered ten, while Nobunaga numbered only one. Also, let me assure you, I did not stay there for long after those bandits were taken care of, at all. They experienced a quick, painless, and worthless deaths." Answered Nobunaga. "But... how could you kill ten bandits, and do all that in just a matter of a few seconds...? I remember it being so fast that I couldn't even do anything, and you were already by my side..." Said Louise, the headmaster's eyes widening a bit.
"No matter how much I think about it, there is no way that a regular plebeian, even if he is a trained swordsman, would manage to do all that in just a matter of a few seconds...! Is that really true, Louise..?" Said the headmaster, unable to comprehend what Nobunaga did exactly, in such a short amount of time, Louise nodding in response. "I see that this conversation isn't going anywhere. Those bandits are long dead, and won't be returning to life anymore; The point of interest shouldn't be what I -did-, but I'm -going to do- from this point on. Now, could you please tell us the -true- reason why you called us here...?" Nobunaga interrupted the headmaster and Louise's line of thought. Louise, on her side, prepared for the worst.
"Oh, alright then... the final part of the letter said that whoever this 'Oda Nobunaga' might be, the princess would like to see him for herself, and that while the good deed he did is not enough for the rank of Chevalier, the royal palace thanks him greatly, and hopes that he will use his strength for Tristain in the future as well." Said the headmaster. That certainly took a load of pressure off Louise. While she was expecting the worst to happen, what really happened was that the royal palace, including princess Heinrietta herself, simply thanked him for what seemed to be a good deed.
"Honestly, the reason why I wanted to talk with you directly, Nobunaga, was to question your morality. The royal palace will keep an eye on you for some time now, so I wanted to tell you to be careful in what you do from now on. You don't seem evil, but from what I heard from you, killing 10 human beings didn't affect you in the slightest, even though you reduced them to such shape they were barely even recognizable. I guess I will have to keep an eye on you too." Said the headmaster, from his voice tone it seemed like he didn't want to have to keep an eye on Nobunaga, even though it was rather necessary. "Well then, I wouldn't like to waste your time any further than what I already did, so you are now dismissed." With that, Louise and Nobunaga left the headmaster's office.
The following evening, the samurai knight in the dark armor surprisingly didn't see Siesta anywhere around where he went. For a moment he thought the poor maid was kidnapped by someone who had things to settle with him, but the more he thought of that possibility, the more it seemed rather unlikely, since no-one he could think of, except Guiche, knew that he even had a single talk with that specific maid. Then, when Nobunaga thought that he'd rather go to bed than waste his time looking for her, someone approached him... and that someone was rather familiar to Nobunaga.
"Hey there, Our Sword!" It was the head chef, who greeted Nobunaga with a raised hand and a lively voice tone. "What brings you here?" Asked Nobunaga. "I was about to ask the same thing to you; I'm only taking a little break, and you?" The head chef returned the question. "I just noticed that I didn't see Siesta for quite some time. Did something happen to her...?" Asked Nobunaga. At that point, Nobunaga got a little suspicious, since the head chef's liveliness, suddenly disappeared. "She left today at noon, heading to Count Mott's estate, being hired to be his personal maid... Didn't Siesta tell you about it?" The head chef revealed the secret Siesta tried to hide from Nobunaga. "No, she didn't. I do wonder... Was she trying to hide that from me...? Anyway, give me the coordinations to the Mott estate." Said Nobunaga, the middle part being to no one in particular.
Of course, the head chef agreed to give Nobunaga the general location of the estate. To what he really agreed on though, he didn't know at the slightest.
"...Is that so? Up until now, Siesta has been the only person I could truely say that she wouldn't betray me. She's been the person I could count on. Maid or no maid, I won't let some worthless person like Count Mott have her all for himself. This, is what -I- desire...!" .