………

……

At the foot of Mount Sawa, there is a mansion inhabited by the Jiui family, but a little further along the foothills, there is a cabin named Hao Tokuyuan.

A temple of the same name in Hamamatsu called Ryotan Temple will be established at the location of this small temple.

Its Dragon Tan Temple is the bodhisattva temple of the Jiui family these days.

Since the battle of Sekigahara, their possession has been transferred from their place of origin, Inuiya, to Mount Sawa here, and temples will be created for that matter.

And Haotian Zongjian, a former resident of the Dragon Tan Temple and apprentice of the famous monk, is involved in its establishment.

It should be noted that this Haotian is also known as a brother in the Longtan Temple of the first clan lords Iyi Naoto and Hikone, famous for their female castle owners, and after the death of two South Gorge monks and two brothers Jieshan (Katsuzan), he served a fine job in the Longtan Temple.

Celebration 11 (1606) Early March 22nd -

Well, me and Naoto Iyi, who are hanging out around the Haodenan area of Itsuki Inuiya like that, decided to sit back on a stone just the right size and take a short break.

… and it was then…

Nyaa...

And I heard the kitten squeal, from nowhere.

The two of us look for the ringing bearer with his face choked up.

Then…

"Whoa! Did you go somewhere like that?"

and found the kitten in a place where Naoki-san was a slightly larger blur just outside Hao De-yun. Was the puddle strained or rather muddy, and the kitten could not move from it?

"Mm-hmm. This seemed like a dangerous place!

Near Naoki-san, who raised her voice so, there are some cats that seem to be the mother cats of kittens, but she just wanders around worryingly, apparently unable to help.

Then, how dare Naoki-san go into the mud without getting dirty?

And when I took the kitten that was in the hole with a gentle hand, I returned it to her mother cat.

"We're not leaving again."

Against Naoki-san, who spoke so gently,

- Nyaa!

And as the kitten and the mother cat rang as they thanked him, they left straight for the mountain.

Naoki-san's kimono is covered in mud, and there is mud on his face.

When I saw that face, I suddenly began to feel familiar with him.

That's when I finally realized.

- His appearance yesterday was tentative at the beginning. The kindness of the heart now is who he is

When it seemed that way, when I blackened it over my nose with mud, and saw Naoki hitting on the fullness that had helped the kitten,

"Ha ha! The mud's on your nose!

And I laughed out of the blue.

Then Naoki will look like a naughty boy.

From his eyes, I can feel the familiar colour.

Then…

"What! So how about this!?

And what a muddy black hand you rubbed my face with.

Naturally my face turns black. And the mud came into my mouth, too.

"Hey! What are you doing!

"Ha ha! Now Lord Hideyoshi's face is covered in mud!

"I did it! Even this!

And when I rounded up the nearby mud, I threw it straight into filial piety.

Both the sound of Bichat struck Naoki-san in the face.

"Oh! That's brilliant while I am!!

Naoki, whose face was blackened when I stood up, raised her blues.

"Tell me what! Then here's the deal!!

How dare you shrug the mud and let me bathe you.

"Yikes!!

I also leave only my eyes in this blow and my face stains black.

When this happened, we didn't know we were going to stop anymore.

"Ugh! Holy shit!"

"Come on! Yeah, do it!

Keep letting each other bathe the mud at hand against each other anyway.

For some reason on the way, they suddenly got funny, and the mud fight continued with a big laugh at each other.

"Ha! Eh!"

"Ha ha!! Sora!"

Fun times go on enough to lose track of time for a while.

An earlier cat's father and son stared at us with a troubled face, I don't feel that way, but we were passionate about laughing and mudding.

And I raised my voice unexpectedly.

"Ha!! It's already here!! Naoki-san's victory is good!

"Ha ha! No, Lord Hideyoshi won! I was about to say surrender!

"Then let's call it a draw!

"Ha ha! Good! Let's do that!!

"Ha!!

The two men, all muddy, laughed at each other for a while as they slept on the ground.

How long has it been since I've done something so stupid and laughed at each other...

I did prank with friends my age from time to time, but I've never done it so flashy.

I had fun from the bottom of my heart and couldn't stop laughing.

And that seemed to be the same for the young man next door… Naoto Iui, who also continued to laugh extensively.

We finally got tired of laughing after a while.

Still, as we lay asleep, we were staring at each other in the blue sky of spring in a good mood.

Naoki-san suddenly opened her mouth, staring so far away.

That was about the reason he was behaving so harshly all over the house.

"Once upon a time... when my father was only a young man."

"Hmm."

I hammer. Naoki-san continued.

"The Iui family said they had been in such a crisis that your house would be crushed."

"Hmm..."

"He once lost many good ministers in the midst of a feud between three houses: Oda, Tokugawa and Imawa"

Naoki-san has a sunken look like she did about herself. My chest got painful when his pain came through like that, too.

Speaking of the Iyi family around this time, he successively lost two of his predominant, Iyi Naosheng, and his successor, Iyi Naosheng.

And Master Kano, Naoto Inui, the woman castle lord, inherited the traces, but the heavy ministers of the Inuiya Spectrum also lost many of them in battle.

Naoto Iui at this time is just isolated and helpless...

It must have been a crisis of absolute desperation that Naoki-san could not help but describe as "a crisis so bad that your house will crumble".

He seemed a little surprised to see me with a sad face frowning like that.

Still, he continued.

"As a result of the lack of cohesion of the ministers... one minister whom Naoto-sama had tremendously trusted, what a conspiracy to take over Inuiya, his home office," he said.

I think I read that story somewhere. But when I heard the conversation directly from the people of the Iyi family, the pain was conveyed, and I felt completely different from when I read it in a book.

He kept his eyes on the sky against me staring at Naoki-san in silence.

"It was the Great Lord who saved the crisis.

The Great Sovereign sent an excellent minister of his own to Inui Valley to help Naoto. "

"Hmm."

"It was long before it was born, of course, but it cannot forget the great grace of his Lord."

"Well, yes..."

"And... Lord Naoto defended himself with his life at stake, this house of Jiui must also be protected!

Naoki-san's face, which she said so forcefully, was covered in mud, but she could well see that it was in a red tide.

Naoki-san continues.

"But... your father is dead and embarrassed to talk about it, but your home is in distress again..."

"Oh... really..."

"Oh, I do not know that the troubles between the heavy ministers of the Jiui family will remain..."

Since the death of the Immediate Government of Jiui, the ruling by the elders began after the ill tending son, Jiui, succeeded the governor.

But I remember reading in something that the elders said that the difference between those from Inuiya in ancient times, those from the old Takeda family, and those sent by Tokugawa Jiayang, and their origins became factions as they were, to the point of trouble.

Perhaps he is talking about this.

"My brother is very gentle, as you can see.

I could not forgive the ministers for such kindness to my brother.

As it once was, it would not be strange to think that among the trusted elders, there would come out a plot to take over your house, as Naoto-sama suffered.

But I serve the general far away in Edo.

There's nothing you can do for your home. It's been a long day. "

"Hmm."

"And it's finally time for the General to receive a petition about the conflict between the elders.

So while I was in Edo, I finally decided to be ready.

I'll be a ghost... "

"I see... so yesterday, you had a rugged look..."

"Exactly.

The loosening of your mind becomes a gap that makes you even think about the extra things as they are.

That will be the source of the disturbance… I believe so.

If you break its roots, you won't be able to keep your house together for long. "

"So Lord Naoki-san made the ministers strict on everything in the house..."

To my words, Naoki nods with a smile.

"And the ministers' troubles finally subsided around this time.

Sometimes I can't afford to think about something anymore.

But what was bigger than that was that we all had common enemies and started to unite!

"No way..."

I was surprised by the words.

Towards me like that, Naoki smiles with a broken hard look as she looks at me.

"Ha! Yes, the enemy of all of them has become me!

Ironically, I became the enemy of the ministers, bringing the whole house together! Ha ha!

That's right, Naoki-san laughs. But I didn't laugh. Instead, turn the eye of respect to his eyes.

You noticed that gaze, Naoki continued to look embarrassed.

"To put the whole house together, I dare to be a ghost and make myself a bad person...

I don't care how much you hate me...

If your house brings it together...

I don't mind wearing mud if my brother can serve you well as the head of the Iui family for that!

That's what I'm ready for... "

Strong...

I honestly thought that this readiness was who I thought I was really strong, as a samurai, as a nasty person.

"I'm so sorry about what I said."

I honestly apologize.

Naoki, who looked at me like that with her eyes round,

"All right, please!

Because it's natural to think of it as' strange 'from other people's point of view… "

When I said that, I looked embarrassed again...

I thought at this time.

I guess these people are going to make history... and.

And can I be one of these people...

No, "I want to be!" And honestly, he admired the way it looked.

Naoki-san snapped when he was honking his chest like that.

"Lord Hideyoshi is a strange man..."

"Huh? Now I'm the subject of 'Wonder'!?

"Ha ha! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It doesn't mean anything!

Well, it's time to go back.

But we have to get this mud down somewhere!

That's right, Naoki smiles. The face was like the sun, too blind for me to stare at.

- Nyaa!

I think I heard a kitten rejoicing somewhere.

That didn't seem like gratitude, directed at The Gentle Ghost of Hearts.

"Hao Virtue... and the cat...

No way... no, it can't be... "

That's an anecdote for future generations.

In front of a temple in Edo, against Naotaki Jiui, a cat called him to invite him. The moment he entered the temple in response to that call, heavy rain began to fall, he said.

That is, they say the cat saved him from the heavy rain.

The temple is later the lavish temple.

As a temple that saved the lord from the heavy rain, the then nearing collapse, the Akatoji Temple becomes the Bodhisattva Temple of the Iyi family after it was splendidly rebuilt by the Iyi family.

And the cat who saved Naoki-san will be worshipped as "Kitty Cat Kannon" and leave his name as "Kitty Cat"...

"No way, that's when the cat is today's...? No... no way..."

"Huh? What's wrong? Lord Hideyoshi."

"No, it's nothing!

But if you don't get back soon, someone will get angry...

On getting... "

That's how I ran out.

Suddenly, Naoki-san's reaction is delayed.

"Race!! Ha ha!

"Wait!! What is Running Out!! Me!"

This is how I made another friend that I admire.

It was such a lovely spring morning.