Chapter 2: Pleading and Acceptance
After that, they moved from the basement to Annaliese’s private room and shared information.
From Annaliese’s perspective, she absolutely had to get Mitsunari on her side and obtain advice on avoiding her death flags.
However, things had reached a point where getting Mitsunari to listen to her request was impossible.
The reason was—
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Lord Hideyori! I am sorry! I am so sorry, Taiko-sama…! The Toyotomi realm entrusted to me, Lord Hideyori himself—I protected nothing…! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!”
After hearing from Annaliese about the fate of the Toyotomi family following Sekigahara, Mitsunari had become completely unusable due to guilt and various other emotions.
There was no way she could speak to him in this state.
“Damn you, Ieyasu! Treacherous wretch! Beast who knows no righteousness! You forgot the grace of Taiko-sama, stole the realm, drove Lord Hideyori to his death, and yet call yourself Shogun? The ruler of the land? Die! Just die already!”
‘In my era, he died four hundred years ago! Past tense!’
“Masanori… When Lord Hideyori, the son of Taiko-sama, was in danger, what were you doing… No, that’s wrong. I shouldn’t blame others… I… I was simply too incompetent…”
After saying that, Mitsunari lowered his head and fell silent.
Of course, shouting that loudly in the middle of the night could be heard in the hallway.
“Young Lady, I’ve been hearing some rather strange screams for a while now. Is everything alright?”
The butler Henry knocked on the door.
If he saw Mitsunari like this, it would definitely lead to some bizarre misunderstanding.
Annaliese raised her voice in hopes of sending Henry away.
“I-It’s fine! I was just… playing Dragon Ball by myself! Don’t worry about it! That’s a ducal daughter’s order!!”
“D-Dragon Ball? Ah… understood.”
Having been given an order, Henry obediently withdrew.
But just as Annaliese resigned herself to the fact that discussion would be impossible today—
“My apologies. I wasted unnecessary time.”
Mitsunari spoke with a composed and intelligent expression, completely unlike someone who had been crying and screaming moments earlier.
“I-Is that really okay? After hearing something like that, we could wait until tomorrow.”
“If weeping could undo Lord Hideyori’s death, I would cry until I dried out completely.”
“But it will not.”
“To continue crying despite that would be foolish.”
“If I were merely a warrior, being a fool would be acceptable.”
“But I am a magistrate.”
“I cannot afford to be a fool.”
Should this swift shift in mentality be considered impressive?
However, someone unfamiliar with Ishida Mitsunari’s reputation for loyalty might see this side of him without witnessing his earlier outburst and conclude that he was a cold-hearted man.
“Umm, where exactly did we leave off?”
“That this world is the setting of a thing called an otome game, a romantic mock-battle tale.”
“That you are a person from over four hundred years in my future.”
“And that you will certainly die if things continue as they are.”
“I have understood most of that.”
“A romantic mock-battle?”
“Well, I suppose that’s not entirely wrong.”
It was certainly a unique expression befitting someone from the Sengoku period.
“As I said before, this Annaliese I reincarnated into—or possessed, maybe—will definitely die regardless of which route she takes!”
“I didn’t read every single trash review, so I don’t know the exact deaths in every bad ending, but she dies in the Normal Ending, the True Ending, and even the Reverse Harem Ending!”
“Stop repeating ‘die’ over and over.”
“I understand.”
“Normally a sarcastic remark like that would make me snap, but when my life is on the line I don’t care!”
“God, Buddha, Lord Mitsunari, please lend me your wisdom!”
“I’m begging you!”
“Before you ask, I should make one thing clear.”
“The only person to whom I devote my loyalty is Taiko-sama.”
“However…”
“I-I know that!”
If there were ever a ranking of Sengoku warlords people would want as subordinates, Ishida Mitsunari would undoubtedly be in the top ten.
Not only was he an exceptionally capable administrator, but he was also known as a man who upheld his loyalty even after Hideyoshi’s death.
Asking such a man to become her ally and save her life meant Annaliese was prepared to offer everything she could.
“Of course I’m not going to order you to serve me!”
“I’ll even search for a spell that can return you to your original era!”
“I’ll provide food, clothing, and shelter!”
“Other than my life and enough wealth to live reasonably well for the rest of my days, I’ll give you anything I can!”
“Oi.”
“I-If there’s anything else I can offer…”
“A title, maybe?”
“But I can’t grant one on my own…”
“Wait.”
“I-Is it still not enough?”
“But I only just arrived in this world myself!”
“I barely know anything besides my own name!”
At that point, Mitsunari finally dropped his stoic expression.
Looking thoroughly bewildered, he let out a long, deep sigh.
Then he muttered quietly under his breath.
“So this is how Kanbei and Sakon felt.”
Mistaking that sigh as a sign that she had offended him, Annaliese nearly dropped to her knees.
“Please, Mitsunari-san!”
“I’m begging you!”
“I don’t know who’s trying to kill me, and you’re the only person I can rely on because you’re definitely not a character from the game!”
“…Unnecessary.”
“Stop bowing your head at every opportunity.”
“A person’s head has value because they bow it when it truly matters.”
“If you lower it repeatedly, it loses that value.”
“If offering everything isn’t enough, and bowing isn’t allowed…”
“W-What am I supposed to do!?”
If Ishida Mitsunari rejected her here, she would die.
That was how desperate she felt.
Perhaps because he could see that desperation, Mitsunari seemed to smile ever so slightly.
At least, she thought he did.
“Do nothing.”
“You want the strength of Ishida Mitsunari, do you not?”
“Then take it.”
“Eh!? Really!?”
“Yes.”
And just like that, Mitsunari spoke the words Annaliese had desperately wanted to hear.
“Now then.”
“First, regarding your certainty that you will die…”
“Waaah!”
“Don’t just start talking on your own!”
“But thank you!”
“A person’s death is not such a remarkable thing.”
“If a daimyo becomes irritated, one or two foot soldiers or peasants may be cut down.”
“Nobody says anything about it.”
“Hmph.”
“Even if you’re going to be my lifesaving benefactor, I don’t think those kinds of statements are very good.”
“I am merely stating facts as they are.”
“This is not a matter of my conduct.”
Mitsunari dismissed her objection instantly.
Yet, when she thought about it calmly, he was right.
Ishida Mitsunari was a man from the Sengoku era.
His world was completely different from modern Japan, where concepts like human rights and equality were taken for granted.
Human life had undoubtedly been valued far less in that age.
And somehow, Annaliese felt this world was probably closer to the Sengoku period than to modern Japan.
“I think I understand what you’re saying, Mitsunari-san.”
“But what does that have to do with my death flags?”
“You truly don’t understand?”
“You are different from a peasant or a foot soldier.”
As he spoke, Mitsunari surveyed the room.
His gaze lingered on the luxurious paintings and furnishings.
“After speaking with you, I have gained a rough understanding of how significant the rank of duke is in this world.”
“If I recall correctly, royal blood flows through your veins as well.”
“Yes.”
“Or rather, through Annaliese Agares.”
“Her late mother was the younger sister of the current king.”
“So the king is my uncle.”
Furthermore, she was cousins with the princes and princesses.
The title of one of the kingdom’s two great ducal houses was not merely for show.
“Then you even possess succession rights to the throne.”
“In my world, that would place you among figures comparable to the Five Elders.”
“That should be an acceptable comparison.”
“When someone like you dies, it cannot be compared to the death of a peasant or foot soldier.”
“It becomes a major historical incident.”
“Depending on the circumstances, one could even call it a great incident.”
“Anything will do.”
“Do you know even a single detail regarding how you die?”
“If you know, tell me, even in broad terms.”
“W-Wait!”
“Let me think!”
She slapped her cheeks with both hands and dove into her memories from her previous life.
The first thing she remembered was the infuriating avatar used by the trash spoiler reviewer.
Not that.
She dug deeper.
‘Annaliese ends another equally worthless life in every route, but in this route she meets a fate like Marie Antoinette’s—executed on the guillotine after a revolution. Oops, comparing Marie Antoinette to someone like Annaliese is insulting to Marie Antoinette lol.’
Annaliese’s eyes widened.
“A revolution!”
“The trash spoiler reviewer said a revolution happens and I end up like Marie Antoinette on the guillotine!”
“‘Guillotine’?”
“‘Marie Antoinette’?”
“Explain your proper nouns.”
“I don’t know what they mean.”
“Marie Antoinette was the queen of a country called France!”
“And a guillotine is a device used to execute people by cutting off their heads!”
“In other words, I get executed during a revolution!”
Just saying it made the back of her neck feel cold.
Talking about a death she might one day suffer was poison to her spirit.
She had heard that the guillotine was considered a merciful method of execution because it minimized suffering.
To a modern person, however, it was simply terrifying.
Mitsunari rested a hand on his chin and sank into thought.
“The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang Rebellion.”
“The Yellow Turban Rebellion.”
“Revolutions do not emerge from peaceful times without cause.”
“There is usually tyranny, famine, foreign invasion, or something similar.”
“Can you think of anything?”
“S-Sorry.”
“I only just reincarnated into this world.”
“I don’t know my right from my left.”
“The only reason I can manage noble etiquette is because my grandmother was really strict.”
“I understand.”
“I now understand that you understand nothing.”
“S-Sorry for being ignorant!”
“…A revolution…”
“One large enough to kill the daughter of a duke with succession rights…”
“If something of that scale is coming, signs should already exist.”
“Money?”
“Food?”
“Or perhaps…”
Mitsunari muttered to himself as he thought.
Though perhaps inappropriate, Annaliese found herself enjoying this moment.
Until recently, she had spent sleepless nights wondering who her enemies were and who wanted her dead.
But now, speaking with someone she truly believed was her ally, it felt as though moisture was returning to her parched heart.
The subject matter was somewhat dangerous, admittedly.
Annaliese clapped her hands.
“Ah, I get it!”
“Mitsunari-san is going to use the administrative talents that made him famous as one of the Five Magistrates!”
“You’ll smash all my death flags!”
“Right?”
“Foolishness.”
“I know this nation only through the limited information you have provided.”
“There is no way I could immediately display great administrative skill.”
“If one interferes in government without understanding a nation’s culture, customs, and traditions, one merely twists reason without realizing it and worsens the situation.”
“T-Then what do we do?”
“Not knowing is not a crime.”
“Knowing that you do not know, yet making no effort to learn—that is the crime.”
“S-So…”
“We begin by learning.”
Mitsunari’s first proposal to Annaliese was neither a miraculous strategy nor a brilliant move that would instantly reverse their circumstances.
It was something extremely ordinary and simple.
The following day, Annaliese summoned her butler, Henry.
As always, Henry entered with impeccable manners.
However, his eyes widened upon seeing Mitsunari standing beside her.
“Young Lady, who is this gentleman?”
“I am Ishida Jibu no Shoyu Mitsunari.”
“At Annaliese’s request, I shall be serving her from this day forward.”
“Eh!?”
The person most surprised by that statement was not Henry.
It was Annaliese.
To her, Ishida Mitsunari was the loyal retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Hearing him openly declare—even if only verbally—that he would serve her was a pleasant surprise.
“I see… serving her, you say.”
“Forgive my rudeness, but where exactly do you come from?”
“Is there any need for me to explain that to you?”
Annaliese could practically hear the sound effect of irritation coming from Henry.
She hurriedly stepped between them.
“M-Mitsunari-san comes from a country beyond this continent!”
“I hired him because I want him to put the knowledge he gained overseas to good use for me!”
Technically, she wasn’t lying.
“I understand.”
“If it is what Young Lady desires, I have no objections.”
Henry still seemed suspicious of Mitsunari, but he accepted the decision without challenging his master’s wishes.
“By the way, Henry!”
“I have a favor to ask!”
“I suddenly feel incredibly motivated to study!”
“Very academic!”
“So, is there somewhere with an absurd number of books that’s perfect for studying!?”
This had been Mitsunari’s proposal from the previous day.
Simply put, they should study this world through books.
Both Annaliese, who had only recently reincarnated, and Mitsunari, who had only recently been summoned, knew almost nothing about this world.
Therefore, they should first learn everything they could.
It was an utterly ordinary suggestion.
Though, admittedly, Annaliese had never even thought of such a simple idea herself.
“If you’re looking for a place with many books, then the Royal Library in the royal capital Sirius would be your best choice.”
“It is famous both within and beyond the kingdom as a treasury of knowledge.”
“Only nobles with titles, selected scholars, and those with special permission are allowed entry.”
Henry provided exactly the information Annaliese wanted.
If it was the capital’s library, they would likely find most of the information they needed.
“We are going there.”
“Take us.”
At Mitsunari’s words, one corner of Henry’s eye twitched ever so slightly.
Still, he showed no outward displeasure and bowed.
“……..Understood.”
“I shall prepare the fastest carriage possible.”
“Please wait comfortably until then.”
With that, Henry left the room.
Watching him go, Annaliese felt she finally understood why so many of Ishida Mitsunari’s contemporaries had disliked him.