Sengoku Gaijin (Warring States Foreigner) The Novel

SENGOKU GAIJIN

(Trial Version)

Chapter 1: Oda Nobunaga
I am sitting on my knees, below a man who towers above all others. He is not a tall man, nor is he wide. It is his presence and his stare that make him transcend all others. He is Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who rules Owari province among others. He is a man of mid-age, possibly in his thirties or so. He wears his black hair in a shogun topknot, in which the hair is tied back to look like it is exploding. He has a thin mustache and keeps his beard small and thin, almost like a goatee. He looks down upon me with interest. He says something that I can’t understand. I pick out the word ‘Gaijin” and sigh. Gaijin is Japanese for Foreigner. It was not an insult, just a statement of fact.

I bow my head in respect and try to speak Japanese as best I can. It sounded similar to”Lord Oda , I am honored to be in your presence. I am ronin from land far west.”
Nobunaga asked my name. Shit. I can’t give him my real name. Just in case it screws up time or something. So I gave him the only Japanese name I could think of. “uhh…Sanjuro, My lord. Miyamoto Sanjuro. Though I am 23, not thirty. “ Sanjuro means thirty year old, for those of you who have yet to see the film ‘Yojimbo’.

Nobunaga burst into laughter and I thanked the gods he got the joke. After his laugh he turned to the woman next to him and asked her something. Damn I wish I had learned more Japanese. The woman giggled and nodded. She was Nobunaga’s dear wife Kicho or Nouhime as I would soon call her. She was not only beyond beautiful she also did not dress or handle herself like a Japanese woman from the 16th century would. She kept her long flowing black hair in a bunched pony tail. She wore an elegant purple kimono that befit her noble status.

Nobunaga then turned to me with a grin. “Boy” he began “how would you like to fight under my banner?”
I looked up at him in utter shock, “Wait what?” I said in English.
“I need a man like you Sanjuro-san. You may not be that skilled with a sword or spear but that can be remedied with training. You have something just as useful as skill. You have will. The will to survive; to thrive even! Mitsuhide, give this man robes, armor and a wakizashi fitting of his katana!” The young man in blue robes that sat to my left nodded and stood up. I too stood grabbing the katana laying at my right side as I did.

Akechi Mitsuhide led me through Nagoya castle where the Oda clan was stationed. Long white corridors bent and curved for who knows how long. We finally got to the room, which was a large carbon copy of the others in the castle.