Prologue
[Japan – 1542]
A city in Mino Province was in a horrible situation.
The leader of the Oda clan, Nobuhide Oda, was confronting Saitō Dōsan, another feudal lord in the north of Mino.
In the midst of this war, the city, which had nothing to do with the interests of the feudal lords, was devastated. One could see a hell that refused to be extinguished.
In the middle of this hell stood a red-haired boy with golden eyes, staring at the dead bodies of his parents as well as his friends and relatives, with whom he surely had shared some moments in his short life.
The war was already in its final stage.
Oda Nobuhide and Saitō Dōsan refused to give in.
Surely a moment would come when it would stop; neither of the two had gained anything good. They had suffered more losses than benefits.
"Destiny?" The boy looked at the lifeless bodies of the people who were or had been important to him with dead eyes, not shedding a single tear. "You talked to me a lot about that, Mother. And now I find myself in conflict because of it… is this my destiny? To lose you? To live in misery? Or… is my destiny cursed?"
He let out a faint laugh.
"I suppose it's the last one…" he raised his gaze to the night sky, glowing red from the flames. "I saw it, Mother… I saw my future… and how it ended. Alone, in a house, with a wish to forge a sword that is impossible to forge… did I say impossible?" He let out another faint laugh. "It's not impossible… but it will take another life to achieve it… though not as a human, but as a Pseudo-Servant… You knew it, Mother… the supernatural exists… those scary tales you used to tell me years ago…"
.
.
.
.
.
They do exist.
[2 days later]
Oda Nobuhide was returning to his land, Owari.
With him, he brought war slaves who had survived his battle with Saitō Dōsan.
The commoners of that land had no choice but to become slaves of the Oda Clan.
Now the new slaves were walking barefoot, passing along the horrible rocky road, groaning in pain because they could no longer endure that terrible treatment. They were not allowed to rest and were treated like animals instead of humans.
It had been two days without food, water, or rest, all just to fulfill Oda Nobuhide's goal of reaching his homeland.
Among the slaves tied together with a thick rope was the red-haired boy, walking while staring at the rocky ground.
"I'm hungry, thirsty, and sleepy. And this feudal lord didn't allow anyone to sleep at all. Even his vassals muttered complaints about his actions."
The red-haired boy thought this with a grimace.
All he could do was wait for them to reach Owari sooner so that he could at least sleep.
"Oda-sama! We are almost there, I estimate we are 30 minutes away."
Said a vassal who approached Oda Nobuhide.
"Make it less."
Said Oda Nobuhide.
"But…"
Oda Nobuhide signaled to move faster. The slaves reluctantly had to quicken their pace, otherwise they would be dragged for the rest of the journey.
[15 minutes later]
The red-haired boy found himself locked in a cell with others of his same age.
All the slaves had been separated and grouped by age.
At that moment, the red-haired boy gave in to his desire to sleep.
Thus, hours passed until he was forced to get up.
Bang
Bang
"IT'S TIME TO GET UP AND EAT."
The red-haired boy slowly opened his eyelids, first seeing everything blurry until his vision cleared and he saw a man handing each of the children a piece of hard, stale bread.
He grabbed his portion and forced it down his throat. It was hardly edible for a ten-year-old child.
Having finished eating, he realized he was still hungry, but decided it was better to sleep, to endure his hunger and wait for the next time they would give him something to eat.
[The next day]
A girl hummed a melody she had recently heard at the party her father had thrown the night before.
Even though he had not achieved his objective, he had decided to celebrate to clear away the bad mood caused by the recent battle with Saitō Dōsan.
She had decided to see the people who had been captured as spoils of war, who would be used as labor for this year's harvest.
The growl of a man guarding the entrance to the newly captured slaves could be heard.
"Good morning, Nobunaga-sama."
The guard greeted the girl politely.
"Hello, guardian-san, I hope you are doing your job well."
A grimace appeared on the guard's face.
"Of course I am, Nobunaga-sama. Now, if you will excuse me, please leave. An 8-year-old girl is forbidden from entering this place."
The girl let out an amused snort. "Haha! That would be another girl who is forbidden to enter. As for me, I am the daughter who will become the new leader of the Oda Clan when my father dies. So stop your nonsense about me being forbidden to enter this place."
The guard clicked his tongue and let the rebellious girl in.
Bang
Bang
The red-haired boy sat bored, tossing a small stone at the wall while waiting for the mealtime.
The entire atmosphere around him was gloomy.
His thoughts were that this was normal: they had gone from a peaceful and bright life to being captured as spoils of war, surely to work only to receive a little food as payment.
He didn't want to imagine how they would be treated by those people.
Chink
His eyes turned to the door as it opened, revealing something that surprised him slightly.
A young girl with black hair and red eyes entered. She was a couple of years younger than him.
She wore fine-quality clothes, clearly someone of high status.
"Looking to buy a slave?" he thought.
"Oh! This is really interesting to see… well, it's my first time entering this place, to be honest."
He raised an eyebrow at the girl's attitude. She began looking into each cell at all the people who had been brought in as slaves.
Until she reached the cell with the other children.
"Um… a redhead?… this is the first time I've seen someone with that hair color. Even two twin girls with orange hair…"
The boy understood her curiosity. In all the cells, the most common hair color he saw was black or dark brown.
Only three stood out with different colors that drew attention—and they were children, to begin with.
"Hey, what's your name?"
The girl approached and pointed at him, wanting to know.
He stared into her red eyes before speaking.
"Senji Muramasa. And who are you?"
The girl broke into a long smile.
"Well, what a cheeky little slave we have here."
"You asked my name. It's only normal that I'd ask yours."
The girl tilted her head, still smiling. She placed her index finger on her lips.
"I see… so you think that's normal. But in my case, I don't give my name to someone beneath me."
"Even if you say that. You're Oda Nobunaga, the rebellious daughter of Oda Nobuhide. You're well known, you know."
The boy smirked, mocking the girl who thought she could appear mysterious when she clearly couldn't.
"Tch."
She turned her head in annoyance, her little game ruined.
Oda Nobunaga snapped her fingers, and the door opened to let in the guard from the entrance.
"Is something wrong, Nobunaga-sama?"
The guard spoke courteously.
"This one here." She pointed to Senji Muramasa. "Give him a harsh punishment."
"Um… did he do something to anger you, Nobunaga-sama?"
He struggled to hold back a smile.
"Yes! So whip his back hard!"
"Understood."
He bowed, then left. It seemed he went to fetch the key to open the cell.
Senji simply watched calmly everything that was happening before him.
Only one thought caught his attention.
"Oda Nobunaga… I never met you personally in the history of my alternate self… and even what is happening to me now never happened… I am becoming an anomaly… will Alaya's Counter-Guardian eliminate me someday in the future?…"
"I don't think so. They only eliminate when they see a destruction that threatens human life. If I don't cause that, then Alaya won't try to erase me…"
Slash
Slash
In another private place, Senji was shackled to a wall, his back bloodied and marked by the leather whip that struck him again and again. They were carrying out Nobunaga's order, while she sat watching the punishment. But her face showed neither joy nor satisfaction. Something important was happening that she had not expected to see.
Senji Muramasa did not scream, nor did he cry for the punishment to stop.
He remained silent, staring at the wall as if that was the only thing that caught his attention.
He did not care about the punishment.
So all Nobunaga could do was watch with dissatisfaction as Senji endured without letting out a single cry while the whips struck his back hard.
She sighed. "Stop. This is boring if he doesn't scream or sob from the punishment."
The punishment stopped. They seemed to understand the feeling of their young mistress.
They released Senji's shackles, and he collapsed onto his back, staining the floor with his blood.
Oda Nobunaga approached Senji, taking his chin and lifting it so his eyes would meet hers.
"I see that you will endure any punishment I throw at you…" she pressed her index finger to her chin, thinking. "It's decided!" she smiled, amused by her own idea. "You will work as my personal servant!"
Senji, staring with lifeless eyes, wondered why she had decided that.
Oda Nobunaga's hands cupped Senji's cheeks as she added something else.
"You said your name is Senji Muramasa. Then you know the forging techniques of your lineage. I will want you to forge me an incredible sword in the future. Understood?"
"I suppose your path will be the same… to conquer Owari and expand your dominion across all of Japan."
Senji snorted.
"Can I refuse?"
Oda Nobunaga's smile grew wider.
"Of course!" Her smiling eyes gleamed with amusement as she looked at Senji. "Not!"
He sighed. "I figured as much." Senji turned his head away as someone lifted him up.
"Take him to be bathed and also give him new clothes. From now on, he will be my personal servant. By the way, the two orange-haired girls also interest me—bring them to my room."
"Understood, Nobunaga-sama."
As he was carried away, Senji thought of something else.
"Servant of Oda Nobunaga… this is something that should never have happened… I can only pray that it doesn't affect Japan's history too much. Or it will end badly for me."