With a silent melancholy weighing on his heart and his mind consumed by memories he desperately tried to preserve, Alear remained staring at the ceiling for a long time.
They were precious memories, but painful ones as well. The harder he tried to hold on to them, the more they seemed to slip through his fingers like grains of sand. Perhaps it was because, deep down, he already understood a truth he did not want to accept: that time had come to an end.....
The days he spent by their side, the battles they fought together, the laughter they shared, and the bonds they forged all belonged to the past. No matter how much he wished to relive them, they would never be the same again..... Carrying that bittersweet feeling in his chest and surrounded by memories of a time that would never return, he eventually closed his eyes and, due to the accumulated exhaustion from two weeks of training within his Longinus, gradually drifted off to sleep.
A familiar sensation invaded his sleeping mind. It was something far beyond a simple telepathic message flowing through the connection he shared with Nobunaga. The feeling was well known to him: information, emotions, images, and sounds traveled through the bond between Master and Servant like an invisible current, as though a transfer of data were occurring directly between their consciousnesses. It was the phenomenon known as the Dream Cycle, a peculiar effect of the Master-Servant connection that allowed one of them to witness, through vivid dreams, fragments of the other's past memories and experiences....
Little by little, his perception became engulfed by those audiovisual stimuli until the world around him disappeared completely, giving way to something akin to a lucid dream. Within the images forming before him, a young woman with striking red eyes appeared. She wore a simple gray kimono without any flashy adornments. Her long black hair, slightly disheveled, swayed in the wind as she walked along a dirt road illuminated by the golden light of dusk.
She was a figure very different from the feared Demon King of the Sixth Heaven described in historical records.
In that vision, she seemed to be nothing more than a girl.
A girl who smiled at the world. Her smile was not perfect; a few teeth were missing, but that only made her expression more genuine. There was a simple and unpretentious joy written across her face, accompanied by an almost childlike curiosity. Her eyes wandered across everything around her with boundless fascination, as if every landscape, every person, and every small event were something new and extraordinary.
He watched her slowly grow, from a troublesome girl who, against her father's wishes, spent most of her time running around with a small group of civilians that had naturally gathered around her. While other girls her age seemed delicate and reserved, Nobunaga was like a typhoon that attracted everything through her natural charisma and sincere nature. Although this caused high society to reprimand her, to the point of nicknaming her the Great Fool of Owari, Nobunaga never appeared to care about their opinions...
Oda Nobunaga was born as the second daughter of a military governor named Oda Nobuhide during Japan's Sengoku period. Her household was based in Owari Province, a region that would later become the western half of Aichi Prefecture, located very close to the central axis of Japanese territory. It was almost equidistant from Japan's northernmost and southernmost points, making it a privileged location from which one of Japan's greatest revolutionary minds would begin her journey...
From a very young age, Nobunaga had already developed a vision of the future she wished to realize through her own efforts. She considered the existence of class divisions absurd, for after interacting with the people she was meant to govern as an equal, Nobunaga recognized their potential for greatness. The only thing most people needed in order to succeed was an opportunity; thus, as she grew into a young woman, what changed most about Nobunaga were her ambitions and the determination with which she pursued them.
After the death of her older brother, Oda Nobuhiro, Nobunaga was no longer satisfied with merely helping her hometown of Owari prosper. Now the primary heir of the Oda Clan, her father pressured her to assume the identity of a man and learn how to govern properly. Though she accepted his decision, Nobunaga knew she needed to consolidate her own power if she wished to extend her influence into neighboring regions. She adapted to her new role like a fish to water, absorbing knowledge like a sponge while rapidly leading her people toward even greater prosperity. Due to her interactions with the youth of her generation, Nobunaga enjoyed immense popularity among her people, something few rulers could claim during the chaotic era that surrounded her life...
For four years, Nobunaga pushed herself to learn everything she could, but just as her father planned to step down and allow her to assume the position of interim Shugo, a title granted to military governors of the era, he was found dead in his room before the succession ceremony could take place. Since Nobunaga knew that her younger brother, Oda Nobuyuki, had orchestrated the incident, she was furious. Although she was aware that many members of the Oda Clan opposed her succession due to the "traditional" view that women should be seen and not heard, the fact that they were willing to go to such extremes caused her to hurl curses and insults during her father's funeral, calling them hypocrites while bombarding them with incense burners.
It was only when one of her father's most trusted retainers, Hirate Masahide, committed seppuku—the ritual of disemboweling oneself—that Nobunaga's mind returned to clarity. Seeing the blood pooling beneath his body, something broke within her. She simply could not understand how their system was designed so that honorable men would willingly give up their lives as a demonstration of loyalty while, behind the scenes, ambitious politicians and merchants lurked in the shadows and exploited the system without consequence. The fact that her own family spoke of traditional values regarding her while simultaneously plotting the murder of their own lord opened her eyes to the reality that the patience she had cultivated was simply a means by which her enemies could exploit her...
The final straw for Nobunaga came when some of the Oda Clan elders attempted to arrange a marriage for her without even consulting her, only informing her after they had already delivered her dowry to the other family. Despite being the future head of the Oda Clan, they were trying to dispose of her by "giving" her away to an overweight merchant more than twice her age. To make matters even worse, she would not even be his principal wife, but rather the concubine of a man who already had four children. Since mistresses and concubines had no right to bear children, the Oda Clan elders were effectively attempting to extinguish her bloodline, claiming that she had lain with a demon.
Unable to tolerate these affronts, Nobunaga led more than a thousand men to Nagoya Castle, coldly slaughtering most of the Oda Clan elders before failing to capture her dissident brother, Oda Nobuyuki. With that single action, Nobunaga seized her birthright by force and began the rapid militarization of Owari Province. Because she had always treated them fairly, most of her people ignored the malicious rumors spread by the surviving members of the Oda Clan, fully aware of the treachery they had employed in an attempt to strip her of power. Consequently, Nobunaga's army began to grow at a monstrous pace until, at the age of twenty-two, she led her first successful campaign to destroy a rising rival branch of the Oda Clan at its power base, Kiyosu Castle.
By making use of technological designs acquired through illegal means, Nobunaga became one of the first lords to adopt the use of the Tanegashima, a type of arquebus capable of firing lead balls with enough force to bring down even the most skilled samurai. She also focused on modernizing her territory, introducing new and revolutionary ideas that further increased her popularity among the people. While some called her a Demon Queen without honor or filial piety, Nobunaga was practically revered throughout her region as a wise and capable ruler.
At only twenty-six years old, Nobunaga already commanded a standing army of more than 25,000 men. She had consolidated her position as one of Japan's most powerful feudal lords due to her rapid embrace of the technological wonders beginning to arrive from supposedly "enemy" nations. While others clung to their roots and outdated principles, Nobunaga envisioned a future in which not only her own people, but everyone, could prosper. Seeing the majority of the population forced to serve various feudal lords, many of whom exploited their citizens without the slightest scruple, Nobunaga was determined to "liberate" Japan, even if doing so meant destroying the corrupt government and completely transforming the country.
Leading her army at the head of a brigade of three thousand musketeers, Nobunaga dominated nearly every battle in which she participated, relying on the ideology that "only a strong offensive policy could compensate for the enemy's numerical superiority." By employing small assault teams capable of maneuvering and flanking her enemies, Nobunaga could divide her forces across multiple fronts while gradually expanding her territories. During this period, she began assembling a strong inner circle of retainers who swore loyalty to her cause of unifying the Japanese people and ushering in a more prosperous future.
Watching her carve a path through her enemies with unwavering determination in her eyes while her men followed her without the slightest hesitation was a truly inspiring sight. What made it even more impressive was the fact that, while conventional historical records ignored or dismissed many stories as mere exaggerations and absurd legends, Nobunaga's memories revealed something entirely different. There were countless individuals around her who could, without exaggeration, be considered Heroic Spirits in their own right.
Unlike the "boring" version preserved in history books, he witnessed extraordinary samurai facing hundreds of opponents without difficulty, accomplishing feats that defied common sense. And at the center of it all was Nobunaga herself, devastating battlefields like a true typhoon. Resting in her hands was a customized revolving musket, forged over the course of three months by a team of exceptionally skilled craftsmen. The weapon featured a deep black finish adorned with golden details, along with the crest of the Oda Clan engraved on its side. However, its most impressive characteristic was not its appearance. Instead of using ordinary ammunition, the inside of the barrel had been replaced with artificial magical circuits, allowing Nobunaga to fire an apparently infinite number of magical projectiles capable of piercing thick armor as though it were made of paper.
All of it was incredibly nostalgic. In fact, it was not the first time he had witnessed those memories. During his days in Chaldea, he had experienced the Dream Cycle with Nobunaga countless times, revisiting fragments of her life and battles. Even so, seeing those scenes again awakened a bittersweet feeling in his chest, as though he were flipping through a photo album from an era that would never return.
Around the time the Nobunaga from his "memories" was about to lead an army against another rival daimyo, a man named Takeda Shingen, the vision gradually became blurry before dissipating completely.
Alear awoke abruptly.
His magenta-pink eyes opened all at once, and his body rose from the bed almost on instinct. His breathing was slightly accelerated, while a thin layer of cold sweat covered his forehead. The room remained shrouded in darkness, illuminated only by the pale glow of moonlight filtering through the curtains and spreading across the floor.
He raised one hand to his forehead and pressed it there for a few seconds, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
"...Looks like I fell asleep without realizing it."
His gaze lingered for a moment in the darkness of the room.
"And I ended up dreaming about Nobunaga's past..."
The images were still vivid in his mind. The battlefields, the relentless gunfire from her musket, the carefree smile she wore long before becoming the legendary figure history would come to know.
For a brief moment, a familiar melancholy tightened around his chest.
He shut his eyes firmly and took several deep breaths before shaking his head.
"I'll take a shower..."
There was no point in remaining trapped in those emotions.
With a conscious effort, he pushed those feelings to the back of his mind and locked them behind a barrier he had long grown accustomed to raising. Then he got out of bed and lightly stretched his body. After that dream, he knew he would not be able to fall asleep again anytime soon.....
Without wasting time, he walked toward the bathroom.
Cold water cascaded over his skin, stripping away the last traces of drowsiness and dissipating the weight that had accumulated in his mind. Little by little, his thoughts began to organize themselves again, regaining their usual clarity.
A few minutes later, he stepped out of the shower, dried himself off, and put on simple, comfortable clothes: a loose black long-sleeved shirt and dark pants.
Without making any unnecessary noise, he left the room.
The Häagenti Mansion was immersed in the characteristic silence of the early hours of the morning. Only the distant sounds of nocturnal insects and the gentle rustling of the garden trees broke the stillness that enveloped the estate.
Alear walked through the hallways illuminated by discreet lights until he reached the main office.
Upon entering, he switched on several lamps, causing the darkness to slowly retreat. Then he approached the large work desk and took his seat behind it.
His sleepiness had completely vanished.
If he could not rest, then he would make use of those quiet hours to organize his thoughts and deal with the countless matters that still demanded his attention.....
____________________
(A/N: Want to get ahead?
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