CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 79: TEARS FLOWING

Niwa Nagahide finished asking, and Nozawa was a bit surprised.

He had thought it was someone from the Niwa Family who was gravely ill, so they’d invited him for a house call. That’s why he came all formal and proper, only to find out he was here to help someone look for a job...

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly thought of someone, and said straightforwardly and politely, "Is Lord Niwa here to recommend Lord Maeshima Shichiro?"

Niwa Nagahide nodded, "That’s right."

Nozawa found it a little odd. "So where is he?" Is job hunting these days done without even showing up?

Niwa Nagahide felt a bit embarrassed, but quickly regained composure. "Shichiro admires your style greatly. He’s mentioned you often these days, but not knowing your feelings and aware his talents are meager, he’s never dared to ask directly. When I heard about it, I volunteered to..."

Maeda Toshie was sitting to the side munching on pine nuts. He couldn’t hold back and interrupted, "Actually, it was Shichiro’s aunt who asked Van Chiyoda (Niwa Nagahide) to come ask. Shichiro probably doesn’t even know about this yet. If you don’t agree and don’t want to add more people to your household, we just won’t tell him. No need to make him upset again—he’s already been rejected who knows how many times."

Having said that, he turned to Niwa Nagahide, complaining with no pretensions, "We’re all friends here. No need to beat around the bush—just say what’s on your mind, isn’t that better?"

This time, Niwa Nagahide was thoroughly embarrassed. But since Maeda Toshie was the one he brought along to talk him up, he couldn’t blame him. He could only compose himself as best he could, bow slightly, and say, "Forgive me. It’s just as Lord Maeda said; I’ve come at the request of Shichiro’s aunt. But Shichiro does truly admire you—he’s praised your deeds many times in his letters home. That part is absolutely true—I stake my honor on it!"

Nozawa hurriedly waved his hands. "I understand—there’s really no need for such formality, Lord Niwa."

Niwa Nagahide immediately said, "Then, Lord, your meaning is..."

Nozawa hesitated. Maeshima Shichiro had been wandering alone for years, only mediocre in ability, running into walls everywhere—his family, worried, had started asking people to help him job-hunt. This, he totally got—parents ask relatives, relatives ask other relatives, all to find jobs for the family’s kid. He’d heard about this plenty of times back home; he didn’t expect that after five hundred years and a new country, it’d be the exact same thing.

Some things never change—society always runs on personal connections!

As for giving up on Oda Nobunaga and switching allegiance to him, he could understand that too. It was pretty much like taking the civil service exam N times and never passing, so you settle for a private company instead—totally normal.

He wasn’t going to look down on Maeshima Shichiro for this, or call him wishy-washy. After all, everyone’s just trying to make a living. He just couldn’t decide whether hiring a household retainer was a good thing or not...

He hesitated for a bit before saying, "Sorry, Lord Niwa, I hadn’t really planned on hiring any household retainers before. But if Lord Shichiro isn’t happy where he is now and wants to come work for me, that’s fine too. I just can’t promise anything at the moment."

After a pause, he added, "By the way, does Lord Shichiro’s current annual salary happen to be..."

Niwa Nagahide seemed a little disappointed, but not offended. The Maeshima Family had already fallen on hard times, and Maeshima Shichiro was just okay—okay at martial arts, okay at archery, okay at riding, okay at talking, okay in looks, even his singing was okay. Everything was just... okay. His one virtue was that he was honest and hardworking. Fourteen when he left home, five years out, and hadn’t found anyone willing to appreciate him. Nozawa’s reluctance to hire him was normal—recruiting a household retainer is serious business, takes real silver, and not a small sum either, otherwise it wouldn’t be this hard.

But hearing that Nozawa would consider him as a clerk, possibly with a pay bump, he felt he’d done all he could for his relatives and was cheered up right away. He quickly replied, "Shichiro’s annual salary is five kan of Wen, perhaps with a bit of rice allowance added."

Five kan of Wen? That’s about 2.5 times what a Lang Faction member gets? Temp work really isn’t worth much, huh. Even back in the day...

No wonder people in old Japan were desperate to find a good lord. Turns out it really was the difference between eating grass and eating meat!

Nozawa hadn’t expected Maeshima Shichiro to be this cheap—after all, Maeda Toshie took fifty kan a year, plus all sorts of rice, clothes, shoes, rewards, whatnot. To support someone like him, it’d take over a hundred kan a year.

If it’s that cheap...

Nozawa was actually tempted. Maybe Shichiro’s skills weren’t much, but from Nozawa’s experience, he was obedient and honest, did whatever he was told without whining, was literate and could do some basic math. Maybe he could hire him back to replace Ah Man and let him handle all the chores at the soy sauce workshop—Ah Man was really more suited to running the streets. Having her manage the shop was kind of a waste, since floor managers were a dime a dozen while well-trained Ninjas like her were a rare find.

His mind spun quickly, and then he made his offer, giving Niwa Nagahide plenty of face: "So if Lord Shichiro’s willing to come help me, I’ll set his pay at eight kan... no, make that ten kan of Wen! Rice and other allowances stay the same—what do you think, Lord Niwa?"

A literate, numerate workshop manager, for this era that was a fairly advanced job. Paying him a salary for four people was fine—besides, he didn’t mind losing one or two kan here or there.

Niwa Nagahide thought that was fair too. For a clerk, this was a pretty high salary; Shichiro could save a bit and still help out back home. Plus, Nozawa hadn’t ruled out eventually taking him as a retainer—if Shichiro stuck with him and really worked hard, who’s to say he wouldn’t be promoted? Definitely better odds than with Oda Nobunaga—Oda would never give a guy like Shichiro the time of day. Nozawa was way more approachable.

He placed both hands on his knees and formally bowed seated before Nozawa, "Thank you, Lord Nozawa, sorry to trouble you. Shichiro’s aunt will be delighted—she’ll certainly chant prayers and make offerings for you. Really, thank you so much."

Yeah, honestly, he wasn’t all that impressed with Shichiro—it was mainly for the aunt’s sake.

Nozawa had no choice but to bow formally in return, "Oh, not at all, Lord Niwa. You’re too kind."

Niwa Nagahide straightened up, feeling that the easy stuff was over and now for the harder part. He cleared his throat and added, "Lord Nozawa, forgive me, but there’s one more matter. The Lord of Upper General has instructed me to purchase iron guns, and told me to consult with you first. I wonder, would you be willing..."

"Oh, buying iron guns?" Nozawa perked up—this was something he’d love to take on! The idea of moonlighting as an arms dealer was pretty appealing, so he immediately asked, "How many are we talking?"

"Three hundred."

Nozawa immediately gave up. With his current resources and manpower, there was no way in hell he could fill that order. But he understood Oda Nobunaga’s thinking—last time Nobunaga got tricked into buying a shoddy iron gun for 160 kan. This time he was probably looking to equip his troops and was worried about getting scammed again, so he specifically told Niwa Nagahide to seek out his "iron gun expert" for advice.

This was the kind of job where he just had to talk, so of course Nozawa wouldn’t refuse. He had Ah Qing bring Ah Man’s iron gun back to use as a sample, and explained to Niwa Nagahide what to look out for when buying iron guns and what sort were suitable for large-scale deployment.

Niwa Nagahide hadn’t expected Nozawa to be so easygoing. He thought this would be the hard part, but it turned out to be the easiest. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have bothered dragging along Maeda Toshie the Oddity. He listened intently, and not long after, borrowed some brush and paper, taking notes on everything Nozawa said.

Sawaki Tenguhachi was just tagging along for the hell of it today. He had come to celebrate his own appointment as a page for Oda Nobunaga with Maeda Toshie, and just happened to get a lesson in iron gun know-how. He drifted closer, listening with great focus.

Learning anything new these days was tough, especially something as "cutting-edge" as iron guns. Even Oda Nobunaga had to go to the Kawamata Group for that, and stingy Hashimoto Ichibashi never let outsiders eavesdrop. Yet Nozawa absolutely didn’t care, answering every question in detail, as if he couldn’t wait for them to go buy three hundred iron guns, blow all the rebels to smithereens, and restore peace to all of Owari.

Niwa Nagahide ended up studying the whole afternoon and learned a ton. He figured his trip to Kaido Town should go smoothly now—at least he wouldn’t be scammed easily. When he finally took his leave, he looked back at the "Nozawa residence" from horseback and couldn’t help but praise, "Lord Nozawa is truly an honest man!"

Maeda Toshie, holding a jar of premium soy sauce, nodded repeatedly, "Lord Nozawa’s character really is top-notch. Next time, let’s treat him to a meal and chat some more!"

Niwa Nagahide shot him a sidelong glance—this clown hadn’t helped at all today, yet managed to out-eat everyone and leave with stuff. What a disgrace! Next time he came to talk with Nozawa, only a fool would bring this guy along. Actually, he thought Nozawa wasn’t really an Oddity—just honest to a fault, leading to misunderstandings; they actually got along quite well, come to think of it.

But he only complained in his heart and didn’t say anything, turning to go find Maeshima Shichiro to give him a little surprise.

......

Nozawa saw the three of them off and didn’t feel anything special, just pondered one question:

He finally had a Samurai come work for him. Sure, it was just a nobody, basically a temp, but still someone from an actual earth Samurai clan. So... was he about to become a Lord himself?

What kind of Lord would he be?

A Cao Cao type or a Liu Bei type?

He stood there stroking his chin for a while and decided Cao Cao wasn’t a fit—he wasn’t into married women, so his personality didn’t match. Big-Ears Liu suited him much better!

Maybe, it was time to level up his acting skills—next time he met a famous general, he’d have to grab his hand, bawl his eyes out, and let the tears stream!