“Fine, I won’t touch you again. But I should be here to keep you safe. This illness should not become serious.” Harun.o.bu lay down beside her, showing her his back. He was still breathing heavily.

Poor Harun.o.bu. I might be the stiffest person you ever met. But I can’t accept you right now. Would you pardon me? Sakura thought as she stared at his wide and strong back.

“Harun.o.bu, once we go back to Tsutsujigasaki, I will help you find the gold mineral.”

“Are you comforting me? I’ve never met a wet blanket like you. . . Is your stomach better?”

“It’s better. I will recover after a while.”

“Let’s forget about it. . . When you are back, you’d better stay at home. You can tell me where the mineral is, and I will have my underlings go check. If we really find gold, I will cease my plan of fighting Middle s.h.i.+nano in the near future. Don’t you dream of coming with us to get the mineral. I will ask n.o.bus.h.i.+ge to take you from Suwa.”

“The gold is in Kurokawa Mountain. . . h.e.l.lo? Why aren’t you answering me? . . .Harun.o.bu?”

Harun.o.bu didn’t answer her. Sakura guessed he was still mad at her. So she gave up. Anyway, if he turned the focus on the mining, it was much better than if he was focused on starting a war. Compared to being called a slaughterer in history, she would be happy to see him known as a respectable “Tiger of Kai.”

The second day, Harun.o.bu ordered the troop go back to Kai, and asked them to prepare to search for the mineral.

All of them were surprised by this change. n.o.bus.h.i.+ge seemed to know this was somehow advised by Sakura, and he cast her a furtive glance. The girl blinked back at him twice. But she saw someone behind n.o.bus.h.i.+ge—he was Yamamoto Kansuke. He was in Suwa now?

“The master planned to go fight Murakami, but he suddenly got the idea of turning back to mine gold. Is this your doing?”

“Yes, it is. And why? I beg you! Never send more innocents to their death, okay? You are calling him master now. Money supports power, don’t you understand? Victories can come from other sources than battle,” Sakura said, trying to explain her intentions.

Hearing their conversation, Yamamoto Kansuke shot her a sideways glance and said, “The one you should offer this suggestion to is Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto. As to what our master needs, I have a clearer picture of that than you. In this chaotic time, though power takes away lives, it could make our country stronger in a short time. I don’t know if you are a spy or a ninja, but if you remain at his side, you will hinder Kai’s progress towards becoming ruler. If you continue to keep to your plan of bewildering the master, I won’t let you get off easily.”

“Hey, do I have any feud with you? Why are you so mean to me?” Sakura was made crazy by his words.

“I will sweep away anything that might obstruct the master.”

Though the man was calm when he said this, his words were like blades to Sakura’s heart.

“Let me remind you once more, don’t do anything useless. Don’t tell me that you are in love with the master so you don’t want him die in the wars. Our master will be the whole country’s ruler, and his successor should be Lady Yiu’s son. You’d better remember this!”

After saying this, Yamamoto Kansuke ran away to disappear in the woods, like before.

How dare he threaten her? Sakura was not as soft a girl as he imagined. The more he pressed, the more she would return.

That night, again, she persuaded Harun.o.bu to allow her to accompany the army to Kurokawa Mountain.

From time to time, Yamamoto Kansuke appeared somewhere among the people; Sakura always showed him proud smiles. She could see his weird expression of clenching his teeth. Seeing this gave her a sense of achievement. Since the first time Harun.o.bu saw a piece of gold, he trusted her prediction capability more. The family officers also looked at her with different eyes.

Yamamoto Kansuke, dare you fight with me? I am 400 years younger than you. This is my lasting advantage. You can’t win even if you think so hard your hair turns white.

“Hey, what are you thinking? Why are you so happy? Because you’re thinking of staying in my room tonight?” Harun.o.bu pushed her shoulder slightly.

Sakura stared back and spat on the ground. “Would you stop fixating on that issue? You already know my answer.”

“Just pretend that you will agree to the idea so that you make me happy, okay?” Harun.o.bu shook his head and walked down the mountain.

What a fool!

Seeing his shadow fading in the mountain fog, Sakura also slowly traveled with the army. Though she always called him a fool, she’d admit that the fool was quite clever. But he didn’t touch her anymore, as promised, which, in her mind, gave him additional points. If she had no chance to go back to the modern era, she would rather choose him, instead of Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto, who had a pair of amorous eyes. She enjoyed the fun of quarreling with Harun.o.bu. Their feelings were built through quarrels.