Season: Autumn
Writer: Nishioka (feat. Akira)
Characters: Hajime, Tori, Ritsu
Hajime: Uhm… There are so many books to choose from that it’s making my head spin~
Ah, this book looks good ♪ Let’s give it to Tori-kun right away.
Tori: U~n…
Hajime: Tori-kun. I brought you another book~. This one is super easy to understand, so I think it should be nice to use as a reference.
Tori: Ah. Thank you, Hajime! And I’m sorry for making you help me with my assignment like this. You’re a real godsend~
Hajime: Fufu. I don’t mind. I had some free time anyways.
Plus, my class will be getting the same assignment soon as well. So I thought I’d see what it was like.
It’s a Japanese history assignment where you pick a research topic, round up some info and present it to the class, right?
Tori: Yup. And so I chose "the Battle of Sekigahara” as my topic! So right now I’m doing research for my presentation.
Hajime: It was a decisive battle that is historically significant enough to be labelled as the end of the Sengoku period, after all.
There were lots of materials written about it, so I had trouble deciding which one to pick out for Tori-kun.
That reminds me, you seemed like you were worrying about something earlier, is there anything you’re having trouble understanding?
If so, then I’ll go look for some more materials about those parts next…
Tori: Ah, no. I wasn’t exactly worried, it’s more like I was confused.
Look. The Western army had vastly superior military strength, but they still ended up losing. And in just six hours. Isn’t that weird?
We’re talking about a mere six hours, you know? That’s the amount of time you’d spend recording a show for TV. Isn't it strange that such a huge battle between samurai would be decided in such a short time?
Hajime: Now that you mention it, that’s true… The textbook just mentions that the battle took place, and doesn’t explain anymore. I wonder how that could be.
Ritsu: You see, that’s because Kobayakawa Hideaki took the large number of troops he commanded and betrayed the Western army.
Hajime: Hyan!? Ri, Ritsu-onii-chan!? Don’t suddenly hug me from behind like that, you just scared me~
Ritsu: Fufufu~. Ha~kun is so comfy to cuddle, it makes me feel at peace… ♪
Tori: Don’t jumpscare us like that!? And get away from Hajime~!
Ritsu: Treating someone like an annoyance is rude, you know. Besides, I was napping here first.
Hajime: Eh. Were you? I didn’t notice you at all. I’m so sorry we interrupted you…
Ritsu: Yup. But don’t beat yourself up about it. I shall grant you forgiveness and all will be well.
Tori: Hajime. Don’t let this guy fool you. He shouldn’t have been napping in the book room in the first place.
Ritsu: Oh. To think you’d notice the flaw in my reasoning, how diligent~
Tori: By the way. You were saying that the Western army lost because Kobayakawa Hideaki betrayed them, right?
But even if that guy was a traitor, would that really affect the strength of the armies that much?
Ritsu: Of course that wasn’t the only reason. There is more than just one side to this story, and all the events that occurred were interconnected.
Tori: ?
Ritsu: Well. To put things simply, once Kobayakawa betrayed the West, other factions started turning their coats one after the other.
Plus, Tokugawa Ieyasu had been sending letters to the different factions a month in advance to make them more likely to switch sides.
So the victory at Sekigahara came as a result of such small and steady efforts. There is also the claim that Mitsunari Ishida, the leader of the Western Army, had been losing favor amongst his people, so that might also have been one of the attributing factors.
Tori: Huh. So that’s how it was. Wait a bit, I wanna write this down.
Hajime: Wow… History really does get complicated when you factor in all the variables like that.
If Ritsu-onii-chan had been the strategist for the Western army, what would you have done?
Ritsu: Me? Lemme think… I would want to keep an eye on Ieyasu’s moves, but that era didn’t have the same communication methods and technology as we do now.
Tori: I mean, if Ritsu-senpai was the strategist, then he would probably have ended up sleeping through the entire war.
Ritsu: N~? Do you want me to shut up that rude mouth of yours?
Tori: I, it was just a little joke.
Ritsu: Well, I’ll look the other way this time. There won’t be any second chances, though.
Back on topic, but honestly I don’t know what I would’ve done.
I’m sure I would have done anything in my power to achieve victory. But it’s such a difficult situation… You couldn't be sure you would win even if you had the stronger force.
Hajime: It sure sounds like it would have been difficult.
Ritsu: A battle, huh…
I wonder what it would be like to fight a battle you couldn't afford to lose, one where your ideals are on the line.
Hajime: Eh….?
Tori: You guys in Knights have fought in lots of battles up until now, haven’t you? Have you still not had enough?
Ritsu: …N~. I guess that’s true.
Tori+Hajime: ?
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