CHAPTER 250: CHAPTER 182: SO THAT’S WHERE MONKEYS COME FROM

Harano didn’t take the failure to recruit the Director of Horse Affairs to heart—there was never a shortage of talent in this world, only a shortage of stages for people to showcase their abilities. As long as there was a stage, there would always be those eager to step up and show what they could do. All he needed to do was wait, so it wasn’t his loss—it was Hoyoshimaru’s instead.

He quickly put the matter out of his mind, waiting patiently for the next suitable candidate, and an idle day passed swiftly. Oda Nobunaga, bored after a day of leisure, started causing trouble again and sent someone to invite Harano to go hunting.

Hunting in this era wasn’t just a pastime—tracking game required keen observation and judgment, coordinating the hunt needed teamwork, quick decisions, and adaptability. All of these translated directly to skills needed in war. At the same time, they could gather leather and meat for military needs. It was an important social and military training event.

Oda Nobunaga’s sudden decision to organize a hunt was probably to keep the clan leaders waiting for the tea ceremony occupied, and also to get a measure of their fighting abilities. Or maybe he was just bored and wanted to have some fun with people.

Harano didn’t care either way, and turned the matter over to Ah Man. Ah Man, however, took it seriously and immediately called the Inner Guard together to practice archery—not wanting the Nozawa family to lose face in such a large-scale "military exercise."

After several days of preparation, the clan leaders and their Household Retainers and Lang Faction entourages set out for the hunting grounds one team after another, and the hunt officially began.

Harano simply stuck by Oda Nobunaga’s side and went with the flow—wherever the "war council" told him to go, he went. Whether it was driving out game or surrounding and shooting at them, he didn’t care. In fact, he barely shot a few arrows the whole time. In contrast, Oda Nobunaga was having a blast—not only falconry and hound hunting, but even fighting in person. With the help of his young retainers and Household Retainers, he personally hunted down a massive wild boar, fully displaying his courage and martial prowess.

Ah Man, leading the "Nozawa family representative team," did his best, but they were now more used to iron cannon than bows, so their archery was quite average and the results underwhelming. Even after several sorties, they only managed to catch a few rabbits and pheasants; the biggest haul was two deer, hardly worth mentioning among all the clan leaders.

Hmm, the other clans tried even harder, clearly treating this "military exercise" very seriously, and there was a hidden air of competition—not wanting to fall behind and lose face or be looked down on by others. They also actively expressed loyalty to the new ruler, constantly offering large game and even rare hunting dogs and falcons as gifts.

Oda Nobunaga accepted everything, continuously rewarding or returning favors with horses, strong bows, and swords—as if this was customary. At the same time, he didn’t forget his brother-in-law and ally Harano; he passed on an excellent hunting dog, originally gifted by a clan leader, to him—a Shiba Inu. Since Shiba Inus mostly come from Minoh, it’s quite likely Nobunaga saw the Shiba and thought of Ah Man, so he casually gave it to Harano.

This hunting event was "military drill" by day and "socializing" by night, lasting a full six days before wrapping up. Only then did Harano follow Oda Nobunaga back to Qingzhou City.

All in all, he got an authentic taste of the elite warrior lifestyle—Samurai trained like this from childhood, with everything revolving around preparations for war.

Since there was still a "banquet" in the evening, Harano didn’t bother going back to his own place, but went directly to Oda Nobunaga’s residence. As soon as they reached the stable, Hoyoshimaru personally led his people out to greet them. After taking charge of the horses with the Lang Faction, he also helped Oda Nobunaga remove his Gang Guanmaoda boots and put on a pair of lightweight, comfortable straw sandals. Gang Guanmaoda were Japanese leather riding boots with a unique design where the big toe was separated from the other four, resembling a cow’s hoof—this split-toe design made it easier for Samurai to control the reins and stirrups while riding, though they were heavy and uncomfortable to wear.

On top of that, Hoyoshimaru had someone prepare sour plum soup for Oda Nobunaga to quench his thirst and relieve fatigue, and dusted off the roadside fatigue for him.

Oda Nobunaga was delighted, clapping Hoyoshimaru’s shoulder and exclaiming, "Not bad, you! If everyone was like you, I’d have a lot less to worry about."

Hoyoshimaru bowed his head to accept Nobunaga’s pats, and quietly murmured something, making Oda Nobunaga laugh even harder and nod in approval.

Harano’s status was elevated now, so naturally he also got a bowl of sour plum soup. But he was always careful about eating and drinking outside—in these times, much of the food was trampled out with bare feet, and even if not, the hygiene standards were nightmare-inducing. Unless he couldn’t avoid it, he preferred not to eat or drink much outside.

He planned to go have a bath and unwind, so he left the stable—and Maeda Toshie quickly followed. Even after they’d walked a fair distance, Maeda looked back and chuckled, "Hizi really is sharp—not for nothing they call him Monkey."

Harano was busy scrubbing dirt off himself when he heard this and froze. He turned to stare at Maeda and asked, "What did you just call him?"

Maeda Toshie jumped a little at the question, but after thinking about it, realized he hadn’t said anything wrong. Hesitating, he replied, "I didn’t say anything—just praising Hizi for being quick-witted..."

"Not that," Harano said, stopping in his tracks, still staring at him. "What’s with the Monkey nickname?"

"It’s... his nickname. Some idiot used to joke that he looked like a monkey, and it just caught on," Maeda Toshie answered, a little baffled. He didn’t see what the big deal was—didn’t all young people get called nicknames? Even Oda Nobunaga was called ’Dog.’ Plus, he and Hoyoshimaru were on good terms—calling him ’Monkey’ to his face wouldn’t upset him, though he just usually didn’t call him that out loud.