That I'm a man of innovation, blazing the trail to a new age. That's what people say.
But the truth is—all I wanted was a hard breastplate.
Around that time, nanban missionaries had begun coming and going around Kyoto and Sakai. Men from foreign lands far across the sea, who had crossed all that water to get here.
I invited them to my castle and treated them generously. I protected their nanban culture and even allowed them to preach.
My retainers were filled with admiration.
"Our lord is quick to take in the goods and learning of even distant foreign lands."
"Unbound by old custom, he sets his sights on a new world. What an open-minded lord."
But what I was really after wasn't faith, or a taste for novelty. I welcomed the missionaries for one reason only.
I wanted a nanban cuirass.
That steel breastplate from the nanban lands. I'd heard it could turn aside even a bullet fired from a gun. The moment I heard that, my heart leapt.
—It stops bullets.
Which meant that as long as I wore it. Even if an assassin shot at me from a distance. I might not die.
I begged the missionaries and got my hands on a nanban cuirass. At night, in a room with no one else in it, I secretly put it on. It was heavy. But that weight felt wonderful.
As long as I wore this, I wouldn't die if I was shot. A blade wouldn't get through if I was stabbed. For a while I just stroked the breastplate, enraptured.
While I was at it, I asked the missionary for something more.
"Bring me more of these. I will grant you anything you wish."
The missionary was delighted. He seemed to think I was a rare daimyo with a deep understanding of nanban learning.
No. I just wanted more hard, sturdy breastplates.
Seeing me in the nanban cuirass, a cape over my shoulders, seated in a chair, my retainers were moved all the more.
"That strange attire. He truly wears the new age upon his very body."
"He is a man ahead of the world."
Inside, I smiled wryly. I'm not ahead of the world. I'm just scared of being shot dead.
Only one man. Only Tokichiro looked at my nanban cuirass and grinned.
"My lord. That's quite a splendid breastplate."
"...Mm."
"It must be awfully hard, I'd wager. So hard no bullet or blade could get through."
He understood. That I wasn't a lover of novelty or anything of the kind. That I simply didn't want to die, and wanted a hard breastplate.
"Monkey. Hold your tongue."
"Yes, my lord. I won't breathe a word to anyone."
Tokichiro bowed, all smiles.
I just didn't want to die. Shot or stabbed, I wanted to survive. With that one thought, I wanted a hard breastplate, and I treated the nanban men who would sell it to me well. That's all.
And yet, before I knew it, I'd been made into "a man of innovation, blazing the trail to a new age." Demon King of Tenka Fubu, and a pioneer of the times who welcomed what came from the nanban lands. Another grand sign had been stuck to my back.