The Unification of Another World By The Failure Warlord “Cautious Ieyasu” and the Elf Princess - Volume 1 Chapter 1.1
“Hmm? Where am I? A world of springs surrounded by dazzling lotus flowers? I thought I had lived out my 75 years in Sunpu Castle, but…”
“Nice to meet you, Tokugawa Ieyasu-san. This place is the highest level of heaven where only gods are allowed to enter. And I am the goddess who governs all multiverses.”
“A celestial, huh? I’m a careful man, so I am no going to trust a god who doesn’t even tell me her name.”
“…Ufufu… As always, you’re the type who won’t cross a bridge until you’ve checked it thoroughly. My name is pronounced in a way that you can’t hear, so even if I tell you, it won’t get through.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“Well, that’s fine. Congratulations, Ieyasu-san! You have accomplished the great feat of unifying the Sengoku period of Japan, and have been given the divine title of the Great Shining Gongen of the East! From now on, you are a god!”
“Wait. The reason why I received the title of a god was to add some luster to the shogunate and stabilize it. I have absolutely no desire to become a real god, so I will have to decline. I’m sure I’ll be burdened with even more trouble than I was alive anyway. I’ve lived through the hard times of the Sengoku period in Japan, so I know that much.”
“(Twitch, twitch. Just how cautious can this guy be?)… Nooooo! I won’t allow you to decline! As a new god must have a duty that you must fulfill, I appoint you as the hero who will save another world. You’re a loner, with no heroic qualities whatsoever, you’re insanely stingy, and in later generations you’re an unpopular “failure” hero, totally different from Oda Nobunaga, but you’ve met the conditions to become a god, so it can’t be helped. Do your best to defeat the demon king~♪”
“Ugh. I admit that I am a hundred steps behind the hero Lord Nobunaga, but defeating a demon king in another world is no joke! This Ieyasu has lived a life of hardship, but to think that even after death I would be given so much hardship? What on earth have I done!? Please, just let me rest in peace!”
“You’ve unified the world and become a god, so this is your reward! The Hero occupation comes with a ton of perks, you know? Whether you see it as a hardship or a reward is a matter of perspective, right~?”
“I was just trying desperately to survive in the turbulent times! While I was striving for health and longevity, both Lord Nobunaga and His Highness Hideyoshi happened to pass away, and the position of ruler of Japan just fell into my hands based on seniority! I was just being cautious, and I never had any ambition to rule the world in the first place!”
“Hehe. Even at the advanced age of 60 or 70, you proudly served as a field commander in the Battle of Sekigahara and the Siege of Osaka, so that’s impossible.”
“It’s true! It was only because my successor, Hidetada, was extremely incompetent at fighting that even an old man like me had no choice but to go to the front lines… At the decisive Battle of Sekigahara, Hidetada, the commander-in-chief, arrived late and didn’t appear on the battlefield until the very end. Please. Forgive me, just let me rest alreeeady!”
“No no, the hero job is your calling♪. So, please do your best to defeat the demon king, okay?♪.”
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the unparalleled hero in history who put an end to 400 years of war, established the Tokugawa Shogunate, and brought peace to Japan for 260 years, was a very cautious man.
In 1600, at the age of 59, Ieyasu defeated the anti-Ieyasu faction led by Ishida Mitsunari in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara and became the de facto ruler of Japan. However, it took him another 15 years to capture Osaka Castle, the last remaining force of resistance, and put an end to the Sengoku period, demonstrating Ieyasu’s remarkable caution and perseverance.
Ieyasu was only 74 years old when he defeated the Toyotomi clan, who were holed up in Osaka Castle, and unified the country.
Ieyasu died the following year. He was 75 years old, which was an exceptionally long life expectancy for a Sengoku warlord of that time. If the fall of Osaka Castle had been delayed by another year, time would have run out, and the country would have reverted back to chaos. Even Ieyasu, who was very cautious, realized that he had little time left to live, and said, “I don’t want to do it, but I have no choice…” and forcefully began the capture of Osaka Castle, completing it just in time.
That unrivaled ruler of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, finally passed away in Sunpu Castle.
At his bedside is the sacred sword Sohaya no Tsurugi, stained with the blood of criminals who have been used to test its blade.
The extremely cautious Ieyasu devised a plan to make himself a “god” and continue to watch over the feudal lords of various provinces, so that the Tokugawa Shogunate would not be shaken even after his death. Ieyasu’s body, now a god, was secretly buried on Mount Kuno by Nankobo Tenkai, Konchiin Suden and others, and his soul was enshrined as “Tosho Daigongen” at Nikko Toshogu Shrine.
Ieyasu was born into the family of the Matsudaira clan in Mikawa, but was separated from his mother at the age of three, sent as a hostage to the Imagawa clan at the age of six, and was betrayed by his own family along the way and sold off to the Oda clan. He endured a series of hardships and fate after that, but after 75 years, he finally accomplished his important mission of ending the turbulent times in Japan, raising the banner of “Abhorrence of the impure world and seeking the pure land” – or so he was supposed to do.
But.
Immediately after his death, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s soul was summoned to heaven, where lotus flowers bloom in full glory, and a beautiful woman of a certain age who called herself a “goddess” cruelly told him, “Now, in the next world, you must work hard as a hero,” and without any further ado, he was transported to an unknown parallel world…
We are currently recruiting. CN/KR/JP Translators/MTLers are welcome!
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/HGaByvmVuw