Harano's request was rather strange. Ah Man said in surprise, "The first year of Tenmon? Twenty years ago? You don't know anything about Owari?"
"My home is very far from here. I've only just arrived in Owari a couple of days ago," Harano replied.
"Hmm... Your accent is kind of weird, not from East Mountain Road or East Sea Road, doesn't sound like the Kinki dialect either, and not like Shanyin Road or Shanyang Road." Ah Man grew curious and glanced at the sleeping Meng Ziqi again. "Where are you people from? Is your family from South Sea Road?"
The South Sea Road meant Shikoku Island (Tosa, Iyo, Awa, Sanuki—the four countries of Shikoku), along with Awaji Island and the Kii Peninsula.
Harano casually brushed her off: "Even farther west."
Any farther west would be the West Sea Road, that is, the area that would later be called Kyushu Island. For Ah Man, that was unimaginably far, like the very edge of the world in this era.
She couldn't help but ask with curiosity, "So why did you come all the way to East Sea Road? Were you exiled or something?"
"Right now, I'm the one asking the questions!" Harano felt a bit regretful for letting her off too soon; she actually dared to talk more than her interrogator. He ought to have kept her as a prisoner for a day and given her a good grilling.
Ah Man was thoughtful—she could sense Harano was evasive about his origins. Maybe he lost out in a succession struggle and got banished, so now he'd hidden his identity and run far away. But judging by his smooth skin, he was probably some spoiled scion of a big clan in the past...
Harano's height, close to 1.8 meters, his even, snow-white teeth, and his healthy, glowing complexion really gave him an advantage. Just those things made everyone instinctively believe he was nobly born, a high-class person. Even a so-called "original ninja" like Ah Man was no exception; she'd already started to imagine his tragic backstory.
But whatever. Harano wasn't anyone special to her anyway; whether he used to be a young master of a big clan or just a beggar, it was all the same to her. Still, she wasn't the type to suffer losses—she had a wild streak. Noticing that Harano needed something from her, her pitch-black eyes spun slyly and she said, "I'm hungry."
Harano looked at her speechlessly for a beat, then got up to call for Yayoi.
What else could he do? This little rascal looked just a bit older than Yayoi; in his eyes, she was still a kid. It was dark, and he'd beaten her thinking she was a thief—that was that. Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, scolding or hitting her more would be a bit much.
Besides, he'd originally planned to give her a meal anyway. After all, not everyone would rush four hours out for six pieces of ferry money to come and save him. Just for that kindness, he owed her at least some hospitality and respect.
Uh, actually, he'd gotten it all wrong. He just happened to have given her six coins (in Japanese mythology, crossing the Sanzu River required six coins as ferry money), and Ah Man had seen it as a sign from the heavens—thought he wasn't fated to die, so she'd come with righteous intentions to rob the wicked and help the good. Harano, however, didn't get the Warring States Era's mythological meme at all—he had no clue and just thought Ah Man was kind-hearted and chivalrous, always repaying kindness. He couldn't help but think a little more of her—but actually none of it was true.
Just goes to show, that's fate between people!
Yayoi was good at caring for others. She carefully helped Ah Man sit up and rest against a straw mat, then moved a small wooden table in front of her, brought water and a cotton towel to wipe her hands and face, and even helped her retie her hair. Only then did she bring over a clay pot, bowls and chopsticks, and a small bucket of rice.
With her face cleaned up, Ah Man looked rather pretty. Her little round face and big, bright eyes were striking; she wore the common hairstyle for boys in this era with a straight fringe and a tiny topknot. Her black hair was glossy, and at a glance she was actually quite cute—not wild at all.
Her only flaw, perhaps, was her eyebrows—they were thick and short, shaped like broad beans. Not delicate at all, they quivered when she moved, and the dark color really stood out, making her face immediately shift from "cute" to "comedic."
But overall, she was still better looking than Yayoi. Yayoi's looks were ordinary—at best, you could say she was neat and youthful. But her little face was ashen, her hair dull and yellowish; clearly malnourished and looking like a refugee fleeing disaster.
Ah Man, on the other hand, looked much healthier—her skin and hair had better color, and she seemed much more energetic, too.
Ah Man didn't care how Harano was sizing her up—her mouth was almost watering already. She picked up the bamboo chopsticks, stirred the clay pot, and exclaimed in delight, "No wonder it smells so good, it really is stewed chicken! Both legs are there—a whole chicken with daikon. There's more chicken than daikon, and even mushrooms!"
She then looked into the bucket of rice: pure white rice, like jade, hardly a speck of anything else in it.
She'd just hoped to score a bowl of mixed-grain rice with some black beans, maybe a couple of pickled daikon strips at best—she hadn't expected such a luxurious feast.
She ate meat; as a martial artist, one needed to eat meat or they'd start peeing blood. But even so, she'd only catch the odd field mouse, shoot a bird, or fish for some roasting now and then. A proper meal of meat with white rice was unheard of. In these times, if you could buy a chicken or eat polished rice, why not trade it for more millet and eat more meals?
She couldn't help but exclaim in joyful disbelief, "You really are a prodigal son! No wonder you got exiled!"
"If you don't want to eat, then don't!" Harano was thoroughly exasperated.
He'd had nothing but good intentions. Despite Ah Man's endless trash talk, she was actually pretty badly hurt. That's why he'd especially bought a chicken to make some broth and help her recover—he'd never killed anyone before, though in these troubled times he knew he probably would have to eventually and was already mentally prepared. Still, he definitely didn't want the first person he killed to be a child—he wasn't some squid-eating brute.