Flower Spelling - Chapter 30.1
Chapter 30 – Shido’s Return of Gratitude Part 1
Bidding farewell to Yoshiwara inn, they crossed the Fuji River and proceeded along the coast until they reached the Satta Toge pass. In this area, where the mountains were so steep and close to the road since ancient times travellers have had to make their way down the dangerous lower route, following rocks and fords along the edge of the cliffs.
During the Edo era, a middle road over the mountain pass was finally opened to replace the lower road, but the fear and challenge of walking along the steep mountain road with its precipitous cliffs had not improved much compared to the lower route, and it remained one of the most difficult sections of the Tokaido.
However, recently a drastic shift has taken place in this difficult area. Nine years earlier, the Ansei great earthquake had uplifted the coastline and enabled people to walk under the cliffs.
“That used to be the sea.”
Peering down from the pass with the strong sea breeze blowing, the exposed rock face was visible between the trees.
“It must have been a major earthquake to alter the terrain.”
“Yeah?You said it as if you hardly knew the earthquake from that time. That was a fairly severe earthquake, and there must have been damage all over the place.”
“Eh!? Ah, i-is that so?”
About that, how was I supposed to know! I wasn’t even in this era at the time.
Concealing her internal turmoil, she forcibly redirected the conversation away from Shido, who looked blatantly suspicious.
“Ah, but even though the path is steep, the scenery is significantly better here.”
Mt. Fuji, across the light blue sea, with the fresh green mountains in the foreground. It is said that the view of Mt. Fuji from Satta Toge pass was depicted in an ukiyo-e painting by Utagawa Hiroshige. Unfortunately today, the base of the mountain was slightly hidden by clouds, but even so, it’s a spectacular view to gaze upon.
“Indeed, it is worth the effort to climb the mountain.”
Sogetsu’s words were taken up by Takasugi, and the earthquake story came to an end.
On this day they stayed in Okitsu, and the next day they travelled to Fuchu, a prosperous castle town. Departing from Fuchu, the group’s next stop will be Fujieda-juku, three towns away.
“According to this book, Seto-no-Some-Rice and Hototogisu-zuke are famous in Fujieda-juku. Dinner this evening is decided by these two!”
While Sogetsu happily slipped her fingers into the journal, Shido inflated his nose in dismay.
“You’ve just eaten a handful of rice and now you’re on the subject of the next meal. What a woman who is more interested in eating than in being sexy.”
“Listen, for all the trouble I’m causing you, I’m at least trying to provide tourist information. Please don’t criticize me every time. You could have stayed at a brothel in Fuchu if you desired.” Sogetsu stared down at Shido.
Her head, which she usually raised, was now at her waist. Takasugi had put Sogetsu, whose ankle was bruised from all the walking, on his horse with no questions asked.
“In what world is there a servant who rides the horse while his master walks?”
Sogetsu’s protests were simply disregarded.
The old man, a mako at the Maruko Inn, walked in silence, his expression never changing as if he were trying not to talk or get involved in a quarrel.
“Whose fault do you think it is that we are late? Besides, we’ve been around Tokaido so many times that we don’t need a tourist guide now. The Seto-no-Some-Rice is simply a portable food made by dipping rice in color, hardening it, and drying it. Nothing tasty about it.”
“Eh, is that so? Even though I had such high expectations!”
“Maruko’s yam soup was delicious though,” she said, sounding extremely disappointed. But then she looked up and said.
“That’s right, you may be familiar with the specialties, but what about this? In “T?kaid?ch? Hizakurige”, Mr. Yaji and Mr. Kita went into a teahouse to try the yam soup but ended up leaving without eating it. Why do you think that is?”
“That kind of thing, it’s either they do not have enough money or something similar to it.”
“Unfortunately, no. The correct answer is that a teahouse couple had a big quarrel. The husband hit the landlady with a wooden mortar, and she threw the same mortar at him, resulting in the neighbor’s landlady, who intervened, being covered in yam soup.”
“How much of a nuisance are that married pair?” Shido gushed.
Utsunoya Pass, where the group was walking at the moment, is a steep, undulating mountain road, surrounded by looming mountains from both sides, and even in the daytime, it is dimly lit. Today in particular, with thick clouds hanging in the sky, it was as if they had returned to the middle of winter, rather than the sunny spring weather they had experienced so far. Sogetsu shivered as the cold wind brushed her cheeks.
“I’m in the mood for a hot sake.”
As expected, Shido felt bored.
“Is it still a long way to Okabe-juku?”
“No, we’ll be there in a quarter of an hour. In the middle of the inn, there is a shop called Matsuya, where we can rest… Onatsu is the name of the daughter who will be 15 years old this year, running the dumpling shop with her mother. The father died early, but the mother and daughter have helped each other through the years.”
“You know a great deal, Monta. Did you seduce this Onatsu girl because she is a beauty?”
“Fool. Unlike Shunsuke, who likes young girls, I like older girls who are sexy… Onatsu helped me out once when I had diarrhea. After that, I started stopping by whenever I was passing through Okabe.”
Once through the pass, the Jizodo lies immediately to the right.
According to the old man, the legend has it that the Jizo enshrined there transformed into a man and aided people in harvesting and planting rice, and the locals call him “Inagari Jizo” or “Natori Jizo”. Even now, when people have a wish, they offer a sickle to this Jizo and make a wish.
“Ah, right now there’s a man worshipping.”
A young girl with her hair tied up in a momoware was holding her hands eagerly in front of the Jizo. When the girl had finished and stood up, Shido caught a glimpse of her face, releasing a gasp.
“Onatsu?”
“??Master Shido!?”
The girl who called Onatsu looked up in shock. Her cheeks were streaked with tears.
“What’s the matter, Onatsu? Why are you crying? Has your mother perhaps fallen ill?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
Onatsu rubbed her eyes. “Just gotten a bit of dust in my eyes…”
“Nothing, and you cry? You must have some sort of wish to pray to the Jizo with such devotion. It’s a good thing we met here. Tell me about it. I may be able to help you.”
At Shido’s urging, Onatsu began to speak in hushed tones.
?
About half a month ago.
Onatsu was out shopping when she bumped into a man carrying a huge luggage. Gorozo, the town’s well-known rogue. They had only slightly touched shoulders, but Gorozo exaggeratedly fell to the ground and demanded that she compensate him for breaking his family heirloom vase.
Under threat, Onatsu was forced to write a bond of debt for ten ryo. From then on, he repeatedly showed up at her shop and demanded to be paid.
“Nowadays the customers are too scared to go near the shop, and yesterday he even asked me to sell myself if I couldn’t pay him, I don’t know what to do…”
Huge tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes.
“What a foolish man! Don’t listen to him, Onatsu!”
“Yeah! That was nothing more than a false accusation!”
Sogetsu also clenched her fist beside Shido, who was indignant.
“Settle down, both of you. It’s true that this is the trick of a crook, but as he has the document, there’s certainly no point in appealing to the police. The first action to take is to get the document back… Do you have any idea where the man is?”
“Speaking clearly… But he always comes from the village on the edge of town with his friends, Ukichi and Isuke. Above his right eye he has a big mole, so you’d know him if you saw him.”
“Don’t worry, Onatsu. We will deal with them. In the meantime, go back to the shop. Your mother is probably worried about you.”
Surrounded on all sides by mountains, Okabe-juku was a small inn town, less than 14 towns long. Having parted company with the old man at the entrance to the inn, the four of them headed for Matsuya.
“Mother, I am back.”
Shido silently stopped Onatsu, who was about to enter the shop.
From within the shop came the sound of arguing voices.
The shop reeked of dumplings, and three young men in shabby clothes surrounded a frightened woman. She must be Onatsu’s mother.
“… and I’m asking where your daughter is! I’m in trouble because she broke my heirloom vase. If you don’t have the money, you’ll have to sell her to pay for it.”
“My daughter is… Onatsu will never be sold off. I’ll give you the money back, little by little, so please bear with me.”
“Shut up! I can’t wait that long. Get your daughter out of here now!”
He raised his fist, but an arm extended from behind prevented him from doing so.
“It’s not polite to raise your hand to a woman.”
“W-Who are you guys?”
A large mole above the startled man’s right eye.
“I see, so you are Gorozo. Those two are Ukichi and Isuke, aren’t they?”
“How do you know my name?”
“Don’t worry, I’m just passing through. But…”
Shido smiled and put all his strength into the hand that gripped Gorozo.
“I’m not the type to leave a woman in the lurch.”
Gorozo’s bones were creaking under the force, and an involuntary scream escaped his mouth.
“H-Hey, let go of Gorozo’s hand!”
Takasugi thrust the sheath of his sword at the throat of his comrade, who rushed to his aid.
“I’m one of those peculiarities. If you don’t want to get your jaw broken, don’t move.”
All the while, Sogetsu, and Onatsu were rushing to the mother, sending her retreating to the corner of the room.
“Now, do you understand what we are saying? Immediately hand over the document you wrote to Onatsu.”
“U-Understood, understood! But I don’t have it now. It’s true! The document is in my hideout in the mountain.”
“If so, lead the way. Any attempt to escape will result in the loss of the privilege of using your arm.”
?
Sogetsu was left with the mother and daughter, Onatsu, and Shido and Takasugi were led by Gorozo and his companions up a dimly lit mountain path. The path was a mere dirt road covered in undergrowth, with poor footholds and poor visibility. Avoiding branches and flying insects, they made it to the middle of the mountain, but there was no sign of a hideout.
“Hey, are we not there yet?”
Just as Shido was asking this question, he could not conceal his annoyance.
The three figures ahead of him disappeared.
“??Wait!”
In pursuit, their feet stepped out into the sky and they were knocked off their feet. The black soil seemed to close in on them, and in a flash, Takasugi and Shido were tumbling down the steep cliff.
“Ha-ha! Suck on that, you damned samurai!”
Gorozo and his friends peeped at them from above and jeered at them with triumphant faces as they were covered in soil.
“We may not be as strong as you, but we know more about these mountains than you do. You can bury yourselves there for the rest of your lives. In the meantime, Onatsu shall be mine.”
The mockery of the rogues receded into the distance.
“Damn it, they got us! Quick, follow after them, or Onatsu and the others will be in trouble!”
“I know. Anyway, hurry up and get up there.”
After struggling up a slippery cliff, they eventually managed to climb up and run down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, by chance, they encountered the mako from earlier.
“Excuse me, old man, lend me your horse! I will pay you for liquor money!”
Both men straddled the horse and landed a mighty kick to the horse’s belly.