Amazing Village Building

“Did you happen to see a woman who has come of age somewhere along the way?”

“A woman?”

The one-eyed samurai excitedly asked, and Gai-san replied with a question of his own.

“Yes. Truth be told, my foolish daughter left our home after declaring she would cross the mountain range all by herself…I told her not to do something so foolish, but she just didn’t listen…”

Huh? That sounds like…

“Can that woman perhaps be Akane-san?”

“!! You know of her!?”

Apparently, the person in front of us was Akane-san’s father.

“Can I take that to mean that she’s safe?”

“Yeah. At least she was when we met her along the way in the mountain range…”

For the sake of Akane-san’s honor, I chose to not say anything about her being rescued by a dragon and being brought to our village. Otherwise, she was at risk of attempting another seppuku.

“We met around the midpoint of the mountain range, so she should have made it to the western side by now.”

“I can’t believe it…that girl who tries to commit seppuku for every little thing, she really crossed the mountain range all by herself…”

…it would seem even her father was troubled by Akane-san’s tendency to disembowel herself.

“Mm, come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself. I apologize for not doing so sooner, but I am Masamine. Date Misamine, to be exact. I presently serve as the feudal lord of the Sende domain.”

A feudal lord was like a land-owning noble back in the west.

That would mean that Akane-san was a lady of such an illustrious family.

“While you’re here, how about telling me stories about the west?”

We agreed to Masamine-san’s suggestion and were then guided to the inside of their residence.

Along the way…

“My lord! My lord! We’ve been looking all over for you!”

A middle-aged man who looked to be a retainer came rushing toward us, his face a burning red.

With a frown, Masimine-san asked something to the middle-aged man.

“What is it? As you can see, I have company at the present.”

“Company…”

The man was surprised when he glanced at us, probably because he didn’t notice us at all at first. Despite that, he immediately spoke again, in what seemed to be an admonishing tone.

“More importantly, my lord, it is time for your audience with the shogun! If you don’t depart soon, you’ll be late!”

“!?!”

To those words, Masamine-san let out a sound of surprise.

That was immediately followed by the color on his face draining all at once.

“T-that’s right…! Today is when I am supposed to visit the Edou castle and have an audience with the shogun…! To think I’ve forgotten about something so important…”

For whatever reason, Masamine-san threw away his upper garment and drew out the short katana-like blade that had been hanging on his waist.

W-wait, this sequence…

“This is the gravest error I have made in my life! As the head of the Masamine household, I have brought dishonor upon us that’ll endure for generations to come! Now that it has come to this, I can only hope to atone by committing seppuku!”

So it really led to seppuku!

“M-my lorddddd!?”

“Stop, I beg youuuuu!”

“The lord has gone mad once again! Help us stop him!!”

Retainer-looking people simultaneously rushed in and stopped Masamine-san from his attempt at seppuku.

…it seems like Akane-san’s seppuku tendencies was something she inherited…

“…I apologize for showing you something so unsightly.”

“N-no, it’s fine.”

We’re used to it by now thanks to your daughter.

Masamine-san somehow looked so composed right now.

Meanwhile, the retainers who stopped him from his desperate attempt at seppuku were all lying on the floor while breathing hard.

“Moreover, I also apologize but I must now leave for Edou castle. Might I ask you to give me the details later upon my return? Of course, until then, feel free to take it easy and relax here within my estate.”

After apologizing like that, it looked like Masamine-san suddenly thought of something.

“Wait. It’s rare for us to have travelers from the west. You are bound to have many valuable stories you can share with us. If that’s so, it stands to reason that one of the first things a vassal like me to do is introduce you to the shogun. It was such an obvious thing, and yet I almost failed to realize it…! As I thought, I am ill-suited to be the head of the Date household! For the sake of my house, I offer my life—”

“““Stop, my lordddddddd!!”””

…if you don’t hurry this up, you’ll really be late, you know.

TL note: Date Masamine is a reference to Date Masamune. Date, pronounced like dah-te not the English word date, is the family name. For at least Edou characters, I think it’s safe to assume that family names will always come first.

Sende is a reference to Sendai.

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