115 5.4 Kitakata Village, Fukushima, Japan 1860 (2/2)
When we entered the residential district, it was made up of at least a few clusters. The nobles made the inner cluster, the employees of the governmental section made the second cluster and so on and so forth. We reached the fourth cluster that was meant for the serving higher ends of the militia group. Later I learnt that the 6th cluster was the trade cluster where I could find some employment if the trade needed some help and after the 7th cluster onwards would be the residential homes of tradesmen and lastly would be the plebs.
”Alright kid, I drop you off here. This is my home and make this home yours too as well. I am off to group up with the rest of my comrades and I don't know how long I would be home then. At the meantime, remember what I said and make yourself comfortable. I would come back and we will discuss your future ahead in the next coming few days.”
Hiko-sama dropped me off from the mount and gestured a single storey brick house with red tiles roof with his hand. I bowed to him and made my way through the small pebbled path towards the main door. Hiko-sama soon galloped on his mount and made his way to his comrades he had left earlier.
As I walked on the pebbled pathway, I noticed a small red circular box near the path and I soon realised that I would be used like a letterbox or something. The exterior surface of the brick house was covered with a layer of cement before being smoothened over. There were two sliding windows at both ends of the house and a sliding door that was meant for the entrance to the house. I was thinking that most Japanese homes would be made of wood for the exteriors but these samurai houses and those belong to the higher ranked militia were made from brick.
In traditional Japanese homes, bamboo or wooden houses were common even in the modern era. But seeing a wooden house with a tiled roof made me a flashback that this was, in fact, modern Japan and I wondered how it was influenced by its design and nature. A small water tower stands at the side of the house to supply water and a hand-cranked pump was beside it. There was no water well around the house which meant that the water was supplied through an underground aqueduct. This was truly modern in the 19th Century.
A chimney was seen at the back of the house, and I presumed it was the chimney for the kitchen or something. There was a sliding window at both sides of the house and this accentuates the ventilation during times of need in summer. I walked up to the house and it was elevated about 1 foot or 1 foot and a half above the ground. This was to prevent moisture and dampness from entering the house during rainy seasons. How innovative, I thought.
I stepped up and removed my wound up sandal. Since there wasn't any slipper to use, I'd still has my socks on and slid the main door open. The air that escapes from within was warm and there was a distinctive smell of old clothes that had not been laundered for a week or so. Simply because he was a Samurai and was a single man, but this does not mean he could be a lazy bum to attend to his needs!
”Ah well, living with a single man has to endure with his laziness as well. Who else would do his laundry? A part-time housekeeper at his beck and call every few days? How about his meals then? Order takeout from some pushcart vendors or dial some orders from a restaurant? There was no phone invented yet and I am sure he had some means when comes to food!” I thought as I slowly stepped into the house and greeted ”Tadaima” to no one in particular since I knew the house was unoccupied.
”Okaeri” a male voice sounded offscreen and when I looked it was Mr Director again who answered my greetings! ”Hey Mr Director, how about some gold coins to jumpstart my character here, will you? I hate to jumpstart without any jingles in my pocket and I hate to leave them empty for so long!”
”Go find some work, kid! It should pay you 3 to 5 coppers for a day's work and if you are lucky you could earn 1-2 coppers per errand. Be an errand boy when Hiko-sama comes back! And stop bickering onscreen...!”
”Then when is Max entering in this episode?”
”He is resting in his trailer right now. Back to the story, kid!”
”Alright...alright...Phew! It is hard working for a Director who doesn't even care about the welfare of his transmigrated MC in this story. I sighed deeply as I make my way in and looked around at my surroundings.
Even the size of the house looked small from the exterior, the moment I entered it looked like it was a 2 bedroom unit with a small living room, kitchenette with attached dining area, a T&B in the kitchenette area and a storage room which I was told not to enter without Hiko-sama's presence.
I was told to stay indoors and not to answer to anyone so it doesn't mean that I would not be able to slide open the windows abit to let in some sunshine and ventilate the house. The chimney I saw earlier was not meant for the kitchen but it is for the fireplace in the middle of the house.
It is like a central warming unit for the house. I saw a pipe of some sort and it was affixed to the wall right into the furnace area and travelled back to the T&B. I peered through and thought of it as a novelty idea of bringing hot water to the house without implementing a boiler unit.
”Not bad...Not bad...Not bad...” I thought as it would be a great help in the mornings if the water is too cold and the heated water can be collected in the big wooden circular tub for showering. A separate pipe was seen running to the small sink in the kitchenette and this I thought was a very modern concept of running tap water!