Volume 5, Chapter 9: Dancing Water Spirit First Part (1/2)

Freckles, are you done yet? Chouu asked. He was sitting on a tree stump, kicking his feet.

(Thats why I didnt want him to come.)

The brat is fickle. Though its fine to bring him along, she could see him becoming baggage. No doubt the hag told her to bring the boy along to get him out of the way of the manservants work. What lonely.

Maomao ignored Chouu s complaints and cut the grass growing at the roots of a tree. She only wanted to use the buds, but the sorting will come later.

Heyyyy, Freckles

Shut up. You were the one who wanted to come along, Maomao said as she thrust the medicinal herb into the jute bag.

Chouu placed his hands on his lap and looked at Maomao with displeasure. But Im tired.

The walking distance wasnt too great, but its hard to walk on grass and dead leaves. She understood that this will be tiring for Chouu whose body was still numb. Theres nothing she could do about it. Even so, Maomao wasnt going to spoil him.

Then wait here. Im going to go deeper in, she said.

Ehhh Chouus mouth gaped open. He looked like he wanted to say something to her. Are you leaving me behind!

Youre tired, right? Wait for me.

Chouu twisted his face in reluctance and got off the tree stump. As the crone had mentioned, some people are the type to get lonely. Its quite common among manservants and little girls in the pleasure district.

Im going! Im going, so dont leave me behind!

Chouu hobbled after Maomao. She looked at him coldly as she headed deeper into the forest.

The forest was growing with various types of trees. Since there were a lot of broadleaf trees, there would be a lot of fruits in autumn. Conifer trees were suited for timber products, but it seems that these were mostly found in the forests of the northern region.

Maomao ate a raspberry she found along the way. It was fine that Chouu was copying her, but his mouth got red and sticky.

Theyre sour.

They are just starting to grow, she said, not stopping her raspberry picking.

Freckles! Can you eat this mushroom? Chouu said. He found a small mushroom on a dead tree.

(How unusual.)

She thought that the mushroom would be found a little further north, but to think that they would even grow here. Maomao picked the small mushroom.

Is it edible? he asked.

Unfortunately, this isnt tasty. Also, its not poisonous.

In other words, it was something Maomao had no interest in. Chouu dropped his shoulders in disappointment.

She proceeded happily, having found reishi along the way, and then came upon a lake. This forest used to be a large enough that it also surrounded the lake but it grew smaller and scattered due to the paddies. Whats left of the divided forest was adjacent to a different village. Rather, it might have been divided when the village got built.

Since there were plants that only grew by the waterside, Maomao headed towards the lake. She could see a small island right in the centre. There were warding ropes at the boundary between the forest and the lake. In times past, it was said that places of water were entrances to the other world. The small island in the lake would be for that reason too as a small shrine. She had heard before that the guardian of the lake resided there, and that the said-guardian transformed into a large snake. The saying to not kill snakes must have come from there. And then, there was a small hut on the bank of the lake that managed all of that.

Maomao headed for that small hut.

The small hut had a raised floor. It seems that lake water rises up to this small hut when it rains heavily it was for that reason. There were markings on the pillars of the hut showing how high the water went.

Chouu pointed and looked at the water level marks with interest. Maomao went up the stairs and peered inside the hut.

A hairy old man emerged from inside as if he had noticed her gaze. Since I havent seen you for a couple of years, I thought you became a bride and left or something.

Too bad. Im an old maid, she said.

Considering all that, it looks like you have a big child.

Hes such a sharp-tongued old man, as usual, Maomao thought. It seems hes an old acquaintance of her adoptive father Ruomen; a doctor in the capital a long time ago. His skill was good, but due to his eccentric personality and misanthropy, hes now retired and living in such a remote place.

Nowadays he scraped by while picking medicinal herbs. Hes the manager of the shrine, but it seems it wasnt a big deal in the end. There was no boat on the lake. It doesnt even look like he went to the shrine either.

Here. If theres what you want, take it and go. The old man laid out the herbs he had dried on the wall on the shabby table. It would be quicker to buy rare and out of season herbs from this old man.

Maomao went inside the hut to appraise those herbs.

The old man sat on a chair and stooped forward. Hes more than ten years older than Ruomen so she had no idea when he will keel over. From the three years she hadnt met him, it looks like he has aged even more.

However, he had dried the herbs carefully and the quality wasnt bad either. And besides, she thought that the amount he gathered was quite steady for a senile old fool.

Im relieved that youre not senile, but youve gathered some pretty nice stuff, she said.

The old maid really has a sharp tongue.

At the words directed to Maomao, the one who laughed was Chouu. She glowered at him with narrowed eyes and set the herbs she needed on the cloth bag.

What are you on about. I recently got a helper, the old man continued.

A helper I see. A village child? Youre doing pretty well, I see.

Maomao looked at Chouu purposely. What the heck, the boy pouted.

Not at all. Its a guy I recently picked up in the capital. He does pretty well. Come on, if you spread rumours

When he said that, she heard a voice from the upper floor.

Grandpaaa. I got what you asked for. Huh? Guests?

She somehow recognised that absolutely cheerful voice.

The one who showed up swinging a large cloth bag was a young man who was wearing a cloth as an eyepatch.

(So thats why I recognised his voice.)

Standing there was the man with a face full of smallpox scars who should have been looking for work in the capital, Kokuyou.