Yashiro the Blind

"Oh dear, what a coincidence! I've been thinking about you constantly since that day. You even gave me that precious Dragon Palace divination slip. I don't know how to repay such a great kindness. Oh, I must repay this debt of gratitude, but in this vast world, I don't know where to find you, young lady..."

Inosuke kept talking to himself, but the girl shook her head: "It's nothing serious, you don't need to worry about it."

"How can you say it's not a big deal! I think you have no idea how precious this treasure is, that's why you say such things. If you knew how powerful the Dragon Palace Boy is, how he could find out everything I had been searching for so long in just a few days, you would definitely regret giving me this treasure so hastily!"

The ronin spoke eloquently, while Yashiro hesitated to speak.

She genuinely didn't care about this thing; putting everything else aside, she still had ten of them tucked away in her bag...

"Fine, fine, I'm definitely going to repay this favor anyway, and there's no use stopping me. If you have any difficulties, just ask. As long as I, Aotainosuke, have a breath left, I'll do anything for you, even if my whole body is covered in three thousand six hundred sharp knives, I won't hesitate for a second—"

As his story became increasingly exaggerated, the girl quickly interrupted, "Let's not talk about that. What's Mr. Qingtian doing here?"

"Oh, indeed, that's exactly what I was thinking of bringing up!" To everyone's surprise, Inosuke's eyes lit up at the mention of this topic, and he became much more energetic.

Not good...

Yashiro inwardly cried out in alarm, but it was too late for regrets. She only heard the ronin speak eloquently: "Speaking of that night, little girl, you made the right decision. Don't underestimate those three at the beginning, who were just ordinary. I easily dispatched them. But after I beat the younger ones, the older ones came. After beating the older ones, even more powerful ones were summoned. A series of life-and-death battles ensued, until the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light..."

"In the end, I slaughtered so many that heads rolled and blood flowed like rivers. Finally, the other side couldn't hold back any longer and called out their most powerful leader..." He paused, then suddenly asked, "By the way, young lady, I can tell you're no ordinary person either. Have you ever heard of the name Mishima Doppo?"

"Have heard a little bit."

"I bet you've heard of him too. This Mishima Doppo is no ordinary man. He's twelve feet tall and twelve feet wide, with a blue face, fangs, three heads, and six arms. His martial arts are superb, and he possesses the strength to split mountains and shatter rocks, making him invincible! To be honest, when I first saw him, I thought I was going to die on the spot. But the more critical the moment, the more heroic his nature becomes. I fought him for three days and three nights with all my might, and I actually managed to win by half a move, slaying this monster for the world and restoring peace and order to all living beings!"

Inosuke spoke with great enthusiasm and high spirits, while the girl listened in silence for a while before finally managing to utter, "...Then you're really amazing."

"Of course! Although boasting is not the act of a hero, we have already met twice. In my heart, I have long regarded you as a close friend. Given our friendship, there should be no secrets between us. Once this matter comes out of my mouth and into your ears, no one else but heaven and earth will know... oh, I should say no one else will know."

For some reason, Inosuke immediately changed his mind and then excitedly asked, "By the way, young lady, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"N-nothing, what's wrong?" Still preoccupied with the earth-shattering battle the other party had boasted about, Yashiro felt like she had a fishbone stuck in her throat. For a moment, she felt there were too many things to complain about, so she couldn't find a way to say it, and her reaction was also a beat slow.

Inosuke was overjoyed upon hearing this and clapped his hands: "Excellent, excellent! The opportunity to repay your kindness has come! Little girl, I am currently staying at the home of a samurai named Matsushita Kabei. I am on very good terms with him. Come back with me. With my influence as my guarantee, I promise you can eat and drink to your heart's content for a few days and gain a lot of weight!"

"This...this isn't a good idea," the girl hesitated.

“What’s wrong with that? Come on, come on. I came out to run errands for someone… oops, I mean, to buy things for a friend. Now that I’ve bought everything, I’m going back. Come with me, don’t be shy!” He said, striding forward and frequently turning back to call out, showing a determined spirit.

This enthusiasm gave Yashiro a bit of a headache. Could she say that she wasn't just being polite, but was afraid of making a mistake and embarrassing herself... Oh well, since she couldn't refuse such a kind invitation, she couldn't very well refuse them in person and just go along.

Speaking of which, the name Matsushita Kabei... sounds strangely familiar?

"Hey, Inosuke!" Just then, amidst the noisy atmosphere of the market, a young and lively voice suddenly rang out again, "We agreed to run errands together, but I'm here carrying loads of stuff and working myself to the bone, while you're empty-handed and even went off to flirt with some young girl. That's not very nice of you!"

"Nonsense! This is an old acquaintance of mine who has done me a great favor. I happened to see her being harassed by others, how could I ignore it?" Inosuke explained as he walked toward the direction of the voice.

Upon reaching them, he turned back and introduced them to the two, "Hiyoshi, this is..."

He suddenly stopped speaking, and the girl whispered a reminder: "My name is Yashiro."

“Yes, yes, this is Miss Yashiro!” Inosuke pointed again. “Miss Yashiro, this guy is a maid at the Matsushita household. His name is Hiyoshimaru. You can just call him Hiyoshi.”

……

Chapter Thirty-One: Salty Soybean Paste, Unpleasant Thoughts

There is good news and bad news.

The good news is that although Inosuke didn't have the life-or-death friendship with Matsushita Kabei that he boasted about, after returning to the mansion, he claimed that Yashiro was his distant cousin who had come to stay for a while because of family matters. With Hiyoshimaru speaking on his behalf, the master of the house actually agreed to let her stay after just a few words.

As for the bad news... not only will there be no feasting, but you also can't eat and drink for free. The condition for staying is that you have to honestly help with the work.

Of course, having eyesight is a given, so tasks with relatively high "risk factors" like kitchen preparation, running errands, or even serving food and water are not assigned to her. Every day, she simply takes a mop, wipes the corridor, and cleans the room, and that's enough to earn a meal. In fact, it's quite a bargain.

When she came to her senses, Yashiro was completely bewildered. Wasn't she supposed to be going to Suruga to find out the whereabouts of her adoptive father? After Kato Danzo's reminder, she had mentally prepared herself for danger. Who knew that after only two days and passing through a few checkpoints, she would inexplicably end up working as a laborer...

Yashiro wanted to leave as soon as possible, but Inosuke was just too enthusiastic. She was the type of person who responded better to gentleness than force. If the other party adopted a domineering attitude, she would at most have a sword fight, but if he was all smiles and asking about her well-being all day long, calling her "benefactor" and "repaying kindness," it really made Yashiro a little at a loss.

On the other hand, she was also quite interested in the young man named Hiyoshi—Hiyoshimaru was a common nickname, but after some subtle inquiries, she learned that he was born in Nakamura Village, Aichi District, Owari Province, and originally made a living by selling needles. Later, he was taken in by the owner of the place and became a maid. With this life trajectory and the name Matsushita Kabei, Yashiro finally confirmed Hiyoshimaru's identity.

Speaking of which, the ancient Japanese had a peculiar habit: they particularly liked changing their names without considering the feelings of others.

Take, for example, the renowned Echigo military god. His childhood name was Torachiyo, and after adulthood, he took the name Nagao Kagetora. Later, he inherited the Uesugi surname of the Kanto Kanrei (Kanto Governor-General) and the courtesy name bestowed by Kanrei Uesugi Norimasa, changing his name to Uesugi Masatora.

Not long after, he was given another character by the swordsman general Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and his name became Uesugi Terutora. As for Kenshin, who is most known to later generations, it was the Buddhist name he took when he became a monk.

In addition, there are self-chosen names such as Zongxin and Bushi'an. Also, because it was customary to address someone by their official title during the Warring States period, he could be called Tanzheng Shaobi or even Guanling Daren, etc. A person with so many titles could really confuse someone who doesn't know much about them, and make a joke of "not meeting each other even when they are face to face".

The same applies to Hiyoshi Maru.

If Yashiro's guess is correct, the other party will probably marry into the family in a few years, change his name to Kinoshita Tokichiro, and if the general course of history doesn't change, he will change his name to Hashiba Hideyoshi and then to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, achieving the great feat of unifying Japan, and becoming one of the ever-prosperous cash cows of a certain game company in later generations... although he can't compare to the barbecue king of Honnoji Temple.

Unlike Ii Naotora, who was merely a local woman in history, at this moment, the girl finally understood the wonderful feeling of getting to know a historical figure.

Unfortunately, Hiyoshimaru nowadays shows no sign of the extraordinary ambition to conquer the world in the future. He is eighteen years old this year, thin and small, and only slightly taller than Yashiro. Although he is young, his forehead is covered with wrinkles and his eyes are full of laugh lines. He looks comical like an ape and his smile is as innocent as a child. But if you look closely, he looks like an old man.

Oh, all of the above were just casual remarks from other people, and I don't know how much of it is true. Anyway, in the girl's mind, the other person was always the classic big-forehead image from the game in later generations.

However, as the saying goes, "there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names," and since everyone from Matsushita Kabei and his wife to the household servants called him "Monkey, Monkey," it shows that the metaphor must be quite apt.

Even Inosuke occasionally calls him that. Looking at the entire Matsushita residence, only Yashiro still calls people by their names properly—after all, he is the future ruler of the country, so he should be given some respect.

Perhaps for this reason, Hiyoshimaru often came to visit her to play. At first, the girl thought that this brother seemed to be quite lecherous in history and that he had some bad intentions, so she was on guard for a while. Later, she gradually realized that he did not seem to have such thoughts. The topics they talked about did not involve love between men and women at all, but were all over the place.

"When it comes to porcelain, Owari is the best, but for seaweed and miso, you definitely have to go to Mikawa."

Sometimes it's just casual chatting like this.

"Miss Yashiro, aren't you afraid of encountering danger traveling alone? There are vicious people everywhere in this world, and the wilderness is not easy to traverse."

Sometimes it seems like they're testing something.

However, usually after only a few words, someone would call out from the side, "Monkey, come over here and help with the laundry!"

Or: "Monkey, I'm hungry, go and bring me some rice!"

"Monkey, stop slacking off and go clean up the horse manure!"

The other people in the mansion seemed to dislike Hiyoshi, piling all sorts of tasks on him and ordering him around at will. Hiyoshi didn't get angry and always agreed with a smile, running around and working up a sweat. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the busiest person in the whole house.

Yashiro listened to these things silently, without thinking much about them. She just wandered around the mansion every day, taking a little time to do chores and exercise. When it was time to eat, she, Inosuke, and Hiyoshimaru would eat rice with salty miso.

That's right. For these lodging guests, they only had miso paste with rice every day, without even the simplest side dishes. When they couldn't swallow it, they would dilute it with hot water or hot tea to make ochazuke (rice with tea). But even with the tea to dilute it, Matsushita's miso paste was still too salty for Yashiro to eat.

She has lived in Nara for nearly ten years since birth, and her tongue has long been accustomed to the light flavors of Kyoto. Even in her previous life, she was a typical person from the Greater Bay Area, preferring steamed food to braised or spicy food. Now, when she tastes the local specialty salty miso, she can't help but frown as she eats it.

Hiyoshi and Inosuke had no objections, since the food in Owari was also very salty, and given that the young man was busy all day, this strong flavor was just right for him.

Inosuke, having wandered the world for a long time, had developed the ability to eat meat no matter how salty or bland it was. The two of them were frantically shoveling rice into their mouths, making the girl chewing slowly and deliberately seem somewhat out of place.

I want to drink...

Feeling listless, she gulped down several bowls of cold water to barely wash away most of the saltiness in her mouth.

This was the fourth day that the girl had been staying with Matsushita Kahei.

For the first day or two, she only thought about leaving as soon as possible, but by the third day, she vaguely sensed something around her and was no longer in such a hurry to leave. Thinking about it carefully, this was the first time that Yashiro had stayed in a proper samurai's house. If Ryutaiji gave people a quiet atmosphere, then what the girl felt in this castle was a strange kind of noise.

According to her memory, Matsushita Kabei was originally a local samurai in Tōtōmi Province, but later gained the favor of Imagawa Yoshimoto and rose to become the hatamoto of Suruga Province.

The so-called "Hatamoto" were elite guards directly under the daimyo, responsible for guarding the main camp on the battlefield and fighting alongside the daimyo. They were usually high-ranking samurai or trusted retainers of the daimyo. Being granted this position was a testament to Kabei's outstanding abilities.

At the same time, he also received a salary of 3,000 koku, and was in charge of the castle fortress of Touta Mountain. His residence was located in Umairi River, five or six towns east of Touta Mountain, built around the Umairi Bridge. He also supervised the post stations in the surrounding area. Together with Iio Toyozen-no-kami of Hikima Castle and Asahina Yasuyoshi of Kakegawa Castle, he formed a solid defensive line on the border of Suruga.

As for Matsushita Kahei himself, Yashiro has not yet had any direct contact with him, but judging from the conversations with others and the overall impression of the mansion, he is probably a warm and hospitable person.

It is said that he was a generous man. Although he wasn't particularly wealthy, he would take in any martial arts practitioner or traveling performer who passed through the area, regardless of their identity or background. As long as they didn't mind the simple fare of millet, soy sauce, and hot tea, he would accept whatever they wanted, no matter how long they wanted to stay. Before they left, he would even give them some travel money. It wasn't much, but the sentiment behind it was truly touching.

Moreover, Kabei was very fond of martial arts, and his family was also very martial. There was even a family rule that everyone from the gatekeepers to the kitchen servants had to practice martial arts. Every morning, the sound of weapons clashing and men shouting could be heard in the square. Horses galloped, kicking up clouds of dust, and the trembling of bowstrings resounded through the sky.

Even though the monks at Longtai Temple also practice martial arts diligently, they are not as enthusiastic about sweating it out and competing with each other as those here.

The atmosphere was quite similar to the dojo in Yagyu no Sato and the training grounds of Hozoin. However, in the other two places, Yashiro was usually the one who entered the arena with a wooden sword and beat up others. Now, she stood aside and silently listened to the shouts of others competing. This change in her position amused the girl. So far, no one had noticed that she was carrying a deadly sword in her cane.

After eating, she rinsed her mouth and washed her hands. At that time, there was no dental filling or repair technology available, and bad teeth were a serious matter. Therefore, the young girl was exceptionally meticulous about personal hygiene. She then changed out of the clothes given to her by Jiro, put on her old clothes, and began diligently doing chores. She took a mop, wet it, and scrubbed it all the way down the corridor, back and forth…

The weather was rather muggy, and after several rounds, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her forehead. She stopped to catch her breath, but suddenly a voice rang out above her head: "Hello, Miss Yashiro!"

It is an auspicious day.

Judging from the noise, he seemed to be trying to climb onto the roof with his butt sticking out, but half of his body was hanging in the air, swaying back and forth, and it was unclear what he was doing.

"Hello." The girl wiped her sweat, tilted her head back, and seemed to be leisurely basking in the sun.

The person was still swaying in mid-air.

After a while, I finally heard him ask, "Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing?"

Do you want me to ask?

"Yes I do."

"Then take it as I've already asked."

"Actually, I saw that the roof was a bit damaged, and it would definitely leak if it rained later, so I was going to repair it." He actually continued the conversation, "But I probably ate too much just now, and my belly was a bit too heavy, so I couldn't climb up in one go, and I'm hanging here."

"Oh. So you want me to help you up?" the girl asked.

The young man shook his head: "No need, I'm quite content wandering around here, after all, I'm a monkey, haha. Once the rice in my stomach is digested, I'll naturally be able to go up. But it's too boring to be here alone, I wanted to talk to you."

"What?"

"Anything. For example—" he said casually, "What do you think of my master?"

"Are you referring to Lord Matsushita?"

"That's right!"

"Um..."

"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with the master. I just want to know what you think, Miss Yashiro." Seemingly sensing the girl's thoughts, Hiyoshi added.

"The other party is a samurai with a salary of three thousand koku, while I am just a greenhorn. Our statuses are worlds apart, so why would I have any thoughts about him?"

"You can't say that!"

As the figure swayed, sunlight and shadow alternated on Yashiro. She couldn't see the other person's expression, but she could inexplicably imagine a pair of sparkling eyes. "The world has changed. As long as you have talent and luck, even an oil seller can become the ruler of a country. Even I, a monkey, have great ambitions. One day I will definitely rise to prominence... Oh dear!"

He got too excited while talking, and his hand holding onto the eaves slipped, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud, wincing in pain and gasping for breath.

Even so, he still grinned and revealed a big smile: "Miss Yashiro, you actually know martial arts, right? But why would you rather do menial servant work like this than go to the training ground to spar with others?"

"...It's simply because I'm not knowledgeable enough and don't want to embarrass myself." The girl smiled.

"Is that really true?" Hiyoshi stared intently at her.

"of course."

Despite his straightforward answer, the other party clearly did not believe him. Similarly, there were two reasons why Yashiro did not demonstrate his swordsmanship to Matsushita Kabei in order to seek better treatment as a diner.

Firstly, one of her main objectives was to investigate whether the man who called himself Tenfu Goro was indeed her deceased adoptive father. Since he was likely connected to a certain samurai in Sunpu Castle, the young woman felt it best not to reveal her strength to Matsushita Kabei, a fellow samurai of the Imagawa family, to avoid attracting unnecessary attention and trouble.

This is for a rational reason.

There was another, more emotional thought, which was also a question she had been pondering recently—was her swordsmanship, the skill she had honed for the purpose of killing, really something worth showing off to others?

Although sparring with others is enjoyable, once she kills someone, an indescribable, sticky feeling fills her heart, like a fishbone stuck in her throat, difficult to dispel. If only it could be like in her previous life, where arena battles were purely friendly exchanges, without involving life and death, how wonderful that would be, then she could fully enjoy the experience.

However, in reality, the human body is so fragile. Even with a wooden sword or spear, being hit or struck can easily lead to death. Along the way, she killed many bandits and even a master like Mishima Doppo. It should have been a satisfying act of eliminating evil for the people. But after wielding her sword, she was left with only emptiness in her heart.

If he had a clear purpose, whether it was to revitalize the family's reputation, to avenge his relatives and friends, or simply for his own ambition, as long as he had any reason that he could accept and work for, he probably wouldn't be as confused and uncertain as he is now.

Unfortunately, she didn't have a single one of those reasons.

As for the Tianfeng clan, Ya Xun never felt any sense of belonging, let alone the fact that everyone was already dead and she was the only one left. Her mother and older siblings were killed by her uncle and his men, and her uncle's entire family had long since perished. The grudges had been settled, and there was no need for further revenge.

As for her father, Tenfu Goro, he was indeed murdered, but the girl asked herself, was his death really so important to her that she would do anything to find the murderer and avenge him?

It doesn't seem to have reached that level...

As for ambition, that's utter nonsense. Having experienced the days of eating and drinking to her heart's content, which she had lived in her previous life, she had long since given up hope for the living conditions of this era. What good would it do to unify Japan? She'd still be eating pickled radishes three times a day.

Furthermore, even if she really became the captain, so what? Things she didn't have, like air conditioning, computers, and a lewd website, still wouldn't exist. Even if she had a harem of three thousand beauties, she couldn't see them. Could simply touching them be more pleasurable and tempting than the thousands upon thousands of erotic images stored in her mind?

Anyway, she doesn't believe it—that's what Yashiro, who has been single since birth for two lifetimes, thought.

Without a clear purpose in her heart and without enough sense of justice to support her, she even felt guilty when killing villains. Many times, the girl didn't know why fate had allowed her to encounter something like time travel.

Her master once said that if she went out, she might find the answer, but even now, she still can't find a clue.

In contrast, the girl suddenly felt a little envious of most people in the world. They never had any doubts about the path they were walking, whether it was great or humble. Call it greed or ambition, a blazing fire was burning in their hearts, driving them to climb higher and higher.

She herself seemed to be stuck there, drawing her sword and looking around, utterly bewildered.

"I……"

Just as they were about to say something more, suddenly, the sound of galloping horses came from outside, and in the blink of an eye, they were in front of the mansion. Someone shouted loudly, and then a large group of people poured out from the depths of the house. They seemed to ignore Yashiro and Hiyoshimaru in the corridor, and led by a burly middle-aged man, they strode out to greet them.