The Next Day

I woke up early the morning feeling refreshed. After a training session in a large private training room, I washed up and then had a traditional breakfast served by the inn, rice with grilled mackerel and miso soup, with a wide selection of assorted side dishes.

Everyone was still hungover and asleep from the previous night, so I decided to head out and take care of the things I came to this city to do. On my way out, I spotted a muddleheaded Shohei, whose bruised eye had turned into a black eye.

Walking around the city, I noticed that there were some foreigners every now and then.

I arrived at a trading company and met with the manager recommended to me by Manager Fujiwara. After hearing the amount that I wanted to order weekly, with the likelihood of increased volume in the future when our restaurant established itself, the manager cut me a deal.

Starting at 25 barrels of potatoes a week for a little below 5 monme of silver per barrel, the deal was better than the one I currently had with Manager Fujiwara.

Next was to finally get rid of Ryota's letter of introduction. The merchant house was a large two-storey building located at the docks. After asking for the manager, I was led to an office by a store apprentice.

"Manager Kawano, there's someone here to see you, he says it's important." The store apprentice said through the door.

"Let him in." A voice said from the other side.

I entered the office and found a middle-aged man sitting in a chair behind a desk, in the middle of doing paperwork.

"You're a little young." He raised an eyebrow. "Very well, have a seat."

He gestured at the seat across from him.

"Now what is this important business you have with me?" The man gave me an intense stare that told me there would be trouble if I was wasting his time.

'Oh yeah, this guy is definitely a gangster.' I thought.

I placed the letter on the table. He picked up and opened the letter, reading through it.

"I said you were a little young, but aren't you a little too young to being getting involved in this business?" He waved his letter in the air after he finished reading it.

"I was just asked to deliver the letter, Mister. I don't know what business you are talking about." I said innocently.

"Strange for them to trust you with something like this." He muttered as he scanned the letter again.

"I'm pretty strong." I held up my bokken.

"I'm sure you are."

At this time the door of the office suddenly opened and someone stepped in.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be on a job?" Manager Kawano questioned.

"That job you recommended was complete dogshit." The newly entered man said in a hoarse voice as he sat down in the chair beside me and rested his head in his hand.

I turned to see that it was Jiroemon.

"What's wrong with you, you look like shit?"

"Ugghhh not so loud."

"You come here into my office hungover." Manager Kawano said his voice rising. "And you complain about a job you walked out on."

"That cheap bastard was planning to fuck us over. He was always looking for the most petty excuses possible to dock pay from anyone working under him, let alone us."

"Couldn't you have bared with it for a little longer? This reflects back on me too, since I introduced you. I have business with him after all."

"The bastard is utterly out of his fucking mind. Do you know what he's trying to do? He's trying to lobby his Daimyo into legalizing slavery and I think that of his Daimyo is actually considering it. This is what happens when you send me to a such shithole country. The man is going to get stabbed by one of his men one day, I'll tell you that much."

Manager Kawano glanced my way before saying, "How about you step out for a little, messenger boy?"

Jiroemon finally noticed someone else was in the office and glanced my way before looking away.

'He doesn't remember me?'

"Yes." I stood up and walked out of the office into the waiting room.

As I sat in the waiting room, I heard muffled arguing through the door for awhile before it stopped.

"Messenger boy!" I suddenly heard from the office.

"Yes?" I said as I walked up to the door.

"Come in."

I stepped into the office again.

"This conversation is over." Manager Kawano said to Jiroemon as he waved him away.

Jiroemon stood up and turned to leave before stopping in his steps. "Look, I know you asked us to guard him as a favor, but I'm telling you now, as a favor. You should find another shipping company to work with or he'll secure a complete monopoly over there and that won't be good for anyone...and Choubei suspects that hes double dealing with the Shinrin-kai too."

"I'll take your advice under consideration, now leave." Manager Kawano waved him away in annoyance.

"This is why I hate dealing with self-important snobs." Jiroemon grumbled as he left the office.

"Now where were we? Ah yes, I have a letter for you to deliver."

Stepping out of the Goda-ikka's merchant house, I noticed someone workers hauling a large shipment from a boat in the distance. Taking a closer look I observed that it was a large block ice.

'Ice!'

Something I needed for my restaurant. I neared the ship and spotted someone who looked like he was overseeing the work being done.

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you in charge here?"

The man nodded.

"Do you know where I can purchase ice from?" I pointed at the ice being secured to a cart.

"This ice is not for sale, it's bound for Shimamaki Castle." He said. "You wouldn't be able to afford it anyways. We had a lot of trouble shipping it all the way from the Land of Frost. Only someone like the Lord of Shimamaki can afford something so excessive." The man turned back to oversee the work, done with the conversation.

'Land of Frost? Is that the northern tip of Japan? Or even further north, like the Russia or the North Pole?'

I walked away thinking about where to go next.

"Hey." A voice called out to me.

I turned to see a scruffy looking foreign man with brown hair and a shaggy beard. I couldn't tell his origins but his eyes looked spiritless and he also reeked of alcohol.

"Yes?" I said as I covered my nose.

"I overheard you talking just now." The man said. "Are you for real? You really need ice?"

The man also spoke perfect Japanese.

"Yes..."

"What do you need the ice for and how much do you need?"

"A lot. I'm about to open a large restaurant, so I need the ice for drinks and food storage. There's also a prestigious inn and a casino that I'm partnered with that will need ice too." The man's eyes changed as they brightened up a little at my words.

"I can get it for you, as much ice as you need." He said.

I looked him up and down. "There won't be anything weird in it will there?"

"I can guarantee you it is the cleanest ice you'll ever see in your life." The man said ignoring yet another dig at him. "And it won't cost you an arm and a leg like what it must have cost for that." He gestured at the ship.

'This sounds a little too good to be true.'

"If there really is nothing wrong with the ice and the price is right, then I don't mind entering into a long-term agreement with you, Mister..."

"Call me Gohei." The man said as he extended his hand.

"Zai." I shook his hand. "I'm from Yamainu Town though, can you get it all the way there?"

"That will be no problem." He said with confidence. "I'll just need about a month to go back overseas and get my family."

"Where are you from?"

"My hometown is a little village on an island you've never heard of before. We moved to get away from all the mist. " He said with melancholy. "But we are currently staying in a place with poor job conditions, so if you are for real, this will help us out. We'll move into your town and set up a business from there."

'This guy is really going all out. But if it's not a scam, I can use the ice to do a lot.'

"Will you be travelling back and forth to ship all that ice? And do you have citizenship in our country?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I have my ways." The man said cryptically.

'Does he have connections of some sort?'

We talked details for awhile before we parted ways. On my way back to the inn, I decided to stop and buy some souvenirs for everyone back home. I played it safe and just bought some snacks and sweets.

'I can share some of the catnip to the girls too.'

Remembering Jin's request, I stopped by a shop that sold paintings.

'There's no way I'm buying "that" for him but I'm a little curious about it.'

They had many types of the ukiyo-e style prints, from landscapes to sumo wrestlers to folk tales to erotica. I had planned to get a sumo print for Jin but at 20 monme for a good quality ukiyo-e print, and 2 monme for the cheapest, I figured I'd just buy him a book so he'd learn something instead.

So I went to the bookstore next door and browsed around.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" The young man attending the store asked.

"What are your bestsellers?"

"You came at just the right time, we just got a new batch after the last one sold out." He said as he retrieved a book from the shelf and showed it to me.

"Icha Icha Rakuen by Hochu Otsuka." I read the cover. "What is it about?"

"Adventure, relationships, and romance."

Opening the book randomly, I read a passage.

'The steam exuded from the hot spring stimulated a feeling that he had entered the gardens of heaven. He couldn't resist as he peeped on the flawless glistening jade skin of the alluring beauties as they bathed. Like bewitching spirits, their bountiful twin peaks dazzling to his eyes as he a felt a powerful urge and sensation in his-'

"It's an adult novel." I said as I shut the book.

"It's art." The young shopkeeper shot back. "A profound masterpiece far ahead of it's time."

"Don't you have anything else?"

"You have no idea how phenomenal this book is, it is the best by far. This book will forever change the world of writing."

"Fine, I'll take it."

'Jin did say he wanted "art" after all.'