"Hey, Mr. Medicine Seller. You don't want to stay there."

"Oh?" He turned finding a peasant couple staring nervously back at him. He had left the inugami incident well behind him, traveling several towns over and selling his wares along the way. He didn't have much yen to his name, just whatever was left over from Lady Inu's generosity. "I hear they have the lowest rates."

"It's cursed," the woman explained quickly.

"They say you go in, you never come out, that's why it's so cheap," the man added.

"I hear it's only nobility that disappears, but no one's actually certain," the woman continued. "There's just something creepy about that place."

Another curse. That honestly seemed like a trend lately. Perhaps he could sell them some charms and wards. Perhaps there was something else lurking within the walls. "I am just a simple medicine seller. Hardly anything worth cursing."

The pair glanced at each other. He hardly looked like a simple medicine seller, but merchants were at the bottom of the class system. He probably was more simple than he looked. "Perhaps they could use some charms," the medicine seller added, mostly musing to himself. Perhaps he could make enough for to treat himself to bean sprouts in his rice today. That was definitely fancy.

He offered a deep and polite bow to the couple, turning on his wooden shoes and continuing on his path to the inn. His geta shoes clattered against the wooden bridge over the small river and then across the cobbled walkways as he reached the inn's door. There was definitely something about this place that caused his senses to tingle just a bit. Perhaps this place would be worth his time.

He reached for the door, opening it and stepping in. The place was traditional, looking like it had been standing there for centuries. Smelled like it too. It was musty and a little dusty but the decorations were more ornate than he'd expected. The place was littered with woven tapestries and walls painted with intricate scenes. There was a noticeable lack of charms for a place that was rumored to be cursed.

He sniffed. Also there were candles. Lots of them. He didn't see any immediately in the entryway but there were definitely many candles in the nearby rooms, more than were probably necessary.

"We don't need any medicines here," the voice sharply announced from behind the desk.

The medicine seller's attention quickly drew to the bored-looking man in a simple kimono. "I wish to stay for the night."

The bored-looking man also now looked unimpressed, like he didn't believe that the medicine seller had money to stay.

The medicine seller returned the stare, standing unmoving near the door as he awaited an actual answer.

"A medicine seller?" another man popped out from behind the curtains. He was younger with vibrant attire that matched his more energetic attitude. "Tadasuke, we always have room for merchants here at the inn!" he scolded the bored-looking man before turning back to the medicine seller, tapping his pipe. "Do you by chance have wares other than medicines?"

"I do," the medicine seller replied. Perhaps he would have those bean sprouts tonight.

…..

"This tobacco comes from western China," the medicine seller offered the small tin for the innkeeper to sniff.

"What an interesting smell!" the innkeeper remarked gleefully.

The medicine seller found the innkeeper rather interesting. He was more interested in types of tobacco instead of charms that could potentially ward off whatever curse the townspeople believed was here. It was good that he always kept a stash of rare tobaccos in his chest for just this purpose. "It is blended with a hint of cherry. It gives it a rather sweet taste and scent."

"How exotic!" the innkeeper exclaimed.

The medicine seller's attention briefly drifted towards the door as he heard Tadasuke scoff outside the room. At the innkeeper's insistence, they had retreated to one of the side rooms with a traditional table and pillows on the floor. The innkeeper sat rather untraditionally with one knee up and the other crossed in front of his body like a sideways butterfly, but the medicine seller was always proper. He propped himself up on his feet, his medicine chest sitting just behind him so it wouldn't disrupt the table or the pillows around it.

The room was much too fancy for his tastes. The walls were decorated with scenes of epic battles of samurai from the warring period, flanked by the most unusual candles he'd ever seen. They almost resembled a person crouched in an uncomfortable position and solidified in wax that way. There were several of the candles in the room, far more than needed to light the small space.

"You'll have to excuse Tadasuke," the innkeeper apologized. "The last few months, he's been incredibly sour towards the merchants."

"Hardly an uncommon reaction," the medicine seller commented, reaching into the drawer and pulling out another tin of tobacco.

"A pity, truly," the innkeeper commented.

The medicine seller stared at the closed door a moment more. Something supernatural pinged at the back of his mind. There was something here. "I wonder, what could turn someone so sour towards merchants? Perhaps someone has swindled him."

"Not that I know of," the innkeeper replied. "But perhaps the wax merchant had done him some wrong, sold him a bad batch. He does like his candles."

"He must. There are so many," the medicine seller observed, "and in such unusual shapes."

"There are always more and more," the innkeeper noted. "The shapes truly give them character, almost like they are people staying here as well."

The medicine seller peered over at the candles sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. They definitely did look like people eternally frozen in time, perpetually staying in the inn until their wax had melted. "They are rather unusual."

"Some of the townspeople think they're cursed, but the upper echelons are really intrigued by them," the innkeeper added.

Upperclassmen certainly had weird tastes, the medicine seller mused to himself. But even without prying, he'd already heard about the origins of a potential curse. There was more to it he certainly expected, but at the moment, it seemed a bit benign.

"Not only did we get craftsmen here, but the occasional samurai will visit," the innkeeper was practically bragging.

"Samurai?" that piqued the medicine seller's attention. "Such interesting clientele."

"They stop by on their paths between the main cities," the innkeeper explained. "But worry not. I keep the rooms separate so you won't have to worry about class issues during your stay."

Not that he was too worried, but the upper classes did have a tendency to be unnecessarily rude.

"I do favor the merchant classes, after all," the innkeeper added. "I'll ensure your room is very comfortable and you'll have an excellent meal in payment for the tobacco tin."

This man seemed far too eager to please. It was unusual, and the medicine seller just wasn't accustomed to it. He was a merchant, not some lord. It was a bit off-putting, but he did get more than he bargained for in terms of staying at the so-called cursed inn without having to spend what he had left of Lady Inu's payment.

And perhaps he'd learn why his supernatural sense was scratching at the back of his mind. There was something about this inn that actually was unnatural and it wasn't the overly eager innkeeper.

He glanced at the candle a moment more as he and the innkeeper exited the room. For a moment, he felt like the candle was staring back at him. As he followed the innkeeper, he placed his hand on the doorframe, dropping an ofuda on the wood. There was definitely something here.

"I'll have the inn maiden show you to your room," the innkeeper beckoned to someone in a brightly colored kimono, dark skin, and hair pulled up in typical Edo style.

She bowed politely then nearly stumbled over her own two feet.

The medicine seller nearly gaped in return. The inn maiden was Kayo.

...

Author's musings

Kayo arrives! He has a habit of bumping into her in strange locations. Well an inn with an overly eager innkeep that scratched at his senses certainly fits the bill, doesn't it?