"Okay, so liquorice root can be used to help with stomach and throat problems," Kayo recalled the last sale at that rich estate they just recently left.
"Indeed," the medicine seller confirmed.
"And you can't give it to someone who has heart problems," Kayo continued.
A small smile tugged at the edges of his lips. She was learning this well. Slowly, but she'd only been traveling with him for a month. There was a lot of information to absorb with medicines and the other oddities he kept in the chest. "Correct."
She looked proud of herself. She had spent so much time drifting and being 'just a servant', she never thought she could actually make it as a merchant. Then again, she had a good teacher. He was rather patient and extremely knowledgeable. He also carried a number of questionable things in that chest that amused her, everything from the erotic prints to the suspiciously large amount of gunpowder. She still hadn't figured out how most of it fit in that pack, but she chalked it up to some supernatural magic.
Nothing particularly supernatural had happened in the last month, but it was still loads better than being stuck at that inn after knowing everything that had happened there before. People candles. That just sent shivers down her spine.
"Hm?" the medicine seller stopped at the edge of the town.
Kayo shook from her thoughts, peering around him to find a number of people bustling about in the streets. "That's a lot of people. This town seems pretty small. A festival maybe?"
"Perhaps," he replied. He took a step forward into the town, a supernatural sense tugging at the back of his mind. Something was here.
"You heard about the tea house?" one person passing by gossipped.
"The large one at the far edge of town?" the other replied. "Yeah, I heard it just got really famous one day. Aka said that it was nothing only a few months ago, now it's super popular all of a sudden."
"I hear they made a wish and it came true," the first person added. "I want to make a wish and have it come true!"
The medicine seller peered at them as they passed, listening to their conversation. There were yokai who would grant wishes but those could backfire. Yokai weren't too much of his concern until they crossed the mononoke line. The rumors seemed pretty benign, but that was always how they all started.
Kayo watched them go as well. Before she would've wanted to make a wish as well, but now she suspected everything like that was supernatural as potentially dangerous. She'd stick to the medicine seller who now was walking off into the crowd. "H-hey wait!" She quickly caught up with him, doing her best not to get lost in the crowd. "Are you going to that tea house?"
"They may be interested in some extracts," he replied simply.
"I mean for other reasons," Kayo clarified.
"Who knows," he replied.
She huffed. "You're really vague, you know."
"They could just be rumors," he added.
She huffed again. They really could just be rumors. People did like to gossip. She loved to gossip too. She followed him into the servant's entrance to the tea house. As he offered a deep bow at the door that denoted his status as a merchant, she followed suit.
A young woman in a brilliant blue kimono with brilliant pink cherry blossoms greeted them. "Ah, a medicine seller and his wife."
Kayo puffed up. "Apprentice."
The young woman gasped. "Oh I'm so sorry. I just assumed."
"Don't worry about it," Kayo waved it off. She didn't exactly look like a medicine seller. She had a brilliant kimono like he had but nothing about her exactly screamed merchant.
"Are you perhaps in need of extracts or tea leaves?" the medicine seller offered.
The girl thought for a moment. "We do have a usual tea peddler that comes by every so often, and Sister is often picky about what teas she brews here for the guests and for tea ceremonies."
Kayo picked up on the words. "Is there a mister too?"
The girl giggled. "Noooooooo, but honestly she should get married soon. She can't run this tea house by herself, especially with how popular this place has gotten so suddenly."
Kayo scooted closer to the girl on her knees, leaning in. "Well let me tell you about the…." she whispered the rest in the girl's ear. Kayo recalled some of the intriguing things that the medicine seller had brought for Lady Mao all those years ago. Perhaps they could make a sale that way. She wanted enough coins for edamame today.
The girl blushed, giggling. "Oh my. That… that would certainly help. Come in, come in."
The medicine seller followed the girls in, setting the chest down and kneeling beside them. He was impressed with Kayo's initiative and amused she was using the same approach he used when they first met. People did like their love charms and herbs, even the ones that would help one in bed.
He turned slightly as a cat brushed against his leg. A normal cat with a stubby tail. Extending his hand, the cat immediately came to him. He rubbed its ears and scratched its chin, and the cat purred happily.
"Oh that's Takkun. I hope he's not bothering you," the girl apologized.
"Not at all," the medicine seller offered the cat some more scritches. He glanced around the room for a moment. The back room seemed rather traditional for a tea house. Tatami matts, wooden shelves and a collection of teapots. There was a small bonsai tree in the corner. All seemed rather normal except the pair of dolls on the top shelf. They looked typical of girls' dolls, but they were carefully stored on the top shelf with absolute care.
Kayo leaned over, whispering into the medicine seller's ear. "It's ginseng, right?"
He nodded, hooking a finger around the third drawer and pulling a container full of leaves. "It is rather bitter, but it should do the trick. And if all else fails, it goes well with tea." He opened the container, showing her the collection of very fragrant leaves.
The door slid open sharply, another lady in a brilliant green kimono shuffled in with heavy feet. "Mitsu!"
The girl jumped. "A-ah, Sister! We have a visitor."
"Another peddler this time with his wife," the elder sister scoffed. "We've been getting a lot lately."
"My apprentice and I were simply suggesting some extracts for your teas," the medicine seller offered a polite bow. "I do hope we are not intruding."
"Apprentice?" the elder sister questioned. Peddling wares didn't exactly seem like proper work for a lady but then again, she was running a tea house and the entire family. She stared at the unusual-looking medicine seller and his supposed apprentice. "Very well. Mitsu, see what extracts would work well. I'm far too busy at this moment."
Kayo puffed up as the elder sister left the room. "Boy she's all in a hurry, isn't she?"
The medicine seller sat back up on his knees. "Manners, Miss Kayo."
Kayo huffed. "Well at least she didn't kick us out."
"Sister's been in such a hurry, lately," Mitsu frowned. "Ever since we lost our eldest sister, Shina has absorbed herself in the tea house and the popularity just exploded. She's really good at managing the business, but sometimes I wish that the people would just disappear for a moment so I can spend some time with her too."
What's next?
The medicine seller peered at the door. The words sounded as if they had come from within the room, but only the three of them sat there. Even Takkun the cat had scampered off to chase some leaves. The voice was far too close to have simply drifted in from the main room. "Those dolls up there," the medicine seller pointed towards the shelf. "Did they belong to your eldest sister?"
"They did," Mitsu peered up at them. "Shina adores them, so after Ichi's death, she kept them and placed them up there. They bring us luck, she says."
"A good luck charm?" Kayo questioned.
Mitsu nodded. "Ever since they were placed up there, the business just kind of exploded. I want to help Shina to make this business very successful. It's our family's legacy."
The medicine seller peered up at the dolls. They were now looking to the side while before they were looking forward. There was definitely something here. Could they be a yokai or perhaps a mononoke that was sneaking into the human world? It was possible that the dolls were the source of the rumors around town. Something had caused an ordinary tea house to explode in popularity after the death of the eldest. A sudden death in the family could be the start of a mononoke, but it didn't always have to be. Nothing strange happened yet, other than the dolls looking in a different direction.
But he thought too soon as the noise from the tea room suddenly quieted aside from a rather dramatic scream.
"Sister!" Mitsu yelped, standing up quickly and nearly tripping over her kimono. Stumbling to the shoji door, she pushed it open sharply. She screeched in shock, stumbling backwards and right into the medicine seller. "They're… they're...!" She jabbed a finger at the room.
All the guests who once conversed and drank tea in merriment were now replaced with dolls and stuffed toys, most sitting upright where the people once sat but a few had teetered over onto their sides. Shina stood at the side of the room, her hands up in surprise after dropping a tea tray onto the ground, the fresh tea seeping into the tatami mat.
Kayo peered around the two, staring in shock at the bizarre scene now set before them.
With a gasp, Mitsu finally moved, shuffling over to her elder sister to cling to her. "What happened, Sister?"
Shina mouthed a few words but nothing came out.
The medicine seller stepped in the room, one large step after the other, Kayo following him close behind.
Kayo peered at him with worry. "Could this be…?"
"I do believe it is," he confirmed. "This is the work of a mono-." He cut himself off when he and Kayo were suddenly finding themselves in the entryway once again with the shoji door suddenly closing on them with a slam. He stared at the door, unfazed that Kayo had wrapped herself around him in surprise. "Well this could be troublesome."
...
Author's musings
I had to look up all manner of traditional medicines to find something for Kayo and the medicine seller's conversation at the start. There are so many roots and weird things that are used in eastern medicine that have a wide variety of effects. I had heard of ginseng being good for many things... including in bed.
Women's roles were a bit different in Edo Era Japan. Women were lords over the household, able to keep track of the finances and other businesses within, while men were lords of the outside. It seemed to be a pretty rigid distinction between the two. Because of this, Kayo being an apprentice seems a bit strange. A peddler likely would travel with his wife or she would stay in their home to lord over the house. Mitsu's mistake is an honest one.
