Chapter 3 Ojiki Zenji’s Interview
After the small fight, Yuuto followed after the Zenji family’s young master, Kyousui Zenji, into Rana village.
This village was filled with enough lively culture for Yuuto to look at the to his heart’s content. Starting with the light pink colored flowers at the gates, then the lines of houses made of not brick, but wood, to the peculiar clothes the folks here wore, everything. According to Kyousui, the women were wearing [Kimonos] and the men were wearing [Samues].
“So boy, why did you travel to Rana? Are you here for sightseeing?”
At the sudden question, Yuuto showed a slow reaction.
“A merchant called Ashidaka told me… that this village had a guild. So I came here.”
Listening to Yuuto’s words, Kyousui looked at him with his eyes wide open. Then scratching his head, he responded in an apologetic tone,
“Sorry boy… but this village does not have a guild…”
“Eeeh!?”
This is bad.
Yuuto became dispirited as he held his hurting head with his hand. It could be said that Yuuto’s only source of income was the money he got from doing tasks at the guild. Though he could also earn some by selling monster hides and herbs, these are all byproducts of doing guild tasks.
Moreover, because the village was so flourishing, the exchange rate of those kinds of materials should be really low. No, in the first place, he might not even be able to exchange at all.
Seeing the perplexed Yuuto, Kyousui kept thinking with a troubled face that he had done a terrible thing.
“Iya, sorry about that. This place is managed by our Zenji gang, and the small matters around here are all taken care of by us. Well… you could consult with uncle if you’d like to.”
Saying that, Kyousui once again scratched his head and pointed towards a building. The building was at the innermost part of the village. The building was wooden made, with a wonderful architecture that set it aside from other buildings. This also caught Yuuto’s eyes.
A big residence like this… yeah, it also has gatekeepers…
“A guest, he’s not an enemy.”
A wonderful face-pass. The quarrel from before was totally unnecessary.
—
“Are you the one? The guy who has been searching for a job in Rana?”
Intimidation… Certainly, Yuuto could feel it with his body. After being brought in by Kyousui – the master of the house, his uncle, Ojiki Zenji, squinted and stared at Yuuto with a sharp glint in his eyes as he sat on the floor about 8 meters away.
And his eyes weren’t the only thing. Beneath his samue, the outline of a robust body could be seen, despite his age.
But, above all of that, the thing that made Yuuto the most uncomfortable was the tradition of sitting called [Seiza].This peculiar way of sitting, with the knees folded like that, was supposed to be the etiquette of this village. For example, when listening to an elder speaking, the young were supposed to sit in this style.
“Ehh? I mean, yes. During my travels, I was told that if I came here I could earn money…by a merchant called Ashidaka…”
“Ashidaka… that young merchant huh…”
The gaze that Ojiki used to look at Yuuto while he stroked his long white beard, was as if he was examining him to try find something within Yuuto. With a long sigh, Ojiki then picked up the pipe beside him and puffed out some smoke.
“Traveling at such a young age, and moreover as a mercenary… This world really has become messed up… Then, I have a request for you.”
Putting the pipe down beside him, Ojiki told him the contents of his request.