Yashiro the Blind

"Huh, what's going on? Lord Matsushita actually came out to greet us. Is some important person here?"

After this interruption, Hiyoshi seemed to have forgotten the previous topic. He suddenly jumped up, shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked around hopping around.

But the girl, with her head tilted to the side, had already clearly heard the shouts of the people who had gone ahead of her outside the door:

"Uncle Hikita and his party have arrived—"

……

Chapter Thirty-Two: The "Disciples" of the Shinkage-ryu School

"That guy named Hikita is definitely a big shot!"

The next day, Yashiro, who had finally had enough of the saltiness of the miso, ate only a tiny bit of rice, poured hot water over it, and sipped it slowly while quietly listening to Inosuke and Hiyoshimaru talking.

Logically speaking, someone like Hiyoshimaru, who is ostracized or even hostile by his colleagues, should be very isolated in terms of information. However, despite his peculiar appearance, resembling a monkey and lacking even the most handsome features, he is surprisingly popular with women.

From the women of Matsushita Kabei's household to the maids who served him, everyone was very close to him. They would call out to him for a chat whenever they had nothing to do, and over time, they learned a lot of things that they didn't know before—the same was true for yesterday's guests.

"Oh? Lord Kabei is known for his courtesy and respect for his subordinates, so it's not surprising that he personally received you. But yesterday I heard that even several of his senior retainers and those arrogant young samurai went out to greet you? And their attitude was so respectful, it's obviously unusual."

Inosuke shoveled rice into his mouth, making a truly unpleasant noise. He mumbled something indistinctly while frantically throwing the rice grains he spat out back into his mouth.

“Indeed. And these guests are all very distinguished and have an extraordinary air about them.” Hiyoshi Maru was no better off, chewing his food as if he would starve to death if he ate one less bite. But somehow, despite his mouth being full, he still spoke clearly and distinctly.

"I heard there were at least a dozen people?"

“Thirteen people, one horse, three horses carrying luggage, and seven spears,” Hiyoshimaru said with a smile. “The leader is called Hikita Kobo, who seems to be the nephew of some lord of the Great Hu Castle. He is a rather famous warrior who is traveling through various countries. I heard that Lord Kabei knew he was going to pass through here and specially invited him over.”

"It's supposed to be a martial arts training camp, but there are quite a lot of people here."

"After all, he's a famous figure, so having a dozen or so followers is quite reasonable."

After Hiyoshi finished speaking, Inosuke nodded: "That's true. I heard that when Tsukahara Tosa no Kami went on tours in the past, he always led a large entourage of seventy or eighty retainers, with spare horses and several eagles... That was a real spectacle."

Their tone conveyed a sense of longing and admiration, as if they were the epitome of a great man—of course, neither of them was well-educated enough to utter such a bookish phrase.

Then they started discussing each other's strengths and weaknesses, comparing who was better and who was better, arguing heatedly and enjoying themselves immensely. This proves that cricket fighting is always a popular form of entertainment for the people.

Yashiro sat a little further away and rarely interrupted unless they brought up the topic themselves. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in what they were talking about, but mainly she was afraid that if she got too close, her saliva would fly over, and the thought of it made her scalp tingle.

At the same time, all sorts of random thoughts were swirling in my mind:

She didn't know who the so-called Lord of the Great Hu Castle was, but she was familiar with the name Hikita Kou-san—Hikita Kagekane, commonly known as Toyogoro, who called himself Kou-san, was the nephew of Kamiizumi Ise no Kami Nobutsuna, the sword saint in Taikou Risshiden. He was a master of the Shinkage-ryu school and once fought Yagyu Muneyoshi in Yagyu Valley, winning all three battles. This finally made the latter realize his immaturity, and he then became a disciple of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna. Later, he created his own Yagyu Shinkage-ryu school.

Afterwards, Hikita Toyogorō bid farewell to his master, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, and embarked on a solitary journey of self-cultivation. He served as a military strategist for figures such as Oda Nobutada, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, and Kuroda Nagamasa, and briefly served in the Hosokawa clan, but never for long. He spent most of his life wandering and was said to have died at Osaka Castle.

Compared to his fellow disciples, such as Marume Nagayoshi and Yagyu Muneyoshi, who were considered "winners in life," Toyogoro's life could be described as full of ups and downs and extremely unfortunate.

But that's all for the future. The young man, Toyogoro Hikita, who is currently staying at the Matsushita residence, is just a nineteen-year-old boy who has never experienced the harsh realities of society. He is sharp and spirited.

Aside from having fewer attendants, he was practically another Tsukahara Bokuden.

There's nothing wrong with that. As a certain famous figure once said, young people should be full of vigor; what kind of young person is one who isn't? As for Yashiro himself, with two lifetimes combined, he's nearing forty, and he really can't muster any more vigor...

That being said, it would be a different story if she got carried away with her anger. With the idea that it's better to avoid trouble, even though she knew that the other party was a future great swordsman, after thinking it over, the girl gave up the idea of ​​sparring with him and decided to wait a few more days quietly, and find a suitable time and excuse to embark on her journey again.

She was absolutely fed up with the soybean paste rice here...

After a while, they finished breakfast and went their separate ways. Inosuke was busy with something, but apart from being there on time for breakfast and lunch every day, he was usually nowhere to be found. He would not return until late at night.

Hiyoshi Maru always has endless work to do. Today, with thirteen more people and three horses to serve, he is even busier. He doesn't even have time to pester Hachiko with questions like usual. All you hear is "monkey" from the east and "monkey" from the west. If you didn't know better, you'd think you'd wandered into the Flower Fruit Mountain.

Yashiro herself fared better. Her youthful appearance, coupled with her eye problem, made her easily attract pity and affection wherever she went. Although she didn't do anything special, she still managed to become familiar with Mrs. Kabei and her two unmarried daughters over the course of a few days. This morning, she was called over by Mrs. Kabei early in the morning to help weave straw sandals.

"First like this, then like this... Hmm, well done! You're very talented!"

Seeing that she wasn't very good at weaving straw sandals, Mrs. Matsushita taught her how to do it a few times and encouraged her with a smile... But to be honest, even if someone praised her for having a talent for weaving straw sandals, Yashiro didn't know whether she should feel happy or not.

As for the two girls, they were both nine or ten years old, not yet old enough to work. They were playing with sandbags nearby, throwing them back and forth, their silvery laughter ringing out incessantly.

A pair of straw sandals costing two coins is actually quite tiring to weave yourself; it's a kind of exhaustion completely different from practicing swordsmanship, killing, or life-or-death battles. Yashiro groped and folded the rush in her hand twice, about to continue, when she heard a warm breeze pass through the hall, bringing with it a strangely familiar sound:

Splash, splash—

It was clearly the sound of dice rattling.

Mrs. Matsushita heard it too, and frowned slightly: "Really, in broad daylight..." she muttered under her breath, but didn't finish the sentence. Then she raised her voice and called out towards the door, "Xiaoqin, Xiaoqin!"

When the maid came, she instructed her to prepare tea and snacks to be sent to the guest rooms for the guests to enjoy. The maid named Xiaoqin agreed to leave, and as she closed the door, the sound of dice and the faint laughter faded into the distance.

"Sigh..." the lady sighed.

"Was that yesterday's guest?" Feeling the atmosphere was a bit tense, Yashiro thought about what to say and tentatively asked.

"That's right. There have been people like that before, gambling with dice in broad daylight, or shouting and yelling. They clearly have a lot of strength, but instead of properly practicing martial arts or studying military strategy, they just waste their time. And they still dare to call themselves martial arts practitioners..."

Perhaps feeling that Yashiro was not an outsider, Mrs. Matsushita spoke without much restraint, venting all her grievances.

She could say these things, but the young girl found it difficult to respond. After all, Kabei, who had taken in and received these people, was her husband. If she were to agree with him, and said something wrong that made people feel uncomfortable, he might make things difficult for her later.

That's why Yashiro just smiled and nodded repeatedly, making "uh-huh" sounds in agreement, putting all the supporting role skills from the thousands of crosstalk videos in his mind to good use.

After a while, having vented her frustrations, Mrs. Matsushita felt much better and chuckled, "It's a good thing you're here, otherwise I wouldn't know who to talk to... Alright, thank you for your hard work, go and rest." She clapped her hands, happily giving the girl a break.

Yashiro wasn't a workaholic, so being able to slack off was of course the best thing. She happily thanked him and was about to leave with her cane when she heard Mrs. Matsushita say, "Yes, try to stay away from those people these next few days, especially when you're alone. Be careful not to get into any trouble."

"I can spare it."

The girl agreed and emerged from the depths of the mansion. The sliding door opened and closed, and the sounds of dice and laughter filled the air again, a stark contrast to the clashes of swords and spears in the training ground.

She listened intently. It seemed that Hikita Toyogoro was on the training ground, talking loudly and enthusiastically about something. It was so noisy and far away that she couldn't hear what he was saying, but there were occasional shouts of agreement. He was probably expounding on his military strategies...

Throughout history, the saying goes that those who excel in their studies will become officials, whether in the literary or martial arts fields. In times of chaos, scholars and talents have little opportunity to make their mark, while many so-called martial arts practitioners have emerged in various places.

Among them are young heroes like Hikita, who come from prestigious families, receive top-notch education, and are destined for great things in the future; and there are also those like Miyamoto Musashi, who traveled from the countryside with only a sword, learning from the mountains and rivers, and living a life of poverty like an ascetic monk. In fact, most of the people in the world who call themselves martial arts practitioners today are the latter.

With their decent skills, they left their homes and went around challenging masters to hone their martial arts. Most of them died in the process, and only a few were lucky enough to survive to the end. They broadened their horizons, honed their skills, and finally established their own sects. Then they began to seek a career in government and rose from ronin to respectable samurai.

In the midst of nearly a century of chaos and turmoil, how many people have claimed to be martial arts practitioners, how many of them have managed to leave their names to posterity, and how many have turned into withered bones by the roadside... Thinking about this, Hachiro suddenly felt a strange sense of bewilderment.

Isn't she one of them?

However, she didn't even have the thought of making a name for herself.

"Life is but fifty years, like a dream, like an illusion... Leaves fall and branches wither, how long is life? The six kingdoms fought and blood was shed in vain... We must drink three hundred cups at once."

She pieced together the verses that came to mind and recited them offhand. She left the main house and came to the courtyard. She originally intended to follow Mrs. Matsushita's advice, avoid the guest room where Hikita's men were, and find a quiet corner to while away the time. But after taking only a few steps, the sound of dice suddenly stopped.

Instead, there was a series of pulling and tugging sounds, and a woman was shouting, "Stop..." Before she could finish speaking, her voice suddenly turned into muffled sounds, probably because her mouth had been gagged.

No way……

Yashiro rubbed her temples in slight distress.

Listening closely, Inosuke was indeed not at the mansion, and Hiyoshimaru was nowhere to be found either. She couldn't hear his heartbeat or breathing. There were a few people nearby, but they were all ordinary servants. Because she had been getting along well with Hiyoshimaru these past few days, she had been somewhat ostracized in private. Although it wasn't to the point of bullying, if she went to find him, she would inevitably be met with cold words.

Besides, most servants wouldn't be able to help with this kind of thing...

"Mmm, mmm—"

Or should we go to the training ground and call the main character over? But it's a bit far, and I don't know if we'll make it in time. Besides, I don't know what kind of personality Hikita Toyogoro has. What if we mess things up...? Maybe we should ask Mrs. Matsushita, or Matsushita Kabei...

"Um..."

"Ugh, honestly, it's so noisy!"

With a click of someone's tongue in an impatient voice, the other end suddenly fell silent.

Yashiro, who had already turned to walk towards the training ground, stopped once again, tapped her cane twice, and suddenly sighed, "Never mind, I don't care anymore..."

……

The spacious longhouse was bathed in bright sunlight.

There was a well in the courtyard, and a room on each side. Although it was not yet noon, the air was already filled with the aroma of wine.

Several wine jugs lay scattered on the ground, dice and dice cups were also thrown aside, and one of the wine jugs was even stained with blood.

Three or four men were gathered together, their shirts open, revealing a patch of chest hair about the width of a palm. They had stubble on their faces and seemed somewhat drunk. Their eyes were red, and when they opened their mouths, they exhaled gusts of alcohol, making one frown.

"What kind of talk is this!" someone shouted angrily. "I am Mr. Hikita's esteemed student, Yamazaki Genhachiro!"

Whether it was because his cultural knowledge was lacking or because he was drunk and his mind wasn't working properly, he directly used the term "distinguished student" to describe himself. However, instead of correcting him, his companions loudly echoed, "That's right, that's right!"

"We are the most outstanding disciples of the Shin-Kage school! Moreover, it was your master who invited us here, yet now you're making excuses even for asking for a pot of wine. We finally got to drink some wine, and now you won't even give us a small dish of food! What kind of stingy host is this!"

"We're not asking for any delicacies, we just want some boiled broad beans to go with our drinks, and some sliced ​​ginger and scallions. Surely this is enough to entertain a samurai with a stipend of three thousand koku!"

Surrounded by them was the little maid named Xiaoqin. She was clutching her bleeding forehead, trembling on the ground, her face pale, her lips quivering. She seemed to want to apologize or explain, but she couldn't utter a single word.

This pitiful sight might have evoked sympathy from a few people under normal circumstances, but now, fueled by drunkenness, they became even angrier: "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you looking down on us?"

"How dare a lowly servant look down on the martial artists of the Shinkage-ryu school! It's outrageous! She must be punished!"

“That’s right, since we can’t come up with any snacks to go with our drinks, we’ll just use you as our snacks!” Yamazaki Genhachiro shouted, and the others burst into laughter. “Yes! That’s what we’ll do!”

"No, no..." Xiaoqin tried to back away, but several people rushed forward and quickly grabbed her hands and feet, making her unable to move. While she was struggling desperately, Genpachiro drunkenly picked up a wine jug with some wine left inside and shook it.

"Noisy!"

With a grumble, Genpachiro raised the sake bottle, ready to use his old trick again, and smashed it down with a whoosh...

It should be so.

But what fell was only an empty palm.

Terrified, the little maid tightly closed her eyes, anxiously awaiting the impending pain. But as she waited, the expected pain never came. Not only that, even her hands and feet, which had been held down, were freed.

She cautiously opened her eyes a crack, only to see that Genpachiro and the others all looked as if they had seen a ghost, each turning their heads to look at another figure that had appeared in the room at some unknown time.

"Ugh, there's still wine in there, what a waste..."

It was a girl wearing a pale yellow short-sleeved shirt, her eyes closed, muttering as she raised the sake bottle in her hand high—the very one that Genpachiro had just been holding—and the liquid inside poured out like a river, all of it falling into her mouth.

There were probably two or three cups' worth left in the pot. She gulped it down, but didn't swallow. Her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel's, her neck stretched and twitched, and her head swayed back and forth, as if she was brewing something...

"puff!"

He then suddenly opened his mouth and sprayed all the wine he was holding onto Genpachiro and the others, leaving them looking utterly disheveled.

"Pah, pah, pah! The perfectly good wine has turned sour and bitter after you guys touched it, making it undrinkable... How awful!"

She pinched her nose and spat several times, as if she had finally emptied her mouth completely. Then she turned her head and smiled at the maid who was lying on the ground in a daze: "Miss Xiaoqin, could you please bring me a bowl of water?"

"……Why?"

"This wine tastes awful, I need to rinse my mouth."

As if completely oblivious to the murderous gazes around him, Yashiro casually tossed aside the empty sake bottle, curled his lip, and said with a look of disgust.

……

Chapter Thirty-Three: Dice Tricks

A cry of an eagle pierced the sky.

Inside the longhouse, several figures sat facing each other on either side.

Near the door were Yamazaki Genhachiro and the others, casually sitting cross-legged, while opposite them was only Yashiro, kneeling there properly with her hands on her knees and her cane beside her.

Genpachiro held the dice cup in his hand and casually shook it, causing the two dice inside to collide and make a clattering sound: "Did you hear that?"

"I heard you," the girl replied.

"Let's follow the rules we agreed on, okay?"

As he spoke, his gaze swept up and down the girl's body with a licking look, a mixture of scrutiny and wariness, but mostly an undisguised lust—as did his companion.

"No problem." As if completely oblivious to the malice in those eyes, Yashiro nodded with a faint smile. However, in subtle ways unnoticed by them, the corners of her eyes and the tips of her eyebrows twitched slightly.

So angry...

A bunch of scum, I really want to just chop them up...

She gritted her teeth inwardly, suppressing the urge to draw her sword on the spot. She calmed herself down, her thoughts drifting away as if trying to escape, recalling the conversation that had just sent her blood pressure soaring...

Xiaoqin, whose head was bleeding profusely from being hit by the wine jug, had already been sent away by her—she said she wanted the other party to fetch a bowl of water for her. However, as long as Xiaoqin wasn't too stupid, she would definitely understand what she meant and wouldn't come back. At that time, a few drunkards tried to stop her, but she stretched out her cane and blocked them from entering the room.

Before they could get angry, Yashiro preemptively asked, "Getting drunk in someone else's house in broad daylight, and even taking advantage of his drunkenness to harass and bully the host's maid... Forgive my ignorance, but is this Lord Hikita's way of being a guest?"

She deliberately brought up Hikita's uncle's name to test whether these people were just using his name to act recklessly, or whether this nephew of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna was simply no good.

"You...what are you talking nonsense about?"

"How dare you slander our master! You must have a death wish!"

Sure enough, the moment Hikita was mentioned, the expressions on their faces changed immediately. Some stammered and asked back, while others roared in a show of bravado but were actually quite cowardly. This feigned ferocity might frighten ordinary people like Kotomi, but to Yashiro, it only revealed their deep unease.