Yano's request was strange, and A Man exclaimed, "The first year of Tenbun? Twenty years ago? You don't know anything about the affairs in Owari?"
"My home is far from here, I just arrived in Owari two or three days ago," Yano replied.
"Hmm... your accent is strange, definitely not from East Mountain Road or East Sea Road, nor does it sound like the Kinki accent, or anything from Shanyin Road or Shanyang Road." A Man's curiosity was piqued, she glanced at the still-unconscious Meng Ziqi, "Where are you from? Is your home on South Sea Road?"
South Sea Road is Shikoku Island (Tosa, Iyo, Awa, and Sanuki of Shikoku), along with Awaji Island and the Kii Peninsula.
Yano casually dodged the question, "Even further west."
Further west would be West Sea Road, the area now known as Kyushu Island, which was too distant for A Man, as far away as the sky in those times.
She couldn't help but curiously ask, "Then why did you come to East Sea Road, were you exiled?"
"It's my turn to ask you!" Yano somewhat regretted letting her off easily, daring to speak more than him, the interrogator. He should have kept her as a captive for another day for a good interrogation.
A Man seemed thoughtful, sensing that Yano was somewhat sensitive about his origins, possibly exiled after failing in a battle for inheritance rights, causing him to flee far away incognito. However, judging by his refined appearance, he likely came from a prominent family...
Yano's height was nearly 1.8 meters, and his neat white teeth and healthy glowing skin really gave him an advantage. Just seeing these few traits, everyone instinctively felt he was of remarkable origin, a noble upper-class person, and even A Man, a so-called "Original Ninja," was no exception, already imagining his tragic past.
But it didn't matter, Yano was nothing to her, a former young master or a begging pauper, all the same in her eyes. However, she wasn't one to suffer a loss, had a wild temper, and noticed that Yano had a favor to ask of her, so she rolled her dark eyes and said, "I'm hungry."
Yano speechlessly looked at her for a moment, then got up to call Yayoi.
What else could he do? The little imp looked only a bit older than Yayoi, and in his eyes, she was just a child. Although in the dark, they mistook her for a thief and beat her up, now that the misunderstanding was cleared, it wouldn't be appropriate to hit or scold her further.
Besides, he originally prepared a meal for her; not everyone would travel four hours just to save him for six mon of money. For that good intent alone, he had to be courteous and treat her with dignity.
Uh, actually, he got it wrong; he just happened to give her six mon (the ferry money across the Sanzu River in Japanese mythology was six mon), which A Man viewed as fate, thinking he wasn't meant to die. Having the urge for justice led to this trip. However, Yano missed the Warring States Era myth reference and had no clue, assuming A Man was just kind-hearted and chivalrous, grateful and rewarding. Unknowingly, he saw her in a better light, which was entirely not the case.
One could only say, this is the bond between people!
Yayoi was very adept at tending to people, carefully helping A Man sit up and lean against a straw mat, then moving a small wooden table in front of her, bringing water and a cotton towel for her to wash her hands and face, and even retying her hair, before finally bringing a clay pot, bowls and chopsticks, and a small bucket of rice.
After wiping her little face clean, A Man looked quite pretty, with a small round face, big eyes that were clear and bright. She had a common hairstyle for young boys of this era, with neat bangs and a small tuft of hair tied on top. Her shiny black hair made her look quite cute at first glance, not wild at all.
The only downside was probably that her eyebrows didn't look good—she had a pair of thick, short eyebrows like broad beans, not delicate at all, trembling slightly, with very dark, prominent color, instantly turning her look from cute to humorous.
But overall, she was still more attractive than Yayoi. Yayoi had an ordinary appearance, at most could be described as delicate, but with a pale face and dry yellow hair, obviously malnourished, resembling a young refugee in flight from famine.
A Man's complexion was much better than hers, at least her skin and hair color were better, and she seemed more energetic.
A Man didn't care about how Yano scrutinized her, she was already drooling, picking up the bamboo chopsticks, stirring the clay pot with surprise, "No wonder it smells so good, it's really stewed chicken! Both drumsticks are here, the whole chicken stewed with radishes, there's more chicken than radishes, and there are mushrooms too!"
Then she glanced at the white rice in the bucket, all polished rice, white as jade, with almost no impurity.
Originally, she only hoped to mix a bowl of mixed grain black bean rice, maybe with two pickled radish strips at most, never expecting such a luxurious feast.
Being a meat eater, a martial artist would bleed from the bladder if they didn't eat meat. Occasionally she would catch a field mouse, shoot a bird or catch a fish to roast, but having a proper meal with meat and white rice was almost never the case. In those times, if you could buy a chicken, why not exchange it for more grains for more meals?
She couldn't help but exclaim with amazement and glee, "You really are a spendthrift, no wonder you got exiled!"
"If you don't want to eat, you don't have to!" Yano was quite speechless.
He was just being kind-hearted, despite A Man constantly spewing nonsense, in truth, she was badly injured. Therefore, he deliberately bought a chicken to make soup to nourish her body—he hadn't killed anyone yet, although it might be unavoidable in the chaos, and he was mentally prepared for it, he certainly didn't want the first person he killed to be a child. After all, he wasn't a demon.