Settlers Are Arriving

[Western Edge of the Library-City Dungeon's Sphere of Influence: Biwabashi]

"Father, are people not going to disappear from Musashi at this rate?"

So said Senba Sama-no-jō Jiro, watching the immigrants stream in one after another.

"Nonsense. Folk from Sumō, and from Sō and Ke as well, all pass through here, so it's not as though everyone comes from Musashi. Besides, to immigrate in the first place one needs documents from a temple and the village officials, so anyone whose departure would cause trouble can be stopped. That said, it would be another matter if the dungeon's side failed to notice someone was a man of Musashi and mistook it for mere peasant flight."

So answered the father, Senba Kamon-no-suke.

"And so, Father, what is the purpose of your visit today?"

"Nothing much. You, too, are a man who holds a fief now. The Kaneko-no-Naishi-no-jō of our kin proposed that you establish your own household. The lord of the realm has of course already given his consent, so all that remains is to obtain the approval of the Director of Books."

No one consults Jiro's wishes in the slightest. That old hag, he nearly said, but, given his position, Jiro held his tongue.

"In other words, you mean to say a wife will be introduced to me?"

"Just so. Look forward to it. While I'm at it, the Ōi clan to the south of Senba wishes to send out a branch family, so I'll go put in a word for that as well."

"Ah, the lion of the Ōi. A great boar… no, that would make them the Inomata Party."

"Ha ha."

In a desert where water is precious, they are the Ōi clan ("Great Well") because they possess a great well from which water can be drawn; they have nothing to do with any racecourse. They are members of the same Murayama Party as the Senba clan, and certainly not of the Inomata Party.

[Mamushi Village]

Ten ri (about 40 km) northwest of the dungeon: Mamushi Village. The farmers dispatched as reinforcements from the villages of the Tan Party (or rather, the second and third sons who'd been pawned off to be rid of them) kept arriving one after another. Rāja was busily adding more fields.

[Kisai Village]

Ten ri (about 40 km) northeast of the dungeon, Kisai Village is home to a warrior band that, long ago, held its base far to the north of the Library-City Dungeon. With Farigole, the development officer, away, the idle head of the Kisai Party, Kisai Yamate, was busily writing letters. Of course no such office as "Yamate" exists; it is a baseless, office-sounding title he styles himself with.

"Should I not summon my relatives who have proper homes in Ōsato and Hatara? Let me see… that branch of the family has fallen so low as to take up piracy, so if I call them they'll come flying. Those ones are Asura, after all, and the Director of Books won't turn them away either. Would that Yokoyama Party come too, I wonder, if I called them?"

[Noyo Village]

Ten ri (about 40 km) east of the dungeon, Noyo Village. Three adventurers were gazing at the ruins on the far side of a dry valley.

"So that's the 'Ruins of the Rocky Mountain.' At long last, work worthy of an adventurer."

Umadayū called out to Hyōe-Jiro, who stood beside him.

"No argument there. Hunting down stragglers, or worse, gathering up the belongings of enemy soldiers the dungeon's already killed, that's never been the most pleasant line of work."

"Still, she's as merciless toward her enemies as ever. The fact that she doesn't take heads must mean she gives no thought whatsoever to peace terms or anything of the sort."

"Aye, Saemon-Taro. She thinks of nothing but rooting them out, every last one. 'If it won't sing, then tonight it's tempura, the little cuckoo.' That's the kind of person the Director of Books is."

The hototogisu of the lily family, the toad lily, has young shoots that can be eaten as tempura or boiled greens. The bird of the same name, they say, tastes foul.