Trouble arrives without warning.
The signs had been visible, so it was arguably within the expected range — but even so, when it actually came, it was still jarring.
What happened was this:
"A northern nomadic tribe has attacked!"
Minor skirmishes happened from time to time. Usually they amounted to little more than a brief standoff.
"Their target appears to have been wheat."
Baryou summarized the lengthy report
and conveyed the key points to Jinshi.
"...That would figure."
Since only Baryou and one other person—
Asami—
were in the room, he answered with his cheek propped on his hand.
If Gaoshun
were here, he would be furrowing his brow.
Asami was still sorting through documents with swift, efficient movements. Truly a hardworking pair of siblings. Their other brother, Basen, had been sent to the military division for training at this hour. He was apparently doing one-on-one duels with blunted blades, continuing to fight until he lost. Basen's unfriendly nature meant he never lacked for opponents — and that, too, was something Jinshi found a little enviable.
Nomadic peoples though they were, they were still human. They ate not only goat milk and meat but also vegetables and grains. Having no fields of their own, they frequently traded pelts and meat for other food supplies in town.
In the border towns,
trade with them was nothing unusual — but.
"Normally, they're a tribe that lives much farther north."
They had stationed many guards in the north, but even so, it seemed they could only capture a few stragglers who had been slow to escape.
It appeared that they hadn't simply launched a surprise attack — they had tried to make purchases at another town first. However, the only currency they had was
Northern Alliance
money, and on top of that, communication broke down due to the language barrier, so negotiations fell through.
"They couldn't understand our language?"
"It appears so. The accent was so thick they were difficult to understand, and it seems the interrogations of the captured ones were quite a struggle as well."
This was a headache.
Based on the information available, one could infer that they had originally been trying to buy grain somewhere else. Unable to make the purchase, they had come to a different city but ultimately failed there as well. Unable to return home empty-handed, they must have resorted to raiding farming villages.
"So there's been a sellers' market in the Northern Asia Alliance."
"Yes. That seems like the most reasonable conclusion."
Even in Li this year, the grain harvest couldn't be called bountiful, but the only regions bad enough to trigger a sellers' market were those struck by locust plagues. Even so, when considered together with other regions, the shortfall could still be made up.
"Have you heard anything about the sweet potato yield?"
"I believe documents have arrived from Lord Ranhan."
Amami handed over the letters without missing a beat.
A capable woman through and through.
"The yield is reportedly about what we expected."
"I see."
He had been prepared for the worst case of no harvest at all, so this was a relief. There were still issues with storage, processing, and transportation, but he could leave those matters to Ranhan. The man had his quirks, but once you understood his nature, he was someone you could trust. Recently, though, he felt he had been delegating too many tasks, so he should avoid piling on any more work.
Relying on dependable people was all well and good, but relying on them too much led to trouble.
He was well aware of this, but—
It was at the moment he set the received documents on his desk.
The door burst open.
"Lord Jinshi!"
"Bashen!"
Amami glared at Bashen for bursting in so suddenly. However, Bashen, still catching his breath, planted himself in front of Jinshi's desk. He was wearing training clothes, making it clear he had come straight from the practice grounds.
"What is it? That was rather rude."
Even as Amami's face flushed red with anger, Jinshi also reproached him in a slightly sharp tone. But no matter how impetuous Bashen might be, if he was hurrying this much, there had to be a reason.
"Ah,
Ada,
it appears that thieves have broken into your mansion."
"What did you say?"
Jinshi's brow twitched upward.
"I wasn't told about this."
"Yes. I only just heard about it myself... I-it was a coincidence."
He was still out of breath, so Jinshi looked at Mamami. Though exasperated with her brother, the capable court lady offered Basen some water.
Basen took the bowl and drained it in one gulp, then wiped the water that spilled from the corner of his lips.
"I happened to overhear it. About ten days ago, at Lady Ada's residence, someone who appeared to be a thief broke in, and moreover, set the place on fire while escaping."
"Is that true?"
"Yes. I pressed them on it. They'd apparently been told to keep it quiet, but I happened to overhear them talking among themselves, so I confronted them."
Basen clenched his fist tightly. Even if it had been let slip casually, they shouldn't have gone into details. He had probably forced the truth out of them rather roughly.
A common thief? No—would a thief really target Ada's residence specifically? It was originally the Emperor's retreat. Even though it was outside the palace grounds, there was plenty of security.
If it were just a thief, raiding a wealthy merchant's house would have been far easier.
On top of that, there were the surviving children of the Son's clan, Suirei—the late Emperor's grandchild—and even the Western Priestess.
"..."
Even now, he reflected that he had relied on others too much.
Ada was sharp and trustworthy. But he had told himself he shouldn't lean on her too heavily.
"—After this, I'll head to Lady Ada's residence."
"What shall I write down as your purpose?"
Mamami prepared wooden tablets and a brush. High-quality paper had become more common, so wooden tablets were used far less often now, but there were times when one deliberately chose them. In Mamami's case, she seemed to favor tablets made of fragrant wood and used them frequently.
"...Write that I'd like to play a game of go, or something."
Ada would probably be more interested if he invited her for falconry rather than board games, but it was late.
"Lord Jinshi."
"You're still here, Basen?"
Jinshi said with a touch of annoyance.
"Please take me along, too!"
"...No, it's impossible."
"Why not?!"
Mashan seethed, but Jinshi wasn't without his own thoughts on the matter. And both Asami and Maeryo here knew full well what their brother had done.
"You forced information out of Ada, didn't you? You did it somewhere out of sight?"
At Asami's interrogation, Mashan flinched and his body stiffened. He was weak against women in general, but particularly helpless against his mother and older sisters.
"I, I took him around to the back, at least."
"And you didn't bother checking whether anyone was around? Seriously, what's with that appearance? I don't know if you were in the middle of training or whatever, but you reek. Do you understand? You. Stink. You show up at the office drenched in sweat and grease, what do you think people will say? They'd think you're suspicious in a heartbeat, obviously. Even a child could figure it out, even a monkey could figure it out—is your head that of a little monkey?"
"..."
Mashan's face twisted in humiliation.
Maeryo watched him with pitying eyes from the gap in the partition.
The women of the Ma household were overwhelmingly formidable.
"It's completely obvious. You're hopeless at anything covert. That's exactly why Jinshi had to use a game of go as a pretext to go see Ada."
"I, I know that."
"You don't know anything! Now get out of here. You stink, you stink. Ugh, did you eat
garlic
this morning? It's suffocating."
She covered her nose with her sleeve.
Frightening.
Even this was her showing restraint because Jinshi was present, and yet it was still terrifying.
Maeryo felt sorry for Mashan, but knew that if he spoke up he'd only lose. So he simply watched through the gap in the partition.
"If you don't do something about that smell, no woman will want you. You'll be rejected."
"...Rejected?!"
Mashan was struck with shock.
"Hm? What's with that reaction? Could it be you've actually fallen for someone? Oh my, come on, tell your big sister!"
Asami's eyes glinted with interest.
She already had two children, yet was still only twenty-two. She had married at sixteen thanks to a good match, though that didn't mean she disliked this sort of talk.
"Wh-what are you talking about? M-Master Jinshi is right here!"
Bashen panicked, which Jinshi thought only made things worse.
Asami kept nudging Bashen's side with her elbow.
At this rate, the conversation was never going to go anywhere.
"Asami. That's enough. Oh, while we're at it—why don't we bring along some sweets? See if Suiren can prepare those baked goods for us."
"Yes."
Asami handed the wooden tablet to a messenger and headed toward Suiren's palace.
Bashen let out a long, weary breath.
"...So, who is it?"
"Not you too, Master Jinshi..."
Bashen let out a thoroughly exasperated groan, and Jinshi couldn't help but laugh.