Crunch, crunch — the sound of soil being turned.
Maomao
was resting her chin on her hand, idly watching the man working the field.
The location was just outside the capital's wall. Here was a field that Maomao and her adoptive father,
Luomen,
had made. No — had made.
The guards had been willing to overlook the field in exchange for clearing the kudzu clinging to the wall — but
for the past several years, no one had properly tended it. The field had gone completely wild.
Only the vines on the wall had been neatly cleared away.
(When was the last time I cleared those vines?)
Sazen
and
Keyong
— she recalled bringing them along for the harvesting.
Back then, she hadn't known a thing about Keyong's true nature. Because she didn't know, she'd simply assumed he wasn't such a bad person.
The one standing in the overgrown field now was neither Luomen nor Sazen.
"Now there's a nice spot!"
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a bright, cheerful expression was
Rahan,
her older brother.
He'd apparently tilled the eccentric strategist's garden to his heart's content and then started sneaking outside the property line to till as well, but had been told to cut it out.
(Well, obviously.)
That was why he'd come asking Maomao if there was any suitable land. The small plot in the red-light district's house was being reserved for medicinal herbs, so this was the only place that could work.
"You're always full of energy, Brother Rahan."
"Your body is your capital, after all. Eat well, sleep well, move well."
"What are you planning to plant?"
When you considered the season, there didn't seem to be much worth planting. Looking at Brother Rahan, he was giving off heat, but the breath from his mouth was white and cloudy.
"Hmm, I hadn't actually thought of planting anything in particular. I was just planning to break up the cold and improve the soil."
"So this isn't really about locust prevention, then?"
Even Maomao knew that turning over the soil had the effect of preventing locust outbreaks. She'd done it more than she cared to.
"Well, for now, just spread this around for me."
Brother Rahan pointed at a large bag. Peeking inside, she saw crushed shell powder.
"You lot help out too, alright?"
"Okaaay!"
Children began gathering around Brother Rahan.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth,
Shunketsu,
and then
Kyoko,
were there.
(What a strange group.)
Maomao crossed her arms and watched with bemusement.
Setting aside Shunketsu, it was oddly funny how accustomed Kyoko had become. For someone who had played the part of a frail young lady, she was now wearing grimy clothes and
straw sandals.
There was no snow, but the outside air was cold.
Who would guess that the girl with bright red cheeks spreading crushed shell powder was the Empress Dowager's niece and the Emperor's cousin?
Normally, someone ought to stop her, but she seemed to be having the time of her life. Most of all, it was gratifying that she'd grown healthy enough to run around. Maomao had been taken aback by her once-starved, beast-like appearance, but she seemed to have settled down considerably by now.
"Hey, you're spreading too much over there! Spread it evenly! If you don't do it right, the crops won't grow properly!"
"Okaaay!"
Hearing such an earnest reply, Maomao quietly recalled
Zhao Yu,
her rebellious period in the pleasure district.
(Would he straighten out if I left him in Luomen-nii's care?)
Luomen-nii was well-liked, though he had no ambition. He did have the ordinary desire to get rich and climb in the world, but his current self suited him all too well.
(Come to think of it, I was tricked by Luomen into coming to the western capital.)
Luomen-nii's name might not endure, but his deeds might one day be spoken of in the lands of the west.
(Just don't start a peasant uprising or anything.)
The only image that came to mind when imagining Luomen-nii rebelling against something was him leading farmers with a hoe in hand.
"Hey, Luomen's little sister! If you've got free time, come lend a hand!"
Luomen-nii sometimes called Maomao "Luomen's little sister." Normally she would deny it with "I'm not your sister," but when it came from Luomen-nii, she sometimes felt there was no use arguing.
"Free time, you say? Wasn't it you who told me to show you around places that look like they could be farmland?"
"But you should move your body once in a while. You had a rather desperate look on your face earlier, you know."
"......"
He had apparently picked up on the fact that something was troubling her.
(Sharp, in his own way.)
But he didn't pry.
Maomao was wrestling with how to deal with Keyou as a person.
He was harmless toward those who were harmless, and harmful toward those who were harmful. His actions were, as a living creature, correct.
She wanted to believe that there would be no problem if he continued spending his time at the Ryokuseikan as he was now. Sasen, whom she had left in charge of the apothecary, was not a bad person at heart. The old woman running the place was rough, but she didn't engage in anything resembling criminal trade.
In the past, Maomao would have turned a blind eye far more easily. But once she began associating with people who were close to the law, she found herself troubled over whether to punish Keyou, who strayed from the path in so many ways.
That Maomao was troubled had been seen through by Luomen-nii.
"You've got that look on your face — the one where you're thinking about something there's no point in thinking about."
"Yes, I was indeed thinking about something there was no point in thinking about."
Maomao let out a long breath.
What was Maomao's guiding principle in times like these?
(Thinking about something that won't yield an answer is just a waste of time.)
For now, set it aside. Then, do what can be done right now.
"For now, I'll put it out of my mind and get back to work."
"Sure, sure. Though I should've brought Rahan along too. That guy's all brains and never exercises."
"Rahan would be completely useless from the next day onward."
"That's true enough."
Maomao took the hoe from Rahan and began raking shell powder into the soil.
After finishing the farm work, Maomao parted ways with Rahan and the others partway through. She hadn't planned on doing manual labor, so she hadn't brought a change of clothes.
She couldn't very well return to the dormitory covered in mud, so she decided to head to the pleasure district instead.
"Whoa, that's filthy."
At Maomao's former residence, the ramshackle house, Zhao Yu was waiting. The foul little brat, right in the thick of his rebellious phase, had already grown taller than her.
"I just came to grab a change of clothes."
"..."
Zhao Yu suddenly grew moody and stormed out of the ramshackle house.
"What an attitude."
Maomao paid it no mind and opened the old chest. Inside were a few outfits of terrible taste that she'd gotten from a secondhand clothing shop. She figured they'd at least be better than her mud-caked state when someone poked her on the shoulder.
When she turned to see who it was,
it was Zilin.
Zhao Yu had grown, but Zilin had gotten quite a bit bigger too. She was still
bald—
but at this rate, she'd probably be put to work with customers in another two years.
"Something you need?"
She was like a goldfish turd, always trailing behind Zhao Yu.
Zilin had a look on her face like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't speak. She could hear just fine, but she never talked. Maomao had heard she hadn't spoken a single word since birth. Whether she was born with some abnormality in her throat, or had lost the ability to speak due to illness or injury before she could learn words—no one knew.
Maomao would like to investigate the cause as a pharmacist, but it's difficult since it's not her area of expertise.
Zilin brings a box filled with sand.
*"Zhao Yu has been acting strange lately."*
It seemed she had been taught to write properly in place of being able to speak.
"Does he act like that toward anyone besides me?"
*"That's not it."*
Zilin groans, unsure of how to put it into words.
*"He's agonizing over something."*
"Over what?"
Zilin hurriedly pulled a book from her robe. It was worn and grimy from having been passed around and read countless times.
*"He's been acting strange ever since reading this book."*
"...I see."
Maomao taps Zilin lightly on the head.
"I'm borrowing this."
*"Mm."*
Maomao takes the book.
The title read *The Villainess of the North*.