Morohira's face soured further at the question.
"Mmm. My honour has been shot with them calling me a cheater so I'm not sure things will be that good."
"Yeah. Do you know how the men from our village – the ones that helped beat you – are related to this 'big shot' that you mentioned?
"Dunno. They seem like his underlings though, following his orders without even thinking – bloody animals."
'This is probably bad.'
Gengyo thought to himself.
"Do we know anything else about this 'big shot' character? Things he's done in the past and the like."
It was Fuku who answered this time, speaking softly.
"I heard there were a family in the other village that owed him money…"
"Hmm? What happened to them?"
"They were bullied by the man – his name is Kyougoku by the way – badly, for weeks on end."
"…And how did it end?"
Fuku struggled to keep her voice level as she continued.
"It's a really sad story. The husband killed himself, and then his wife was captured and sold into prostitution to pay for his debts."
Gengyo gulped.
'My god that's grim. Why did father have to piss off such a vicious guy?'
"Uhh… Surely he's not going to hold a grudge against you, right father? He's already beaten you half to death."
Morohira looked toward him bitterly.
"Wouldn't count on it kid."
Gengyo sighed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
'But my peaceful life…'
He thought to himself mournfully.
Rin quickly snapped him out of it.
"Nii-san, is there anything we can do?"
"It would be unwise to make any plans before we know exactly what we're dealing with. For all we know, he might have already forgotten about dad – though that seems unlikely."
"For now, we should simply proceed as normal. Go to work, and do what we have to do. If things are different, and our position is unbearable, then in a couple of days I will make arrangements."
Masaatsu nodded deeply.
"My little brother has become wise. Do not try to take on all the responsibility yourself though – we're a family. We'll deal with this together."
Morohira tilted his head at this exchange.
'Since when did my weak little son become a leader?'
Rin perked up a little too.
"If it's Nii-san, and sure we'll be alright."
…
…
The three siblings walked to work with their eyes darting about warily, unsure as to whether they would be the subject of abuse.
The villagers looked at them for a little too long as they passed by, causing an uncomfortable feeling to begin to grow within their chests.
"Masaatsu, Rin. Be careful today. And no matter what happens, don't react. It will make things worse."
"Okay!"
"I will try my best, little brother."
Further down the road along the side of the fields, a group of five men were walking towards them taking up the entire path.
As they got closer, not a single one of them moved to make space, and inevitably the two groups ended up colliding.
There was a good deal of force in the shoulders that hit them, and Rin would have fallen had Masaatsu not caught her by the arm.
The men did not even spare them a word, they simply ploughed through them as if they did not exist.
Gengyo felt a spark of anger as he turned to check on Rin.
"Are you alright?"
Rin winced slightly, but nodded.
"I was kind of expecting that."
"Yeah. It seems likely that they are the underlings father was mentioning – or at least are related to them somehow."
…
…
When they went to collect their tools, the surroundings were full of whispers.
"Isn't that the kids of the cheater, Morohira?"
"Mmm you're right. Imagine cheating other village folk of their money."
"Right. Such a scumbag thing to do – we barely have enough money to eat in the first place."
Gengyo heard every word that they spoke, as did Rin and Masaatsu, but it was only Masaatsu who displayed a reaction – though it was a rather slight one.
'It seems his weakness is his family. I only hope he'll be able to contain his anger – at least for now.'
Baba showed no indication that he knew of the recent happenings, and smiled warmly as he gave them their tools.
"Good morning you three. Let's have another hard day's work."
A breath of fresh air in an otherwise toxic fog – it was relieving to be greeted by him.
Rin seemingly though the same, as she returned his smile.
"Thanks Baba-san! You have a good day too."
Baba then turned to the rest of the workers - that were gathered inside the shaded dining area where they usually spent lunch - and made an announcement.
"Right, listen up everyone! This is the last day of ploughing, and then we'll start flooding the fields."
His words were met with cheers, as the workers were relieved at the thought of the comparatively easier work.
One worker spoke to another.
"Finally, these calluses on my hands will have time to go down."
"Aye bud, but you know the way the water gets your feet? It's a bit weird – that's the part I don't like. Wrinkly feet."
"Agreed. Wrinkly feet isn't great, but it's still a hell of a lot better than ploughing."
Gengyo shared their thoughts.
'The idea of flooding a field is certainly more appealing than that of ploughing.'
Masaatsu's and Rin's spirits were also raised at this announcement, as the attention was directed away from them, and onto something more positive that incited the workers.
Of course, such a redirection of attention did not last long at all, and as they walked to the field they could hear all sorts of slander behind their backs.
"Man… I'm in a field with one of the cheater's kids. It probably runs in the family, right? I bet the kids are slacking off on their work so that the rest of us have to work even harder."
"You know what, that sounds right. We'll have to make sure that they're pulling their weight!"
…
…
Those words that they had overheard earlier had not been hollow, nor had they not been shared. They meant it.
"Oi! Can you actually do some work, kid? Or are you trying to cheat us just like your dad?"
Gengyo ignored their shouts, and continued working at a comfortable pace. There was no way they could physically hit them – at least not whilst they were in the fields – so there was no need to acknowledge them. Playing ignorant was the best route to dealing with them.
It was not as though he was unused to the harassment either – just days before Aritada and Yoritomo had been doing much the same thing, though of course it was an entirely different context.
Back then, it had been an assault on Gengyo's – or really, Tadakata's – character, so that he knew what he was addressing. But now, it was a lie propagated by father's foolishness.
Gengyo did his best not to feel resentful toward his father – as it was not entirely his fault. Though he still could not help but wish that he was not a man so fond of saké. Or perhaps let him be fond of saké, but perhaps if he wasn't such a bad drunk?
'When we get through this, I'm going to have to find some way of reasoning with this father of mine, else my peaceful life is going to be a dream.'
After ignoring their shouts, a few rocks had come his way, but similar to when Aritada and Yoritomo were messing with him, he was able to dodge them all rather easily.
'It's a little disturbing how quickly people will change.'
'Though I suppose us Japanese people, at this time in history, were a little obsessed with honour. Now that our honour has been degraded by the accusations of this rather authoritative figure from the next village, we're seen to be immoral.'
…
…
When lunchtime came around, they were not allowed to eat in peace.
As Rin bought her rice ball to her mouth, a middle-aged man came over and spat straight into her food.
"Dogs don't mind eating soiled food do they?"
His actions were met with the cheers of his friends, as this was clearly just an act to impress them.
'What a weak man.'
Gengyo could not help but look at him with a certain amount of disgust. He was clearly one of Kyougoku's underlings, but his status amongst them seemed rather low. Thus he had to resort to such low-life actions in order to gain their recognition.
Had he not had his forty years of experience under his belt, it's very likely that Gengyo would have lashed out at the man. But now, luckily, he was able to retain his calm.
Masaatsu looking Gengyo in the eye, seething. He was clearly trying to find an excuse to tear this guy to pieces.
Gengyo shook his head, attempting to convey his thoughts to Masaatsu.
'Not yet.'
He saw his brother begin to take deep breaths, calming himself.
Rin stared at her saliva coloured ball of rice with disgust, frozen by the chaos of such a new event – unsure as what to do.
Gengyo decided her action for her.
He took the rice ball, and threw it as far as he could. It sailed through the air and landed in a cluster of trees a good distance away.
He heard the men tut at his actions, finding a new reason to criticise him.
"Ha, the little bastard even soils the land that we live on."
"Yeah, and he's even wasting good food."
But his course of action was what he perceived to be optimal, for no matter how he reacted there he would not have won the approval of the surrounding people.
He hoped, through his actions, that he could demonstrate one thing: if it was a dog that would choose to eat soiled food, then let that soiled food be found far away from the Miura family.
He then sat down, and split his rice ball in two, giving the other half to Rin.
She accepted it gratefully with a smile.
"Thanks Nii-san…"
…
…
Even as the day drew to a close, they were not spared the ridicule of the other workers.
Now, a small group of people gathered around Baba, complaining about each of the Miura siblings.
"Baba-san, that girl does absolutely no work! It's unfair that she gets the same rewards as us."
"Same with the oldest. He acts like he's hoeing all day, but he's really getting nothing done!"
"That Tadakata – the weak one – is the same too. We kept telling him to get some work done but the fucker kept ignoring us!"
Baba held his hands up in an attempt to calm the crowd, as he had a tired smile on his face.
"Now now, you know that isn't the case. They're good workers, and have been for years."
Baba was able to remain neutral - possibly due to his age. He had been through and experienced many instances of families losing their honour, and the ridicule that came with it, so he was sympathetic and understanding toward the Miura family.
"Yeah, but their father's a cheater Baba-san. They're going to be cheaters too. They have absolutely no honour!"
"Ah, perhaps, and perhaps not. I only see good workers, and that is what our employer wants too."
'If that old man ever needs helping, I'm going to have to make sure to stand beside him.'
Gengyo thought to himself. Baba-san had been very supportive toward him, even in the case of Aritada and Yoritomo. And now that things had grown more serious, he still stood beside him. Or perhaps he stood not beside him, but beside the values that he held. Either way Gengyo could not commend him enough.