"Vegetables! Freshly picked vegetables!
"Come in customers! Our Saury is priced half-off today!"
Today, I am shopping for ingredients.
"Oh! Hiro-chan. Here's your order."
"Thanks. Is Rinne-chan alright now?"
"Oh, she wants to answer that question herself."
"Hiroshi-nii!!!"
While I am buying meat, a little girl jumped up my back and clinged her arms around my neck.
"Hahaha!!! My, my. Rinne-chan is back to being a lively little girl isn't she?!"
"Nyahahaha!!! I'm back to my feet Hiro-nii! First wave!"
She spoke and let go of me before stepping back and spreading her arms out which I also did after putting down my shopping bag.
"Fu!"
"Bu!"
"Ki!"
We recited several words and made weird poses. The people around us, instead of being weirded out, laughed merrily.
"Nyahahaha!!! Hiroshi-nii! I'll wait till the next duel."
"Haha! That child really cheers up others... Well then, back to my errand."
I spoke and picked up my shopping bag. I walked towards the vegetable stall and bought potatoes and black peppers.
"Hmm... Well then, Soy sauce and oyster sauce is what I need to find next."
It's been a whole week since I started to live in the Village of Aoya. I rented a small house in the residential area and put up my own clinic in it.
"Iwasawa-dono! My husband is writhing in pain!"
And part of it is being an on-call doctor who goes at his patient's own house.
"Hmm... Please boil some water and bring in a pot of burning coals.
"Y-yes!"
I do admit that every single day isn't easy. I should expect that to happen all the time though.
"Scalpel."
"Eh? Ah. What?"
"Oh...The small knife."
Most of the time, a patient will come back and recover.
"Ugh! Aaaarrrrrggggghhhh!!!"
"Calm down! Your stitches might be undone!"
"Uuuhhhhhh... I-it hurts!!!"
But sometimes... They won't.
"4th month, 3rd day... in the middle of the 5th hour..."
"No... Daichi... Wake up! Wake up!"
As a sign of condolence, I don't take any payment or donation when my patient dies or his/her condition worsens after my diagnosis and treatment.
"Please accept this..."
His wife spoke during his funeral while giving me a box covered with blue cloth.
"I'm sorry... I do not deserve to accept your offer... Your husband is...-"
"Please... Daichi told me to give this even if he died... Thank you for at least trying to help him..."
"T-thank you..."
I spoke and took the box from her hand and bowed low to her. I caught the scent of cinnamon inside and I tried to hold back my tears of appreciation.
"Ishi...chama..."
A 2-year old girl behind her walked unsteadily and grabbed my leg when she lost her balance.
"Chito! Hiroshi-sama-"
I smiled and lifted her near me which made her mother to stay quiet.
"What is it?"
I asked and tucked her short black hair behind her ear. She looks a lot like her mother.
"W-where is daddy?"
She asked me something which made me stagger a bit. I wanted to try on explaining it to a young child like her.
"Your... Your father is dead."
"Dead?"
"He's nowhere to be found now."
I spoke and held her closer to my chest as she rubbed her cheek lightly with her right hand.
"Will he come back?"
"I don't know... But remember this little girl, when people die, they don't necessarily have to be forgotten for the rest of eternity..."
"Huh?"
I poked her chest and gave the best smile that I can show to her.
"Just keep your dad in your heart and maybe talk to him sometimes when you feel sad, are we clear?"
I spoke while smiling at her and showing her my palm.
"Um? Oh."
"Take care, Chito."
She tilted her head and gave back the high-five. I hugged her gently and she gave a soft giggle and said something that caught my attention, but regardless, it also made me really happy.
"Your hugs feel like my dad's, Ishi-nii!"
True... everyday is a rollercoaster of feelings... someone's death will always break your heart... but that is, as cruel as it may sound, a part and goal of our lives.
Later that night, I spent an hour in my small bathroom, relaxing in the tub where I mixed an aromatic oil that I bought at the market with the bath water I warmed earlier. Besides, what I went through today wasn't just any easy-to-forget thing.
"A bath before sleeping really is good..."
I spoke as I cupped some water on my hand and slapped it to my face.
Although my house is considered to be small, there is a small bathroom and a yard where a small garden is located. This is where I planted a bunch of herbs that I need for the medicines.
"Hmm... I wonder where is Chiyo-san right now..."
The female samurai named Chiyo Aoyama left the day before yesterday. She told me that she really wanted to thank me so she cooked meals for me and brought my herbs whenever there is a patient. But after her wounds has recovered, she told me that she's going back to her lord and left with the things that I gave her to continue on her journey.
"Hah... Wherever she is, I wish she's safe..."
*knock, knock.*
I heard a knock at my house's door. I got out of the tub, quickly dried myself and wore my clothes.
"It's already nighttime but I still accept patients-!"
"Die!"
Instead of a desperate patient, the person at the front of my doorstep is someone covered in black clothes who wields a katana. He swung the weapon and split my door open.
"Who are you?"
"You don't deserve to know my name! You left my partner after stabbing him! I will never forgive you!"
"Shit-!"
He shouted and threw several daggers at me. I jumped to my living room and turned my table to its side to block the projectiles.
"Get out of there coward-!"
"Gotcha!"
"Argh!"
Because my candle is attached on the table and it was blown out, he didn't noticed that I snuck around him and tackled him out of my house.
"You've got balls to attack someone's house in the middle of the night."
"Shut up!"
He shouted and charged towards me with a knife in hand. His eyes exuded his murderous aura, but a sudden sharp noise disrupted it.
*Bang!*
A gunshot rang out the silent night and in a few moments, the man fell down to his own pool of blood.
"What the-?"
"Doctor Iwasawa Hiroshi, I suppose?"
A person wearing a black ninja suit appeared behind a peach tree. On his hand is a long tanegashima musket with a smoking muzzle.
"I-I am Hiroshi. What do you need from me?"
"I cannot tell you everything right now... I will do that when it is due."
"..."
He walked towards me and stretched out his hand to show me a necklace with an small oval blue jewel embedded on a narrow golden ring.
"If the lives that you will save equates to the lives you will take, what will you choose?"
"Huh?"
What is this guy talking about? How did he know my name?
"Will you be able to take the blame or will you burn everything to the ground with your flames."
"What?"
He threw the necklace which I caught and turned back to pick the dead body to place it in a sack. He then took a gourd from his waist and poured some kind of liquid on the ground that dissolved the blood immediately.
"A woman encamped near Iso river will need your help soon. If you find it in your heart to help her, I believe that it will help you in fulfilling your responsibilities as a doctor. Another thing, it would be good if you can take back that young woman you saved last week. Farewell."
Just as fast as he showed up, he also disappeared into the thin mist, leaving me with unfulfilled questions and a deeper mystery to solve.
"What does he mean..? Does someone need my help?"
I spoke as I clutched the necklace tightly on my hand.
"...There's only one way to know..."
Tomorrow noon, I left the village with Shinzuke (my horse) to Iso River where that ninja said the woman is located.
"There it is... come on, boy."
The great Iso river is the only natural water form that divides a large amount of land from the southern triad of the mainland, making it seem like an island from afar. I learned that much from Takeru-san.
"Stop! Who are you?!"
"Iwasawa Hiroshi. I'm a doctor."
Of course I didn't came here without any plan. I asked around the merchants in the village and heard that after crossing the Iso river, the soldiers of the Kusanagi Clan became sickly and weak due to a disease.
"Lead him to General Ayanami."
"Yes sir! Please unmount your horse upon entering the camp."
"Understood."
I went down from the back of my horse and pulled his reins which he took notice of and obeyed. I followed the soldier as we passed by several tents where men groaning in pain can be heard.
"How long has it been? It seems like everyone is already writhing in pain."
"Umm... I'm really not supposed to talk to you. But since even I am worried about the disease and you seem too lanky to be one of the Akizuki clan's ninjas, I'll just speak freely."
The Kusanagi soldier in front of me spoke and went on the other side of my horse.
"It all started last week, we just crossed the Iso river and we were given orders to prepare ourselves for battle tomorrow. As soldiers, we spent the night by bathing in the river and drinking the Saké that we brought with us."
"Making merry before running to Hell, isn't it?"
"Haha... Quite a word you got there... But yeah, it's just like you said, we made merry before plunging ourselves to the battlefield."
He laughed and took off his helmet.
"The night passed and daybreak came. The 2000 strong men of the Kusanagi Army turned to shambles as almost all of us began to complain about stomachaches, nausea and thirst. Through Lady Ayanami's skill and teamwork with her all-female elite cavalry troops, the battle was ultimately won and we drove the Akizuki troops further inland."
"So you won after all..."
"Yeah... We have to thank the gods for that. Now, now... if only Lady Kusanagi is active in her temple duties, we wouldn't have to suffer this disease."
"I don't think that's the reason."
"Really?"
"Well, I still have to investigate."
After the short stroll inside their encampment, the soldier opened the tarp door of the tent where a tall woman with a long black hair tied into a single ponytail, irises that exuded a serious air and wearing a heavy samurai armor is standing in front of a battlefield diorama. I took my bag from Shinzuke's saddle and gave the reins to the soldier.
"Lady Ayanami. This is Iwasawa Hiroshi, a doctor."
"Good, leave now."
Hearing the order, he took my horse and walked away.
"Are you really a doctor?"
She spoke while looking at me from head to toe like she's inspecting me. She stepped forward as her heavy armor clanged at each other like the segments of a robotic doll.
"Yes I am."
"Hah... Well then, go to work like anyone else. I don't know what doctors do but never cause any trouble here..."
"Understood."
I started my investigation by taking blood and flesh samples from the infected soldiers. I was lent a small tent where I can work privately.
"Hmm... There is minimal bacteria in the samples... No signs of viruses either..."
Using the bamboo microscope that I created in the village, I observed the microbes in the blood and tissue samples.
"It would be impossible for all of them to act like they are hurt... This isn't a case of bacterial or viral infection either... Hmm... the eosinophils are so numerous in the blood samples..."
"Doctor, we had our first death..."
A soldier spoke and brought a dead body inside the room. I told him to lay the body on the table nearby and left after doing so.
"May God forgive me for desecrating your body after death..."
I mumbled while clasping my palm together in prayer. After a moment of silence, I wore a bandana over the half of my face and used a knife to open the abdomen of the corpse.
"Hmm... The abdominal cavity is full of blood clots... I think I already know what's happening."
I used a finer blade and opened the intestines where I saw the true reason for the problem.
●○●○●○●○●○
"Mitsuha! What's happening here?!"
"Lady Kyoko, please give us some time! The soldiers are sick and I cannot bring them to the battlefield."
While passing by the commander's tent, I noticed a lot of horses outside and a shout coming from the inside.
"Regardless, now that I already know what the disease is, I should report it already."
I mumbled and entered the tent with a piece of paper on my hand where I wrote my findings.
"Lady Ayanami... I already know the reason for the disease."
However, instead of an immediate reply, a dagger flew inches away from my face and hit the tarp door. I only sighed since I'm already used to it.
"Who is he?"
"A doctor I hired to treat the ill soldiers."
On a throne-like wooden chair, a girl with frizzy brown hair tied into two low ponytails and irises that look like acorns spoke loudly like she's scowling at me. As my common sense dictates, she might be Kusanagi Kyouko, the lord of Shinka province.
"You there, you said that you found out the cause of the illness right?"
"Y-yes."
"Come on! Don't just stand there, speak up!"
She stood up with a katana on her waist. I thought she's going to slash at me but that doesn't seem like the case.
"There are parasites in the water of Iso river. The soldiers began to experience the symptoms after crossing the Iso river aren't they?"
"Parasaito? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, pardon me, I used the wrong word. It's Kiseichuu and not Parasaito. They are basically worms that enter the body and cause illnesses."
Instead of speaking to me, she turned her sight to her commander and asked,
"Where did you get this country hick?"
She pointed at my clothes which is dusty and filled with poorly-sewn patches.
"Umm... He said he heard about our condition and went here to earn some money."
"Really..?"
Her eyes was half-closed and seemed to carry some kind of weird expression.
"Lock him up right now."
"What the-?!"
The female samurai and her lady drew their swords and pointed it at me as two soldiers held my arms and dragged me away from the tent.
"Haah..."
I know that this seems sudden, but my adventure seems to not be going to the direction that I wanted it to be.