"Come on, come in! We have fresh stock, everyone!"
"Hey missy! Wanna buy some fresh veggies?!"
"I bought enough already pops!"
After a few days of travelling by horse, we finally arrived at the trade city of Iwaki, the capital city of Hashidate province. After paying the entrance fee at the main gate of the city and showing our trading passes issued from a merchant guild in Shinka, we finally entered the city renowned for its incredible agricultural local trade.
"The markets are bustling."
"It sure is. We should unmount here. The other pedestrians will shoot glares at us if we ride into the city on horses."
"Sure. Everyone, dismount now."
We decided to unmount from our horses as the congested roads were filled to the brim with travelling people. To and fro, people both local and foreign to the city walked briskly towards their own destinations. It reminded me of the videos in my past world when Old Tokyo was still overpopulated and the rush hour at vehicle crossings and pedestrian lanes would be a total chaos to navigate through.
"Where should we go? Should we rent an inn room now or buy something to eat first?"
"Before that, let's change to the local coinage. Unlike in the Southern Triad, gold Kan is a bit rarer at these parts. If we pay for stuff using it, we'd probably attract the attention of a number of pickpockets and thugs who would be after our money."
"Oh, I see. Well said."
After my trusty subordinate named Kuro, whose real name is Minori, replied to my question, he led our group to a small building inside a secluded alleyway of the market area.
"Hey Granny Ui… It's been a while."
"Ohoho! My, my… if it isn't little Mino-chan… what brings you here today? It's been half a year since you last visited."
The person who replied to his greeting was an old woman sitting at a terrace who giggled softly after she saw him. The young man smiled as well before signaling us to enter the building with him.
"And these are…?"
"My friends and a new business associate, his name is Miyazaki Hiro, a travelling doctor who joined us after we saved him from a few bandits."
"Oho! What a fine lad! A travelling doctor, ey?"
"Y-yes. It's nice to meet you."
I greeted back and gave her a bow as a sign of respect.
"A polite one too! Now, that's someone rare to find at these parts."
"Should we enter now?"
"Ah, yes. Come on in."
We eventually arrived at a large hall where the old woman sat behind a small table and we sat down at the floor as the two talked for a bit.
"I already know why you're here. Just wait for my girls to get down and you can leave the conversion to them."
"As expected, you really know what I am here for."
"Hehe! After I heard from my boys that you've entered the city, I already know that you only have one reason to go to this land again."
Hearing that she had people following our activities, my brow raised a little which the old woman quickly pointed out.
"Curious, aren't you, boy?"
"H-huh?"
"I'll let Minori-kun to tell you about it. He'd probably have better words about it than me."
After I heard that, I looked at Minori who sighed deeply as if he was inconvenienced.
"This might surprise all of you, but the old woman in front of us is one of the five consuls of Hashidate's mercantile republic. Except from her legal work of being one of leaders of this province, she's also the leader of the Yutaka mafia who owns the central bank of Hashidate and the various loaning groups in here."
"E-EEEHHHH?!?!?!"
"Kahahaha!!!"
After he told us the truth, everyone had the same shocked expression which made the old lady laugh heartily from her seat.
"Ah! You sure didn't hold back, didn't you, Minori-kun? Do you hate being connected to us that much?"
"I was never connected to your gang, granny. It's purely a client-employee deal, nothing was ever personal."
"Oh, don't be like that, you edgy loner ninja boy. I could've arranged my granddaughter to be married to you if you just stayed here a bit more. Too bad you're too much of a wuss to even turn her down. You remember, don't you? You sure ran away from here like a frightened dog with his tail between his legs."
"I did not!"
Wow. This sure was my first time to hear Kuro- I mean, Minori shout like this. He's usually the cool and composed guy but he must've been really annoyed when the old woman talked about his past with them.
"Argh! Forget it, can we just convert our money, deposit some of them and leave?"
"Just in time, they're here now. Aimi, Eimi get down here, we have some customers!"
""We're coming over, Ui-baa-sama!"""
Just as we heard a synchronized and almost identical pair of voices, two young women appeared from a contraption that I can only call as an antique elevator. Unlike the mechanical ones in the modern world and in Naka castle (Call us lazy and stamina-less as much as you want, but many of the workers, including me, has no time and strength to climb the bazillion flights of stairs in that place), this one is more of a manual one that uses a set of pulleys and has to be hand-cranked by a tough-looking guy at the ground floor.
"These are my granddaughters. Their names are Yutaka Aimi and Eimi. They are identical twins as you can see."
It was quite picturesque. The two young women were dressed in formal kimonos. One had sky blue iris blossoms and the other one has pink cherry blossom motifs. But both of the kimonos had golden outlines while their pure-white hakama coats has their clan symbol of a coin with a lotus flower.
"My name is Yutaka Aimi, it is a pleasure to be in your presence, esteemed customers!"
The one with a blue-colored kimono spoke first with a sweet and lively tone.
"My name is Sumeragi Eimi, thank you for choosing the Houjun Central Bank…"
Meanwhile, the other one who had the pink-colored kimono had a firmer and professional tone.
If I will describe their appearances, they both share the waist-long shiny black hair. Their eyes have the same dark brown color, but the only difference is that Aimi had hers raised a bit more than her sister's who has hers slanted a bit down that made her gaze a bit more serious looking.
"Should we move to business now, dear customer?"
"Mm. Well said."
I looked at the 11 other members of our group who took a few gold Kan from their pouches before giving the rest to me.
"These pouches contain 340 Kan, feel free to count them for validation."
"Will do, sir. Please wait until we have counted it and calculated its converted value."
After I placed the coin pouches on their table, the twin quickly went to work. Aimi spread the coins on the table, swiftly arranging it into stacks of 5 Kan while whispering the numbers to her sister who operated an abacus and took a scroll that contained the conversion table for the currency.
"They are good at their job."
"They sure are. They were born for it, so I have no doubt about their skills."
While the two sisters are converting our money, we talked to the old woman about something.
"You know it already, Granny. I won't come here if there's nothing important at hand."
"…"
"You see, we got a job from the Daimyo of Kiko."
"I see… so you actually weren't bluffing, huh?"
The old woman sighed and took a scroll from a shelf next to her. It was placed inside a wooden tube covered with shiny, black lacquer.
"I always looked at you as a stupid kid who is only loyal to money and prestige… But seeing now that you are serving someone that you look up to as your master, I have no more reason to withhold this thing from you."
"I humbly accept."
She placed the tube at Minori's outstretched hands and nodded to him to open it.
"Thank you, Granny."
"Something as little as this is nothing compared to the efforts you did for my family's business to grow."
Minori finally opened the tube and unfurled the scroll. What it contained was a letter written in red ink. Along with the lotus flower stamp of the Yutaka family.
"This is…"
"My recognition that your group is under my care. Wherever the Houjun Central Bank is present, you are free to use our services and employ the help of our people for your work. This is my small gift to Minori-kun after all the things he has done for our business' sake."
I looked at Minori who had a somber look on his face. For some reason, even though we got such a good help, he looked like he was worried.
"Why the long face, Minori?"
"I'm just worried if you are alright with this, Iwasawa- I mean, Miyazaki-san."
"What? Working with the mafia? I have some misgivings, yes. But it's not that much of a deal to me."
"Are you sure? I mean no disrespect, but I do know what happened when you last met people who did great evils."
When he said that, I was reminded of the Yukoghara soldiers who raided their own village and… abused the survivors.
"What is the extent of your services, Yutaka-dono?"
"Hrm? The Houjun bank is the public face of our family's business. We also deal with loaning businesses and rice trading. The things that our private mafia does is limited to sabotage, assassination and information gathering."
"About your loaning business… what happens to people who cannot pay their debts in time?"
"They will either work for us with manual labor or give us something of great value… are you asking about women and children?"
"…Yes."
The old woman's gaze became sharp as she said the following statement.
"Rest assured. My boys will never make a move on them or I will personally end their lives. I have also used my powers as one of Hashidate's consuls to end slavery in this land… you see, before I became this rich and powerful, I was just a girl sold by her parents to write off their debt to a rich rice merchant… My life as a slave is never good. I either work from dawn to dusk bringing in his merchandise to his warehouses or being called into his bedroom to service his… peculiar tastes."
"How did you rise to power then?"
"Take a guess. How can a slave get all the businesses that her master has?"
After she asked that, my eyes turned to the painting behind her. It was a huge oriental-styled canvas where a girl holding a katana dripping in blood was holding a decapitated head of a fat man on her other hand.
"I see…"
"It wasn't just me who wanted to get out of such a life. But I was the first to decide to hold the blade and end all of it."
"And so, you killed your master and claimed his riches… is that it?"
She took a smoking pipe from her table and stuffed it with dried tobacco leaves before lighting it with the candle near her.
"You are strangely perceptive for a simple country bumpkin. Are you really just a travelling doctor, Miyazaki-kun?"
"Take a guess. How can a travelling doctor and a bunch of street-side mercenaries have such a huge amount of money on hand?"
""-!!!""
Just as I asked that, the two young women who were counting our money stopped as their faces carried a shocked expression.
"I see that you already knew that I have sniffed your true identity… Lord of Kiko."
"I knew that from the moment that Minori opened the scroll. Because the receptionist of the merchant guild that issued our trading passes in Shinka said something before she handed our passes."
"Thank you for choosing the Ashina trading guild, a branch of the Houjun Monetary Services… is it?"
"Exactly."
After that short exchange, the two sisters stood up from their seats and hurriedly sat on a Seiza position in front of me and bowed until their foreheads reached the floor.
""It is a great honor to see you in person, Great Kirin Lord!""
"A-ah…"
""We greatly apologize for not recognizing your visage, Your Highness!""
Wow. What happened to this two? They suddenly bowed and even apologized to me.
"I-It's fine, it's fine. Can you raise your heads now? This is just embarrassing."
""We still have to apologize, Your Highness!""
"H-hey…"
"Kahahaha!!!"
While I was being uneasy with what is happening, the old woman laughed heartily again which annoyed me a little.
"You have to pardon them, Iwasawa-dono. They have become your fans since the news of your exploits and recognition by the Phoenix priestess reached our ears. I doubt that they will let go of you while you're here in Iwaki."
Just as she said that, I looked at the two again and their eyes sure was sparkling brightly while their faces are blushing lightly with excitement.
"Ah… I'll be in your care then."
(T/N: New Harem members already? You're a real hotshot, Hiroshi. But I already feel bad for Chiyo-chan.)
After a short introduction and conversation about what we will be doing in the central plains, I struck a deal with the old lady regarding their help. She already promised to help our group in our investigation and other affairs solely due to the help that Minori did for them in the past. So, to further push our cooperation, I told them that I will allow the Houjun Central Bank to operate in Kiko on the condition that they will be following Kiko's monetary laws about banking and loan collection.
"This is a good deal. We cannot enter Kise's market no matter what bait we offer. I've always wanted to expand our reach to provinces with foreign trade, and seeing that Kiko can and may end up overtaking Kise's foreign trade performance, I'll accept your condition so long as we can build a branch in Kiko."
"It is accepted, then."
I signed the contract that was written on the spot by one of our group's member who came from the Misanagi clan. With his authority as the contract maker and both of our signatures and seals, this has become an official agreement that cannot be voided by any third parties.
"With that, let our home be your home as you stay here. Aimi, Eimi, tell the chefs to cook up a feast and the servants to prepare rooms for them. Let's show them how the Yutaka Mafia family treats their friendly guests."
""Yes, Ui-baa-sama.""
We were led by the sisters to the estate behind the building and it surely was not something that we expected to see here.
"Wow… this is…"
"This is the center of Iwaki's western district. The Yutaka clan's estate center."
A palace within the bustling city… that alone has already made the mafia clan's wealth evident to anyone.
"""Welcome, esteemed guests!"""
At the main door, a number of servants greeted us and followed after us when we walked forward. It made some of our group's members a bit uncomfortable as they have never been treated like this before.
"Please wait at the dining chamber as our cooks are preparing a dinner worthy of your tastes. Now, if you may excuse us…"
After the two left, we sat around a long table as some of my men looked anxiously at each other.
"Umm… sir?"
"What is it?"
"Is it really fine for us to be here?"
"Huh? Of course. Our identities might be known now, but the act is still up. We are privately master and subordinates, but we are currently just a band of wanderers with no deeper relationship than travelling companions. Don't feel weirded out with eating with me, I don't like it when people treat me specially and turn my companions away anyway."
"G-got it…"
We were served a number of great and scrumptious dishes for dinner. Some of us even drank alcohol until they dropped drunk.
Later that night, it was left to Minori and I who weren't drunk to lift our companions back to their room.
"Hup! Well… that takes care of them."
I spoke as we brought the last drunk person into his bed.
"I'm sorry that I had to ask this from you, Iwasawa-sama."
"No need. They're our people, I don't want to leave them in the dining hall and be seen by the servants who would think lowly of them."
"Why didn't you drink too, my lord?"
"What's the point? No matter how much I drink, I don't get drunk at all… It just gives me a headache so it's more of a pain than happiness."
"I see…"
I stood up and took a bottle from my sleeve pocket that I placed on Minori's hand.
"I'll be leaving the rest to you then."
"Understood… another thing before you leave, Iwasawa-sama."
"What is it?"
"Don't get tricked by them. If you show any kind of interest in making personal connections with them, they will not let you go anymore."
"…I don't get it, but I'll keep it in mind."
I replied as he walked to his futon bed and I closed the door of their room.
"I think I left something in my bag when I left it in my room…"
I remembered that my fountain pen was at its case in my bag, so I made a detour to the other room lent to me.
"…Huh?"
"Iwasawa-sama…"
"We've been waiting…"
Well… this reminds me of something…
"Aimi-san, Eimi-san… what are you doing in my room?"
"Ehehe. What kind of question is that Iwasawa-kou-sama?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
They spoke as they slowly undid their thin yukata's sash while looking at me with aroused eyes.
"Can we have the honor of servicing you tonight, Kou-sama?"
"We promise that we'll fulfill your desires, Your Highness."
Yep. This reminds me so much of the night when I saved Chiyo, and she thought that I'll ask for something in return.
"No."
I said firmly before taking my bag from the wall beside the sliding door and quickly closing it before leaving.
"E-Ehh?!"
"W-Wait, Iwasawa-sama!"
"…You two sure are cute, but I don't really like to appease people who throw their selves at me when I don't want them to."
Well, that's just how I am. And to set the record straight, I already have someone in my heart so I have no more interest with other women.