WAP 47

Someone shouted in the distance, inside the grand estate that she was leaving. It sounded a lot like an Uchiha. 

Aiko ignored the kerfuffle like the lady she was and kept walking down the mountain path towards the town. It took a while to cross the grand lawn of the estate, and then the next step was through the veritable playground of expensive buildings for hosting guests and retainers.

It was barely past dawn, and the cool morning air was heavy with dew. She wasn’t alone. A few servant girls were trudging down with resignation and empty water containers. Men were working in the gardens they passed, arranging rocks for beauty and pulling weeds around food crops. 

“Do you do this every morning?” Aiko asked the girl closest to her. She was a wan thing in a willow-gray yukata and straw sandals.

She got a slightly alarmed look in response, but the servant girl rallied enough to answer. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. She avoided eye contact and clearly wished that Aiko was somewhere else. “We will make baths in the evening for all the guests, so today the water needed is more than usual.”

…They had so much manual labor to do for the evening that they were starting at dawn. That was ridiculous. 

Hm. Aiko stopped and held out a hand. “That’s silly,” she said. “Where would you put the water? Show me.”

It took a little coaxing, but she got the servant girl to show her the water tanks in the kitchen. “This is called suiton,” Aiko said vaguely, and stole the mist from the air to fill the tubs in a matter of minutes. When she finished, the kitchen staff had gathered around to watch. Aiko shook her wrists out. “Don’t break your back,” she said. Ugh. She wrinkled her nose. “You should… Someone should teach you these skills. There’s no sense in doing that kind of manual labor.”

They didn’t have the healthcare system to be fucking around with back pain like this, honestly. What a stupid life.

“...Can anyone learn?” The head cook looked between her young staff and the completed task, calculation in her dark eyes.

Aiko made a seesaw gesture. “Almost anyone can learn elemental jutsu that correlates to their natural skillset, but water nature is a little rare in Fire Country.”

“Is Fire the most common?” peeped out someone standing next to the first maid, the one who had led Aiko to the kitchens. She was a bit dull among her fellow staff, Aiko noticed. The speaker next to her was in bamboo green with shoots of purple on her hems. Hmm. She might have accidentally hijacked the shyest person available. How unfortunate.

“That’s right. So that would let you heat the bath water much faster, for example.”

There were probably much more useful applications, but nothing came to mind at the moment. Aiko covered a yawn with a hand. “I was going to go into town and see the condition of local people,” she said. “Please excuse me.”

“Would you like a guide?” The head cook gestured to the first maidservant. “Eri-san is a local. She can help you.”

Eri gave her boss an alarmed and betrayed look.

“That would be helpful,” Aiko said. She patted Eri on the shoulder encouragingly. “Let’s go, before anyone wonders where I am.”

“They are already looking for you,” the cook said. “Assuming that you are the lady who was absent for her breakfast.” She wiped her hands on her white apron. “Eri-san, please use the back path. And show the lady a good tea shop. I will be able to tell your companions that you ate and went to walk the gardens.”

Eri-san bowed deeply and they headed out. 

The sun was nearly up from the horizon by that point, spilling light weakly onto the sky. 

“How long have you worked here?” Aiko asked idly. She did Eri the favor of looking straight ahead at the path.

Eri cleared her throat. It didn’t seem to help, as her voice came out tiny and choked anyway. “Two years, ma’am.”

Aiko eyed her sideways. “You don’t have to call me that,” she told her. “But if you need a title, mine is priestess.”

Eri seemed much more alarmed after hearing this, but she rallied long enough to do a decent tour of the town as they gradually approached. “These woods here provide the foraged greens and hunting for the table,” she said, indicating the stretch of trees that surrounded the mountain the estate was on. “Only small game, of course, it isn’t large enough for many deer or boar. There is a woodcarver who lives there. A family who makes coal live there. A silkworm farm, down there, on the other side of those trees.”

“You know everyone,” Aiko commented.

Eri gave her a glancing look, mostly hidden underneath her eyelashes. “Yes,” she said eventually. “I used to go door to door with my family. For their work.” She said it haltingly, unwillingly.

The subject was obviously uncomfortable for her. Aiko let it drop, but she wanted to figure it out. 

‘A job that a family might help with, that requires going door to door, and is embarrassing…’

Aiko had it. 

‘Night soil. They collected human waste for fertilizing fields. And she was able to get a job in the estate? That doesn’t really make sense. There’s a strict social hierarchy. She would be at the bottom of the peasantry.’ 

Something wasn’t right about that, but it was probably unimportant. Maybe she had a sponsor, or the promotion was a bribe, or maybe Izuna was right and the family was just pretending to have a grand household with any random townsperson who could be paid to play house. 

The sun was firmly up by the time they reached the actual town. The workday was well into swing by then. Aiko openly looked around at the emerging marketplace. 

“This way, ma’am. Priestess.” Eri led her down a narrow alleyway and to a doorway marked with a long noren. Eri rapped on the doorframe. Aiko stole a moment to try to decipher the painting on the curtain but failed. It was faded by decades of sunlight. 

Someone spoke inside the building.

“Good morning,” Eri called out. 

The reply was muffled, but she could understand the invitation inside. 

“Please,” Eri said vaguely. Her shoulders hunched up as she pushed into the dark shop. 

The two sides of the room were lined with short tables, blessed with dingy cushions.

‘I am confident that this is not what the head cook had in mind.’

Eri looked a little defensive. “It’s the best food.” She hunched her chin to her chest as they sat at a table. 

It took a while for an elderly man to shuffle into view with a tray of drinks. It took even longer for the food to come out. But Aiko had to admit that Eri-san was right about the quality of the food.

People came in to fill the other tables while they ate. Aiko was very aware of the stares she received. It took a while for anyone to broach conversation. 

“Good morning.” A middle aged man leaned over to make friendly eye contact and nod with both of them. “Is this a day off of work, Eri-san?”

“No, Matsuda-sensei.” Eri trembled when she was directly addressed. “The priestess wanted to see the town, and didn’t eat at the estate.”

“The priestess,” Matsuda-sensei said, pretending to only now realize that Aiko didn’t exactly blend in. “Which shrine are you from?” 

Time to see if they get news here.

Aiko gave him a bland smile. “I maintain a shrine in the mountain valley village, as well as in the Senju compound.”

The room went utterly silent. 

“Surely,” said Matsuda-sensei’s dining companion, “not the famous and venerable lady who has been ministering in the lowlands of late?” He had bright eyes as he studied her. He wanted something. 

“Oh,” Aiko said modestly. “I am honored that you have heard of my humble efforts.”

Eri gave her an alarmed look that strongly implied she had thought Aiko was a random roving lunatic, not a famous roving lunatic. 

The chef stopped and frowned at her, still holding a dirty glass. “Her what which negotiated an end to taxation by turning away the Daimyo’s samurai by means undisclosed?”

Aiko smiled beatifically. “It was no matter,” she demurred. 

“The tart that murdered the Daimyo?” An elderly lady leaned over to get a good look at Aiko’s face. “Good show,” she said. “I heard you work miracles. Can you do anything about the missing children?”

Oh. Aiko gave her full attention. “Tell me about that.”