Twelve Kingdoms v04 by Fuyumi Ono

Author:Fuyumi Ono
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-4062551786
Publisher: Kodansha White Heart
Published: 2020-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

Part X

Chapter 38

[10-1] “Youshi, what’s all that blood!”

Rangyoku cried out as soon as Youko took off her overcoat. Youko shook her head. “It’s not mine. I came across an injured boy in Takuhou.”

“Goodness gracious!”

“The boy was run over by a carriage. The whole thing gave me a bad feeling.”

With the closing of the gates fast approaching, she had left Takuhou in a hurry, rode Hankyo till they were near Hokui and made it by the skin of her teeth.

“The carriage was already some ways off when I got there. But the only conclusion I can come to is that it was responsible. Yet it didn’t stop and nobody chased after it.”

“Well, that’s Shoukou for you.”

“Who?” said Youko, leaning toward her.

Rangyoku returned to her chair in the main room and continued the sewing that she had interrupted. “The governor of Shisui Prefecture. If it was a real luxurious carriage, then it was probably him. Nobody but the governor ever rides in a carriage like that.”

“He is that well known?”

“Very much so. A beast like him doesn’t associate with little people like us.” Rangyoku frowned. “There are people in Hokui who ran away from Shisui. You don’t hear so much about it recently. They say that prefectural guards at the border inspect everybody who tries to leave. Lots of bad rumors come out of that place.”

“Really?”

“We’re really lucky, this being the Taiho’s domain. I’ve heard the province lord of Wa is a really dreadful person. A long time ago, he used to be the duke here.”

“That’s what Enho says too.”

Rangyoku nodded. “It was really awful back then. Thankfully, he got sent to Wa Province. It must be tough on the people of Wa. There’s no guarantee that our peaceful lifestyle will go on forever. We live now in the Duchy of Yellow, but I don’t know if that’s going to last either. Even if we stay in the Duchy of Yellow, when I turn twenty I’ll move to a homestead. It could be in Wa.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“It’d be better if I could find a good person in the next two years.” Rangyoku laughed. Youko tilted her head quizzically. “Find a nice guy in Hokui and get married at the same time I get my partition. If I’m registered under his name, I could transfer my partition to his village. If there’s available land, that is.”

Youko blinked several times. “That’s your reason for getting married?”

“Where you get your partition is really important. Do you know what an intercessor is?”

Youko shook her head. “No.”

“They introduce you to a marriage partner, set the conditions and arrange for the meeting. For a fee, they register you on the census and transfer the land. And after that, you split up. That’s what an intercessor does.”

“That’s incredible.”

“You think so?”

“In Yamato, marriage is not so simple. Well, recently, people have become adept at getting divorces but it’s not exactly an admirable thing to do. Splitting up so simply is pretty surprising.”

Rangyoku giggled. “Yamato must really be a great place.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.