The head of the Jo family was a cheerless man. He was probably the same age as Senri, give or take a few years, but he was shockingly unfriendly for a sea merchant. He didn’t seem to possess any of the wisdom or nobility one would expect someone with his level of experience to have developed.
The inside of the Jo home was dark and damp. There were several storehouses outside, but they were all lopsided and seemingly on the brink of collapse. It didn’t look like they got much use.
Jakuho had admitted that the Jo family had gone down in the world, but Shiki didn’t expect things to be this bad. The only sea merchants Shiki knew were powerful, influential traders, so the state of things here shocked him.
“What is it that you want? I know you asked me before about… Is this about the same issue?” the head of the Jo family said in something of a whisper.
“Before…?” Shiki repeated.
“No, this is about something else,” Senri answered the man. He turned to Shiki to give a brief explanation. “He was asked a few questions about a necklace belonging to the Raven Consort a short while ago. One young girl from this family was a Raven Consort.”
“Really…?”
Senri addressed the head of the Jo family again. “Sir, we are currently investigating folktales related to an underwater volcano located in the vicinity of Je Island. There are several such legends that are passed around here on Je Island—for example, one about a stepmother who incurred the wrath of the god of the sea and sank to the bottom, where she then foamed at the mouth. I believe that specific story has a connection to the Jo family.”
“I see.” The head of the family was slow to react.
“Do you know of any other local legends that have to do with the sea or the sea god?”
“Let me think…” The head of the family cocked his head, looking visibly disinterested.
“I’ve heard your family has a great deal of history.”
“It’s just an old family,” the man replied, laughing in a selfdeprecating manner. At long last, he was displaying some sort of emotion. But as he continued, his voice became listless, and his words were more of a sigh. “The story that has been passed down in our house is the one about the necklace. As the tale goes, our business gradually declined and is no longer viable. My sons ran out of patience with this house and left the island. The Jo lineage’s legacy on this island will end with me. I suppose that necklace really did bring a curse upon us.”
“If it’s the house that’s cursed, then I’m sure your sons will be successful after having left it,” Senri said offhandedly.
“Huh?” The man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “But if there’s no one left to worship at our family shrine, our family will be as good as extinct…”
“The more history a family has, the more things there are to haunt them,” Senri offered. “One way to avoid that burden is to just shake yourself free.”
“Huh…”
Senri’s straightforward way of putting things left the head of the Jo family goggling in astonishment.
He hadn’t expected Senri, being the minister of worship, to assert that he simply abandon the family shrine. That was where he prayed for the souls of his ancestors, and it was considered of utmost importance for the family to continue to protect it.
“Is it imperative that people perform memorial services for their ancestors on Je Island?” Senri asked.
That question made the head of the Jo family chuckle slightly. “Well, yes… My own family may have fallen apart, but family
ties are strong on this island. There are two things we’ve held in reverence since ancient times—the souls of our ancestors, and the god of the sea. For both sea merchants and fishermen, holding religious services for the sea god is a must.”
“There must be a family that administers those services then. Is it yours?” asked Senri.
“No. That’d be the Sho family.” “The Sho family…?”
“That family also went to ruin some time ago. Nowadays, there’s just one old lady living on her own in their shabby, run-down old house.” The head of the family scrunched up his face like he just found a stain on a white sheet. “She manages to make ends meet by peddling her questionable ‘fortune-telling’ services to people.”
“Is that so…” said Senri, leaning forward. It seemed like this had intrigued him. “Fortune-telling services, you say?”
“Her main customers are the sailors and prostitutes at the port. She’s good with words, but her fortune-telling abilities are rather dubious. She originally comes from a family of shrine maidens, but now, she’s stuck with this,” explained the Jo family head.
“Shrine maidens? In the female line?”
“So they say. It’s the men who inherit the house, but they pick the most suitable girl in the clan to take care of religious services. Some say those girls were once revered like living gods.”
“Living gods?”
“That’s ancient history now. It wasn’t in my grandfather’s or great-grandfather’s time, but even further back than that. It was my grandfather who told me about it, but I don’t remember the story very clearly. By the time he was a just a child, the Sho lineage was no longer responsible for religious services—they were just tasked with handling smaller prayers.”
The head of the Jo family was now speaking far more smoothly than he had been when Senri and Shiki first arrived.
“On this island, there are no written records of those sorts of things,” he continued. “We rely on oral accounts. I think that’s why these stories take on lives of their own, even when they’re passed down. Sea merchants do keep some trade records, however.”
“Did your family keep any?”
“Yes—and a family tree too. This island has a long-established association with the land of Ake, so I believe we’ve adopted some of their culture and beliefs. Isn’t that right, Cho?”
Cho was sitting in the corner of the room when the head of the Jo family called out to him. Initially, Shiki couldn’t understand why he was asking him, but once he heard Cho’s answer, it made a lot more sense.
“Yes, that’s right. Some of the customs here are similar to those back in my hometown.”
“Your hometown? Do you mean…?” Senri turned back toward Cho.
“I’m from Ake. Well, a small island off Ake, to be precise,” Cho explained.
Senri’s eyes suddenly began to glitter with fascination. “A small island off of Ake… To the south? It’s an archipelago, isn’t it? Why did you end up here?”
Cho blinked, looking perplexed. He looked to Shiki for help. “We can leave that discussion for later,” Shiki said to Senri.
“If the Sho family were the ones in charge of religious rites, then why don’t we pay them a visit?”
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” responded Senri, and he nodded obediently. “I’m sure that family has some oral histories that have stood the test of time. Families like that are often obliged to follow established worship procedures in minute detail.”
“I wouldn’t expect too much,” the head of the Jo family cut in. “I doubt that old woman knows much about those kinds of things.”
“I’d suspect otherwise. Religious services are restrictive by nature—they leave a deeper legacy than you might think. It’s definitely worth a try.” Senri grinned. “Thank you very much for your help. I wish your family all the best.”
It was a simple farewell, but it felt like a burst of fresh air— perhaps because those words came from the Winter Minister, or just because of his friendly personality.
The Jo family’s patriarch gave him a faint smile back—and as he did so, the shadowy room seemed to brighten up to some degree.