“WOULD IT BOTHER YOU if we stopped by the Yukei tribe’s settlement before heading to see the Yukyu and the Yuji people?” asked Seki.
Ko and Jikei both obliged. The Yukyu and Yu tribes’ settlements were on the other side of the mountain pass, and the Yukei tribe’s settlement was immediately before it.
“The Yukei tribe? Isn’t that…?”
“The Yukei people mainly do woodworking.”
“Ah yes, they’re the tribe with the excellent woodworkers,” recalled Ko.
For some reason, Seki looked embarrassed.
Like that of the Yusoku tribe, the Yukei tribe’s settlement consisted of thatch-roofed houses standing side by side, although they were noticeably fewer in number. Here, the Yukei people were also hard at work trying to clear the snow.
“All right then. I’ll see you later,” said Seki before rushing into the settlement.
Jikei smiled as he watched him walk away. “Seki has a crush on one of the girls here, or so I’ve heard. She’s the younger sister of one of the Yukei clan’s most talented woodworkers.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Jikei had a kind look in his eyes, as if he was watching his own grandson.
“I guess matters of the heart are the only interesting things that happen around here…” said Ko.
Jikei frowned. “There’s no need for you to put it like that,” he replied.
Ko fell silent and turned his face away.
“Oh, Yozetsu! Now there’s a face I rarely see at this time of year.”
One of the people who’d been clearing away the snow had looked up and was calling out to Jikei. He was an old man with a beard as white as the snow. He rested against his wooden spade, using it as an impromptu walking stick to help him maintain his balance.
“I was wondering if you needed any more salt. Is the chief around?” Jikei asked.
“He is, but his hands are full at the moment—the Yukyu and the Yuji tribes have gotten into yet another fight over something trivial. Have you heard about it?”
“Something about a squabble over a burnt field in the spring.”
“That’s right—and they’ve been at it ever since. You know how the chief’s niece married into the Yuji tribe? She’s been dragged in to mediate. We’ve got enough on our hands with the snow at this time of year—this is the last thing we want,” the older man explained.
“I suppose things get even more complicated when you’re snowed in. It’s terrific that the chief is so willing to help out.”
“He’s compassionate, that’s the thing. He was a hotheaded fella in his youth, but fortunately, that’s balanced out with age.”
The old man burst into laughter, giving Ko a glimpse of the gaps between his teeth.
“Is this young man your heir, Yozetsu? I’m right in thinking you had a son, aren’t I?” he then asked, looking at Ko.
“No, he’s…” Jikei paused, seemingly having changed his mind about what he was about to say. “Well, I suppose you could say that.”
Was Ko’s real identity too much of a hassle to explain? Nevertheless, Ko stayed quiet.
Jikei crossed his arms and pondered to himself for a few moments. “I think I’ll go and say hello to the chief anyway,” he announced, beginning to walk ahead. “You too, Ko.”
Having been urged to follow along, Ko trailed behind him.
The heads of the Yukyu and Yuji clan are here, but…
Ko mulled things over in his head. Jikei might have been entitled to weigh in on their discussion about the dispute, but Ko was a total stranger—there’s no way he’d be able to get involved. If he was going to exploit anyone, it wasn’t going to be the chiefs.
“I’m going to accompany Seki. It would only interfere with the chiefs’ discussion if an outsider were to stick his head in,” Ko stated, before turning in the direction that Seki had gone.
“Wait!”
Jikei tried to call out and stop him, but Ko pretended not to hear him and he disappeared down a different path.
This walkway had been barely cleared enough to allow a single person to pass through it. Tall walls of snow stood on both sides. As he was making his way down it, Ko flagged down a nearby snow shoveler.
“Do you know where I can find the most talented woodworker’s house?” Ko asked.
“You’re probably looking for the home on the western edge of the settlement,” replied the person, although he was giving Ko a suspicious glare. He probably thought Ko was here to purchase some of the artisan’s wares.
The home on the western edge of the settlement was small, consisting of nothing more than the main residential building and a separate workshop. There was no one shoveling outside. Without warning, some of the snow that had accumulated on the thatched roof silently slid off and landed beside the house.
Ko could hear the incessant sound of wood being whittled down somewhere nearby. He began to make his way toward the main house before he realized the sound was actually coming from the workshop instead.
“Excuse me,” said Ko as he pushed open the workshop’s wooden door.
The whittling sound stopped, and the warmth from inside the workshop gradually drifted toward the door. Not wanting the heat to escape, Ko swiftly stepped inside and shut the door behind him. In the corner of the room stood an earthenware furnace. A pot filled with water sat on top of it, steam rising from the water’s surface up into the air. Ko took a look around the area. Wood chippings were scattered across the workshop’s dirt floor. There were carpet-covered floorboards at the rear of the room, but unpainted wooden pots and bowls were stacked high there.
Two men and a young girl were in the part of the room with the dirt floor. One of the men was Seki, while the other one—who was sitting in front of a lathe stand holding a woodworking plane—appeared to be in his late twenties. A lathe was a piece of equipment used for whittling down wood. The wood was attached to the lathe horizontally, and by pressing on the footboard, a woodworker could rotate the lathe, enabling them to plane and smooth out the wood’s surface. This was a process to make round wooden goods like bowls and pots.
A frightening amount of wood shavings were piled around the man. Seki stood beside him, and the young girl behind. The man looked wary of this sudden, unfamiliar visitor, and the girl’s face had a look of terror. The man must have been Yukei tribe’s best woodworker, which meant that the young girl was his younger sister—the object of Seki’s affections.
Seki looked surprised. “What’s wrong? I thought you were with Yozetsu.” He then looked toward the woodworker to explain who Ko was. “This man is a visitor. He’s from the Saname clan—a silk merchant clan.”
“Yozetsu went to greet the chief. He’s in discussions with the chiefs of the Yukyu and Yuji tribes, so I decided not to intrude.”
“Is that so?”
“Was it all right for me to come inside?” Ko asked the woodworker.
“Yes,” the woodworker responded tersely. He didn’t seem especially friendly.