The reserve chief manager, Ah Man, woke up the next morning with a sore back and aching waist.
She’d been too intoxicated last night—it really was like money had so kind of magic when piled together. She couldn’t help herself and ruined Ah Qing’s hard work, dumped out all the cash, and spent the night sleeping in a heap of money.
She’d drifted around since she was little, barely had enough to eat, and deep down she actually lacked a sense of security. She always resented the unfair distribution of wealth, wondering why she was born a penniless wretch. So when she saw so much money now, even if it belonged to Harano, she unexpectedly awakened her inner miser just wanting to bask in the cash, even wanting to apply to Harano to move in and live here—for all her dreams of saving up for an iron cannon before, the most she’d ever had was a little over one kan, and now these 200-plus kan piled up, glittering gold, hit her like a thunderbolt. It felt as if a whole new world had opened up.
Turns out, nothing in this world compares to the peace of mind you get from guarding a stash of money!
She caressed the cash beside her and felt with increasing certainty that all that Koka life-saving nonsense, all those Yang Technique heirs, were just idiotic dung balls who could barely make ends et. She felt that being a chief manager had way more prospects, nothing like the security of sitting with cash every day. Besides, she knew Harano’s temperant well—was a world-class spendthrift who didn’t treat money like money, used to letting it flow through his fingers left and right every day.
If she, a loyal, clever, sharp-eyed, empathic, iron-willed chief like her, weren’t there to keep watch, then no matter how profitable his family workshop was, it’d all just end up in the pockets of those paupers outside.
And if it was going to end up with those paupers anyway, might as well end up with her instead—she could guard the money for him, and enjoy so good food and drinks along the way.
While mulling this over, she set off to find Harano, planning to start with a dose of "hard words are good for action, bitter dicine cures illness"—basically, pre-empt him, tell him not to let a little money go to his head and go tossing it away on stupid charity. If there are bargains, keep it in the inner circle—never let those unknown outsiders profit.
But Harano was already up, full of energy again. After all, he was only twenty, at the peak of vitality—even wiped out, all he needed was a quick nap to bounce back, not to ntion a solid night’s sleep.
He was just eating a private al, and his eyes lit up when he saw Ah Man. He waved her over: "Eaten yet? I was just about to look for you! If not, co join !"
Ah Man caught a whiff of food, imdiately hungry herself. She figured she could save her bitter dicine until after breakfast, so she hollered at Yayoi to fetch her a bowl and chopsticks, plopped herself down, and started eating with him.
After she’d shovelled down a couple bites of tea-soaked rice, Harano asked with concern: "Where can I get armor (Japanese type)?"
"Anywhere, really. That stuff’s everywhere nowadays," Ah Man mumbled through a mouthful of food. "If you want sothing nearby, try Atsuta. It’s not as good as Shimazu, but it’s got decent stuff."
"How about the price?"
"That’s hard to say, depends on what you want. Material is one thing, craftsn’s skill another, shape different, style different, price could vary a lot." Ah Man shot back casually, and then it hit her. She looked at him, surprised, "You want to buy armor?"
"Of course!" Harano was hell-bent on quickly upgrading his survival odds with the money he earned. Otherwise, what was the point of working his butt off, sleeping only three or four hours a night, agreeing to get fleeced by monks, slogging away for half a month? Iron stock was hard enough to get, refined iron even harder; he didn’t have a clue how to make armor himself. Otherwise, he’d have been hamring out plate armor already instead of asking Ah Man how to source Japanese armor.
Ah Man couldn’t get his thinking at all. She looked at him a mont, pretty baffled: "Sure, looks like war’s brewing, but that’s just life, right? There’s always so war going on. Are you scared of dying or sothing?"
Harano looked completely shaless: "I want to live well. Really well."
Just to be on the safe side, he thought it was better to be properly ard. Money could be earned again; you only had one life. Who cares if people laugh at him for being a coward—what’s the point of dying for face? If it’s for so principle, sure, he could die for it, but not just for nothing!
"But a full set of contemporary armor isn’t cheap—all the fiddly bits add up. A decent set will run you over a hundred kan—second-hand is still dozens." Ah Man hesitated, since she’d actually co to talk Harano out of squandering, but before she could say anything he was already on track to blow money again—Co on! You’re not even joining soone as a retainer, no need to charge in and fight for your life; if sothing happens, you just run ahead of ti! Why go layering up armor?
What, you worried about running into stray soldiers and getting shot dead? With your looks, you can’t have that bad luck!
She just couldn’t bring herself to part with that stash of cash, and totally couldn’t wrap her head around Harano’s spending habits. She mulled it over, then tentatively suggested, "How about starting off with paper armor? Basic ones are just a couple kan, good ones seven or eight—it should do in a pinch!"
Paper armor?
Harano had heard that armor could be made from paper and the protection was decent, but he’d never seen one himself. He also heard paper armor was heavy, didn’t keep well, and was awkward to use. Felt like real iron or leather armor was more reliable. After a mont’s thought, he said, "We’ll see when the ti cos, but I figure: if I’m taking the trip, might as well get sothing decent."
"Then how about waiting a while before buying?" Ah Man was reluctant—she hadn’t even ward up to that money yet. And as the reserve chief, she was thinking of Harano’s long-term plan too: "You just made a bit over two hundred kan. If you sell it all as soy sauce, that’s over two thousand! Then sell that, and it’s over twenty thousand! Then again and it’s over two hundred thousand! If you spend it now it’s just such a waste, you need to think twice!"
"Two hundred thousand? In your dreams!" Harano was speechless—she was really sothing—so he said bluntly, "We can’t get that much soybean cake and... other materials, nor do we have enough stoves and manpower. Two hundred kan a month is the limit. Any more and Yayoi will drop dead, and the Momoi brothers won’t last either."
These past two weeks of hard grinding for over two hundred kan was only because of crazy circumstances and maxed-out effort—they had already used up most of the soybean cake from Takeshige Manor, and supplies like sulfur and alkali had to be restocked too.
Plus, he only had a house, not real land. No place to build big stove installations, nowhere to stock huge reserves of fuel, and plenty of the brewing work was real physical labor—there wasn’t enough manpower. Right now he was relying on a bunch of "child labor", and in less than ten days they were dead on their feet. Any more and they’d probably all die, just like industrial kids in England’s G-revolution, where child mortality in the factories hit 100% in two years.
So, unless he wanted Yayoi and the Momoi brothers—the "veterans"—to kick the bucket early, he couldn’t get greedy, better to call it good while they still could.
"Huh, only two hundred kan or so?" Ah Man was crushed—even as chief she’d already planned out hollowing out the cellar to hide cash, but if it was only two hundred a month, what’s the point in hiding it? And next month they’d have to go scrounging all over for more materials, might not even make two hundred kan again, this...
Two hundred kan really wasn’t small money. In a year, it’s nearly half the Hosokawa Family’s worth. For a small workshop, it’s a miracle; but compared to two hundred thousand, it was nothing at all.
If they actually had two hundred thousand kan, they could flatten Oda Nobunaga and have the whole of Owari making soy sauce!
Unwilling to give up, she hesitated. "So that’s all we got, and you still want to buy armor? That stuff’s easy to buy, but when you sell it later, you’ll lose big—we should wait and see, what if war doesn’t actually break out? Losing money for nothing just sucks."
"No way! We’re getting the armor, weapons, and also buying horses! Good horses!" Harano didn’t care what she thought, he was dead set on being fully prepared. If you don’t spend your money on armor, weapons, and mobility now, who’s to say it won’t all just be looted as spoils?
He wasn’t stupid—money left unused in the house was just low-grade scrap copper. Worthless!
"What, buying horses and swords too? And you want good ones? That’s not cheap either—two hundred kan might not cover it!" Ah Man was out of tricks. She’d tried hard, but it was Harano’s money and he was the boss. If he wanted to blow it all, she couldn’t stop him. Frustrated, she got up and left: "Fine, do whatever you want—spend it all however you like. At least I tried to stop you!"
"We can always earn more. What’s got you freaking out? What’s up with you today?" Harano was puzzled by her penny-pinching tantrum. She’d been nagging all morning every ti he spent a di. But it’s not like they had staff to spare—he didn’t want her to explode, so he comforted her, then called after her, "Hey, can you take another loop round town today, see if anything big’s about to go down in the next few days? If not, let’s hurry to Atsuta!"
"Yeah yeah, I know! I don’t need your instructions to do my job!"
Ah Man stomped off with a foul attitude, convinced Harano totally lacked the "air of an enlightened lord". He couldn’t take a single bit of "hard advice", just tossing out dictatorial orders—totally wasting soone as outstanding as her!
Maybe this is what the books an by, "Good horses are common, but wise owners are rare!"
She went back to the storeroom where the money was temporarily kept, wanting to get a look before heading out. But the second she saw it, her mood soured.
That’s just how she was. If a shit cart passed by her door, she’d be out there with a ladle for a taste. She was soone who only ever took in, never gave out. Right now, after seeing so much money and feeling so delighted, dreaming the cash would keep growing and she could live the good life with Harano—now he just wanted to blow it all at once...
It hurt. It really, really hurt inside!
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