CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 105: PROBABLY MIGHT BE ENDO CHIYODA

"I’m terribly sorry!"

Nozawa returned to the guest area. As soon as he entered the hut, he apologized to the guest—after all, leaving Ah Man’s lifesaver here for so long really had been rude. Chiyoda, startled, hurriedly swallowed the food in her mouth with effort, a hint of embarrassment flashing across her face that she couldn’t quite hide.

She hadn’t eaten a proper meal in over two months. Since Nozawa had previously told Yayoi to treat her well, Yayoi dared not slack off, so the food served was especially delicate and tasty. She couldn’t help but eat with total focus, so much so that she didn’t even notice Nozawa return, looking anything but dignified.

But she quickly regained her composure, forced herself to calm down, gently gathered up her bowls and chopsticks, and put on a graceful smile. "Lord Nozawa, you’re far too kind. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Not at all!" Nozawa replied politely, but couldn’t help taking another good look at her. He half-suspected she could be the heroine from the Taiga drama, Path of Fame—Endo Chiyoda, second cousin and future wife of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s senior retainer, Yamana Ichitomu.

If she truly was Endo Chiyoda, then she was really a legendary figure, having left behind plenty of anecdotes in Japanese folk stories.

Such as quietly saving money, buying a famous horse and helping her husband shine during the Kyoto military parade, as well as singlehandedly persuading the entire Yamana family to side with the Tokugawa family before the Battle of Sekigahara, and sending the essay "The Cord of the Hat" as a letter to the old turtle Tokugawa Ieyasu, thereby thoroughly gaining his trust and laying a solid foundation for the Yamana family to be granted the Tosa Domain with a stipend of two hundred thousand koku.

There are plenty of stories like this, especially in Japan’s Shikoku Region, telling how she skillfully managed the Yamana lands and helped the Tosa Domain thrive and grow. She was typically portrayed as a clever, resourceful, open-minded, and decisive helpmeet. Even if she wasn’t as famous as "Warring States Ladies" like Ningning or Matsuko, she’d still count as a remarkably successful woman of her era—quite outstanding indeed.

Of course, folk tales can’t be trusted, and Japanese taiga dramas are notorious for making up nonsense. No one can say for sure what she was actually like. Nozawa’s taking a second look was just the curiosity one might have on seeing a celebrity, not some urge to delve deep into her past—after all, it didn’t really concern him.

He didn’t even intend to verify whether this "Chiyoda" was actually "Endo Chiyoda." After going through the formalities out of courtesy, he handed the matter over to Yayoi, who brought out a small leather pouch and set it directly on her table. Surprised, Endo Chiyoda untied the string to have a look inside; what she saw was a shining mass of silver—an entire pouch of "silvers"—a type of privately-minted silver coin popular along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea during Japan’s Warring States period. Each piece was finger-shaped, weighed one tael, and could be exchanged for a market value of one string of Yongle Coins.

Endo Chiyoda’s eyes lit up instantly. She subtly hefted the pouch to gauge the weight—it felt like there were fifty-seven "silvers" inside, worth fifty strings of Yongle Coins. She couldn’t help but break into a smile, and her curved eyes practically sparkled. But she quickly regained her composure, willingly bowed her head and thanked Nozawa. "Thank you so much, Lord Nozawa!"

With these fifty strings, she had confidence she could survive. At least, she and Hutaro wouldn’t have to spend another two months starving, running around with nowhere to settle.

Nozawa shook his head, took another written document from his robe, and handed it to her with a smile: "If anyone ought to be ashamed, it’s me. It was supposed to be a thousand strings, but I don’t have that much on hand... as you can see, I’m reclaiming wasteland, and there are a lot of places I need money for, so this will have to tide you over for now. Please give me a year at most, and I swear I will pay you in full as promised."

Endo Chiyoda hesitated as she took the document, opened it and saw it was an official contract sealed with a stamp—stating that after a year, as long as she brought this paper to him, she’d receive one thousand strings of Yongle Coins. Or, if she preferred, she could come once a month and draw fifty strings at a time until she’d collected the full sum.

After reading the contract, she was dumbfounded for a moment—she truly didn’t expect Nozawa to go to such lengths. To get fifty strings was already a pleasant surprise; she’d never thought to ask for more.

She was sure Nozawa could see that; she really couldn’t imagine any reason for him to do this. Unable to hold back, she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"This is what you deserve—it’s what Ah Man promised you!" Nozawa answered simply, not caring if she’d take him for a fool, nor was he trying to create some "promise-keeper" persona.

Honestly, ever since Ah Man died in his place, he’d regretted it a lot—wishing he’d done better. Had someone told him back then that he could have saved Ah Man’s life by handing over a few tons of scrap copper—who knows what quality—he wouldn’t have hesitated a second and would’ve found a way to gather it up instantly.

And now someone really had brought Ah Man back alive—what were a few tons of copper to him? He’d gladly pay that price.

After all, Ah Man had died in his place; it was only right for him to pay. He saw this thousand-string payment as buying his own life back!

Besides, fulfilling the promise was also for Ah Man’s sake.

Ah Man, for all her wild ways and tendency to be a cheapskate and always looking for freebies, basically still cared about keeping her word and repaying favors; she’d never really kill her own lifesaver. She’d fret over it, and eventually do her best to give her as much as possible and keep her promise.

If she really couldn’t afford it, she’d probably offer up some kind of nonsense promise in exchange—for example, if Miss Chiyoda were ever about to get killed, send word and Ah Man would come rescue her, repaying the life she owed.

If she went, A-Qing would probably follow too—one extra, a bigger loss.

To avoid these unpredictable situations and cut the karma cleanly, he figured it was better to fulfill the promise on Ah Man’s behalf—at least then, Ah Man could be proud in front of Miss Chiyoda, not ending up a small-time scoundrel who went back on her word, grumbling miserably. Both Ah Man and A-Qing cared about their credit—if they lost a bet, they’d even put their lives on the line to pay up, even if they had to compromise a little, they’d still do it.

If Ah Man was willing to gamble her life for him, the least he could do was clean up her mess and protect her reputation.

Anyway, a thousand strings wasn’t exactly a king’s ransom to him. For a Transmigrator, any problem money could solve just wasn’t a problem. The only issue was that he’d just moved here to build his forward base; there were just too many expenses all at once. In a few months, though, coughing up the whole sum in one go would be no big deal.

So he didn’t care. Besides, that night things had been urgent, Ah Man was desperate, babbled all sorts of wild promises just to trick the rest into following for the decoy mission, and racked up countless debts on his behalf—which really didn’t matter at this point. He still owed the Lang Faction a pile of funeral benefits, rewards, a house, a good field, and a wife for each of them.

Add that all up, it cost way more, but he’d still pay, just like with Endo Chiyoda—he’d settle it all once he got that batch of saltpeter sorted. One chunk of saltpeter each—accounts clear!

Yes, just purify a dozen or twenty more units of saltpeter and he’d have it handled. It wouldn’t slow down his plans for development or personal strength.

No need to explain all that to Endo Chiyoda—those were matters between him and Ah Man, hard to tell outsiders.

He spoke calmly and simply. Endo Chiyoda, however, was stunned—she hadn’t expected Nozawa to actually pay a thousand strings for Ah Man’s sake. Even on the road, while Ah Man ran her mouth ceaselessly, always swearing Nozawa would pay up, she’d never truly believed it. Her highest expectation had been fifty strings, and that was only because Ah Man kept bragging about Nozawa’s generosity.

But Nozawa really did pay, even if he was structuring it in installments—it was still a real payment.

She simply couldn’t understand why Nozawa would do this, nor could she fathom why Ah Man—such a troublesome wild kid, bedridden and still bossing people about, who never shut up, so annoying you wanted to smack her—could possibly be worth so much. She couldn’t ask directly, and could only guess—perhaps the two of them had romantic feelings? But to have feelings for a character like Ah Man, with her bad temper and weird eyebrows, definitely no beauty... well, to each their own, she supposed.

Skeptical, she looked Nozawa over again just to make sure he wasn’t joking. She still didn’t dare put the contract away—this was a huge sum for her. Even knowing Nozawa wasn’t scheming to entrap a down-on-her-luck woman like herself, she hesitated to accept it so easily.

Nozawa didn’t care. He’d handed it over; Ah Man hadn’t broken her promise. What Chiyoda did with the paper later was her own business, even if she used it for toilet paper—nothing to do with him. He continued playing the good host, asking with concern: "Miss Chiyoda, did you come to Owari for something in particular? If there’s anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to ask."

Endo Chiyoda snapped back to her senses. This time, she didn’t hesitate much but sighed. "I hope you won’t laugh at me for this, my lord. I’ve come to Owari... seeking relatives."

"Oh? May I ask who they are..."

Endo Chiyoda really did need help. Nozawa, after honoring even Ah Man’s wildest promises, clearly had great character; she couldn’t imagine such a man harming her, so she laid her cards on the table. "It’s an aunt of mine. Her maiden name was Owari, but I’ve never managed to find out where she is. Have you heard of her? She married into Owari about seventeen or eighteen years ago."

"That’s all you know?"

"That’s all I know," Endo Chiyoda sighed again, feeling a headache coming on.

All she knew growing up was that her mother and this aunt were very close; sometimes they’d send each other letters via Owari merchants. But she’d been too young to pay attention to which family the aunt had married into. Then, two months ago, the Rokkaku family attacked, her father died in battle, their village was torched, and her mother—already in poor health—couldn’t take the shock. She died coughing blood during their escape, not leaving any last words.

With nowhere else to go, Chiyoda remembered this only remaining relative. She dared not linger in a war zone, so brought along the family’s last Lang Faction retainer and came here for refuge. But Owari was at war too, and after days hiding and asking around, she still couldn’t find her aunt and nearly starved herself searching.

Nozawa nodded faintly; more and more, she seemed like that legendary "Chiyoda," probably even the real cousin of Yamana Ichitomu. He just didn’t know where Ichitomu was right now—he’d have to look into it.

This was something he could assist with—no trouble at all. He comforted her: "Don’t worry, that’s enough for now. I’ll ask around and maybe some news will turn up."

Yes, pay the money, clear the karma, and help her find her cousin; send her off—that would tidy things up nicely.

In a way, good deeds bring good returns—at least she hadn’t risked her neck to save Ah Man for nothing.