The sky was gradually darkening. The glow of the setting sun sank from the western sea and heavens, casting a wash of gold and crimson over the tearoom where one could watch the snow and gaze at the sea. The old samurai Takeda Nobuhiro and the great merchant Morino Seiya stood shoulder to shoulder by the window. The two watched the red sun sink into the vast sea and the last rays of sunset vanish into the dark, their feelings stirring a little, then drifting far away with it.
Standing side by side to take in the view without saying a word was, in Wagoku culture, a rare kind of closeness and ease. Only after the red sun had fully set and night had fallen did Takeda Nobuhiro smile and speak.
"Dinner is ready. Morino Seiya, you surely have never tasted the delicacies of this Ezo Land!"
"Ha! Then I shall respectfully obey rather than decline!"
The great merchant Morino Seiya smiled and nodded, though in his heart he did not quite take it seriously. He had come from Kyoto—what sort of delicacy had he not tasted? Yet once he entered the banquet and smelled the fragrance of the dishes, his appetite was roused at once, and surprise showed on his face.
The banquet dishes included precious white rice, miso soup with tofu, and side dishes dressed with sardines. All were delicacies only samurai lords could enjoy.
But the great merchant Morino Seiya had long been used to eating such things. Only the white rice of Ezo Land, carrying a faint fragrance, made him pay a little attention. But when he picked up a strangely shaped long onion with his chopsticks and chewed it, amazement instantly appeared on his face.
"What onion is this? It tastes like scallion, like garlic,