Off to Chiba Prefecture!

Hirano was a fishing town in Chiba Prefecture, southeast of Tokyo.

When Haruto arrived, however, the atmosphere in town was nothing like what he had imagined.

Hot spring inns and seafood shops lined the streets, with plenty of residents and tourists coming and going.

There were no tightly shut doors or windows, no people living in fear. Fishermen headed out with their gear on their backs, chatting in an easy, relaxed manner.

"Missing fishermen?" A hot spring innkeeper seemed surprised when Haruto explained why he had come.

"What do you mean, missing? They all ran off with those low-class geisha."

An old woman sitting in the inn scoffed. "They didn't even care about their hungry babies at home. They abandoned the wives who'd only just given birth to their children and went off to fool around with geisha in Tokyo."

"Ran off?"

"There was a festival a while ago, and a lot of low-class geisha came from Tokyo. It happens every year... there were just more of them this year."

The innkeeper shook his head. "Men, you know. How could they be a match for those geisha? A few little tricks, and their pockets were empty. Then they went off to the big city to scrape out a living, risking their lives in the bargain."

"Well, can you even call them men if they don't care about their wives and children?"

The old woman was utterly scornful. "That Yūki from the Asai Family always acted like he loved Saori so much, but didn't he disappear without a trace all the same?"

"Hmm..." Haruto nodded thoughtfully. Could this have something to do with the festival?

Or was the festival just a coincidence?

"Have any swordsmen dressed like me come here recently?"

The innkeeper looked him up and down. "We've had wandering swordsmen, but I haven't seen any as well dressed as you."

"Thank you."

After asking the old woman where the Asai Family she had mentioned was, Haruto cast a reluctant glance at the fresh sea bream and lobsters displayed on the hot spring inn's counter, wiped away his drool, and left.

For now, I'd better hurry and hunt down this demon, if there really is one. Once this is over, I can celebrate with a feast!

He found the Asai Family the old woman had mentioned, but no one was there.

A neighbor told him that Saori Asai had gone out fishing early that morning, as she had for many days now.

"Didn't she just give birth?" Haruto was taken aback.

"Well... that's life." The kindly neighbor shook their head. "Her man ran off, and she doesn't have much food left at home. If she doesn't go fishing, she won't even have anything to eat.

"Saori's stubborn, too. She won't accept food from us. Says she'll find a way.

"You're very well dressed. Are you a relative of Saori's? I heard she used to live near Asakusa, and her family was in business."

Haruto offered a few polite, noncommittal replies, his heart growing heavy.

The wind outside was damp and carried the salty smell of seawater. Conditions like these could do serious harm to a woman who had only just given birth.

And besides...

He looked up at the darkening sky and quickened his search.

At last, he spotted Saori Asai among the returning fishermen.

She was a very young woman with a linen kerchief tied around her head. Her face was lovely but pale, and she carried a basket on her back.

A cloth bundle was tied against her chest, and he could just make out an infant's feeble cries from within.

She wore a battered pair of wooden clogs. From her feet to her calves, her skin was pale from soaking and covered in wounds.

Only a shallow layer of shellfish filled the basket, yet gathering even that much had exhausted all her strength.

She passed Haruto, dragging her weary body toward home.

The people around her cast pitying looks her way, making Saori clench her fists.

She pushed open the door to the Asai Family home. Inside, it was as cold and empty as ever.

She set the basket in a corner, then lifted Rika out of the cloth sling against her chest.

She was a sweet little girl. Yūki had been delighted when she was born, poring over a dictionary for ages before choosing her name.

Yet those people whispered behind her back that Yūki had run off with a geisha because she had given birth to a daughter.

...Honestly, what did they know!

Yūki... Yūki would never abandon her and their child!

She and Yūki... when they had fled Asakusa, they had sworn an oath before the gods!

Tears slid down the young woman's delicate cheeks and dripped onto the baby's face.

Starving, the baby stuck out her tongue to lick them, but they could not fill her belly. She began crying like a little kitten.

Saori snapped out of her thoughts, but... she hadn't had a full meal in a long time either. She wasn't even producing enough milk.

Just then, someone knocked on the wooden door of the Asai Family home.

Saori looked up and saw a white-haired boy with an exceptionally handsome face and a sword at his waist.

He carried a basket on his back and kept his eyes lowered, as though trying to avoid any impropriety. "Sorry to disturb you."

Well dressed, strikingly handsome...

Saori sprang up from the floor, her face filled with utter despair and terror. "You've tracked me all the way here? From Asakusa-to Hirano?" She darted around the courtyard, hurling everything she could see at him.

Bewildered, Haruto dodged the flying odds and ends. "Asakusa? No, I'm from... anyway, I didn't come from Asakusa."

He raised the paper parcel in his hand. "Would you like something to eat? Even if you don't, your baby probably needs food."

At the mention of her baby, Saori seemed to regain her senses for the moment. She stared warily at Haruto. That pretty face kept bringing back unpleasant memories.

"I don't need your pity."

She answered through gritted teeth.

What a stubborn mouth. Even if someone like her died and was shoved into a furnace, you'd still pull out two perfectly intact lips.

Haruto sighed inwardly, but said, "This isn't pity. It's a trade.

"I want to know about your missing husband. If you don't mind, these things—including this packet of Baby Rice Flour—will be your payment."

"Adults can endure a few days of hunger, but babies can't."

Saori lowered her eyes to Rika in her arms. After a moment, she answered, "Please come in."

Haruto pushed the door open and entered, leaving it open to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

He placed the rice cereal and some prepared food he had bought from the shops in town in front of Saori. Then he sat a good distance away and took out his own lunch box to eat.

Chiba truly deserved its reputation as a seafood paradise. The eel produced here had a distinctive milky aroma.

Simply pan-fried and neatly arranged over sweet potato rice, it looked golden and enticing.

Haruto ate with relish, and Saori swallowed at the sight.

She prepared the rice cereal for Rika first and fed her with a wooden spoon. Only then did she pick up her own serving of the same eel rice and begin taking large mouthfuls.

Hmm. Even starving, she still covered her mouth with her sleeve, her movements graceful and proper. And there was that terrified look when she mentioned Asakusa earlier...

Perhaps it wasn't a geisha who had stolen a fisherman's soul, but a fisherman who had won a geisha's heart.