"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Fujiwara Maro. My father is Fujiwara no Fuhito, the Minister of the Right in Japan's imperial court. My paternal grandmother was the daughter of Kuratsukuri no Kuni no Ko. If you come to Japan... I can't guarantee anything else, but looking after you a little would be no problem at all..."
Seeing that Fu Hua neither refused nor agreed, the man... Fujiwara Maro, felt that she might be worried about struggling alone after crossing the sea, so he further introduced his background and family.
In truth, he did not want to rely on his family background for anything, but he had yet to earn any reputation or establish any capital of his own. All he had was his family.
Still, Fujiwara Maro believed that, with his own talent, rising through the ranks was only a matter of time.
"Fujiwara Maro... Manyoshu..."
As she listened to the man introduce himself, a faint recollection surfaced in Fu Hua's mind. She must have come across it by chance before; after hearing him say it, she remembered a little more.
This Fujiwara Maro seemed to be the son born to Fujiwara no Fuhito and his younger sister—Iohime, his half-sister through their father. He was the youngest son. Fujiwara Maro had displayed outstanding talent from childhood, loved poetry, books, music, and wine, called himself the "Mad Genius of the Sacred Age," and had three of his works included in the Manyoshu.
The man before her was Fujiwara Maro?
That mad genius who died of smallpox?
Fu Hua suddenly felt that this world was truly wondrous. She had actually run into someone whose records she had only happened to see before.
"You mean to invite me to travel through Japan?"
Now that she knew the man