Departure

It was probably because I looked at him with suspicion. The head priest gave a bitter smile.

“Immortals and Taoists really do exist. This humble monk has met a Taoist once.”

“What kind of person was he?”

“He was a man of about thirty, and I saw him fly away riding on a cloud.”

“So Taoist masters can ride clouds. I want to ride one too.”

The head priest laughed.

“For that, you would have to become a Taoist Master. However, those with the talent to become one are said to be as rare as one in ten thousand.”

It seemed even the head priest did not know how that talent was tested. I learned about the country’s history, geography, and other things from him. The civilization of this country resembled that of China during the Tang dynasty. The style of the buildings and the clothing were similar as well. That said, my knowledge of history was shallow, so all I could really tell was that they were similar.

For the record, the clothes I was wearing were shabby and full of patches. Since it was summer, I could put up with shabby clothes, but when winter came, I would probably have to prepare winter clothing. I would likely end up buying them with the wages I received from my place of service. Or would my employer provide them?

About three months after I began studying, the day came for me to head to my place of service. My mother shed tears and sorrowfully saw me off, but my father and my brother Wen only said a single word: “Do your best.”

I boarded the wagon of a merchant named Lu, who arranged servant placements, and headed to Boushin, which was about eight days away by wagon. Boushin was said to be so thriving in trade that it was called the Merchant Capital, and large merchant houses had stores there.

There were four children going with me to the Merchant Capital, Boushin, and all of them were children around my age who were to enter service in shops there. However, I was the only one going to serve at the Chian Trading Company.

The meals during the wagon journey were terrible, and the jolting was so bad that my butt and lower back started to hurt. Aside from that, nothing happened, and six days passed. Then, around noon on the seventh day, Lu, who had been driving the wagon, suddenly stopped the horses.

“No…”

I heard Lu’s voice. Fear was mixed into it, and sensing that something had happened, I stuck only my face out of the wagon and looked outside. Eight men were blocking the road in front of the wagon. There seemed to be some behind us too.

“No… bandits…”

When the children heard the word “bandits,” they began to cry. This was bad, extremely bad. I had heard about bandits in this world from the head priest, and apparently their way was to slaughter everyone they attacked.

At this rate, we were going to be killed. If I did not run at this exact moment, it would only become more disadvantageous later. But was I really going to abandon these children and run off by myself?

“Everyone, if this keeps up, we’ll be killed. If you don’t want to die, run with me.”

As soon as I said that, I climbed out of the wagon. Then the bandits who had blocked the front and back of the wagon noticed and shouted.

“The brat came out!”

The bandits broke into a run. I dashed into the forest spreading out beside the road. I could feel them chasing me from behind. I ran desperately, and fortunately I managed to escape. It helped that I chose to flee through a place where thin trees grew densely, and once I had widened the gap, I was careful not to leave footprints.

“Haa, haa… no one followed me.”

Those terrified children probably had not been able to move. I regretted running away by myself. Was there no other way?

This feeling was probably influenced by the sense of responsibility I had from when I was a detective. …Forget it. I was a nine-year-old child. What could I possibly do against bandits? There was no point in thinking only negative thoughts. Since I had managed to escape, I would think positively and keep living.

I started walking in the direction where there should be a road. Then, after about thirty minutes, I managed to get back to the road. If I went onward, there was a town called Korta, and if I went back, the wagon we had been riding in should be there.

“The wagon is probably… in a horrific state.”

I did not feel like confirming it. I had seen more than enough of that kind of thing back when I was a detective. I began heading straight for the next town. This highway was maintained, though only at a minimal level, and there was plenty of traffic. Wolves and boars were said to appear, but it was rare for them to come out onto the highway.

As I went on toward the town of Korta, I noticed someone approaching from behind.

“Don’t tell me… bandits?”

I left the road and went into the forest. Peering out from the shade of the trees, I saw a large group of men walking along with blood on various parts of their bodies. One of them was carrying a bag. I recognized that bag. It belonged to Lu, the placement broker.

Those guys were definitely the bandits. Where were they going? Curious, I decided to follow them. I knew it was dangerous, but for some reason I felt I had to do it. It was probably because I felt I had abandoned Lu and the other children.

I was good at tailing people. After going a little way along the highway, the bandits entered the forest from the spot where a towering tree stood beside the road.

“There might be a hideout ahead.”

I thought about tracking down their hideout, but it felt dangerous to go any farther, so I continued along the highway toward the town. And then I arrived at the town of Korta.

Guards were standing at the entrance to the town, checking those who tried to enter. When I approached the entrance, one of the guards seemed to think something was wrong. He came over and asked me.

“Boy, did something happen?”

I looked at the guard. He was not very tall, but he had a solid build. He wore what looked like a simplified form of armor called fish-scale armor and carried something like a six-shaku staff.

“The wagon I was riding in was attacked by bandits.”

“Is that true?”

“I am not lying.”

That guard stared intently at my face, then signaled to another guard before turning his eyes back to me.

“Come with me.”

The guard entered the town and started walking toward the center. Korta was a small town with a population of around fifteen hundred, so it did not have very many guards. The buildings were wooden, and many of them were two stories tall.

That guard went to the barracks. Then, after finding the captain, he told me to tell the story once more. I told him everything that had happened after encountering the bandits.

“Understood. First we’ll confirm the wagon. You wait in an empty room.”

Han, the captain of Korta’s guard unit, asked his subordinate, Lian, about the child from earlier.

“Lian, what do you think of that brat?”

“He’s composed for his age.”

“Too composed. Could it be that he has received some sort of training?”

“You’re overthinking it. He’s apparently the child of a frontier merchant.”

“Is that so? But when he was surrounded by bandits, he made the decision to run immediately, and even though the bandits chased him, he still managed to escape. One side was adults and the other was a child. Normally, he should have been caught.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

“And that’s not all. After returning to the highway and spotting the bandits, he tailed them and investigated the direction where their hideout might be. Even adults would find that difficult.”

“Who could he be?”

“I don’t know. But at his age, he’s probably not a criminal. Never mind that. Before prying into the brat, let’s check the wagon.”

Captain Han took several guards with him and headed down the highway toward the frontier.