Chapter 23: 21: Rumors of Red

Placing the water and rice on the table before Kana, Michiko took a seat in the booth opposite the girl.

Kana looked at the inn-matron, who merely smiled and gestured to the food in front of her.

Kana sampled the rice, finding it to have an ordinary taste, but not something she felt inclined have much of. The bowl wasn't all that big anyway, so she might as well partake. It might be interesting to see what happens when she did eat food, even if it was unnecessary. After washing her meal down with some water, Michiko finally spoke again.

"So tell me, how have your travels been? There was some truth to Kenta's words, strange things have been happening along the roads these days. Times of war are always hard on the itinerant, and I must confess that I am a bit worried about a young girl traveling alone."

"...Strange things? ..on the roads?" Before anything else, Kana spoke the first question on her mind. One didn't have to think too far to realize that Kana was responsible for some irregular events recently. Still, her thoughts caught up with the conversation enough answer the original question, "As for my travels... I'm just trying to get away from the war...It's just me alone...that's why."

It was the honest truth, however awkwardly put, but Michiko's smile tightened with a pained look upon hearing Kana's words.

"Ah...is that so, I- I see... well those rumors are hopefully nothing too much to worry about. Patrols of shinobi from Konoha are often sent out to towns like ours within a certain range of the national border. Their missions take them all over and all that. But some concerning news arose recently from our last shinobi visitor. In addition to the usual banditry and ruffians, apparently there have been sightings of a... of what people call a red demon causing chaos or occasionally attacking someone." Michiko had a somewhat doubtful look on her face, but it was clear she was saying this with genuine concern for Kana.

Kana didn't know how to respond to that kindness, nor the inn-matron's revelation.

A red demon... were they referring to Kana? Did the Konoha shinobi spread word of that incident at the border? Those men had caught sight of her before, after all, could they have seen more of her appearance than she knew? This could be a serious problem if her disguise were ever revealed!

An avalanche of similar worries occupied Kana's mind for a few palpable moments. Absentmindedly, she ran a nervous hand through her fore- and sidelocks, twisting a few tresses around her fingers.

Michiko seemed to notice her concern and offered, "If you're that worried about it, I guess you hadn't heard or seen anything like that. Please, don't take it too much to heart. I'm not sure what to believe about it myself."

Kana was still a bit too shocked to respond to Michiko's misinterpretation, and after pausing with a conflicted look, the woman continued, "If I've made you concerned now... and you aren't in a hurry... I don't mean to presume, but we could arrange for you to stick around for a while. A group of people who might be able to help should be around this way soon, if their messenger was right."

That... wasn't really what was on her mind, but Kana was willing to see where this went. Help? Who would help her?

"... How do you mean?" her head tilted slightly with the question, causing a few tresses of hair normally tucked behind her ears to fall gently across her face and down to her collarbone.

Again, for some reason Michiko's eyes softened and a noise that sounded something like 'hng' escaped her throat. Furthermore she averted her gaze, holding a hand over her heart before taking an unsteady breath.

Now Kana was confused again. Just to be sure, she repeated herself, "You- you were saying?"

Much to Kana's relief, Michiko seemed to get ahold of herself.

"Yes, quite. I mean a convoy of humanitarian aid workers sent notice that they were returning home via this route. They called themselves the Yuka Group. They wished to reserve rooms at my inn ahead of time, given the number of beds they'll need. They stopped here on their way to the Land of Rain last year, so I got to know them. They're good people, a loose coalition of medical workers and craftsmen mostly. Samurai from the Land of Iron sponsored their efforts in the name of peace, but it seems they can no longer continue to operate as the war escalates."

Kana already found this to be valuable information, but Michiko continued on, perhaps noticing her interest.

"They travel in a large convoy. It's safer to travel in groups for a variety of reasons after all, and their mission's purpose is to aid those bereaved and displaced by the war. If you talk to them, they'll surely let you accompany them. Many of their members come from countries north of the Land of Fire, so if you're heading towards the Land of Iron, the Land of Rice, or the Land of Hotsprings..."

The way she ended that sentence seemed to indicate that she was waiting for Kana to make some kind of response. She would normally prefer more time to think it through, but a quick ponder was enough to see that this plan aligned with her current goals.

Moving a hand to her chin, Kana pressed her thumb and forefinger against her jaw, brows narrowing slightly in concentration.

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Indeed, it could provide an opportunity to gather much needed information. And if these humanitarian aid workers were from the northern countries, she might be able to make a firmer decision about where to go. While 'away from the war' was certainly a concrete concept, it would be better to work out something a little more specific. This was a great chance to do just that.

Plus, if she could stay in this town for a while, then she could observe how the people here acted without suspicion. If Kana could get more used to conversation, then it might allow her to explore some otherwise inaccessible opportunities. Michiko's offer was proof. And inns were apparently the crossroads of the world, so there was no telling who or what might come through here.

After calculating the magnitude of benefits to Michiko's offer, Kana realized she had a lot to thank the woman for. Michiko was... willing to help Kana. But why? Kana didn't understand. People were hard to figure out. She often had to force herself to use her words.

Still, she felt compelled to express her gratitude, "... Thank you, Michiko-san. I would like that."
Without her noticing it, the corners of Kana's lips curved into a very small smile as she said as much.

Before Michiko could reply, Kana was struck with a thought. Her eyebrows rose and she moved her gaze to a pouch in her pocket. It contained the wallets she'd looted after her battle. Money was exchanged for goods and services, that much Kana knew from her eavesdropping.

She extracted a fistful of coins, not knowing their worth. Kana figured this would be a great opportunity to remedy that deficiency.

"Here Michiko-san! ....I-it's not that much, but... will this be enough to stay here... until the Yuka convoy comes?" Kana struggled to figure out how to mean what she said... without exactly saying what she meant. Hopefully this would lead to an explanation...

Michiko's eyes got all watery as she reached her hands out to grasp around Kana's outstretched one, pressing the coins back towards Kana herself.

"Oh, Kana-chan! To wait for them, I'd let you stay here for free."

". . ? . . " might as well be written on Kana's face at this point. So... even money wasn't consistent?

But aren't all goods and services... supposed to work like this? The price at the Ryokan Suzume back in the Land of Grass was supposedly several thousand ryō back before it was destroyed during her battle. How was she supposed to learn money if it didn't make sense in the first place?!

She was floundering at this point.

"I.. wanted to be fair, though?" her last ditch attempt. If this failed, Kana had no idea what to expect anymore. She had hardly had to think this much when training her ninjutsu!

Michiko couldn't contain herself anymore, and a line of tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes. Still, she smiled at Kana, who looked back in slightly concerned confusion.

"W-what a good girl. Oh dear, then I'll be... be fair... and offer a price, you can stay here for a- a single ryō a night." saying this, the inn-matron took a single copper coin from Kana's palm and put it in her own pocket.

Defeated, Kana put the rest of the money back into the wallet pouch. It seemed her lesson in common sense would have to wait. But this only raised more and more questions in Kana's mind. She wracked her brains to understand, but even her ritual-enhanced mind couldn't wrap her head around this one.

Why was Michiko acting so strangely, so kindly? Kana could practically feel the kindness emanating from the woman, which was the only reason she ruled out some kind of malicious reason or intent behind keeping Kana here. With people, it always seemed that the more Kana learned, the less she knew.

She shook her head in rueful wonder.

At least she knew the value of the little copper coins now.