115 5.4 Kitakata Village, Fukushima, Japan 1860

The night passed without any incidents except for a howling or two that came from a lone wolf somewhere near the cliffs ahead of us. An occasional sight of a soul catcher demon was seen capturing a lost wandering soul that glowed an eerie greenish orb near a desolate cemetery near us, Normally the village would set up a cemetery for the final resting place of their loved ones a distance of about 10 kilometres away from the village perimeter.

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Daybreak came and everyone broke camp. I carefully stomped the fireplace, ensuring that I had properly extinguished the fire and would not set the forest accidentally on fire due to the glowing embers that were still at the base of the fireplace.

The rest of the samurai tied down their mounts to make it lighter before they reach their destination. Even though they could have continued the journey to their village last night, but the thought of not bothering the guards of the village made them camp outside.

After performing some housekeeping on their mounts and themselves as well, its time for them to continue their journey back to the village. As it was daybreak, there would be some villagers who would have been up and about, busying themselves with their daily activities.

I travelled with Hiko-sama on his pony and all 5 of the samurai made their way gingerly towards their village and soon would be making their first stop at the Mayor's Castle. "Himura-kun, I would drop you at my house first. Do not answer the door if anyone knocks on it. Just stay indoors for the time being and wait upon my return. I will bring you to the registrar to register your name in the census of the village, do you understand?"

I nodded my head and will make myself to good use once I am at the house.

"One more thing, do not enter one of the rooms if I am not in the house, OK? It is my prayer room as well as a place for storage of my armour and some other valuable things. Be a good kid and do what you are supposed to do. At the meantime do not do things to expose yourself at all. Wait for my return, OK?"

"Yes, Hiko-sama. I understand your instructions and will not go against it. I will wait for you at your house and remain indoors while waiting for you to come back."

Hiko-sama just nodded his head and trudged on with his pony ahead of the group, and this time he held the black flag with the big red "X" on it and lead the way up front.

The path we were on led us to a clearing ahead and the first thing I saw was a high wooden fence surrounding the perimeter of the village. There was 2 large swinging gate made of sturdy tree trunks and was manned by a high sentry post. There were 2 armed soldiers with 2 crossbows on it. 2 armed soldiers were also visible on each side of the gate and they were armed with long pikes with a broad blade on one side and a sharpened bit on the other end. The soldiers were armed with katanas on their sides. From the looks of these soldiers, I am sure they were assigned by the garrisons from the militia.

Hiko-sama reached the main gate and the soldiers saluted him and the rest of the arriving samurais. They greeted one another and told that they need to report to the Mayor upon their arrival regards to the findings of the village that been pillaged earlier. The guards waved them inside and we made our way through the majestic gates of the village. A huge wooden sign was hung at the archway of the main entrance and it read "Welcome to Kitakata Village" etched in bright yellow in contrast to the dark wood sign.

"This is the South entrance of this village. There's 3 more other entrances and exits and they are located on the East, West and North. This South entrance is the furthermost away from my home but it is quite close to the Mayor's Castle. I will trot now and send you home first."

"Fellow comrades, I am going home to send this kid back and would be joining you in a while bit. Do wait for me a while and we will meet with the Mayor after this."

After he said that, Hiko-sama galloped his pony and went straight home which was just a few minutes through the governmental district. There were quite a number of officials and important looking persons walking unhurriedly to their respective office buildings and made way for the galloping samurai as we made across the main courtyard and into the business district before entering the residential district.

It was a grand little village and it should be called a town instead. I noticed a few signboards erected in the governmental and business district, informing the layout of the office buildings as well as business buildings on its informational bulletin board. It also showed where the person was standing if he was looking at the signboard and would not be lost easily in the array of mazes that the buildings were standing from.

Right after the business district, I came across 2 temples, a public building presumably a library of some sort, a junior high school and a high school. Plus, there is a small fountain in the middle of the so-called education district, which I prefer to name it and soon would get acquainted with it. From cobblestones right to the paved road, the little village of Kitakata was very well maintained and managed and not even a single rubbish was seen strewn carelessly across the ground.

I was amazed at how the little village had organised itself in order not to confuse its visitors or even its residents. This way, it eliminates the need for any kind of concierge services where one needs to ask where his or her next destination would be.

When we entered the residential district, it was made up of at least a few clusters. The nobles made the inner cluster, the employees of the governmental section made the second cluster and so on and so forth. We reached the fourth cluster that was meant for the serving higher ends of the militia group. Later I learnt that the 6th cluster was the trade cluster where I could find some employment if the trade needed some help and after the 7th cluster onwards would be the residential homes of tradesmen and lastly would be the plebs.

"Alright kid, I drop you off here. This is my home and make this home yours too as well. I am off to group up with the rest of my comrades and I don't know how long I would be home then. At the meantime, remember what I said and make yourself comfortable. I would come back and we will discuss your future ahead in the next coming few days."

Hiko-sama dropped me off from the mount and gestured a single storey brick house with red tiles roof with his hand. I bowed to him and made my way through the small pebbled path towards the main door. Hiko-sama soon galloped on his mount and made his way to his comrades he had left earlier.

As I walked on the pebbled pathway, I noticed a small red circular box near the path and I soon realised that I would be used like a letterbox or something. The exterior surface of the brick house was covered with a layer of cement before being smoothened over. There were two sliding windows at both ends of the house and a sliding door that was meant for the entrance to the house. I was thinking that most Japanese homes would be made of wood for the exteriors but these samurai houses and those belong to the higher ranked militia were made from brick.

In traditional Japanese homes, bamboo or wooden houses were common even in the modern era. But seeing a wooden house with a tiled roof made me a flashback that this was, in fact, modern Japan and I wondered how it was influenced by its design and nature. A small water tower stands at the side of the house to supply water and a hand-cranked pump was beside it. There was no water well around the house which meant that the water was supplied through an underground aqueduct. This was truly modern in the 19th Century.

A chimney was seen at the back of the house, and I presumed it was the chimney for the kitchen or something. There was a sliding window at both sides of the house and this accentuates the ventilation during times of need in summer. I walked up to the house and it was elevated about 1 foot or 1 foot and a half above the ground. This was to prevent moisture and dampness from entering the house during rainy seasons. How innovative, I thought.

I stepped up and removed my wound up sandal. Since there wasn't any slipper to use, I'd still has my socks on and slid the main door open. The air that escapes from within was warm and there was a distinctive smell of old clothes that had not been laundered for a week or so. Simply because he was a Samurai and was a single man, but this does not mean he could be a lazy bum to attend to his needs!

"Ah well, living with a single man has to endure with his laziness as well. Who else would do his laundry? A part-time housekeeper at his beck and call every few days? How about his meals then? Order takeout from some pushcart vendors or dial some orders from a restaurant? There was no phone invented yet and I am sure he had some means when comes to food!" I thought as I slowly stepped into the house and greeted "Tadaima" to no one in particular since I knew the house was unoccupied.

"Okaeri" a male voice sounded offscreen and when I looked it was Mr Director again who answered my greetings! "Hey Mr Director, how about some gold coins to jumpstart my character here, will you? I hate to jumpstart without any jingles in my pocket and I hate to leave them empty for so long!"

"Go find some work, kid! It should pay you 3 to 5 coppers for a day's work and if you are lucky you could earn 1-2 coppers per errand. Be an errand boy when Hiko-sama comes back! And stop bickering onscreen...!"

"Then when is Max entering in this episode?"

"He is resting in his trailer right now. Back to the story, kid!"

"Alright...alright...Phew! It is hard working for a Director who doesn't even care about the welfare of his transmigrated MC in this story. I sighed deeply as I make my way in and looked around at my surroundings.

Even the size of the house looked small from the exterior, the moment I entered it looked like it was a 2 bedroom unit with a small living room, kitchenette with attached dining area, a T&B in the kitchenette area and a storage room which I was told not to enter without Hiko-sama's presence.

I was told to stay indoors and not to answer to anyone so it doesn't mean that I would not be able to slide open the windows abit to let in some sunshine and ventilate the house. The chimney I saw earlier was not meant for the kitchen but it is for the fireplace in the middle of the house.

It is like a central warming unit for the house. I saw a pipe of some sort and it was affixed to the wall right into the furnace area and travelled back to the T&B. I peered through and thought of it as a novelty idea of bringing hot water to the house without implementing a boiler unit.

"Not bad...Not bad...Not bad..." I thought as it would be a great help in the mornings if the water is too cold and the heated water can be collected in the big wooden circular tub for showering. A separate pipe was seen running to the small sink in the kitchenette and this I thought was a very modern concept of running tap water!