The journey to Okazaki was as the map depicted. It was roughly double to distance to travel from Toyone to Okazaki than it was from Toyone to Toyokawa.
The road - after a few hours of travelling - became a cobbled one, making the ride rather bumpy, as it sent vibrations up his spine.
Other travellers passed him on the road, but none paid him much attention. They merely rode past, mounted on their horses. It was better that way. He – now out of his black armour – was dressed as you would expect any travelling merchant to be, and with the numerous sacks piled in the back, they assumed him to be a merchant of the grain.
Had they known his true cargo, however, they might have been more inclined to show some aggression.
By the time he had arrived, it was already dark. The city was large, and it's walls were high. Its defences were solid. It would be a shame to have such formations compromised by an inside man, as such, there were guards posted.
"HALT! What business do you have in Okazaki?"
"I plan to trade."
He said evenly.
"Are you aware there is a fee to enter this city of ours?"
"I was not. But you guards work remarkably hard, so you are deserving of my coin."
He flicked the two guardsmen three gold coins in each. They clasped it in their fist, and smiled.
"Good, you may go through."
And through the city gates he went. It would have been best for him to find an inn, but he did not trust anyone enough to look after the cargo he had brought, so instead, he drove the cart to a quiet spot, and then climbed into the back, leaning his head against a sack of furs.
The sky was clear, and the full moon shone down upon them. It was a beautiful sight. He'd always had a fondness for the moon, but could not quite describe why. It was not merely to do with its beauty, as when he gazed at it, he felt a degree of sentimentality.
Relaxed as he was, thoughts came and went. Sleeping would have been preferable, but visions of the past flittered through his mind, and he began arguing with himself.
He stayed like that, in a state half between sleeping, and half between consciousnesses, feeling even more exhausted than he had when he'd first attempted to rest. But now that dawn had come, he ceased those attempts, and was glad to raise his head.
The horses snorted as he passed, irritated that they'd spent the entire night standing. But there was no real other option. He wished to be able to move as quickly as possible should anything unexpected occur.
He bought some roasted salmon on a stick from a nearby vendor, who had set his stall up extremely early in the morning, so that he could get his custom from those on their way to work.
As light came, the city gradually became louder and louder, and it grew harder to move through the streets – operating a cart as he was. He spotted numerous blacksmiths at work, bashing their metal into shape on top of an anvil. He even saw a large stable too, with around 20 horses ready to be sold within a moments notice.
But those were people who would not be interested in what he had to sell, and so he rode on. Soon he spotted a building – rather than a stall, as they had in Toyokawa – with a sign in front. This sign depicted a needle and a ball of thread. It might have been easier to simply write what it was in front of the shop, but it would have been a futile effort, as many people were unable to read.
There, he stopped his cart, and peered inside the store.
A woman stood attending behind a desk, appearing rather bored as there were no other customers insight.
"Hello."
He said, as he stuck his head in. At the sound of his voice she instantly perked up, resuming a more business-like face.
"Good day, sir! Welcome to Kiriko's clothing store. What may I interest you in today?"
He smiled at her enthusiastic welcome.
"Actually, I was hoping I could interest you in something."
"Ho…"
Her interest was clearly captured, as he motioned for her to follow him outside. He heaved himself up onto his cart, before looting through a bag and drawing a roll of silk.
"What do you think?"
"What do I think, indeed…"
She said, staring at the material. It was rare for them to receive materials from someone who was not their supplier, but they had enough budget to account for it, and it had been a while since she had worked with silk.
"Here, feel it if you like."
He handed her the roll, seeing she was still thinking. After her fingers touched the material, she realized it's quality. It was some high-grade stuff, and not something one could hope to find simply by looking.
"Very fine indeed…"
She mused.
"Do I have your interest?"
"More than that, sir. You have my attention."
"Excellent. Shall we discuss prices? How much will you offer?"
"Mm…"
She pondered, running it through her fingers.
"10 gold coins."
"10 gold, hm."
He nodded. It was certainly a fair offer, and was higher than what Jikouji had appraised it.
"I tell you what, madam. I'll give you it for 9 gold per roll, if you buy the other two that I have."
A smile blossomed on her face. He was certainly an experienced merchant, she gathered. From these rolls of silk, they could make quite the tidy profit, and his prices were fair. There was no more thinking that needed to be done.
"My good sir, you have yourself a deal."
"Brilliant. I'll help you inside the store with them."
He drew the other two, and brought them inside after her, placing them atop the counter.
"Here is your gold."
She slid 27 coins across to him.
"Thank you. Pleasure doing business, miss Kiriko."
"I'm in agreement. What is your name, young man? If you gather anything else of this quality, my husband and I will be only too glad to take them off your hands."
"Miura, madam. And I think I'll be taking you up on that offer very soon."
He replied, as he strode out of the door, and remounted the cart.
'Miura…'
She pondered. It was quite the common name.
He rode onwards, pleased with the results of the trade. Jikouji had the silk rolls valued at 8 gold apiece, so it exceeded their expectations. Now, all that was left to do was rid himself of the furs, and then move on to the main gold maker – the jewellery.
He wondered who he might sell the furs to. He likely could have sold them to Kiriko, the tailor. But he was hesitant to sell too much in one place. Yet it seemed that was a mistake, as there did not seem to any other tailors in the area as he patrolled the streets.
Instead, he decided to stop by a blacksmith, to see if they had any interest in the pelts. They could be used simply for leather, or as lining for some high-quality armour, so perhaps they might hold them in some regard.
"Hello, good sir. Can I interest you in any pelts?"
He called down to a blacksmith, who was hard at work, beating a sword into shape.
"No! Get lost!"
Came his firm reply, clearly too caught up his work to want to pay anyone else any attention. The young man did not take it to heart, as there were plenty of other blacksmiths in the area.
This time, he decided to call out to one who was not working, as it seemed unlikely – judging by the other smith – that they wished to stop when they were in the middle of something. Strike while the iron is hot, was their thinking it seemed.
"Good day, sir. What is your opinion on pelts?"
He called out to a burly blacksmith who was sipping some liquor from a tankard.
"Eh? Pelts? Can't say I got an opinion on them."
He replied, frowning. Seemingly irritated by the odd question.
"Would you hold any interest in buying any?"
"Could say that I did. But depends on the pelt, don't it?"
"Quite right, my friend."
He said nodding, as though he'd heard something quite philosophical.
"Well, allow me to show them to you."
He picked up what he judged to be the finest piece of the pelts, and held it up for the man to see.
"What's that? Brown bear? Mm. Quite rare that is. Can't say I see too many of those. Been trading with foreigners, have ya?"
"Indeed I have. They were quite excited about this one – had to pay a pretty penny for it."
He heaved himself up from his chair, coming to the back of Gengyo's cart. Without his permission, he rubbed the pelt between his thumb and forefinger.
"Mm. It's alright, that is. I'll give you 10 gold for it."
"Haha, that's a rather low offer, sir. 12 atleast. I've got other furs, if you'd like. So why don't we keep things fair?"
"11. Let's see these others."
He laid out all that he had. 2 furs from a deer, 1 from a bear, and 1 from a fox.
"35, and I take the lot."
He said feeling the others.
"37 and you have yourself a deal."
"Go on then."
He reached inside his kimono blackened kimono, and retrieved a pouch of coin. He then proceeded to count them out onto the back of the cart, ever so slowly.
"37, it is."
"Excellent, would you like any-"
He was about to offer his assistance in carrying them, but the smith had already collected them into a bundle, and hefted them upon his shoulder, with apparently no effort at all.
"Thanks for your business!"
He called out half-heartedly after him. But the man did not reply.
He urged the horses forward, as he went about the streets, looking for a jeweller. There were all sorts of people selling trinkets, but none of the quality that Gengyo held. He needed someone that he knew would be able to pay for a good portion of the goods, and that type of person was tough to find.
As it happened, the first real jeweller he spied was that inside another building. There was a depiction of a diamond ring on the sign, and since he was able to afford the building, it was reasonable to expect that he would be a man of coin.
Gengyo jumped down from his cart, and wandered into the building. A long counter sat in the centre of the room, forbidding anyone from going past. And behind that counter, sat rows of different necklaces and bracelets and rings, atop various cushions. The people were not allowed near them, or to touch them, but the view they held was good enough to judge whether they liked it.
A tall, thin man, with narrow eyes stood behind the counter.
"Welcome."
You said lightly, as Gengyo walked in. The young man responded with a nod, taking a glance around the place, as though he was interested in buying something.
And then approached the counter, and spoke with confidence.
"Sir, are you interested in buying anything?"
"I am always interested in quality goods, my friend."
Came his even response, as he allowed himself a small smile.
"Indeed. After a brief glance at your collection, I see that you lack any ruby goods. I feel it's a shame for it to be so incomplete, is it not?"
The man raised an eyebrow. He had been chasing after ruby stoned jewellery for a while, but it was difficult to get your hands on because the demand was so high.
Was this man claiming that he held some of them?