Namida Bridge - Written Oath (1)

After the summer passed since they became husband and wife, and around the time the rice harvest was finished, Zushonosuke and Riku were invited to the mansion of Awanokami in Imaizumi. Zushonosuke and his wife lived in Negishi Village in Wada-no-sho, but Imaizumi, where Awanokami lived, was about two and a half ri away, making it a day-long trip. Despite this, they decided to visit because his father-in-law, Shimotsukenokami Sadakiyo, had encouraged them, saying, "You should also go to the Seiun Shirakata Shrine, the Kuni-tsuko of Iwase, and report that you have become husband and wife."
Fortunately, Riku was also skilled at handling horses, so the two of them let their horses walk leisurely toward Imaizumi, the sound of hooves clip-clopping along.
From Wada, they aimed for Shimojuku, then turned left at the Shakado Ferry and passed through Yamadera. This was the territory of Endo Utanokami. On the way, they stopped by Takadate for a break, and Utanokami entertained them while playing with his grandchild.
"So, Lady Riku, you have finally become someone's wife. You were still just a little girl when you last came to play at this mansion."
Playing with his granddaughter, Utanokami looked like nothing more than a kind old man, and he certainly did not look like a warrior.
"Utanokami-sama, what are you saying? I will be nineteen next spring, after all."
Riku laughed with a tinkling sound. Despite being a woman, Riku was surprisingly well-connected. That was likely because she was the daughter of the Yabe family.
"At this rate, I suppose I will be marrying off my granddaughter soon, too."
Utanokami grumbled, but the little girl playing at his feet looked to be no more than four or five years old.
"The Lady who married into the Lord's house was married at twelve, after all. I imagine our granddaughter will be married off in the blink of an eye as well."
Having said that, Utanokami cast a glance at Zushonosuke. It seemed he wanted to talk about something he did not want Riku to hear.
Sensing the atmosphere, Riku went down to the garden with Utanokami's granddaughter.
"You are heading to see Yabe Awanokami in Imaizumi, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"When you meet Lord Awanokami, please tell him that Utanokami wishes to discuss the matter of having the Lord submit a written oath to the Shirakata Shrine."
"Hmm. The Shirakata Shrine..."
Zushonosuke recalled the explanation he had received from his father-in-law the other day. While the Suda clan was active mainly around Wada, many of the Yabe clan held land around Imaizumi and Umeda in Iwase. This was based on an ancient story from when Takeyori-me-no-Mikoto was appointed as the Iwase Kuni-tsuko, at which time a shrine was established on Mt. Iwakura, the base of the Yabe clan in Imaizumi, and the fourth hall of the Hiraoka Grand Shrine in Kawachi was enshrined there.
The legendary Sakanoue no Tamuramaro had stopped by during his eastern conquest and rebuilt the shrine, which had fallen into ruin, and at that time, the steward of Umeda, who managed the shrine, formed a connection with the ancestor of the current Yabe clan. For this reason, the Yabe clan had served as the guardians of the shrine for generations.
The Nikaido clan, who had arrived in this land later, were also aware of this story, and it had become customary for the head of the Nikaido family, whether from the Western faction or the Eastern faction, to visit the Seiun Shirakata Shrine.
Recalling that much, he realized what Utanokami was trying to say.
"Are you talking about Jibu-dono?"
Zushonosuke had arrived in Sukagawa and a battle had broken out shortly after, but things were reasonably peaceful now. However, since the whole thing started with the premise that Tameuji had come down to admonish Jibu for his misdeeds, Jibu's movements were certainly a concern.
"Is Jibu still up to something?"
"Recently, it seems that unfamiliar women and wandering performers have been loitering around the Shakado Ferry in Nakajuku."
"So, prostitutes?"
Conveniently forgetting that he had received instruction in the ways of men and women from a prostitute in Kamakura before his marriage, Zushonosuke asked Utanokami. Though, prostitutes were the sort of people who naturally appeared anywhere.
Utanokami shook his head.
"They might be prostitutes. But according to my subordinate Nishimaki, who went to see, they seem to be Kumano Bikuni."
Kumano Bikuni were women who traveled throughout the country, explaining hell and paradise, or acting as shrine maidens to convey divine oracles. On the other hand, wandering performers were entertainers who, like the Kumano Bikuni, wandered from place to place, showing off arts such as juggling balls or throwing knives.
In Wada, which was governed by the strict Minonokami, he had never seen such suspicious people.
"So, is it that Jibu is turning a blind eye to the entry of these suspicious people?"
"There is no room to doubt that. But the fact that so many outsiders are slipping in suggests that Jibu might be trying to build connections with the capital himself."
Zushonosuke pondered Utanokami's words. Zushonosuke was born in Kamakura, but the one who held political power in Japan was the Ashikaga Shogun in the capital of Kyoto. Utanokami was saying that Jibu-taifu, who wanted to establish control over Iwase, might be secretly working on the Shogunate in the capital, bypassing the Kamakura government, to assert his own legitimacy.
"If that is the case, it would be necessary to make the Lord's legitimacy widely known in a way that everyone can understand."
"I see. And that is why you want a written oath for the prayer to hunt down Jibu?"
"Since we have received the Lady from Sukagawa, we cannot make it too grand, but we will likely circulate the written oath, focusing on the people of the Eastern faction."
In that case, Tameuji would come here under the guise of "inspecting the territory" to solidify their unity without being discovered by the Sukagawa faction.
It seemed that the realization of the dream story that Ito Sakon had spoken of some time ago was not to be. Since he had played a part in Tameuji's marriage, he felt a sense of responsibility.

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Continuing to "Written Oath (2)"

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