[Serialized Novel] Princess Kaguya Vol. 9 "The Miser"

Shonagon and I headed toward Onigashima while talking.

To an outsider, it must have looked like I was traveling with a dog while talking to myself.

I was looking for a place to stay for the night.

"Hey, handsome! Why don't you stop by? We've got plenty of cute girls here!"

"I am looking for an inn."

"We offer overnight stays too!"

"I don't have any money, so would you let me stay if I work for a day tomorrow?"

"Ugh. That's not gonna work."

I kept getting turned away like this.

There was one run-down inn. It had no touts, and it was such a shack that I would have walked right past it if the lights hadn't been on.

I set my sights on this place and knocked on the door.

"Yes, yes, coming!"

An old woman came out saying that.

I explained my situation and negotiated to see if she would let me stay.

The old woman seemed to be a kind person, and it was decided that she would let me stay for free. She asked if I could repair the leaking roof tomorrow.

That was an easy enough task.

The old woman even treated me to dinner. It was just grilled fish, but to me, it was a feast.

She even prepared a bath for me, and I headed to the bath in high spirits.

I took off my sarashi chest wrap and jumped into the bath. It felt wonderful.

As I was singing happily, I sensed someone outside.

I splashed out of the bath and threw a bucket of hot water at them.

Then, three men scrambled away in a panic.

They were peeping.

I quickly got out of the bath and went to the old woman's place. The trio of men from before were there.

When the trio saw me, they hurried away.

The old woman was holding money.

"What's the harm? It's not like you lose anything by showing it."

The old woman had been charging people to peep at the bath.

"……It's impressive that you realized I was a woman."

"Whether it's a man or a woman, I take the money. You just happened to be a woman, that's all."

A miser. The old woman was a miser.

However, since she had let me stay and even fed me, I held my tongue.

And so, I learned that not everyone is a good person.

The next day, just as the old woman had said, I repaired the roof. The roof seemed to be quite old, and I accidentally stepped through it in a few places. However, the work was finished by early afternoon, and after the old woman served me tea, I prepared for my journey.

Then, the old woman pressed something into my hand. It was money.

When I hurriedly tried to refuse,

"I'm grateful you even fixed the roof for me."

she said, and pressed the money into my hand again.

"It's half of the fee for the peeping yesterday. Your share, your share."

she said, and would not listen to any objections.

I decided to gratefully accept it.

"Stop by on your way back, too. I won't let you peek next time."

The old woman said that.

I departed while expressing my gratitude.

Shonagon said,

"I would have liked to peek too."

and we almost started a fight.

"If you treat me like a woman again, I won't forgive you!"

Yes, Shonagon said, and then

"How much money did you get?"

she asked.

"Just enough for the next inn, I suppose."

I replied, and continued walking.

I walked on, praying that the next inn would be a nice place. It was more fun walking with two people than walking alone.

I was grateful to Shonagon.

After a while, we found a pheasant collapsed on the road.

It seemed to still be breathing.

"You poor thing..."

I gave it some water, and the pheasant came back to life.

Then, saying "Thank you..." it turned toward us and froze.

"Princess Kaguya... isn't it?"