There are many factors to consider when building a house. Climate is a major one. A house built to keep the cold out is ill suited to the more southern regions of Anoria and vice versa. Where does one position the house on their property? How many people will live there? How much maintenance will it receive? What are the materials? Who is the builder? All of these and more must be fully considered, but most of all, why? Why is a house to be built in the first place? Answer these without deceiving yourself and only then you may build.
- Kuya Tio on Building a Homestead, Kuya Tio’s Guide to a Healthy and Happy Homestead.
The last couple weeks became a blur of settled routine. I'd have breakfast with Saito and Wei Lin before setting to some task. Once per week it was weeding Saito's rice paddies with Wei Lin immediately followed by weeding my own by myself. I hauled water for the Yin twins every other day and left with some treat or another every time. Either fresh if Kiyoko was home, or something set aside for me if she wasn't. Kiyoko was still my favorite person here. Most every day I worked on clearing land for a house as well as the path from the gate to the yard. Once per week we did Militia training and it rained twice. Between all that I manage the water levels of my leaky rice paddy, and I scoured the building section of Kuya Tio’s Guide.
One of the primary things I needed to consider with my new house was heating. The winters out here were supposed to get colder than I was used to and a source of heat was far more important than any cooling effect for the summer. There were two serious options. An Irori, like the Xiao and Yin households had, or a Mass Heater. Saito had a Mass Heater in his Doma. He swore by it, but while having both was the ideal situation, Saito was the only one I knew that had the room. My house wouldn't be large. I just didn't have the money. My plan was to build the main section and add on later if I could find the coin. Both the Irori and the Mass Heater took up room and I also really wanted a Horigotatsu like Saito’s. Both systems had pros and cons. The Mass Heater was the obvious long term winner. It burned a few sticks to heat an area for a long time where the Irori took many trees worth of seasoned wood. However the Mass Heater used a steel burn chamber that was made from the same stuff as high quality Samurai armor. That meant it was damn expensive and while it was shaped like a barrel, no one in a million years would use them to store stuff, so they weren't readily available. The Mass Heater also had an interior core that degraded with use. It wasn't a difficult job to fix and the core was one of the cheap parts, but if it went out in the middle of the winter, you'd be shit out of luck. The Irori was at its base, just a fire pit, with all the good and ill of that. I was discussing the pros and cons over dinner with Saito when Wei Lin asked a very pointed question.
“What did you grow up with?”
I don't think I'd ever felt so stupid. “A heater. Thank you Ate. That helped a lot.” I'm pretty sure I saw Saito wince when I called his daughter Ate. He was a big man, he'll get over me not wanting to fuck his little girl. Wow! I can't believe that was an actual thought.
***
It was my first Militia training in the town proper and the village, and likely all the rest of the villages, treated it as an actual drill. The bells started just after breakfast and both Saito and myself ran out the door and jogged to the village to collect our gear. Saito lagged behind a bit as he tried to don his mirror while running. Treating it like an actual drill stopped suddenly as we walked to town at the pace of a Carabao. Turns out it was common for us villagers to hang out in town after training and someone was designated to take the stuff back, hence the cart and Carabao. We formed up on the mustering grounds just outside Sharinzhen. Saito leaned over and said. “One of the Lords is going to come out and inspect us. Just stare blankly into the distance until he says to pay attention. Probably give some pointless speech after that.”
“Does that happen every time?”
“Just the first training of the year.”
Sure enough a man dressed head to foot in full crimson Samurai armor started walking along in front of the line. I worked very hard at not looking at the guy. Best I could tell, he was walking with his hands behind his back and nodding occasionally, possibly at Saito. He wandered back across the line and walked several paces out before turning. He raised a hand into the air and loudly said without shouting. “Eyes on me.” He returned his hands to their place behind his back. The guy stood straight and tall, his red armor shining, the curved swords of his station displayed prominently. Our group of villagers by comparison, looked like children playing make believe war.
“You are not warriors.” He said in his loud carrying, but not shouting voice. “You are not soldiers. Your job in an emergency is to follow the orders of your betters and to protect your town and its people. You do not need weapon training for this. You only need obedience. That is all.” He bowed and we bowed back. The guy then abruptly turned and started back for Sharinzhen. He didn't even introduce himself.
“Very inspirational wasn't it?” Saito asked in a sarcastic tone.
“Who was he?”
“Lord De Nakada.”
Someone else took the Samurai's place. This guy shouted. “Sharinzhen zero through three, north side, face south. Sharinzhen four through eight, south side, face north.
“You'll enjoy this.” Saito remarked as we lined up.
I stared across the field at a wall of men. This did not seem enjoyable. It seemed terrifying. All those people with spears and shields lined up like an invading force.
“South side! Receive!”
I swallowed hard as I dropped to a knee, my shield resting on the ground in front of me. My spear placed at an angle and sticking out between mine and Saito’s shields. The guy behind me rested the bottom of his shield on the top of mine.
“North side! Advance!”
I watched with heavy breath as the other group marched up and, in a rather anticlimactic display of “pretend war” they pressed their shields to our spears and poked at our shields with their own spears. That was it?
The rest of the day went back and forth with various commands I had already learned, but worked much differently in a large group. I could clearly see how a ragtag group of villagers with just a little training could hold against some invading force, at least for a short while. That said, I never want to see it happen. One thing of note that caught me about the whole Militia thing was that not everyone was male. We certainly outnumbered the women, but there were a few standing among the ranks.
Training was called early and I started my to-do list by looking for food. It was a whole ten minutes into my wandering that I heard my name called and I could physically feel my stomach sink when I noticed the speaker.
“Hey Yuji!” Shinichi hollered in my direction. The man caught up with his voice rather quickly. “Hey. How's it going?”
“Fine mostly.”
“Yoko says her dad says you work like a dog. Remember to take a break once in a while, okay. I haven't seen you since you first arrived. How do you like our humble little town?”
“It's peaceful. Haven't been impressed with the festivals, but people tell me the Harvest one is the best.”
Shinichi nodded emphatically. “Really the only one you'd regret missing.” He put an arm around my shoulders and shook me. “I just got back to town, let's go for a drink.”
“Um, I'm a bit busy at the moment. Maybe some other time.” Or never, I added silently.
“Ah come on. Just one drink. I'll buy.”
“I've got to pass.”
He spent a few more minutes trying to persuade me to go drinking with him, but inevitably gave up.
I finally found the place I was looking for. It was a short and wide building with open windows in the front and looked totally different from this side than it did from the back. Two large symbols displayed the name of the building in High Ityean. The first, I did not understand, but the second, I was fairly certain meant place or land. I, like most people, couldn't actually read High Ityean. Though you do pick up a few words over time. In smaller writing just underneath, it said “Shao’s Place”.
I'd like to say that High Ityean was kind of pointless, but that wasn't exactly true. Various regions had different words for different things and while Low Ityean focused on spelling the different words, High Ityean characters focused on the meanings. So the words themselves didn't actually matter. I gave up on my musings of High versus Low Ityean and actually entered the building. The food smelled good, and I certainly could go for a cup of tea. I didn't have a lot of money to burn on account of having to build a house, pay taxes, and survive the winter, but I figured a once-in-a-month splurge was not exactly breaking the bank, so to speak. Shao’s Place was an odd mix between a tea house and a restaurant; they only had one thing on the menu, and they only served one type of tea, though the combinations seemed to change daily. Today was a dumpling soup, and I wasn't gonna complain.
I seated myself at a booth and waited for one of the waitresses in the green and floral print Ao Dai dresses to notice me. I was looking out the front window when one of the girls slid into the booth on the opposite side of me.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi," said a woman who was not Kori. I must look surprised because she giggled. She had roughly the same facial structure and wide nose, but her hair, skin, and eyes were a bit lighter in color. I could only guess it must have been Kaori’s older sister.
"Expecting someone else?" She asked.
"Yeah, sorry, I thought you were Kaori."
The woman nodded and held out a hand to shake. "Koko Shao," she said.
I took the hand, and we clasped wrists for a moment. "Yuji Han."
"It's about time I get to meet you Yuji. A’te has said so many things about you."
"Good things, I hope."
Koko nodded. "Yes, she's very happy for the water."
I sat staring at her completely frozen. When the hell had I helped Kaori with water? Again, I must have looked confused or something because she giggled. The sound was not unlike Kaori’s, but it lacked the snorts.
"Are you? Ok. Yuji?"
A new voice got both our attention. "Mom," Kaori said with only the slightest touch of what was possibly panic in her voice.
"Kaori?" Koko sing-songed.
Holy shit. That's Kaori's mom. Either she was really young when she gave birth to Kaori, or she aged damn well.
"What are you doing?" Kori practically hissed.
"I'm getting to know Yuji," replied Koko with a vulpine grin.
Oh. Oh, she must have been talking about Kiyoko. That's the only person I haul water for, and that grin is entirely too similar.
"Are you gonna set the tea down, dear?"
Kaori seemed to realize she was still holding the tray with a teapot and a couple of cups, she put it down on the table just a little too harshly. "Sorry," Kaori nearly shouted, somewhat flushed. "Did you want the soup?"
"Yes, please."
"Ok." Kaori seemed to hesitate as though she didn't want to leave her mother sitting in the booth with me. Koko giggled again and pushed herself out.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Why don't you sit down and chat with your friend? I'll get the soup." Koko wandered off, leaving Kaori to look like she was lost. She turned back to me, ears down against her head.
"Ah, hi." It was my turn to giggle.
"Are you gonna sit?"
"Yeah, sure." Kaori pushed herself into the booth across from me in the same spot her mother had vacated and drummed on the table with her fingers for a moment before meeting my eyes. "So, what brings you to town?"
"Mandatory Militia training. I've also got some errands to run. I need to talk to the blacksmith and find a carpenter."
"Oh, what do you need a carpenter for?"
"Because I have no idea how to build a house."
“Oh."
"Are you ok?" I had to ask. She looked entirely too nervous.
"Yeah, it's just my mom is, uh..." She didn't seem to be able to find the correct word and just kind of shrugged. "She's gonna tease the hell out of me for this."
"For what?"
"You showed up, and I've mentioned you, so literally nothing, but she's gonna make everything out of it."
"Uh, yes. Mother’s. I think I get what you mean."
"My mom is..."
I cut Kaori off by giving a very pointed look behind her. She froze.
"Your mother is... what, dear?" Said the woman in question, her toothy grin spreading across her face. Koko stared at her daughter for just a few moments too long before setting a bowl of soup, and some dumplings down. "Please enjoy your meal, sir." She then turned her head completely to Kaori so I couldn't see her face and must have done something because Kaori turned red. "Enjoy your break, dear." She sing-songed again before abruptly turning and leaving.
The soup was good, the dumplings were good, the tea was good, and Kaori's mother was absent enough for Kaori to calm down, and we fell back into the rhythm of polite and sometimes teasing conversation with minor spurts of giggles and snorting. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and almost made up for the pain in the rear end that was the rest of my day.
The Blacksmith didn't have the appropriate skill or tools that make the steel drum for the mass heater. Fortunately, the pieces could be ordered through the local tradehouse and came in standard sizes. That was a bit of an annoyance, but not necessarily a problem. The carpenters, on the other hand, were a serious issue. I started out talking to the one group Saito had suggested, but they were confident that they were booked out until next spring. That was mildly horrifying, but they did suggest another carpenter group in town. I thought it was kind of nice that they would recommend their competition. However, when I arrived there, they were also booked out until at least fall. They helpfully suggested their competitor, which were the guys who sent me to them. It was a long, nerve-wracking walk home to Sharinzhen-4.
I did chance upon Saito as he was leaving the patriarch's house, and that conversation went very quickly from, "Hey, how you doing?" to me lamenting the problem of all the carpenter groups being busy. He then looked like he was deciding whether or not to say something to me, tilting his head and sucking air through his teeth as if whatever he was going to say was painful.
"Well, there is Nakamura."
"Oh?” I asked.
“Nakamura in Sharinzhen-6. His eldest left after a falling out, and since then he's hurt his back so he doesn't actually do much work anymore. At least not the actual building, but his youngest does most of the physical labor. A single person can't build a house, but I suppose you'd be willing to help. That would reduce the cost."
"Well, that sounds pretty good. So what's the problem?" I asked because there had to be some reason Saito was not interested in telling me about this guy in the beginning.
Saito shrugged. "Nothing specifically, just didn’t want to bring up, you know? You'll get it when you're older."
I gave Saito a glare. That was the same infuriating response my father used to give me. He responded with a sheepish grin, and then replied with, "At least you might still get a house this year."
Sharinzhen-6 was a bit more forested than four. I felt awkward walking into another village with everyone staring at me and looking for Nakamura. I was pointed to a plot in the back with a very handsome gateway. It was easily twice the size of mine, considerably wider, and lacquered a nice red color. Though, to be fair, mine was falling over, literally everyone had a nicer gate than mine. That was another thing I was gonna have to fix.
The house was a classical farmhouse, but unlike the others, this one had a very large workshop off to one side with large barn doors that were wide open, showing off several logs that were on stands and an old man hunched over one of them with some tool that was stripping off slight shavings from the log. He was a Akumajin, a race that had a tail that was spaded and horns that, unlike Oni-Kai and Oni-Sen, tended to vary differently between individuals. His skin had a bit of a gray complexion, and his eyes were bright red. He straightened with a grunt as I approached the shop and gave a friendly wave as he leaned on the log he had been working on.
"Morning," said the Akumajin.
"Morning," I replied once I was close enough to not feel like I had to shout. I added, "I'm looking for a carpenter."
The old man grinned. "Well, you found a carpenter. What are you looking to have done?"
“I need a house built.”
He frowned. “Can't say that I can build a house. My back ain't what it used to be.
To be fair, that's kind of what I was expecting him to say, or at least something along those lines. “My back works fine. I just don't know how to build a house.”
“So what you're telling me boy, is that you want help building a house?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You guess or you know?”
“Well, I know my funds are limited. So I had expected to do as much work as possible myself. So I guess I know. Yes, I want help building a house.”
The old man gave me the same appraising look Saito used to gave me and nodded mostly to himself before extending an arm.
“Hiroshi Nakamoto.”
I grabbed his wrist and we shook once, “Yuji Han.”
“Han? Any relation to Lo Bao Han?”
“That was my uncle.”
“Ah, good kid that one. How is he doing?”
“Um, he's dead. He, uh, let the King die”
“Oh, oh, that was our Han?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Ok boy, so you're looking to build a house, what exactly did you have in mind?”
“I'm honestly not sure. I know I want a Horigotatsu and a Mass Heater. Something small that I can expand on later I think.”
“Humph.” He humped. “Pretty open ended, isn't it?”
At about this time, my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the building. The wall that connected to the house was covered in different types of tools. Several workbenches were strewn about in the various corners, and several of the logs that the old man had been working on had very intricate notches carved into them. The floor was covered in wood shavings, and there were more doors in the back that revealed covered piles of neatly stacked logs. The smell of various cut lumbers sat in the air like a heavy mist and had been the only thing I had truly noticed when I walked in beyond the man in front of me.
“I guess I need help figuring out a design first, huh?"
"Yeah, I suppose you do, boy. I'll send my kid out to your place in three days. Kid's busy with a few projects. Should be done by then. Get a look at the land and figure out what it is you want. Then we can start working on something. Sound good?"
"Sounds great."
We spent a few more minutes working out the details of how to find my property and I said my goodbyes. It was a rather long walk home, but with nothing else on the agenda, I figured I'd clear out a little bit more where I planned to put the house.
My leaky rice paddy was a pain in the rear end. While Saito checked the water level of his patties once a month to once every two weeks in the summer, I was screwing around with this thing pretty much every other day. Breakfast had been weird and Saito hadn't even been there, but every time Shinichi got back from wherever it was that he went, he went out drinking and then often beat poor Yoko. So while I generally did not like dealing with my leaky rice paddy, it did mean I was not stuck in an awkward situation at the Xiao household. To be fair, I was only using it as an excuse and didn’t actually work on fixing the problem until much later.
Of course, the world as a whole is a fickle thing and as I traced the pipe from my leaky paddy to the stream, I came across a swearing and grumbling in the woods that honestly could have only been Saito. I could just leave well enough alone and continue my work, but it was Saito; and so I marched off into the woods towards the sound, making sure to say, "Hello?" Loud enough to be heard before I got there so I didn't actually startle the man. I met my neighbor in a small cleared-out area not too far from where his pipe ran up to the stream. He was leaning on a shovel with a sour look on his face and waiting for me to finish shoving my way through the brush.
"You okay?" I asked practically before I got into the actual clearing.
"My hell's cursed, useless, piece of shit son-in-law is the most worthless, wretched, waste of flesh I've ever had the misfortune to know, and there's not a day in my life I don't regret blessing my daughter's marriage."
I froze, literally struck speechless as Saito continued to let out a string of pointed obscenities that I didn't know the man was actually capable of, and when he finished, my only reply was a dumb, "Uh?"
He took a deep breath and leaned more heavily on his shovel. "I asked Shinichi to come by this morning and help me take down a tree. He never showed up. The barest hint of a tiny bit of actual work and he runs off to the spirits only know wheres."
"Did you, uh, want my help?"
Saito shook his head. "Not today. I'm not in the mood anymore. Maybe tomorrow."
"Sure," I briefly considered asking if Yoko was okay, but Saito was already upset enough, and I didn't want to trigger any more issues. "See you tomorrow, then?"
Again, Saito just shrugged in reply. He turned and walked further into his own property, cursing under his breath. I briefly wondered why he was out here with a shovel. Regardless of whatever he was up to, I had my own work to do.
After a slightly strained breakfast at the Xiao household, Saito and I went out to take care of his tree. I could hear from the sound of the baby and the young child that Yoko was in the house, but she didn't join us for the meal. Wei Lin was quiet as well and said practically nothing, her head down the entire time. The whole thing was a somber affair and apart from some basic instructions by Saito, we worked on taking down the large tree in utter silence.
Saito had cleared the entire area around the tree, removing all brush and even raking away the leaves and other detritus that might cause a tripping hazard for when the tree came down. I didn't know why it needed to come down and I was still hesitant to ask Saito anything while he was in his foul mood. So we worked in an awkward silence, and he told me I should get back to work on my own property once the tree had been felled. I did so and worked most of the day cutting down more trees, moving stuff out of the way, and mostly just trying to get ready for the carpenter to come talk to me about my house. I went back over to the Xiao household for dinner as per usual, where things got a little more tense.
Yoko was not in good shape. She had one black eye, her lips swollen to the point of splitting. She was limping badly and occasionally winced in pain when she moved her arm the wrong way. Seeing her left a horrific knot in my stomach. This was just wrong. Not legally wrong; she was married to Shinichi, and therefore he could pretty much do whatever he wanted to her short of murder, but it was certainly morally wrong. The little boy clung to her side as if for emotional support, while the baby just ate, slept, and cried as babies do. She didn't move fast, and Wei Lin was in a bit of a tizzy trying to make her sister as comfortable as possible. Saito sat at the head of the table, mouth pressed into a grim line and staring off into the space between him and the dumplings. It was a quiet, somber, and awkward meal and I was quite glad to have it interrupted by a knock at Saito's door, followed by the voice of an old man saying, "Xiao, are you home?" Saito got up and left the three of us plus children at the table. The door was behind me, so I didn't see the person who entered before the voice came again. “Ah, Han, there you are.”
I turned to find Meng Su following behind Saito. I gave him the best bow I could while sitting at the Horigotatsu. “Po.”
“Sorry to interrupt your meal Xiao, but I have some questions for Yuji and I’d like to ask them with the others around on the chance I need to ask anyone else some follow up.”
Saito returned to his spot at the table and gave the patriarch a small bow. "That is fine. Please sit. Would you like to join us?" The patriarch shambled over towards the Horigotatsu and took a seat at the table. "No, no, thank you. That's fine. Just a few questions. I'll leave you to your meal."
Saito poured the patriarch a cup of tea regardless, and the old man gave him a nod and took a sip before turning to me. "So, you were seen speaking to Shinichi a few days ago. Yes?"
My gaze instinctively went to Yoko who had her face down, staring at the table. I didn't think this was the sort of thing that should be talked about in front of her, but Saito gave me a nod when I looked his way, and I returned my attention back to the patriarch. “Yeah, I ran into him just after Militia training.”
“Have you spoken to him since?”
I shook my head. “No, I haven't.”
“What did you talk about?”
"Uh, well, he kind of good-naturedly teased me about working too much, told me I needed to take a break once in a while, and invited me out to drink, which I politely declined. I was a bit busy."
Meng Su nodded along with my explanation. "Do you know where he went after that?"
“No, I assume he went drinking. A bar or something."
"And you haven't seen or heard from him since, right?"
I shook my head. "No, I haven't."
"And nobody else has mentioned anything about Shinichi, where he's gone, or what happened to him?"
I gave a slight upward nod to Saito. "Not other than Saito being a bit upset. He never showed up for an appointment to help fell a tree. That's it."
The patriarch looked towards Saito and gave him a nod. "Yes, I've already spoken to him about that." He looked at the rest of the table. "Has anyone else heard anything?"
Wei Lin voiced the word "no," but everybody else just solemnly shook their heads, including the little boy, but I wasn't sure he was actually old enough to understand the question.
Meng Su took a deep breath in and let it out. "Alrighty. Well, I'll stop interrupting you and let you get back to your dinner. Thank you for the tea, Saito." He took another sip of tea, bowed his head to Yoko, and then got up with a groan. Saito saw him out.
I had thought to ask the patriarch why he was asking these questions, as it seemed like something horrible must have happened. I watched Yoko, who merely picked at her food, and the image of Saito standing alone in the woods with a shovel, the ground under his feet freshly disturbed, seemed to smack me in the face like someone swung the shovel at my head. Holy fuck.
Saito retook his spot at the head of the table, and my gaze shifted towards him. His eyes narrowed slightly, and I wondered if he knew what I was thinking. It was hard to think of Saito as a person who could possibly kill someone, but with another glance at Yoko, it was also hard to think that Saito was the kind of person who could just sit around and do nothing while his daughter was continually abused. My gaze swept back to Saito, who was still staring at me, and I figured I had to come up with some way to break the tension. Glancing back down at the table, I reached out and plucked up another dumpling. "Who made the dumplings?" I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral, though I'm almost certain it cracked a little.
"Yoko did," Wei lin said. She wasn't looking, but I gave a nod in her direction. "Please don't tell my mother, but these are possibly the best dumplings I've ever had."
Yoko made a vague grunt noise that seemed to be approval, and I focused on putting food in my mouth without actually tasting it. At some point, Saito went back to his own food, and the knot in my stomach untightened slightly. Holy fucking hells.