"Serves them right, total trash! But if another family like his got beaten up like that, losing over and over again, they'd have been finished long ago. But he just won't die, he keeps hanging in there, all thanks to having some filthy money!"
Although she seemed to get along well with the fake Samurai, Arano, laughing and joking daily without any taboos, in reality, she held quite a bit of hostility towards the Samurai class. When she enjoyed others' misfortunes, she was completely unabashed about it, laughing wildly and acting quite brazenly.
Her talent in Martial Arts wasn't great. When she saved A Qing, she, who had been practicing since childhood, was kicked over by A Qing, who had only practiced Martial Arts for three months, and couldn't get up for a long time, losing face spectacularly. That's why she always wanted an Iron Cannon, but at that time the Iron Cannon had just been introduced to Japan, and there weren't many people who could make them; they were terribly expensive, and she couldn't afford one. Even if she saved as if her life depended on it, selling herself and her sister together wouldn't be enough to buy one. Meanwhile, a big fool like Oda Nobunaga could earn tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of coins lying down every year, and could casually spend 160 coins to buy one as a toy!
Whenever she thought of such things, her anger boiled over, feeling that justice didn't exist and the world wasn't worth it, and she wanted to stab those dirty Samurai twice.
She was a typical lumpenproletariat, with a natural hostility towards the upper classes. Previously, she would always want to jibe at Arano, mocking him as a clueless fool and wanting to trick him out of his money by betting, mostly due to that mindset—a rebellion psychology fuelled by a sense of inferiority, self-pity, and resentment over inequitable wealth distribution.
After all, in her eyes, Arano was also a typical noble upper-class person, and she didn't like that. But Arano treated her very well, giving her clothes and sharing his food, respecting even her, a lowly wild child who could be killed at will, unlike common Samurai. Inside her heart, she felt a mysterious sense of gratitude, and she would just occasionally mock him to balance those conflicting feelings.
These were subconscious matters that she herself couldn't recognize. After laughing for a while, she waved her hand and got back to the point: "Alright, alright, let's not talk about that unlucky old guy, Shinshu. Anyway, he's almost done for, but Shimazu has gathered more than half of Japan's goods. Even rare items from the Ming Country and Southern Barbarians can be found there, that's true.
So, no matter what you want to buy in Owari, no matter how strange or unusual the item, if it exists in the world, as long as you're willing to spend money, you can definitely buy it there. Small medicinal materials, even less of a problem!"
"Hmm, so I have to make a trip to Shimazu... is it far?" Arano wasn't concerned about whether Shinshu was being cursed or not, nor did he care much for Aman's disdain towards Japan's upper class. He continued to consider business upon hearing this.
Aman replied, "Walking would take four or five days, by boat you can make a round trip in three days. Mountains separate Haixi and Haidong counties, you have to walk far south first and then turn back, the road is winding and not easy to walk. Plus, it's quite unsafe now, Nobuhide is declining, and the road is very chaotic. Any Samurai noble wants to secretly set up toll booths and collect money. If you haven't dealt with them before, they may not show you respect. Going there will likely cost you heavily, coming back is even worse. But if you don't travel through Samurai territories, you're more likely to run into trouble with mountain bandits or river pirates. If you don't travel this road often, you'll inevitably spend a lot."
"But the medicine must be bought, just..." With a plan, it must be executed. Arano pondered for a moment, considering taking two Lang Faction members and hiring Aman and her sister to go along as well. The Electric Stick can still be used a few times, probably assuring personal safety. If no option, he'll just have to pay some road fees. But there's no way he can take the foolish son, and leaving the foolish son at Yayoi's for a long time, he felt a bit uneasy.
Aman, seeing his dilemma, didn't volunteer.
If Arano handed over money for her to buy medicine, she was confident she'd return. She wasn't that shameless. However, she feared that with money in her hands at Shimazu, she'd lose control and gamble to turn bicycle into motorcycle, attempting to win and also profit enough to buy an Iron Cannon. If she lost everything, she wouldn't have the face to see people again.
Fortunately, she was clever and seasoned in the ways of the world, knowing many random things, and quickly thought of a solution, promptly suggesting, "You don't necessarily have to go yourself, as long as you're willing to spend a bit more money, just hire the Submerged Merchant. Those guys often go to Shimazu to fetch submerged goods, refurbishing them to scam money off rural folks. They'd definitely have no objection to picking up some medicinal materials for you along the way."
"Submerged Merchant?" Japan's Warring States occupations are really bizarre, Arano didn't expect there to be an industry for dumping substandard goods in rural areas.
Uh, perhaps it wasn't just dumping substandard goods, but more like fraud with inferior products.
But that wasn't his concern. He found the idea feasible and immediately asked, "Do you know any Submerged Merchants? How are the prices, will they be much more expensive?"
"It'll probably be two or three times more expensive than Shimazu. Those guys need to eat too, they obviously need to make a profit. But anyway, it'll save you money and hassle compared to running there yourself. Those folks have good relations with river pirates, and frequent interaction, regularly paying tributes, running often incurs very little cost."
Aman thought for a moment and added, "Familiar Submerged Merchants, well, there are a few fellow townsmen... Uh, my grandfather does have a few townmates in this business that even dung beetles would scorn. If you're willing to use them, then list the medicinal materials you need, I'll help you contact them."
"Then I'll trouble you." Arano thought it might be wise to test the waters, buy a little to see the price and quality. If both were satisfactory, continuing to procure that way would be fine, rather than having little self-preservation ability now, abandoning the foolish son to trek over hundreds of miles with a couple of Lang Faction children.