It’s early morning in Hirosaka, and Hajime and Minoru are engaged in a practice duel. Yuzume, Eiko, Mirumoto Sanae and Seppun Ishima are all observing. As the two bushi practice, Yuzume and Eiko take bets on who the winner will be: if Minoru wins, Yuzume will win two pearls from Eiko, to keep as offerings for the kami. If Hajime wins, Yuzume will tell Eiko about her conversation with Shosuro Kiyoshi, as Eiko is suspicious.
Minoru feints, aiming for Hajime’s beloved ponytail, but Hajime dodges and Minoru misses. Hajime spins in response and gives Minoru a good smack across the side of Minoru’s head. Mirumoto Sanae declares a victory in Hajime’s favour, and Hajime and Minoru compliment one another on their performances before despairing at how their courtier counterparts are taking bets again.
Eiko offers Yuzume some pearls anyway, as a gift, which she turns down, much to his amusement. Yuzume tells him about the sakeworks through gritted teeth, and lies to him, telling him about how she and Kiyoshi are related. Eiko doesn’t believe this at all and makes it very clear, all the while remaining perfectly polite, and she makes a barb about his family and the expectations they have for him in exchange, daring him to call her out on the lie. He doesn’t rise to it, and shoots off an insult as he leaves. Yuzume is left annoyed at herself for getting angry at him, and how she can never be on his level when it comes to wordplay and using courtesy as a weapon.
Later on in the day, the group prepare to visit the Hiramori, a vassal of the Daidoji family of the Crane clan. They decide to travel by boat, as the Hiramori live in the nearby Uebe Marshes, and visit the Thankful Riches tavern to find a ferryman. Yuzume is the most familiar with mercantile dealings, but is distracted by the prospect of having to travel by water given how she isn’t much of a swimmer, and can only find one person willing to take the group: an old man named Amos. He will drop them off, but won’t wait in the marshes for them, saying how dangerous they are to be out in, especially for Scorpion. He agrees to meet them in Hare lands on the way back instead after Minoru and Hajime intercede.
The next day, Amos takes the yoriki through the marshes, which are dank, moist and full of mosquitoes. It gets to the point where the boat gets stuck every hundred feet or so, and Minoru feels that they’re in a spot where they could easily be ambushed by the Hiramori. Amos can soon no longer move the boat at all, and says he can take them no further, so everyone has to get out and walk. Eiko offers to help Yuzume out of the boat to make amends for yesterday, but she’s having none of it.
The yoriki make their way through trap-infested swamp territory, and a pit opens up underneath Yuzume. Her prosthetic is caught underneath the mud, and she’s pulled down toward poisoned metal stakes. Hajime and Minoru rush over to pull her out, trying to figure out how to use swords get her some leverage. Eiko throws his luggage and all of his finery in to act as a counterweight, and the spikes begin to retract, but the ground is giving away under her as the pit fills with swamp water, and as Minoru and Hajime rush to grab her their added weight opens the pit up even further. Just as she’s about to completely go under, a mysterious figure throws a rope from the trees, which she uses to pull herself and the others out of the pit.
Once the three are safe, the mysterious figure runs through the trees, and Hajime considers throwing his sword to pin them before deciding to just give chase, along with Minoru, while Eiko stays to look after Yuzume. Minoru isn’t able to catch them, but he does find a smuggler’s stash that contains a bento full of warm crab cakes and a perfumed letter, with a beautifully written message: ‘You should come back. Your father has been making questions. I think he might be changing his mind.’
Minoru takes what’s in the cache, then replaces the contents with the sweets the Hiruma Matriarchs gave him for Peschay, who he and Hajime have realized is the one they’ve been chasing. Meanwhile, Eiko is checking on Yuzume’s prosthetic, which is undamaged, but needs to be put somewhere dry soon. Hajime returns and quietly fumes over what has happened, but thankfully Yuzume remains unpoisoned, and once Eiko gives her the all-clear she takes a moment to calm her nerves.
Minoru returns without Peschay, but hands Eiko the letter to analyze. Hajime offers Yuzume half a crab cake, and she pulls him down to sit with her in silence, which helps his anger subside a little. Minoru joins them afterward, while Eiko figures out that this letter was extremely rushed, from a vassal or advisor to someone of higher status. He recognizes the paper as a batch that gets used by Doji Hotaru, so whoever wrote this has been in her courts, and can tell that the brushstrokes come from a musician. It’s also clear that whoever wrote this letter can’t properly hide how much they care for its recipient, which makes him think of what just happened to Yuzume, so he offers her the letter to her for ‘a second opinion’.
Eiko takes Minoru aside and tells him about the letter-writer, asking that he consider the Crane’s reputation when taking the paper’s connection to Doji Hotaru into account during this investigation, believing it may be related to Peschay. Minoru agrees that he will as much as he is able, and then jokes that Eiko was the one who stole the crab cakes from such a well-connected official. He then calls out to Peschay, who he is certain is out there listening, that there are some sweets for him in the nearby cache. The two then go back to finish lunch with the others before continuing their journey.
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