The group arrives in the inhabited part of the marsh after a long walk through the mud. Hajime has been keeping within arm’s reach of Yuzume as she is clearly still shaken from the ordeal with the pit trap. The people of the Hiramori are working on removing debris from the winter’s calamities from the marshes, moving across planks and painted stones to steer clear of the swamps. Minoru rings a bell, the sound of which unnerves him to some extent, but he manages to push the feeling down. The bell summons a swan-shaped boat driven by a well-dressed woman introducing herself as Daidoji Ishi, also known as Lady Flute.
Eiko is thrilled to see such a well-dressed fellow Crane, and then is immediately reminded of how he threw all his own finery out not so long ago, dampening his spirit somewhat. Minoru introduces himself and explains that they are here to speak to the daimyo, and are pursuing a matter unrelated to the family she serves. She takes them to the forest keep by boat, taking them on a tour of the swamps as she goes. Eiko makes polite small talk with Lady Flute, who talks about the bounty of the region as well as the difficulties in harvesting it, as so much of it would go to waste under the current daimyo’s trade policies. Eiko sees opportunity here and tries to plant some seeds, but she says nothing in response.
Lady Flute drops the yoriki off at an inn near the tea farm, and sees about getting them all some clean clothes, recommending they bathe and have some refreshments. Eiko uses cadence to subtly tell her that they can speak privately if she wishes, but she doesn’t seem to want to, and goes to wait by her boat.
The group have a moment to relax, and Minoru gathers everyone together after sorting out rooms to discuss their next move. He puts Eiko in charge of making sure that all of their paperwork is in order before they meet the daimyo, then confesses that he is not fond of being here before telling everyone to get bathed and dressed. Noticing that Yuzume is still somewhat quiet and keeping to herself, Hajime grabs a servant and puts them in charge of looking after her before going off in search of a local delicacy to enjoy.
When everyone meets with Lady Flute, she takes them to the local magistrate at the forest keep at Minoru’s request, rather than meeting the daimyo. Eiko points out that they should meet the daimyo first, but Lady Flute says that he likely will be in the marshes right now, and so the group decides to speak to the magistrate while they wait for him. Lady Flute seems apprehensive that they didn’t go with her hints to wait for him elsewhere, but takes them to the keep anyway. It is small and sparsely manned, and they are led to a barracks full of a dozen or so soldiers happy to see Lady Flute, who introduces the group to them. After a moment of tension as the soldiers look upon the two Scorpion, they relax and invite them to socialise, then show off some of their martial arts. Eiko has a basic understanding of their techniques from school, and Hajime is extremely interested in, if not unnerved by, how they manage to always be in his blind spots.
Lady Flute soon arrives with the local magistrate, or the closest thing the Hiramori have, Daidoji Saburo. Minoru explains that they’re here looking for Peschay, and admits that the boy outsmarted them, which Saburo tries to be polite about. He assures Minoru that his lord should be able to help the team get a scout to find Peschay, but is uncomfortable with making assurances without his lord’s actual say-so.
Before he can continue, his husband, an attractive man named Daidoji Dayun, enters looking for him. Lady Flute and the soldiers behave deferentially toward him, but he takes one look at the magistrates and quickly turns tail. Curious about Dayun, Minoru makes some small talk with Saburo (as much as he hates the practice), and learns that the man is one of the heirs to the Hiramori. Dayun is a tactical duelist, deployed when a problem needs solving. Something has been on his mind lately, but Saburo will give no further details.
Lady Flute comes around with a wheelchair for Yuzume, so that she need not put pressure on her leg while it’s still wet, then leads the group around to a large garden. It reminds Yuzume of her father’s gardens back at home, and she recognises many of the plants as poisonous. The owner of the garden is none other than Daidoji Dae, lord of the Hiramori, who sits in a wheelchair of his own amongst the flowers. His dialect is especially difficult to follow as he and Minoru discuss the role the Hiramori play for the Daidoji, as well as the floods in Hirosaka and the possibility of trade. Eiko takes over to try to seal the deal, but Dae has no interest in providing for anyone other than Doji Hotaru.
Unable to present a physical gift after losing it in the pit trap that swallowed his companions, Eiko recites one of Lady Hotaru’s haikus from a prior winter court at Kyuden Doji for Dae and another of his sons, Lei. Lei is an elegant courtier and proud cat owner, who seems keen to listen to the poetry, and is let down by the fact that Eiko recites the wrong poem by accident, giving an astoundingly bad performance as he realises this. However, Lei is extremely distracted and chats to Lady Flute instead of listening, and Dae wakes up from a boredom-induced nap to ask her to take the group to the guest house.
The guest house is beautifully decorated with art from a particularly talented Crane artist, making Eiko feel a little homesick. He apologises for failing Minoru at the gift-giving and goes to his room, while Yuzume comments that she would be happy to lead the Hiramori back to the pit their original gift was in. Hajime and Minoru talk a little about their earlier duel, but the conversation quickly turns back to the ordeal they faced in the swamp, souring the discussion.
Yuzume leaves the two bushi to it when she hears a familiar sound from one of the guest rooms: someone rolling tea. She’s met by a tall woman with covered eyes named Usagi Nao, who came to the Hiramori to learn herbalism from Dae. The two share a drink and roll some tea together, talking about Hirosaka, the Moth and the Hare. Nao seems concerned about the thought of the magistrates asking Dae for help restoring Hirosaka, and warns that as long as he is the lord of the Uebe Marshes, his family will offer no aid to anyone save the Hare - and even then, she does not know why her clan is the exception to his rule. Toward the end of their conversation, Nao admits that she was expecting Lei to come by to roll tea with her instead, but the two part on good terms, promising to keep in touch in future.
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