The bulletin at the gate listed the services and fees. Apart from renting horses, people could book passage on boats between Naniwa and the capital or the port of Kawajiri on the Inland Sea. In the yard, a groom was saddling a horse as a messenger stood by. Tora also saw armed guards. Post stations took great care not only of the post, but also of their animals and foot messengers. Several of these runners, in loincloths and short jackets, squatted beside the door, waiting for assignments. Tora walked past them into the office.
Two scribes sat bent over low desks, working on papers. Near them, stacks of parcels waited to be posted or delivered locally. Two more men in loin cloths crouched beside the parcels, ready to carry items to their recipients or to one of the boats. There seemed to be no other customers, and one of the clerks sprang to attention with a bow.
Tora looked past him into the next room. A solitary official sat at a desk: the local postmaster. Postmasters were appointed by the central government in the capital and held to strict account, because official messages, news, and orders from the capital passed through their hands and because post stations regulated travel throughout the country.
Tora told the clerk, “I’ll have word with your boss,” and walked into the postmaster’s office.
He was a middle-aged, plain man with thinning hair who pretended to be busy. Tora cleared his throat.
“Yes?” The postmaster raised his eyes to give him an appraising look.
Tora, neatly dressed and with a black cap on his shapely head, smiled. “Good morning, sir. May I have a word, if you’re not too busy?”
The postmaster smiled back. “I’m always happy to be of assistance. My name is Toyoda.”
“That’s very good of you, Toyoda.” Tora approached. “I’m Tora, from the capital and a stranger here. You’re the first person to show me a friendly face.”
Toyoda positively twinkled with friendliness. “I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time of it. We must try to do better. What can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s a complicated story. I work for an important official in the capital. He sent one of his clerks down here to deliver a payment. The young man seems to have disappeared without a trace and never made the delivery. I’m here to ask if anyone remembers him.”
Looking concerned, the postmaster pushed aside the ledger he had pretended to
work on and said, “You suspect him of a crime? That’s shocking. Hmm. Here’s a puzzle to solve.” Gesturing to a reed cushion in front of his desk, he said, “Please sit down. I’ll do my best to help you. Can you give me some particulars? Like what he looks like and when he was here? We take pride in the service at Naniwa station, and visitors from the capital are particularly noted.”
Tora took this as a wish to impress his superiors in the capital in case this visitor
reported to his master. “He arrived in Naniwa six days ago,” he said. “On the fifteenth day of the month. The master thought he would make the delivery later that day or the next. Either he’s run off with the gold or something happened to him before then.”
“Ah. He may have rented a horse or a boat. What is the clerk’s name?”
“Miyoshi. First name Sadenari.”
The postmaster jotted this down. “And the name of the person or place he was visiting?”
Tora hesitated. He had not thought his tale through very far. “As I said, this is a delicate matter.” He put a finger to his lips and winked.
The other man sighed. “Yes. Quite so, but it makes it harder.” He called one of the clerks, who went to the shelves of document boxes and brought two to his master. The postmaster riffled through the contents and took a list from each. “Ah, I see,” he muttered, frowning as he compared them. “Yes, a person called Miyoshi called in on the sixteenth day of the month to post a letter. As for renting a horse or boat . . .” He switched to the second list. “Ah, yes. Here he is again. He took a boat to Kawajiri.” He looked very pleased with himself. “Does that solve your problem?”
It did not. Tora did not have to pretend chagrin. “Looks like the master has been cheated. I don’t suppose you remember any details?”
The postmaster chuckled. “Maybe. Seeing the list brought it back to me. A young fellow, handsome and well dressed, a little like you, in fact, except he wore no boots and had no sword? He didn’t look at all like a crook. More like a student. You know, good class, well educated, naive. And he was poor. He asked about the cheapest rates and then he counted his coppers very carefully. That’s what made me pay attention. I remember thinking how strange it was that someone of his background should have to be so frugal.”
It had almost certainly been the clerk. “Hmm. Was he alone?” Tora asked.
“Well, he came in alone, but I got the impression someone was waiting for him outside.”
“Did you see who was waiting?”
“No. But he kept looking over his shoulder and seemed in a big hurry.”
“Ah. That’s not much to go on.”
The postmaster’s face fell. “I’m sorry. I hope you find him.”
Tora was about to take his leave, when the man’s face brightened. “Wait! I seem to remember he posted two letters, the one to the capital and a local one.” He reached into the first box and brought out the list again. “Yes, here it is. Addressed to the Foreign Trade Office, in care of Senior Secretary Nakahara. That sounds very respectable.”
Tora’s jaw sagged. He went around the desk to look at the list. It was true. Why would Sadenari write to Nakahara? Straightening, he said darkly, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. There’s corruption in the highest places these day. Well, I’d better go there and ask some questions. I wish I could repay you with a cup of wine, but it’s early and you’re at work.”
The postmaster laughed. “A man in my position can leave at any time. But you needn’t, you know. As I said, we pride ourselves on our service.” He paused. “Still, perhaps just a short one.”
Tora regretted his generosity, but said, “A pleasure, postmaster.”
“Call me Toyoda.” The man was up in an instant and led Tora to his favorite wine shop. There the “short one” turned into several long ones. Since Tora had led him to believe that he served a high-ranking courtier, Toyoda questioned him minutely about the sexual habits of those who “lived above the clouds”, forcing Tora to resort to outright lies to satisfy his curiosity.
He had just told a lurid tale about a princeling who had seduced his half-sister, when Toyoda said, “I heard of a good story myself. There’s a great palace on the Yodo River, just outside Eguchi. It belongs to an imperial princess. I think she’s the aunt of the present emperor, an elderly lady.” He chuckled. “She has a taste for young men, and her servants scour the countryside for well-built youngsters. People say she’s very hard to satisfy. If the young men don’t perform to her taste, she gets rid of them. But if she likes them, they live like the blessed souls in paradise.”
Tora was familiar with such tales and did not believe a word, but the mention of a palace on the Yodo River made him curious. “Where exactly is that place?”
Toyoda guffawed. “Are you thinking of applying?”
Tora did not think that funny. “Don’t be silly. I wondered because my boat passed a very elegant pavilion just before we reached Eguchi.”
Not surprisingly, Toyoda did not know the precise place where the princess entertained her young lovers. But the topic had reminded Tora of the professor’s tale.
“I expect you know the local pleasure towns quite well,” he said. “Are there any very young Korean girls working there?”
The postmaster cocked his head. “Korean? Not that I know, and I do know my way around the better houses in all of those towns.” He chuckled and preened himself a little. Seeing Tora’s raised brows, he confided, “My own old lady is the very opposite of the princess. Cold as a fish! If it weren’t for some of the beauties in our river towns, I don’t know what I’d do.” He winked. “I could introduce you to some very charming flowers, if you’re interested. You like them young, did you say? I know where there are some as young as twelve, if that’s what you like. How about it? A man must do what he can to take care of his health, you know, and they do say the young ones have more of the long-life essence in them.”