Original subtitles

The Apothecary Diaries

This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.

It sounds like singing insects.

Maomao, you have to wear a fox mask, too. Use the one you just painted.

Episode 43: Festival

Sure.

Usually people paint the corners of the eyes red. Green seems like an odd choice.

You look like a tanuki, sort of.

What? Well, you look like a cat, Maomao.

My hair's getting in the way.

Let me tie it up for you again. Sit.

Hmm.

Feels like something's missing.

It's kinda incomplete with just string, don't you think?

I don't mind.

You can borrow one of my hair sticks.

It's shaped like a spider web! Super cute.

Oh.

I do have a hair stick, actually. Use this one.

Wow, Maomao. This one's really nice.

It was a gift.

Hey,

if I asked, would you give it to me?

No.

Dang.

I could just not mention it,

but Master Jinshi can be eerily good at reading facial expressions.

That said, I don't even know if I can make it back to the capital at all.

There, all done.

Thank you.

The festival takes place at a shrine outside the village.

Let's go.

Perhaps because of the torchlight, they seem like an actual skulk of foxes.

Feels like we're in a different world, right?

Yeah.

Eerie, isn't it?

You could say that.

Although I'm being accompanied by a green tanuki.

There are some others, like Shisui, who are using green around their eyes.

Mostly men. I wonder if there's a meaning there?

A lot of grasshoppers this year, it seems.

I heard that's why we have to go big with this year's festival.

I see.

To ward off evil spirits, I guess.

Lantern plant berries don't taste good.

I know.

They're poisonous. In the pleasure district, courtesans—

I know.

Gross.

Sorry!

The shrine is up these stairs.

You know why the god enshrined here is a fox and considered the god of good harvest?

No.

This area used to be inhabited by a certain group of people.

Then a different group came from a different nation, from the west.

Most of the villages chased these newcomers away,

but a small number accepted them.

The westerners had valuable knowledge.

How to enrich the fields.

How to get rid of pests.

I guess some villagers understood the value in that.

But then, others invaded, trying to steal the rich farmland.

As that process repeated, they began moving their village deeper into the forest.

Quietly, like they were sneaking away.

What about this fox god?

The fox represents the westerners who brought knowledge,

and are the ancestors of this village.

I hear the foxes here are white.

The masks were white at first, right?

Painting colors on the masks

represents how the newcomers settled and took on the colors of the region.

I see.

Does the white fox represent pale skin?

And through intermarriage, the colors change...

Hmm?

Where have I heard that before?

Many of the men here have trouble differentiating colors.

Huh?

It's rarer in women.

So, that's why they paint around the eyes in green instead of red.

Shisui, too.

The Mother Royal, who came to the city.

The people of the white fox, who built a hidden village deep in the forest.

They must both have been from the same group of people who came from the west...

Maomao, you can leave your mask here.

What happens to these masks?

They're enshrined for a year, and then we burn them.

This way, come on!

Come get some food!

There are food stalls, too?

Alright, thank you!

Yeah. Want something to eat?

If you're buying, sure.

How about meat skewers, then?

Frogs and locusts...

Which one do you want, Maomao?

I'll have the locusts!

Locusts at this time of the year are so plump and yummy!

I'll have the chicken.

Not the frog?

I don't want to see frogs for a while...

Hurry!

Have you never eaten insects before?

I didn't see them at the pleasure district's food stalls.

Like I said, that's gross.

Yuck, that one was a grasshopper!

They look the same to me.

They're totally different!

These are tasty.

I can't tell the difference...

Look, inside the shrine!

A child?

That must be Kyou-u.

Every year, a child plays the role of the god like that.

I see.

Coming to think of it, that brat did paint a really pretty mask.

I'm impressed that he can sit so still, though.

They take turns throughout the night like that. Everyone wants to volunteer.

It makes for a good memory, too.

I think it's just about time for them to switch.

Let's wait for him out back.

Check this out!

What is this?

What's wrong?

Oh.

This ear of rice is empty. The one the village elder gave us.

That field never grows well.

And the elder only gives us rice from that field. How cheap.

Sheesh.

Well, better luck next year.

Would this one work better?

What? Are you sure?

Yay, thanks!

No fair!

You're a nice person, Maomao.

Not really. There's no point in me holding on to it.

Big Sis!

How'd I do?

You did good!

If only my mother could've seen.

He doesn't live with his mother?

Come on, let's go watch them burn the masks from last year.

Hey, what'd you wish for?

Wish?

They say when you write your wish on a mask,

the wish comes true as the mask burns, and the wish rises to the heavens.

You didn't write one?

I only learned just now.

I didn't think you believed in superstitions like that, Maomao.

It's not a superstition! The wishes really come true!

That's why I spent a lot of time and effort painting my mask and writing my wish.

What did you write?

I'll never say!

Whatever.

Look, here they come!

Kyou-u, didn't you want to play that role?

I'm not a little kid, so I'll let the others do it!

How mature of you.

He's trying real hard.

Was your mask there, Kyou-u?

I can't tell.

I hope it burns up properly.

The ungranted wishes sink to the bottom to feed the next harvest.

Insects never survive the winter. They only leave behind their children.

I'm home!

You're back. Do you want dinner?

Yes!

How was the festival?

Well, when we got there, Kyou-u was inside, and...

What?

You promised me something.

The resurrection potion.

Yes.

Do you understand your situation right now?

I'm technically a hostage, but I'm not restricted at all.

Do they think there's no point in me trying to escape? Or is there another reason?

The way these two are behaving raises so many questions.

But what's more concerning right now is...

Fine.

Is it thornapple and blowfish?! At what ratio?!

Anything else?!

What's the correct amount?!

Also, how was your body after coming back to life?!

How long did it take to regain consciousness? Could you move right away?!

I don't think thornapple is needed.

It's not?

It was included in the foreign recipe, but it's for extending the near-death state.

They likely added it to render people unconscious, so they'd be easier to enslave.

That's what it was originally for.

I was able to get away with just this, but if you fail, you lose your memory.

There's a lot more room for improvement before trying this on humans—

Please use me!

I won't try it on you.

Why not?! Go right ahead!

You're a hostage...

I'm glad you guys get along.

Neither of you have many friends.

Shut up.

Silence.

You and Shisui are close.

Does it appear so?

Yes.

I have so many questions for Shisui...

Why did she bring me here? What's the end goal of all this?

And... who are these two, really?

Th-These are all about herbs...?!

Yes. I'll be away for a while.

There are guards outside. Don't even think of escaping.

I doubt she'd try!

Why are they watching you? What'd you do?

Maomao, your breakfast is getting cold.

I'll have it later.

Oh, come on!

Here, get changed. I'll help.

Wow, how lazy. How is she so stuck up?

She's like Lady Shenmei.

Shenmei?

There, all done!

Kyou-u, you clean up the dishes.

What?!

Isn't he from a rich family or something?

The prosperous inevitably decay. Who knows if he can stay that way?

I guess so.

Maomao, where's that hair stick from yesterday?

By my bed.

You're treating it so casually.

This is a really nice hair stick. You need to be more careful, or it'll get stolen.

Do you think it'd fetch a good price?

Maybe, but...

The intricate patterns and everything make it look really exquisite.

I think someone with the right eyes could see it and tell who ordered it.

Guess I can't sell it, then.

Given how obsessive that guy is, it might come right back.

You'd have to crush it back down to its metal.

That seems wasteful.

It needs a little more.

There, that's good.

You're good at this.

Yep. I get beaten if I'm too slow.

Beaten?

I have to give good massages too, otherwise I get hot water thrown on me.

That's why I learned really quickly.

That's scary. You had a terrible master.

Not a master. It was my mother.

I don't want you to get in trouble, Maomao, so stay put, okay?

I've gotta leave for a while today, too.

Has it been about six hours now?

Impressive. I can see all the way outside the village.

The rice is unharvested in just that section.

In fact, it's still green?

Is that the storehouse for the rice next to it?

Come to think of it...

That field never grows well.

Is that the field he was talking about?

Such a perfectly square shape, too.

Could it be...

Hey, Big Sis!

What are you doing?

Open doors more quietly.

Ow, ow!

Anyway, where's my big sis?

I don't know.

Hey, do you know what that building is?

Hmm? Oh, that's the village elder's old storehouse.

They built a new one with raised floors to keep the rats out,

so I don't think they still use that one.

I see.

Is it possible to go there?

But they're watching you, right?

I mean, I guess it's possible, but...

Really?! How?

Ugh, fine. I'll show you.

My secret passage that I use to get out of studying!

He really is a little shit.

What are you doing?

I want to check something.

Does this section not get enough nutrients?

I don't think that's it.

How do you know?

The widths of this window and this section of immature rice are about the same.

This section gets light all night, coming from that window.

Does light prevent growth?

Usually, they say plants grow better in good sunlight.

But when plants are exposed to bright light continuously,

it sometimes messes up their growth.

I see.

Similar to how, by altering the environment,

I could get flowers to blossom out of season.

You said there are rats here, right?

Yeah. I heard even setting lots of traps didn't help.

So, an infinite supply of rats.

Suirei said the drug needed improvements before it could be tested on humans.

So, I guess she tested it on small animals that are easy to catch.

What a troublesome brat.

What do you think is inside?

Hmm. Well, I have a few guesses.

Ew, rats.

This must be where she ran her tests, like I thought.

Oh, how I'd love to take all of this with me!

No, now's not the time for that!

What's this?

Metal tubes? A ton of them, too.

What is this doing here?

I didn't expect this at all.

Yikes. This is like...

A full-blown feifa workshop.

The same ones that the assassins used on Master Jinshi...

Oh? I wonder why the door was unlocked.

Did someone forget to lock it?

No, that's impossible.

And yet it was unlocked. Who was in charge of locking it?

Oh no, it's Lady Shenmei...

How very strange.

Is there a problem?

That's the special envoy from back then.

Not at all, Lady Ayla. It's nothing.

It was just my imagination.

Though it seems a pair of filthy rats have snuck in.

L-Lady Shenmei...

So this...

is Shenmei.

Next Time

Episode 44: The Stronghold

Next time: "The Stronghold."