186 5.75 Sango And Kohaku Moved Into Jiyu Residence!

The four of us had reached the outskirts of Kitakata Village and Kinrara that had transformed into a Bakeneko earlier to transport Sango and Kohaku on its back had transformed back into a nekomata. Hiko-sama and I dismounted from our horses and walked together with them and headed to the perimeter of the village.

The moment Sango and Kohaku saw the village that was expanding due to the development of future residential dwellings, they were awed at the number of men working on the grounds.

"Himura, are these men working to make new plots for land development for new residents you were telling us about? Wow... It is no joke! So many workers here and so many people in this town. We have never been here before and most of the villages we had been are mainly smaller settlements like a few thousand people."

"Yes, Himura...The settlements that we had been are normally targeted by Youkai but in a village of this magnitude, the youkai normally stay at a further distance because of a barrier that was created by a Hoshi assigned in this village."

"Sango-Chan, Kohaku... I didn't know that a barrier is installed here in this village by a Hoshi. What does it actually do?"

"If a youkai enters this village, their powers will be significantly decreased and would be easily defeated by a few Youkai Taijiya or at least a dozen soldiers. They would not be able to exercise their full prowess upon entering this village and that's the good point of it."

"Yes, Himura. That's why youkai seemed to be abundant near small settlements and not a town like this because of the spirit and willpower of its residents would be too overwhelming for them."

"No wonder Hiten and Manten didn't approach our village that time and was wondering a few distances over at the duelling grounds and also happened to be an abandoned final resting place. A cemetery..."

"What's a duelling place?" asked Kohaku who was curious about a place that only existed in Kitakata Village.

"A duelling place is a dedicated ground for those who wished to settle their differences. It is at the northern side of town where a separate gate was assigned to access that area. Normally duellers would either end up as victory or losers or even both may end up as losers that lost their lives." Hiko-sama explained in detail as Kirara was carried in Kohaku's as it felt a bit affected by the village's protection barrier.

"There is a rule here in this town that no one is allowed to draw their weapons, and the moment a person draws its weapons from the sheath, patrolmen would appear from nowhere and apprehend the offenders. This applies only to bladed weapons like Kodachi, katana, shortswords, sabres and even a dagger or karambit."

"How about this Kurisagama that Kohaku is holding next to his obi?" Sango asked with concern as the weapon that Kohaku carried had no sheath whatsoever.

"Don't worry about it, a Kurisagama is considered as a low-level threat cold weapon and normally these are handled by farmers, same like rakes, shovels and hoes."

Sango and Kohaku felt relieved at the reply that was given by Hiko-sama. As we walked through the outermost District, the residents greeted us and we replied. It's was a busy district with the residents who weren't employed milling about to perform their daily task.

As we walked, Hiko-sama explains how this village had separated the residential district into 5 clusters, the governmental employees and their families in the first, the nobles on the second cluster , those serving the Mayor as a Samurai or Imperial Guards on the third cluster, the commoners on the fourth and lastly the plebs or General workers.

Hiko-sama explained that the plebs on the outermost cluster had been coined as commoners now since they had been employed by a corporation here, had permanent jobs and salaries, improved their standard of living as well as being accepted as residents of Kitakata. Previously, they were considered as an outcast of society.

"It is pretty warm here in this town, we have to remove the battle gear that we are wearing underneath our kimono. And change back into this. Its a practise that we do and be ready for battle at a moments notice, can we, Oneesama?"

"It's a good idea, Kohaku. Furthermore, with a protective barrier installed, we won't be expecting any trouble. Look at Kirara, even it had become a normal nekomata already."

Sango showed to us Kirara, that had turned docile due to the effect of the protective barrier and turned into a cute little two-tailed cat.

When we reached our corporation grounds, both Sango and Kohaku were witnessing hundred of workers laying out the foundation of buildings and were erecting the skeletal structure of barns, as what Kohaku termed them.

"Ohh...who is building so many barns for? Is this a residential project or part of keeping animals and livestock like horses, cattle and sheep?"

"Hehehehe...That's what people would see when they see these buildings that resemble barns. Come, follow us into this barn here and you would get your answer." I said as I beckoned them through the courtyard and went into a warehouse where they were producing Hae Shanpu. The moment both Sango and Kohaku entered, the mixed scents of fruits trailed into their nostrils and they were refreshed and felt invigorated and energised.

"Wow... So many people working here! And all are girls. These are the residents from the outermost cluster?"

"Yes Sango-Chan, these are the residents from the outermost District. They are working here on their 2nd shift now and what they are making is a product called Hae Shanpu. It's a variety of 10 different scents and were offered at discounted prices for the residents on the 4th and 5th District."

"It smelled so nice! It's like fresh fruits that you could find all season, and you shower in them?" asked Sango in excitement as the thought of shampooing her hair whenever she has a shower excites her.

"ROOM! Good afternoon Senpai!" a girl greeted and all work halted for a moment as they stood up and greeted us before continuing their work again.

"Hello, Senpai! How are you? You brought visitors here in this production line?" asked Izumi and I introduced Sango and Kohaku to the newly appointed Plant Manager.

"Ah... These are our friends from a nearby village. It's a small settlement and they would be here in Kitakata and putting up with you in Jiyu Residence. Hmm, could you arrange for their accommodation when they are here?" I asked Izumi to assist our new visitors to Jiyu Residence as they would be sharing a room together.

"No problem, Senpai. I would allocate Hanna and Gin's room to accommodate them, by the way, my name is Izumi and this is Riko. What's yours?"

"Eh... Eh... They have a cute cat! Even if the cat looks weird with an extra tail... Meong meong... What is your name?! Wheee... It looks so fluffy!" that's Riko, as usual, shooting off her mouth in a friendly manner.

"Oh, I am Sango and this is my brother, Kohaku... And this nekomata here is Kirara. Nice to meet you too!" they both exchanged pleasantries and when Riko was petting Kirara close to Kohaku, he felt a little embarrassed because this is his first time being so close to a girl his age.

"Senpai... Can I play with Kohaku and Kirara after work? Can I, please? This cat is so cute... I have some grilled saba, I think Kirara would love some!" pleaded Riko with her hands clutched together under her chin.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.

"Hahahaha... You have a lot of time in the morning before your shift. They had travelled from far and is tired from the great distance, let them rest first and you can play with Kohaku and Kirara in the morning." I advised and Riko pouted in a fake disappointed manner.

"Okay, we get back to walk the grounds first and help out the rest if they needed. We meet again, Kohaku, Kirara and Sango-Chan!" Riko said to us, bowed and left to continue helping the production line in mixing another cauldron with coconut, olive and lye mixture with the assistance of the storekeeper.

"Wow...! I am amazed...! You mean these barns had these girls working to produce these products? The same goes to the rest of the barns too?" asked Sango in utter amazement.

"Yes, we have 4 warehouses or factories as what we refer to them as, and each warehouse served its own purpose. Once the workers had built another 12 more warehouses, we would have a complete line of products that would change the face of the industrialisation era, starting from this humble village here in Fukushima."

"That's so wonderful. So is this warehouse managed by you as their General Manager?" asked Sango while she peered at the production like and all were seen so happily working.

"Hahahaha... Sango. This kid here is the founder of this whole set up. Without his brainy little innovative thinking of his, he wouldn't be able to bring progress to this village at all!" said Hiko-sama as he places me in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles on my head as I chuckled every time he does that.

Sango and Kohaku watched us in total speechlessness as it had never crossed their minds that this boy, with the same age of Kohaku, is the founder of this place. Kohaku wanted to be held in a headlock and be rubbed the same way as me and looked at Sango with his pleading eyes and asking for one too.

"Hahaha... Come, let's have some tea first before we have dinner together. We normally have our meals here in the garden, while the workers took turns to have theirs too." Hiko-sama explained as he ushered us out of the warehouse and into our grounds where Jiyu Residence was situated.

The 'aunties' greeted us and asked if we would like to have a bite first and we said OK as today the 'aunties' had prepared yet another colourful afternoon tea.

The 'aunties' served us with a snack that was made from tapioca that was boiled down before being mashed with a little bit of tapioca flour. It was then steamed with screw pine extract and some food colouring, adding exciting colours to the otherwise bland colour. It was then cut into squares and rolled in grated coconut and served on a plate for the 4 of us with a pot of green tea.

This was the first time such a delectable afternoon snack as it was adorned in yellow, green and pink. It was like a Mitarashi Dango but with made of tapioca instead. It was simply a delight and both Sango and Kohaku were licking their fingers as they used their fingers to eat instead of using chopsticks.

"Hmm... This snack is very nice. We never had this before in our lives and it is pretty nice when we can still bite and chew the tapioca pieces in it. It looked like Dango but this is much better than Dango. The cooks really put in their effort in making this snack available for the employees here!"

"Mmmm... Mmmm... Very nice Oneesama! If this is made to be very nice, I am sure the employees here would be very happy too! I like it, even Kirara likes it as well."

Kohaku had let Kirara a small bit to taste and initially the piece had gotten stuck between its teeth and after using its paws to dislodged it, she resumes eating it. After it had finished eating, it sniffed around to ask for more and Kohaku petted it's head and said it is for a trial tasting only. More would come in the days to come.

I watched Kohaku and felt happy for him, for one thing, he would be happy in this village as he would be able to make many friends around his age group especially when he made as his number one close friend.

We chatted on how this corporation was built and how we acquired the land beside us to make another 3 more warehouses. After that the small intervention by the Mayor and how he had gotten to be our closest ally even after a failed attempted assassination against us.

Both Sango and Kohaku were shocked when they heard about the attempted assassination and how easily we dismissed the little incident. When Hiko-sama narrated what I had done to the line ranger that tries to assassinate us, both Sango and Kohaku turned wide eyes before they laughed hysterically at how silly I was to stick a stick up that wrinkly butt hole. Hahahahaha!

Our dinner came after the 'aunties' had served the first batch of expecting employees as they ate in groups of 4 in the open-air sheltered meal area. Our dinner came and it was steamed rice with scrambled eggs and long beans inside it, sweet and sour fried, battered fish pieces that had tomatoes, pineapple and cucumber in it with a slight tangy vinegar taste in it. We also had a large bowl of potatoes soup with bits of grilled saba fish which excited Kirara most.

"Waaahhh....! Such a feast! We normally eat one dish or at most 2 dishes at home prepared our by our local cook, but meal before us really is fit for a noble!" Sango remarked as soon as the food was served to us.

"Its a compilation of suggestions made by our employees here on what they would like to eat for lunch and dinner. Every month they would put in their suggestions and the cooks would strike out those duplicates ones and prepare them according to for lunch or dinner. It was a practise so that the cooks were able to practise on their cooking as well as fulfilling the employees' wishes that made them happy working here in this corporation."

When they head that the Mayor also drops by time to time to have his lunches here, they were even surprised because they thought that high ranking personnel wouldn't even want to eat with the common residents.

Riko had somehow left her post and sat down with Kohaku after we had dinner and petted Kirara's head which made Kohaku embarrassed since he never had a girl sitting beside him so close before. He even let Riko cradle Kirara which seemed full after having bits and pieces of grilled saba fish and a piece of potato that it tried to eat after being made into small nibble size.

Kohaku let Riko hold Kirara as it snuggled close to her lap and seemed satisfied after having the saba fish for its dinner.

"Can we sleep together later?" Riko opened up a question and the moment the words escaped from her lips, even though it sounded harmless, but to many others, it sounded that Kohaku would anytime lose his virginity in Kitakata Village!

Such a misunderstood statement that made Kohaku's face slowly crept with an alarming red blush as if he was holding his breath and dared not to exhale when he heard the request made by Riko!

Sango laughed at his brother as she too had a tinge of redness at her cheeks as she thought of Kohaku being 'deflowered' by a girl his age.

"We would be having a light supper soon prepared by the cooks. If you need anything else please feel free to order from the yatai sellers and we would gladly pay for it."

Riko bade Kohaku and Kirara as she went about her duties, going around and rendering assistance to the employees making sure that the supplies were adequately replenished and work continues to run 24 hours a day.

"Supper? We are going to have supper? We just had our dinners! Eat again? Is this novel all about eating just like 'Gourmet Of Another World?"

Kirara ears perked up in hearing the word supper as it purred and snuggle in Kohaku's laps as it dreamt of having supper after its wonderful dinner. If Kirara was a Bakeneko, a whole chicken meal would not be enough and since it was in its normal form, nibbles if food definitely makes Kirara happy!

At about 730pm, the 'aunties' were putting their huge woks over the fire and were putting in corn kernels with a little bit of animal fat and salt and were covering the top with a saucepan. Later pops and crackles were heard from where they were and small wicker baskets of stacked and liked with oil-proof paper as popcorns were served.

Basketful of yellowish golden popcorn was placed in on the tables and 2 people would share one of this light supper meal. After the 'aunties' had made about 20 baskets on the table, the rest went into a very large basket to serve the second batch of employees.

A fairly medium basket was then served and Kirara hopped on the table and looked longingly at the popcorn that had just served.

"Come... Let's eat this freshly made popcorn. Its part of my idea to make these since its a very light snack. Here, Kirara can have a piece first and see how it enjoyed such a simple and yet delectable light supper."

I gave Kirara a piece and she took it carefully from my hands but outstretching her paws and used a claw and slowly retrieved it from me. It places the popcorn before here and took a bite and was happily gnawing at it.

"Haiyo... This Kirara. What we eat, it will also want to eat as well. It will grow fat very soon and can't transform as a sleek Bakeneko and instead looked like a whale in the air instead of a fearsome cat!" joked Sango as she petted its head and it looked at Sango as she had made her remark and looked a bit offended.

We laughed as we dug into the pile of popcorn with our hands and ate them. This was the first for Sango and Kohaku and decided to bring this snack's recipe back to the Youkai Taijiya Village. Kirara was also quite contented as she mewed that sounded like "peww...peww..." to me as she took piece after piece of popcorn.

It was late in the evening as the 4 of us had our fill. I asked one of the employees to look for Izumi and Riko. Soon the duo arrived, and I told them to accommodate Sango, Kohaku and Kirara back to Jiyu Residence for a room to stay.

They bade goodnight and went along with Izumi and Riko and the moment Sango and Kohaku stepped into the house, I could hear squeals of delight coming from that house that sounded unmistakably like Gin, that had wanted to own a cat but had no time to look for one.