The Old Men of Omi by I. J. Parker

scrape already?”
    This calm and gentle rebuke irritated Tora, who thought it typical of the “good people” to remain unmoved by the plight of the poor. He scowled. “No, sir. This is about those monks again. Of course if you’ve decided you don’t want to be bothered, then no more is to be said.”
    Akitada sighed. “What have they done this time?”
    But Tora had his pride and outrage reinforced it. “Never mind, sir. I’ll take care of it myself.” He turned on his heel. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
    “Tora!”
    The tone was preemptory and Tora stopped. “Yes, sir?”
    “Tell me!”
    “I suppose it’s not really important, sir. It just involves some poor people. Nobody else cares, so why should you?”
    “Tora!” His master’s voice and expression signaled danger.
    “It’s just that they came back and got the poor bastard. First they beat him unconscious and dragged him off, then they came back and took turns raping his wife. They’ll make her go back to their land and work the family as slaves.”
    His master’s face lengthened. “How did you find out?”
    “I went to check on him with the harbor master. He hadn’t come to work. I found out where he lives and went there. An old crone told me what happened, and the poor wife confirmed it. The old one’s taken them to a safe place, but we need to get Kinzaburo back from those bastards.” He paused, remembering the scene. “There are three small children, one a babe. They have nothing. And those animals even destroyed their few pots, clothes, and bedding.”
    There was a long silence. Then Akitada asked, “Does the governor know about this?”
    “No. I told Okura. He’s the sergeant of the provincial guard. I liked him, but he’s just like the rest of the people here. Nothing to be done because it’s monks from Enryaku-ji. Okura says the governor will not touch them.” Tora sniffed angrily. “I must say I’m surprised at his Excellency, sir.”
    “Well, there are special difficulties about Enryaku-ji. The temple and monastery are of extraordinary importance in the capital. And it has been this way for centuries.” Seeing Tora’s angry glare, he went on, “Over time, the temple bought land to support itself and its community. Such lands are considered tax free because of the services performed by the temple and its monks. As for the peasants who work the land belonging to someone else, they are legally bound to that land. If it weren’t so, peasants could leave their fields whenever it suited them, and then where would we be?”
    Tora came of peasant stock himself, and old resentments rose within him. “That makes slaves out of free men,” he snapped. “That’s usually only done to people captured in war, or those who sell themselves. It’s evil to force Kinzaburo to work for the temple when he doesn’t want to. But I suppose it’s all right for the officials and holy monks to do it. After all, they’re better than ordinary folk.”
    His master snapped, “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not the same at all. They’ve been given land to feed their families in return for a small share for the landowner. That’s a fair contract. And for that, they owe the landowner the cultivation of the fields. If peasants don’t work the paddies, the land returns to wilderness and nobody eats.”
    Tora bit his lip. “Right. I’ll be leaving now, sir,” he said dully and turned. He half expected to be called back. After all, the master had not really commented on the brutality of the beating and the rapes. But there was nothing. He walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Chapter Ten

An Unwelcome Visitor
    On the way back to the capital, Tora considered his options. Given his master’s surprising and disappointing indifference to the actions of the sohei , he could either forget the matter or try to help the unfortunate Kinzaburo and his family himself.
    Forgetting about them was out of the question. For one thing, Tora hated brutality,