Light Novel Volume 05

Volume 5

Japanese
English

Japanese

薬屋のひとりごと５

Romaji

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 5

Trans. Title

Apothecary's Monologue 5

English

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 5

Cover Character(s)
Jinshi

Release Info

Format

Light Novel

Release (JP)

April 30, 2016 (Hero Bunko)

ISBN (JP)

ISBN-13：ISBN 9784074169474
ISBN-10：ISBN 4-074-16947-9

Pages (JP)

376

Release (EN)

Digital：May 9, 2022 (J-Novel Club)
Print：Expected May 6, 2025 (Square Enix Manga & Books)

ISBN (EN)

ISBN-13：ISBN 978-1-64-609324-3
ISBN-10：ISBN 1-64609-324-0

Pages (EN)

336

Adapted

From
To

Web Novel

Chapter ?-?

Manga

Main：No manga adaptation yet
Notebook：Ch.86-

Volumes
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Volume 4	Volume 6

"The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 5" ( 薬屋のひとりごと５, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 5 ) is the 5th volume of the The Apothecary Diaries light novel series written by Natsu Hyūga and illustrated by Touko Shino. It was first published in Japan on April 30, 2016. The translated digital English version was published via J-Novel Club on May 9, 2022. The translated print English version is expected to be published on May 6, 2025.

Blurb[]

The political situation at court has changed: the birth of Gyokuyou's son has seen her elevated to the status of Empress, and meanwhile Jinshi is no longer able to continue his pretense at the Inner Court. Although all seems peaceful after the destruction of the Shi clan, threats continue to loom — not least a potential plague of insects—and Maomao, as ever, somehow finds herself caught up in them. When Jinshi orders an expedition to Gyokuyou's homeland, Maomao heads west. But is there something lurking in the shadows of the glittering city? And will Maomao be able to discover what it is before it's too late?

Chapters[]

Prologue
Chapter 1: Locusts (蝗, Inago^?)
Chapter 2: Ukyou (右叫, Ukyou^?)
Chapter 3: Sleep (眠り, Nemuri^?)
Chapter 4: The Fire-Rat Cloak (火鼠の皮衣, Hinezumi no Kawagoromo^?)
Chapter 5: Let Them Eat Cake (麺麭がなければ, Pan ga nakereba^?)
Chapter 6: The Last Volume (最後の冊, Saigo no Satsu^?)
Chapter 7: The White-Snake Immortal (白蛇仙女, Shirohebi Senjo^?)
Chapter 8: Proficiencies (向き不向き, Mukifumuki^?)
Chapter 9: The Paper Village (紙の村, Kami no Mura^?)
Chapter 10: Hemp and Folk Religion (麻と民間信仰, Asa to Minkan Shinkō^?)
Chapter 11: Bandits (盗賊, Tōzoku^?)
Chapter 12: Problems Accumulate (積み重ねる問題, Tsumikasaneru Mondai^?)
Chapter 13: The Western Capital-Day 1 (西都　初日, Saito Hatsuhi^?)
Chapter 14: The Western Capital-Day 2 (西都　二日目, Saito Futsuka-me^?)
Chapter 15: The Banquet (Part One) (宴　前編, Utage Zenpen^?)
Chapter 16: The Banquet (Part Two) (宴　後編, Utage Kōhen^?)
Epilogue

Synopsis[]

The Verdigris House is stuck eating locusts for breakfast due to a bad harvest. Chou-u, whom now lives with Maomao, recovers some of his memories and makes detailed drawings of what normal locusts look like compared to locusts when there's a bad harvest.

This prompts Maomao to go to the bookstore, where she finds one of the books she had been reading in the Shi Clan fortress. She tracks down its origin and finds out it was supplied from the man who had guarded her cell and helped her escape from the taibon.^[1] The escaped man, who renames himself Sazen, confirms her suspicions of a coming locust plague, citing the ratio of grasshoppers to locusts being sold as food for evidence.

Maomao informs Jinshi about the encyclopedias, as she knows what a devastating insect plague would imply for their country's politics. The Emperor would fall out of favor with the people, because they would believe that the plague was a punishment from the heavens for putting down the Shi clan rebellion. As a result, she is determined to get her hands on the missing encyclopedia containing research on locusts.

The next day, Maomao first hears about the White Lady through a tale told by a shopkeeper when she is buying clothes for Chou-u at the market. Seeing through the mysterious woman's trick of a fireproof robe, she dismisses it as a tall tale.

In the Red Light District, Maomao checks up on the youngest daughter of a beggar, who became mute from unknowingly eating poisoned cakes. The family has little money because the father gambles all that his oldest daughter makes away, and after the younger daughter recovers, Maomao firmly insists that she must be reimbursed for her services because the Madam doesn't skimp on the charges for her rent. The older daughter sells herself to the Verdigris House to escape her father and pay for her younger sister's treatment. Chou-u quickly becomes friends with the mute girl, who becomes his sidekick and an apprentice courtesan for the Verdigris House.

Following the recovery of the lost encyclopedia, Maomao learns the formula for insecticide. Jinshi speculates that illegal deforestation in the Northern Province is the primary cause, as this had decreased the bird population, which prevented insect proliferation.

The Verdigris House experiences a drop in income because of the White Lady, who is putting on performances at the capital's largest theater. Lahan shows up at Verdigris House and invites Maomao to see it, after which Maomao quickly debunks all of the tricks used in the show. However, afterwards, the White Lady disappears without a trace.

Maomao learns that Sazen has a decent knowledge of medicinal herbs and decides to train him as an apothecary apprentice, just before she accompanying Jinshi and Basen on a sudden expedition to the Western Capital.

Their first stop is to visit the quack doctor's family who are embroiled in a dispute with their farmer landlords, who are threatening to evict them unless they pay up five years of rent. This is due to the fact that Jinshi has been raising taxes on grain to redistribute food to areas experiencing the locust plague. However, the possibility of lowering the taxes again is out of the question, so Maomao sees to it and she takes care of the dispute. She uses her high tolerance for alcohol to outdrink all the farmers on a bet, restoring the original rent contract and winning free rice for the Verdigris House.

The Emperor reveals to Gaoshun that he chose Empress Gyokuyou to become the Empress partially due to politics, with her father being the ruler of the Western Province. If war ever broke out, the Western Province would be considered crucial.

Jinshi's group travels on the same route as Ah-Duo, Consort Lishu, and Suirei. After a bandit attack, Maomao finds out that the reason why Lishu is there is because they were tasked with identifying a bride for Jinshi while on the expedition. Lishu asks Maomao to investigate if she is truly related to her father and the head of the U clan, Uryuu. Her father had been using her as a political tool, first as a consort to curry favor with the Former Emperor, then betrothing her to a governor. The Emperor and Ah-Duo intervened to have her be brought back into the Inner Court instead. Lishu is concerned that she may possibly be the Emperor's daughter, given her mother's friendship with Ah-Duo.

The White Lady had been up to some bizarre things since her disappearance; so far including, but not limited to: poisoning poor people by giving out free cakes in the Red Light District, getting people to worship white snakes, and passing out opium to people in the west, resulting in opium-addicted bandits who attacked Ah-Duo and Lishu's carriage on the way to the Western Capital.

Upon arriving at Gyokuen's mansion at the Western Capital, Lishu's older half-sister angrily yells at and slaps her. Maomao realizes it is possible that her older half-sister is the one who sent bandits to attack them.

Lahan and Rikuson are also staying in the Western Capital and show Maomao wanted posters of the White Lady and another man. They identify the other man as a merchant with connections to the White Lady.

Maomao attends the banquet as an officially recognized member of the La Clan. At the banquet, Aylin approaches Lahan, who is trying to find a way to pay off the La family debt from the prior property damage caused by Lakan. She asks him to send grain exports to Shaoh in anticipation of an insect plague, and in case the aid fails, to give her political asylum.

While at the banquet, someone spills perfume on Lishu in passing. A lion that had been brought to the banquet to be given as a gift breaks out of its cage and targets Lishu. Basen defends Lishu with an iron bar from the lion and in the process, accidentally scratches Uryuu's face. While conducting a physical examination, Maomao uses this opportunity to confirm the biological relationship between Uryuu and Lishu through examination of their dental traits.