Light Novel Volume 10

Volume 10

Japanese
English

Japanese

薬屋のひとりごと１０

Romaji

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 10

Trans. Title

Apothecary's Monologue 10

English

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 10

Cover Character(s)
Maomao

Release Info

Format

Light Novel

Release (JP)

January 29, 2021

ISBN (JP)

ISBN-13：ISBN 978-4-07-447215-4
ISBN-10：ISBN 4-074-47215-5

Pages (JP)

376

Release (EN)

Digital：January 17, 2024 (J-Novel Club)

ISBN (EN)

ISBN-13：ISBN 978-1-71-836134-8
ISBN-10：ISBN 1-718-36134-3

Volumes
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Volume 9	Volume 11

"The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 10" ( 薬屋のひとりごと１０, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 10 ) is the 10th 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 January 29, 2021. The translated digital English version was published via J-Novel Club on January 17, 2024.

Blurb[]

Maomao finds herself once more in the western capital. She tries to focus on her work — which isn't made any easier when she's paired with not just the quack doctor but the smart-mouthed young physician Tianyu. Meanwhile, Jinshi might be the Imperial younger brother, but the western capital has its own hierarchies, both obvious and hidden. He and the other visitors from the court will have to navigate these halls of power even more carefully than usual, lest they run afoul of enemies they don’t even know they have. Over it all looms the threat of the insect plague, which seems insurmountable — until one man claims to know how to counter the menace. His method is intimately connected to secrets buried deep in the region's past.

Chapters[]

Prologue
Chapter 1: Return to the Western Capital (二度目の西都, Nidome no Saito^?)
Chapter 2: Boss and Former Boss (上司と元上司, Jōshi to Moto Jōshi^?)
Chapter 3: The Annex and The Forgotten Man (別邸と忘れられた男, Bettei to Wasurerareta Otoko^?)
Chapter 4: Spring Comes to Basen (Part One) (馬閃青春記前編, Basen Seishun-ki Zenpen^?)
Chapter 5: Spring Comes to Basen (Part Two) (馬閃青春記後編, Basen Seishun-ki Kōhen^?)
Chapter 6: The Farm Village (Part One) (農村視察前編, Nouson Shisatsu Zenpen^?)
Chapter 7: The Farm Village (Part Two) (農村視察後編, Nouson Shisatsu Kōhen^?)
Chapter 8: An Old Man's Ramblings (老人の昔話, Roujin no Mukashibanashi^?)
Chapter 9: Rite and Ritual (祀と祭, Matsuri to Matsuri^?)
Chapter 10: Results Reported (結果報告, Kekka Hōkoku^?)
Chapter 11: The Feitouman (Part One) (飛頭蛮前編, Hitōban Zenpen^?)
Chapter 12: The Feitouman (Part Two) (飛頭蛮後編, Hitōban Kōhen^?)
Chapter 13: The Windreader Tribe (風読みの民, Kazeyomi no Tami^?)
Chapter 14: The Past and The Possible (おさらいと可能性, Osarai to Kanōsei^?)
Chapter 15: The Short Straw (貧乏籤, Binbōkuji^?)
Chapter 16: A Moment's Peace (つかの間の平穏, Tsuka no Ma no Heion^?)
Chapter 17: Disaster (Part One) (災禍前編, Saika Zenpen^?)
Chapter 18: Disaster (Part Two) (災禍後編, Saika Kōhen^?)
Chapter 19: Scratches (爪痕, Tsumeato^?)
Chapter 20: Confirmation (確認, Kakunin^?)
Epilogue

Synopsis[]

Maomao and Chue arrive at the western capital's administrative office, along with the other doctors. There, they split up for assignments at the administrative office, main house, and annex. Tianyu joins Maomao and the quack doctor at the annex, with Lihaku as their bodyguard. They bump into Rikuson, whom Maomao notices has mud on his clothes, before separating.

Having just returned from touring several farming villages, Rikuson cleans himself up at the administrative office, before greeting Lakan and Onsou at a private welcome banquet hosted by Gyoku-ou. Onsou comments on Rikuson's quick change to a western lifestyle. Chue, serving as Lakan's food taster, ends up eating most of his food, to Onsou's dismay.

As Maomao's group settles into the annex, they meet with Lahan's Brother, who had been sent to the western capital to teach villagers how to grow both sweet and regular potatoes. During Jinshi's checkup, Maomao and Jinshi discuss plans to inspect the nearby villages for signs of locust plague. Maomao requests to accompany Lahan's Brother when he visits the villages, to which Gaoshun suggests that she wait until Basen arrives to depart.

Meanwhile, Basen receives orders from Jinshi to learn how to raise ducks. He studies at Red Plum Village, a stretch of land outside of the Royal Capital dedicated to agricultural research. To his surprise, his teacher is Lishu, who arrived there after her banishment from the rear palace. Though Basen expresses his dissatisfaction at Lishu's current lifestyle, she admits that she is content with it. Over the course of several months, Basen continuously raises ducks and distributes them to farming villages. One duck, later named Jofu, imprints on him. On his penultimate visit to Red Plum Village, Basen asks Lishu to travel with him overland to the western capital but takes it back immediately, to her confusion.

Maamei encourages Basen to be upfront in choosing his wife after realizing he has feelings for someone. On his last visit to Red Plum Village, Basen repeats his question to Lishu, who declines due to a lack of confidence. They agree to meet again after Basen's journey to the western capital.

Basen arrives at the western capital three days later. With Lahan's Brother having gone ahead to a village with a wagon carrying potatoes, Chue joins Maomao and Basen on horseback, and gives Maomao an embroidered cloak to wear while riding. While taking a lunch break near a river, Maomao comments on their lack of a guide. They are ambushed by bandits, though Basen easily dispatches them. Once they catch up with Lahan's Brother and arrive at the village, the village headman confirms that Rikuson was previously there.

Maomao questions Chue on the group split-up, the timing of the bandits, and why she wore the cloak, to which Chue did to draw out a guide who was working with the bandits. In turn, Chue requests Maomao to not treat her any differently.

The next day, Lahan's Brother inspects the field quality in preparation for growing potatoes, while annoyed at the village's apparent lack of farming knowledge. At breakfast, Maomao notes that the villagers might be intentionally trying to not improve their harvests, due to some other factor. They bribe two kids with sweet potatoes, who mention that money can be earned simply by starting a field.

Lahan's Brother then notices a well-planted field, managed by Nianzhen, a heavily scarred old man. On hearing Maomao mention Rikuson, Nianzhen invites her group into his house, and confirms that Rikuson helped him with a ritual. After Maomao correctly guesses a riddle, he shares how he came to be a farmer: Over 50 years ago, Nianzhen was part of a nomad tribe that engaged in banditry. Due to the son of the tribe's chieftain wanting someone from the Windreader tribe for a wife, the tribe massacred the Windreaders in the middle of their ritual, killed their birds, and took the children and young women captive. A few years later, a large-scale locust plague occurred, leading to widespread famine. Nianzhen was eventually caught, mutilated, and forced to become a serf to replace the Windreaders. Even after the Yi clan fell, he alone continued a part of their ritual in penance and fear of a future locust plague.

Nianzhen describes the ritual, which Lahan's Brother reveals is simply post-harvest plowing in the fall to improve soil quality and eliminate insect eggs. He also brings up the Windreaders' birds, which were used to find insects instead of eating them. Maomao's group helps Nianzhen in his fieldwork, by plowing the field, allowing chickens (and Jofu) to eat any uncovered insect eggs, and destroying grasshopper eggs. Nianzhen also complains about the apathy the villagers hold toward farming, knowing that the governor will bail them out.

Thus, to share Nianzhen's ritual with the rest of the village, Maomao's group prepares a feast and conducts a ceremony to honor the gods. The villagers are not convinced, until Maomao displays her ability to change the color of fire, to "show" that this is truly the god's will.

Maomao's group (except Lahan's Brother) returns to the western capital. En route to Jinshi's room for his exam, Chue explains to Maomao that a flying head was recently seen in the annex, but she is skeptical. While changing the dressing on Jinshi's burn, Maomao recounts what happened during her visit to the village. After both agree that the birds the Windreaders used were pigeons, Jinshi reveals that he has been using pigeons to send messages, starting with the Empress. He also shares his confusion regarding falsely inflated harvest numbers and the matriarchal Yi clan, who were destroyed due to their treachery. Maomao and Chue then encounter the flying head, to their surprise.

The next day, Lihaku informs Maomao that there is an ongoing investigation concerning the flying head, ordered by Jinshi. He also notes discrepancies between whether it was a flying head or mask, the latter of which Maomao saw. Maomao goes to the courtyard, where the flying head was most sighted. On and around an osmanthus tree, Maomao finds bird droppings, which contain mouse hairs, indicating a bird of prey. Maomao borrows a ladder, and Basen climbs up to catch a bird. Though he manages to locate its nest within the roof space, the bird escapes, but Chue quickly catches it with a net. The bird is later identified as an owl.

Back at Jinshi's room, Maomao surmises that the owl was the source of the flying 'mask' that people saw, and that the 'mask' became a 'head' based on visual perception. She notes the owl's domesticated behavior and ring on its leg, which allows Chue to catch a masked person dressed in black later in the night, when the owl starts making noises. Maomao suspects that this person dressed as the owl's 'mother' had raised it from birth.

Chue takes Maomao to the person, a young girl named Kulumu. Kulumu insists that the owl is her bird and that she wore her masked outfit with the intention of letting it back into the wild. However, her father sold the owl to Gyoku-ou's adopted daughter, but it later escaped to live in the annex. She also explains that her father was a relative to Gyoku-ou's mother, and that she herself is descended from the Windreader tribe. Her great-grandfather, who survived when half of the tribe was wiped out by bandits, passed down the knowledge of using pigeons. Maomao continues to have more questions, after Kulumu is sent home with her owl.

In a later conversation with Jinshi, Maomao speculates that the Windreaders used their birds to communicate, which served as their information network. After the massacre, the Yi clan kept the remaining Windreaders in cities to prevent them from sharing their knowledge, under the guise of protecting them. The empress regnant then destroyed the Yi clan for having their own private spies. Jinshi confirms that Gyoku-ou's mother was of the Windreader tribe. Chue also shares her suspicions on Rikuson's visit to the farming village, as he was attacked by bandits set by the same guide, but on the way back.

Lahan's Brother arrives back from teaching farming and growing potatoes at the farming village, only for Jinshi to request that he visit all the other villages to do the same as well. One month after he leaves, Maomao, Chue, and Basen join Rikuson on a trip back to the farming village. On the way, he explains that he originally toured the villages to investigate both the likelihood of a locust plague happening and the discrepancy in harvest numbers, as well as to learn about fall plowing. Suddenly, one of Jinshi's messengers catches up with their carriage, to deliver a drawing from Lahan's Brother matching Jazgul's prophecy: a locust swarm is coming.

At the village, Maomao attempts to convince the farmers to start harvesting to prepare for the imminent swarm, but only Nianzhen heeds her warning. The villagers only agree to do so after Rikuson offers to buy their wheat at double the market price as an incentive. Maomao's group then gets to work on helping the villagers harvest, insect-proof the houses, and make pesticide. Noticing a black cloud approaching, Maomao and Chue alert everyone.

The locusts immediately start swarming and biting at any exposed surface, despite everyone's best efforts at preparation. Amidst the resulting chaos, Maomao continues to make pesticide, with Rikuson urging her to stop once he sees her swollen hand. A sudden hailstorm over the village then strikes, slowing the locusts and knocking Maomao unconscious.

Maomao awakens inside a tent with Lihaku and Chue tending to her. Chue reports that though the villagers managed to save most of their harvest, other farming villages suffered significant damage, and that Lahan's Brother is still missing. Outside, the fields have largely been destroyed, and locusts continue to linger around. Rikuson agrees to abandon his promise to the villagers, as they could not afford to sell their wheat, to which he reveals to Maomao and Chue that he never intended to buy anything. He jokingly asks for her hand in marriage, after Maomao compliments his composure throughout the plague. Once Maomao prepares more pesticide for the village, she heads back to the western capital.

Returning to Jinshi's room in the similarly damaged capital, Maomao reports on the status of the village. Jinshi comments on his inability to openly help as a guest from the Central Province, with Gyoku-ou having taken credit for the distribution of potatoes. Later, he tries to be more comfortable with Maomao, who rushes out before he does any more.

At the Imperial Palace, Gyokuyou holds a tea party to adjust Yaqin, Gyoku-ou's adopted daughter, to her new life. She proceeds to reply to someone's message delivered by pigeon.