"Too much, too soon," Azuki murmured after Uncle had returned to his study. Uncle's school was barely established. She didn't want it to change. Azuki liked school. She put her rake in its place under the gallery. "I do wonder what the capital is like, though."

"That would be the place to get Western boots like Anko-san's," Renko commented as she slid hers in beside it.

Lady Anko, the daughter of their liege lord, the Sheriff Lord Eitaro, had spent many weeks of the ...