Section 7 "About Enma-tei's History"

Mr. Fujimaru! Mr. Fujimaru, chirp!

Can you spare some time right now!? Chirp chirp, can you!?

Chirp, please, I need your help! The wicked bird is back, and it's tearing up the Tribute Hall!

That feathered fowl is as foul as they come! Cheep, we need to stop it before it destroys the Enma-tei!

This sounds serious, Senpai...! What should we do!?

Chirp chirp! I knew I could count on you!

Don't lie, chirp. You wouldn't want me to get Madam Beni to cut out your tongue now, would you?

？！

I suppose we should hurry to the Tribute Hall! We can't let anything happen to the offering box!

BUH...BUH...BUH... BUH, BUH, BUH, BUH...

BUH-cawwwwwwk!!!

Wh-wh-wh-what a horrible shriek! Chirp chirp, it really is a demon trying to look like a bird! Please, chirp, kill it with holy fire!

...Um...

W-well, I suppose I can understand why this creature would be difficult for the sparrows to handle.

Anyway, let's just try to drive it away without going overboard, Master.

Can I get you some tea!? How about a sweet bean manjyu!? Chirp chirp, I'll sing you a song! And give you a shoulder rub!

I can't tell you how grateful we are, Mr. Fujimaru! Anything you want, cheep, it's yours!

？！

Th-they are being kind of intense with their hospitality, aren't they...

This isn't just for saving us from that awful bird, chirp! We are also grateful to you for gathering so much Bounty of the Sparrow.

...? Oh, now that you mention it, after we chop wood, or clean a guest room...

...or do some yardwork, or chase off demonic monkeys...

Indeed, I was wondering for myself what this "Bounty of the Sparrow" might be.

Chirp chirp, when did you get here, Sasaki!? Do you know each other?

Fo, kyu kyu kyu fou. Ki kyuu kyu, fo fou fou.

？！

Come now, you do not mind, do you, Lord Fujimaru? We have both wandered here from Chaldea, after all.

Of course, as an aimless vagrant, my circumstances differ considerably from yours, but never mind that.

Tell me, sparrows, what is this Bounty of the Sparrow of which you speak of?

Chirp! We sparrows have gratitude too, just like our guests.

And when it changes from something vague and metaphysical to something tangible, we call it our "bounty", chirp.

Bounty of the Sparrow accumulates like crazy, chirp, whenever you do one of our jobs for us.

It does?

It does, chirp. So today, we're paying you back for all your help. Think of it like a point card that you've managed to fill up with stamps.

Now I see. Thank you for explaining it so clearly.

In fact...I'm kind of surprised by how clear it was.

Most of the other sparrows are more...

？！

Very true, chirp. I'm the fastest thinker of all the Ten Sparrows, chirp.

My name's Gokan. Cheep cheep, I'm the treasurer of the Enma-tei.

The other sparrows go by Shinkou, Shokou, Soutei, Henjou, Taizan, Byoudou, Toshi, Godou-Tenrin...

Each of them has individual names given to them by their lords, chirp.

Wait...aren't these the names of the Ten Kings, who act as the judges of hell in the Buddhist underworld?

Are you and the other sparrows their sons?

No, just their attendants, chirp. Although Madam Beni is the daughter of Great King Enma.

？！

This is a surprise. They say that Great King Enma is none other than the supreme judge of all of hell.

That he sentences the dead to different hells depending on the severity of their sins in life...

...and that he pulls out the tongues of any sinner who lies to try and escape their punishment.

In Buddhist tradition, he is known as "Yamaten" or "the first dead," and that the Buddha himself made him a god and put him in charge of hell...

...but I am told that the ten king system developed among ordinary people when Buddhism was brought over from the continent.

In which case, these sparrows must be referring to the concept of hell that took root in Japan at the same time Buddhism did.

In turn, Lady Beni-Enma lies at the crossroads between that concept of hell...

...and how it is commonly envisioned in folklore. Am I correct?

You catch on pretty quick for a Sasaki, chirp. About half right, I'd say.

Madam Beni's birth is a little more complicated, chirp.

I see. Complicated how, chirp?

Madam Beni used to be human, chirp.

She was an apprentice prostitute who ran from her lodgings and captors, and died after she wandered into a mayoiga, chirp.

But before she died, she proved to be a great source of consolation for that mayoiga, chirp.

As a result, instead of being tried as a sinner, she ended up working for Datsue-ba at the Sanzu River.

Chirp. Unfortunately for her, Datsue-ba was stingy aser, something of a cheapskate, chirp.

"If you're going to work here, you need to become my daughter. That way, I won't have to pay you."

Even the other demons of hell thought that adopting a child just to save a few coins was going too far, chirp. Especially since she had already been sold and abused for money when she was alive.

Even today, some people think Datsue-ba inadvertently coined the Japanese for "money-grubber."

In Buddhist tradition, it is said that the dead must cross the Sanzu River before they can receive Great King Enma's judgment.

To do that, they must offer up their clothes to pay a ferryman to carry them across.

Datsue-ba is the oni tasked with collecting this fare by stripping the dead of their clothes.

Can you imagine an old lady about your size? They say she's been in hell longer than Great King Enma, chirp.

You know who this Datsue-ba person is, Senpai?

Oho. I can see from your expression that you are imagining something less than pleasant.

Hahaha, a sword that only cuts clothes, leaving the wearer unharmed, would be an unparalleled accomplishment.

If it existed, it would be a true Mystic Sword!

？！

Anyway, even though Datsue-ba was a nasty piece of work, Madam Beni still served her faithfully, chirp.

Eventually, Great King Enma took pity on her, chirp, and officially adopted her himself.

Th-that's wonderful! It's like something straight out of a fairy tale...!

Well, Great King Enma is married to Datsue-ba, so it mostly amounted to formalizing an agreement, chirp.

So in the end, Madam Beni really learned her sword-drawing from Great King Enma, chirp. She's not called "Tongue-Cut" for nothing!

Great King Enma then went on to entrust Madam Beni with the mayoiga, chirp chirp, which led to opening the Enma-tei here on Earth.

Chirp, it's the best little inn in all the realms for injured gods to heal their wounds, and for humans lost in the mountains to find salvation!

I see. Now I finally understand.

So the tale of the Sparrow Inn was actually about the Enma-tei all along.

I'm not sure which came first, chirp. Time passes differently between hell and the surface.

I've read about these sort of "mayoiga" before. It's a Japanese legend about a mysterious deserted house.

In modern times, a very famous Japanese author wrote about mayoiga for his stories.

The folklore says that the house is strewn with treasure everywhere you look, and that its dining table is covered in mouthwatering delicacies.

The people that wind up there find it suspicious that the house is deserted, but are inevitably unable to resist the luxuries they see all around them.

And once they try to take the treasure or eat the food, they're trapped in the house and end up dying.

Indeed. But as I recall, if a person is able to control their desires, they will be blessed by the house and permitted to return to the human world with a great many gifts.

That's right. The mayoiga is meant to test human desire, much like Great King Enma's judgment...

But the Enma-tei doesn't have anything like that. It's exactly like the Sparrow Inn from the story.

That inn has no need to test anyone, because only good people are able to come here.

That's right, chirp. The Enma-tei is the result of the mayoiga being reborn into the Sparrow Inn.

Chirp, as its proprietress, Madam Beni is a sparrow hero of Japanese folklore.

She even served as the model for all nonhuman creatures who help people in the mountains, like in the Uji Shui Monogatari, chirp.

There are a few famous tales of old men who met with grim ends for their greed, or were rewarded for their virtue.

Kobutori Jiisan, Hanasaka Jiisan...and in particular, Tsuzurano Jiisan, who saved a sparrow's life.

If Madam Beni-Enma is the common link between the tales of the Three Old Men Collection, I can understand why you hold her in such reverence.

In essence, she is living proof of otogi-banashiwhat some might call Japanese nursery rhymes. Do I have that right?

Chirp chirp, Three Old Men Collection? First I'm hearing of these, chirp.

Hahaha, my apologies. I thought it easier to go by their colloquial name. Still, they are all the same in the end, are they not?

...Well yeah, I guess, chirp. See, this is exactly why we can't let our guard down around a Sasaki.

Anyway, that's all we can tell you, chirp. Besides, this went on a lot longer than we meant it to.

Chirp, we're going to get back to work now. Oh, and I won't tell Madam Beni we talked about this.

...So Beni-Enma wasn't a hero when she was alive then. She only became a Heroic Spirit after she died...

Still, at least we know a little more about her. She is such an amazing proprietress I respect her even more now!

？！

Indeed, this has been illuminating for myself as well. At any rate, I think I shall return to my room.

If you should ever need my help, come and see me. I will gladly repay you for this tea.