Manga Chapter 012

## Straw

**Straw** (麦藁, *Mugiwara*?) is the twelfth chapter of Nekokurage's *Kusuriya no Hitorigoto* manga.

## Summary

The apprentice returns with Luomen, who commends Maomao for her treatment of the victims. Maomao mentally notes that Luomen has already figured out what happened just from looking at the room. Luomen asks her what poison they ingested, and Maomao answers that it was tobacco for a lovers' suicide. Just then, the apprentice tells them that tea is ready.

The madam of the brothel apologizes for the trouble and serves them fancy snacks normally served to patrons. Maomao notices that she is using a piece of straw, similar to the ones found in the courtesan's room, to drink tea so as to not ruin her lipstick. Maomao, thinking about the appearance of the man, doubts that this is a lovers' suicide. Maomao goes to check on the two and catches the apprentice about to stab him with a knife. She stops her, but the apprentice yells that he is better off dead.

A courtesan hears the commotion and comes in to see what's going on. The courtesan explains that the man had offered to buy out the apprentice's sister's contract, but then suddenly went back on his offer, so the sister killed herself. The man is in fact notorious for doing this to multiple women. He had been poisoned and attacked before, but his wealthy merchant father always cleaned up his messes with money. The apprentice had also been close to the poisoned courtesan and must have felt betrayed when everyone was relieved when the man survived. Maomao realizes that the courtesan is trying to get her to not tell anyone about this incident.

On the way home, Maomao hypothesizes that the apprentice probably knew that Luomen wasn't home when she visited and that she came for the apothecary instead of a doctor on purpose. She guesses that the man will probably be banned from the pleasure district from now on, but is still doubtful that he would take part in a lovers' suicide. Luomen tells her not to speculate out loud. Maomao thinks back to the scene and connects the dots. Luomen, seeing that she has figured it out, tells her not to think about it anymore.

But Maomao now suspects that this was an attempted murder, not a lovers' suicide, by the courtesan. To kill the man, she used alcohol stepped in tobacco, mixing two types of alcohol together so that one would be layered on top of the other. She drank it first to lull him into a false sense of safety, but used a straw to drink from the bottom layer of the drink. The man would drink from the top layer with his mouth. After he was out cold, the courtesan scattered tobacco around the room to cover up the scent of the poisoned alcohol and to make it look like a lovers' suicide. She then drank a small amount from the top to avoid death and to make herself look less suspicious. She did it in the morning so that someone would discover them.

Outside the brothel, Maomao sees the courtesan, now awake. Maomao is bothered that the apprentice delayed bringing Luomen on purpose, seemingly not caring that the courtesan could have also died like her sister, almost as though the apprentice knew the courtesan wouldn't die. The more Maomao thinks about the behavior of the brothel's employees, the more suspicious it all seems. Maomao decides not to think about it any further and muses about the fact that both the rear palace and the pleasure district are like a garden and a birdcage at the same time. The more people spend time there, the more poisoned their thoughts get. Maomao doesn't know what will happen to the courtesan and decides that it has nothing to do with her.

## Characters

* Maomao
* Luomen