There is no smoke without fire. After Oshige returned to Japan a rumor related to Matsumoto quickly spread in the interior. It had to with Sugabe’s Osachi.
As I wrote in the previous series, Osachi was in the company of Sugabe, whose first name I do not know of. Sugabe, when he returned to Japan or sometime earlier, had some relationship with Matsumoto that involved a large sum of money. Osachi, wanting to get this money, asked Matsumoto for it, but he let it go in one ear and out the other, saying it was his business with Sugabe so the money should be given to him, while promising that he would make sure that she would get it once Sugabe comes back. Some people say that Osachi was actually in the right position to receive the money. Nonetheless, Matsumoto one-upped and persuaded Osachi, even though she sounds like a wily woman and is difficult to deal with. Osachi and Matsumoto, both experienced, skilled and wise entered into a relationship during Oshige’s absence. Of course, the story gets complicated. This incident was so much talked about in the interior at that time that not knowing about it meant being too careless about current affairs. Such a person would have been criticized as reaching the limit of being carefree. The incident attracted people’s interests that much. Of course, in our eyes this only appears as a loathsome scandal and a truly unbearable, sordid incident, but we admit that it was a serious, huge issue in the interior.
Matsumoto got a reputation in the interior for convincing Osachi and finally extorting $3,000. Osachi on the other hand had an ambition to take over Oshige’s position after making Shinpei Matsumoto cut his relationship with Oshige. Of course, she assumed that Oshige would not be able to ever return. However, contrary to Osachi’s prediction, Oshige came back to Cranbrook. Osachi could not help but be shocked. There was an eccentric drama performed two or three days after Oshige returned. Here it goes.