The next week flew by unnoticed. Everyone went about their business. Kenshin improved and supplemented his formations, Ichiro trained chakra control trying to concentrate it in his feet to walk on walls. Aya played the role of a loving wife and mother doing household chores. And Keiji grew quickly.
Every day Kenshin decided to devote about two hours to rest and entertainment, wanting to give his second son a happy childhood. The whole family went to the forest, caught fish, relaxed on their favourite river, and Kenshin didn't have time to blink before the thirteenth day after Keiji's birth, or the forty-fourth day after Kenshin's arrival in this world, came; Keiji had grown into a 15-16-year-old young man, almost as tall as his brother and father.
On this day another batch of wine finally "matured", and early in the morning Kenshin and Ichiro went to the city again. Keiji begged his father to take him too, but Kenshin firmly refused, not wanting to let his son out until full adulthood.
"Be careful…" Aya whispered and hugged each in turn, kissing Kenshin.
"Don't worry, mom, everything will be fine, we've already been to the city and everything was okay!" Ichiro declared.
"Yes, mom, don't worry. We'll bring you a roll of silk so you can sew something!" Keiji said and smiled showing all thirty-two teeth.
"Don't be bored, dear. And remember, don't leave the house unless absolutely necessary," Kenshin reminded her and, hugging her one last time, turned and stepped outside.
As soon as Aya saw the three receding backs her heart sank. She suddenly felt something very bad and called out: "Kenshin!"
"M? Something wrong?" he asked turning around.
"Yes, mom, what happened?" cheerful Keiji asked, eager to go to the city.
"Um, no, nothing…" she muttered and smiled strainedly.
Kenshin shrugged, turned, adjusted his backpack, and took a step forward; his two sons followed him.
****
By one in the afternoon the trio reached the city without incident and immediately headed to the wine shop.
The old salesman, seeing five bottles of 20-year vintage wine, first didn't believe his eyes and stared at Kenshin.
"W-where did you get this wine?" he muttered, returning to contemplating this, in his opinion, work of art.
"Sir, I already explained, our late grandfather was a wine collector, and these are his most valuable stocks. We three grandsons decided to sell this wine, rightly reasoning that our grandfather's labour into which he put his whole soul should not go to waste, and who if not a wine collector can appreciate it properly?" he delivered the pre-prepared speech.
"You're right, young man, you're right! Wait a few minutes, I need to check it properly," the old man said and stepped into the back room behind him. A few minutes later he came out holding five sheets of paper with a strange hieroglyph. He stuck one sheet on each bottle, and a minute later when all the sheets turned dark yellow he hummed satisfiedly.
"Indeed! More than twenty but less than twenty-five! This is a real find! I'm ready to give you 6000 ryo per bottle," the old man declared without taking his eyes off the bottles.
"We agree!" Kenshin immediately agreed. He wasn't in a position to argue, and besides, with the money earned he could "age" as much wine as he wanted.
A few minutes later the old man counted out 37,000 ryo and handed them to Kenshin who quickly recounted the money and hid it in a secret breast pocket, then hurriedly said goodbye to the salesman and accompanied by his two sons left the door.
As soon as Kenshin and his two sons left the wine shop, a sturdy guy of about sixteen with a Konoha forehead protector on his forehead came down from the second floor; he politely said goodbye to the old salesman and went outside.
On the second floor of the wine shop was an elite hall for connoisseurs of expensive wine; being there the black-haired Konoha shinobi with sensitive hearing heard almost the entire conversation between Kenshin and the old salesman; hearing about the cost of five bottles of twenty-year vintage wine he couldn't restrain greed. Each bottle of wine cost more than a D-rank mission reward, and he decided to act.