(historical) petty official tasked with collecting public gossip

prefer / had better; would rather

to believe / to trust / to believe in (God, etc.)

Counter for stories. / Counter for episodes of TV shows.

negotiation; consultation; discussion / rumors; rumours / lecture; speech / talking; speaking; speech; conversation / story; tale; narrative / a topic; a subject; that which is spoken about

talk; speech; conversation / story; tale

(polite) person

direction, way, side / more so (preceded by ～の, often followed by ～が)

committee

reason / origin / history / oral tradition