Yes, there were villages that grew around rest stops (including inns) on major routes especially on the postal routes. A few of the more preserved ones include Tsumago and Magome on the Kisoji stretch of the Nakasendo postal route.
For those that think glasses girl gets off too lightly, they literally spell it on page 21 out that the punishment for her won't stop at just expulsion since it wasn't just framing a higher ranked noble, it was also theft from said noble and abuse towards a magical animal.
I guess maybe people...
Hah, I knew eucalyptus would be interesting enough for them to include at some point. Now she can also survive a bush fire to a degree even if the main body catches fire.