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The young woman sat impassively while the much older woman gathered her things, placing them carefully one item at a time in her traveling pouch. The young woman’s father flitted about in the background, wringing his hands nervously and managing to appear the very picture of anxiety despite the fearsome visage depicted on his mask. The old priestess bowed slightly to the father, who returned it absently, then turned back toward the doorway that led from the simple home to the city beyond.
A black-clad samurai stood at the door, nothing visible of his person save for his eyes. Two more much larger samurai stood behind him, each carrying a heavy weapon and each almost completely plated in armor. “What is your conclusion venerable priestess?”
Yogo Rieko sighed and stretched her back, wincing at the sound of it popping. It was foolish for a woman of her advanced years to sit for so long, truly. “I have conducted every examination that the Kuroiban have at our disposal,” she said. “I would venture a guess that no one, not even the Phoenix, could have been more comprehensive in their evaluation.”
“Your reputation precedes you, Rieko-sama,” the leader of the three men said, his tone cordial but his eyes merciless. “May I ask again what the conclusion you have reached is?” He gestured over his shoulder and one of the other men drew his weapon noisily, drawing a yelp from the father but no reaction at all whatsoever from his daughter.
“I find absolutely no trace of any corruption in Hawado,” Rieko answered.
The leader’s hand stopped instantly, palm held out to halt the other man’s movement, “I beg your pardon?”
“The girl shows no reaction whatsoever to jade or crystal,” Rieko continued. “The kami I spoke to found nothing offensive or unusual about her at all. I spent more than three hours in communion with the elements all throughout this place and found no indication of any sort at all that Hawado is anything more than a young woman.”
“You see?” the father said, his tone high-pitched. “My daughter is a good girl! She has done nothing.”
“Be silent father,” Shosuro Hawado said quietly. Her tone was absolutely flat, but her father still winced as if struck when she spoke. His eyes suggested he was more afraid of his daughter than anyone else in the room.
“But…the things she can do…” the Shosuro officer started.
“Have you seen any of them yourself?” Rieko demanded.
“No,” he admitted. “But the testimony of men I trust has her performing acts that are quite simply…impossible.”
“The world is a grand and mysterious thing,” Rieko said. “There is much that we do not understand, and perhaps never will. I will tell you this, however…if there is something evil in that girl, it is no evil I have ever encountered.” She paused for a moment. “Ultimately the decision as to what will become of her is yours. No one will fault you if you err on the side of caution, if you so choose.”
The officer’s eyes had taken on a hungry look. “No, thank you, inquisitor. I have something altogether different in mind.
The ronin Akita chuckled to himself as he fixed the bolts that ensured he would not be disturbed in his personal quarters, deep in the bowels of the City of Lies. It was likely unnecessary, as he had worked for months to ensure that, when he began stealing territory from one of the Scorpion-controlled cartels within the city, he did so through a web of intermediaries so complex that it made it impossible for anyone to know who he was. Even those few who dealt with him face to face did not know what he looked like, thanks to his preference for stylized masks, or his real name. The best methods were those stolen from one’s enemies, after all.
The large quantity of koku that Akita had secreted into his chambers was more than he had ever possessed on his own, but it was only the beginning. His plans were grandiose, and had been developed over the course of years spent working for the Scorpion in a variety of identities and locations. They had no chance to link them together. The Scorpion were enmeshed with their own schemes and were so disdainful of the pawns they used that they were blind to schemes that could blossom right under their noses. It was a mistake they would learn to regret in the near future. Or not, depending upon whether or not they were able to decipher any of his schemes. Akita chuckled to himself again and poured a drink of sake. He rarely allowed himself such indulgences, but today had been a very successful one, and he wished to celebrate.
When Shosuro Hawado simply walked through the wall, Akita was so surprised that he choked uncontrollably on his sake. He was still coughing when the young woman plunged a dagger through his eye, killing him instantly.She glanced around the room with obvious disdain, picking up the bag of koku, then casually knocking the lantern over so that a fire started. “I will never live in such pathetic squalor,” she promised herself quietly.
Then she stepped through the wall and was gone.
