by Nikita Thorn
Hatsuo took this opportunity to toss out two more traps. He then scrambled to his feet and ran, disappearing behind the nearest tree. Another round of Rapid Shots followed before the riders could pursue, and they cursed again as they Parried and Braced.
“Chase?” asked one person.
“No,” said the voice Seiki recognized, and he figured out now who it belonged to.
Seiki took a second to catch his breath and turned to look at them. Hiro of the White Crane Order [Level 21] was just as Seiki remembered him from the duel at the Taira Mansion. The samurai had his long sword drawn and a trace of blood on his right sleeve where an arrow must have grazed him.
Hiro seemed surprised. “What are you doing here, Seiki-san?”
Behind the man were two more people: a large swordsman in dark red called Arata of the White Crane Order [Level 17] and a young-looking ryoushi Susumu of the White Crane Order [Level 16], both of whom had taken slightly more damage. The ryoushi was at half health from the surprise attack.
“Wasn’t that the Ichikeya servant from Taira Mansion?” Hiro asked in confusion. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” said Seiki. Hatsuo had completely disappeared into the darkness, and there was no movement from the woods on their left. The hidden ryoushi had perhaps also decided not to continue attacking, now that there was a crowd. “He might not be what he seems.”
Seiki retrieved his Hikari from the ground nearby and recounted what Hatsuo had said to him.
Hiro’s expression was heavy. “I can’t believe Ichikeya would do something like this.”
“I don’t think it’s Ichikeya,” said Seiki. But at the moment he said it, he was somehow not quite sure anymore.
Hiro thought about it. “You must come tell hime-sama about this,” he said, nodding to the road. Seiki looked but saw no one.
Noticing Seiki’s slight puzzlement, the samurai grinned as he pointed toward the three-storied mansion in Nanamura Village. “You’ve literally come to our doorstep, Seiki-san. That is the White Crane Hall, historical hall of Nanamura,” he said. “Our clan territory.”
There was pride in his voice. And glancing ahead at the brightly-lit mansion towering up against the starry night among the low village houses, Seiki could see why. This was what Hatsuo was after, Seiki reasoned. To invade, you needed to be in a group with someone who had permission to be in the territory.
“Hime-sama has been talking about inviting you here to visit us. So you definitely must come,” said the samurai. Seiki remembered now that they had allegedly been trying to recruit him.
“Oh, he’s the one?” asked Arata, the other samurai, as he studied Seiki with interest.
Hiro of the White Crane Order invites you to a group.
You and Akari [Level 9] are now in a group with Hiro of the White Crane Order [Level 21], Arata of the White Crane Order [Level 17] and Susumu of the White Crane Order [Level 16].
Hiro blinked. “Who’s this Akari?”
Seiki let out a curse as everything became clear to him.
All that had happened after he had stepped out of Ichikeya had seemed slightly off, and it was not until now that he completely understood why. The whole thing had been an elaborate plan, and his nagging suspicion was right that the houshi girl had not been as innocent as she seemed. The quarrel at the vegetable shop had been an act. The pursuing ryoushi had been an act. They had kept him continuously on his feet on purpose so that he would not have time to think. Even Hatsuo’s whole thing had been a bluff to throw him off what they were trying to do.
Seiki looked at Hiro in horror. “I think I just helped someone invade your territory.”
Chapter 09
“We can’t find her anywhere, Hiro-sama,” yelled Isao of the White Crane Order [Level 14], in a simple black yukata. Behind him was a train of White Crane Hall Guards [Level 10].
Hiro sighed. “Keep looking.”
They were walking across a bridge made with yellowish wood, whose entire length was now prettily lit with the soft glow of the dozens of cream-colored lamps along the railings. The water in the moat below was flowing gently, swaying the dark water lilies over all kinds of lights reflecting off the water surface—from the bridge lamps to the torches in people’s hands, to the stars peeping through the clouds—, very much like hands in front of a movie screen.
At the end of the bridge, towering up ahead was the White Crane Hall, home territory of the White Crane Order, three-storied high, fitted with slanting gray roofs, and surrounded by dark skinny pine trees. Like the bridge, the building seemed to be made of yellow wood, and the light pouring out from its numerous tall windows seemed to be giving it a warm, golden gleam that was both welcoming and intimidating at the same time.
It was such an impressive sight that, despite all kinds of wild thoughts coursing through his head, Seiki could not fail to appreciate what was in front of him.
The estate, located within the small Nanamura Village, was protected by a high stone wall. And the area surrounding the main building before the moat was a network of gardens and low houses that served as stables, storage rooms and training halls, which Hiro had pointed out to Seiki on their way to the bridge.
Seiki’s hunch had been right. They had told him that the White Crane Hall territory player list showed that Akari was still on the premises, having slipped in the moment she was added to the group. Hiro had removed her as soon as they had realized what had happened, but she must have been waiting for the opportunity. All she needed was a second to step through the territory border. After rushing back to the territory and having the intrusion confirmed by members on patrol, Hiro had seemed so distraught that he gave the group leadership to Arata and proclaimed that he would never be responsible for initiating groups again. Seiki learned that if you were very cautious, you could do a tentative invitation, which required an extra mental step to request the invitee to show a list of group members beforehand.
“At least, this teaches you something,” Arata had said to Hiro, chuckling. For some reason, the man did not seem at all worried about the intruder.
“Teaches me something too,” Seiki had said solemnly, to which Arata simply gave a smile.
Once you were in a territory, you were free to invite anyone else in, but somehow the girl had not done so. Her purpose remained unknown, and so far they had not been able to locate her.
“And why a houshi?” muttered Hiro. “Who sends a houshi to invade a territory?”
Around the White Crane Hall territory, clan members were running around as they searched for the intruder, and Seiki could hear footsteps and shouts coming from every direction. The place was populated, and right now it was brimming with activity and life.
“Make sure you check the gardens, too,” said Hiro to Isao. “And after you’ve checked somewhere, leave someone to guard it,” he added.
Isao nodded and ran past them across the bridge with his small troop. Coming across from the other side of the bridge was a girl labeled White Crane Attendant, in a simple cream-colored kimono with red trimmings, who seemed to be unaware of what was going on around her and who happily said, “Good evening, Hiro-sama! Arata-sama! Susumu-sama!” She gave them a slight bow before continuing on her way.
Hiro sighed. “And where is Shuji? Could use a few more people with Sense right now,” the samurai muttered.
“Seiki-san!” said a female voice Seiki recognized. Kiku of the White Crane Order [Level 21] was running silently across the bridge in a manner only possible for obake. She was still in the same yellow kimono with very long sleeves that reached her ankles, which fluttered about her as she ran. “I’m so glad you came!”
Seiki winced. “I’m afraid I’m only causing trouble here.”
“Nonsense,” said Kiku, merrily. “The clan could use some excitement right now.” She then spotted a clan member on the other side of the moat and shouted, “Yuna! Go help Isao check the storage houses!” before turning back toward him and
sighing happily. “Look at this place. We haven’t had this much fun in a while!”
Hiro shot her a disapproving look. “Until this Akari person invites the whole Rogami Clan in to slaughter us all,” said Hiro. “Or worse, the Nobles.”
Kiku shrugged. “If she was going to do that, she would have done it already. And we’ll find her soon. Come with me, Seiki-san. I’ll show you the place,” she said excitedly, grabbing his arm, before turning to Hiro. “Don’t you have something to report to hime-sama?”
Hiro hesitated. “I was going to take Seiki-san to her, since he’s the one who Hatsuo spoke to.”
“Ugh. That can wait,” said Kiku, as she attempted to drag Seiki along the bridge toward the main building. “Come, Seiki-san. Come see our famed White Crane Hall!” She then turned to shout to Hiro, “Tell hime-sama we’ll be up in a minute!”
“We’ll start on the ground floor,” she said, pulling Seiki along a small pebble trail toward one of the side doors.
“Wait,” said Seiki, as he could not imagine why she seemed so unconcerned. “I think I should go tell your hime-sama what happened, since it was my fault.” Kiku looked at him in slight surprise. “I mean, I should have known.”
He had been trying to think about why the houshi girl had needed to go to such lengths to bring him here. The threat had been fake, which meant that the whole Merchants Guild thing was a lie. And even before that, in order to make him take that alley instead of the main street, the brawl in front of the pawn shop must have been part of it. Then Akari had chosen to bring him down to the sewage, which had left him no chance of getting out of there. If this was indeed the case, it had been executed with such disturbing precision that Seiki thought he should at least tell someone who knew what they were doing.
The obake girl blinked. “Hey,” she said, perhaps breaking character now that they were alone. “No need to stress out over this. This is all for fun.” She gestured around at the clan members running about in the distance, and grinned. “Everyone knows this is all play, Seiki. This is what we do. This is why we’re here.”
“Okay,” said Seiki, not entirely convinced.
“Look, this is normal. Enemies come in all the time. And we’d rather have this every day than just another day sending members out to do territory quests.”
Seiki rubbed his forehead. “If you say so.”
The obake girl brightened. “Come with me, then. I’ll show you the place.”
Through the side door was a large rectangular storage room made of sturdy wood and lit bright yellow with mounted lamps lining all four sides. On the wall opposite the door was a large relief carving of a flying crane, which seemed to be the theme here. Against the left wall were three wooden crates, chest-height, and large enough for at least five or six grown men to stand in, each with a simple carved character that labeled them containers for Water, Rice and Food. The right side of the room was a mirror of this, but the three crates were labeled Wood, Stone and Coal.
Seiki simply shook his head as he had no idea what he was looking at.
Kiku’s eyes were sparkling. “Welcome to a real clan territory!” Seeing no reaction from him, Kiku laughed. “You’ve been in those city territories, right?”
Seiki nodded.
“Well, those are just there for cheap PVP,” she said, with a hint of disdain. “What we have right here is a real one: a daimyo territory. We own the land. We don’t pay rent. We manage everything.” The obake girl nodded proudly to the crates. “This is our resources room, and we have all six upgraded to Level 3 now.”
Seiki nodded again, slowly. This was one of those situations where there were too many questions that it would be better to just let her finish what she had to tell him. He believed Mairin had mentioned this before and, from his vague impression, they were simply territories located outside Shinshioka’s walls.
“We’re one of the smaller territories,” said Kiku. “But we’re very close to the capital, so we’re more flexible in what we can do. We’ve always got groups for missions, and some of our members do war games occasionally when there’s nothing going on.”
Seiki became suddenly aware that this was advertisement.
Kiku smiled. “And I’m telling you this because we’re still trying to recruit you, Seiki. I said last time we were going to convince you, right?”
“Right,” said Seiki. “Unless Akari decides to invite a whole army in at some point, then you might need to change your mind.”
“Hey, we all love an invasion,” said Kiku. “Hiro might whine about it, but that’s just his character, you know. If anything, it was Hiro’s fault, since he should have known better.” She shrugged. “Anyway, before we proceed with anything, we need to have this conversation to get expectations straight on both sides, all right?”
“Uh, I don’t think I’m ready to—”
“Don’t worry, Seiki. This is a two-way process,” said Kiku.
She was looking at him hopefully. “So what do you want to do in this game? Some people like quests, some like dungeons, some people just craft things. We can accommodate all kinds of requests.”
Seiki had not thought much about it at all. “I don’t really know,” he said. All he knew was that it was much better than sitting alone in the dark, trying to listen to music. “Maybe I’m just here for the scenery.”
“Okay.” Kiku laughed. “Gotta say I’ve never heard that one before.” She smiled at him. “So what do you think of our scenery?”
It was a bait question, but Seiki did not have to lie.
“It’s amazing,” he said. Kentaro’s place in North City, even with its picturesque tiny koi pond, paled in comparison. And perhaps he was biased, but he could swear this place looked a lot nicer than the Shogun’s Palace.
Kiku seemed pleased. “What we have here is special. There are only eight daimyo territories, so they’re highly coveted. They require a lot more work than city territories, but the reward is also much higher. Now, what’s the most important commodity in ancient Japan?”
Seiki had not expected a history quiz. “Uh, rice,” he said. He had at least done his basic homework.
“Yes,” said Kiku. “Everything has to do with rice.” She nodded toward the corresponding crate, which Seiki could see was Level 3 and 82% full. “And where does rice come from?”
“Farmers, I suppose?”
“And where are these farmers?”
Seiki thought about it, before remembering something. “The villages I see all around the Plains,” he said. “Those are real villages.” At first, he had thought they only served as quest hubs, and he had wondered why there were so many seemingly identical ones.
Kiku nodded. “Currently, we own three nearby villages, and they produce rice for us every week, which we collect and fill this crate with, so we can keep our NPC troops happy and willing to fight for us. As we slowly upgrade the crates, we increase the number of NPC troops we can have.”
Seiki was starting to see how it worked. “So, these are like the troops the Shogun gives you for war games?”
“Kinda,” said Kiku. “These troops we can bring to war out the West Gate, on top of the troops the Shogun gives you. Or we use them in battles against other clans.” She smiled, her eyes lighting up with pride. “And they wear your colors and fly your flag, not Shinshioka’s.”
“Ah,” said Seiki. He understood now: out the West Gate were war games, while out the East Gate was the PVP version of those.
“An enemy clan can challenge you for your villages, one at a time,” said Kiku. “The higher you have upgraded a village, the more resources the challenger has to spend just to initiate the challenge. You then go to battle with them. If you win, you keep the village and the challenger pays you in resources as compensation. If they win, they take over your village, but the village is now reduced to Level 1 and they have to upgrade it all up again.”
“So the stakes are actually higher,” said Seiki. As far as he kne
w, there was no real penalty for unsuccessful war events against the Demonic Clan, except the waste of time and potions and perhaps some gold for repair costs. Losing a village, on the other hand, would be detrimental to a daimyo territory, as that would affect their future ability to defend other villages.
“Yes.” Kiku nodded. “There’s this village called Mitani, that’s between our border with the Kensoku Guards, that’s perpetually at Level 1 because we keep taking it back and forth. You go there and the farmers hate your guts for being such terrible landlords.”
So, it was ultimately about gathering resources and upgrading things, on top of defending your villages against enemies. Other resources also came into play in ways that Seiki could not yet quite completely grasp, like how certain territory quests yielded special metals that needed Coal to be forged into weapons for clan troops, or how resources like Food—gathered from hunt quests and vegetable gardens—allowed the clan to have territory hands, who fixed roofs and fortified walls with Wood and Stone. Then, there was this whole thing about keeping the clan territory well-supplied with Water, hauled from wells, which would render all members within the territory immune to the Wilderness Fatigue effect.
“Most people do West Gate war games because it’s simple and they can jump in at any time. But when you battle real people, you have so much more room to be creative.” Kiku giggled. “Like this one time we managed to sneak into this other clan’s territory and poison their well the day before a village battle. So when the time came, they all logged in to Fatigue.”
“That’s when energy doesn’t recharge properly if you spend too long in the Wilderness?” asked Seiki, to make sure. That was why Mitsue had given him a tinderbox, right before she had tried to frame and kill him.
“Yes,” said Kiku. “There’s a six-hour grace period after you set foot out of Shinshioka but, after that, you will need food and fire every once in a while. So even if you go out and battle people, sometimes you need breaks, like real battles, where you sit down and eat.”