by Nikita Thorn
“A clan camp,” said Ippei in a low voice, as he looked around. “I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never actually been in one.”
Seiki reasoned then that, even when daimyo territories were limited to only eight, clans without permanent land still had access to private clan areas in the form of a camp. There was no way such a thing could go undetected out in the open Wilderness, which meant the whole area was instanced, just like any private territory.
“I never knew they were this big,” said Ippei, seemingly impressed, as they approached the first row of white tents.
“So the Wilderness is actually full of these?” Mairin wondered. “And they’re invisible unless you’re in a group with a clan member?”
“Yeah,” said Ippei. “If I remember correctly, there are these territory quest givers that wander around the Wilderness, and if you do their quest, you get pointed to a random spot that will be the entrance of your clan territory. If you like it, you can start building a camp there. But unlike clans with land, you don’t get to control rice villages, so you can only go and rob other people’s rice runs, or do your own territory quests for supplies to maintain your troops.”
“And I suppose the same raiding rules apply. So if you can get someone to invite, you can invade?” Seiki asked.
Eisuke had apparently been listening to their conversation. “Yes,” the man turned to say. “But they will need to know exactly where the entrance is or they won’t find the camp.” He smiled grimly. “The only good thing about not holding a permanent territory is stealth. We could be building a camp next to a daimyo territory for months without anyone knowing, and when the day comes we can drop a full-scale siege right on them.”
Hiro shifted uncomfortably at the comment, but said nothing.
Tetsuji of the Fuoka Army [Level 19], a youngish-looking man with a short ponytail and a pair of silver short swords, approached them. He then noticed Hiro, who, with missing health and without his weapons, was clearly a captive. He shot Aina a questioning look. “Are we making him drink?” Tetsuji whispered.
“That won’t be necessary,” said Aina. “Hiro knows what’s at stake here.”
Mairin turned toward Ippei as if looking for an explanation, but the samurai simply pouted, either because he was not too sure about what was being asked or because he was a bit too occupied with looking around at the scene.
Eisuke led them toward a small white tent and pointed in. “Wait in there,” he told Seiki and his friends, before leading Hiro further down, leaving only Tetsuji to guard them.
As was her habit in every new location, Mairin turned into a white fox and dashed into the tent to explore. The space was perhaps meant to host no more than three people and was quite bare, made with flimsy bamboo frames and strips of white cloth sewn together, with a small lamp hanging from a hook in the middle of the ceiling frame to light up the interior. A bamboo mat that did not quite reach the edges of the tent served as simple flooring. Seiki and Ippei sat down in the middle of it, pondering whether they were guests or prisoners.
Tetsuji lifted the cloth door flap and peered in curiously, his gaze lingering on Seiki’s equipped Sheathed Blade. But he decided to say nothing, before letting the door fall and leaving them alone. After half a minute, a Fuoka Army Attendant [Level 12] in a blue-gray kimono came in with a tray of Gyokuro Tea, which was unexpectedly delicious and gave unnecessary +2 energy with every sip.
“Decent hospitality,” said Ippei. “Good thing you know the guy.”
“I don’t really know him,” explained Seiki. “We met very briefly, and I guess we had a common enemy.” He did not want to frame it quite like that but, after what happened at the spirit shrine, there was perhaps no other way to look at it.
“Well, he seems to trust you, at least judging by this tea,” said Ippei, taking another sip. “Or we would be drinking something else right now.”
“Like whatever they were going to make that White Crane guy drink?” asked Mairin.
“Yeah.”
“Which is?”
“Probably Mamushi Poison,” said Ippei. “It stops your energy charging, like Absolute Fatigue, and ticks away at your health, so you can’t walk straight. In short, you can forget about fighting.” He chuckled. “Or you can do poison roulette with it. There are these ceramic cups you make with Pottery that don’t identify the liquids inside, so you pour a dozen cups of wine and put poison in one and take turns drinking.”
Mairin brightened. “Oh, when are we doing that?” Seiki was not sure if she was serious.
“When we can afford the poison, and the cups, and the antidote,” said Ippei, matter-of-factly.
Now that he thought about it, Seiki wondered why Eisuke had believed him so easily. “Let’s not be too sure yet,” he told his friends. “I have a feeling that, just like the invasion at the White Crane Hall, this encounter was staged.” It was a trap for someone, and Seiki could only hope it was not him.
“Most likely,” Ippei agreed. “I mean, what are the chances of you stumbling upon a girl in the middle of the Wilderness who happens to have this particular key that everyone’s trying to get their hands on?” He reflected for a few seconds. “She Pickpocketed us even before you got there, so I’m sure her intention was just to have strangers loot her body and accidentally find the key, which she had stolen from the White Crane Hall.”
Seiki thought about it. “She said she had stolen it from the White Crane Hall, but Hiro claimed she had framed them and tried to blackmail them. If anyone’s lying, I’m pretty sure it’s her and not them.”
“It’s not like these White Crane people haven’t lied to you before,” Mairin pointed out.
“It’s different,” Seiki said. That elaborate RP scene had gone wrong for the White Crane Order, too, and now with the reappearance of Akari, Seiki was pretty certain they had been played as much. “I hate to say this, but I kinda trust them now.”
“Next thing you know, you’ll be kneeling in front of a clan altar swearing an oath,” muttered Ippei.
Mairin looked at the samurai, and a tiny smile appeared on her lips. “Jealous?” she said in a nonchalant tone that could have been either a statement or a question.
“I just need a ronin to lead the front unit,” said Ippei. “Didn’t you see what he can do with that Upslash? You know what happens when you join a clan? First, it’s ‘Oh, I’m sorry, my clan wants to do that event instead’, then it’s ‘Sorry, I have to go collect rice for my clan today’, then it’s ‘Guess what? I’ve been promoted so I now have clan responsibilities and we don’t do demon wars anymore’. Like, I don’t care if anyone joins a clan just for the sake of having a clan like the Honor Warriors, but a daimyo clan? You’ve got to sell your soul for that.”
Mairin giggled. “Jealous,” she concluded.
Before Ippei could react, someone lifted the door flap and shoved Hiro into the tent. “We’ll see if your story checks out,” said a stern voice.
The White Crane Order samurai looked as if he had witnessed something terrible. “Seiki-san,” said the man, as he dropped down onto the floor and buried his head in his hands. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Uh, I guess I do,” said Seiki, before adding, “I’m just not quite sure what I’m supposed to believe you about.”
“Yeah. Explain,” said Ippei. “And start from the beginning.”
Hiro seemed a bit taken aback by his tone.
“Please?” Mairin piped up sweetly with a smile. “Don’t mind him.”
“The beginning?” asked Hiro.
“Yes, the very beginning,” said Ippei. “And make it short and concise without all the RP crap, so we can be done with it and get out of here.”
Hiro seemed confused, and Seiki had to commend him for staying perfectly in character.
“Please?” said Mairin again.
Hiro took a deep breath. “All right, so the Shadow Manor stole our key and sold it to Ichikeya.”
“Hold on. I thought it was the Fuoka Army’s key?” said Seiki.
“Yes, but it’s for our True-Lock box. The Shadow Manor were probably going to give it to whoever hired them, but this new ninja recruit of theirs saw a way to make some quick gold, so he stole it from them and sold it to Ichikeya.”
“Wait,” Seiki said. “You’re saying you have the box?”
“Yes,” said Hiro, sounding surprised that Seiki did not know this. “Hime-sama and the Fuoka Army leader Akihisa-sama found a hidden temple room a few months ago.”
“Oh, like a secret room in an instance from a puzzle poem?” asked Mairin.
Hiro nodded. “There was only a single reward and, since they could not decide on how to fairly split it, they put it in a True-Lock box. Hime-sama kept the box, and Akihisa-sama kept the key.”
“Must be some good treasure then,” said Mairin.
“Uh, yes, so to make it fair for both of us, we decide to keep the box and key separate until we know what to do with it. So, when Akihisa-sama left the dungeon with the key—”
“Actually, I left the dungeon with the key,” a voice interrupted him, as another person popped up in the tent.
Takeru of the Fuoka Army [Level 24], a young man with short ruffled hair and a series of jangling red bracelets on his wrists instead of armguards, was sitting behind them, having let himself in quietly. He had on a slight frown. “And that bastard Nichi stabbed me the moment I came through the West Gate. I swear he was just waiting there in Camouflage.”
Seiki recognized the name. “Nichi of the Shadow Manor?” That had been one of the three Shadow Manor people who had chased Kage into Kakura Village.
“Yeah,” said Takeru. “And I swear he twisted his damned dagger to make sure I was really dead. As if Assassin’s Stab alone wasn’t enough.” He then glared at Hiro.
“Takeru,” said Hiro, uneasily. “It wasn’t us who hired the Shadow Manor.”
Takeru cocked his head as he looked at Hiro. “At the time, Eisuke and I really swore it was the Rogami Clan. You see, a week before that I just went in to wreak some havoc in one of their city territories. You know, that place with the stairs and the underground room? I pulled a rare scroll down there. It was the scythe guy.” The man grinned at the memory. “Anyway, it was a real bloody slaughter, so I thought Rogami just wanted payback for that and got lucky with the key. We even invaded them to find proof that it was them behind this.” He shuddered. “Rieko wasn’t happy.”
“What scythe guy?” Mairin whispered.
“Probably a rare summoned from a scroll,” said Ippei. “You do that indoors and it can get nasty if it catches people unprepared.”
Takeru blinked as he recovered his thoughts from his going off topic. “But now I’m not so sure anymore, to be honest. Didn’t someone just lift the key straight off from your territory and wasn’t that why you were chasing after her?” He glared at Hiro again. “Like, yeah, talk about backstabbing.”
“You got it all wrong. It was the houshi who tried to blackmail us,” said Hiro. “She just invaded us last week, and I swear this has been her plan all along.”
Takeru shrugged. “For all I know, you could be making this up.”
“I was there,” said Seiki. “She really did invade them.” He paused. “With my help,” he added, not sure why.
Takeru frowned and shook his head. “Okay, who are these people?” He looked at Seiki, doubtfully. “And why are you incriminating yourself? Did you—” The man only then noticed Mairin. “Oh, hello,” said Takeru, perking up with interest.
“Wait, wait, wait,” said Ippei. “Who told you the houshi girl stole something from the, uh…” He glanced at Hiro. “White Crane Order? Akari the houshi girl told us that, but she was dead by the time your friend got there, and we haven’t said anything.”
Takeru rubbed his lower lip with his thumb. “There was a message tipping us off that there had been a theft at the White Crane Hall, and the invader was most likely coming this way, which was why Aina and Eisuke went out to have a look.”
So, this was how they got the Fuoka Army to witness the scene. Seiki had a strong feeling that all of this was staged, and now the pieces of the puzzle were slowly being laid out in front of him. Still, he had no clue as to how to put them all together. “Was it an anonymous message?” he asked.
“Yeah, the usual Mumei stuff,” said Takeru.
“I see,” said Seiki. “That’s how—”
The door flap swayed and Eisuke made his entrance into the tent, which was clearly not designed to hold six people. As they squeezed to make room, a gentle puff of smoke went up around Mairin. Seiki suddenly found a warm white kitsune on his lap and somehow immediately lost his train of thought.
Eisuke crouched down next to Hiro. “You said this houshi, Akari, had invaded the White Crane Hall before, with her friend Teruo. And these thieves passed themselves off as actors for hire, and are run by this person called Hatsuo?”
Hiro nodded.
“But Teruo has somehow since then wiped his account? And Hatsuo has not logged in since?”
“What do you mean?” Hiro looked genuinely confused, and Eisuke heaved an annoyed sigh as he had to search for a different way to phrase it.
“So, you can’t find any record of a person called Teruo, and, uh, no one has seen Hatsuo since?”
“No,” said Hiro.
Seiki felt a bit odd, having the white fox on his lap, but she did not seem to be paying him any attention. “How can someone not exist in the records?” Seiki whispered to Ippei.
“They could delete their account and request a full wipe,” said Ippei. “Their names are then deleted from the public log-in records, so you can’t confirm they were on or not on a specific date, what level they were, or if they ever existed, for that matter.”
Eisuke continued, “And earlier tonight, this houshi, Akari, showed up at the White Crane Hall, showed you the key and demanded a ransom of five thousand gold, or her colleagues would tell us that it was the White Crane Order who had hired the assassins?”
Hiro nodded again. “Yes. Like I told you. We refused to pay, and she then drank poison to get herself out to the nearest spirit shrine, and we followed her all the way there.”
Eisuke grimaced. “The thing is no one called Akari exists, either. At least, not anymore.” He produced a piece of post paper, which he gave to Hiro. Seiki could see that it was a Sasu Locate return.
Sasu [Level 4]: (4 minutes ago) Request to Locate Akari – player does not exist.
“She certainly existed when I looted her,” said Seiki. “That was half an hour ago.”
“Yeah, we saw her, too, and she was definitely called Akari,” said Ippei.
Takeru narrowed his eyes. “Why should we believe you? And who are you people again?” The man then glanced at Mairin and grinned. “Well, at least would kitsune-chan like to confirm as well?”
The white fox simply yawned and curled up into a ball. Eisuke was studying Seiki, again looking slightly troubled, as if not sure what to make of him.
“You know me, Eisuke,” said Hiro. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”
Eisuke inhaled. “I believe you. The question is, did you actually see Akari walk in with the key in her hand?”
Hiro shifted.
“Did you?” asked Eisuke again.
Hiro took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. “No,” he finally said.
“Where did you find her?”
Hiro hesitated.
“Hiro. If you want us to believe you, you have to be honest.”
Hiro looked down at his feet. “In the clan storage room, looting our clan chest.”
Seiki remembered that was exactly what Akari had said: that she had walked in and gotten the key from the public clan chest.
Eisuke grimaced. “Which could have been where she got the key from, you see.”
Hiro looked back up at him. “I swear we didn’t betray you. Ask him
e-sama. You have the key now. You can open the box and check that we haven’t taken the treasure.”
“We will,” said Eisuke. “But that doesn’t really prove anything, does it?” He scratched his chin. “It doesn’t prove that your clan didn’t hire the Shadow Manor in the first place. Only four people knew about the treasure at the time of the robbery: your hime-sama and Ozuru, and from our side only Takeru and Akihisa. I know you’re loyal to your hime-sama, but how well do you actually know her?”
“I swear she’s not behind this!”
“Akihisa wants to believe you,” said Eisuke. “If you’re willing to go the length to prove your sincerity, he promises to try talking first.”
Hiro’s eyes widened. “What do you mean try talking first?”
Eisuke looked at him, seriously. “You’ve seen our camp. We’ve been preparing to get the Northwest District back, but Akihisa doesn’t easily forgive these betrayals, especially now that all evidence is pointing in that direction. We’re mobilizing troops at sunrise tomorrow. If your hime-sama can show us she had not taken the treasure, you might get to keep the Hall.”
Hiro ran his fingers over his eyes as he took his time to consider it.
“Hiro,” said Eisuke again.
Hiro’s face hardened. “All right. I’ll do it.”
Eisuke nodded. “I’ll give you a few minutes,” said the man, as he got up to leave. “Come out when you’re ready.”
As the space cleared up after Eisuke and Takeru had walked out, Mairin leapt off Seiki’s lap and turned back into a human girl. “These people are really serious, aren’t they?” she whispered.
“It’s going to be a war,” Hiro said. “We don’t stand a chance against the Fuoka Army.” Whether or not this was consciously in character, Seiki could see that the man was in great distress.
Ippei looked at him. “I guess you had better hope the hime-sama, whoever that is, hasn’t gotten greedy and taken the treasure.” He shook his head. “Like, do we even know what the treasure is? Is it a unique?”
“No,” said Hiro. “It was something called Ancient Scroll of Aoyama.”
“Okay, a named scroll.” Ippei did not seem to recognize the name. “What? A rare-summoning scroll?”