by Nikita Thorn
Right ahead, beside the City Patrols, he was certain someone in Camouflage was waiting. Seiki slowed down and kept his eyes on the spot, and after a few seconds the air shimmered and Taka of the Shadow Manor [Level 19] materialized.
Seiki stopped walking. Taka’s silver glaive was strapped across his back and showed no sign of initiating an attack. “Nothing was looted,” said the ninja solemnly. “We are assassins, not robbers. This is not over, so always look behind when you’re walking alone in the dark. This will serve as a reminder that you never should have offended the Shadow Manor.”
“—never should have offended the Shadow Manor.” Another voice had joined in, full of amusement, and finished almost at the same time as the ninja.
Both of them turned to look in surprise. A girl in a bright yellow kimono, Kiku of the White Crane Order [Level 21], was sitting on top of the wall, swinging her legs back and forth. Kiku giggled. “Did Nichi write that script? I tell you, ninja-san. That seriously needs some work.”
No shadow, Seiki quickly noted as he studied the girl.
Taka glared at her, but said nothing. He whistled, and a black horse, the same one Seiki’s blade had cut earlier galloped in. Taka jumped on his mount. “Stay out of this,” he shouted to the girl as he rode off.
Kiku turned her attention to Seiki. “You’re the guy from the Ichikeya challenge, aren’t you? Come now, don’t look so surprised. A lot of people saw the thing.”
There had indeed been a large crowd, Seiki remembered. The girl leapt off the wall and seemed to fall at a slightly slower speed than Seiki expected and landed gently without a sound. Her wide yellow sleeves that almost reached the ground settled down lightly around her. “Come with me, Seiki. There are people who would like to see you.”
This meeting, Seiki assumed, was not by chance. She had been waiting for him, just like Taka had.
Seeing him hesitate, Kiku giggled again. “Not everyone wants you dead. It’s just around the corner. Here.”
Kiku invites you to a group.
“And you can check all my abilities. No Backstab modification,” said Kiku, raising both her hands. Seiki remarked that he had never seen an obake carry a weapon. “Now you’re perfectly safe from me.”
She looked so young and innocent in her bright yellow kimono that Seiki felt ashamed that he had doubted her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
The obake waved it off. “Hey, don’t worry. You’ll need an invite later anyway, so just accept.”
You are now in a group with Kiku [Level 21] and Ikumi [Level 20].
Surprised, Seiki peered around for Ikumi, but there was no one else there, except for the steady trickle of slightly unhappy people who had just come out of the Bureau of the Dead.
Kiku did not notice his puzzlement and had already started skipping down the street. “I would be suspicious too if I just realized I was on the Shadow Manor’s hit list.”
Seiki caught up with her. “Yeah, about that,” he began. “I don’t understand—”
“Why Taka waited around just to recite you that script?” Kiku winked as she guessed what he was about to say. “It’s the Shadow Manor. They’re assassins, not robbers. They always make that very clear since they’ve got a reputation to maintain.”
“Okay…”
“Assassins for hire,” she added when Seiki did not seem to understand what she meant.
Seiki knew there was some nuance here he was missing. Noticing his silence, the obake decided to spell it out. “If you want someone dead and you’re not good enough to kill them, you pay the Shadow Manor to do it. If you don’t want your target to know you’re behind the death, you pay the Shadow Manor to do it.”
“Uh, right,” said Seiki, remembering something. “Because the Bureau officer tells you who killed you.” Still, the impermanence of death seemed to undermine the whole concept of assassinations and Seiki could not imagine why anyone would need to go to such lengths, as he was quite certain that assassinations did not come cheap.
Kiku gave him an understanding smile. “There’s one major thing that you might not have thought about, which is the main reason why the Shadow Manor is in business.”
She took a deep breath as if she was about to reveal a secret. “You see, there’s a kill log, which you can access from the Bureau of Records. There’s also a loot log, also accessible from the same place.”
She paused to make sure the next bit registered. “Yes, there is a full record of everything that has ever been looted from anyone or anything, complete with the date, time and name of person who looted it, sortable by item name, or person name, or date. Most people don’t bother, because it’s too much of a hassle.”
Seiki could not believe he had never heard of this before.
“You should go see it sometimes. Their Archive Hall is gigantic. That’s how the Society keeps track of where the uniques are, among other things that they do. The kicker is that it’s all in scrolls and pieces of paper. You see, that’s the whole joke on us. No technology. Very funny,” she said, veering off into a little annoyed rant before catching herself. “Anyways, let’s say you have a precious piece of unused gear that you want to sell, or even an unclaimed named weapon, and someone wants to take it from you. The Shadow Manor kills you, someone loots your gear, and you go check the records to see who was responsible and they turn out to be called Takoyaki [Level 4].”
The obake giggled when she saw Seiki’s confused expression. “That actually happened to someone I know. You see, that’s how you get away with a perfect robbery. There’s a loot log, but no public trade log.”
It started to make sense to Seiki now. “I see,” he said slowly. “So you get a low-level to loot the gear and give it to you.”
“Not just any low-level,” said Kiku. “These are professional doubles. They do this for a living. Rumor is they get banned, but that’s not a big deal, since it’s a throwaway character anyways.”
Seiki thought about it and recognized another reason why it had to be a Level 4, was because PVP was still conveniently disabled at that point.
There was something else he did not understand. “But why doesn’t the Shadow Manor just do it themselves?”
“That’s their code. They’re strictly assassins and they never loot their victims. That way they avoid a lot of clan wars and territory challenges, because people know they don’t have the items. And, hence, the script. Does that answer your question?”
“Yes,” said Seiki, marveling at his first real glimpse of the complexity of economy and society these people had managed to make for themselves.
“Well, all that said, actually most of the Shadow Manor’s income is from petty people who hire them to kill their enemies over and over, just to annoy them and make them waste their money on fixing their gear.” She shook her head, before looking straight at Seiki, eyes sparkling with life. “Of course, your case is different, since it’s the Shadow Manor themselves who want you dead.”
“Because of the Ichikeya challenge?” Seiki sighed as he wondered how many more morgue visits he would have to do before he would even have a fighting chance.
“Yes, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” the obake said. “It’s also part of their code that if you kill one of them, they kill you once, leave a message to get you sweating for a while, then they eventually kill you again, then it’s considered settled.”
There was a kind of unspoken understanding between these people, which he had somehow become part of. “I see,” Seiki said, mulling it over. “But I guess the whole thing is that you will never know when they’re going to come after you.”
“Exactly,” said Kiku, cheerily. “Which brings me to my point, and our destination.”
They had walked down the street and turned left into a smaller lane not far from the Bureau. There was a large wooden door in the white wall and Kiku pushed it open, revealing a garden with low pine trees and trimmed bushes. A pebble path, lit by dim stone groun
d lamps, led from the door, round an artistic rock formation, up to a bridge across a little stream, and further to a door of a two-storied mansion. Seiki glanced around in awe as she guided him through the garden, and he completely forgot to ask what her point was.
Kiku ran up to the entrance and knocked impatiently. The door immediately opened as if someone had been waiting. Behind it was Ikumi of the Shinshioka Scientific Society [Level 20]. “What are you knocking for? You’re already in.”
She was a slim girl slightly older than Kiku, who was dressed in pale green. She looked up at Seiki and gave him a brief smile. “Good evening, Seiki-san. We were expecting you.”
“Oh, right,” whispered Kiku to Seiki as they stepped through the doorway. “Be in character in here, all right?”
You have entered the Taira Mansion private territory. Custom combat rules apply. PVP status: enabled.
The interior, made entirely of luxurious wood, appeared to be partitioned off into the left and right wings, separated by painted sliding panels. The stairway was in the hall in the middle of the mansion, and Ikumi hurriedly led them up, with Kiku asking her about some crafted fan and ink requirements that seemed to be part of their previous conversation.
The second floor was also separated into the left and right wing, and Ikumi took them to the right. The painted panels depicted the city, which looked remarkably like Shinshioka, with mountain ranges in the distance. She slid the panels open, and Seiki discovered that it was a large tatami room, with windows along the wall, brightly lit with patterned paper lamps.
Sitting on the floor were four people. Mimura of Ichikeya [Level 22], the mysterious man from the second floor of Ichikeya Inn; he wore the same white kimono as the last time Seiki had met him. Sayahime of the White Crane Order [Level 27], in scarlet red, was a woman with a face perhaps more handsome than pretty, who Seiki was certain he had seen before. Beside her was her casual-looking clan mate, Hiro of the White Crane Order [Level 21], in samurai armor. Further at the end of the row was a thin scholarly man, Kazuki of the Shinshioka Scientific Society [Level 25].
These were his hosts, Seiki observed, not failing to take notice of their levels. Their intense attention on him was making him a little uneasy, as he had no idea what he had done to warrant it.
“What’s this?” he asked. His best guess was that, since Mimura was present, it had something to do with the delivery he made to Ichikeya.
“We meet again.” Sayahime smiled. Seiki remembered her now, from the pine tree in Kakura village.
Ikumi shook her head disapprovingly at the people in the room as she beckoned Seiki to sit down on one of the cushions. “Don’t just stare at him like that. You’re making him uncomfortable.” She then sat down beside Kazuki.
Kiku scampered over to her clan mates and plopped herself down beside them. “All right, Seiki-san, let’s get straight to the point,” she said, before announcing enthusiastically. “We are trying to recruit you.”
It seemed that they were expecting some kind of reaction out of him, but Seiki really did not know what that was supposed to be. Mimura’s expression was unreadable. Sayahime was simply watching him calmly.
“Uh, would you mind getting into the details of that?” Seiki said.
Kiku giggled. “See?” She said, looking at Hiro. Sayahime shot her a stern look.
“We, meaning,” said Kiku. “One of these people here.”
Seiki looked around at them in slight confusion. Some of these people he had never even met.
Kiku went on. “Joining a clan will give you protection, among other benefits. At least, people will think twice before killing you, and I can tell you now that the clans represented here are among the most highly-regarded clans in the city.”
Again, they seemed to be gauging his reaction and Seiki, not knowing what to think, looked at them rather helplessly. “I haven’t really thought—”
“We won’t rush you.” Mimura interrupted him. “And, of course,” he continued, “This is a two-way process. So, our intention in inviting you here today was to ask for a show of your skills, Seiki-san. A friendly duel. I believe Hiro-san has already volunteered.”
“Definitely not volunteered,” said Hiro.
“Hiro!” said Sayahime.
The man sighed. “Hime-sama, can you not have Kiku do it instead?”
“No,” said Sayahime. “Sword against sword. We have agreed on that.”
Hiro scratched his nose. “Then perhaps hime-sama would like to do it herself?”
“Nonsense!” cried Kiku.
Before Seiki could ask how they could expect him to fight a Level 21, Mimura said, “We have a way to achieve a level of fairness, Seiki-san. And no matter the result, you will be compensated for your time.”
He paused, with a slight smile, possibly for effect. “With an offer that you cannot refuse.”
Mimura clapped his hands together twice, and the door slid open, revealing Hatsuo [Level 22], in an all-black yukata this time, who brought in a box. Seiki stared at him. The last time he had seen that man was in a dark alley with a bunch of robbers. Hatsuo did not meet his eyes and politely set the box down in front of Mimura. Then he left without another word.
He looked at Mimura, wondering if he should say something, when Kiku met his eyes and shook her head.
Mimura slid the box over to Seiki and nodded as if telling him to open it. It was a medium-sized wooden box, painted red and black. A quick glance revealed that it was crafted by someone called Isaki.
Seiki lifted the lid and unconsciously held his breath. Set against the yellow silken interior was a short slim blade with a slight blue tint. Its polished black wooden hilt was covered by a layer of fine woven leather straps for grip.
Kohagane. +32 attack. +2% energy regeneration. Damage 2.9. Speed 1.7. Range 0.3.
Beside it was a sheath of matted black with a slender streak of dark blue running along one edge. It was a named dagger, and it was beautiful. Seiki could only stare at it. Then he looked up at Mimura, completely speechless.
“This is simply for your time,” said Mimura, seemingly pleased that Seiki had not even bothered to hide how impressed he was. “No conditions. You are not obliged to agree to anything beyond one simple duel.”
Seiki glanced at the dagger again, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was staring at him with the same expression that his coach had when he bought Seiki his first flight abroad. “It’s very generous,” he finally managed to say. A more detached part of himself was rather amused, since he knew they could ask him to walk into the Shadow Manor right now and he would be more than willing.
He slid the box close and put it aside.
“Hime-sama, it turns out some people have self-restraint,” said Kiku aloud. “You remember what happened when we recruited Hiro?”
“Hey, that was different,” cried Hiro.
Sayahime ignored them. “Since Seiki-san has agreed,” she said, then she eyed Hiro, who heaved a long sigh as he took off his armor, which consisted of a chest piece, shoulder and arm guards. Then he stood up and took off his outer layer of clothes.
“Don’t stare, now, Kiku,” said the man as he added his outer kimono into the pile of armor, leaving only a black yukata with +24 defense. The obake girl stuck her tongue out at him.
Mimura turned to Seiki with a formal smile. “Since Hiro-san is much more… experienced, we will give you a handicap.”
At this time, Kazuki from the Shinshioka Scientific Society took out a cloth bundle from behind him and carefully unwrapped it. In it was a leather piece of armor and a blade in a crude, brownish scabbard, both of which he handed to Hiro, who reluctantly accepted them.
Seiki took a look.
Fine Leather Kote. -1876 attack. +778 defense. Warning: durability at 0%!
“God, this feels bad,” said Hiro as he strapped the leather guard on his left arm.
“This is the only way we can ensure that he doesn’t kill you with a s
ingle touch,” explained Mimura. “The armor has lost all its durability, so it has lost all its protective benefits as well.”
Handicap armor, Seiki thought to himself. For some unknown reason that had nothing to do with fairness, Seiki was rather uncomfortable with the idea.
“Worst armor in existence.” Ikumi seemed proud of it. “Do you know how many Lesser Defense Enchants it took to achieve this?”
Kazuki laughed. “This is actually worth more than a whole set of jade steel armor.”
“Don’t worry, Seiki-san,” said Mimura. “At this point, Hiro-san still has a significant advantage over you.”
He was right. The samurai had more than 4000 HP.
“So, here you go,” said Kazuki politely, handing Hiro the short blade from his cloth bundle.
The samurai gazed at it as if it was a poisonous snake.
Ushi-oni no Tsuno. [Unique] +64 attack. +1% health restoration. Harness the terrifying power of the cursed ox demon to inflict extra damage to enemies at the cost of the user’s health. Effect: as long as the weapon is equipped, the user’s attacks cause double damage to the target at the price of the base damage of each attack on the user, ignoring effects of armor.
“Horn of the Ox Demon,” said Ikumi.
“This is as fair as we can get it at the moment,” said Kazuki apologetically to Seiki. “At this point, you might be able to handle three direct hits, but nothing beyond that.”
Hiro sighed as he slid the unique dagger through his obi, then he looked at Seiki. “All right, Seiki-san. Hikari against Hikari?”
Chapter 15
Even when Seiki knew there was no real stake in this duel, for many reasons, to him this was the most important fight he had been in so far. For the first time since he had entered this world, he experienced the same jitters he used to feel before a real match. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself, imagining the warm air reaching every part of his body. When he opened them again, his nerves were steel and his full focus was on his opponent.
Hiro had switched out his longer sword for his Hikari. Upon inspection, Seiki could see that, since it scaled, the sword had much higher attack than his own. With this strange calibration, Seiki was not sure how it would actually work out, but Kazuki and Izumi from the Scientific Society seemed confident.