Ryojin- the Bonded Blade

by Noah Ward

  The male and female portions of the bath were divided by a long wicker fence that stood several feet high. A brisk walk along a stone garden punctuated with a few small plants chilled you before heading into the wooden-roofed area that covered the springs. As always, Kaz paid for a private bathing area, of which there were several: small wooden enclosures with enough room for a couple of people.

  The humid air was already sticking to her skin and prying open her pores. She couldn’t wait to get out of her damn clothes and armour. Upon drawing back the door to the spa, she found her sarrai waiting for her along with a small clay cup.

  Kaz all but tossed her clothes off and set her blades down while still keeping them within reach. The water was delightfully hot and she allowed herself to be submerged for several seconds, her lungs burning. She surfaced, breathing hard. Shay’s necklace floated in front of her. Reflecting undulations of water caused the rough krystallis to look like it trapped a writhing serpent. Kaz closed her hand around it and held the necklace to her chest.

  She’d be okay. Soon. She could hold out a little longer.

  With a sigh, she relaxed against the stone edge of the spa and took a swig from the bottle. Then, she dunked one of the smaller towels in water and draped it over her eyes, wanting to escape for at least a little while.

  She didn’t know how much time had passed, but Kaz was sure she’d fallen asleep at some point. Though it had not been long, she huffed and tossed the towel to the side. Her stomach was rumbling and she was long overdue a meal.

  After quickly drying herself, Kaz threw on her gown, picked up her belongings--all the while balancing the bottle of sarrai carefully on top--and headed back to her room. She ordered something to eat from the man who had held the door of her room open and then began to wonder what other chores she could accomplish before she could visit Shay once again.

  However, upon stepping into her bedroom, the pile of clothes, weapons, and alcohol in her arms spilled to the ground. Her chest was open. The aians were gone. Someone had left a whetstone in the middle of the chest’s open mouth.

  “Wha--” Kaz began.

  “I think we need a friendly chat,” said a voice from behind her. But she knew that was a lie by the finger of cold steel kissing her neck.

  ◆◆◆

  Gin had followed the ryojin through Akimaru to an inn called The Resting Swallow. From the wandering sellswords and mercenaries he had dealt with in the past, it was a strangely upmarket choice. Not that he was complaining.

  The one called Kaz appeared to have a previous relationship with the innkeeper, and she was eventually led to a nice room overlooking the wide streets, offering a view of various other inns and shops in this section of Akimaru’s second level.

  When they had left her alone, she soon headed towards the hot springs at the rear of the building, which afforded him time to snoop undisturbed. From what he had seen so far, it struck him as a peculiar arrangement. If Saito had arranged to transport his supposed daughter across the land of Zenitia, then why not hire considerably more muscle? The fact that Kaz had killed Hanza, a formidable warrior--a formidable sworn warrior--meant this woman was a good enough fighter to challenge Retsudan’s sworn, had the touch of the shogens herself, or, had just been damn lucky. In Gin’s experience, it was a combination of all three.

  However, that did not bode well for the woman. The way Saito had dealt with the bandits--who no one was denying were scum--meant that those under scrutiny or possible employment often ended up dead. Bad for them, but it was exactly the kind of leverage Gin could use.

  Kuma had already dispatched someone to shadow Kaz, to assassinate her or ensure something else did. Gin had tagged the thing on his journey over, but she was busy casing the inn from the outside. Upon dissolving from his tenebrous form, he’d marked them outside the window, watching.

  Amateur.

  With time on his hands, he began snooping. His first item of interest was the pack Kaz had brought with her. Inside, there was not too much of note: more casual women’s garb (not the most fashionable); some tobacco and smoke instruments; items for blade maintenance; currency; food...boring things. It was the contents of a travellers pack. No sentimental items, no hints of a past or allegiances.

  Next, Gin moved on to the coin chest. He squatted by the wooden contraption and stroked his chin. It was a sturdy, varnished oblong with iron clasps. A pouch would have done. Perhaps it was a mark of respect or was simply how Saito dealt with payment. He could well have known the ryojin, though what he had seen belied that relationship.

  Gin flipped it open; he’d seen her do the same a couple of times, so there was no harm in it. He slipped one of his remaining kunai from his sleeve and poked around the gold aians. Took one out. Bit it. Genuine. But something wasn’t right.

  He stared at the little chest for a few seconds until it struck him. After a quick mental assessment on the number of coins she’d received, he eyed up the depth of the chest. Using his kunai, Gin poked around the coins. Then, he took his index finger and slowly slid it along the inside. His finger graced a small indentation, which he followed around to describe a circle.

  “Not bad,” he whispered to himself.

  Gin returned to the woman’s sack and removed a pouch big enough to accomodate the coins, as well as a whetstone. For the next minute, he methodically began transferring the aians to the pouch while nudging the whetstone into place, all the while his stomach doing somersaults.

  He let out a long sigh when done. “Still here.”

  Then the door slid open.

  Gin vanished, taking the aians with him. It was Kaz. He slunk around her, taking the shadows towards the far side of the room, away from the window. It didn’t take her long to figure out his play, and she dumped her belongings on the floor.

  Better now than never, Gin.

  He used her angled shadow as cover and appeared just behind her, tanto drawn.

  “Wha--” Kaz began.

  “I think we need a friendly chat,” he said. While he had toyed with a more relaxed approach, time was against him and he wanted his message to be absorbed quickly.

  Everyone required a certain approach when the exchange of information was on the table. There were those who responded directly to threats or force--sneaking up with a blade was as good approach as any. It wouldn’t work here. From what he’d heard this woman was rather formidable and Gin had chosen an awful location to fight. Blackmail was always good and worked on almost anyone if the gossip or secret was juicy enough. Sometimes he greased political wheels and the on the rare occasion assassinated; however, the latter always raised more questions and could well set off a chain that saw you dead or, at worse, compromised. In most cases, though, and in this one, cold, hard coinage was the way to go. She was a ryojin and worked for money. Simple enough. But he needed to win her trust first.

  Kaz glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

  “I’m not your enemy here,” he said.

  “Yet here you are with a blade against my neck. And I’m guessing you robbed me, too.”

  “I’ll admit, I’ve not made the greatest first impression, but I want you to hear me out. If I wanted you dead, I would’ve just killed you.”

  “You would have tried.”

  “Just like Hanza tried?”

  She stiffened at that. Maybe he’d said the wrong thing. Kaz sighed and held up her palms. Maybe not.

  Then her blade flew into her palm and before he knew what was going on she’d knocked his tanto aside with a spin of silver and was ready to impale him. Gin vanished and then reappeared in the bedroom.

  “Wait--WAIT!” he snapped. It was his turn to hold up his palms in a genuine attempt at placation. “Just listen, okay?” Her eyes were slits. She had her blade held low in front of her. “A blade like that in here will only cause a mess. It looks very sharp and is also bonded if I’m not mistaken.” Nothing. His shoulders sunk. “Look, I didn’t come here to fight.” Gin slowly brought one hand close
to his chest but stopped. “I’m going to give you back the aians from that chest, but I want you to know I did you a favour.”

  “I don’t see how making me poorer is a favour,” said Kaz. She kept her weapon locked in her grasp.

  “That chest was rigged to do something when enough coins were removed. Experience tells me that ‘something’ was rather explosive and lethal. So, I want you to rethink whatever deal you made with that man in exchange for the girl, because they certainly see you as expendable.”

  Kaz pointed her katana at the sack. “You took my whetstone from my belongings and put it in my empty chest.”

  “Well, I didn’t fancy being blown up or poisoned or whatever it does. If you think I’m lying then please--”

  Kaz burst forwards and slashed at the box. Gin swore as he vanished.

  No explosion. She’d stopped just before reaching the whetstone.

  “Come out,” she said.

  Gin reappeared in the same spot.

  “Let’s say I believe you. Then what?”

  “Maybe sheathe your sword?”

  “Try something else.”

  Gin folded his arms.

  Kaz sized him up. “You’re a kamen. Which daimyo are you working for?” He huffed in response. “Abilities like that tend to be of that profession. Either that or an assassin.”

  “I am a kamen, though I won’t tell you who I work for--that would show a lack of professionalism.” He once again slowly reached into his armoured robes and withdrew the pouch full of aians, which he tossed over to her. She caught it in her free hand. “If more aians is what you want in exchange for information, we can negotiate. If it’s another request and it’s within my power, I can fulfill that.”

  “We’ll see,” said Kaz. “Ask.”

  “How did you come into the employ of the man you escorted the girl to?”

  “I was not in his employ.”

  Gin held out his hand for her to clarify.

  “I met the girl on the road and she said I would be compensated if I brought her to Akimaru.”

  “Did she tell you who she was?”

  “No more than she was travelling to her uncle to work in his shop.”

  Gin kept his face passive, though he was frowning on the inside. “You didn’t wonder how she got where she was, or how she could guarantee payment?”

  “You’re not a woman so I don’t think you’d truly understand the reason why women leave their villages sometimes.”

  He couldn’t help it that time. The stinging shame in his chest bloomed. “Very well,” he said instead. If she noticed it, then her countenance masked it.

  “She had jewelry, trinkets, as down payment.”

  Fair enough. “And you didn’t find it strange that one of Saito Kitagami’s sworn attacked you? Are you sworn?”

  Her eyes narrowed at him as she took a step forward. Gin probably shouldn’t have appeared so close to a damn wall.

  “I did not know who he was or why he was there. He attacked me so I fought back. If it makes you happy, I nearly died in doing so.”

  Gin nodded. It appeared as if this ryojin had no clue of the girl’s importance or her relation to Saito. Best Gin keep it that way for now; it could well colour her demands to unreasonable heights. He believed she was sworn, however. No way someone could kill one of Saito’s people if they weren’t.

  If he’d gleaned anything from this, it was the dubious nature of the girl--Shay. She’d arrived from seemingly nowhere. Not to mention, to his clan’s knowledge, Saito Kitagami had no family. Was she really who she claimed to be? One of Asami’s thugs seemed to believe so. But did the man himself? In an attempt to locate clarity, he was left feeling more confused.

  “So, you transport this girl to Akimaru, they pay you, and that’s the end of it?” Gin said.

  “Yes. Why is that of importance to a kamen in the first place?”

  He’d been waiting for that. “You know I can’t divulge the specifics. All I can say is that it involves possible krystallis-powered weaponry.” It wasn’t a total lie. It did involved krystallis and Retsudan’s military certainly had them at their disposal. “I am just exploring every clue that I find. Information is important for kamen. And now that you have fulfilled your mission, it is in your best interests to leave it at that. It works out better for everyone that way.”

  “I see,” was all she said in response.

  Gin nodded and scooped his tanto off the floor. Time hadn’t gotten away from him; there were still a few hours before evening, providing plenty of time for him to work his way back to the house and await Saito or whomever’s return. He’d have quite a tale to spin Izado later on, that was for sure.

  “Thank you for your cooperation,” he said with a bow. He had taken a risk by coming here, that much he knew. She could well go running straight back to Kuma and spill that she had been approached. If that were the case, he’d be forced to kill her before she had the chance. “You can name your price.”

  “I’ll think on it,” she said, and had still not sheathed her sword.

  “If you remember anything else, there is a small pond outside an inn named the The Yuzuu Tree.” He took a thin silver coin out of his pocket that had no markings. He tossed it to her. “Throw that in the pond and I’ll find you.”

  “I expect nothing less from a kamen,” said Kaz, examining the disc. Just as he was about to vanish, she spoke again. “What will happen to the girl?”

  Gin took a breath. Told the truth. “I could not say. If everything is as you said, it would seem she has nothing to worry about.” His eyebrows flicked up at her, then he snapped his fingers. “And before I forget, there is someone watching you from outside this inn. I suppose Denjuro wanted to make sure you spent your aians wisely.” Kaz’s eyes glanced at the windows. “Strange lenses on her eyes. Sworn, I’d say. Though, I’ve never seen someone gifted whose sewn up their eyes.”

  Before she could answer, someone rapped on her door. Gin disappeared into the darkness before she had chance to respond.

  Let her ruminate on that.

  He knew she was not being wholly truthful, but she had told him more than he initially believed. Kaz could make contact if she felt her tongue loosen some more. The fact she had not immediately requested recompense meant there was more to this. Gin would find out what it was, sooner or later. He always did.

  33

  Trap

  After a second rap on the doors, it slid open.

  Kaz was across the small room and had the tip of her blade hovering in front of the face of a startled server, sending the tray in their hands crashing to the floor. Rice, grilled meat in rich sauce, sweet fruits in syrup, and other foodstuffs spilled on the mats.

  It didn’t matter. Kaz had lost her appetite.

  “I’m--I’m sorry,” the man began.

  She sheathed her katana, frustrated with her nerves. “Just leave it.”

  “I can--”

  “Leave,” she hissed.

  He was frozen for a moment, torn between his duties and the irate, sword-wielding woman before him. He came to his senses and scurried away. Kaz slid the door shut with her sheathed blade and cursed.

  Breathe.

  Shay was in danger. She was in danger. Things were supposed to be improving, not turning to shit. The kamen may have not told him the whole truth, but she knew he would not be one of Saito’s agents. Retsudan had his own retinue of shadowy warriors and that man had just been too...insouciant to be born of their regimented, dispassionate clans. Plus, he would gain nothing from supposedly saving her life and alerting her to the presence of that thing outside.

  Could it be same one who attacked her? Impossible. She’d died. But there was more chance of her being related to Saito. There were just too many coincidences.

  How did Shay fit into all of this? Her uncle of whomever dealt in illegal krystallis? It married with the fact the girl was reticent to divulge any information about both of them and why she could gain Kaz information on rare kr
ystallis.

  Kaz sidled up to the window and cracked it open just a slither. Spying the outside, she discovered the one the kamen warned her about. They wore peculiar round lenses over their eyes despite the overcast day and stuck to one of the alleys between an inn and a shop that sold artwork.

  She was fucked.

  No, this could be salvaged. She just had to get to Shay now, demand that the girl relinquish what her uncle knew. It was so close she could feel it in her grasp. If the kamen planned to swoop in and arrest them or whatever his daimyo planned, surely she could cash in that favour for a pardon. If not, she’d cut her way out of there.

  But what if that all failed?

  Just take it one step at a time, Kaz. Standing here isn’t doing anything.

  Kaz tossed her sword to the floor and flung off her robe. While it would have been nice to have her clothes and armour seen to before embarking on a journey that would take shogens knew how long to see through, she had no choice. Her soaking hair, while not particularly long, caught buckles as she strapped on her armour, but she didn’t care and yanked a clump off with a sharp tug.

  After strapping on her swords, grabbing a fistful of aians for emergencies, as well as the kamen’s coin, she scooped a rice ball off the floor and stuffed it in her mouth out of necessity rather than pleasure. The small chest was on her mind. She’d couldn’t just leave it there and potentially send this whole place up in flames. They’d never let her use the hot springs again.

  She tossed some junk into the chest, noticing that the kamen had spoken true about a pressure switch, and gingerly scooped it up, thankful when it didn’t immediately explode.

  The front entrance was a no-go so she headed into the rear restaurant, where guests dined at low tables and the aroma of good food attempted to arrest her purpose. When she entered the kitchen itself, chefs tried to arrest her purpose, but thought better of it when seeing her blades.

  Out the back was a small garden area that had a storage house for grains, smoked meats, and the like. Kaz veered to the left and used a large water pot to boost herself over a fence and into the alley. From here, she could head away from the main thoroughfare and circle around to the path that headed to lower Akimaru.