by Nikita Thorn
Seiki chuckled. “No, we’re really trying to get robbed, by real robbers.”
Yamura’s eyes widened in shock as Seiki turned toward the empty buildings and shouted, “I’ve got a hundred gold on me right now.”
“What the—”
“And if that’s not enough incentive,” Seiki continued to yell. “My friend’s here for an audition. Come out. You know who you are.”
Yamura’s jaw dropped in disbelief as he finally realized what was happening, perhaps only now remembering that—a long time ago—a certain group of East City robbers had taken an interest in him for his quick looting skill in the midst of combat chaos.
The ryoushi stared at Seiki, but before he could open his mouth to protest, a casual voice resounded. “Well, well. It’s certainly been a while, gentlemen.”
A door on the building in front of them swung open, followed almost in unison by several creaky doors beside it on both sides of the alley. Instantly, groups of ryoushi and ninjas clad in gray and green with more than two dozen bows and daggers, all drawn, poured out to surround their nighttime visitors.
Yamura reached for his own bow across his back, but Seiki stopped him. “This is what we’re here for,” he whispered.
“I’m glad you haven’t forgotten about me,” the voice continued.
The speaker, clearly their leader, a slim scruffy-looking man in a long-sleeved dark green yukata, stepped out of one of the buildings, dragging his wooden geta noisily across the ground. The man carried no weapon, but had in his hand a lit tobacco pipe.
Gin of the East City Bandits [Level 17] smiled pleasantly as he took a puff off his Western-style smoking device. “Although you did take your sweet time coming here,” he said. “You know how long I’ve been waiting ever since your crazy White Crane Hall stunt?”
CHAPTER 12
Gin the bandit leader appeared very much like the last time Seiki met him, with his slack attitude and seemingly permanent lazy smile. The wooden [toy] pipe, of course, was new, and came with a rather curious Effect: has a 10% chance to give +1 energy when inhaled outside of combat.
The man casually signaled his armed crew to lower their weapons.
“So this is the old friend you were talking about.” Yamura did not sound at all amused.
Seiki turned to the robber. “Let’s make something clear from the start. We’re not looking for a fight. All you have to do is answer a few questions and you’re welcome to have the hundred gold.”
Gin studied him for a moment. “What about your friend’s audition?” He smiled as he considered Yamura. “Mister ryoushi, this is a chance for you to really be someone beyond a random name in front of a common clan tag. At least, by the end of the first week, I can guarantee that the Patrols will know you by name and will really take every opportunity to try to play hide-and-seek with you.” He mused for a moment. “Actually, sometimes it’s more like freeze tag.”
Seiki supposed some people really got a kick out of running from the City Patrols. Judging from the mischievous twinkle in the bandit’s eyes, it was obvious the man was greatly enjoying himself.
“Sounds like fun.” Seiki kept a straight face as he glanced at Yamura, who immediately shot him a dark look.
“If you don’t remember, this guy tried to rob us of our rightful rare kill,” said the ryoushi angrily.
“Oh, that,” said Gin with a shrug. “When you’re new to the City, things like that tend to happen. My rare, your rare… it gets confusing sometimes. That was just a little misunderstanding.”
Yamura glared. “Misunderstanding my—”
“Awwww, come now, mister ryoushi.” Gin waved his hand. “Let’s just let bygones be bygones, shall we? We don’t want to start off on the wrong foot right before your audition.”
The ryoushi almost choked. “No way I’m joining your stupid thief group!”
Seiki swallowed a chortle. Thinking back, it had been a lifetime since their first desperate struggle against a Level 12 rare and robbers, back when he literally knew nothing.
Gin affected a rather convincing wince. “Oh, you hurt my feelings, mister ryoushi. As you can see, we are now well-established and entirely respectable.”
“Respectable?” Yamura scoffed. “Oh, yeah, I can see you’ve got yourself a fancy clan name now. East City Bandits? Why not the, uh, the Merry Men of East City? Why not just We Shamelessly Try to Steal Your Rare Kills?” The ryoushi grunted. “God, I can’t believe you’re really giving a hundred gold to these lowlife thieves.”
“Uh, we actually prefer ‘gentlemen of the other side of the law’,” Gin said. “Our conduct is stellar and we pull off perfect robberies, with very minor casualties. Only when people do the unthinkable thing of trying to, uh, uncivilly resist.” He smiled. “At the very least, you can’t deny that our manners are always irreproachable.”
Trying not to feel too amused, Seiki took this opportunity to check out the other East City Bandits. He recognized Chika of the East City Bandits [Level 16], Gin’s petite ninja companion from before, who now seemed to be one of the clan leaders based on how all the other bandits were looking at her for cues. Clad in tight black with her hair hidden under a large headband, she gave him a challenging smirk as their eyes met.
The rest of the clan members Seiki had never seen. Mostly young-looking men, half of them were around Level 15, while the other half seemed rather new. There were even a few below Level 10, and the lowest was as low as Level 6. Quickly taking notice of their weapons, Seiki guessed seven ryoushi and four ninjas.
“He’s not here,” Gin finally said. Seiki turned back toward the bandit leader. A knowing smile had crept up on the man’s face. “The guy you’re looking for,” Gin said matter-of-factly as he met Seiki’s eyes. “Hatsuo.”
Seiki was suddenly holding his breath. The Level 22 ryoushi Hatsuo had almost always managed to be everywhere: first acting as a team member for Ichikeya, then for Gin and his bandits. Next, he appeared at the invasion at the White Crane Hall with one of his so-called actor, Akari, who turned out not to be who she claimed to be. Now that he had heard the same name mentioned by Umiko, Seiki recalled that the man had also been present at the Taira Mansion invasion. In fact, if memory served him correctly, at the time, Hatsuo had been the one to bring in the box with an incredibly valuable gift—the named Kohagane dagger, which until now was still Seiki’s best piece for his secondary weapon slot.
Since the White Crane Order knew nothing about the man beyond his front as the contact point for a group of actors, and since it was impossible to get anything more from Ichikeya’s Fuyu—who also claimed to know nothing—Seiki had decided that his best shot was to ask the only other person who might be in the know: Gin, the East City bandit. He had not placed much hope on this attempt, but from the looks of it, it seemed this hundred gold was going to be well-spent after all.
Gin raised an eyebrow. “That’s who you’re looking for, right?”
“Right,” said Seiki.
“Okay, who’s that?” Yamura asked.
“Another old friend,” said Gin with an ambiguous smile.
Seiki scrutinized him, but he could not tell from the bandit’s expression whether he considered Hatsuo a friend or foe. “I hope whatever you can tell me about that guy will be worth this hundred gold.”
“Ohh.” Gin stroked his chin. “What I’m going to tell you is arguably going to be worth much, much more than that, mister ronin.”
“How do you know he’s not just gonna make something up?” said Yamura in a low voice. “You know, I would, if someone offered me a hundred gold.”
Gin apparently heard him. “You sure you don’t want to join us, mister ryoushi? You’d fit right in.”
Despite the bandit’s penchant to quip, Seiki had a feeling he was telling the truth. “I’ll decide if the information’s worth it,” he reassured Yamura, before returning his gaze to Gin. “Tell me something I don’t already know, and the hundred gold’s you
rs. You have my word.”
Gin thought for a moment, before a frightful expression, which was, again, most likely faked, passed over his face. “Here?” He glanced around. “Oh, no, no, no, not here.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’m afraid I will have to ask you to come somewhere more… private.”
“Okay, and this is exactly how you get robbed and murdered,” said Yamura loudly in disapproval.
Seiki shook his head. “All I want to know is who the man is and who these so-called ‘players’ are, and why they seem to pop up everywhere pulling off all these ridiculous scams. Nothing you can’t say here.”
Gin cast another wary glance around. “My secrets are bursting in my chest like a lover’s confession, the most violent of imaginary butterflies,” he pleaded dramatically. “But the night has many ears, which silences my lips.”
Gin of the East City Bandits invites you to a group.
Seiki suspected the need for secrecy was not true, since he recognized the gleeful tone RPers often adopted when speaking rehearsed lines. But they had come this far, and he had to admit he was a little curious to check what a bandits’ lair looked like. Plus, he really had nothing to lose right now.
Seeing their hesitation, Gin dropped his theatrics. “Oh, come on. I swear it’ll be worth your time. Win-win for the both of us. And we won’t try to take your weapons, so could you please tell your friend to stop giving us murderous looks? It’s making my new recruits a little worried.”
Indeed, one of the low-level ninjas, Niko of the East City Bandits [Level 6] seemed to be fidgety with the dagger in her hand, perhaps eager to test out her Spinning Blade—which had just unlocked at that level—should it be needed.
“Accept?” Seiki suggested to Yamura as he decided to do so.
You are now in a group with Gin of the East City Bandits [Level 17].
Gin of the East City Bandits has invited Yamura of the Honor Warriors to join the group.
“It’s a trap,” Yamura grumbled.
“We came for this trap,” said Seiki. “The worst that can happen is a trip to the Morgue.”
The ryoushi exhaled deeply, before glaring at the bandits once more. “You’ll learn that we won’t go down easy if you dare touch us.”
Yamura of the Honor Warriors [Level 16] has joined the group.
“Oh, good sirs, we wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing!” Gin exclaimed. “That would be incredibly rude to our guests. Right, Chika?” Smiling pleasantly, the man stepped aside and invited them through the shabby doorway. “This way, if you please.”
Seiki walked past Gin through the narrow entrance into the dark building. “Don’t bother Pickpocketing,” he warned the bandits. “I’ve got eight charges on my bag charms, and I’ll willingly give you the hundred gold at the end, so none of you will need to waste your Pickpocketing attempts.”
“Oooh,” said Chika in amusement as she broke off from the lower-level group and followed him through the doorway. “Someone’s learned a few things in the last few levels.”
Seiki grimaced as he checked his bag charms and found that the anti-theft charges were now down to six, meaning someone had tried to Pickpocket him twice already, without him even knowing.
From the way Gin narrowed his eyes, Seiki was quite certain it had been the bandit leader himself who had been responsible for the thieving attempts.
“I’ll tell you it’s not worth it,” said Seiki.
“You hear the man? No one picks his pocket now,” Gin innocently told his clan mates.
“The other guy doesn’t even have a pocket,” said one of the bandits, nodding toward Yamura, whose inventory bags were sitting safely in Master Tsujihara’s chamber.
The ryoushi shot the man a dark look. “I have a quiver full of arrows though.”
Gin clapped his hands twice. “Easy, gentlemen. Patrols before breakfast sounds like a bad idea.”
Like most places in East City, the building was dim and full of dust, lit only by the pale flickering light from one of the few street lamps that shone through a narrow crack in the wall. The floor boards creaked as they stepped through the entrance, and invisible tiny clawed feet scattered in every direction in front of them before their furry owners could be revealed in the extra lamplight let in through the door.
Seiki found himself in an empty workshop. The space next to the corridor was bare and filled with piles of broken shoji doors stacked on top of one another, a common sight for East City, whose buildings were mostly abandoned. According to Yamura, East City was only worth coming to if you could pick locks, since treasure chests spawned randomly in hidden locations behind locked doors. Allegedly, there was a small and secretive group of scavengers who haunted this landscape of urban wilderness in search of rare loot, but Seiki had never been particularly interested in sneaking around dark buildings.
The bandits led them deeper into the building toward an inner room, which appeared to be a kitchen about ten tatami mats in size, with old rags, cushions and broken utensils strewn against the walls. In the middle of the room was a floor hearth, and suspended on a thick chain above it was a large metal pan, big enough to feed a small army.
Without a back door, the room was a dead end. Seiki could feel Yamura shifting uncomfortably beside him, perhaps at the thought of being stuck in a place with ten armed robbers and no exit.
“Don’t tell me this is your clan hall,” said Yamura, glancing at the rundown kitchen. “Because I can tell you it sucks.”
Gin took no offense. “I’ll admit the entrance needs work.” He turned to one of his clan mates back by the entrance to the building. “Someone blood-lock that door before the whole city finds their way in here, will you? Uh, Yuriko?”
“I’m out of enchants,” came a reply.
Gin grunted. “Or just someone else? You’re all making me look unprofessional.”
Yamura did not seem to like the idea of being locked in from both sides. But before the ryoushi could reach for his bow, one of the bandits grabbed the vertical metal chain above the floor stove and jumped lightly onto the large pan.
A metallic clang sounded from somewhere within the walls, followed by rattling as a system of hidden pulleys started to lower the pan and its passenger down through the floor. Seiki finally discovered that the blackened stove was in fact a manhole. As the bandit disappeared downward, Seiki leaned in to take a glimpse. Nothing met his eyes but darkness, still the chain continued to move for a while before it stopped. A damp smell rose from the underground chamber, and he could hear the bandit’s faint footsteps as he got off at the bottom.
The last time Seiki was in East City had been with Akari, during her elaborate con to get into the White Crane Hall. The houshi girl had picked a lock to get them into one of the buildings, and from there they had jumped down a hole in one of the back rooms into the underground sewage and used one of the tunnels as a shortcut to exit the city.
A realization hit Seiki. “The whole of East City is one big maze,” he said in slight fascination. Above ground, this part of the city was a labyrinth of abandoned buildings, home to a few nighttime rare monsters, plus a few public clan territories and shops, but otherwise empty. Under that shabby surface was a second labyrinth of tunnels and underground waterways that hid things like the Black Market, the Pickpocketing trainer, and perhaps even puzzle rooms that awarded you snowstepper mounts. Seiki had often wondered what the East City was all about, and it was not until now that he started to understand its aesthetics.
Lore had never been Seiki’s strong point, but he vaguely remembered the Society mentioning a back story about a great fire in this part of the city, which resulted in many citizens relocating and the buildings falling into disuse. It made perfect sense that illegal activities would thrive in such a place.
With high-pitched metallic whines, the pulleys slowly raised the empty pan back to its original position, and Gin nodded. “Down you go, gentlemen. Don’t jump off midway and hurt yourselves
. It’s farther than it looks.”
Recognizing the wary look that said “You first” on Yamura’s face, Seiki stepped gingerly onto the pan-shaped platform, which felt sturdier than he imagined. The unconventional elevator clanged in response as the pan started its automatic descent.
The kitchen slowly disappeared from view as he was lowered into the darkness. The ride was far from smooth, and the cold chain in his grip jerked and jolted as every link of the metal chain grinded in the cogwheel, sending strangely itchy vibrations up his arm and leg.
“Keep your limbs in. We don’t want anyone losing fingers,” came Gin’s voice from somewhere above. “Banditry isn’t a popular profession for healers, so we don’t have any.”
The elevator came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the pit. The first bandit down the hole, a young man labeled Houshiki of the East City Bandits [Level 12] was already lighting a torch. As soon as an orange flame hissed into existence, Seiki leapt off the elevator onto the wet tunnel floor.
The underground was as Seiki had remembered: damp and filled with moving shadows. Ahead, within the sphere of the torchlight’s illumination, was an old tunnel wall paved with crumbling gray bricks, slightly overgrown with moss. Dripping water and sloshing footsteps sounded sporadically from the darkness beyond.
East City was apparently a world of hidden secrets, and for some reason Seiki was quite sure many rare monsters lurked in these tunnels as well.
Yamura was next to descend, shivering a bit in the unexpected cold air. “That was kinda cool,” the ryoushi admitted as he let go of the elevator, unfortunately at an odd angle, and had to jump out of the way as it swung back and forth while being pulled back up.
The ryoushi glanced around in wonder. “It would be even cooler if this was how you get to Yoshiwara, like through a secret passage with secret passwords and stuff.”
“Ask the boss if you want to go,” said Houshiki as he lit a second torch.