Mura Sabishii Toshi...
"I do not think I have been in a city this size. I do not get out of my family's lands quite often enough. Not many of us travel extensively."
Noriko groaned inwardly. Terumoto wouldn't shut up about his lack of real experience with crowds outside of the Sparrow clan lands. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd turned out to be useful so far, she'd have suggested getting rid of him. Even Hyosuke's mask of tolerance was starting to slip. If he reacts like this to a simple port town, Noriko thought, I'd hate to take him to Ryoko Owari.
"We're in your element, Tsuruchi-sama," the Fox said, interrupting the Sparrow samurai's constant expressions of awe. "Where do you think our target would be going?"
The Mantis archer directed them towards an inn with a stable as she pondered the layout of the port.
"He wouldn't be here if he wasn't planning on making an escape via boat or giving something to someone. It's not like he came here just to hide. He has goods to transfer or an escape route through here. The fact that he comes here a lot suggests he has a contact."
"Which means?" Terumoto asked, not wanting to be completely left out of the conversation.
"He's probably going to be at the docks or one of the big trading houses." Noriko pulled up to a stable, grabbing her traveling pack.
The men on the other horse followed suit as a peasant came to lead the animals to the enclosure. Hyosuke brushed dust off of his kimono and took a moment to stretch.
"And we are sure he is here?" the Sparrow asked.
"There's nowhere else he could go and expect to get anywhere quickly. If he was going to leave the river and go somewhere else, he was really going out of his way just to do so," Hyosuke responded.
Three hours earlier...
"Halt! Who goes there?"
A grouping of five samurai rode up to the three weary travelers. Their armor was light blue and bore the mon of the Daidoji family of the Crane. Along with their traditional daisho, three of the five were carrying bows and the other two wore polearms.
"A Crane border patrol," Noriko grumbled unpleasantly under her breath.
She started to ride up ahead to speak with the mounted samurai. Hyosuke noticeably paled, worried of their reaction to her attitude. The shugenja nearly jumped when he heard Terumoto behind him. The Sparrow had been quiet this past hour or so, and the Fox had almost forgotten he was back there.
"Stay close to her," the bushi suggested. "I have the feeling we're going to need someone who knows how to talk to these people."
Hyosuke nodded in agreement and sped up. They managed to catch up to Noriko as she reached the border guard.
"Keep your hands where we can see them, woman," one of the samurai said with a sneer.
"I'm sorry, sirs, but we cannot afford to be delayed. We're following a dangerous criminal," Terumoto said just as Noriko was about to let loose with a series of insults. "We have reason to believe he is on his way to Mura Sabishii Toshi."
"Who is this criminal, and who are you three?" the leader of the mounted soldiers asked.
Noriko dug into her traveling pack, producing the warrant and traveling papers she'd been issued. She made sure to drag out her licenses and qualifications for inspection. With a smug smile she dismounted and walked to the Crane. She handed him the paperwork as her companions remained close to her.
"I am Tsuruchi Noriko, of the Imperial Magistrates," she started.
"We are her deputies." She looked back to the Sparrow as he interrupted her, and glared at him. He at least had the tact to look embarrassed as she turned back to continue speaking with the patrol.
"Yes. I've deputized this pair to help me search for a drug smuggler and poison-dealer by the name of Rintaro." She explained this calmly, pointing out relevant portions of the warrant to the guardsmen as she spoke.
"And their names?" came the reply.
"I am Suzume Terumoto of the Sparrow clan," the aforementioned samurai said, introducing himself.
"And I am Kitsune Hyosuke, shugenja of the Fox," came the matching introduction from the one sharing a horse with the Sparrow.
The leader of the border guard began looking over the papers again. "We have not seen anyone, let alone this 'Rintaro' of whom you speak." He looked at Noriko before glancing at Hyosuke and Terumoto suspiciously. "You are sure he came this way?"
"Yes," the Tsuruchi calmly replied. "He has been coming this way via the river that feeds into the ocean nearby. We think he's followed the shore with a boat on his way to Mura Sabishii Toshi, to the east."
"We know where it is, Mantis."
She glared a bit at the Crane and before she could say something that would make this even worse, Suzume Terumoto stepped in.
"We are not suggesting that you are not able to deal with this situation. But this man uses unconventional methods that we have hardly kept up with. We have been tracking this man for a good while and survived an attempt on our lives. A pair of scouts he encountered further upriver weren't so lucky."
Behind the other two, the shugenja smirked with amusement. The embellishment was useful for the moment. The Sparrow was playing with fire, though-- push too hard and the Crane would take the description of events as an implication that could lead to a personal insult. But if he didn't push hard enough, then they couldn't convince the guard to let them go on unmolested. Hyosuke was reminded of how his own help had been needed to get Noriko through Kitsune Mori alive; now their progress was in the hands of navigating mortal guardians as well.
"If this man is as dangerous as you say, then we'll be sure to keep an eye out for him." The guard frowned at Noriko as he said that. "Your part in this is done."
"You don't have that sort of authority," Noriko said, shaking her head. "We've been dealing with this man so far. We know where he's going, and we know why." Now she practiced her own embellishments, her companions noticed. "Your business is here, just in case he doubled back on us. But we have been contracted to bring him in ourselves."
"We appreciate your offer of help, good sirs," Terumoto interrupted with just when the head of the Crane squad was going to respond with a less-than-pleasant rebuttal. "But we shall be able to handle this situation from here. If he has doubled back, then you will be the ones to catch him and we would be eternally grateful. But if he does not double back, then he is most likely already in the city. And we would hate to pull you from your post just to chase one criminal when the three of us could handle it ourselves."
The Crane gave the three hunters a very unpleasant look. He was clearly restraining himself. One of his subordinates was visibly amused, the Fox shugenja noted. Things were definitely going in their favor.
"Go on, then. Find this man, Rintaro, and then get out of here as soon as possible. You three look like trouble, and we don't need that sort of trouble in Crane lands."
"Thank you very much, Daidoji-sama," the Sparrow humbly said, bowing low. He returned to his horse.
Noriko took back her papers and licenses, letting her grin show as she turned away and got back on her own horse. The three of them continued on towards the city without another word from either party. Once they were out of earshot, she slowed down and looked over at the Fox and the Sparrow.
"Very good, Terumoto. That mouth of yours is good for something after all."
Terumoto wore flushed with embarrassment. There was an expression of thinly-veiled pride on his face, though. Hyosuke shook his head with a chuckle, briefly imagining what would have happened if they hadn't been there with her. She'd have gotten into a shouting match and accomplished nothing. There were times when bluntness was appreciated or at least useful, but trying to get something out of a Crane is not one of those times.
So they rode on, and a few short hours later reached the Crane port of Lonely Shore City.
Now...
The three of them stowed their equipment in the room they'd rented at the inn. The Sparrow, naturally, didn't have much with him. He carried a small bedroll with him and his swords, but not much else. He had a small money pouch with perhaps enough currency to purchase food for himself, as well as the trinkets he'd picked up along the way-- the wakizashi, staff, and the fragments of eggshell that had been left in Rintaro's wake. The Fox had a bedroll, a spare kimono, and a few basic conveniences such as fire-making equipment, thin rope for snares, and a small bag of sweet candies. The Mantis carried much the same sort of items, as well as maintenance equipment for her bow and arrows.
Once they'd lightened their load, the three travelers gathered up their weaponry and prepared to go hunting for the criminal Rintaro. It was almost evening, though, and they had to move quickly so as not to lose the light.
"Have you been here before, Noriko-sama?" Hyosuke asked.
"I've stopped here once or twice on trips to the Mantis Isles. I haven't exactly explored the city, though."
The Fox frowned a bit, sighing.
"I can get us to the warehouse district, though. The odds are good that he's headed in that direction," she said with a smug grin. "Just in case, though, will that trick of yours track Rintaro even in the city?"
"It won't tell us precisely where he is, of course," the Fox started, thoughtfully brushing off one of his sleeves. "But if he's been in the area where I cast it, his footprints should still show up."
"That's good to know."
Without another word, Noriko slung her bow over her shoulder. She headed for the door, her two traveling companions following close behind. They stepped out into the city, actually a little refreshed after their brief break.
A cool breeze blew just as they stepped outside. The breeze brought the gentle scent of sea water to them. The sky was nearly cloudless, and there was a steady buzzing of noise from the crowds around them. In the distance, the negotiation of merchants in the street made itself noticeable. Noriko felt more comfortable now that it was sunset; had it been morning, she'd have had to deal with the sun in her eyes.
A look of impatience on her face, she took a second to figure out in which direction the warehouse district lay. Hyosuke adjusted the shoulder strap for his nagamaki sheath, lightly patting his scroll pouch. Terumoto looked around the city once more and almost got left behind as Noriko headed straight for the warehouse district. Her two companions followed closely behind, jogging lightly to catch up with her determined stride.
She weaved through the crowds, the archer barely noticing that she almost knocked over a peasant. The Fox shugenja crouched down and helped the young woman up before trying to keep up with his Mantis comrade. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Terumoto wasn't having any trouble making his way through the clumps of people, oddly enough.
Having grown up in and around a large forest, Hyosuke found himself a little uncomfortable dealing with throngs of people rushing this way and that. He caught up to Noriko, taking a brief second to catch his breath.
"About how much longer until we get to the warehouse district?"
"A couple of minutes. It's going to be a bit crowded, though," she explained. "A few captains will be trying to get underway before it gets too dark out, so anyone we see is likely to be busy."
True to the Tsuruchi's word, before the trio knew it they were making their way down one of the narrow alleys between warehouses. They were near the great Trading House, where the Daidoji Trading Council presided over the merchants that used the city as a base of operations. The crowd had thinned out a bit, leaving the three almost alone on one of the side streets. It'd suddenly gotten quiet.
"Hyosuke," Noriko simply said.
"Yes?"
"We're close. I can feel it. Ask the spirits to help us."
The Mantis' eyes were narrowed and she kept looking around as if Rintaro would get past them the moment her back was turned. Her expression inspired some dread in Terumoto, who appeared to expect another attack like they'd suffered before. Hyosuke pulled out an ofuda and Rintaro's sandal. He closed his eyes and started focusing, whispering words of supplication to the unfamiliar kami of Mura Sabishii Toshi.
The Fox appeared less than comfortable performing magic here. It must be because we're in the city, Noriko thought. He's used to dealing with nature spirits. Maybe it's because others can watch him call the kami. In an attempt to provide him some extra feelings of security, she drew her bow, reaching back and idly fingering one of the arrows in her quiver. She couldn't tell, though, if it helped at all. Hyosuke finished chanting, opening his eyes and looking around. He then looked straight down.
"He was here." He took a step back, indicating that he'd been standing on a pair of glowing footprints. They led to his left, and he pointed in that direction.
"Very good, Fox. Thank you. Come on, he's close."
Noriko still carried her bow as she took off running in the direction the footprints led. Terumoto broke off in a sprint as well while Hyosuke gathered his items up and ran after them both. The Tsuruchi hunter dashed out of the alley, almost bumping into someone. The footprints pointed to another alleyway ahead of her.
The Fox and Sparrow dashed out into the street just in time to see her disappear down the alley. They ran after her, the pair almost bumping into her. She was standing at the end of the glowing footprints.
"Did he escape somewhere, like before?" she asked, frantic.
"No," the Kitsune shugenja said, shaking his head. "We've just reached the range of the spell. The limited range is just more obvious in the city than if we were in the woodlands. If we keep going, we should be able to catch up with him eventually."
Noriko nodded and took off again as if afraid to remain still for too long. She ran on ahead at high speed, Hyosuke and Terumoto managing to keep up this time. She ran through the small network of alleyways she'd led them into. The Mantis tightened her grip on her bow, knowing their quarry was close.
Nearby, a man in a dark blue kimono talked to a colleague in a small open area between warehouses. He shifted a bit in his unfamiliar clothes, having changed them just before coming into the port. The man he spoke to was thin and wore a tattered kimono that was once black but long since faded to a dark gray. He leaned against a wall, casually eating a rice ball with a heavy sprinkling of red spices on it.
"I'm being pursued," the man in blue clothing said. "Good thing you were here as arranged. Here, take this." He produced a small vial and handed it to the dark-clothed man.
"I'll be able to give my full report later," he continued. "Just in case I'm detained, though, hold onto that sample for me. Some of our colleagues should find it interesting as well if it can be reproduced. I have a demonstration of its properties planned, as outlined in my reports. Send some of it to our master if you wish, but we need as much of that powder as possible for the demonstration."
The acoustics of the alleys brought the sound of rapid footsteps to the ears of both men. They turned in the direction of the approaching noise.
"Damn it," cursed the one in blue. "No time to give you the rest now. Get some men together at the usual place. Be ready to travel north." With that, he took off running down the corridor.
A moment later, a woman and two men burst into the open area. The woman was wearing green traveling clothes, light armor, a quiver, and was carrying a bow. One of the men wore a plain brown kimono and a pair of swords. The other wore silver and brown-red. All three looked like they were riding an adrenaline rush. They listened for a brief moment, hearing rapid footfalls that weren't theirs, and the one with the bow pointed down the alley the blue kimono-wearing man had used to escape.
"That way. Come on," she said, taking off in that direction. Her companions followed close behind. None of the three noticed the vagrant in the conical hat who was finishing up a rice ball as he sat against the wall.
They ran through the alley a little faster, and came out right into a small group of people. They were heavily muscled and dressed in faded green, slowly making their way to the nearby docks. Noriko almost bumped into one, recognizing them as Mantis sailors, but he took a couple of steps back to let her past.
"Sorry about that. Urgent business." She took off through the gap in the sailors as the Fox and Sparrow followed her. There were other people in this area between several warehouses. Many of them were in a hurry. Terumoto pointed towards one of the alleys.
"There he is; that has to be Rintaro," he hissed to the archer. He pointed at the man in blue who inconspicuously made his way into an alley behind a warehouse.
"Good. You two go around, try to catch him at the other end of that alley." She pointed at the opposite end of the building their target had ducked behind.
The three of them split up into two groups, the two men dashing for the other end of the alley with Terumoto's hand on his sword and Hyosuke's in his scroll pouch. The Tsuruchi drew an arrow, running up to the alley and staying at the mouth of it. She remained quiet for the moment, nocking the arrow but not drawing the bowstring yet. A series of rapid footsteps could be heard from the other end of the alley. Rintaro's eyes noticeably narrowed as he turned to go back the way he came.
He began to run back to the alley's entrance until he saw Noriko. She pulled back the bowstring, raising the weapon and aiming it at him. Terumoto skidded to a stop at the other end of the alley and drew his katana. She didn't see the shugenja behind the Sparrow, but didn't exactly have time to ask where he was.
"Don't move, Rintaro! You are under arrest by order of the Emerald Magistrates! Make this as painless for us as possible, and we'll afford you the same courtesy."
Rintaro stopped where he was, scowling. He had no method of escape, but he had no plans to surrender. He narrowed his eyes, dropping to a half-crouch. Noriko remained where she was, and her Sparrow comrade slowly approached the smuggler with his katana held at the ready. The Mantis kept a steady bead on Rintaro, ready to take him down with a single shot if need be.
Out at the edge of her vision, she spotted something up on the wall. She glanced up for a brief moment, and tried not to visibly react at the sight she beheld. Hyosuke was clinging to the wall like a spider, seemingly held onto it by some unseen force. He hadn't noticed that she'd seen him, and he slowly crept downward with one hand and both feet while his other hand drew his nagamaki.
Rintaro twitched ever so slightly; he'd seen Noriko's momentary distraction, and flicked his eyes upward. He spotted Hyosuke, reaching into his kimono as he dashed backwards. The shugenja, knowing he'd been noticed, dove off the wall and swung at Rintaro. The smuggler dashed further away.
Just before he would have reached Terumoto, the ronin spun around. He swung his leg out in a kick of some sort. He wasn't trying to hit the Sparrow, though-- but he was able to 'throw' one of his sandals into the young samurai's face. Terumoto flinched, trying to dodge the improvised projectile. Rintaro pulled his hand out of his kimono with the clinking of small chains. A ball-shaped iron weight on a chain lashed out, wrapping the chain around the handle of the Sparrow's blade.
The smuggler dropped to a crouch and yanked the sword out of Terumoto's grip as he delivered a hard kick to his midsection. The blade flew back over his shoulder where the shugenja, having moved in closer, deflected it with his weapon. In the narrow alley, Noriko was robbed of her clear shot at the smuggler. Rintaro tried to charge the Sparrow with a lowered shoulder, and was met with a quickly-drawn wakizashi to his arm.
He hissed in pain and turned to try and escape the other way. In his face was Hyosuke with his nagamaki at the ready. The Fox charged with the polearm but it was blocked with the chain on Rintaro's weapon. He wrapped the chain around the nagamaki's blade and swung the kama on the previously-unseen end of the chain at Hyosuke.
As the shugenja tried to dodge the thrown weapon, a quick kick from a crouched Rintaro swept his legs out from under him. Rintaro's sweep took him out of range of the wakizashi that whistled through the air above his head. He grabbed his kusarigama as he tried to run over the Fox's body. As soon as he cleared Hyosuke's prone form, he felt something slam into his shoulder. Startled and in pain, he tripped and fell as he reached up to grip the arrow that had embedded itself in his shoulder. The sensation of steel at his throat a moment later convinced him to remain still.
Several minutes later...
With the help of the local constabulary, Rintaro had been successfully bound and incarcerated. Arrangements were being made for Noriko to receive her bounty. Once the officers hauled the ronin away, Terumoto appeared out of an alleyway. He held something between his fingers, sniffing at it.
"What's that?" Hyosuke asked him, curious.
"Possibly nothing," Terumoto said, putting the item in a small pouch that went on his belt. "I will explain later."
The shugenja nodded, intrigued, as Noriko came over. "So, what now?" the shugenja asked her.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there's the matter of whatever Rintaro was transporting."
Oh, this again, she thought. "What about it?"
The shugenja held up a large belt pouch. "I took this off of him. But there's no sign of any drugs. I did find something else, however."
"Like what?" Noriko asked, suddenly finding herself to be mildly curious.
"Documents."
A short time later, at the inn...
"This is... unbelievable," Noriko said for the third time.
The Fox nodded slowly. "Unbelievable but true nonetheless; a conspiracy within the Scorpion that uses maho and other methods long-since outlawed. Yet, it keeps itself hidden from the rest of the clan."
Terumoto's demeanor had taken a darker cast as he helped his companions go through the scrolls and items in the pouch. They'd stumbled onto a good amount of stolen correspondence that described the acts of an organization known as the Shadowed Tower. They'd also located records of a powder that, according to the papers found in the pouch, could be used to lull someone into an altered state. During this state, it's possible to use maho in such a way that the Taint accumulated could be channeled into the powder's recipient. The powder wasn't in the satchel, however, as the papers indicated.
The papers themselves were confusing. Many of them were obviously mission reports and documents for other agents and superiors to go over. They were almost all written in the same hand. Several of the documents were written in some sort of code. The satchel, though, contained a few pages that appeared to be translations. Terumoto and Noriko were able to sort out some of the encoded documents, but in the end were only able to decode enough to get by.
"Why would Rintaro have this, though?" Now the Tsuruchi was asking all the questions, her male acquaintances both noted. "Could he be some sort of double agent? He doesn't seem to have any dealings with the Scorpion, so who else could he be reporting to? If he was a secret agent working for the good of the Empire, this would have been handled by now one way or another."
"I'm not sure, Noriko-sama," the Fox said grimly. "He's obviously working for some other organization, though. One that's infiltrated this 'Shadowed Tower.' They must be the ones who sent those 'bandits' we encountered before."
"Great. There are two conspiracies, then." Noriko frowned. "He was obviously here to meet with someone. Did we get to him in time?"
"Yes and no." They were the first words Terumoto had spoken since they started to pore over the papers. "He had time to pass along the vial of powder to a contact, but he did not hand over the whole satchel of papers. I heard voices while we were chasing him through the alleys. The voices quickly hushed as we got closer."
"What does that mean, then?" Hyosuke asked.
"We interrupted a meeting."
"With whom?" Noriko asked. "We didn't see him talking to anyone."
"There was a vagrant in dark clothing. We passed right by him in one of the alleyways we tracked Rintaro through. On a hunch, I went back to talk to him after we had apprehended Rintaro. He was gone, but he left some of this behind as if he dropped it in a hurry."
The Sparrow reached into his pouch and produced part of a rice ball. It was heavily sprinkled with red seasoning.
"I did some asking around; this is a blend of spices only found within Scorpion Clan lands and certain ports," he continued, putting the rice away. "They can be purchased here, but they are quite expensive and are not purchased combined quite like this. This particular batch is custom-blended. That man was no vagrant. He was an agent for someone else."
"You sound like you might know whom that might be, Sparrow," Noriko said with an eyebrow raised curiously.
"I have my suspicions."
"Out with it!" She slammed her fist down on the floor, making some of the papers jump.
"I cannot," Terumoto said, slowly shaking his head. "It is too dangerous to say anything without definite knowledge of what we are facing. My clan has had... problems with them before."
"What sort of problems?" Noriko asked, her patience obviously wearing thin.
"Several months ago, Yasuki Hachi made an appearance in the court of Hantei Naseru," Terumoto began with a sigh, his tone steady and his gaze particularly serious. "Suzume Roshi, the ambassador at the time and a friend of mine, was there. Hachi revealed that there was a brainwashed agent in the court who was programmed to kill Naseru once a certain word is spoken. Hachi spoke the word, and Roshi flew into a murderous frenzy."
Terumoto looked right into Noriko's eyes, and she was almost afraid of what she saw staring back at her. There was murder in the Sparrow's eyes. There was a sort of determination that Noriko had seen on the faces of obsessed bounty hunters.
"A good man had been programmed and turned into an assassin. Roshi was a good friend and taught me much of what I know of the outside world," he continued, turning to look at Hyosuke. "If we are dealing with the same individuals, then it is an ominous sign indeed."
An uneasy silence hung between them. Hyosuke had an unpleasant taste in his mouth reminiscent of cheap, greasy noodles from a streetside vendor. He looked at Noriko, and at this point she was as upset as Terumoto. She hid it better, of course, but she had that same burning look in her eyes.
"So then... what do we do with this evidence?" the Fox asked. He took a few moments to straighten up some of the papers as he changed the subject.
"We take it to the Emerald Magistrates." Both Hyosuke and Terumoto looked at Noriko as she blurted that out. "Or the Jade Magistrates. Someone must know what's going on."
"That may not be the wisest course of action, Noriko-sama." The shugenja looked at the archer. "If this became public, it could destroy the Scorpion and throw Rokugan into even more chaos." He paused. "On the other hand, we can't take on the Shadowed Tower or these mystery antagonists by ourselves, let alone both."
"Who else would we be able to turn to?" Terumoto asked, looking at his Fox companion.
"Simple. Who else would want to have a part in dealing with this?"
Noriko and Terumoto glanced at each other before looking back at Hyosuke. They looked like they might guess what he was about to say, but they silently decided to let him say it.
"The Scorpion," came his reply.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Noriko asked at once. Terumoto looked as if ready to ask the same thing.
"Who else is there? Who else could use this information for the greater good, while understanding the need for delicacy in the matter? I'm more than eager to become a legend by outing a conspiracy like this, but there is a difference between earning that status and being one of those responsible for the repercussions of a civil war within the Scorpion.
"So I suggest we take this evidence to the Scorpion," he continued. "To the Master of Secrets himself, if possible."
"You're making sense," Noriko said, shaking his head. "That doesn't change the fact that this plan sounds like a bad idea."
"There is nobody else equipped to deal with this situation, Tsuruchi-sama," Terumoto chimed in, looking up from something he was reading. His voice sounded grim and he obviously didn't like the idea either. "Kitsune-san is right. Anyone else we could take this to would not be able to handle it with proper discretion without using it to their own advantage." He paused and finished what he was saying before going back to reading the document in his hands. "I am not wholly sure if I trust us with it."
"So what do we do, then?" Noriko asked, resigned to the conclusion that Hyosuke and Terumoto had come to.
"Simple," the shugenja simply said. "We send correspondence to our respective masters. We tell them just enough about what's happening and why we won't be returning just yet, with promises to fill them in later. Then we travel to Kyuden Bayushi. It's not too far from my family's lands."
"What makes you think the Master of Secrets will listen to us?" Noriko said, looking back and forth between her companions.
"Simple. He surely knows of the Shadowed Tower by now. We'll just be giving him some help."
"He would be expecting us to have an agenda." The Tsuruchi made sure to point that out-- not to argue the plan any further, just to make sure the Fox had thought of it.
While Hyosuke paused for a few moments, perhaps figuring out how to phrase his response, a gasp was heard from the floor. Terumoto's eyes were wide as he stared at the paper he'd finished reading. He looked immediately to Hyosuke.
"Kitsune-san! There is a village within your family's lands known as Kitsune Mori Mura, correct?" The Sparrow looked distinctly worried.
"Hai, there is. Why?"
Terumoto started to explain, then stopped and shook his head. He held up the paper and began to read directly from it. "'Further tests with this 'Shadowed Powder' indicate that not only does it make easier attempts to transfer Taint to a recipient, but it also makes them pliable and suggestible in certain quantities. In addition, it can be combined with food, drink, or a wide range of substances without being detected by the human tongue or nose.'
"'Once I've received a group of agents to act as witnesses,'" the Sparrow continued. "'I plan on giving a demonstration of the powder's effectiveness. On my journey to Lonely Shore City, I have arranged for an assistant to remain in a Fox Clan village known as Kitsune Mori Mura. At a specified time, he will add a separate sample to the water supply there. Its effects may be evident when we arrive. I plan to give another portion of the sample I've procured to someone already exposed in this manner so that we may learn its effects over multiple doses and best determine its usefulness to our cause.'"
Hyosuke remained still, horrified. Noriko just stared at Terumoto. The Sparrow started digging through other papers, trying to see if there was anything else about the planned demonstration.
"We have to leave soon. Very soon," said the shugenja, breaking the silence that had settled upon the room. He got up and started towards the door.
Terumoto got up and intercepted him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The Fox shrugged it off, just to feel it replaced. The Sparrow bushi's grip was tight this time, and his expression stern.
"What? What is it?"
"Rintaro is not going anywhere. It is past dark, and I do not think it is for the best that we charge off blindly," he explained, managing to get a grip on his recent discontent.
"But you yourself said he had met with someone. What if he passed along enough of his plans to set all of this in motion?" The Fox calmly reached up and removed Terumoto's hand from his shoulder again.
"Even if he did, we should have time to get a good night's sleep first. We shall leave at first light. But it will not do us any good to arrive at the village too tired to do anything about it."
"First light, agreed."
"Suzume-san," Noriko said as the three of them began to get ready to retire for the night. "I must know, and I believe Hyosuke deserves to know as well. Whom do you think we're dealing with?"
Terumoto sighed. His face fell, as if he'd lost a battle. Noriko regretted having to ask such an upsetting question, and just as she was about to repeat her question the Sparrow whispered two syllables.
"Kolat."
To be concluded...