Twenty-fourth Day of the Second Month, Year One Thousand Ten of the Reign of the Ichiya Dynasty
Horobei
The arrival of Akihiro Chikao caused a burst of energy to hit the little village as the morning sun started overhead. At first, fear and anxiety reigned as an army easily two to three thousand strong parked just off of the rice fields that surrounded it. But the sight of a charmingly portly fellow brought a calm breath to the farmers and fighters both who called the place their residence. Sato Himari and Horobei walked out to meet the elder commander.
Horobei watched as the two stared each other down over the span of six heart beats. He thought of stepping in, but the frowns quickly turned to grins and a laugh. “Well, old man,” Himari cheered. “You certainly have delivered for us! I must say, I am quite impressed!”
Chikao’s laugh was infectious as he responded. “Truly, girl, you should at least try to give me some credit! I have had a career in this army almost longer than you have been alive. Do I look so incapable?”
Horobei cleared his throat. He worried that they would banter all day if he didn’t. “Ah, Akihiro-san. I do appreciate the rapport you have already formed with Sato-san, but there is much to do. I will be relying on you a great deal in the coming days.” He bowed low.
Chikao waved him off, stepping between them and using his large hands to push them in the direction of the village. “Come, come. I have a bottle of sake for Misao-san and us to share. Then you are correct, we should get to the heart of the matter.”
Daisuke, the odd headman of the village, had been kind enough to offer his home for the rag tag commanders to occupy while they talked. It was… still small, but at least enough larger than Maiko’s hut that the three Chosen, Horobei, and Chikao could gather and converse. He had noted that the strange girl that Himari spent much of her time with was absent, and that a normal fox had taken residence in her lap as they sat.
“So,” it was Shizuku who broke the silence. “We need a plan. I dare say it should not surprise that even our current numbers aren’t likely enough to break the castle on its own. I assume we desire just a bit more to add to our forces.”
Himari’s head shook. “No. We use the army as a distraction. Our best bet to stop the fighting swiftly is to kill Takahashi Makoto as quickly as possible. We have a tunnel into the throne room. I see no reason not to use it.”
Maiko spoke up. “You mean the one that we used when we breached the capital? Given it was guarded last time, I can’t imagine it can possibly factor into things now. They will no doubt guard it far more heavily.”
“There is also the problem,” Misao pointed out, “that last time you were there, the throne room was sealed off. We will need to find a way to take care of that, else you won’t be catching anyone off guard.”
The four considered, and it was Maiko who spoke up. “Leave the entrance to me,” she said hesitantly. Before anyone else could respond, Shizuku’s voice pierced through the group. “Absolutely not. We cannot hinge the success or failure of this entire operation on an assassin with divided loyalties.”
“Shizuku-san, please,” Horobei intoned, trying to diffuse the matter. “We should at least consider the matter before dismissing it out of hand.”
“My lord, with respect,” Shizuku’s hand hit the table with a hard slap, “I have observed this woman since before the usurpation. She certainly has helped us, I will give her that, but she has made it very clear that her loyalties are not easily understood. It is an unacceptable risk to simply assume that she is not going to betray us if we give her further opportunity to act independently.”
Maiko’s hands came together and she gave a very polite smile in response to Shizuku’s accusation. “I would think my actions have made it very clear, Shizuku-sama. I am loyal to Himari-sama, and no one else.”
“Well now, Maiko-chan, you have become an even better liar these past few weeks.” a voice broke the conversation from the shadows of a corner. As Horobei looked, a hawkish man of only passing familiarity sat very politely on a cushion. There was something… an aura about him, maybe… that was off putting.
The three Chosen and Chikao were on their feet in an instant, and it was Himari who spoke first even as the fox hopped off her lap and dove under the table for protection. “Goro Masashi. I am surprised to see you are alive and well outside the capital. I take it you weren’t in the courtroom on the day of the Emperor’s death?”
“On the contrary,” he chuckled gently. “I am sorry to inform you that I knew about the coup long before you even found those unmarked weapons that set you on your journey.”
“Himari-san, no!” Misao shouted as Himari’s blade cleared its Saya in an instant and slashed into the corner where Misao stood. There was a look of surprise on Masashi’s face, but then he seemed to… flicker?
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Horobei caught Maiko already turning to the opposite corner of the room even before the voice came from it. “Understandable anger, but quite misplaced,” the voice of Masashi came from the darkness. “Please. I do not come here for violence. Perhaps for tea, but believe me when I say that I intend no harm for anyone in this room.”
“Masashi-san,” Horobei broke in before anyone else could. He held his hand to the three Chosen and waved for them to sit down. Shizuku and Himari didn’t seem particularly keen, but Misao followed suit, the supporting motion of his hand finally persuading the other two down. It was only once they seemed calm that he continued. “Forgive, but you come at a rather tense time, hiding in shadows, and admitting to your participation in a coup that devastated the upper ranks of Seifan nobility.”
Masashi chuckled. “Yes, you have described my crimes in perfect detail, Ichiya-san. Perhaps, in order to build trust, I should expound a bit more upon them?”
“Ah, no, that will not be necessary," Horobei spoke calmly. "I think at this point we can guess at them at this point. I suppose the question is, if you are responsible for the death of my father, why are you here?”
“Well, that requires the clarification of a very important misconception. I am not responsible for the death of your father. Yes, I was there when he died. And no, I did not step in and die mere seconds before he did like Sato Kosuke-”
“Don’t say his name,” Himari hissed, her hand slamming against the table as she started to rise again. This time it was Chikao to put a large hand on her shoulder, coaxing her back to her seat.
“Right. As I was saying. No, I was not responsible. This plot was Takahashi Makoto’s, and for all that I detest the woman I will not dishonor either of us by claiming responsibility for a plot that wasn’t mine. With that out of the way, the reason that I am here is that I made a vow to my dear Maiko-chan, and I would not let her think me a liar by failing to show as I promised. Even if I had to make some arrangements for my own safety.”
“And how do we know,” this time it was Chikao to butt in. “That you don’t have an army outside waiting to fuck us the moment we walk out this door?”
Masashi shrugged his shoulders, and if he had seemed unconcerned before, now he was downright lackadaisical. “I suppose that is something that you will only be able to know in time. Now I know that there are a lot of interesting opinions regarding my character, but at the least rest assured I would not chance this meeting if there was no gain in it.”
The four stared at him in silence. Horobei considered his words deeply and carefully, before finally nodding his assent. “It would be irresponsible of us to trust you, Masashi-san, but we shall at least hear you out. It might be wise for you to speak quickly, though, as I suspect your presence will swiftly outstrip Himari-san’s patience.”
“No,” Himari grimaced, but shook her head. “No, so long as he is here under your permission, Horobei-sama, I shall keep my temper. If you need, however, say the word and I will kill him where he stands.”
Horobei turned and gave her a smile. “Thank you, Himari-san. I am sure it shall not come to that.” He looked at Masashi and nodded. “Well, Masashi-san, you have been granted reprieve. Please make good use of it.”
“The patience of the Sato is outstripped only by the compassion of the Ichiya,” Masashi smiled cheerfully. Somehow, an earnest smile from him only served to send a chill down Horobei’s spine. “But as you have asked, I shall speak honestly with no embellishments. I first learned of Makoto-san’s potential plans two years ago. Naturally, when they started coming up, I sent my network to determine the veracity of them.” His hand touched his chin in thought. “It took… longer than I had become accustomed to. My best assassin had only cut herself off from me two years prior, you see, and without her it had become difficult to determine how deep the conspiracy had gotten.
“Six months before the attack, it had become clear to me that the matter had become too large to stop without causing larger problems.” Murmurs of protest began, but his hand lifted. “I know that sounds surprising, but most of the command staff of the military is on Makoto-san’s side. To remove them all would have caused unacceptable levels of military instability, and as I’m sure Chikao-san here knows, that sort of instability could have disastrous consequences across the Northern Badlands.”
“And so you instead arranged for certain assets to be removed from the city in advance,” Misao reasoned, “so that a countering force could be mustered to protect Horobei-san and protect the line as a whole.”
Masashi grinned an unsettling grin. “Ah, Seventh Chosen. You always were fast on the draw with these things. Yes, once I realized the scope of the plot was beyond what I could directly deal with, it was my responsibility to make sure the Empire could survive in the aftermath. Kosuke assisted, of course. He accelerated Himari-san’s training to ensure that she would become the new Tenth Chosen. He was going to send you after the source of that shipment with just the Ninth, but well. You acted as you did, and he sent the two of you instead as response.”
Horobei considered these words as they came. There were some things that didn’t add up to him. “Why didn’t you just move the Emperor during the coup? I cannot imagine someone with your knowledge network was unaware of the passages into the Throne room that Himari-san has spoken about?”
“Of course I am,” Masashi nodded. “You have to understand, though, if your father had lived through that day, the army would be scouring all of Seifu to find him. Same with Kosuke-san. This was the only way to maintain a resistance while allowing most of the army to stay north. This is the only way we can manage this with the couple of thousand soldiers we will have when it comes time to fight.”
“You’ve done a ton of plannin’ on this already, then,” Chikao sneered.
“Akihiro-san, I was given the responsibility to ensure the safety of this nation through whatever means I have. Rest assured, if I had to kill twenty Emperors to protect it, that is what I would do.”
Those words seemed strong, and Horobei noted that everyone else seemed rather taken by them. But as his eyes locked with Maiko briefly, for a brief moment he felt that she was thinking exactly the same as him.
He was lying, and if they weren’t careful, all of Seifu would suffer for his lies.