"Turning Khaenri'ahn logistics folks? Bold move, Bankaku. It's got legs," Reisen Riou said, voice crackling through a remote comms link with Bankaku Nisei. "Get me the archaeology team's commander and those grumbling knights' names. I'll dig into their backgrounds and draft a defection plan."
"Already done," Bankaku replied. "Commander's Lorrel Iskur. The complainers are Boris and Bell—no surnames. Can you work with that?"
"Easy," Reisen Riou assured him. "Leave it to me."
"No trouble at all—you're working for me, after all," he added, grinning inwardly. He'd been eyeing Khaenri'ah's alchemical tech for ages. This could be a jackpot.
Inazuma's affairs were calm, with autumn harvest keeping town magistrates busy and petty bandits popping up—small fries. Reisen Riou took leave from Raiden Makoto to hit the Northern Continent's intelligence network for dirt on Tsurumi's Khaenri'ahns. Custom intel wasn't cheap, but a day or two of his mushroom feast profits covered it.
Stepping onto Ritou, the vibe felt off. "General Takamine?" he blinked, spotting the Kageyama Tengu. "You here for intel too?"
"Greetings, Lord Archivist," she replied formally. "I'm here on Tenryou business. You?"
"Same old—buying intel," Reisen Riou scratched his head. "Where's the boss? Tell him to get out here!" he called to the receptionist.
A voice piped up from behind a samurai. "Right here, my lord."
The samurai parted, revealing Reisen's old contact—shackled. "What'd you do now?" Reisen asked, eyebrow raised.
"He's been busy," Takamine said dryly. "Hoarding goods, luring gamblers, loan-sharking, smuggling. A third of those Araumi Khaenri'ahns? His stowaways."
"Save me, lord!" the man pleaded.
"Reap what you sow," Reisen Riou shrugged. "He getting the chop?"
"Nah, he's useful," Takamine said. "His lackeys took the fall fast. Few months in Tenryou lockup, tops."
"Enjoy jail," Reisen Riou waved off. "Mind if I ask him something, General?"
"Go ahead," Takamine said, dismissing the samurai.
"Got recent Khaenri'ah intel?" Reisen asked, unbothered by Takamine's presence.
The man snapped into business mode. "Khaenri'ah's purged non-native alchemists. Some civilians fled—high-pressure policies and infighting between mechanists and creationists. That's all we've got; their lockdown's tightened, cutting our lines."
"Dig into these Khaenri'ahns' backgrounds," Reisen handed him a list.
"Thirty thousand Mora," the man said—five months' wages for an average Inazuman.
Reisen tossed a coin pouch and left. Takamine, witnessing the deal, stroked her chin as her samurai hauled the man away. "They say the Archivist plays dirty and loose. Now I see it," she mused, chuckling. "Barging into this den, fearless. Few in Inazuma could touch him. We youkai act on instinct, but I've been in Tenryou too long, bound by military code. He's freer—and with his status, even if caught, who'd care? Enviable."
Back at his manor, Reisen Riou scrubbed off Ritou's bad vibes, only to hear soft sobs outside. Listening closer, he caught the Amemokume brothers weeping.
He dressed and stepped into the courtyard. Unaware he'd slipped in through a side entrance, the brothers jumped as he emerged from the main house. "My lord!"
"What's up with Amemokume Uji?" Reisen asked.
The brothers exchanged glances. Jirou, the younger, spoke. "Father was forging at home when an anvil broke, crushing his foot. Then… our nephew grabbed the wrong medicine…"
"It should've just hurt a bit," the elder added, "but Father choked on the dose and… died."
"What?!" Reisen Riou's jaw dropped. A LV20+ veteran, choked to death? "How'd he die that way?"
"It's humiliating," Jirou admitted, flushed. "We held his funeral at the main Amemokume estate, so we didn't notify you."
"When?" Reisen facepalmed.
"Two weeks ago," they said, mournful.
"You two…" Reisen sighed, shaking his head. He pulled two hefty Mora stacks from his Vision. "My condolences. Give your dead dad and that big brother of yours a scolding for me. What a mess."
He'd planned to visit Uji's grave but scrapped it. Staring at Narukami's moon, he muttered, "What a rotten day."
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