Chương 89: Book 2, Chapter 2: Guest

The way Granny Porridge glared at the Unbound when they first showed up was amazing, worth the time and money in and of itself. By the time they were seated, she was so red that she looked about ready to melt. While "Thank you for your patronage, Noble Lord Hall!" were the first words out of her mouth, "Did you come here to fight your teacher again?" weren't far behind, and it took every ounce of his self-control to not cackle like a hyena.

Still, there didn't seem to be any true spite hiding behind her tone, and the place was busier than ever. After ordering, however, John accidentally called her 'Granny Noodles' out loud, and in gently correcting him she regaled the pair about why they called her Granny Porridge in a long story involving five priestesses, making soup from tree roots, and a small turf war.

Stirring though it may be, he couldn't help but be distracted thinking about how he was internally calling her the wrong name the dozen or so times he had visited this fine restaurant over the last month. He must have mentioned the name to Yuki; why hadn't she corrected him? Did she somehow know that this was going to happen? Eventually, they were left to their devices once the food was ready.

As always, the noodles were amazingly firm, veggies tender, broth perfectly seasoned, although it was up for debate just how much of that was down to the fact that John had spent the last half-decade living like some sort of forest troll. He really should try more of the menu eventually. Rin seemed to enjoy it too, so he was pretty sure it wasn't entirely because his standards were low. Then again, he witnessed her boil a kappa's finger in her own energy and drink it. Was that cannibalism because he was sapient?

If not, was drinking something that was marinated in your own energy auto-cannibalism in the same way that chewing a bit of skin off the tips of your fingers was? Soon enough, they were on their way back to the converted field office, with their lunch break perhaps running slightly longer than it should have. The walk back was quiet. John didn't particularly want to continue their earlier conversation about the state of the town where anyone could hear, after all.

There wasn't enough time to really go into detail about her training, either, leaving a conversation-shaped void that followed them all the way back and… Huh. As John rounded the corner, he beheld a most curious sight. Parked in front of the ryokan was a large, enclosed carriage made of dark wood, trimmed with gold and flowing carvings of a sun beaming down on fertile fields. Blackened cloth covered the windows, making it utterly impossible to see inside.

At its head, two large, white horses with immaculate coats were leashed to the cart, and a well-armoured man silently sat, holding their reins and staring forward, seemingly unwilling to relax for even a moment. While the militia's gear was old and, while maintained, fairly cheap, these sets included proper steel plates and even had lacquered ornamental pieces. Red flag number one. Peering past the cart, John spotted a pair of men in similar gear standing next to the ryokan's door, spears held high.

To the side, one of the militiamen stood awkwardly at the other side of the door, occasionally glancing at the two veritable statues that had seemingly decided that they were helping guard the door now. This would be a yellow, or maybe orange flag? The lack of signs of violence told him that there hadn't been any sort of violent takeover attempt while they were gone, though something was clearly up.

Glancing around, John noted that every civilian on the street was gone, and no more sounds of life emanated from the improvised office, so whatever had happened had clearly shut down daily operations. Shit. Some sort of audit, maybe? The tax collectors were just that: tax collectors, even if they were corrupt as hell. Maybe some Imperial office noticed that they weren't reporting back and sent an investigation team? It'd make as much sense as anything else that he could come up with.

It was either that, or someone in the Celestial Court saw the Transcendent Alchemy and decided to take a quick peek. The fact that they hadn't been summarily nuked was a pretty good sign that whoever it was had no idea that it was two fractions of the kitsune going at it, at least. Subtly, John pointed his magic detector towards the men, sweeping it over the area. One reading: the cart, and that reading was so weak it barely registered on a fairly middling sensitivity. Hmm. Maybe not the Celestial Court, then?

Surely they'd at least have some Unbound or yokai at their disposal, unless they couldn't spare the forces. Well, shit, they were having a hard enough time without this headache, but it terrified him a lot less than it probably would have when Yuki first showed up. He was still worried, of course, but he wasn't about to mentally shut down. Still, how was he going to approach this?

John was, ostensibly, a figure of authority, so he could probably politely ask and be led straight to Yuki, giving him easy access to whatever was going on—but what if that wasn't what he needed to do? If the Nameless' presence was going to cause some massive force to descend on their area, it might be wise to go home and inform the local kappa to stay silent about the disturbing amount of bounty hunting the kappa had done for them.

There was no way that they could keep the hive itself under cover, and if it was an Imperial operation, they might have a few too many uncomfortable questions about money printing. Even worse, Yuki might still be in her 'Yumi' disguise given the whole separation between the spiritual and mortal worlds. He was in her disguise in rank, and that might lead them to ask him difficult questions instead. How the hell could he begin to lead Imperial auditors astray?

On the other hand, she might like the backup if she was in her true form. They could good-cop-bad-cop it, as they did with the priest.

"Do you know who they are, Rin? Imperial soldiers, maybe?" John tensely asked, turning to his student. Her lips were pulled tight, staring at the mysterious men at the doors. Finally, she shook her head.

"There's no banner, sensei. Whoever it is isn't here officially, even if they seem well funded enough to afford well-equipped guards." Interesting.

"The soldiers are fully mortal as far as I can tell; not disguised yokai or Unbound," John noted.

"They don't have any sort of magical equipment, either, but there's something magical either about the cart or someone still inside it."

"Maybe it's some rich merchant?" she mused uneasily. If that was the case, he needed to be in there with Yuki. Ugh.

"Rin, I would ask you to stay nearby and listen for the sound of fighting," John sighed, rolling his shoulders.

"I'm going in."

"Sensei?!" she barked as he started walking forward.

"I need to see if Yumi needs help or if 'Lady Yuki' has stepped in, alright?" John responded, shaking his head.

"Don't start anything, please, but be ready in case our guests start something." This was going to go so horribly wrong, but he didn't exactly have an out. Helping Yuki directly was probably his best option, even if it still felt risky.

"Of course, sensei!" Rin called back as he walked away, nodding once to him before running down a nearby alley in an incredibly conspicuous manner. She'd be fine. Hopefully. …Maybe he should have been more specific about his orders. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Shaking his head and tossing those worries aside, John's expression shifted as he put on the emotional mask of a calm, composed Unbound as he walked up to the front door.

"Halt!" The well-armoured strangers had spotted him first, the one closer to the door spinning his spear to hold it out in front of the wide sliding door.

"This site is currently off limits!" The man was tall, bearing intense eyes and a very defined jawline, and glared at John like a rat trying to sneak in. His partner, who was of a similar enough build that one might mistake them for siblings, looked John up and down with a look of absolute disdain, as if he were judging his clothing before lingering on his large gauntlet with a look of confusion.

"Lord Hall!" the militiaman hurriedly responded, snapping to attention as he very clearly edged away from the door and, notably, the two unfamiliar soldiers, as if to say 'Please spare us and just smite these clowns instead'. While the two strange men stiffened slightly, their carefully controlled faces showed no hint of discomfort, but John could see how their grip on their weapons tightened.

"So. What's going on here, then? I went out for lunch, and returned to see the command centre I personally liberated being occupied by strangers again," John inquired, keeping his tone as low and cold as possible, trying to project an aura of icy menace.

"Ah, well—" The militiaman stuttered, and John realized moments later that it was probably only scary to those who knew what he could do, like the people on his own side. Whoops.

"These guys showed up a bit ago with their boss demanding to see whoever is in charge! Lady Yumi is with them now upstairs." The first soldier puffed his chest out, stepping closer to the door while still holding the spear out in front of it.

"Mistress Kon Saya demanded a meeting, and what she desires is what is given to her," he proudly, and rather loudly, explained.

"And what is her business here?" John asked, glancing back towards the expensive carriage.

"The lady's business is her own," the man answered, and John sighed. Ah. It was going to be like that, then? If nothing else, the man was loyal, almost suicidally so. Did her name hold enough weight that the guard expected John to back off, or was the armoured man merely used to moving in more limited circles where it did? The militiaman was absolutely aghast, rather expectedly, and looked ready to cut and run. Just this once, he was going to act a bit like an Unbound.

"Top floor, right?" John asked the militiaman on the other side of the door. His name was Kiyoharu, maybe? Honestly, he really needed to spend more time learning the names of everyone under him, but he had been so damned busy. The man hesitantly nodded and took a further step back from the other soldier as if in preparation for him to turn the 'invaders' into red mist.

"Thanks," John said, taking a step back from under the eaves before swapping the focus in his gauntlet out to the telekinesis one. Wordlessly, he grappled onto the exterior walls of the top floor, quickly hoisting himself off the ground as he reeled himself back in. A shout of alarm and the sound of a man scrambling inside echoed from below, but he pointedly ignored it as he pivoted himself through an open window before releasing the grip, brushing himself off.

The office was almost dead silent, the only audible noise a barely audible conversation carrying softly down the hallway. The voices sounded… calm, at least, so he doubted that Yuki was in any true distress, nor that there were any signs of violence in the evacuated building. He had no doubt that she would have gone full "momma bear" if they started doing anything hasty. Well, he'd come this far.

John quietly walked down the silent hall, creeping across stained wood before finally coming to a rest outside the thin paper door. Even this close, he couldn't quite decipher what they could be saying. When he leaned in, he could barely see little more clearly than a pair of silhouettes through the paper, their shadows traced against the screen. One was distinctly Yuki; the tails and muzzle were a clear indicator that she had entirely cast away her human guise, but the other… Hmm.

It had ears and what might be a tail, sure, but the mystery figure had a flat, more human face. Some sort of yokai he was unfamiliar with, maybe? Then again, everyone here had some degree of animalistic features, and he had seen plenty of people walking around with tails. Puzzled, he pointed his magic detector at the figure. Click. Either a yokai or Unbound, then. How curious.

Unfortunately, the only way he could gather more information was to crack the door open and try to listen in, and that might sour any negotiations that were currently underway. Out of options, John raised a knuckle and rapped it thrice against the frame.

"Oh boys, did I not tell you I wanted to be left alone for this meeting? It better be something important," a woman's sing-song voice answered. Her tone was light, almost warm like a summer breeze, with a teasing lilt that sounded rather out of place given the rather serious demeanour of the soldiers downstairs. Maybe the social lessons that Yuki had been giving him were kicking in, but he felt it ill-advised to let her seize the initiative by asking her to let him into what might as well be one of "his" rooms.

"Lady Yuki, do you have need of me?" John asked, completely ignoring the newcomer and internally praying this was the right call. Yuki knew he was here the second he started talking with the guards outside, and likely had plans for everything from him charging into the room to meekly showing up with a pot of tea. It was probably for the best to maintain what an outsider would think was his station, though, and not give them any more reason to look deeper.

"Lord Hall, excellent. I was just thinking about sending for you. Please, do come in," Yuki greeted, her tone relaxed. Sliding the door open, John was greeted with a curious sight. True, there was Yuki in all her radiant, monochromatic glory, casually sitting by the low table she used for meetings, paperwork entirely packed up, nine tails bundled into three, but… Was their 'guest' a kitsune Unbound?

The woman before him was undeniably beautiful, with striking green eyes, unmarred, smooth skin, long orange hair that he had never before seen on an inhabitant of this land, and two orange fox ears and a trio of bushy orange tails splayed out behind her like a fan.

"My thanks, Lady Yuki," he said, walking into the room and giving her what he hoped was an appropriately deep bow.

"And you must be Lady Kon Saya." To her, he bowed far more shallowly, more of a nod than anything. At that, Saya's expression twisted into a frown, lightly glaring at him for just a moment before turning back to Yuki.

"You should train your Unbound better. He should know how to greet other kitsune properly." Was she a kitsune? John quickly looked between the very fox-like Yuki and the only slightly fox-ish Saya, eyes lingering on the ears and tails. Surely not; there was no way that they could be the same, right? Then John remembered that the kappa he knew had a cousin who looked a lot less like a turtle-man and more like a monstrous turtle with zero human features.

Yuki silently gestured to the seat behind her with a tail, and John knelt by her side as she lightly tittered.

"You are mistaken, younger sister. He was already Unbound when I got here. Our agreement is of cooperation, not dependence," Yuki corrected. For a moment, John nearly flew into a fit at the idea of another of them finding them already, but Yuki didn't seem worried in the least. Besides, none of the other fragments could really be the 'younger' sister, could they?

"Oh?" Saya questioned, looking him up and down with a new, discerning eye that made some part of his soul deeply uncomfortable. For a moment, he felt like a piece of meat on display at a butcher's.

"So, he's free to hire, then?"

"And he is occupied with our dealings," Yuki firmly stated, shutting down that line of thought instantly, thank heavens.

"He will be for the indefinite future, as we have ongoing arrangements." Saya tssked, smiling as she leaned forward, casting a glance toward him.

"A shame." Maybe being here was a mistake.

"We'll get back to our negotiations, then." Suddenly, the door was flung open, making John jolt, reflexively aiming… only to behold a dozen now terrified-looking guardsmen holding their weapons at the ready.

"Mistress Saya! We're sorry, we couldn't stop him!" For a moment, Saya's eyes turned cold, and she glanced toward the men in the doorway.

"Leave us," she ordered, waving them off, voice both calm and iron at once.

"Clearly, everything is fine, regardless of your failure to do your job. We will talk about this later." Sheepishly, the men retreated, closing the door behind them. Their leader was as pale as the grave as he left, sweat beading upon his forehead. Yuki, for her part, didn't even blink at the interruption.

"You clearly aren't interested in a deal," she scoffed.

"Perhaps we should finish here for the day."

"My terms are reasonable," Saya responded, slightly tilting her head.

"It's just a small drop in the bucket. If you truly want to save these mortals, surely a few years isn't that grand of a loss? I have the food. I have the resources." What was she talking about? A few years of what?

"Absolutely not," Yuki returned.

"These people have lives, Saya."

"Lives that shall be forfeit without the aid of my connections within the Celestial Court," she borderline cooed.

"I shall have your services for just three years, and the mortals? I will only keep them for but a decade."