"The Zatoichi Shipyards, from some woman named..." She checks her notes. "Misturugi. Oichi Mitsurugi. Not sure who that is."
Jian narrowed his eyes looking at the men, 'Gang thugs? I thought this was the noble part of town. Let's head after them. Stay alert.' Jian drew his Dao and followed the group back through the brothels front doors.
Two men attack with katanas, but her recent experiences fighting groups has given her the skill to dodge out of the way, gracefully, leaning back to let the swords swing past without issue. Mochi raises a hand, and his men stop attacking, though they still have weapons pointed at her. "She seems to think that she's the first person to try and dominate the capital with sex and drugs. She's in for a rude awakening, I'd wager. Alright, I suppose that it's possible you're not on her side. Sending her sister would be a dumb move." He pinches his chin. "Very well. I'll listen to your proposition. From what I've been hearing, you're saying that you'll kill the gang on my property, and in exchange I'll sell to you at a discount?"
"Fufu." Letting out a teasing chuckle as she successfully dodges their slashes, Kyouka grins as Lord Mochi orders them to stop. "Hah. I'd be careful if I were you. I may hate her guts, but Oichi's abilities are too troublesome to take lightly." She sighed as she sits back down. "On to business. No. I want you to sell it to me, and then I'll take care of them." She hummed with a cheeky grin.
They see the four thugs glaring at the dark skinned nanban guard, who holds a massive axe. "We said tell us which room Shintaro's in, freak!" One of the thugs glares at the guard. "I'm afraid I know no one by that name." The guard's voice is very polite, but it's clear he won't budge. He's coiled like a spring, ready for action, as the lead thug raises his matchlock and aims it at the guard's face.
Mochi sits as well. "She could do very well in this city, but she doesn't know how to be quiet. In truth, I was only interested in the property to get rid of the monks there. Now that they're all dead, I see no reason not to part with it. After all, it did suffer damage from explosives, and I have no real use for a temple. Nonetheless, I require you to do something first, to prove that you're truly not with your sister."
Jian approached the group from behind, brandishing his sword, cold air flowing down from the blade menacingly, 'Lower your weapon if you want to walk away alive, lackeys. Who sent you?'
"Ho? The monks are dead? That's good to hear." Kyouka hums, while thinking about the damaged bits. Hmm. Rebuilding the temple should be a good way to hide whats really happening behind the scenes. She thought to herself, before listening to Mochi, "Well, get on with it then. I doubt me saying I'd gut her kyself, if only it weren't a family taboo would make any difference."
Chitsukiko backs him up, drawing her bow and putting an arrow on the string. Two of the thugs turn, while the other two stay focused on the guard. A heavily scarred man gives Jian an unsettling grin. "Oh, you won't have time to worry about that." He draws his own blade, but his partner puts a hand on his shoulder. "No, he's the foreign bastard. Mistress wants him taken alive." The first man grimaces, being denied the opportunity to kill Jian. "Still, there weren't no orders about the girl." He leers at Chitsukiko and licks his lips. In response, Chitsu rolls her eyes, drawing back the bowstring.
"She's the lover of one of Sengoku's boys, so I can't touch her until I prove her misdeeds. Still, that doesn't apply to her property." Mochi grins. "She has some parfumiers designing a particular fragrance for her, a perfume capable of subtly influencing anyone who stands around her. I want you to go to the workshop, burn it to the ground, kill the parfumiers, and bring me a sample of the fragrance. Do that, and I'll sell you the temple for a loss. I'll even give you some men to help wipe out the gang squatting on the property."
'You should have run back to your mistress. An unwise decision,' Jian glared at the men. With lightning speed, thanks to Priya's boon, Jian snapped forward his icy blade towards the scarred man, aiming for his swordarm.
"Hah! That's basically two birds, with one stone." Kyouka laughed, giddy at the prospect of screwing her sister over. "Very well. Give me a few days, and I'll have it done." She said as she stands up, "So. Is there anything else?" She asked, and if there weren't any, she leaves. However instead of heading back to the tavern, Kyouka heads out to meet with Eight-Tails, her informant.
“Never heard about the Zatoichi Shipyards or anyone named Oichi, but the Misturugi name sounds familiar. Maybe I've met some relative of hers? Can't remember right now. But didn't you say you leased the shipyard from the nanaban? Because 'Oichi Mitsurugi' sounds like a local person, not a nanban...” Midori commented thoughtfully. “I'll check it out later. Let's move on. Who and what else is giving you trouble?”
There's a rush of adrenaline and pure dopamine as Jian swings forwards. Faster than the man can react, Jian slashes straight through his arm, his sword clattering to the ground with the hand still wrapped around the hilt. Chitsukiko looses an arrow into the head of the man next to him. There's a bang as the lead thug fires his matchlock at the guard, air filling with smoke. The guard dodges, and raises his axe to bring it down on the thug's head. The last man doesn't try to push his luck, and simply runs past Jian, trying to get out the front door. At the same time, there's a gunshot from upstairs.
Mochi shakes his head. "I'll have some of my men go with you, to make sure you do the job properly. Head to this address when you're ready to do it." He gives her some paper. "I look forward to seeing you again, hopefully as my ally." Kyouka's weapons are returned to her, still in pristine condition, and she leaves. In the slums, she's led back down into the grimy basement from before, where Eight-Tails sits on his cushion throne, smoking from a pipe. He gestures for her to sit, and offers her the pipe.
Tiyaka moves on. "We've been stockpiling goods, mainly wood and food, for the journey. The problem is that our goods have been stolen. There was a heist, the guards slaughtered and our things taken. It was a direct act of sabotage. There were more valuable goods in that warehouse, but the thieves only stole the supplies marked for the voyage."
Kyouka sits down, declining the pipe. "So, I trust you've heard what I've been up to?" She asked, "And since I'm not the most "sneaky" person in the city. I'll be ordering a kunoichi under my employ to meet you here instead. Her name's Ya-Ming. That won't be a problem, will it?"
He chuckles. "I hear Kitano-Sama has been going crazy ever since he got hit. Apparently he's become a laughing stock among the other bosses. None of them are laughing to his face, though, for obvious reasons." The informant gives a nod. "No problem. Ya-Ming? I've heard of her. You've got a curious bunch under your command."
Jian let the last guy go and didn't lose any time, the bouncer could deal with the disarmed thug. He rushed through the brothel upstairs to where the gunshot came from.
“Hmm, I see... Tell me more about the warehouse. Is it your property, or did you rent it from someone, and if so – from who? What about the guards – who provided them? And any ideas who might have carried out the heist?”
