Vicious was not pleased when she reached the outskirts of the mountain again. Because she had gone to the effort of slowing her speed to match a horse's, take breaks every time mealtime came around, and get proper sleep for once in order to confirm how long the journey would take for the average merchant convey. To be fair, her legs were still rather sore which prevented her from running at maximum speed, but still. Meanwhile, Sanguine flew overhead, easily keeping up despite being barely out of fledging status---that irked her a little as well.
What displeased her even more was the realisation of exactly how the barrier worked. She had kept her eyes on the mountain for the entirety of the first day, and when she checked again at evening, she'd made far more progress than her previous visit. Just to confirm her theory Vicious spent the second day doing the exact same thing.
If you don't keep your eyes on it frequently while running, the barrier nudges you off course just so slightly, making you waste time on detours. And I have no evidence to back it up as of now, but I believe once someone foreign makes it a good way to the mountain, Sora would detect them coming. Although, it's possible that the barrier has weakened further...I hope not.
With this in mind, the Liberi would reach the barrier on the fifth morning, relatively unbothered by the wild animals on the road. She did meet some strange club-wielding blue-skinned scrawny hunchbacked semi-humanoids some time on the third day, near a smaller mountain on the way, but after she'd demonstrated her proficiency in the fine art of unarmed combat, she was given a wide berth. She also decided to confiscate the strange two-handed wooden mace-like weapon for her temporary own usage. It did resemble a rather long baseball bat after all.
Sadly, she didn't get any chance to use it until the Liberi arrived at the proper entrance of the mountain, a river that flowed all the way from the mountaintop, through the city at the mountain foot. The miko had shown it to her from afar during the return journey on her last visit, and from up close she could appreciate how clean the river was. She could see all the way to the stones at the bottom.
Weird how there's a lack of fish in---whoa!
Vicious rolled to one side to avoid getting a free forehead piercing from a spike of water. Then another came from the side, so she lifted her new acquisition to block...
*
Swish*
The Liberi stared at the wooden stump she was now holding, clicked her tongue in exasperation, and tossed it aside. So much for that weapon.
"Hey, not bad! I was going to cut you in half as well, but you managed to avoid injury! Nice! Could I have your name?"
"Depends on who's asking. Or are you the type to hide and launch sneak attacks? If you're going to say something, say it to my face! No one appreciates a gossiper."
Vicious waited several seconds for an answer.
"...Nice try! I don't show my face to strangers."
You almost got convinced there, didn't you?
She kept that comment to herself, and instead gave a short laugh.
"Well, if you won't show yourself willingly, I'll have to resort to force."
"Hoh! Bring it on, then. I'll gladly show you what I'm capable of---what are you doing?"
The girl had taken off her outer clothes, leaving herself in a sleeveless shirt and shorts. She then kicked off her boots as well.
"What else? I'm taking a bath. I worked up quite a lot of sweat on the trip here, you know? And the water is nice and clean, from what I can see. Taking a dip in this weather would feel like paradise, I bet."
Vicious stepped onto the riverbanks.
"WAIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! You can't just wade in here looking like that! You'll dirty the water!"
"Awh, don't be so stingy. The water's clean, but you still have to boil it before drinking, yanno? Plus, this river will join another a few more miles downstream, and that one's not nearly as clean. And it already passed the city and villages, so me dirtying the water a little shouldn't cause any problems for the people living here, right, Guardian spirit?"
"You're not wrong, but still...Wait, how'd you know that I'm a---"
"Guardian spirit? Educated guess. Also you just admitted to it yourself."
"Nghhhh...! Alright, fine! I'll show myself, so put your clothes back on and stop trying to dip your toes in my river! Watch and be amazed!"
Water bubbled in a circle at the centre of the flowing river, and the self-proclaimed (so far) guardian spirit burst forth from the water's surface. It took the form of an oriental dragon, made of clear water.
"Behold! Guardian of the White River, Seiryuu herself!"
The Liberi wasn't very impressed.
"...Compared to Sora, you look way less intimidating. The scales aren't nearly as shiny either. The only thing that qualifies you as a 'Seiryuu' is the fact that you're taking the form of a 'ryuu'. So I'll call you Sei."
"Well, she's the Miko, so what did you expect---"
Sei.exe stopped responding. Vicious waved her hands before the suddenly-quiet water dragon.
"Hello? Is anyone home?"
Running background scans...
Error identified.
Loading backup data...
Rebooting...
"Hold on a minute! You know the Miko's name, so you obviously have knowledge of the city in the mountains. The barrier didn't fool you either, and I can smell that you're not human...wait, don't tell me, you're the guest that the Miko was talking about?"
Looks like I was right about the detection. As far as early warning systems go, it's not bad. The spirit's a bit thick in the head, though.
"Well, I might be...would it be a problem if I was?"
"OF COURSE IT WOULD! I attacked one of the Miko's guests...ohno ohno ohno ohno ohno ohno..."
Vicious let the water dragon sweat a bit more, before giving a suggestion.
"We can say that we were having a little spar. No harm done, and it wouldn't be a lie either. From the start you weren't striking to kill, anyway."
"You really mean that? Thank the gods...then, would you be heading to Yato? The Miko is quite eager to meet you again. I can bring you all the way to Fuyu if you'd like."
"Hmm...I'll have to trouble you, then. Ah, but don't you have to, like, guard this place or something? Against intruders and stuff."
"Oh, no worries! This dragon construct isn't actually my real body, haha. But so long as the river is nearby, I can do my job pretty quickly. Alright, I'm ready."
As the dragon morphed into a tendril of water and wrapped itself several times around her waist, lifting her above the river, Vicious paled slightly.
"...Hold up just a second. Just how are you planning to get me to Fuyu------"
*****
A certain girl emptied her stomach in a ditch just outside the gates. An ebony plaque mounted onto the top of the majestic red gate read: ⌈冬街⌋.
“Hrrrk...Oh, my head...Sei, couldn’t you have been more gentler while transporting me...?”
“I’m terribly sorry. Usually I help carry goods and stuff along the White River, so I instinctively carried you like a load of items...Anyway, I think the Miko’s busy attending a meeting at the moment, so we have some free time before she’s expecting you. Have you explored the Winter City yet?”
“Nope, can’t say I have. The tiger brought me to Yato immediately the previous time after all.”
“Then allow me to bring you around and show you the sights as a way to apologise. I think you’ll quite like this place, to be honest.”
Vicious stared at the watery construct hovering above the nearby pond. She didn’t say a word, and neither did Sei, until the dragon seemed to understand.
“Oh, um. Wait here for a bit, I’ll be back in a few minutes!”
Left without much of a choice, the Liberi ended up waiting for more than just a few minutes before someone came rushing out of the gates. Green hair, glasses, short stature. She couldn’t have been taller than the Liberi’s shoulders. Sanguine landed neatly on the girl’s head, and stayed there.
“Who?”
“Don’t forget me so quickly! It’s the one who brought you here!”
“Oh...Mei, correct?”
“It’s SEI! Wait, it’s not! My name’s Seiryuu!”
“So the shortened form would be Sei. That’s fine, right?”
“Ye---no! I mean, I don’t mind it if you call me that, but at least---”
“It’s settled then. Sei it is.”
“......”
Two girls walked on the busy streets. Every now and then the shorter girl would wave to the passer-bys who smiled and waved in return. Vicious decided to ask a question about partway.
“By the way, Sei, you’re supposedly the Seiryuu, right?”
“Drop the ‘supposedly’ please! I’m a true blue Azure Dragon!”
“And yet nothing about you suggests ‘azure’. Anyway, what I wanted to ask is this: If there’s a ‘Seiryuu’ in this city, are there also the other three?”
“Well, you’ve already met Byakko. The remaining two are...complicated. You’ll know if you spend more time in this city, assuming the Shogun doesn’t…”
“Doesn’t what? And who’s our white tiger?”
The dragon chose to ignore the first question, instead smiling a bit too quickly as she looked away.
“You didn’t know? I figured you wouldn’t forget so quickly, given how he shot you up the mountain the last time---”
“HE’S Byakko?! That tiger bastard who fired me like I was a clump of rocks in a siege machine?”
“Uhm...yeah, afraid so. Uhm, Vicious, your eyes are scaring me.”
“Pay no mind to it. Instead, Sei, could you show me around some of the better blacksmithing shops? I’m looking to procure a weapon or two.”
“Uhm, sure…”
*****
After she’d gotten her hands on a little something, the summons came in the form of a tiger, who grinned, casual as ever, even as Vicious glared at him. A short flight later, the girl entered the mountain city properly and looked up at the gates. Same plaque as the one down the mountain, except the words carved into them were different.
---⌈夜卜街⌋
“Eternal Night City.”
Sora was waiting right below it.
“Yep, that’s been it’s name since the beginning...Eh? You can read those characters, Vicious?”
“Just a little bit. I picked it up strictly as a hobby, so don’t expect too much of it.”
By the way, Sanguine was at Seiryuu’s place. The supposed Azure Dragon had taken a liking to him and borrowed him off Vicious for a while, and the girl had shrugged and agreed when Sanguine didn’t kick up too much of a fuss.
“Don’t worry. The city’s not that old-fashioned, so you shouldn’t have much language problems here. Although the older ones might not be able to communicate as fluently, but I think it should be fine so long as you speak slowly. Ah, this way please.”
The two passed through a long corridor, the tiger following closely behind. To the right was a circular doorway leading to some kind of garden. Vicious sniffed the air.
“Herbs?
“Mhm. Some plants are too delicate to be planted on the ground, so we cultivate them up here.”
“Oh. What about those?”
“The giant urns? We keep dried grain in them to last us through the months, should it be a bad year of harvests. Although, with how the mountain’s blessing works, we’re basically overflowing with food.”
The girl’s ears perked up at ‘blessing’.
“Tell me more.”
“Maybe later. We’ve reached the Shogun’s house.”
“Wait, this rickety pile of timber is her house? I thought it was that large and posh building over there.”
“Oh, no, that’s the ceremonial hall. We dedicate burnt offerings to our deity twice every year, during the summer and winter solstice. I’ll bring you there for a look later if you want.”
“I’d appreciate it, thank you very much.”
The tiger pushed the doors open and entered without knocking---evidently he’d done it plenty of times. Sora took her by the hand and started pulling her inside.
“Madam, she’s here!”
The door opened to a small room that would have fitted three bathtubs nicely, and the occupant glanced up at her visitors. Books were scattered everywhere.
“So you’re the adventurer. Vicious, was it?”
The girl, on the other hand, was stunned.
“Wait, a moment please.”
She counted the numbers off her fingers.
“Sei, water spirit. Tai’Ge, tiger. That’s two of the four. Sei said that the remaining two are temporarily unavailable, so that makes up the Four Symbols.”
That knowledge had come from a blacksmithing colleague of hers at work, and there was something about the story...Something she was forgetting.
I think there was a tale about the four symbols guarding the yellow dragon or something...wait a minute.
She’d been quite exhilarated when Sora transformed into a dragon and brought her back to Scribel. But what colour were Sora’s scales in dragon form?
Golden.
Okay, so the Shogun isn’t the yellow dragon. But those antlers of hers definitely ain’t deer antlers, huh...no ways about it, then.
“Pardon the rudeness, but can you fly?”
“Will knowing the answer be beneficial to our current conversation?”
“Yes, actually. I can’t focus properly when questions are going on inside my head.”
“Perhaps you should replace your head, then. But yes, I can, though I don’t usually do it. So could we get back to the current discussion?”
“Umu. Sora mentioned that you were looking to procure the help of adventurers.”
“Perhaps I am. But I have seen your proposal, adventurer, and pray tell me this; why should I set aside a piece of land in the Winter City for your guild’s use, alongside offering benefits and waiving taxes? My soldiers are not weak, as I’m sure you’ve seen.”
“A fair point, Madam. But I’m also sure that you are aware that beyond the mountain and the forest is no longer the land which you once called home. Your Miko has mentioned this quite a while ago, I’m sure, and the implications of that you very well know. A new land comes with new demands, and with those new demands come a new source of trouble---which your city isn’t too equipped to be facing at the moment, if I may say it plainly.”
The Shogun drummed the surface of her wooden desk.
“Go on.”
“Furthermore, I’m sure you’re one of the first to receive the news, and it’s hardly news now to say that the barrier covering the whole mountain is not as effective as it has once been. I have been told that another adventurer made a trip down here after my first visit---”
“The blacksmith? He got diverted by the barrier’s effects, and never even made it to the villages in the forest. I am uncertain what he saw, but Sora can tell when a foreigner is approaching our mountain. He got about halfway, lingered in the same area for a day and some, then turned and left. The barrier is working as intended.”
“Maybe it is. But can you guarantee that the barrier will work every time? It’s my second visit here, and the barrier’s subtle misdirection is already no longer working on me. Once someone sees through the trick, it loses its effectiveness. Furthermore, it doesn’t work on common monsters, does it?”
The Shogun shot Sora a cross look.
“I suppose the Miko told you all about it.”
“Not really, actually. I just took another educated guess, and once again you’ve confirmed me correct. After all, if the barrier turns away monsters, then why have such a sizable standing force of guards? The Eternal Night and Winter Cities are both rather orderly even without.”
“You little...fine. I admit the barrier doesn’t repel monster attacks. But the mountain has always been a sacred place to our patron deity, and monsters hardly ever attack. So even without the barrier, the guards should suffice.”
At that moment, Vicious decided that the Shogun before her was just as difficult as another colleague back home. So she should deal with her in the same way.
“You’re ignoring the Savras in the bushes, Madam. I have no doubt that this mountain is very holy, given that I’ve spent some days here. However, even your patron deity might have trouble influencing matters in a different world and you know it’s the truth. Your guards are doubtlessly a fine bunch as well, given who trains them, but they have not yet fought against the monsters of these lands. Beastmen make for amazing fighters, and I should know that, but there are various other powerful organisations in this world as well. Over in the distance is a huge empire of human supremacists looking to conquer and unite everything under their banner, while Sarkaz and assassins lurk in the shadows. Look down not on torches, else the darkness will surprise you when the campfire dies.”
The Shogun drummed on her desk for a few more minutes, silent. Eventually she lifted her hand and spoke again.
“How do I know that I can trust you and this guild of yours? Fuyu Machi has been home to the beastmen for centuries. We haven’t had humans walking on these streets for decades. How am I to know that adventurers won’t cause troubles here?”
“Oh, that’s easy. You can’t.”
The older woman’s eyebrows raised. Vicious continued.
“The guild and an assassin’s syndicate, in my opinion, operate in similar ways---you submit work details, we perform them for you, and you pay us in gold. The difference comes in the form of specific work details; to my knowledge the guild does not blatantly accept requests to assassinate random people on the street, or lightly get mixed up in large-scale incidents such as war. We are not a mercenary organisation, after all, even though I admit the differences can be practically nonexistent. To put it simply---as long as you have the coin to pay us with, we’ll do your jobs for you. Similarly, as long as we are being paid, we’ll do our best to fulfil the objectives. And while I’m sure adventurers here will change things, the guild does have a reputation to uphold in order to function, after all...we’ll take care of troublemakers from our side.”
“Then, what if I asked you alone to work for me…”
“No can do, Madam. I’m here today as a member of the Adventurer’s Guild, not as the individual Vicious. I cannot make any rash promises that may not be able to be fulfilled.”
“...”
Unexpectedly, the Shogun laughed.
“Hah! I thought not. Fine, I’ll give this proposal some more careful consideration, but no promises. Meanwhile, you should go for a walk around the Eternal Night City, and take a look at what our city has to offer. I’m sure Sora would be glad to be your guide.”
The miko’s face said everything.
*****
“Haah~ As expected, the air up here smells great and the scenery is peaceful too. The trip up the mountain is harrowing, but for what it’s worth, I’d live here if I could...actually, Sora, now that I think about it, the Shrine grounds are quite massive, aren’t they? Your family must be quite well-off.”
“Hm? Not really, I think. Rather, property prices here aren’t that high, you know? The Shogun’s, um, treasurer takes care of selling and buying land and building stuff on that land, but if you help out with harvesting materials and construction the price gets cheaper by a whole lot. And we’re quite lax about it so long as you don’t go crazy and chop the whole forest down or something.”
“Seriously? How much does a piece of land big enough to build a small house cost here?”
The miko leaned in closer to whisper directly into Vicious’ ear.
“
EHHHH?! That's cheap! If the guild does end up setting a branch here, I’m buying a house for sure! The atmosphere here is great, my meals here so far have been amazing, and the market’s filled with nice stuff, and most importantly, I can stroll around the city at night without worrying about getting shanked in the side alleys. It’s like a little piece of heaven here and I’d love for it to continue that way. Ah, but that’s only if the Shogun agrees to the terms though...”
“It’s probably fine. I was watching you make that sales pitch, and I reckon she’s pretty convinced already. She’s just a bit too proud to admit it sometimes. By tomorrow morning I think you’ll be able to go back to Scribel and tell your guild that the Shogun is willing to accede.”
“That’s great news...by the way, Sora, you mentioned that the adventurer after me lingered in the same area for more than a day. Where exactly was he waiting?”
“Uhm…”
The Miko was rather hesitant.
“Some kind of sacred place, perhaps? I’ll stop asking if that’s the case.”
“Oh, no, not the way you think. In fact, I’d argue that it’s more of a cursed place than a sacred place. Now, I’ve no idea of knowing if it changed positions in the shift or not, so it could have been another mountain, but if he did end up where I think he did...well, a day’s journey away in our old world led to a place where the departed was exhumed. I never visited the place more than once of twice a year, but some of the elders in the villages would know. It’s a place where the boundary between life and death practically doesn’t exist.”
“So, ghosts.”
“Pretty much, yeah. It’s almost noon, so let’s go get some lunch. That reminds me, you were asking about it earlier, weren’t you? The mountain’s blessing. Within the mountain is a leyline from our old world, so mana is in abundance around here. Crops grown here and ores mined here naturally contain some measure of mana in them, and we use them to make amazing enchanted pieces. You picked up that kanabo from the market in the Winter City, didn’t you?”
“Yep. Cost me a pretty penny. But it’s quite worth it, I think. Material’s harder than steel but lighter than iron and has that traditional feel to it as well. It’s definitely a weapon forged for the battlegrounds. What’s this thing socketed into the handle, though?”
“Oh! A magatama. They signify something to the carver, although what exactly I do not know. But that’s a good kanabo---you take care of it, it’ll take care of you.”
“Yeah, it’d better. My wallet feels about three hundred coins lighter. Which reminds me, is everyone here vegetarian?”
“What? No! That’s a horrible idea! Imagine plant-eating dragons and tigers. No one would take them seriously ever again.”
“Eh? But won’t the rabbit or boar beastmen complain if rabbits and boars get eaten by the tiger and lion beastmen?”
“Oh, so that’s why you asked? Pffft! Well, let me ask you; do you eat chicken or duck meat?”
“Fair point. A matter of perspectives, is it? Also, is this place overflowing with jade or what? The market was chock full of jade carvings and stuff. The price was oddly lower than expected too. And the weird paper slips pasted everywhere.”
“Well, I did say the mountain was blessed. Last I checked, apparently socketing a piece of jade to any item gives it a bonus effect. Let me see that kanabo again...yep, it’s enchanted. The paper slips are talismans, by the way. We use them to ward off evil spirits and counteract bad luck.”
“Huh. Do they actually do anything, or are they just there to make the place look brighter?”
“Hey, that’s mean! I spend a lot of time and magical power to write those, you know! At least pretend they work rather well or something around me! Hmph!”
“Kidding, kidding. So, what’s for lunch? You’ve gone and gotten my expectations up with all that blessing talk, so I’m looking forward to a good meal. Or will the Miko of Eternal Night prepare it for me personally?”
“Well, I don’t usually make food unless there’s an extra set of helping hands around, mhm? The guest room’s empty if you and Sanguine want to stay the night, also.”
“Hah! I’ll take advantage of that kindness, then.”
