AA306 - Sects In The City (Patreon)

There was a lot of gaping. James might go so far as to say that some of it was gawping. The residents of Velisara were clearly not used to seeing dragons, and Kana was, very obviously, one of those. Not everyone noticed her at first, but as she strode down the main thoroughfare, enough people stopped and stared that everyone else looked around to see what the commotion was about.

Kana was the main focus, but the rest of the group was worthy of a few stares. The tactical garb that the Georgians were wearing stood out like a sore thumb. Harue, Suki, Mitsue and James were dressed more casually, but this crowd had never seen denim.

Shion also attracted a few stares, despite dressing in the local fashion. The village had managed to find a long robe for Shion, with long sleeves that covered her burns. The scars on her arms had faded over the last four days, but her head still needed to be wrapped up in green silk.

“I hope you know where you’re going,” James muttered to Shugen, who had taken the lead. Kana might be comfortable with the attention, but even the second-hand glances were making James uncomfortable.

“I got directions,” Shugen confirmed. “Not that finding the best nearby inn is complicated. We won’t get lost.”

James wasn’t so sure of that. They were travelling down the crowded main street—they would have been jostled by the crowds if they weren’t being given a wide berth. All the side streets they passed were narrow and twisting, and James had the sense that if they left the main thoroughfare, they would be quickly lost.

As it turned out, though, their destination was on the main street.

Best inn, right. Figures it would be prominently placed, James thought. It was a nice-looking place, with dark-stained wooden support beams standing out against the whitewashed walls. An elaborately decorated door was propped wide open, and the front had large windows that gave a view of the common room.

“Can we afford this place?” James asked.

“No,” Shugen said. “But we might be able to work something out.”

He paused ostentatiously outside the building, scrutinising the facade.

“Are we going in?” James asked.

“In a moment. I’m waiting for them to notice… ah. Wait here.”

Shugen strode inside, to be instantly greeted by a richly dressed—and richly fed—man whom James took to be the manager or the owner. They exchanged a few words before the manager started bowing. Shugen gestured for them to come in.

“The negotiations are going to take a while, Great Lady”, Shugen said. “But they’ve offered complimentary refreshments while you wait.”

“Acceptable,” Kana declared.

The manager snapped his fingers and two waitresses came forward. Bowing deeply and keeping their heads lowered, they showed the group to a table. James couldn’t help noticing that it was one clearly visible from the front window, and that Kana was seated in the most prominent position.

“Can you tell what he’s negotiating over?” James asked Amilie.

“Um… basically, the point he’s making is that the presence of Kana in this inn is worth more than the cost of a suite. Right now, they’re arguing over how many rooms we should get for free and how long Kana needs to stay in the common room giving audiences.”

“We discussed the idea earlier,” Kana said, accepting a cup of tea and a plate of food from a nervous waitress. “My understanding is that I will sit here and eat, while listening to the importunings of the various petitioners.”

“Sounds pretty dull,” Harue commented. “You don’t mind? Oh, wait, I heard the ‘and eat’ part, but it didn’t click.”

“Indeed.” Kana smiled and sipped her tea. “All the delicacies consumed would be free, of course. And I am under no obligation to agree with any of the requests made.”

“I hope they know what they’re getting into,” James said.

“Hmm,” Suki said. Excusing herself from the table, she went over to Shugen.

“Excuse me for interrupting,” Suki said. “I wonder if it would sweeten your deal if I offered to play music in the common room to keep Kana and the petitioners entertained?”

Shugen looked at her dubiously. “This isn’t the sort of place where one of your idol songs would go over,” he said. The innkeeper’s eyes widened at the sound of a different language.

“Please. I’m classically trained in a number of traditional instruments. You’d have to source something for me, but as long as it’s similar to a Guzheng, Pipa, Erhu or Yangqin, I should be able to manage.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Shugen agreed.

Suki bowed and went back to the table.

“What was that about?” Arjun asked.

“It’s probably for the best that we don’t leave Kana on her own in here, and some music might keep her from becoming bored,” Suki said. She rested her hand on James’s arm. “I’m afraid it means we won’t have much time to explore the city together.”

James hadn’t even considered that as a possible future activity, but he felt a sudden pang of loss as it was taken away.

Arjun snorted. “We weren’t going to have time for that anyway,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of things to do, and sightseeing isn’t on that list.”

“I suppose,” James said glumly. He put his hand over Suki’s. “I’m sure we’ll find some time to spend together.”

She smiled back, and James felt okay again.

It took Shugen a while to finish his negotiations, and as time passed, a crowd slowly grew outside the front of the inn. They kept quiet, not daring to attract Kana’s notice, but they were clearly there to see her. Some of them made as if to enter, but two guards had appeared at the door, turning away all but the most richly dressed.

Eventually, he came back to them.

“It’s all arranged; the servants will take our luggage up,” he told the group. “We managed three rooms, one for her ladyship, one for the girls and one for the boys.”

“Oh, that’s… fine I suppose,” Suki said, glancing at James.

“It’ll be a bit cramped, but we’re supposed to be servants,” Shugen told her. “We’ll have to make do.”

“I will stay here for now, to attend to my duties,” Kana said. “Inform the innkeeper that the first of my petitioners may approach.”

“As you wish, Great Lady,” Shugen said.

“Oh, and have them prepare a bath and let me know when it is ready,” Kana said. “I do not intend for this first session to last long.”

“Fine,” Shugen sighed and went to talk to the manager.

The servants didn’t seem to quite know what to make of the backpacks the party were carrying, but they managed well enough. James and the others followed the bowing servants up to their rooms, which were luxurious and clean, but a little cramped with the extra beds. James gestured for the servants to leave their bags on a side table and let himself sink onto one of the beds.

It was the softest mattress he’d tried since… Okinawa. The dorm room beds were comfortable enough, but they were firm to encourage discipline. At least, that was what Midoriko had said.

“We can leave the shopping till tomorrow, right?” he asked the ceiling.

“No,” Arjun told him. “I know everything seems to go slowly in this world, but that just means we don’t have time to laze about. We’ve got a lot of walking ahead of us if we want to find our way back to Earth.”

“I guess,” James grumbled, peeling himself off the bed. “We can’t start with a bath?”

“New clothes first,” Arjun told him. “We can change into them after we wash.”

“Can’t we just get them through room service?”

“We could, but hotels charge through the nose for that sort of thing, and we don’t have much money.” Arjun grimaced. “We might have to—gah!”

“No money, no problem!” Harue entered the room in her fox form, walking straight through the wall. “Not all of us need clothing, anyway.”

She gave a little twirl. When she turned around, she was back to human and wearing a skirt and long jacket combination that James recognised from the street outside.

“I can take care of your money problem, too,” she promised.

“No stealing,” James commanded.

“Let’s not be hasty,” Arjun said. “We don’t know what the prices are like yet.” He glared at Harue. “Shouldn’t you be in the girls’ room?”

“We’re ready to head out!” Harue replied. “I came to get you.”

The girls were waiting in the corridor outside; Shugen was waiting for them downstairs. Shion marched right past him.

“Right. I’m out of here,” she said as she headed for the door.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Shugen demanded. “You don’t speak the language; you don’t know anything about this city!”

“I know enough,” Shion said with a dismissive wave. “I’m gonna find some sketchy place that does gambling and have some fun.”

“You don’t have any money! And how will you find your way back?”

Shion snorted. “I can’t get lost, baka-yaro, I’ve got GPS.”

Then she was gone, out the door.

“Does she know we don’t get signal here?” Suki asked. “She has to, right?”

“I’ll keep track of her,” Mitsue said. “I can at least keep her from getting lost. Out of trouble might be more than I am capable of. If you can find some clothes for me, just leave them on my bed.”

He dashed off after Shion. Shugen glared at his back.

“That didn’t take long,” he muttered. “Maybe they’ll get arrested, and we just have to pick them up on the way out.”

He turned to look at Suki.

“Can you do anything with this?” he asked Suki, holding out something that looked like a banjo that had been made out of a drum. Well, no, James wasn’t completely ignorant of non-Western instruments. It looked like a shamisen with a deeper base, except for the fact that he didn’t think shamisen were played with bows.

“Of course,” Suki said, taking the instrument. “Would you do me the honour of listening to my first performance?”

Shugen scowled. “I should probably make sure what you’re playing isn’t going to get us thrown out,” he allowed.

Suki smiled and led the way to Kana’s table. She was already talking to her first petitioner. At least, he was talking, and she was looking imperious while sipping tea. Suki took a seat near, but not next to, Kana.

“Excuse me, please,” Suki said in the Tenran tongue. It had been the first phrase Shugen had taught them.

She began to play.

James recognised the sound of it from Chinese and Chinese-themed American movies. A haunting, beautiful sound that filled the room without drowning anybody out. The attention of the entire room was already locked on to the dragon’s table, but it felt like the onlookers relaxed, drawn into the soulful, poignant sound.

Shugen was no exception, staring fixedly at Suki’s performance. Then he shook himself, as if breaking a spell.

“Come on,” he said. “We have much to do.”

They managed to buy clothes without much issue, although Shugen complained about how much of their funds it took. It was only after they’d finished that they noticed Harue was missing.

“Ten thousand burning dragons!” Shengen exclaimed when they noticed. “Is this place so lawless that someone can get kidnapped while clothes shopping?”

Everyone looked doubtfully at the disguised oni.

“Come on, man,” Arjun said, speaking for them all. “I may not have known her long, but she obviously sneaked off to find her own fun.”

Shugen ground his teeth. “This is why administrators keep resorting to murder,” he spat. “How can I arrange matters properly when you reprobates keep running off to cause trouble?”

“Just relax, mon ami,” Amilie said. “Harue can take care of herself, and she’s smart enough to not get lost or bring whatever trouble she causes down on us.”

“I’d be worried about the city,” James put in. “Let’s go back and get changed.”

By the time they got back, Kana had already left for her bath. Suki was still playing in the common room with a thoughtful look on her face. She stopped to welcome them back.

“Have you been alright on your own?” James asked.

“It’s been very interesting,” Suki said with an enigmatic smile. “I’ve learned a lot, but little that will be useful.”

She gracefully accepted the clothes that Amilie had bought for her and headed upstairs to change. James thought about what she’d said, then shook his head and went to get his own bath.

With fresh clothes and clean skin, James felt like a new man. He left his old clothes in a basket to get laundered and joined the others downstairs. Shugen hadn’t bothered with bathing. He’d just changed his clothes and gone out again, looking for maps.

He was quietly dismayed by what he’d found. Harue, Shion and Mitsue weren’t back yet, but he decided to start without them. He placed a silencing charm and unrolled a parchment scroll.

“This is the map of the world I was looking for,” he said. The group looked down, trying to make sense of it.

“I thought you said that there were three continents on this world,” Katarzyna said. “I count… four? And one archipelago?”

“There have been some changes to the world I remember,” Shugen said. He traced out some outlines with his finger.

“These two were once one, and known as Izumo,” he said. “Now, only the northern half is called that. This group…” He traced out a circle around the islands. “Were once one continent known as Yashima, where the central administration of the Dragon Empire resided. Hidekami hasn’t changed much; it has merely had a notch taken out of it.”

“It’s only been fifteen thousand years… Continental drift doesn’t work that fast, does it?” James asked. He looked at Suki; she shook her head.

“What in the hundred twenty-nine hells is that?” Shugen scoffed. “No, this was caused by the fall of the Sky Palace.”

They all stared down at the map, trying to grasp the scale of the destruction involved. James didn’t know the units that the map was in, but it was showing three continents. They had to be huge, and the gaps…

“Historians have copies of the older maps,” Shugen said grimly. “They remember, through legends and ancient scrolls, something of what happened.”

They all stayed silent a moment longer. Finally, Shugen shook it off and rolled the scroll up.

“This map is more immediately useful. We are here.” He tapped a finger on the western segment of the continent that was now known as Izumo. “Here in Valakai. The Forest of Kohren is here.”

“It looks like we get to it by passing through Eryndor,” Suki said. “I… heard that Eryndor is neutral in the great war between the Dragon Empire and Hebe-Ichigo.”

“They’re both Dragon Empires,” Shugen complained. “But… how?”

Suki blinked innocently. “You can overhear a lot of conversations in the common room,” she said.

“Yes, but… you don’t speak the language.”

“I’m picking it up quickly,” Suki said. “I seem to have a natural talent for it.”

Shugen stared at her suspiciously, then shrugged. “One less for me to translate for,” he said. “Yes, the direct way does go through Eryndor. The fastest way, though…”

His finger traced a line down one of the rivers flowing through the kingdom.

“This river can take us to the sea. Then we sail East along the coast until we get to this river, and sail up it. The directions didn’t make sense before, but now we have that gap…”

Shugen trailed off, but then pulled himself together. “In the time it would take us to walk to Eryndor, we could be here.”

He tapped the map at the head of one of the rivers.

“Unfortunately, from there we would have to hike through a mountain pass, but it’s still faster than walking through the entire kingdom.”

“Walking isn’t the only way to travel,” Arjun said. “We saw carriages outside, pulled by horses. Some of us can ride; the rest could learn.”

“I can ride a horse,” Suki volunteered. “But I’m not sure Shion-san should be that close to animals.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered the possibilities.

“Well, we can look into that when she gets back.”

“If she gets back,” Shugen muttered darkly. “The other problem with carriages and horses is that they cost. More than we have left.”

“We needed to get more money anyway,” Arjun said. “Though Harue-san said she could get us more.”

James groaned. Suki put her hand on his arm in sympathy, and addressed the older man.

“You have to understand, Harue doesn’t have any use for money,” she said smoothly. “So if she acquires some, it can only be a part of some game she is playing.”

“What sort of game?” Amilie asked.

“It’s hard to say, but if I were to guess…” Suki paused to think. “One of her favourite ploys is to make herself useful enough that we put up with her pranks. Becoming more useful can mean she wants to escalate her… eccentricities.”

“That sounds ominous,” Arjun stated.

“It might be too obvious for her, but one reason to give people money is so that you can hold it over them,” Katarzyna put in.

“That’s possible,” Suki agreed. “The other aspect is where she gets it from. Because earning it honestly is not something she does.”

“I told her not to steal,” James said. “She’s been… known to comply with directives like that.”

“Even if she decides to, it just means that whatever scheme she uses will be too complicated and amusing to be called stealing,” Suki said.

“Well, it’s too late to do anything now; she’s out in the wild,” Arjun said fatalistically. We’ll have to make—”

He was interrupted by Shion bursting into the room. Not from the front door, she came in by the servant’s entrance.

“Guess who struck it rich!” she said, swaggering up to the table. She pulled out a handful of coins and let them fall through her fingers onto the table.

“Dolla Dolla biru, baby!” she shouted.

And yes, she used the English.