[Current Balance: 4,755,411,970,700 Mon]
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The silence in the small calligraphy shop was as thick and heavy as the ink grinding on the stone.
The old shopkeeper, Mochizuki Kensei, stared at the carved lotus charm resting on the counter, his calm, scholarly demeanor stripped away to reveal the cold, hard focus of a man who had lived a lifetime in the shadows. His ancient eyes, now sharp as forged steel, lifted to meet Alaric's.
"Where," he repeated, his voice a low, dangerous whisper that carried more menace than a shout, "did you get this?"
Alaric didn't answer immediately. He leaned forward slightly, resting his hands on the counter, his posture relaxed, almost casual. He could feel the tension in the old man, the coiled power held in check. He could also sense the presence of the old woman from the kabuki theater, Chiyome, moving silently in the back room behind a paper screen, her own chakra signature alert and ready.
"I took it from a dead man," Alaric finally replied in flawless Japanese, his voice calm. "A man who wasn't truly a man. He moved like a puppet and guarded the walls of Edo Castle."
Kensei's eyes narrowed further. "The Shogun's 'Silent Guard'. You fought one and lived?"
"Fought?" Alaric let out a soft, dismissive chuckle. "That's a strong word for it. It was more like… putting down a broken toy."
The noren curtain at the back of the shop rustled, and Chiyome slid the paper screen open, stepping into the room. She held a small, wickedly sharp kunai in her hand, its tip gleaming in the dim light. She moved with a silent grace that belied her age.
"You speak with much arrogance for a gaijin who has stumbled into a place he does not belong," she said, her voice was a quiet hiss. She positioned herself to Alaric's side, cutting off any potential escape route. "You can't fool us with your disguise."
"And you move with much hostility for a shopkeeper and her calligrapher husband," Alaric countered easily, not taking his eyes off Kensei. "I'm not here for a fight. I'm here because we have a mutual problem."
"And what problem would that be?" Kensei asked, his gaze unwavering.
"Arai Hakuseki," Alaric stated simply. "And the rot he is spreading from within the castle walls. The rot that created these puppets."
The two Assassins exchanged a swift, almost imperceptible glance. Alaric had confirmed their deepest fears. They had been tracking Arai's strange activities for months, his sudden reclusiveness, his secret orders, and the appearance of his unnervingly efficient personal guard.
They knew something was deeply wrong at the heart of the shogunate, but they didn't know the cause.
"You know of Arai-sama's affliction?" Kensei pressed, his tone still suspicious. "You claim to understand the nature of his Silent Guard? These are secrets known to none outside the castle's inner circle. Who are you to possess such knowledge?"
"I am the one who is hunting the source of the affliction," Alaric replied. He decided to offer them a piece of the truth, a key to unlock their trust. "The woman who bewitched Arai Hakuseki… the gaijin with the dark sphere… I have been tracking her across the world. She left a trail of chaos in Nagasaki, and before that, in the Philippines. Now, her trail has led me here, to Edo. And to him."
The mention of a foreign woman and a dark sphere made Kensei and Chiyome exchange another, more significant look. Their own intelligence network had picked up faint whispers of such a figure, a ghost who had been granted an unprecedented audience with the Shogun's advisor months ago, but the trail had gone cold.
Kensei studied Alaric for a long, silent moment, his mind clearly weighing the risks.
This stranger, this foreigner, was impossibly powerful, as evidenced by his survival against a puppet. He possessed knowledge he shouldn't have. He could be a Templar agent, a clever deception.
But Alaric's Mind's Eye felt no deceit in the old man's thoughts, only caution, suspicion, and a deep, ingrained sense of duty.
"You will come with us," Kensei said finally, his voice firm. It was not a request.
Alaric just smiled. "Lead the way."
The Assassin's bureau was not the grand, subterranean fortress of the Auditore Villa. It was a masterpiece of Japanese ingenuity and discretion. Kensei led Alaric through a series of twisting back alleys, then into a quiet, unassuming Shinto shrine.
Inside, behind the main altar, Kensei pressed a hidden mechanism disguised as a wooden carving of a crane. A section of the floor slid away silently, revealing a dark, narrow staircase leading down.
The air below was cool and smelled of damp earth and old wood. They descended into a network of clean, well-lit tunnels, their path illuminated by simple, elegant paper lanterns.
The bureau itself was a series of interconnected rooms carved from the very earth beneath the city, reinforced with heavy wooden beams. It was practical, hidden, and efficient.
They entered the central chamber. A large, detailed map of Edo was laid out on a low table, surrounded by cushions. Several other Assassins, clad in dark, functional shinobi shozoku, looked up as they entered, their faces hidden behind simple cloth masks, their initial surprise quickly masked by disciplined neutrality.
Kensei dismissed them with a gesture, leaving only himself, Chiyome, and Alaric in the room.
"Now," Kensei said, sinking gracefully onto a cushion by the table. "Speak. Everything you know."
Alaric took a seat opposite him, crossing his legs casually. "It's simple, really. The woman, Caroline, is being controlled by the artifact she carries, an Apple of Eden. It's a device of immense power, capable of bending minds to its will. She used it on Arai Hakuseki. He is now her puppet, even in her absence. She came here seeking a weapon, another artifact of the same ancient civilization that created the Apple."
He paused, letting his words sink in. "The puppets, the Silent Guard… they are a product of that influence. Arai is using knowledge granted by the Apple to create them. That lotus charm is the control mechanism, a focus for his will."
Chiyome, who had been listening silently, finally spoke. "A sword," she confirmed, her voice a low rasp. "Our own agents within the castle have reported that Arai has been desperately searching the Shogun's vaults for a specific blade. A legendary sword, long thought to be lost or merely a myth. The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi."
'The Grass-Cutting Sword,' Alaric thought, recognizing the name from Japanese mythology. One of the Three Imperial Regalia of Japan. 'So, that's what Caroline is after. Another Sword of Eden… if a sword like actually exist, I'm curious how it would look like…'
"Your story aligns with what we have pieced together," Kensei admitted, his gaze intense. "But it does not explain you. Who are you… to hunt such things? What is your purpose?"
"I'm Alaric Jonathan Kenway… my purpose is to stop Caroline before the Apple's corruption consumes her completely, and before she destabilizes the entire world in her misguided quest for 'order'," Alaric replied simply. "As for who I am… let's just say I'm a third party with a vested interest in seeing that neither the Assassins nor the Templars get their hands on these artifacts."
Kensei and Chiyome exchanged another look. This gaijin was a puzzle, an anomaly that fit none of their established categories. He was an enemy of their enemy, but his motives were his own.
"Arai Hakuseki has become too powerful, too unpredictable," Kensei said, his voice grim. "His puppets are nearly unstoppable. We have lost three of our best trying to get close to him. They cannot be reasoned with, they do not feel pain, and they are stronger and faster than any normal man. We cannot afford to lose any more of our brothers and sisters in futile attacks."
He looked directly at Alaric, his old eyes holding a new, calculating light.
"You, however… you defeated one of them. Easily, from the sounds of it." He paused, a silent proposition hanging in the air.
Alaric smirked, knowing what was coming. "You want my help."
"We need your help," Kensei corrected him. "You possess the strength to deal with the Silent Guard. We possess the knowledge of the castle's layout, its patrol routes, its hidden passages. We know where Arai's chambers are. Alone, we may fail. Together… we might succeed."
It was a test. An alliance born of mutual desperation. They needed his power; he needed their intel and their help in navigating the political and physical labyrinth of the castle.
"What do you propose?" Alaric asked, leaning forward, a predatory glint in his own eyes.
"We propose a joint operation," Kensei stated. "Help us infiltrate Edo Castle. Help us neutralize Arai Hakuseki and dismantle his puppet army. In return," he paused, his gaze unwavering, "we will give you everything we know about the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, and any information our network can gather on Caroline's next likely destination. We will help you find your ghost."
Alaric looked at the map of Edo spread out on the table, at the intricate, fortress-like depiction of the Shogun's castle. This was a challenge unlike any he had faced before. Not a battle of overwhelming force, but one of stealth, strategy, and precision.
He looked up, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his face.
"Alright, Kensei-dono," he said, the Japanese honorific rolling off his tongue with practiced ease. "You've got yourself a deal."
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