Tousaki, the morning after the shogun was assassinated. The situation in the castle is chaotic, and why wouldn’t it be? For all they know 2 people broke in and managed to end the shogun’s life. Several servants already cleaned the shogun’s body and put on a white clothes on him, his body is now laying on a tall bed. One woman oversees the process, she wears a thick kimono, with a long black hair crowns her head, her eyes are red because of the tears she shed earlier. She is Yayoi, the wife of Shogun Nobusuke.

  Present in the room together with Lady Yayoi, is Nijou the royal guard, and Midori the artificer-made human. Midori is wearing a black sleeveless top and a short pants, her hair is tied in a braided ponytail. An old male servant enters the room and slowly approaches Lady Yayoi from behind.

  Servant: As you ordered, your majesty, we have sent our fastest hawks with letters to the nobles informing them of the shogun’s death and the time of cremation. They will surely arrive as fast as their most capable horse.

  Yayoi: That’s good. Where’s Nijou?

  Hearing his name summoned, Nijou quickly kneel behind Lady Yayoi.

  Nijou: I am here, your majesty.

  Yayoi: Tell me again, who is the assassin who murdered Lord Nobusuke.

  Nijou: It is Asata, the former guard. He must have broke the protection magic and immediately arrive at his majesty’s chamber.

  Hearing that, Midori quickly interrupts.

  Midori: No, it’s not them! The assassin who broke the protection and assassinated the shogun is someone else.

  Nijou: I saw it with my own eyes, shogun’s body in the pool of his own blood, and Asata is the one next to the shogun.

  Midori: It’s true, but the one who swung the sword was not him. Another person broke into the room, that person is the assassin.

  Nijou: There must be something wrong with you, because there’s no way our castle got infiltrated by two different people at the same time.

  Midori: But that was the truth!

  Nijou: Silence! Do not argue with me, you should’ve protected-

  Yayoi: Quiet! Both of you.

  Nijou: Yes, your majesty.

  Yayoi: Nijou, form a search party and capture Asata alive.

  Nijou: Are we allowed to kill him on spot if the condition forces us to?

  Yayoi: If he truly murdered the shogun, he is not allowed to die in the woods, but he will be executed publicly.

  Nijou: I understand, I will form a small party and also spread his wanted poster.

  Nijou stands up and rushes out of the room.

  Yayoi: Midori, stay here. The rest of you, leave us.

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  The servants quickly leave the room, now only Yayoi and Midori are left.

  Yayoi: I’m sure you are now confused. After all, usually the shogun gives you orders what to do.

  Midori: That’s right.

  Yayoi: I’m only talking from my hunch, but I think Asata wasn’t the assassin. There’s no way he murdered the shogun, no matter what happened.

  Midori: As I’ve said, there’s another assassin.

  Yayoi: I will give you a secret mission. You will track who is the assassin and bring that person to me, before Nijou captures Asata. That will prove Asata’s innocence. Also, carry this wakizashi with you.

  Yayoi takes out a wakizashi that is adorned with a beautiful sakura motif on its sheathe. The motifs are shimmering in a magical blue light, it’s something that’s clearly crafted by a very talented nyxari.

  Yayoi: If anyone ever doubts your mission, show them this wakizashi, they will understand that you really are carrying a secret mission from me.

  Midori: I understand, your majesty.

  After she receives that wakizashi, Midori walks out of the room.

  Midori: Who was that woman? How did she manage to break our divine protection magic? The fact that she could teleport means that she used fae magic. But… she’s clearly a swordfighter.

  Midori: That means she has an accomplice, someone who used the teleportation magic to sent her. That’s why she said that she can’t stay for long.

  Midori: But to use a fae magic strong enough to break our protection magic? That’s near impossible. Our protection magic is really strong, only a strong mage from Brirene has a chance.

  Midori: A strong mage from Brirene?

  Midori: There was a general from Brirene who had a meeting with Lord Nobusuke! His name was… Raas? And he’s famous for using both arcane and fae magic.

  Midori: Could it be that he did something we didn’t know while he was inside the castle? But that assassin is clearly a Kai girl, her hair is not blonde.

  Midori: The connection between him and the assassin could be determined later, for now I need to know where he is.

  Midori: I should check his inn, it’s the biggest one in town.

  Midori dashes, if she’s lucky then she could still find the prime suspect in this assassination. After a few minutes, she arrives at town. The town this morning is mostly still the same as any morning, with people walking around and doing their activities. The only different thing is that there’s a castle guard standing every few meters, their effort to increase security seems useless since the main suspect has managed to run away.

  Midori stops in front of a large two-story ryokan, the biggest ryokan in town that’s also famous for being the place where high-ranked people stay the night. Midori walks past the wooden door entrance, where she’s greeted by a young woman in a blue kimono.

  Woman in kimono: Welcome to Mikojinya, are you here alone or are you ordering for your master?

  Midori: I’m actually looking for someone. Is there a general from Brirene who stay the night here?

  Woman in kimono: We did have a guest like that, but he already left.

  Midori: Did he leave last night?

  Woman in kimono: No, he and his entourage just left this morning.

  Midori: Where do they leave?

  Woman in kimono: I heard they went to the train station, I know nothing more about them.

  Midori: I see, thank you very much.

  Midori gives that young woman one gold coin before she heads outside. She’s going straight for the train station. At the train station, she goes to the ticket booth, where a glasses guy is sitting behind the table.

  Midori: I want to get a ticket for the morning train, please.

  Ticket guy: You mean the first train? You’re already late, that train already departed 10 minutes ago.

  Midori: Was there a Brirene General who bought a ticket for that train?

  Ticket guy: Yep, a woman bought the ticket for the whole entourage, and they were all blonde.

  So, Midori was too late by a hair, and it’s impossible to catch up to the train by horse or running.

  Midori: Where did they go?

  Ticket guy: They are going to Su.

  Midori: And when is the next train heading for Su?

  Ticket guy: The next one is… oh, you’re in luck, the next train to Su is in two hours. Would you like to buy a ticket for that?

  Late by two hours is too long, but Midori doesn’t have any other way to catch up to Raas. So she doesn’t have any choice.

  Midori: Yes, one ticket for that please.

  Ticket guy: Here you go, don’t lose your ticket because there’s no refund.

  Midori looks at the train ticket on her hand with determination. She have received a secret mission to track the real assassin, and she will not rest until she found her.