---

Two weeks. If she had just gotten looking sooner, or picked up the pace… she had been so close to finishing her journey, or maybe with everything else going on she could have gotten her brother to help them? No point thinking about it, though she hadn't done much else tonight. Go shopping with Rudolf, talk with Izayoi, get something to drink…

There must be someone who could help, right? Oh, they were going back to Drana Asnaeu soon so she could pick up the trail there, but then it might already be cold, especially if they were going to go through the forests… and she obviously knew a few people by the coasts who might be able to keep an eye out, but could she possibly get a message to them? And "hey, someone's in this entire country" wasn't a good way to look, they'd gotten so lucky being close this time.

So… right, that meant asking Esben after all? Something about him was a bit scary, so she'd avoided it earlier, but that shouldn't be a problem now, and that might be needed… and he was prooooobably fine despite the head injury. It wasn't like this would involve having to go anywhere or do anything tonight, just… listen?

Now, she'd memorised what rooms various people had to not wander into the wrong one, which meant… this one!

"H-Hello? I need some help with f-finding someone," Miina said, gesturing with a bottle in the vague direction of outdoors. Probably not illustrative.

"That's probably the most words I've heard you say to me at once since the day we met." Esben turned back towards the sliding door of the room, frowning slightly at the short Mystrel girl that had stumbled in. "Are you feeling alright, Miina?" he asked after a moment, keenly aware of the incongruity behind him being the one to ask her that question, given recent events.

"Y-Yeah?" she wondered, scratching her head. Was something wrong…? Well, she'd left her boots and everything in her room… but they were inside, so that shouldn't seem all that weird even up here? Oh, maybe he thought that she wanted to go looking now! "I d-don't mean l-looking here, um… my b-brother's in D-Drana Asnaeu again and I d-don't want to miss him again…"

She took a swig from the bottle, still standing awkwardly in the door.

Esben resisted the urge to sigh. "Not how I meant that," he muttered, half to himself, before pointing at the mattress on the floor where he'd been about to lay down. "Sit down and tell me whatever you want to tell me, and drink some water. We don't need you making yourself sick."

Miina dropped bonelessly onto the mattress, propping herself back up into a seated position and ignoring the suggestion of water. Or maybe she had simply discarded the thought of it after not immediately spotting any.

"So… my b-brother had b-been in Osprey for m-m-months, and I'd gone t-to ask around with Rudolf earlier," she started, now frowning over how unfortunate the timing had been. "Some p-p-people didn't really want t-to talk about him even if they knew, since t-that meant g-getting all tangled up in organised c-c-crime, b-but we found someone and…"

It was definitely the loudest Miina had ever been. "He's j-j-just left! He was heard t-talking about it a few weeks ago, b-b-but this… uh, Mizutane T-Tine? Tane? She's only b-been looking a few d-days!"

She took another drink, grumpily.

Esben listened closely, letting the fact that Miina still held her drink be for the moment. They'd barely missed her brother, evidently, as he'd left not long before they'd started their trek back from the deep desert. He'd put the matter of her brother further back in his list of priorities given the amount that was happening as soon as they arrived in Kugane, but given that half of their work now would be a search, likely avoiding any further rebellions, there was no better time than the present to start thinking on that matter again.

And those thoughts weren't entirely hope-inducing. Organized crime was no laughing matter, even for some of the top Seeds to come out of the Garden. Usually they were recommended to stay as far away from such things as possible. Of course, usually they weren't sent off entirely alone, or find themselves embroiled in a rebellion against an invading force; he'd already moved somewhat far outside the realm of normal Seed operations by any metric.

So, names: Mizutani Tine (or Tane) was the one she gave him, the local crime lord of some sort. Hopefully her brother hadn't gotten embroiled with her in all the possible ways he may have, as the entanglement there could prove almost impossible to untie. Rudolf had been involved in their first investigation, so he may have more details and be far more sober...and whoever had finally spoken to them, he would at least need a description to get working.

But first...

"Miina." Esben's voice was uncharacteristically stern, his expression as flat as when he'd been discussing murdering Chisaki casually enough to make the others look back at him in surprise, or outlining his plan to rescue Hien. He reached out, plucking the bottle from her hands with a speed that was utterly belied by his prior performance out in the desert, sticking it high on a shelf—and then passing the pitcher of water that had been set just past him over with an empty cup. "Water. You've had enough of whatever that is for now. Did you get a name from the one that finally spoke to you?"

The immediate response was a defeated mewl and a vain attempt at pawing at the bottle that would have been out of reach even if she had attempted to stand up first, followed by an equally plaintive, "My shōchū…"

Even though she was definitely sulking now, she hadn't forgotten why she was here, so she had better answer the question… even if she was stubbornly ignoring the water. "Uh… Hiroshi or s-something?

"A-Ask Rudi! He was with m-me, he ought to r-remember better!" she added, waving at the door as a reminder of where to go to start looking for the other member of their group.

Esben supposed he should have expected that. Between her general social struggles and the fact that she was certainly drunk by now, there wasn't going to be much useful on that front out of Miina...at least not through any direct questioning like that. "Never mind that for now, then," he mused, pouring water into the empty cup he'd set beside her.

He set the pitcher back down, before turning just as suddenly as before, pushing the girl's bangs back and laying his palm flat against her forehead, gazing critically down. As flushed as he'd expect from a small, drunk Mystrel girl; and the heat he could feel matched the redness in her face, that seemed to rapidly be trying to match that of her hair. Of course, his hand—damp with condensation off the pitcher and generally quite a bit colder—would contrast all of that heavily, though whether she'd find the coolness comforting or bothersome remained to be seen as he pushed her head back, his gaze meeting her eyes again. "Is that all you've had to drink?"

The redness only intensified, although the reason for that wasn't readily apparent… internally, of course, Miina was panicking at being shown this sort of attention, although the question snapped her back to attention (and away from a vain attempt to back away into… well, with their current positions, a wall. "Y-Yeah? It's strong."

Did he think this was her first time drinking or something? It wasn't even the first time she'd come across anything distilled! Although, undoubtedly, it was far less sweet or fruity than anything that she'd been offered in Costa del Sol. That was actually pretty useful, it made it harder to overindulge.

Not that Miina's definition of "overindulging" was probably matched with Esben's.

"Good. I'd hate to have to interrogate you about everything else you've had, and can instead get back to the first thought—water." He held the cup out to her. "Now. I'll find you something to eat soon, too. After you drain that glass you can start telling me more details about your brother and what you've found out he was involved with."

It was a good thing that Miina hadn't drained the bottle at the same speed as the cup was drained, though she was quick to point out after that the food wasn't necessary. She hadn't started drinking on an empty stomach, what was the rush? She could just sleep the rest of it off later.

As for her brother… well, she rambled. He was her teacher, her friend, and an annoyingly tall beanpole that had liked to pick her up just because he could and there had been such a massive height gap between them (and she couldn't say that it had honestly closed massively, even if he was the same height as their last meeting). He'd not been in Drana Asnaeu by the time she'd gone out looking, and finding the trail had been a long, slow one, and she'd not had a clue what sort of people she should even be talking to or where she should be talking to them.

And she'd had to get more clothes! And a proper sword, her knife was good, but the thing she'd lifted off a bandit just wasn't. So that meant she had to do more working and less asking people questions, but it worked out in the end, since Miina had met a lot of people she would never have considered approaching if it hadn't been for accidentally running jobs for them, and then shutting the worst of them down afterwards.

Anyway, they'd been able to give her some vague pointers, and she'd been able to sort of… bounce around asking, and she didn't know what her brother was doing because nobody ever seemed to want to tell her? And most of them seemed astonished to find out that he was actually a pretty good mage, as far as she knew, or a spellcaster at all. But then there were the people that weren't shady, and always did seem particularly annoyed that Zeke wasn't around to ask questions… or interested that she was trying to track him down. She even had some letters to deliver, for some reason.

Esben listened intently as Miina started to ramble her way through an explanation on her brother and his known activities; he was reasonably impressed at how smoothly she managed to get through it. Except for the spot where, under the weight of his gaze, she got stuck on the word 'brother' for nearly ten seconds...but she managed to get over it without help. Thus far, it seemed that brushes with criminal elements must run in the family—though Zeke seemed far more adept at dealing with it than his sister, the way it sounded her own adventures had gone.

"So. Your brother is made to leave home, and over the course of his travels he seems to have earned the mixed ire and begrudging respect of no less than fourteen different criminal groups, from low-level gangs up to decently sized organizations, not to mention the more legitimate types he's dealt with. All with a history of never revealing his full capabilities to them, and generally disappearing after picking up some odd jobs or getting whatever he may have intended out of them otherwise. Skipping out as soon as the entanglement started looking like it might be firmer than he expected." He almost sounded slightly impressed, though when he was getting focused on another aspect of what amounted to work in his thoughts, much of his expressiveness drained away...the perils of such single-mindedness, perhaps.

Impressed or not, though, that would make Zeke difficult for them, in more ways than one. "Forgive me, Miina, but your brother sounds like a confident con artist who seems to be biting off more and more every time, and it won't be too long before he takes on more than he can handle. But I imagine that's part of what has you worried enough to come to me, ja?" She'd not spoken to him much at all, other than when he'd been wounded or when he passed lord Hien off to her, after all.

A pity. He generally tried not to intimidate the more timid types...except for when intimidating them was useful.

"If we're lucky, we'll find him before anyone else does, and hopefully be able to avoid them in the process. I don't much want us to have to add those types to our list of enemies, they are useful sometimes..." Neverminding that Miina had managed to entirely ruin her own reputation with one such group, as she was small enough to keep hidden within the rest of them if necessary. "How well do you think you can draw him for me?"

Miina waited until Esben was finished… and then started laughing, giving a small grin. "Oh, I'm sure he'll b-b-be fine, if he's n-not even having to show he has magic, and he g-gave me th-this before he had to leave for good…"

It took her a moment of fishing around to actually produce it, but that… well, it was a materia, there was that much to say about it for sure, but it was stuffed away much more quickly. "… he s-said he has two, so I'm s-sure he can escape if things g-get really bad. I j-just… don't think I can go looking if we're g-going to protect crystals? And you're g-good at that, right?"

"I see you do have a share of his confidence," Esben replied drily, utterly unperturbed about the materia.

She paused for a second, looking at her hands, and said, "M-Maybe tomorrow…? I'm not sure I can d-draw… umm… isn't 'redheaded M-Mystrel, v-very tall, n-never opens his eyes' enough? It worked so far…"

Esben shook his head. "However uncommon that combination of traits may be, there's undoubtedly going to be some others that match that description. There's a possibility that some of what you've learned has simply been due to others such muddying the waters, unless you've managed to go into further details with them and just don't remember such conversations in deep detail. If I'm going to be looking for him, I need something more distinct, especially if I end up putting anyone else to work for it on my behalf."

He refilled her glass with water, with a clear expectation that she should drink more of it. "If you can't manage a good sketch tomorrow morning, get ahold of me then and I'll see what I can manage to draw up. We may need to go through a few drafts but it shouldn't take too long. Otherwise, keep sipping on the water, and before long you ought to go to bed."

"R-Right, it is late…" Miina said, gaze drawn inevitably up to where the bottle of shōchū sat on the shelf. Esben probably wasn't going to give it back, was he? Maybe she could get it tomorrow, it'd be such a waste if she didn't get to finish it…

Nonetheless, Miina got to her feet, unsteady but seemingly no more in danger of collapsing before she got back to her room than when she arrived, and wished Esben goodnight. At least she still had the glass of water? He'd probably want to get another, though.

Eliane would not have thought that they would have been back in Kugane so quickly, but ultimately, she found herself pouring a cup of tea, not coffee, this time.

Sometimes, she truly surprised herself.

It took her a moment to decide to enjoy outside in the courtyard. She thought it was strange that a safehouse would have an actual courtyard, but since it existed, she would make use of the amenities. It seemed like the Skaelan officer wasn’t alone outside though, as she noticed team Kirin’s older swordswoman swinging her weapon where she had decided to take a rest.

That reminded her of something she saw during the fight with the revenant that had bothered her. She gave Izayoi a nod, but Eliane decided not to immediately approach, taking a seat to the side to enjoy her cup of hot sencha as she allowed for the other woman to finish.

Disrupt. Cut. Pierce. Disrupt. Cut. Pierce. Izayoi finished up the last of her katas and wiped the sweat from her brow. Still nowhere at the level she should be, but sparring with Robin and all of the exertion in the desert resulted in minute improvements from the last time she’d been training in Kugane before they left.

She’d noticed Eliane in her peripheral vision partway through her exercises, of course. Her senses weren’t completely gone, at the least. Izayoi sheathed her sword and turned to face the sollan, waiting.

”Is aught amiss, or am I simply blocking your view?”

For Eliane, it was always interesting seeing Izayoi practice her moves, given how different her style was compared to her own swordplay. Finishing off her tea, she shook her head. “No, the view is perfectly fine. I’m surprised you’re already back to training, though.”

”The desert made it abundantly clear that I cannot afford to make even the slightest pause in attempting to regain my former strength.” She sat down next to Eliane, a person’s width away.

”I put my master in the grave when I was but eighteen summers young. To be unable to replicate the feats I could perform at that age is shameful.”

Eliane frowned at that. “You and I both know well that doing it so soon after such grievous injuries is a detriment, not a boon.” She left it at that and moved on, though– she wasn’t Miina nor a doctor. She canted her head slightly as she looked askew at the other woman. “Which is actually what I wanted to talk about.”

”I am recovered.” Was all Izayoi tersely said in response to Eliane’s first statement. It was true, even. Given that the return through the desert had been far less fraught with dangers considering the swathe they’d cut through the Blightbeasts one way, she’d had plenty of time to heal on the march. ”But go on. I’d been wondering if someone would have noticed what went wrong during that battle.”

The pink-haired woman fixed the Mystral woman a stare at that. “That was a clusterfuck. Everything went wrong,” she bluntly replied. “Tactically, however, I can’t see much that any of us could have done differently except to have never engaged in the first place.” Of course, hindsight was always 20-20, and there was an argument to be made that it might have been impossible in the first place, given the Valheimian airship in play.

She got to the point. “You were already injured before the battle. You were coughing up blood and that thing cut you down because of it. What happened?”

”I meant the latter, yes. But no, I was not injured beforehand. The blood was from overstraining my body in attempting to save your lives.” Izayoi looked up towards the midday sun, frowning.

”That attack demands an excessive amount of fortitude from myself, both to keep time halted in a given area, and to move quickly enough to execute every strike while maintaining that magic.”

The Wild Dance wasn’t an attack she liked to have to use at any point in her career. Between killing her master and the start of the war, Izayoi could have counted with only half a hand how many times she’d been forced to utilize the one limit break that hadn’t been a technique passed down to her.

”I developed it to defeat the attack he would have slayed the rest of you with. Regardless, does that satisfy your curiosity? I will not be coughing up blood again lest I have to resort to it before I return to some measure of my full might.”

Enlightened, the Skaelan officer nodded her understanding. “Yes, it does. I wasn’t aware.” She considered the Revenant, and then their current skills, fully aware that they would likely face that thing again. “Then I will have to hone my own skills as well. Would you like a spar?”

”I would not turn one down, no. Live steel?” At Eliane’s nod, Izayoi reached for her sword.

___

”Huff…huff…yield?” Izayoi struggled to catch her breath as she put one foot on Eliane’s chest, her hand pointing the tip of her blade at the prone woman’s neck.

The duel had been a hard fought thing, far closer than she would have liked or expected. Neither woman was able to use their full strength, given the restrictions of live steel. Izayoi couldn’t risk her battojutsu against a target she wasn’t willing to kill, and similarly, Eliane couldn’t exactly shoot Izayoi. Nevertheless, Eliane earned her rank as Dame Commander, to be certain.

Flat on her back and breathing heavily from exhaustion, Eliane held up her free hand in a yielding gesture. “Yeah… I yield.”

Izayoi certainly lived up to her reputation. Although she had to yield in the end, it was a satisfying match; she was well aware her opponent was the superior swordswoman, and she knew that she had given a good accounting herself. All the better for practice.

Standing back up once Izayoi stepped back, she sheathed her sword and dusted herself off, taking a moment to properly catch her breath in the process. “That was enjoyable… we should do this more often.”

”Indeed.” Izayoi nodded, sheathing her blade. ”You possess no small amount of skill. A few more years of seasoning, and you may have given me quite the challenge at my peak.” She took a moment to wipe her brow once more.

”The others could benefit greatly from sparring with you, the younger ones especially. Do seek them out at some point.”

Eliane returned a small smile at that. Considering that her swordsmanship was only one half of her fighting style, that was no small compliment. “I will. I might not want to drill them like I would my own team, but with the trials we’re about to face, they do need the experience.”

Izayoi gave a slight grunt of agreement, turning as if she made to leave the courtyard.

”We’d not had the opportunity to discuss this, but you have my condolences for the deaths of your men. Take solace in the fact that your decisions had little to do with their passing.”

Eliane blinked, and then nodded. “Thank you.” With that, she turned to leave as well.

---

”Are you recovered?” Were the first words that came out of Izayoi’s mouth as she approached Esben in the safehouse’s halls. ”The desert evidently did not agree with you, even before the battle.” She turned a critical eye over Esben. ”It seems your heatstroke has passed.”

”Regardless, I have inquiries. You are the one most equipped to answer them.”

Esben blinked.

”Good morning to you too, Izayoi.”

She motioned for Esben to follow her, and they stepped into the sitting room. Izayoi started heating a pot of tea in the fireplace, and the two sat at the low table.

”Presuming that you are a Seed, which seems more likely than when we first met, I have questions in that regard. To preface this, I knew nothing of my master’s past life before he found me in the ruins of a bandit raid. And I found nothing after his death. Evidently, he valued his privacy.”

The tea kettle continued to boil in the background.

”My working theory for the better part of a decade was that he was a Seed at some point. I can think of few better explanations. The man was not Osprean, by all appearances. Tell me, have you ever heard of any blond men nearing eight feet tall that specialized in the katana within your ranks?”

Seed may have been a secretive organization of spies and mercenaries, but her master had been distinctive.

Esben dutifully followed, taking a seat as Izayoi began to work through her question. He was slightly shocked that she still harboured doubts as to what he’d told them all at the outset of the journey, but, given that they seemed to be diminishing...chose not to make an issue of it. Better to focus on the task at hand. Even if that meant more questions about people, and looking for people, than he’d expected—he’d already spent the prior night drafting up whatever plans he could to search for Miina’s brother.

One half of the question, at least, was easily answered: ”Izayoi, it’s Skael. Eight foot tall blond men aren’t particularly noteworthy. Seven feet is nearly common, I’m plenty over six myself.” Notwithstanding that such would certainly be present in any student records, something he didn’t bother to mention as she’d be well aware of that herself by mere supposition. Certainly, anyone of that height would stand out quite a bit, especially in a crowd, which would limit their possible uses as Seeds...but there always seemed to be an outlier or two in every part of the country, even if some of them were relying on their shoes to see above the rest.

”I can’t say I remember stories of any one such that went through the Garden, but we’re always more likely to tell about what someone did than just how they were. Éliane, for example, is still a topic they like to talk about. I think our last instructor that specialized in Ospreyan styles of swordsmanship died...oh, somewhere between five years and a decade ago. Before either of our time at the Garden. But he may have some students still kicking around that I could ask.”

Izayoi frowned, rising to take the boiling tea and pour a cup each for herself and Esben. She set the kettle down in the middle of the table, nodding.

”I see. Certainly not him. And I never actually knew his name.” Once more, the realization she’d never had in her youth that she spent ten years in the giant’s company without knowing if he actually had a name sank in. Why hadn’t she realized that?

Ah, right. Because she’d been a stupid slip of a girl.

”He only ever used obvious aliases when others asked him for one. Nanashi was his favored. ‘No Name’, in our old tongue.”

”Ah. The old ‘My name is Nobody’ joke.”

”As you say,” She shrugged. ”Regardless, if Seed considers merit to be the greatest indicator of noteworthiness, I struggle to believe that he would not have been remembered even, say, two decades past his absence. You saw his deeds in the desert. He trained me. For most of our final duel, he was still my better. Unless the Garden has an exceedingly short memory, someone with seniority in the organization would have remembered a swordsman of such skill.”

Esben nodded. ”You’re quite right.” He took a sip of the tea, thinking for a quiet moment. ”Your method isn’t entirely typical of Ospreyan fighters, is it? I suppose I haven’t paid enough attention to recognize that, tales of your skills aside.”

”Correct.” Izayoi hid her surprise by raising her tea cup to her lips, taking a sip of her own. ”My own, unnamed style emphasizes fighting with a one-handed grip far more than typical Osprean bladework, as well as differences in footwork. Foreign bladesmen tend not to notice past the obvious commonalities with all katana fighting. I’d not realized how different the style was until I’d fought more samurai in my adulthood, merely thinking it was how my master’s teaching differentiated itself.”

”Rather like a sabre, isn’t it? Mixed with some more idiosyncratic techniques, due to the differing nature of the blades. You might hide it more easily if you’d learned to fight with the smaller blade in your offhand as your standard.”

Izayoi nodded along, considering Eliane’s fighting style in her mind’s eye. Given that she was the only example of Skaelan saber fencing that the samurai had seen, it was the only reference point available. And what she saw…wasn’t too dissimilar. Hm.

”Perhaps, yes. Though I am just as capable in direct combat with the more traditional Osprean dual-wielding style. There has simply not been a situation that has necessitated such a radical shift thus far. That, and wielding two blades restricts my ability to use battojutsu. Regardless, we are getting off-topic.”

Esben shook his head, taking another sip. As direct as her thought process was, he wasn’t entirely surprised she wasn’t following along with his own line of inquiry. ”This is the topic. I said that some of that former instructor’s students would still be around, didn’t I? Some of them are instructors now themselves. Even old Villamont’s style was less about replicating Ospreyan swordsmanship and more how to confuse the samurai and beat them at their own game.”

He drained the cup, setting it down back on the table.

”To that end, he incorporated techniques that are nearly unheard of this far north, some of which are even rare in our own various methods. Purely horizontal attacks, leaving someone wide open to any reprisal, but if done quickly enough, and taking advantage of the distance that only needing one hand can provide...a moulinet into another, not losing momentum at all and maintaining the pressure, something we all do but most Ospreyans never demonstrate. The most typical thing of Osprey that your master’s corpse did to me was tackling me after I defended myself from the first two. I’m sure from there you can start to figure out many other peculiarities that match what I’m saying, no? It’s just that using two blades, even with more southern-standard techniques, would hide it better.”

”Fair points.” Izayoi sat her cup down, crossing her arms in thought. ”He never cared for using two blades. As a matter of fact, he seemed to regard imparting dual-wielding during training as something more of a chore than anything else.”

”T’would be shameful if you did not excel in ALL uses of the blade, long and short. Now draw your second blade, girl. And be quick about it. My patience wears thin.”

The memory flashed in her eyes, and Izayoi forced herself to continue on.

”Seed possesses a concerning breadth of knowledge regarding how we Ospreans fight. Am I to assume that you have the same for the other two nations?”

”Of course. We usually don’t expand beyond generalities unless someone has reason to dive into all the various schools of fighting to be found in any given place, but we always keep a few available who can give good instruction in such matters.” He turned his head, one ear in the direction of the courtyard that the home surrounded.

”The yard should be relatively free, ja? I’d like to test my theory a bit.”

”Very well.” Izayoi nodded, rising to her feet. The fact that Esben had only just recovered from a concussion didn’t seem to concern her overmuch.

”You would prefer me to use two-blade style, then? Practice swords, or live steel?”

”No, your standard. Yes to live steel—I doubt they have anything here to match my blade, and I trust our abilities not to kill each other anyways.” He gestured to the cups and kettle, bidding Izayoi to sit back down. ”But, let’s finish this first. I doubt it’ll still be warm by the time we’re done.”

---

Before long the tea was drunk down to the leaves, and Esben returned to his room just long enough to gather up his sword and buckler. Izayoi, as he’d expected, was waiting for him out in the courtyard, likely ready to proceed as soon as he arrived. It was as much a matter of pride for him as it was anything about analyzing her fighting style—had he not been as incapacitated by the desert climate as he was, he doubted he would have fared so poorly against her old master. Even if Rudolf had made a point to tell him to get over himself and that it was testament enough to his skill that he’d avoided anything lethal and only been taken out by a tackle.

More politely than that, but still.

”Well. Let’s begin, shall we?” he asked after a moment, giving a small salute with his blade, before settling into a typical guard position—buckler out, sword high and point forward as though he’d just drawn it in front of her.

Izayoi nodded, her sword already drawn. Iai strikes weren’t to be risked against foes she didn’t wish to kill, so it would fall to raw swordplay.

She dashed straight for Esben, her katana clutched in only a single hand as she whipped it out in a quick horizontal slash, aiming to make a score across the Skaelan’s unshielded side. It clattered harmlessly against his buckler, the small shield punching the blade aside with unexpected force as stepped to his left, flicking his blade forwards and down in a small sniping cut as he moved to a new stance.

Izayoi leaned back, the tip of the blade barely missing her nose; intercepted a second cut from Esben as he straightened his arm back out, and without missing a step twisted her own over and lunged forwards herself. Esben brought his blade in and up to match, her thrust sliding harmlessly off to the side as he broke away. Over the course of barely more than a second their blades had rang out thrice, and the only thing to show for it was that they’d returned to the same positions they’d started from.

After a moment of breath, each dashed for the other once more.

---

Several rounds of back-and-forth later, Izayoi clicked her tongue in irritation as Esben disengaged from her assault once more. She’d no doubt wear him down eventually, but a victory in that manner was akin to giving up in terms of effort.

Of course, she was still holding a large portion of her arsenal back. No battojutsu. No explicitly lethal techniques. Trickery and footwork it was, then.

Izayoi set herself in a low stance, legs bent and center of gravity closer to the ground. She dashed forward, telegraphing a strike towards Esben’s less-guarded legs. The instant he moved to respond, however, she sprang up from her bent legs and outright leapt over the Skaelan duelist in a somersault, landing behind him with one hand stabilizing her on the ground and the other pointing her blade at his back.

”Are you satisfied now?”

As Izayoi lunged forwards for his legs, Esben barely dropped the point of his sword to maintain an obvious threat, his reach beating her own without even the need to draw back. He’d been expecting some trick, of course, although for her to bodily leap over him wasn’t the tactic he thought she’d take.

For a heartbeat, he’d thought about raising his sword in a cut to follow her momentum, twisting alongside her...had it been an actual duel, he would have. But just as there were techniques she was refusing to use for fear that she might actually harm him, he was feeling the same way, and such reprisal in the face of so wild an attack would nearly guarantee someone was injured beyond what was acceptable for mere sparring. Even if it didn’t, prolonging the exchange would only push them both towards fatigue rather than helping sharpen any of their skills.

Instead he crouched, raising his buckler up overhead to guard from any sudden strike—only for Izayoi’s landing to sound behind him. Of course, from where she was crouched, she’d see a pair of gun barrels pointing her way from the buckler he still had raised up. Esben was still full of tricks himself, even if he’d never bothered to actually hide them. One squeeze and they’d have fired; enough to shock her and make her pull back, perhaps, or it wouldn’t have, and they’d both be dead had it been an actual fight.

Hopefully they wouldn’t need to find out.

”You’re breathing hard,” Esben observed. He was too, and between the Ospreyan heat and the exertion covered in enough sweat he’d need to bathe again before the end of the day. ”Yes. You’ve your own unique touches, obviously, but the core of it is familiar enough to me.” He paused for another moment, trying to imagine what she must have been like at the height of her skill, with all the stories that had managed to proliferate about her—

”I think Edren is lucky you’re unique as you are. I certainly don’t want to consider what fighting you on a battlefield may have been like if you felt the need to use that special technique of yours.”

Izayoi narrowed her eyes. Stalemate. She wasn’t quite sure if her reflexes were still up to par in deflecting gunfire from this close a range, else this wouldn’t be as much of a detriment. Regardless, it had been a good spar. Each she had gone through was experience she needed to relearn her muscle memory, to come even remotely close to being where she should be.

The mystrel drew herself up, sheathing her blade as she spoke.

”That technique was what won the day in the first battle upon the central plains. If I’d not slaughtered an entire cavalry charge in an instant, Edren would have won the war in one push.” She took a moment to catch her breath, fixing her hat back atop her head.

”Edren is fortunate that fewer samurai were trained since childhood by a maniac obsessed with the sword and only the sword, yes. I was Lord Hien’s sword instructor once, but the rigors I demanded, as I was trained, were too intensive and time-consuming for the son of a daimyo that required a broader education.” The row she and Lord Kaien had gotten into regarding the subject hadn’t left the castle servants’ lips for months after the fact.

”That, and my position as captain of Lord Kaien’s guard were such that I did not have the time to take on a student unless otherwise ordered, as with the boy.”

Esben nodded, sliding his sword back into its sheath and hanging the buckler on his belt. ”All that in mind, I think Osprey is fortunate that its leaders knew that more was needed than just that single-mindedness as well. Hopefully, after we’re done with this mess with Valheim, such regrettable circumstances as were behind all of that...won’t resume.” He glanced skyward, where the sun was directly overhead; he hadn’t expected they’d be out long enough for noon to come upon them, but evidently they had been.

”Well. Shall we find something to eat?”

---

The door to Izayoi’s room creaked open and, while her footsteps were naturally soft, Ciradyl made no effort to conceal her movements. A thousand different thoughts and voices fought inside her mind for center stage, all eager to be heard. The Hubris of Valheim. The loss of Osprey’s crystal and its guardian. The fear that her actions during the fight might have revealed her. These concerns were pushed aside as Izayoi came into her view. Though her expression hardly shifted, Ciradyl felt her heart ache and then stiffen with determination.

”There is somewhere I would like to take you before we leave. That is, if you are not busy…” She hoped the location would come as a surprise and offer a chance for the two of them to speak alone. Izayoi was someone of action and if she had to match it if she wished to break through to her. The distance between them felt greater than she had believed Izayoi to be dead. All Ciradyl wanted to do standing there was cradle her head into her chest, stroke her hair, and tell her everything would be alright. A ridiculous, fanciful thought that was as likely as Valheim peacefully leaving back to their own continent.

Izayoi looked up from where she sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, her sword in her lap. She hadn’t done quite much of anything since returning to Kugane, save for menial tasks and meditating. Or trying to, at least. Fifteen years. She thought she’d moved on past this. Evidently not. To say nothing of what they’d learned below the earth.

”I am not, no.” The former general rose to her feet, sliding her sheathed blade back into her sash. ”You want to speak, then?”

”That is correct. I have the perfect place in mind.” A faint smile appeared on her lips, though little else changed. Ciradyl had shed the form-fitted armor she wore on their excursion for a traditional Osprean kimono, one that accentuated her natural beauty. She headed out the room with the expectation that Izayoi would follow.

Ciradyl had already informed Hien and Chisaki that the two of them would be heading out. It seemed that Miina’s healing was enough that Chisa was able to walk properly on her own now, albeit with a noticeable limp ”I think the location will be a pleasant surprise. I am feeling excited already.”. The soft, cool tone of her voice did not match her words. Besides their initial reunion, her voice hardly shifted from this tone.
.

”Are you, now?” Izayoi quirked a brow, taking a moment to put her hat on and wrap her traveling cloak around herself. Better to keep as hidden as possible, so as not to cause undue alarm if she was recognized. Five years wasn’t a long enough time for those in the know within Kugane to forget her face, to say nothing of the garrison still on alert for her.

”Lead on.” She glanced around the safehouse as they made their way out. ”You’ve done well for yourself these past few years. One could hardly imagine you were just a singer at one time. Albeit an exceptionally talented one.”

The Faye’s brightened as she answered the Mystrel with a single nod, purposefully ignoring the look she was receiving. Her excitement was a bit of nostalgia and fondness, for both her companion and the spot they were going. Ciradyl moved through the safehouse with elegant ease, never once breaking posture and greeted the various servants with a dim, warm smile. All of those under her, and now Hien’s, command clearly regarded her with great respect.

One pointed ear flickered backwards as Ciradyl heard her dear friend speak up ”Thank you, Izayoi. This is certainly not the path I thought my life would take but I have done my best.” She paused briefly as if contemplating if she should continue. ”I do still sing on stage from time to time. I have even written a couple songs about yourself.” The door to the entrance was opened by a figure similarly concealed as Izayoi heading inside, who held it open for the two of them. Luckily, the spot for their small outing was not too far away.

Izayoi allowed herself to make a face at the mention of anything to do with her as they walked.

”I dearly wish you hadn’t, but I suppose I cannot fault you for doing so while believing I was dead.” She murmured. ”You know exactly how I feel about any sort of fame.”

They reached their destination, and Izayoi realized exactly where they were going the moment they turned the corner.

”The tea shop is still here?” Memories of better times flashed through her mind for a moment before the reality of their situation set in. ”You’re certain this is a good idea? We were both known patrons of this establishment in the past. All it would take is the wrong person recognizing myself, and your work goes up in flames.”

”I have only ever performed the one, if that is of any comfort.” Ciradyl teased, though there was a heaviness to her words. There were a couple ballads that, if Izayoi ever discovered them, she would be mortified should they ever become known. They were her way of coping with the aftermath of Izayoi’s death.

The tea shop had not fallen into disrepair but had maintained its quaint aesthetic. ”There is a certain risk that such will occur, but it is one that I think can be managed.” She said confidently, taking the first steps towards its front door ”I have only been inside a couple of times since you die-disappeared. Nothing tasted the same without you there.” Mint-eyes widened a little at this admission, as if she had let something slip, and she hurried towards the door.

”You would have moved on past it, in time.” Izayoi said simply as they walked in, being quickly seated at a table. Unlike six years past, the shop was less bustling than it had been. It still maintained a moderate amount of patrons at this time of day, but nowhere close to what it once was. Likely a result of Valheim’s occupation.

After they ordered, Izayoi reached up and undid the hair tie keeping her ponytail up, letting her hair fall naturally. After all, even in the old days, she’d almost always kept her hair tied up. Without her hat on, there was little else to do in the way of attempting to conceal her identity for the moment. That done, continued on from where she had been speaking before.

”Should I actually fall on this journey, please, for your sake, mourn me less. I would vastly prefer to not be a source of your misery.”

Ciradyl offered a gentle smile towards the waitress that seated them ”Perhaps.” She said with a small shrug of her shoulders, turning her attention fully onto Izayoi now. Her eyes blinked a couple times as Izayoi let her hair down and quickly became enamored with this particular look. It had been an instant favorite the scarce times she had seen it.

Teeth grinded against each other as she barely maintained her composure. Fingers with delicate, glossy nails that were resting on the edge of the table began to dig into the dense wood. The humble serenity that she had so far projected cracked underneath the weight of Izayoi’s words ”Then do not.” These words came sharp and heavy as a deadly seriousness washed over Ciradyl’s beauty. She took a deep breath and repaired the cracks in her expression ”I will not lose you again, not when you are all that I have left. I apologize if this burdens you.” Her voice and eyes gradually softened until a somber sadness had replaced the silent fury.

”Ciradyl, please. Do not ask something of me that I cannot guarantee.” Izayoi sighed, letting herself slump slightly as she sat. They sat in silence for a few minutes until their tea and accompaniments were served. A few sips of bergamot later, and she spoke once more.

”Besides, I am not all you have. You’ve no few subordinates that rely on your leadership. To say otherwise cheapens their loyalty. Unlike myself, you’ve not gotten all of them killed.”

Ciradyl took the time they enjoyed their tea to contemplate Izayoi’s response and gather her thoughts. The tea itself was a hit of tasteful nostalgia, its flavor dragging her back through time. It was perhaps because of this that what Izayoi said next stung.

”I am certain those under your command would argue otherwise.” She contested lightly before continuing, quickly devouring a bite-sized tart ”You have a number of new companions that rely on you, enough to make me a tad jealous.” Her lips curved into a smirk and drew her teacup to her mouth in an effort to ease the atmosphere.

”Hardly,” Izayoi scoffed, ripping her dango off the stick with her teeth. ”Allies of convenience, at best. The Edreni tolerate me for my supposed strength, and I to them in return. The Skaelans sent the most obvious spies in recorded history to bring word back to their land regarding the Blight. And the younger Mystrel is here solely to find her brother.”

A gulp of bergamot tea washed the sticky dumplings down before she continued.

”They all fear a shadow and a dead woman. I am not what I was even ten years ago.” She remarked bitterly before shaking her head. ”But enough of me. I never quite enjoy that subject. What of you, and your thousand suitors, men and women? Surely you’ve picked someone by now.”

A thought came to Izayoi’s mind, unbidden, and she frowned.

”If it is the boy,” Izayoi had only ever referred to Hien in this fashion to Ciradyl in the past. ”I may have to chastise you. Severely.”

”Is that a promise?” A light giggle escaped her lips, knowing fully well it was no mere joke and content to move the topic of conversation along. It was adorable that would be so protective of the young lord. She cradled the delicate cup in front of her with both hands ”You can rest assured, he does not interest me in such a way.” This she said seriously, taking a sip.

With that answered, she was now pressured to reply to Izayoi’s previous inquiry. Would she dare to answer truthfully?”My mother would ask the same of me leading up to Valheim’s invasion. It is true. My family’s status and wealth combined with my talents secured no shortage of potential partners.” This was said with some annoyance instead of any kind of pride. ”There was no one that could compete with my love for music and performing. There was little I did that seemed to deter them from trying.”

Ciradyl paused for a moment ”It was not too long after Valheim occupied Osprey that they became my main audience and pool of suitors. They would like me as one of their prizes, like so many treasures pillaged from this land. I am sure you share my feelings regarding that. ” She purposefully avoided mentioning there had been someone she had developed feelings for. It was too late by the time she realized them.

”Until…ah.” Izayoi winced slightly as her fears for Ciradyl’s parents were confirmed. ”I hadn’t dared to ask.” She took a sip of tea to marshal her thoughts before continuing.

”But I do understand. Until Isshin, I had little interest in that sort of entanglement, myself. And now I do not, once again. Still, I implore you to not let myself be your only companion remaining on this earth. I would say to speak to some of my compatriots, but that will mean little once we leave for Drana Asnaeu.”

She popped a block of mizu yokan in her mouth, savoring the flavor. Certainly better than the ones she’d tried making at home.

”The woman I was when we first met would be disgusted to see how far I’ve fallen.” Izayoi opined, her memory stretching near a decade back to their first meeting in this very teahouse. ”Is Mizutani Tane dead yet? If this occupation could yield but a single benefit, I would wish it to be that wench’s death. Surely, she’s run afoul of Valheim by now.”

Ciradyl simply nodded regarding her parents’ deaths, the cool expression on her face indicating it did not need more mention. Her heart sank a little hearing that Izayoi confirmed what she had already known.

She followed suit and selected a piece of mizu yokan for herself, it was slightly different in favor compared to ones her servant made.

”Perhaps, but I think that would be the least of her surprises.” It was still difficult for Ciradyl to process that Izayoi had been a mother, if only briefly.
Ciradyl’s brow furrowed a little at the mention of that name ”The gods would only be so kind. The snake has managed to slither her way into their good graces for the time being. She is their little puppet.” Venom seeped into her words. Tane had caused them no small list of issues.

”Unbelievable. That bitch truly has no limit in the depths she’ll sink to for her own gain.” Izayoi spat, setting the dregs of her tea down. ”I should have killed her all those years ago, consequences be damned. Come, let us be off. This has suddenly put me off my appetite.”

”Indeed. Her death will taste the sweetest, I think.” Ciradyl coldly mused. She rose from their chair and set down the payment for their meal ”We should take the scenic route to cool our heads. The lighting should be just right this time of day.” She said matter of factly as the two of them left the cafe.

Two days later, the Kirins gathered at Hien's request once more. With the addition of another person. Seated at Hien's right at the table was a scruffy, ragged man in an eyepatch and tricorne, clad in a crimson coat far more elaborate than the rest of his getup.

"Thank you for coming. It took some doing, but I believe we've found a solution to your transport woes. May I introduce the good Captain Bikke, whom I'll turn the floor over to."

"Thank ye kindly, milord Hien." Bikke grinned, lighting a pipe taking a few puffs before continuing. "Now, I be hearin' from our mutual friend here that ye be in need of transport. Yarr, I'll keep it short: got a crew and ship in me possession, but there be a frigid wench in charge of the local n'eer do wells. Mizutani Tane be her name, heard a few of ye be familiar already." A pointed glance in Izayoi's direction, who glowered at the obvious pirate.

"Me and me boys been running errands fer ol' Hien here fer quite some time. Valheimr be a pain in our arses too. But given that we ain't quite official registered sailors with th' local authorities, we pay a little helper's fee to that resident crime lordess t' take care of that problem, as it were. Though it seems that arrangement ended on her part. Cunt be demandin' exorbitant fees just tae let us stay in port, threatened to tip Valheimr warships off if'n we made a break fer it." He leisurely blew out a few smoke rings before going on.

"Yer all seemin' like smart lads 'n lasses, can see what I'm gettin' at here. Gimme Mizutani Tane's head, an' ye'll get free passage tae Costa del Sol. Yarr."

"And there you have it. Apologies for the runaround, but there truly are no better options." Hien gave a rueful grin. "We don't have much on the woman's movements, but she still lives exactly where you knew her last." His sentence was punctuated with a glance in Izayoi and Ciradyl's direction.

"Understood." Izayoi bowed her head to Hien before turning to face Galahad and the others.

"Her manse is in the trader's district, to the southwest of where we are. Our best chance of actually catching her there will be to assault under cover of night. Unlike with the prison, we've no further information in terms of blueprints or inside information. Any more intelligence will have to be gathered on-site. We ought to depart at sunset."

___

Garishly opulent and several stories tall, Mizutani Tane's mansion stood out among the spires of the market district, a walled garden blocking off the riffraff from the manse itself. As they approached from a side street, Izayoi scowled up towards it.

"For years, I had put serious thought into simply walking through the front door and putting everyone within to the sword. But that was back when I was unassailable. We will need more forethought than that." Her gaze turned towards Galahad and Esben, being the two other main tacticians of the group thus far.

"As I am aware, there are multiple points of entry once we clear the walls. Either we scale the exterior, or infiltrate through a side entrance. That, or we do as my younger self would have and charge through the front, as foolhardy an idea as that is."

"Cl-Climbing doesn't seem hard…" Miina ventured, studying the walls. Okay, "not hard" might have been an exaggeration, but it was climbing, she was good at that. Getting in somewhere without being noticed? Well, she had some practice there, too, but even with all the tricks and limited magic she'd thought to learn, it wouldn't cover everyone… especially if they didn't all have the practice she did. At least one of them could just jump over. Or two, maybe.

Plus they were here for an assassination, that was new. But it was of a criminal, so she didn't really mind doing it too much. and maybe she could even ask her some questions about her brother before they were finished? It could be useful.

Though, just scaling the walls, or the entire building…? If it was the walls, and they were quick, it'd only need to be a single person up at first. If they had some rope. Getting through the entire building…? Well, they could pull off an assassination that way, maybe. If it wasn't strongly contested. And if the stories of stealthy assassins in far-off lands were accurate, there'd be some preparing to do.

Maybe two people, someone would need to keep watch.

"Um… d-do we have some rope?" It wasn't something that Miina often needed. She didn't own a chocobo, wasn't a sailor, didn't have a tent… now that she thought about it, there were a lot of things she could do with rope, but nothing really in her normal repertoire.

---

"I wish I could join you tonight but there are some affairs I must take care of. I will be eagerly awaiting news of your success." was the last thing Ciradyl said before she gracefully bowed, and departed from the meeting. It was not a complete lie but she had other plans. She had to ensure Mizutani's demise was swift and certain and this was something she could not even rely on Izayoi for. Team Kirin would infiltrate and secure her escape, but she would be the one to take the snake's life.

---

The form of Ciradyl became clear as she slowly made her way towards the front gate of Mizutani's mansion. Her hair was beautifully done up in a bun, held together by silver pins with a single glimmering, blue gemstone. She wore a sleek, white dress with rich, blue accents. Her left arm was left bare while the other was covered by a partially transparent cloak. A masterfully crafted pair of droplet silver earrings pierced each ear, complimenting a matching necklace that draped delicately around her neck. Three thin braclets adorned her bare arm, each baring several precious stones. A dark, rich red colored her lips and a faint pink rounded her cheeks.

"I trust Lady Tane is expecting me." Ciradyl stood with her hands folded in front of her, staring down the two mercenaries that stood watch at the front gate. The gate opened nearly immediately "Of course, Lady Ciradyl!" A strong mix of fear and respect floated with his voice. She could feel their gaze reluctantly wash over her before meeting her eyes. Ciradyl strode inside and stopped just inside the gate "Are you not going to escort me inside?" She sharply asked, not deigning to look at either of them. The two guards glanced at each other "Our apologies, Lady Ciradyl. I will take you Lady Tane." Ciradyl let out a small 'hmphf' and daintily took the arm of the offered guard.

She had been expecting this day to come for some time now. The Valheim garrison was at its lowest in some time and now was the ideal time to take care of one last loose end. Mizutani, however, was as cunning as she was cowardly. She rarely left vulnerable openings and getting one of her own agents inside her organization had been nearly impossible. The only infomration she had on the Mansion was what little she learned from the rare visits she made to her estate. It left her a rotten taste in her mouth that she had to pretend to be such a vile creautre's ally. The 'Light and Shadow of Kugane' Mizutani had equated their relationship following Valheim's occupation, as if they were a kind of Ying and Yang.

Mizutani's life was hers to take and she would not allow anyone else the pleasure. A pang of guilt did flash through her knowing that somewhere Team Kirin was preparing their infiltration. There was only one other that she had ever informed of her arrangement with Mizutani and they would end their life before spill any of her secrets. That only left Mizutani. Her gaze absentmindedly acknowledged the new art pieces and decorations as she entered the Mansion. All she had to do was support Team Kirin however she could from the inside. Keep Mizutani off guard and then silence her forever.

---

Crimson dripped from the knuckles of his metal gauntlet, pieces of flesh stuck to the sharper angles. His chest moved up and down rapidly with heavy breathing, a mix of anxiety and exhaustion. Arton's teeth were clenched so hard that the muscles in his jaw had begun to ache. His iron grip on the collar of the Valheim soldier loosened and slumped to the ground motionless. Their face had been so ruthlessly bludgeoned that it would be near impossible to make out who it was. Warm blood flowed down the rough grooves carved into their face onto the stone pavement below. Arton had already moved on after confirming there was no signs of life."Reisa...Reisa......Reisa." He muttered under his breath that faintly reeked of alcohol.

Arton continued throughout the back alleys of Kugane with a light but steady buzz. This was how he had spent the last few nights after returning back to the capital. The lump of metal and meat he left behind was the latest of his targets but once again he failed to gain any meaningful information. All he was left with was a deadly combination of alcohol and unaddressed rage in his blood. It felt like just another failure under his belt and the theory that Reisa could be in fact Furi was all the kept him grounded. This extreme turmoil that burned within him was why he had distanced himself from the rest of Team Kirin following the revelations at the Temple of Etro.

It was a crisis of identity so he focused on the only thing he could be certain of: his feelings for Furi. Arton wiped the gore from his plated gauntlet with a rag and tossed it carelessly aside. He was now beginning to wonder if sharing that moment with Eliane had been wise. His back hit against a wall and he slowly lowered on the ground after getting a fair distance away from his last target. Arton unlatched a flask from his belt and took a long gulp of its potent contents. Otherwise bright, blue eyes stared grimly at the ground in front of him. Arton had never felt so lost in all of his years of wandering the land. What had he been living for all this time?

He was a disgace...to his parents, to Cyth, to Team Kirin, and himself. A fraud through and through. Nothing more than a glorified body shield. Arton's gaze slowly shifted from the dull ground towards the vibrant night sky above. He had never been a strong worshipper of the gods but, wallowing in his own despair, he couldn't help but send a silent prayer to Etro. A prayer for a small bit of the wisdom granted upon Cid. There was the same silence as the previous nights he had offered up his humble wishes. Arton screwed on the cap of his flask and attached it back on his belt with a heavy sigh suddenly disgusted with himself.

That night Arton stumbled back into the safehouse looking mentally drained, unable to keep up any of the cheerful pretense he typically held. Faint traces of blood had remained on his gauntlet. He retired without a word to anyone to his room and ensured that the door was locked. Arton shed the majority of his armor before moving towards a chest. His hands retrieved a tome he had acquired shortly after they returned to Kugane. It was tome of Etro's teachings and he hoped somewhere in its crisp pages to find answers.

---

Arton stood towards the rear of the group as he wore the heaviest armor without additional means of movement such as Galahad. The dour expression he had worn the night prior was gone but he could not say he had shaken off the lingering doubts in his mind. He was more than happy to leave the planning to the others but he doubted they would be able to sneak in and remain undetected. Arton had already made considerable concessions regarding his armor but he was still far from light-footed. He shook his head at Miina's request for some rope "'Fraid not, sorry." He was certain, however, that he could easily climb the wall without it.

He could hardly believe what his eyes were seeing in the distance. His eyes were not the sharpest but even he couldn't deny that was Ciradyl approaching the front gate and simply walking inside. One of the gate guards even seemed to go with her, leaving behind just the one. His brain tried to reconcile what she had said earlier with what he was seeing now. Unlike himself, Ciradyl surely would have been a great help infiltrating the mansion. His gaze turned to Izayoi for any kind of clue how they should be reacting to this.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!! An unearthly bellow violently reverberated through the laboratory, courtesy of one Director Hojo, the Brilliant, the Genius, and last but not least, also the Furious. However, to be fair to the Sollan scientist, how could he not be? Especially as he watched the footage of the fight between the Undead Samurai against the Lord of Hellfire himself, recorded by the airship after the two breached onto the surface sometime during their duel. Thing was, even he wasn't delusional enough to not see that the former was dominating the latter.

The walking corpse of a swordsman almost slaying Grayscale was expected, she was a nascent Eidolon, still a whelp compared to the Dragon King, she had yet to fully blossom, far from it, but this... this was the Ifrit, the Primal whose essence was used to create Project Hellfire. For the Flamelord himself to struggle against a mere undead...

"No, this must be an anomaly, yes, an exception that proves the rule, extraneous and unidentified circumstances affecting Ifrit's strength..." Hojo began to ramble as he paced around the room, one hand clasping and unclasping behind his back while the other held his chin, "Perhaps meddling with the crystals affected the Primals in one way or another, after all, they're connected to the planet itself, that must be it, indeed, this is the reason why I authored this megaproject, to create Eidolons unshackled by the whims of Etro..."

"Or perhaps these Eidolons aren't as mighty as you assumed them to be." His assistant suddenly quipped, cutting off the senior scientist's ramblings.

"..." Earning him a veritable death glare from Hojo, "What did you just say, ...boy?!"

"I said..." The glare seemed to accomplish nothing but encouraging him further, "Perhaps you're overestimating the might of these so-called Primals, perhaps you are..." He paused, just long enough to build up the anticipation, "Wrong~"

"Why you little-...?!!" With a snarl, Hojo charged with all the fury his untrained middle-aged body muster, only to find the pretentious assistant easily dodging to the side, then suddenly held a stiletto to his neck, "...-?!"

"Careful, Director, you aren't quite cut out for this kind of thing," The assistant's face abruptly morphed, turning feminine as his dark hair shifted hues to blonde and brown irises to maroon red, "Leave it to us, the professionals~" She chuckled, amusement palpable in her visage before releasing the scientist and stowing away the knife in her - stolen - white coat.

"Loki..."" Hojo spat, "Don't you weasels have anything better to do? And who are you to accuse me of failure, you couldn't even properly handle a mere retired general, your ilk slaughtered everyone in that shithole of a village, except for the one cat you're supposed to murder."

"Oh, that? I've done my part and provided the information, and as much as you refuse to believe it, it took no small effort to track the Limbtaker down, it's not my fault that she just so happened to be away the exact moment our forces arrived." Loki shrugged, nonchalantly taking the failure in stride, "I can only do so much, but what I can do, I do it well, unlike..." Instead of continuing, she simply let her gaze finish her words.

"After all, Director, as you said," Loki curled a smirk of undiluted smug, "Extraneous circumstances do exist. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return these clothes~" Then promptly left the laboratory.

Left by himself with a bruised pride, Hojo's fingers curled into tight fists, his throat growling.

"CURSE YOU, ARCADIUUUUUUUUUSSS!!"

@Raineh Daze@Ithradine@The Otter@vietmyke

"I've rope on hand. Shouldn't be any issue with that." spoke up the platinum blonde from closer to the rear of the group. "If we're looking to belay, though, we've got about fifty feet to work with. I think most of us here have sufficient leg drive to circumnavigate smaller gaps, at the very least in the nine-foot range." Galahad was no question. He wasn't nearly a dragoon, but Rudolf was already well certain he could clear Esben's tall-ass mop of gold with room to spare without undue effort. He'd played peeping Tom to enough of Izayoi's spars to know that she hadn't fallen so far as to be incapable of it, either.

He had to assume Arton could manage similar, rounding things out. He'd stripped his harness down pretty significantly to accommodate for the desert heat on Kirin's last outing, a theme that had continued here. Rudolf had, to a lesser extent, mirrored him on that front— and it stood to reason that whatever weight Arton had left on him would be similarly unproblematic.

Probably, at any rate. The more Rudolf turned him over in his head, the more he realized that the big fella he caught the more outgoing Skaellers eyeing with strange expressions every so often was, in his own right, a bit of an enigma. They were two of a kind, in that sense— whether willfully or just by virtue of barely exchanging words, he couldn't yet say. Wasn't about to find out on the job, either—

A glance to the taller man saw Rudolf's eyebrows quirk at the nonplussed expression, then follow his gaze... Just in time to spy the last threads of a silvery bun bobbing its way through Tane's front door, under the uncomfortable escort of a pair of goons. He quickly put that together, and it didn't come up good whichever way he tried to slice it back down— no matter of how proven the songstress was at handling herself.

"So that's the frontal approach further complicated..." he groused, before turning his gaze back to the walls and keep proper, a frown on his voice beneath the high collar. It and the hat had remained on the ensemble, despite how outclassed he'd felt the latter was by the good Cap'n's tricorn earlier. "And my swords are still in rough shape. For my two gil, I think we have enough people to split again. Prevents cramming once one team's inside, gives an external team less to worry about once perimeter patrols are called away to reinforce against whoever makes contact."

Nothing groundbreaking about any of that, he knew, but voicing the basics helped get them sorted out and keep things moving on track.

"There any realistic option that might allow us to get the drop on her further? I know Miina's gonna want to grill Tane about her brother before we... y'know."

He drew a line across his adam's apple with a thumb.

Urk. She hadn't mentioned that to everyone, had she? Rudolf had obviously been accompanying her, so he knew, and she was pretty sure that she remembered spilling everything to Esben… uh, quick, before anyone started to ask questions about that and she had to give complicated explanations again that she hadn't prepared for and now really wasn't the time!

"I c-could use that invisibility spell… w-well, it's not p-perfect, it… um… it's only really g-good if you stay still, b-but it helps," the redhead volunteered, looking anywhere but at other people. Hopefully nobody would ask why she knew it was good for sneaking into places, that would be embarrassing… "B-But I don't know if I can cover more than one or t-two people."

Covering herself and Izayoi when they'd been immobile on the sands? Terrifying, but definitely achievable. Covering other people while moving around? Way harder. It also wouldn't do anything for sound, so that ruled out it being useful on Arton at all.

"Oh, gods be damned." Izayoi buried her face in one palm as she beheld Ciradyl walking into Mizutani's manse. She'd been suspicions ever since Ciradyl actually turned down a chance to ensure the crime lord was purged once and for all, but Izayoi had trusted Ciradyl enough to believe it was for a good reason. A mistake, evidently.

"Ciradyl despises Mizutani as much as I. The woman once tried to have her abducted in broad daylight. Believe me when I say that whatever she is doing, it is likely towards the same goal. As to why she insists on going alone and not coordinating this, well. I would be as curious as all of you are on this point." Izayoi glowered, not looking very pleased at all. Ciradyl was going to get a piece of her mind when all was said and done.

Imir help her, whatever Ciradyl was up to had better be worth Izayoi attempting to cover and explain for her on this end.

"Regardless, it seems our timetable has been accelerated, should we desire to have Miina question our target before we slay her."

The briefing prior to the Kirins' next assignment was quite straightforward this time around, most especially when compared to their desert excursion. This time, they knew exactly who the target was and where she'd be, no more searching for the needle in the sandstack.

Mizutani Tane, Eve might have heard her name being passed around during her time in Kugane, and though she lacked any personal vendetta against the crime lord unlike Izayoi and Cyradil, the fact she was working for Valheim alone was enough to warrant her death. Exterminate this bootlicking pest in exchange for transport to Drana Asneau? Sounds like a win-win. This 'Captain Bikke' better hold his end of the deal... but then again, if they succeeded in this mission, the Kirins would've proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that they could handle a bigger fish than him so...

And that was how Eve found herself gathered at the outskirts of an Ospreyan-style mansion alongside Team Kirin, well, everyone except...

"... ... ..."

Upon Cyradil's arrival, Eve glared at her dress-clad form with unblinking slitted crimsons, an almost unreadable (lack of) expression on her scaled visage, but if one looked close, one could detect the faintest hint of annoyance from the Pseudolon.

Closing her eyes with a silent sigh, Eve turned her attention back to the party, the ones who weren't reckless enough to act on their own.

In other circumstances, she would mention to them that they could simply vaporize the manor and everyone in it with a well-placed Mega Flare, the option was there, they had only needed to ask. Alas, they needed Tane unvaporized for interrogation, and even if they didn't, sacrificing Cyradil for a single rat was out of the question. Right, what other options did they have?

Eve were all earholes as she listened to what everyone had to say about the matter. So far - minus the unmentioned nuclear option - the choices were: scale the exterior, slip through an alternate entrance, or simply barge through the main gates. The last one didn't seem so unfeasible considering what the team was collectively capable of, but...

"If interrogating Mizutane is our goal, then charging through the front may alert her and give her enough time to slip away." Eve chimed in. After all, she was a filthy rat and rats were nothing but excellent escape artists.

Miina mentioned a rope, that was fair, Eve didn't need it personally courtesy of her dragon wings, neither did Galahad with his dragoon powers, but the others might, others like Arton, Eliane, Esben, Izayoi, Miina herself, Robin, and last but not least, Rudolf...

"..." Rudolf Sagramore, the Blight-Host. Eve found her gaze locked at him, not upward at his eyes, but straight on, toward the center of his chest, where his tainted heart continued to beat. Even now, it'd be a lie to claim she didn't have the occasional fleeting thoughts of putting the corrupted Sollan out of his misery; it was the right thing to do, it'd be for the greater good, despite what he claimed, he wouldn't want to continue living this wretched existence, all of these justifications her mind tried to conjure, and it took conscious effort to push these sentiments away. It'd have been so easy... a single precision lightning bolt into his chest while he slept, then it'd all be over.

Tch...

The False-Dragon gritted her teeth, rubbing the bridge of her nose, hoping the others would blame Cyradil's shenanigans as the culprit instead of the monster hunter.

"In that case, let us depart now. I can soar over the walls just fine, but I don't have the strength to carry any of you, so please figure out how each of you are going to accomplish this feat, and preferably sooner than later."

For her part, once everyone's mind was set, she'd simply remove her cloak, spread her wings, then fly over the compound walls.

---

Becoming a headhunter wasn't exactly how Galahad envisioned his career going after being disowned by his father. Nor was dealing with pirates in order to obtain passage on their ships- but it wasn't too abnormal a task for the adventuring sort, apparently. At least this head wasn't exactly a well liked one. Tane was a crime boss, and one that wasn't liked too well by other criminals for that matter. So perhaps at least karmically they were somewhere around neutral.

"It would've been nice if Ciradyl told us where she was going." Galahad grumbled, "Then we could've had some people go in with her again, like before."

Galahad's eyes glared at the looming structure as the team discussed their potential game plan. Like Izayoi said, they had no blueprints, no clue where Tane might be in there other than perhaps an office.

"Scaling that building wouldn't be the biggest issue." Galahad commented idly, "Worst comes to worst I could ferry people up and down. We can attach a rope- or a few, for when we need to get down in a hurry. If getting to Tane alive is the goal, it's better to stick together, clearing guards as we go. If we split the party, we have no easy eay of letting the external group that the internal team is done- unless we're okay with making a big bang like we did with Hein."

Galahad was curious to know what sort of relationship Ciradyl had with Tane. They were certainly not friends, as Izayoi had stated, and Ciradyl expressed no seeming resistance to the task. Even if she didn't trust the party altogether, Galahad would've hoped that she'd at least have trusted Izayoi enough to tell her about her plan, but it seemed that was not the case. More than likely, a fight was about to break out, which means they needed to be in there, now.

Eve and Izayoi are right. We need get a move on now. As soon as Tane's people realize they're under attack, they're going to be all over Cir. It'd be better for all of us if we were close by, and if we can get to Tane before Cir, we'll be able to interrogate her."

Looking over at Rudolf, Galahad took hold of his rope, and wrapped it around his hand. "I'll take one other and go up. With Eve, the two of them will cover the landing until everyone else makes their way up. Then we can sweep through and work our way down until we find her. If you're not a fan of heights and would like vastly prefer taking a side route, please make it known now."

"Keep eyes out for Tane and Ciradyl, don't stab the first thing that moves."

"Are we t-trying to be subtle…?" Miina wondered. It was a minor thought, but if they were trying to do a stealthy infiltration (and/or exfiltration), then that constrained their options some more. As Eve had raised, once Mizutani was alerted to suspicious warriors encroaching on her position, that would be the sign to get out of there, and they didn't have an escape route.

If that was the case, they obviously wanted to get as many people as close as possible before anything attention-grabbing happened. Attention-grabbing like an unusual, flying humanoid. "If we are… um… m-m-maybe you should climb t-too, Eve? F-Flying really stands out…"

@Raineh Daze@vietmyke@Izurich

"We might not have time to as it stands, especially if we remain as a single unit," Rudolf replied, letting the length of rope feed out from his grasp akin to a ship's anchor as Galahad took hold, feeling Eve's gaze pin itself for a few moments onto the back of his head. He was none too pleased that it had only been a week or so before she started tripping his inborn danger sense, honed as any proper soldier's was... But focusing upon that in this situation would only bog things down. "But the main advantage at first was to give her less time slip away after catching wind of our presence, like Eve said— Only now we also tack on 'doesn't make Ciradyl dropping in unannounced look immediately, extremely suspicious before she's even inside', too. We're in a real pickle with that. I woulda loved to be able to screen for foot patrols through the garden, first, but we probably gotta play it by ear now."

He turned his gaze over to Galahad.

"No problems with heights here, so long as I'm under my own power..." he eyed the wall, gauging distance, before tugging on it to introduce a little tension to the length between the two Edreni. "I can bring up the rear, and keep the line stable until then. Shouldn't be much trouble getting up last."

In the back of his mind, no doubt spurred on by Eve, the thought occurred that this would be a good measure of the trust everyone was gonna afford him, right here and right now.

---

When Izayoi glanced his way near the rear of the group, he gaze passed right through where Esben had been expected to be standing, catching sight of Ciradyl making her approach to the front of the manse. Esben himself had disappeared as quickly and quietly as SEED's reputation might have led the others to expect the moment he'd seen the opportunity; not long after he'd split from the party he'd seen the tall Faye himself, confirming the suspicions he'd been harboring since she'd left their 'planning' session for her own business.

Deeming it pointless to confront her over it before the work was done, he'd continued along, making a quick and stealthy circuit of the mansion's grounds. The front entrance through the walls was obviously out of consideration; even with the reduced presence of Valheimer soldiers in the city, it would still be far too obvious and noisy to take. Forcing their way in through one of the side entrances would still prove difficult, but with a little helpful timing...

Esben scaled a building across an alley from the walls. While in decades past the mansion may well have been a veritable castle on its own, urban expansion had since brought shops and homes pressing in closer and closer to the walls than would be truly defensible from a military perspective, short of demolition to clear the space again; it had been more expedient to abandon it entirely and allow it to be bought up by the wealthy, who had less to worry about such considerations. Indeed, no high-profile crime lord would be stupid enough to so outwardly refortify, making their position all the more obvious.

The wall's peak was five more feet up; he ran along the roof of the building he'd scaled, leaping off and grasping at any handholds he could find and pulling his eyes just over the top of the wall. Down below, he could see guards making their circuits through the garden; slowly, and not particularly alertly, by his estimation. Between whatever deals they'd made with Valheim and double dealing with Ciradyl's cell, they seemed to have lost any real caution they may have had in years past.

Not that it mattered much, as the real professionals would be the ones deeper inside, closer to their boss.

He heaved himself up entirely onto the wall, and moved quickly back to where the others had been set to prepare their infiltration. It didn't take long, the most delay he had being timing his movements with the patrols going about, and once having to drop back down and climb hand-over-hand past one of the side gates, another time taking a moment to note Ciradyl's entrance to the mansion proper.

Then, he came back into view, first a sudden shadow among the starlight before his golden hair was revealed as his hood was thrown back. "Guards are slow about their rotations," he reported, utterly heedless of the planning the rest of the team were just making. "There's a side gate just west of here that's about to be completely unwatched except for the guards standing right at it in another minute. Better to take that than waste time ferrying people up and over into the gardens. And I'd be careful trying to jump right onto the central building—walls are thin here and we shouldn't risk too much noise."

He pulled his hood back over his head, the dark fabric of his cloak once again blending in with the low light. "I'll have it open for you. Be quick." Then the quiet sound of his light, urgent footfalls was the last they heard from him as he took off westward along the wall. He crouched low as he approached the gate; a pair of patrolling guards had just passed, walking deeper into the gardens, leaving the pair inside the walls standing bored. With deft, practiced movements he sent his daggers flying, and both struck true, one into a guard's eye and the other in the other's throat. Both slumped against the wall, heavy clothing dampening the sound of whatever concealed armour they may have worn.

With one last glance to be sure the patrolling guards hadn't heard anything, Esben jumped down, unbarring and opening the gate to look outside for the rest of Team Kirin, at least whoever did elect to take the side entrance. "Quickly, inside, inside—two of you, drag these bodies outside and try to make them somewhat hidden. Izayoi—" He turned quickly to the one Ospreyan of the group, pointing a thumb back at the mansion proper. "Your educated guess is better than any of ours, since you're the one that has experience with where the important people might stay in places like this. High or low?"

---

This particular excursion was going to leave a bad taste in Éliane’s mouth. She was a pragmatic person as almost everybody else in the team, but as a member of the Household Guards, one of Skael’s highest officers in both keeping the peace and protecting the Overseer, a mission that had her cavorting with criminal elements –pirates—for transport left her feeling uncomfortable. This was reinforced by the fact that the favor was predicated on some particularly nasty quid pro quo—removing rival criminal elements, no matter how pragmatic or sympathetic Captain Bikke tried to phrase the entire thing.

There were no objections from the rest of the party, though; they needed discrete passage, and taking out a criminal element was still taking out a shithead, even if some other crime lord was going to benefit from it. No doubt Esben would take no issue with it, though. That was the difference with SEED, and it was part of why Éliane had left that organization, even if she had been temporarily subordinated back into it for part of her overall mission to stop the Blight.

Standing in front of the mansion as the others discussed their plan to infiltrate the place, she shook her head. Should this have been planned before? Nonetheless, Éliane always had a tried-and-true trick. In fact, Izayoi had already suggested it, even though the flow of the conversation was away from simply blowing up the front entrance and mounting a massive frontal attack.

Because that was what Éliane would do, naturally.

“I would just like to say that I’m still in favor of a frontal assault,” she added, unhelpfully unfortunately, given that Esben was already infiltrating and opening the gate.

With a sigh, she stepped through as it opened. “Okay, fine. But don’t rely on me to keep things quiet. Everyone knows why I’m no longer in SEED, right?”

For Robin, this was uncharted territory, so to speak.

She knew the importance of staying hidden, she knew that this was their best option for achieving their goal. She wasn't sure how she felt about assisting pirates, but at the same time they didn't seem to be evil people and the owner of this mansion was involved in outright crime as well.

When it came down to it, it was totally unfamiliar for her. But regardless, to accomplish their goals, to strike against Valheim and do everything they could, this is what they had to do.

It just wasn't something Robin knew how to even approach. So, when Esben took out the first two guards, all she could really manage was dully slipping inside.

Maybe once they got deep enough into the mansion she'd have a better idea of what they were doing. Right now, it felt like she didn't even know how to help.

Then again, maybe simply being quiet was helpful right now?

”High, without a doubt.” Izayoi responded to Esben, taking note of his work and nodding in approval. Once more, the doubt that someone who openly admitted he was a spy was actually part of SEED diminished. It seemed he really was just excessively eccentric. ”Not the very highest floor of the manor, but likely the floor directly beneath it.”

Entering via side gate allowed Team Kirin better access to the castle’s walls. Night began to fall, covering their climb as they began the ascent.

By jump, wing, and rope, the party scaled the exterior of Mizutani Tane’s manse. About halfway up, they reached a terrace upon which they regrouped, clambering up and taking a moment to catch their breath before continuing forward into the building itself.

Opening the sliding door from terrace to manor interior was where their good fortune ran out, however. By complete, contrived coincidence, the first to open the door was met face-first with two surprised thugs clutching a pack of Valheimr cigarettes, evidently skiving off duty to smoke. Even as Izayoi drew her wakizashi to slam it into one guard’s throat, the other let loose a panicked scream, drawing alarm bells not five seconds later even as Izayoi finished him off.

”Damnation!” She hissed, replacing the short blade in her hand with the long one and starting to stalk forward. ”The element of surprise is lost. Come! We find the stairs and advance!”

On their charge forward, the Kirins would be met with scattered resistance, easily dispatched in twos and threes, largely armed with katanas and knives, though a few carried Valheimr firearms. Evidently, it seemed security coverage was lessened on this high of a floor.

“Where in the hells did these people come from?!” One thug screamed in panic as he slammed the bolt back on his rifle.

“Most of our lads are below! We need to hold out until they can make it up!”

Upon reaching a staircase leading both up and down, the Kirins would be met by a firing line of a dozen men and women kneeling with rifles, forcing the party into cover and evasion. Izayoi scowled as she deflected a stray round with her blade, unable to handle so many riflemen head on at once in her diminished state.

Not two floors up, Mizutani Tane raised an eyebrow as her tea time was interrupted by the sound of gunfire and screaming.