Sparks of War

Saki fought with Seiji trying to keep him from ruining the deal by saying anything. She managed to stop him from doing much more than muttering random words. Though the information broker took amusement from the scene. A swift elbow silenced him long enough for Saki to get back to the matter at hand. “If there’s truth to this rumor I can find it elsewhere with someone willing to be reasonable.”

A sly smirk came across the man’s face to see Saki still willing to play. She hadn’t left the table yet. “Oh I am being reasonable. I know the worth of what I have.” He shuffled around his empty glass between his hands measuring out his negotiation. “But can you find someone that knows the exact location they were last spotted?”

“You know where he is?!” shouted Seiji before Saki could shut him up.

She focused back on the shady man. “Fifty or I walk.”

The man laughed a bit as though he heard a joke. “Now, now, a hundred or you’ll be getting some exercise. I know the bounty you just turned in, you’re more than good for it.”

Grinding her teeth together, Saki hated the feeling of being strung up and played. ‘I know with enough time I can find clues on my own. But it could be out of date by the time I find them. And this is a world that is hostile to all of us, especially Yumi. We don’t know what those personalities have in store for her. I can’t waste time…damnit!’

Saki pulled coins from her bag and dropped them on the table. “Seventy-five. If the rumor actually is accurate, I’ll give the same when I return.” She could see the bit of glow in the eyes of the man as he put together the increase to his profits. It was enough to get him loosening the gears on his lips. Though she had to wait as he weighed the options.

“I can make your life hell if you double cross me.”

“Oh trust me, like you said. I’m good for it. You just better hope your information is good or else I’ll be making your life hell. I don’t like cheats.”

“We’ve had a very good arrangement, you can trust me.”

“I also don’t like nosy people that like to play me.” She pushed over the coins to his side of the table. “Don’t forget I’m the only bounty hunter that likes killing demons. I’m not to be trifled with.”

He gave an oily smirk to Saki knowing her power, but understanding there was more than strength. As he fingered over the coins mentally counting, he began to spill his information. “The rumor is that a stranger appeared in the Chemana region claiming to be a Demon Hunter.”

“Chemana…why does that sound familiar?”

“It’s part of Chigo Ward, otherwise known as the Occupied Ward, it's where the demons first appeared centuries ago and the stronghold for most of the demonic armies. Only those seeking death go through. The Hunter Association strictly forbids their order from entering. We only have this type of peace because we don’t stir up the nest.”

“So no true Hunter would actually be there.”

“Only Ronin go there looking for meaningless honor in death.”

“A Hunter in the demon lands, what sort of reputation do they have?”

“For mercilessly killing every demon that they come across.”

Saki clenched her hands together. ‘Damn, Yumi you’re making too big of a scene. This is going to be bad…’ She stood up sharply from the table and dragged out Seiji, but not before the man’s hand came across the table.

He whispered to her out of notice of the others in the room. “This bit is free. Word is the Association is on the move.”

She ground her teeth together with a low growl. “Why tell me this?”

“It’s just good for business if you resolve it and not them.”

“Right…”

With the last bit, Saki pulled on Seiji to get him moving towards the exit. She wasn’t liking the feeling that she was getting from the whole setup. Things rapidly turned south faster than she imagined. “C’mon, Yumi’s about to start a new war.”

Chapter 411 – Sparks of War

Saki said nothing more to Seiji until they returned to her room. Inside, Nerine still rested, but quickly sat up with Saki throwing around a few things from her chest on the floor. She pulled out quite a few things for someone taking a long trip. “What’s going on?” Nerine asked, immediately becoming concerned by the atmosphere that Saki brought.

Frustrated and annoyed, he sat down in the chair next to the door. “The hell if I know, Saki refuses to tell me. All I got was that she’s convinced we’ve got a location for Yumi. Though, I think it’s more likely that it’s Yuki.”

Sighing aloud, Saki stopped grabbing things out. She looked between the two of them. It had to be something they both heard anyway. “It’s Yumi. Not Yuki.”

“How the hell can you be sure of that?”

“Because Yuki’s not going to do something so reckless as killing tons of demons and pretending to be a Demon Hunter. He’s got too much awareness to make that mistake. Knowing him, he knows more about what’s going on than any of us. No, it’s Yumi. She’s not used to anything of this and apart from Yori, the most likely right now not to be thinking about what her actions could be doing to the wider world at large. Yuki knows this is a fake world, but that this also has rules to follow and he’ll play within those rules. You think Yumi would consider the same thing?”

Seiji stood up in defense of her. “I think you’re selling Yumi a little short. She might not be a fighter like us, but she’s smart.”

“You’re wrong there. She is a fighter and that’s something you’re forgetting. Besides, Nerine, what was Seiji’s first reaction when he heard about demons?”

“He wanted to fight them.”

He quickly recoiled with the target turned on him. “That’s my point. You didn’t think of this as a real world with rules to follow.”

“Because it’s not, it’s just a thing in Yumi’s mind. We’re here to help her figure out what’s up with her weird ass personalities.”

“But you can’t think of this as a fake world or something that’ll just go away. It’s real enough for us right now and so we need to follow the rules. If we don’t we will have a harder time when it does come to facing Yumi’s true demons.” Saki finished packing everything that she had stored away and loaded it up on her back. “We don’t have time to waste anymore. Sorry, Nerine, you'll have to recover on the road.”

“Is it that bad?” she asked, standing sensing the dread in her voice.

Seiji still wasn’t entirely convinced. He still followed Saki out the door, not planning on getting left behind. Saki didn’t wait for either of them to linger around. “I don’t know, Saki’s saying things about war and stuff. I don’t know a damn thing that's going on.”

A war sounded worse than she expected for just Yumi being reckless. There was more going on that she didn’t see. Nerine had only a small picture of what the world was like from her time in the village. Merchants didn’t give up much to her to help her get a clear sense of things. Thankfully, Saki seemed to have more time to be filled in on all of the details.

Ignoring the fatigue, Nerine hurried up along Saki’s side as they walked through the crowded main streets. “What’s this about a war?”

“I’ll explain on the road. We can’t talk here.”

Outside the city and with it far to their back, none of them expected it to be such a short visit. And worse, the tension ran thick as Saki left things vague and ominous. Something that only frustrated Seiji more not knowing anything. He eventually exploded on Saki, no longer able to hold back. “When the hell are you going to start making sense now?”

Saki slowed her pace and glanced back at the city. Far out of sight now for anyone else, she felt more comfortable getting into details. “This world is in an uneasy truce with the major demon clans to the west. So I didn’t want to bring up war for any passing ears to hear. The Association has been doing everything to keep the façade of peace.”

“How the hell do you know all of this?” complained Seiji, glancing over at Nerine who ended up learning none of this. And they all had been in the world for the same amount of time. Which was hardly very long, a little more than two weeks and Saki looked like she fit into the world.

“I got lucky and was dumped off near that city. Which is more or less the capital of this version of Japan. So I was able to get a lot of questions answered by being there.”

“So what’s this about a damn war?”

“Like I said, the Association, the Demon Hunter Association, is trying to keep up the illusion of peace.”

“They’re just people that fight demons right? They’re not the damn government, but you make it sound like they’re running the damn place.”

“Which is more or less true. Yes, there is a Lord, but he’s pretty much useless. I mean this is a world of demons with the only ones that can fight them being the Demon Hunters. They hold nearly all of the power and the Lord just goes along with it.”

“There’s people that fight demons, where the hell’s problem?”

“They are both too few and too weak. And they know it. It’s why where we’re going is forbidden, they don’t want to risk losing what few numbers they have.”

“If it’s that bad, why aren’t demons all over the damn place?”

“That wasn’t something I was able to find out. At least, an answer that I felt was true. The reality is that most of the demons seem to be sticking to the western half of Japan. There are few that are around here and they are mostly controlled by one the Demon Lord of the East. He’s kept things quiet, but there are regular tributes that they pay to the demons to keep them happy.”

Pointing out the pile that was smoke rising up from the city, Saki called their attention to the dead demons. “Those are the rogue demons that follow no Lord and do whatever they want. Since they don’t follow the truce, the Association is able to issue bounties for them.”

Nerine turned back around in the direction that Saki led them. Things finally started to fall into place for her. “That means, if this is Yumi killing demons within their controlled territory, it could stir up a new conflict, because she’s claiming to be part of the group that agreed to follow the peace agreements.”

“Yes, without her knowing it, she could be plunging this entire country into a war that it can’t win. But even worse, is that the Association I doubt will sit and do nothing about this.”

Now she understood the urgency that Saki had. A ripple spread out from her feet as a horse and cart materialized next to them. “We can travel faster this way without drawing attention.” They all hopped up to the cart with Seiji sitting in the back.

Even as the horse started to move, Seiji leaned his head back towards the two girls. “Are you okay, Nerine? You’ve been using your powers almost without rest for two damn weeks now.”

“We don’t have a choice in the matter. We need to hurry and we don’t have any other option.”

“Saki’s pretty loaded. She could have just bought one for us.”

Staring over at Saki, she silently questioned her if she had made a mistake and they let her do it. But Saki waved her hand at Nerine. “I’m not that well off. My bounty money went to collecting enough for everyone to survive once I found everyone. So I’m actually short on cash.”

“What about the sketchy man?”

“I planned on picking up some side jobs on the way back to pay him.”

“You didn’t piss off the yakuza did you?”

“I haven’t pissed anyone off yet and he’s nothing like that. Just a well connected man.” Saki looked out ahead of them on the road. A new journey hurriedly came together for them and still some of their friends remained unknown out there. “We’ve got bigger problems for now. Stopping Yumi from triggering a war that’ll kill every human in the country!” If things could only get worse. ‘Where the hell are you Yuki?’