Sanosuke Plots a Grand Heist

Criminal Activity

Ryūzaki Sanosuke might have picked up an unexpected follower on his way out of The Tanuki's Secret, but he didn't let that interfere with his remaining plans for the morning. First, he casually mentioned something about Umbriel to gauge Bemolle's response. It wasn't promising. Bemolle expressed that Umbriel was horrid company, her constant songs and rhythms unbearable for any amount of time. She didn't like the idea of even being in the same castle as the other Daughter of Avatea, but accepted the situation as an unavoidable sacrifice in her pursuit of coolness. Sanosuke at least agreed to have their living quarters as separated as possible.

As promised, Shigeaki Fujino was waiting patiently in the alley outside the Secret. She took Sanosuke's new companion in stride; such things were hardly uncommon. With a quick mental report to Hashinara Yoshitakatomo over the details of his meeting with the Hōjō, he was ready to go. It seemed that Ishikawa Goemon was waiting in the dungeons of Nijō Castle with her apprehended thief, but Sanosuke first opted to return to the castle's courtyards. Here, he made a room available for Bemolle and invited her to use it as she saw fit. Fujino would be by later, he promised, to welcome her formally. Sanosuke told the psychic to induct Bemolle into the mental network at that time as well, then descended to the dungeons to meet his other visitor.   Katō Danzō was laid out in an open cell not far from the stairs. She appeared to be asleep with her hands tightly bound, but someone had at least found a futon and pillow to put in between her and the stony floor. That someone was probably Munegumi Kokoro, whose buxom presence filled the cell alongside Ishikawa Goemon. Both welcomed Sanosuke, and Kokoro revealed that it was indeed she who had cast a spell to send Danzō to sleep. It was that, or allow Goemon to fetter her in chains.   It had been some time since Sanosuke had last interacted with the notorious phantom thief, so he wasn't quite sure what her disposition toward him would be. Before proceeding, he first checked in with Hori Hidemasa, who was able to confirm that her psychic influence making Danzō friendly with him was still maintained. Armed with this knowledge, Sanosuke requested that Kokoro undo the spell keeping their prisoner asleep.   Katō Danzō awoke blearily at first, then sat straight up in shock, looking around the cell. Sanosuke attempted to calm her down, but it turned out not to be necessary. Danzō had already gone straight from sleeping to gloating, claiming that Sanosuke was her friend and so her nemesis, apparently Goemon, had failed. At her request, Sanosuke leaned in to cut Danzō's bindings from her arms, eliciting a huffish, doubting exchange with Goemon. It seemed like these two were to be natural rivals, a situation Danzō likened to Holmes and Moriarty, although that reference was lost on everyone else in the room.   Once the heroine of justice was duly placated, Sanosuke moved forward with his real reason for Danzō's capture and subsequent presence at Nijō. He needed someone to liberate a valuable store of metal from the Hōjō, something they called Tamahagane but he knew better as Absodium. Ever the consummate thief, Danzō was up for the challenge, but with conditions of her own. Friendship was well and good, but this was Odawara Castle. There might not be a more secure location in all of Japan. She wanted a reward, a cut of the loot at least. Eventually, they came to the decision that Danzō would provide a price once she'd determined just what she was up against.   That proved to be the crux of the problem. Until she'd written a letter of challenge, Danzō had no supernatural abilities to call on. Therefore, she needed a way into the castle to scout out the treasure room and an escape route before she could commit to the burglary. Sanosuke decided to solve this problem with an introduction to Ōtomo Sōrin, whom he knew to be an expert at disguise and illusion. The Vassal-Daimyō of Kokura Castle Town was willing to help, but she couldn't come up with a disguise for infiltrating a specific castle whole cloth.   So it was that Sanosuke sent a group composed of Katō Danzō, Ōtomo Sōrin, Shigeaki Fujino, and Shibai to Odawara Castle's outskirts. There, they were to observe the guards and develop a disguise, while the Samurai Detective would serve to keep them as discreet as possible. Expecting to hear word in the afternoon, Sanosuke answered the creeping tendrils of dawn with a journey to Shimonoseki. The tournament was about the begin.