The Mysterious One Night Castle (Part 3)

Miscellaneous

Aotsuki Tsukamoto was running out of questions to ask, and he wasn't much closer to figuring out the mystery behind Shōtei and the mysterious nightly reappearance of Kannonji Castle. There was one thing still bothering him, however: the mochi dish. Aotsuki had heard it mentioned more than once now, and had even seen the shadow of a yōkai carrying it away during his impromptu sojourn into the castle. What significance could it hold?

Very little, as it turned out. Shōtei was happy to explain, albeit a bit annoyed with the Council member in question. Rokkaku no Teiko was currently banned from the kitchens as punishment for being unable to control her strength in pounding mochi. This broken dish was but a new victim in a serial line of split earthenware. Apparently Teiko had sneaked into the kitchens while everyone else was asleep, drawn by the siren call of mochi, and the tragedy had repeated. While an annoyance, it had little to do with Aotsuki's mystery. Shōtei did promise that the culprit would be appropriately disciplined.   Meanwhile, Abe no Seimei and Maxim were having a clandestine mental conversation. Seimei had shown a curious interest in the foreigner up to this point, and now asked him how he would handle it were he and his King in a similar situation back in Albion. After some pondering, Maxim stated that he would first try to forge an alliance with the offending group, rejoining them to the King's lands and power. Should that prove impossible, he would eliminate them. This answer came as a surprise to Seimei, who had expected a barbaric answer from the foreign barbarian, but she thanked him for it all the same.   Aotsuki was trying a new tack. That is, he contacted Saitō Dōsan back at Owari Castle and asked him to get Shibata Katsuie on the line. Katsuie was tied up in all of this, as the general responsible for razing the old Kannonji Castle, but it proved fruitless at first. His target had already retired with Oichi, and it wouldn't do to intrude upon them unless it was for something urgent. Aotsuki was about to drop this line when Shigeaki Fujino informed him that she had gone ahead and intruded on them anyway. Shibata Katsuie was now part of the Hashinara Clan mental network, and was willing to answer his questions.   The Golden Boy of Ōmi wanted to know about the events surrounding Kannonji Castle's fall, and so Katsuie told the tale as she remembered it. The Rokkaku, she claimed, were no great warriors. At the same time, they would not submit to the Oda Clan, so Katsuie slew each of them and burned the castle to the ground as an example of what those who offered obstinate resistance could expect. The Oda suffered few casualties, and Katsuie was able to confirm that she had slain Yoshinobu, now Shōtei, as well. Better that, she said, than to allow a rival Daimyō to plot and nurse a grudge.   Aotsuki went on to ask Seimei about the details of who exactly could remember the province as it was, and who had been affected by the perception-altering qualities of the Nightly Castle. The result was largely the same. Those with enough spiritual power could see through the farce, while those with less were convinced that it had always been there. Katsuie, it seemed, was in the former camp. She boasted a comprehensive strategic ken of Japan, yet had no knowledge of "Kōka Province" at all.   This all left them about where they had started from, with no new clues to proceed on. Seimei took the opportunity to advise her lord of the one clue they did possess: the "Buddha" that Shōtei claimed granted her such power. Aotsuki ventured to ask about the significance of the number "6" that repeatedly appeared in the Rokkaku's wake, but the answer was nothing monumental. The name "Rokkaku," broken into its component characters, could be read as "Six Corners." The Rokkaku ascribed great significance to their name, and their fixation on hexagons was a direct result of that.   It seemed there was little left to do, and so Aotsuki made ready to end the discussion. Just like his previous host, Shōtei insisted that they stay the night, but Aotsuki politely refused. Without revealing the Hashinara technique of teleportation, he confidently claimed that they would have no trouble returning to Ōtsu before sunrise. Before they made to leave, however, Seimei advised Aotsuki on her recommended course of action. Her plan was, no doubt, informed by her earlier discussion with Maxim, yet she somehow did not volunteer this bit of information. Agreeing with the first part, at least, Aotsuki took on his mantle as the Lord of Ōmi and offered the Rokkaku vassalship under the Aotsuki Clan. It was a compelling offer, especially considering that Shōtei would be allowed to keep her castle, reinstate trade, and would have the protection of a greater clan. The other, however, refused outright.   Shōtei was thankfully not shy in revealing the reason for her refusal. The Buddha, she said, had promised her that the Rokkaku would never bow to the power of another under the sun. It would be foolish of her to give up such a supernatural opportunity with the blessing of the Bodhisattva. Shōtei hoped, at least, that her refusal had not offended Aotsuki. A pregnant silence followed, in which two of the Hashinara made a few mental calls to iron some details out.   Mostly silent up until now, Ryūzaki Sanosuke called upon Mary Lyn, who still toiled in the depths of Wakigami Castle on some forbidden project. Mary proved eager to talk, and to take a break from the "Mugen Gauntlet" project. Once Sanosuke explained the details of the situation, her mind went unsurprisingly to magical explanations. That it was a plot against Aotsuki and perhaps the Hashinara she had no doubt, and suggested that powerful Time or Creation magic might be behind it. Shōtei, it seemed, was being programmed to believe whatever was most convenient, so Mary suggested that she could not be trusted. A quick check with Ōtomo Sōrin added the Illusion school as a possibility. A godlike illusionist could create a complex "fake reality" to fool all the senses. However, even with all this in mind, Sanosuke couldn't see a wisp of magic with his S.P.E.C.T.A.C.L.E.. That didn't mean it wasn't there, but if it was a powerful spellcaster had taken some trouble to hide it.   At the same time, Aotsuki called out to Imamura Naiku, his priestess within Enryaku-ji at Mount Hiei. She was able to fill him in on the Bodhisattva, mortals who were so close to attaining ascension into Buddha-hood that they could accomplish it at any time. For personal or empathetic reasons, however, they had chosen to remain in this realm to help others along their own paths to enlightenment.   Sanosuke went into smooch-debt only to learn that Tsukijō Hanahane didn't know anything about Kannonji Castle except that it should still be a burnt wreck upon the "loins of Ōmi." He too, apparently, was powerful enough to resist the glamour. Or perhaps he was merely out of its range.   Abe no Seimei's advice was to crush the Rokkaku if they refused his generous offer of vassalship. That was more suspicious than anything, only adding to her suspicions that this may be some kind of Ikkō Ikki plot. "Non-violent colonization" seemed like it'd be up their alley, after all. Even so, Aotsuki could not bring himself to declare war on these innocents. Even with Seimei's warning that the problem was only likely to grow, his mind was made up. He instead asked Maxim and Sanosuke for their opinions. The Knight Commander agreed with Seimei, and added that it was a mistake to not take action after Shōtei's clear disrespect. Sanosuke, instead, spoke to the monk herself.   The Silver General first asked if there was anything that they could do for her, in return for her hospitality. In response, Shōtei repeated what she'd said before. The lack of trade and traffic in this area worried her, and she'd like them to work with their trademasters to remedy it. It was obvious to everyone else that the castle's semi-real existence was the reason behind that, but Shōtei continued to be completely oblivious to that phenomenon. After that, Sanosuke suggested that, in order to facilitate trade agreements, they could take a member of the Council back with them for a day or two. He suggested Rokkaku no Yasutsuna, surely with nothing but pure motivations. This idea did appeal to Shōtei, but she claimed that the castle could not function without Yasutsuna's presence currently. Instead, Rokkaku no Jakusai would go with them. She was likely to follow Aotsuki out anyway, badgering him until he truthfully claimed to like her. This wasn't the answer Sanosuke was hoping for, but it worked for his purposes, and so it was agreed.   After that, each of the Hashinara said their farewells, thanked Shōtei, and made ready to depart. Sugihara Hidemitsu and Ka-ten Agni were still in the kitchens, but met them with Jakusai shortly after the group exited the tea house. There in the courtyard, it came to light that Agni may have destroyed the Rokkaku's oven with her divine fire, and Aotsuki may be responsible for replacing it. He fenced with Agni a bit about crafting a new one, but the God of Fire was not reasonable in her suggestions. Eventually, Jakusai chimed in with an obsequious offer to take care of the whole thing for Aotsuki. Sanosuke, meanwhile, was quite engrossed with Inu no Seimei. His behavior of crouching near Jakusai and whispering into her thigh eventually drew some negative attention, but the Councilmember was quick to forgive. Sanosuke, too, was drawn a little bit more into her charms.   Shigeaki Fujino managed to pry herself away from the events in Owari Castle, and made to pick them up. They all had places to be, but nothing urgent, and so she took it upon herself to deliver them back to Owari instead, dropping all but the top generals off at Ōtsu Castle on the way. It was high time, she claimed, for the generals to have that meeting they'd been talking about.   < The Mysterious One-Night Castle (Part 2)