A Wolf Comes to Osaka

Discovery, Exploration

It was still some time before noon when Maxim and his compatriots arrived in Osaka. An observer might have seen a strange collection of miscreants in the foreign knight's company. Besides Haures, Maggu, and respectable Shigeaki Fujino, the poverty goddess Kashirin also lurked somewhere nearby. And there were observers in abundance. Fujino seemed to have taken them to a nicer part of the city. Osaka Castle rose into the sky not far away, and the well-to-do pedestrians on this street looked upon their strange visitors with suspicion verging on aversion.

Thankfully, whether Maxim was welcome here had little to do with his mission. He was here to catch the notorious Crow. This criminal debtor had evaded Aotsuki Tsukamoto for some time and had been mercilessly swindled, but not captured, by Ryūzaki Sanosuke. Now his trail of misdeeds had apparently led him to Osaka. But how to flush out such a cunning miser?   Maxim had an idea. Speaking loudly and boldly, he declared to his companions that he had plenty of coin to spend on their shopping trip today. This did not, immediately, have the desired effect. The people passing on their street viewed Maxim with increasing wariness, but none of them approached to steal or scam his purse away from him. The seeds of a plot had been sown, at the least, so Maxim gathered his companions and continued toward a more mercantile-looking strip of town.   Here, it was not Maxim, but Maggu who first spotted that they were being watched. A small, dirty-looking creature was staring at them unsubtly from a nearby alley. An urchin of some sort, no doubt. In Maxim's mercenary experience, those grubby children would do anything for a coin, so it wasn't out of the pale to believe that this one was spying on him. Despite this revelation, Maxim didn't act immediately. Instead, he wandered over to a nearby stall and engaged a Mochi Saleswoman.   Although polite, this merchant was obviously wary of Maxim and his strange choices in company. Everyone in his party except Fujino stood out as blatant outsiders, and that was only because they couldn't see inside Fujino's head. He wasn't turned away. Not exactly; but the stall owner did suggest that his coin might be better spent down at the docks, where they had things that might more interest individuals such as him. Maxim pursed his lips at the thinly-veiled insult. He might have made more of it, had he not also noticed that Maggu was industriously stealing a bundle of mochi while the merchant was distracted. Instead, Maxim simply bid the stall owner farewell and departed. Unknown to her, Maxim's group had come out quite the winner in that interaction.   The knight's steps then took him to the nearby alley. He'd wanted to give the urchin a chance to leave so that he could trace them back to their employer. That plan didn't entirely hold up, however, as Maxim found a singularly suspicious pile of old washing in an urchin-sized bucket nearby. He kicked the bucket over, sending its occupant tumbling out into the street. Although she was indeed filthy and covered in rags, this urchin was a girl and a bit older than Maxim had originally gauged.   As a chivalrous knight should, Maxim extended a hand to help the fallen creature up. When she accepted the gesture, he did not release his grip. He had her then, grip obviously stronger than some malnourished street dweller. The girl, however, was not without her own surprises. Between their clenched hands, something squirmed and wriggled. It felt like an insect. Setting his jaw, Maxim managed through a supreme effort of willpower to ignore the squeamish sensation. Nearby, Maggu and Haures watched on. The water goblin had availed herself of a green mochi and Haures was nibbling on a white ball of her own. Presumably, wherever she was, Kashirin had the pink one.   Perhaps surprisingly, the urchin was generous with information after she'd been caught. Maxim's bold declaration of wealth earlier hadn't gone unnoticed, and so Crow had paid this girl to keep an eye on the foreign visitor. She'd even bring him to the wanted man, if he could pay better. She wanted a koku. Maxim, perhaps not knowing the value of such a coin, or perhaps knowing all too well and not caring, agreed. That amount was way more than Crow was paying the urchin. It was probably more than she'd ever seen in her life by a factor of thousands. She agreed readily. It seemed that Maxim had gained an ally.   After making certain that he was clear, Maxim released his grip. From between their palms, a small red centipede fell to the ground and scuttled away. Had that been what Maxim was feeling in their grip? It was a clever trick, perhaps, to make sure the urchin wasn't caught as she'd been just now. Good thing, then, that Maxim was made of sterner stuff. The girl prattled on as they went. Maxim gave his name, but she made one up on the spot. "Eru Darusu." It was obviously fake; even a foreigner could tell that. In a tiny revenge, Maxim then decided to withhold any further information about himself. If Eru wasn't willing to disclose her own identity, why should he?   Her loyalty seemed genuine, at least. With a full koku in her pocket, the girl would eat like a king for a year, relatively speaking. If there might be more in it for her, as Eru herself said, she'd follow Maxim to the ends of the earth.