Meeting with the Emerald Champion.
As the magistrates left the Forbidden City they noticed a large crowd gathered just outside the eastern gate and a great deal of commotion. As they got closer the scene of carnage was revealed: nearly a dozen dead men lying in the street along with the body of Doji Yoshie, the Imperial Minister for Gaijin Affairs. Two men engaged and distracted the guards while the assassin moved in to kill Yoshie. He was dressed in light blue but wielded two swords in the Mirumoto niten style, leading observers to quickly begin referring to him as The Azure Dragon of the East. Greatly outnumbered by guards, the two men committed seppuku rather than be taken prisoner while the assassin was able to fight his way out, leaving several bodies in his wake. Investigating the bodies of the attackers they were each found to be carrying an identical manifesto:
“It is entirely against the interest of the country and a stain on the national honor to open up commercial relations with foreigners, to admit foreigners into the Imperial Palace, and to allow their ambassadors to reside in the land.
Therefore, we have consecrated ourselves to be the instruments of Heaven to punish this wicked woman, and we have taken on ourselves the duty of ending a serious evil, by killing this atrocious autocrat.”
The Kenjingumi responded to the assassination by quickly mobilizing and attempting to root out any seditious or radical activity. Anyone displaying suspicious behavior was brought in for questioning. Those who resist are cut down in the street. The normally bustling city quickly retreats indoors.
While passing through a poorer district, the magistrates observed several kenjingumi members leading a bound and sobbing woman out from a peasant home. As they did so a teenage boy came charging out screaming with a sword in his hands. With a brief flash Hajime drew his sword and cut off the boy's right hand.Shaking the blood from his sword and resheathing it, he told the others, “Have his wounds attended to. He needs to live long enough for us to find out what he knows. A heimin in illegal possession of a sword is a capital crime in itself and a clear indication that the entire family may be involved.”
Mirumoto was able to take control of the prisoner, citing his position as an Emerald Magistrate. Questioning her, she seemed to know nothing about any involvement with radical elements. Investigating her home a partly burned handbill was discovered covered in Matsu Baku talking points and slogans. She claims that they often harangue passing crowds at a nearby bridge and had thrust the paper into her hands a few days earlier. She simply used it as kindling. Her son, after being threatened into compliance by Ichiro Bando, claimed to have stolen the sword from a passed-out ronin at the sake house where he sweeps the floors. With the growing unrest he thought that he would want to protect himself and his mother.
Kakita Soji took in the magistrates' innkeeper for questioning in response to an accusation by the merchant Kenta. He insisted that he has no knowledge of political radicals and stays out of politics because it's bad for business. Instead he claimed that Kenta had been gouging him on prices recently, is generally untrustworthy, and was likely making a false accusation over business matters. Soji-san was willing to accept this without further interrogation when Mirumoto, an honorable samurai and magistrate, staked his reputation on trusting the man.
Given the unrest consuming the city and with the idea that there is little more they can do to help, the magistrates left for The City of the Rich Frog.
Even after several days of travel the moon continued to shine down every night through a disquieting, blood-red haze.