Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good

The Raid

In a coordinated series of raids the Magistrates managed to take down numerous facilities associated with the Soshi Cartel, arresting the remaining workers and seizing a vast quantity of opium which was subsequently dumped into the river before being set ablaze. Ultimately taking out 23 assorted facilities and taking some 91 prisoners. Thankfully there were few casualties and only a small number of deaths. Most of the cartel workers chose to flee or had already done so with only a few offering any armed resistance with one stash house fortified and expecting the assault.

It seems that the vast majority of middle management had already fled the city before the raids. Including those who perished or escaped during the raids themselves only 3 bosses of individual operations were taken prisoner. Word on the street appeared to indicate that news of Watchful's disappearance had been spreading and was spooking many in the cartel.

Meeting with the Governor

Following the raid, the Magistrates received a summons from the governor within the day. While the scene at Civil Hall was one of barely-controlled chaos due to the massive influx of prisoners, the governor's audience chamber was no different than usual. Concerned about a possible rebuke from Shosuro Hyobu the Emerald Magistrates were instead praised for their actions by the city's leader. Going so far as to state that she was sending word to the Emerald Champion to commend them on what they had accomplished. Following the more formal official acknowledgement Shosuro Jocho arrived to toast their success and display his gratitude with a night at the House of the Morning Star where he had gone so far as to engage the services of Precious, the Queen of the Nightless City herself.

Dragon's Fire

Mirumoto entered the burning dojo and saw a masked figure holding Jotomon’s decapitated head by the hair in one hand with a scroll case in the other. The figure looked silently at Mirumoto before fleeing up a fallen beam through the broken ceiling. Though Mirumoto chased him intensely, the killer was eventually able to escape, though losing Jotomon's head in the process.

As Mirumoto chased the killer, Akodo rushed into the flames to rescue Tamori Gojinka who remained trapped under a pile of rubble. When she came to she was wracked with tears, claiming that the fire was all her fault.

As she told it, she came in early, wanting to discuss a personal matter with Jotomon. She heard the sound of fighting but thought little of it until she heard a yell of pain shortly followed by an impossibly loud noise. She rushed in to find Jotomon collapsed on the ground with the masked man standing above her holding only a wakizashi in his left hand. Losing her composure and acting on pure emotion, she sought to summon a flame katana but it backfired. The fire kami rushed to her in a torrential outpouring, overwhelming her ability to shape and control them. She last remembers the explosion of fire as she lost consciousness.

Returning to the dojo, Mirumoto saw a faint glint inside the ruined building. Looking more closely he saw that it was a plain but very familiar sword. His old katana that he had lost in his bet with Aloisio Silva. Grabbing the blade, he rushed to the MTC Compound where, locked outside the gates, he shouted for Aloisio to come out and face him. Eventually a functionary came out and informed him that Aloisio had not been in the city for some time, having been called away on the personal request of Dona Francisca Cardoso, the head of the MTC.

Meanwhile, Akodo noticed something unusual about Jotomon's body. In addition to the decapitation there was another wound that was presumably her cause of death. A rounded puncture wound on her chest but with the skin around it showing a sooty black burn despite the nearby flesh seemingly undamaged by the fire. Combined with other elements it seemed consistent with what he had read about the effects of gaijin firearms.