27. Doji Ren

Housecalls

As Hade had told us about two addresses we might want to pay a visit to meet Kakita Amano and Toru, we decide to go there this afternoon before we meet up with him again at dinner.
An old man, Osaki the sandal maker, opens the door at the first address and tells us Amano has left about five or six days ago. He was heading of to the Wallows as he was afraid of something that might find him here.

Then we're of to Toru's two-room apartment. As we knock on the door, there's no response. We decide to go in to find a ransacked home. The table lies turned upside down on the floor and we find a muddy footprint. When we ask the upstairs neighbor about him, she tells us she hasn't seen him in a while and that he was quite loud, last time even picking a fight with one of his friends.
A dockworker nearby explains he heard Toru was last seen here with the tattooed Ronin.

Another lead towards the warehouses

Yumako, Tichuki and Yoshi follow up on the muffy footprint lead and head out to the rice paddies. There they find the same print, leading towards the warehouses bordering Burakumin village.
In an alley near one of the warehouses they find a bloody pieve of green cloth which seems to belong to a Yasuki monk.

Meanwhile Kyo and me spend the afternoon in the Governor's neighbourhood trying to find out what people think of the goblin threat. They consider it an worrying issue, and the Tortoise should handle the Shadowlands influence coming from the sea better.

Dinner with Hade

That night during dinner we meet up with Hade again, and tell eachother what we have found out. We should be able to find Amano in the Wallows. Hade and Hiroshige had been in a fight about lent money, as they parted ways, that's the time Hiroshige got kidnapped. Hiroshige had said that after Bayushi I also abandoned him.
Hade goes on to explain he now can stay with his girlfriend who lives in the brothel across the street from the Wailing Cat. I ask the others about their visit there and what they know about Hade's girlfriend in the brothel, but I don't get much response...

The warehouse

Right after dinner we decide to go to the spot where Hiroshige got kidnapped, two blocks from the Golden Dream. Tichuki notices a shred from a kimono covered in raw opium. I wonder if we are about to embark upon an opium gang and if we should be somewhat more careful, barging in on a, most likely, quite dangerous gang with just the six of us. Tichuki thinks I'm chicken, weird coming from the hero on the wall who ran from an Oni, screaming his head of.

Kyo investigates the warehouse and finds out the back- and sidedoor are blocked. He hears some people talking inside. Yoshi works his powers and finds out the warehouse is filled with crates and about ten people.
Yumako proposes a tactic how we will deal with the gang and kicks in the front door. We barge in and I shout they're all under arrest in the name of the Emerald Champion.