Kei leaves the shuttered rice hall with the broad infiltrator bound between two freed watchmen. The remaining guards stay behind with the infiltrator woman and the rescued prisoners.
They advance through rain-dark lanes toward the eastern post. Sakura petals cling to the mud, while the continuing alarm rolls over silent rooftops.
The eastern gate stands open ahead. Its raised barrier sways slightly, but the sentry platform above remains strangely quiet beneath the gray rain.
the broad infiltrator
Sadao should be here. He never left that post unattended when the bells were sounding.
No sergeant appears in the gatehouse or along the wall walk. On the command board, a strip of cloth hangs from a nail, its edge stiff with pale wax.
the freed watchmen
That is watch-seal wax. Someone used the board recently, then left without recording the order.
The bound infiltrator lowers his gaze as wind pulls the cloth toward the open post. From inside comes only the faint scrape of something shifting across wooden boards.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose Sadao's role in the infiltration
“Is Sadao hiding inside the eastern post?”
YES (Likely, rolled 14)
The scrape inside the eastern post stops. A shadow crosses the doorway, then an older man in soaked blue-gray sergeant layers steps into view, one hand raised away from his sword.
Sadao is lean and narrow-shouldered, with weathered brown skin, close-cropped silver hair, and a split scar through his left eyebrow. Pale wax clings to his sleeve.
Sadao
Keep the barrier open. The eastern post is already compromised, and closing it would trap whoever is still outside.
The freed watchmen tighten their grip on the broad infiltrator. Above them, the empty platform creaks as rainwater runs through the arrow slits.
the broad infiltrator
There. That is Sadao. He gave us the rubbing and promised the post would be clear.
Kei
The wax is fresh, and Sadao was hiding inside the post.
Sadao
I gave them the seal's outline, not the order. Someone else is directing this strike, and they are moving toward the village center now.
“I confront Sadao about the seal rubbing”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -4)
Kei
You gave them the rubbing. Tell me exactly how you copied my father's seal, and who ordered you to do it.
Kei steps beneath the post's dripping eave, keeping the bound infiltrator and watchmen in view. Sadao's raised hand lowers slowly toward the wax-stiffened sleeve.
Sadao
I copied what the sergeant's ledger showed me. The order came through the center bell, marked with your father's seal.
When Sadao pulls the sleeve free, a thin wax tablet slips from its fold and breaks against the wet boards. Its surface bears only half a seal and a line of erased writing.
Kei
The rubbing was not the whole order.
Sadao
There. That is all I kept. The rest was taken before dawn by the messenger who brought the command.
The tablet's broken halves slide toward the open gate. The broad infiltrator lunges against his escorts, trying to crush one fragment beneath his heel before anyone can read its remaining mark.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the broken wax tablet
Quest Complete
Expose Sadao's role in the infiltration
“I seize the wax tablet fragments before the infiltrator can crush them.”
FAILURE (Good Agility, rolled -3)
“Does the remaining mark identify who sent the center-bell order?”
YES (Likely, rolled 48)
The nearest watchman catches the sliding fragment with his boot before the broad infiltrator can crush it. Rain thins the wax, revealing a stamped crane beneath the broken seal.
the broad infiltrator
No. That mark was never supposed to survive.
The freed watchmen turn the tablet toward the gray light. Beneath the crane, the erased line resolves into a formal designation: Center Bell Office, under authority of Sadao.
Sadao
That is my office mark, but not my hand. The order was issued in my name, and someone used the center bell to make it binding.
Sadao's face tightens as the meaning settles. The command did not come from an unknown outsider. It was authorized through his post, using access only an inner watch official could possess.
the freed watchmen
Then the sender is in the center watch. They can still redirect the guards while the bells are sounding.
the broad infiltrator
The crane was the signal. We were told the village center would open after the next bell, and the order would be blamed on Sadao.
“I take the broken wax tablet”
Kei crouches and takes both broken halves of the wax tablet from beneath the watchman's boot. Rain beads across the softened surface without destroying the remaining marks.
Kei
The crane identifies the center watch, but the broken seal hides who issued the command.
Sadao
Turn the halves together. The erased line may still show where the messenger carried the order.
Kei fits the fragments along their jagged break. The crane aligns, and a shallow impression appears beneath it: a narrow route mark leading from the center bell office toward the village archives.
the freed watchmen
The archives are beside the central bell tower. If someone is redirecting orders, that is where the ledgers and signal records are kept.
the broad infiltrator
The messenger never used the eastern road. He went through the center lanes before the last bell, carrying a sealed scroll.
Sadao looks toward the rooftops as another alarm rolls over the village. His hand closes around his sword hilt, while the open eastern gate waits behind Kei.
Quest Complete
Secure the broken wax tablet
+ New Item Acquired
Broken Wax Tablet