Rain needles the black-lintel house as the Steward points toward the alley. His face is pale, but his gesture is firm. He says the true hand behind the forgery waits in a nearby tea house, and that the sealed packet must be delivered there tonight.
The Steward
Take it there, monk. If you want the whole knot, you must follow the thread.
Reina
A thread, or a snare. You smell of fear, Steward.
The scarred man shrinks back by the wall, staring at the bundle in Arimari's hands as if it might burn through cloth. Outside, thunder rolls over the fish market, swallowing every sound but the rain.
Arimari Tiarasan
The tea house is the lead. If the packet is delivered, the conspirator can be named.
The Steward keeps his arm extended toward the door, not daring to step closer. Reina shifts to Arimari's side, ready to spring, while the wet alley beyond waits like a blind alley of knives.
The Steward
You will not need to force the door. Ask for the clerk by name, and give him the bundle. He will know what to do.
✓ Quest Accepted
Deliver the sealed packet to the nearby tea house
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the conspirator behind the forgery
“I ask the clerk by name at the door”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
At the doorway, Arimari Tiarasan speaks the clerk’s name with quiet certainty. The room hushes a little, as if the right name unlocks the air itself.
The Steward
You know me, then. That is either a comfort or a warning.
The Steward lowers his hand from the packet, but does not step back. His eyes search Arimari’s face, measuring motive against loyalty.
The Steward
I am called a steward, clerk, and fool by turns. Tonight I would prefer just steward. Lord Matsudaira’s seal should have rested in safe hands, not in a fish market trap.
Reina
A trap with careful ink. Someone wanted the false trail to look ordinary.
Reina leans in, nose tipped toward the wax and cord, while the scarred man stays frozen by the wall, listening as if every word might condemn him.
The Steward
Then listen well, monk. The forgery reaches beyond this room. If you carry that packet to the tea house, ask for the woman who serves jasmine first.
“I study the seal for hidden marks”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled -1)
Arimari Tiarasan pinches the packet’s wax edge between gloved fingers, turning it toward the lantern. A tiny pressed mark sits beside the seal, easy to miss unless the light strikes flat.
Arimari Tiarasan
The stamp is doubled. One seal hides another.
He lifts the cord just enough to expose the knot, and a second impression appears in the wax, cut by a ring with a tea leaf crest.
Reina
That is not a merchant’s habit. Someone inside the tea house marks private orders that way.
The Steward
Then the jasmine server is our doorway, not our answer. The real hand is using the tea house as cover.
The Scarred Man swallows hard, eyes fixed on the exposed mark as if he recognizes it and fears being seen doing so.
The Steward
Take the packet now. If the woman sees that crest, she will know you were sent by someone who notices details.
“Is the Scarred Man hiding a link to the tea house?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 69)
Scarred Man
That crest... it belongs to the tea house master, not the server. I saw him press it into the wax myself, just before he handed the packet to the courier.
Arimari Tiarasan
The server is a distraction, and the master is the one pulling the strings.
Reina
It seems our path is clearer now, Arimari. If the master is the architect, he will be expecting a simple delivery, not a man who knows his mark.
“I press the Scarred Man for the tea house master's name”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
The Scarred Man swallows hard and looks past Arimari, as if the name itself might be standing in the doorway.
Arimari Tiarasan
Arimari asks for the tea house master's name, calm and flat, with no room left to hide.
Scarred Man
...Matsunaga Jiro. He keeps the jasmine room and the account books. I swear it.
Reina
Jiro. A name worth remembering, and worth checking against the house.
The Steward's jaw tightens at the answer, but he does not contradict it. He only gestures toward the packet, already expecting Arimari to move.
Outside, fish-market voices drift through the wall, and the lamp flame shivers over the black seal. The tea house now has a face, and Arimari has the route.
“I ask the Steward what he knows about Jiro”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled -2)
The Steward takes the packet only long enough to weigh it in his hand, then gives it back without breaking the seal. He studies Arimari instead, as if the answer he owes is older than this room.
The Steward
Jiro keeps his accounts neat, too neat. He knows who owes coin, who drinks alone, who lies about cargo. That is why Lord Matsudaira listens when Jiro speaks.
The Steward
He does not raise his voice, but he can turn a room by saying nothing at all. Men like that collect secrets the way a broker collects rice measures.
Reina
And yet he hides behind jasmine and ledgers. That is either caution, or guilt.
The Steward gives a thin, tired smile at that, not offended. Outside, the market mutters on, but in here the lamp steadies for a breath.
The Steward
If you meet him, watch his hands before his face. Hands tell the truth sooner.
He gestures once toward the doorway, then lets the silence rest there, inviting Arimari to take the next step or ask the next question.
“I ask Reina what she thinks Jiro is hiding”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -2)
Arimari Tiarasan
Reina, what do you think Jiro is hiding?
The question hangs between them while the market hushes beyond the lintel, fish-salt and lamp smoke pressing close.
Reina
Not coin alone. Men who polish their accounts that carefully usually hide a second path, one they use only when the first is watched.
Reina
His fear is not of being found out, it is of being named by someone who can prove it.
The Steward
A tea house rewards discretion. A man like Jiro would use that veil to trade names, meetings, and favors without writing any of them down.
Reina
Then the jasmine server is likely a screen. Jiro may be hiding who visits after the cups are poured, not what is kept in the ledger.
The Steward studies Reina a moment, then gives a small, approving nod, as if her suspicion matches a thought he has long refused to say aloud.
“I head to the teahouse and ask for jiro”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -2)