In the same narrow alley where he first pulled Arimari into shadow, The Steward’s face stays pale under the black lintel’s spill of light. The packet is still in Arimari’s keeping, and distant footsteps scrape closer through the market hush.
The Steward
I did not bring you here to save myself. Jiro expects the packet to move, and he expects me to look obedient while it does.
The Steward
He serves more than tea. He gathers names, debts, and fears. If you confront him openly, he will test whether you came alone, or whether Lord Matsudaira has already heard.
Reina
Then you feared his packet because it leads upward, not sideways. To whom does the trail point?
The Steward
To the house that profits if Matsudaira trusts the wrong hands. I have watched Jiro place men where they can be used, then discarded.
He swallows, knuckles whitening. For the first time, his loyalty looks less like obedience and more like a man trying to choose the lesser blade.
“I confront Matsunaga Jiro at the tea house”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +0)