The shoji slides shut, and the rain becomes a dull drum beyond the paper walls. Kaito spreads brittle scrolls across the low table, their edges yellowed with age and travel.
Arimari Tiarasan leans in as the candlelight catches old brushwork, clan marks, and a repeated name, Tukeyo, inked beside warnings and dates.
Kaito
These are not stories to frighten children. They are records. The Kurogane binding is failing, and when it fails, Tukeyo will not remain a shield.
Kaito
Each generation paid in blood, outrage, or ruthless service to keep the pact alive. The last payment was missed, or hidden. That is why the seal weakens now.
One scroll shows a list of offerings, another a tally of deaths. The pattern points toward a clan bargain held together by fear, not loyalty.
Kaito
If Tukeyo breaks free, the Kurogane will lash out to cover their shame. That chaos will spread to every lord tied to them, including Matsudaira.
The danger is plain at last, if Arimari can prove the truth quickly enough, he may turn a failing curse into political leverage before the house is dragged under with it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prove the truth about the Kurogane pact
“Does Kaito seem nervous when I mention the Kurogane pact?”
YES (Likely, rolled 33)
Arimari Tiarasan
His hands tremble slightly as he grips the shaft of his naginata, the wood clicking against his armor.
Kaito
The Kurogane pact is a heavy burden, Arimari. Even speaking the name of the oni Tukeyo makes the air feel thin, and I find my own resolve wavering when I consider the price of their survival.
Kaito avoids Arimari's gaze, his eyes darting toward the shadows of the chamber as if expecting the oni to manifest from the very walls.
“Has Kaito brought evidence of the pact?”
NO (Likely, rolled 78)
Kaito slowly unrolls the bundle he carried, but the parchment is blank, save for a few meaningless ink stains. He sighs, admitting that the physical proof he sought to retrieve was already destroyed by the Kurogane agents.
“I ask Kaito to show me the evidence”
SUCCESS (Superb Investigation, rolled +0)
Arimari steps closer and takes the blank parchment from Kaito's hands, turning it toward the lamp.
At the edge, a pressed crease catches the light, and a smear of pale rice paste shows where a second sheet was once fixed to it.
Arimari Tiarasan
Show me where this was opened.
Kaito
Here. The seam was lifted, then sealed again. They stripped the writing clean.
Arimari traces the fibers with a careful thumb, and a hidden pinprick of red ink appears beneath the stain, part of a copied seal.
Kaito
So the proof was real. They were afraid enough to erase it.
Kaito straightens, eyes fixed on Arimari's hand. "If you can read that mark, then you know who handled it. Can you name them?"
Quest Complete
Learn what Kaito knows about Tukeyo and the Kurogane binding
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Superb→Legendary