The half-open crates are still there, just as before. The mismatched seal catches the light, and the swapped clan tag sits wrong against the cord. The quartermaster stops pretending this is a routine inspection.
Kaungshen steps in with Iron Star drawn. The blade’s dark edge bends the air, and the nearest trainees recoil as gravity warps in a tight ring around him.
Hideo
Those marks do not match any lawful shipment I signed for.
Yamamoto Toujin
So it is a false tag, not a misplaced crate. Someone is testing our road.
The quartermaster lifts the broken seal with two fingers, then turns the tag over. His eyes harden at the clan crest beneath the overwrite.
Hideo
This route feeds the eastern stores, and someone is trying to bury a trace in it.
Charlotte
Then the question is simple. Who benefits if this shipment vanishes before it reaches the ledger?
Toujin’s hand rests near his sword, but he does not draw. The crowd stays back, watching Kaungshen and the quartermaster as the line of supply trouble finally opens into a real lead.
✓ Quest Accepted
Uncover who is tampering with the supply line
✓ Quest Accepted
Contain the compromised shipment
“I scan the crowd for anyone watching our reaction to the revealed crest. I then use Darkness ki to use dark bind on the suspects while my fiancee gather them to us.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +3)
Kaungshen’s gaze sweeps the trainees, then snaps to the ones who flinch at the crest. His Darkness ki settles low and wide, and shadowy bands clamp shut around three watchers before they can turn away.
Charlotte is already moving. She steps in cleanly, guiding the bound suspects toward the crates while keeping their hands pinned where everyone can see them.
Hideo
Those three. They are not on my roster.
One suspect drops a torn string from his sleeve. It bears the same clan weave as the false tag, a detail the quartermaster catches at once.
Yamamoto Toujin
So the tag was not planted blind. Someone used inside access, or someone bribed the road crew.
The crowd parts farther back, and a second mark shows on the crate’s underside, a chalk line that points toward the eastern store route.
The quartermaster pockets the torn string with a hard look. Around them, the air goes still, because the shipment is contained, and now the trail has a face.
Quest Complete
Contain the compromised shipment
“I ask if we needed to probe their minds to indtheir master or have master Vlarr use the manchurian stalker technique to turn them into our spies after altering their memories. Whose tampering with our supply line. I ask the quartermaster if he needed any help to fully support the Eclipse Palace.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
Kaungshen
Should we probe their minds to find their master, or have Vlarr use the Manchurian Stalker technique to turn them into spies after rewriting their memories? And if the supply line is already compromised, do you need help supporting the Eclipse Palace?
Hideo
If you can spare the time, yes. I need hands I can trust, and I need names more than guesses.
Yamamoto Toujin
Do not push this lightly. If one layer of this is false, there may be more hiding beneath it.
The quartermaster nods once, then points at the chalk mark on the crate’s belly. The line matches the eastern store route ledger, not the public haul records.
One bound suspect flinches hard enough to strain the Darkness bands, and a thin bead of blood appears at his lip. The room hears it, and the cost of forcing the question lands with a hard, ugly silence.
Hideo
The tampering is tied to my route records. That narrows it to someone with access, or someone who paid for it.
Charlotte tightens her hold, keeping the three suspects angled toward the evidence. The quartermaster turns toward Kaungshen, waiting for the next decision while the eastern route remains exposed.
“I inspect the eastern store route records with Charlotte because she's better at this and can find what I missed. I asked the masters if I should use m medical skills to soften them up for master vlarr as he always said that I needed test subjects.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
Kaungshen steps in beside Charlotte and takes the route ledger from the quartermaster. Charlotte’s finger traces the eastern store marks, then pauses on a gap that does not match the haul count.
Charlotte
This hand copied the route, but not from the public book. It follows the private inventory trail.
She flips the page edge, finds a second notation hidden under the grain of the paper, and angles it toward Kaungshen. The same clerk seal appears twice, once clean, once pressed over a correction.
Kaungshen
The correction is newer than the rest.
Yamamoto Toujin
Then someone inside knew exactly which line to blur.
Kaungshen checks the ink pressure, the tear, the chalk, and the seal together. The marks line up into one path, from route ledger to crate to a clerk’s hand.
The quartermaster exhales through his nose and folds his arms tight. Charlotte keeps the suspects angled away from the page, while the eastern route now points back at the records room.
Hideo
Bring me the clerk who handled this route, or the names of everyone who touched it.
“I ask Charlotte to trace the hidden correction again”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
Kaungshen gives Charlotte a small nod and taps the corrected line with two fingers. The ledger stills under his glove.
Charlotte
Again. Watch the pressure on the paper, not just the ink.
She retraces the hidden correction slowly, then reverses her hand and presses the page edge from the other side. The faint seal residue rises into view like a second shadow.
Kaungshen
The correction sits on top of a private stamp.
The quartermaster leans in, and his jaw tightens. The hidden press matches a records-room clerk seal, not a warehouse mark.
Yamamoto Toujin
Good. That narrows the hand to the archive desk.
Charlotte turns the page toward Kaungshen, and the correction now reads as a deliberate overwrite, made by someone with ledger access and enough time to hide it.
“I ask calmly the quartermaster for the clerk's name unconsciously sharpening Iron Stsr with darkness ki.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
Kaungshen eases the pressure in his wrist, but the darkness along Iron Star sharpens with a thin, silent hum. The blade edge catches the light as if answering a private call.
Kaungshen
Who is the clerk?
The quartermaster straightens at once, one hand flattening the ledger before it can turn. His expression hardens into certainty.
Hideo
Jian Wei. Records room, eastern annex. He countersigned the altered route twice.
Charlotte
Two countersigns means intent, not mistake.
Yamamoto Toujin
Then we have a name, and a place to break the trail open.
Behind them, the training ground noise keeps moving, but the table feels suddenly smaller. The quartermaster turns the ledger so Kaungshen can see the clerk seal and the matching route mark together.
Quest Complete
Uncover who is tampering with the supply line
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Superb→Legendary