Fable - Ask A Murder Most Foul

[Ichika]

Ichika nodded as she followed along with the horned assassin’s reasoning.

”So, Ito desires increased political power. They have money and assassins,” she began to pace as she thought through the logic of it in her head. ”The Watanabe’s use their legal minds to justify the upheaval while also lending the claims weight.” Ichika stopped and glanced back at her friend.

”...and the daimyo of Nira provides the muscle and becomes the new Dynast.”

It was a convoluted plan. That was why it might actually work. It contained too many actors. That was why the duo had become aware of it. It all fit together too cleanly. That was why it made so much sense.

Her jaw clenched as she thought on it further. ”I’m not close with the daimyo. I can’t speak to her nature or if her grievances have become so grave that she’d resort to something this extreme.” The matriarch had made her disapproval known and was possibly a bit too public about it. Officially, the two parties had come to an agreement and were on good terms now. In reality, the Dynast and the daimyo hated one another.

It was a common topic of gossip within high society. A fact she was certain that Khari was aware of.

But what was their next move? They couldn’t just storm in and arrest one of the most powerful women in Erdeniin. They needed more evidence, something concrete so there could be no allegations of a political motivation. Something damning enough that the daimyo’s people wouldn’t take up arms.

”I think we have a trip to go on.” Ichika used the graphite to circle the city in question.

 

[Khari]

"ROAD TRIP!" Khari said as she suddenly burst away from the table and rushed out of the room.

There were loud sounds of crashing, clattering furniture, a few things tossed against the wall, and then a minute later Khari flowed back into the room holding a satchel. It was thrown onto the map table with a loud thunk.

The Dynast rarely allowed her to travel outside of Dornoch.

A few times she had been sent on missions of course. Traveling to one city, moving quietly to the next, but they were always on a strict time schedule and she almost never got to go where she actually wanted to go. There was a reason her map had been marked with so many fantasies.

She was surrounded by a Gilded Cage, and Khari would take any opportunity at all to get out of it. "The Quickest way to Nari is by boat."

The Daemonette excitedly pointed out.

"A trawler up the coast." Probably. "We could leave tonight and get there two days from now."

 

[Ichika]

Several confused blinks came after Khari's outburst and disappearance from the room. Ichika simly stood thered, dazed for a brief second, but quickly focused on the maps before her. They could probably make decent time if they used a small boat and came up the coast.

Being from the Tsuri family she'd traveled the territory of Erdeniin quite extensively. Whether it was to heal the farmlands of small communities or to attend a meeting in one of the various cities traveling wasn't something new to her.

The gesture on Khari's face when she returned let Ichika know that the situation was quite different for the demoness, however. "You have enough supplies in that satchel?"

A smile formed while her new friend explained the quickest path to Nari. In the entirety of the time they'd spent together Ichika had never seen the other woman so excited about anything. Getting out of Dornoch seemed almost like a celebration to the horned assassin.

"That sounds like a great plan," she tried to raise her tone to match Khari's excitement, "they're known for a crab dish in Nari, we'll have to grab some while we're there."

Yes, they had a job to do but they also needed to keep their stomachs full. And if Khari was excited about just leaving Dornoch then Ichika could at least make sure the other woman enjoyed herself.

She folded the few pages of notes they had taken during their initial investigation and handed them off to Khari so that they could be placed into the satchel she had brought down. It'd be a bad idea to risk someone coming in and seeing the strange cryptic notes without anyone being there to explain them to the Dynast.

 

[Khari]

Excellent, food and the continuation of the murder mystery that would see her either executed or lauded. What else could she ask for?

She'd already made a friend, that seemed reward enough. "I have everything."

Khari said as she slipped the documents into the satchel, opening it up and letting Ichika take a peek inside. The other woman would see an impressive amount of weaponry inside. Daggers, vials of what were presumably poison, and what appeared to be several pieces of a hand crossbow.

There were also more than a few slim gold bars sown into the liner, as well as a single set of black clothes which seemed to hold an odd shimmer to them.

"We'll buy something better to fit in with once there." She suggested as the papers were slipped into a hidden inside pocket. "My wardrobe is in a little..."

She glanced around. "...Dissarray."

Besides, Nari had a whole different style than Dornoch anyway.

 

[Ichika]

Normally, you'd expect a satchel for a trip like this to be filled with food rations, a canteen, and perhaps a rain cloak. But Khari was an assassin and that was never more apparent than when Ichika saw the multitude of weapons and other instruments that she assumed were meant to bring about death.

"Just the essentials then." She removed her fishing hat and sat it atop the daemonette's table. "I'll trust that I can leave this here and it'll be safe." They'd need to acquire new clothing once they arrived, both were in agreement there.

They'd need to secure a boat, although if she had to guess she assumed Khari would find one they could 'borrow' for the trip. This was important business on behalf of the Dynast after all.

A part of her envied Khari for a moment. Destroying her own wardrobe would be met with consequences from retainers, house servants, and the wrath of her own mother. She knew that while Khari might've had those freedoms it came with other restrictions but the idea of going to this new city, buying clothes and faking a new identity was... exciting.

She grinned and shut the satchel for her new friend. "We'll have to spend our trip there coming up with cover names, right?"

This was certainly an important task that the two girls would need to solve but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun with it. The trip there would surely be filled with shared stories and serve as a nice break from both of their normal lives.