Interesting Times - Chapter 4: Revelations II

3 weeks have passed since Asako Shiori had the vision in which she killed Bayushi Bijomaru.

Moto Yoshihiro, an expert horse rider from the Unicorn Clan, was now 27 years old, ten years older than what he was when he participated in the Tournament of The Topaz Champion. He was sent to Kyuden Ashinagabachi, the palace of the Tsuruchi family of the Mantis Clan. The finest archers in all of Rokugan and some of the best magistrates were trained in this lands; his orders came from his superior, Doji Himeko, and it was a simple task: Gather Isawa Hideyori, a powerful shugenja of the Phoenix Clan who had recently joined the ranks of the Asako Inquisitors, and Shiba Shinamori, his Yojimbo, and return to the castle of the Emerald Champion with them.
Yoshihiro met the people he was sent to gather at the aforementioned Tournament where they also met Bayushi Bijomaru and other individuals with whom they had work in the past 10 years.

Moto Yoshihiro met with Isawa Hideyori, not in his residence, but in the residence of another contestant from 10 years ago, Tsuruchi Kanjiro. However, Yoshihiro didn't just come inside a residence, it was a crime scene. He found Isawa wounded but alive, unlike Shiba Shinamori - he had been thrown like a thing in the floor.

Shinamori had his chest pierced by two arrows and had wounds that seem made by a clawed beast while Hideyori, whose arm was cut deep, was giving orders to a male servant.
"Isawa-san, what have happened here?". The answer was simple "Go into next room, Moto-san, and you will see"
He did as he was told. When he walk into what was an ordinary room like any other in Rokugan he saw the body of a man, sitting in the floor with his back against a wall, his left hand a bit disfigured as his fingers did not end in nails but in black claws... the man was most burnt and a wakizashi had been trusted into his chest. From the wound blood as black as night still poured down.

In awe Yoshihiro turned to his friend "What is this? Seem like this room belongs not here but in Jigoku! Who is that man lying there?"
"That my friend..." said Hideyori " ...would be Tsuruchi Kanjiro, you remember him right? Doji-Sama sent me here to track down a rumor about workers of Maho, turns out that our old friend was it. When Shiba-San and I confronted him he fought, he killed my yojimbo and he nearly kills me. I pinned him down with my wakizashi, which was all that kept me free from taint, and then burned him where he stood. I've healed myself and I've already made arrangements to have him and Shiba-san cremated before sunset".
"This is madness, I knew this man, I would have never suspected that he worked maho".
The shugenja smiled and said "You're a bushi friend, a good one, and a good samurai too, but some busyness are better left in the hands of other people" "Meaning?" Said Yoshihiro
"Meaning, friend, that you clearly outmatch my skill with the sword, but when it comes to gathering info... I have a little help from the kami".

There was silence for a moment.

Then the Phoenix spoke "There was another death, besides Shiba-san and Tsuruchi Kanjiro, another one of my clan died. Asako Shiori, remember her?"
The eyes of Yoshihiro widened "Yes, she was barely 20 winters"
"She was also an Inquisitor, it appears that she got the taint from Tsuruchi Kanjoro. She took her own life this morning, yet her body looks as if it had been decomposing for weeks. What foul things can the taint cause on a human body".
The horseman came close to the Phoenix "It is most unfortunate, Isawa-San, however we must return at once to the castle of The Emerald Champion, Doji Himeko-Sama has sent me to summon you... It's a shame that Shiba-San wont be joining us".
The shugenja looked in the eyes of the one sent to summon him, that look made Yoshihiro uncomfortable
"Is there something wrong, Isawa-San" "Tsuruchi Kanjiro said something that puzzles me, he didn't called me or Shiba-San by our names" "What do you mean" Asked the Unicorn.
"He called us Isawa Hoken and Matsu Kei"
"The ravings of a madman perhaps?"
"Perhaps, but I shall look into it later"

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In case you're wondering:
- Asako Inquisitors
- Tournament of The Topaz Champion
- Emerald Champion