The Traveller and the Heron Chapter 6
Ritou 08:04 | Aether
After grabbing a few things of need, Paimon and I were right back to where we were just a couple of minutes ago. When we approached Werner again, he looked less than pleased. I just smiled as I walked up to him. He placed his arms on his hips, obviously ticked off.
"What are you doing back here? Just 'cause I got plenty of time on my hands right now doesn't mean I want to waste any of it talking to you two again." I grinned at his words, way too confident in our plan.
"Time on your, you say...some would call that a form of freedom," I say, feeling the slightest breeze in my hair. Werner's expression and demeanour immediately changed to one of confusion and curiosity. Just like I had suspected, and the plan was already working.
"Huh?" he says, slightly confused, "Where's this coming from…."
"A Dandelion Wine would sure be nice on a day like this, along with a bard's serenade too, oh how perfect that would be…." I say, reminded of my dear friend back in Mondstadt.
"Isn't that….Mondstadt...You're talking about Mondstadt?" he asks, clearly having struck a tune with the words of the nation of Freedom. I look at Paimon, who reveals the petals of Mondstadt's native flowers like the Cecelia and Windwheel Aster. She hurls them up the air, and with a touch of my Anemo power, I cast a slight wind in Werner's direction, the petals carried by the wind. Werner's eyes lit up in recognition, possibly reminded of better days.
"Goodness, I can sense it now. So familiar, but I can't remember the last time I was there...Ah the scent of Mondstadt...Oh, how it takes me back…" he says, looking down, almost emotional.
"May the Anemo Archon protect you," I say, secretly hoping Venti was watching and listening to this.
Werner sighs. "My hometown...The home of Freedom…! How I long to go back and visit…."
He then straightens up, almost recognizing what was happening.
"Trying to play my heartstrings like a lyre, are you? I know what you're up to," he says affirmatively. However, I wasn't going to stop, so I continued.
"Close your eyes, Werner…." I asked him.
"What are you up to now?" he argued.
"Just close your eyes already!" Paimon ordered. Werner promptly obeyed after.
"You mean...the sound of the ocean?" he murmured as he listened to his surroundings. I thought of the one line that I would always hear, walking down the streets of Liyue Harbour.
"Cheap an' tasty chop suey!" I say, close to his ear.
Werner gasps, "Liyue Harbour! I can see it so clearly! Oh, and the sound of the waves, calls of the merchants…."
"May the flames of virtue spread to all…." I continued, "...and they never shall be extinguished!"
"Liyue...Liyue," he says sadly, almost in pain. I pulled out two stones from my back and gave them to Werner. A Cor Lapis and a Noctilucous Jade, he gazed down at the rocks in his hands fondly.
"Wait...Stop, that's enough...Don't make me relive it anymore; my poor heart can't take it…" he says, returning his gaze to Paimon and me.
"You know, a lot of people out there sympathize with the position you're in right now." I returned, "The folks from the International Trade Association, they're far away from home like you are."
Werner sighed in resignation, "Don't you think I've wanted to talk things over with them and free myself from this anguish?"
"Well...no one's stopping you so…" Paimon chimes in.
"They're so resilient. None had anyone else to rely on, so they rallied together, committed to finding a way to survive... But I couldn't do it; I'm not strong enough…" he confessed, "So... I caved... Those people, they'd make the smallest of promises offer the most measly benefits, and I'd do whatever they asked of me... and make Mondstadters look like the worst people in the world…."
"Who are "those people?" I asked Werner, who still had a look of confession on his face.
"Alright, I'll tell you the whole story," he admits.
"The International Trade Association will protect you," I say.
"But I betrayed them!" Werner says, "I can't show my face there…"
Paimon huffs. Ugh, c'mon, you scaredy-cat! Look, you messed up, but now it's time to make things right! So, come on, get it off your chest!"
"She's right, you know. It's for the best if you tell us what the deal is here." I say finally.
"It's a scheme by the tax-collection ashigaru, by Kejirou and his drones. They start by overtaxing the merchants, then take the extra Crystal Marrow they receive and stockpile it. Once the merchants run out of places to buy Crystal Marrow, they get me to sell that extra stock back to the merchants at an exorbitant price, with the proceeds going to the tax-collection ashigaru. I'm their puppet, yes... but my cut is a tiny fraction of what we take in total. It's barely enough for me to live on."
If this was true, it's worse than I thought; everyone was getting screwed. There's no doubt that this needs to stop for everyone. But now...we needed evidence and fast.
"We're gonna need evidence, Werner; I can stop the scheme against the outlanders; we just need something that Kejirou can't run away from, something he can't refuse."
Werner looks at the ground in thought then raises his eyebrows in recognition.
"Evidence, huh? Now that I think about it, he always heads to the same place whenever I report back to him after a sale. It's always made me suspicious… As it happens, I handed him some Mora not long ago. I can show you where he went if you want."
"For the sake of everyone on Ritou, let's go quickly; this needs to end," I say defiantly.
Konda Village 08:46 | Ayaka
Thoma gazed down upon me questioningly.
"You mean to convince him to help us?" Thoma asked. It wasn't something I had planned out beforehand, but I couldn't stop now. This is our one chance to make a difference, and I will honour my word.
"Thoma, please return to Ritou and see to the Traveller, and give him this," I ask, offering the Kamisato clan ornate fan I carry for Tachijutsu, "I would like to speak to him myself, and I will make my intentions clear."
Thoma received the fan from my hands and nodded, leaving me at the wooden borderline of Konda village. I looked up at the blue sky above, the clouds were perfect, and the wind was a light breeze coming from the direction of Watatsumi.
Her excellency allowed for perfect weather, yet, my heart was a raging storm, churning with unease. I felt it pound against my chest; I knew then I was scared. Scared for Inazuma and its people, I felt as if hope had begun to fleet away.
Thoma's information was troubling, to say the least. The Traveler, does he not have eyes for us, for the state we are in? Indeed he witnessed the scene confessing, in Ritou no? The tales of his bravery and power were amazing, awe-inspiring, and nothing to scoff at. Will he help us like he did in his previous endeavours? The question haunted me.
After hearing of him for so long, I not only felt fear but slight disappointment. I admired the stories and his feats of greatness; they had given me more than enough influence to fuel my own mission.
However I couldn't allow myself to wallow in this for too long, there was a mission at hand and one I couldn't afford to stand idly by on. It's time I do my part for this nation and its people.
Ritou 9:12 | Aether
After finding the evidence and leaving Werner, Paimon and I sprinted towards the Trade Association as fast as we could. It wasn't long until we made out the silhouettes of Kurisu and Harrison talking to Kejirou.
"You know the decree. The rules are the rules. No discounts, no exceptions - and no excuses!" we hear Keijrou spit out.
"Is that right..." I say, joining the three men conversation, "but turns out, you're the one making a mockery of the rules here, wouldn't you say Mr. Kejirou?"
The man in the purple armour turned in my direction and sneered.
"Hmm? And who are you? Another new member of the association?" he interrogates
"It just so happens we found your little ledger!" Paimon exclaims, "So now we're here to tell everyone all about how you embezzled Crytal Marrow to sell it right back to the taxpayers!"
Kurisu and Harrisons' eyebrows shot up as they read through each and every item in the ledger. They then turned back to Kejirou, clearly very angry.
"Well, would you look at that... Every payment the association has made is right here in your personal ledger, Mr. Kejirou. It seems you have some explaining to do, how shall we settle this hmm?" Kurisu smugly returns.
"Hmph! So you think you can use this against me, do you? I—It's quite obvious that I'm merely trying to earn a modest living for myself, like anyone else…" Kejirou retorts
Kurisu chuckles, "Word has it that samurai in the commission place great importance on reputation and prestige... Though, I'm sure commission members won't blame you once word gets out…"
"Huh? Is that a threat? Are you threatening me!?",
"No, not at all. I'm simply stating that it would be quite a pity if an illustrious gentleman such as yourself were to have their reputation tarnished."
Kurisu and Harrison continue to squabble with Kejirou, while I took the ledger back to have a look at it myself. The pages of the small book were littered with the lines of transactions for the embezzled marrow. Everyone Kejirou scammed was most likely an outlander, just trying to get by like Werner was. Just looking at the sheer amount of crystal marrow stolen from the taxpayers, makes me think me think back to the problems we solved in Mondstadt and Liyue. What did Zhongli say again? I hear his voice in my head speak, "It's because of visions...prolumgating the Vision Hunt Decree…." Right. Hard to imagine this and any other issues Inazuma might have isn't stemming from the Shogun's order to seize the Visions.
"Hey! What's all this racket? Does someone dare question the decree?"
A booming voice knocks me out of my thoughts. I turn around to see a giant man in Inazuman royal garb and armour walks towards the five of us.
"Ah chief, you've arrived," Kejirou says.
Chief? Great. More Kanjou commission authority.
"What was all the commotion I heard just now?" the man says.
"Oh, we were discussing a minor tax issue. I do my utmost to lend them a helping hand, but they're never grateful!" Kejirou lies through his teeth.
I shoot him a dirty look and catch a glimpse of Harrison fuming.
Harrison steps in the face of Kejirou. "A helping hand, you say!? The only thing ur doing is stuffing your greedy pockets with our hard-earned wealth. I assure you that Hiiragi Shinsuke will hear of this!"
The big man in armour steps in front of Harrison, splitting the two up. "Oh? And you dare utter the Commissioner's name? You outlanders have no respect for the rules! Seize these merchants immediately. We shall resolve this dispute back at headquarters."
"Uh-oh, this is going in a bad direction…." Paimon whispers in my ear.
No, kidding. We could really use...Thoma arrived before I could even finish.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Come now, is there any need for this? If there's a dispute to resolve, let's get a drink and talk it over." He says with a calm and friendly demeanour. Kejirou turns to the blond man in red in confusion and surprise.
"And who are you supposed to be? And why in my right mind would I join you for a drink?" he asks rudely.
"Here's my card…." Thoma hands a small blue card to the big man from the Kanjou Commission. His eyebrows raise as he looks at the card and back at Thoma.
"Huh...you're from the Yashiro Commission then? Hmph, well, this is Kanjou Commission territory. However powerful the Yashiro Commission is, you have no business meddling in Ritou's affairs."
Thoma, looking a bit more official than he did before and smirks. "Of course not. Of course not. Still, perhaps you could show the young lady of our clan some courtesy…" he says, pulling out a small stick-like object from his back, "You wouldn't want your names showing up in a petition to the Shogun, would you?"
The giant man and Kejirou do a double-take at the object in Thoma's hands. Almost immediately, they lose their composure after one look.
"That fan... the Shirasagi Himegimi"
The Shirasagi Himegimi…? Wait…Kazuha mentioned her...the lady of the Kamisato Clan. Thoma works with the Shirasagi Himegimi? Kazuha did say she might be able to help me speak with the Shogun. I better ask Thoma about all this.
The big man takes a step back, "I don't need any trouble with her. Okay, let's forget all this. One less thing to worry about." Then he and Kejirou both leave at a quick pace.
Thoma waves goodbye with a smile, "Let's get dinner one day soon, gentlemen. My treat, I insist. Eh, no response, huh... I suppose that bridge is well and truly burned, then."
Kurisu turns to Thoma, "Thank you so much, Thoma... But I'm sorry your relationship with the Kanjou Commission had to suffer for our sake…."
"Hey, hey, I was joking. It's a small price to pay, and you're more than welcome. If there's anyone you should be thanking, it's Aether the Traveller. He's the one who found a way to turn things around. If nothing else, I'm sure the tax-collection ashigaru will tread a little more carefully in future." Thoma goes.
"Uhhh, Thoma, what was…" I begin before Thoma shushes my lips with a finger.
"Shh..not here, too many people listening haha, let's move somewhere else. I'll give you whatever you wanna know."