Ranma was walking Shampoo home to the Nekohaten after the 'physical therapy' classes were over. Somehow, Shampoo had managed to wiggle out of him the promise of him walking her home one day a week while the lessons were being held. Ranma was just happy that no one had made a major issue out of it. Akane might have made in issue out of it before her transformation and the transfer of the engagement two weeks ago if she had known. Mousse might be raising a stink at the café. However, Ranma hadn't see him recently and Shampoo hadn't been complaining about Mousse during the walks.
Shampoo looked over at Ranma and had to resist the urge to sigh. These walks home was a guilty pleasure of hers and she would be sad to see them end in two weeks. She was happy that the students of Furinkan were progressing well in their lessons to be able to live easier with their curses. But it would be hard to give up this time with Ranma. Getting quality time alone with her Airen was a real pain in the ass. The Thunderan language lessons did not count at all since Nabiki and a few other residents of the dojo often joined in.
Then there was the change in fiancées that the Tendos were throwing at Ranma. Shampoo understood why Akane had been withdrawn by her father. It was truly fitting that someone who lashed out a younger relative be turned into a demon. At least the girl's magic had protected her from such a dishonorable attack. Grandmother had gone to question Mr. Tendo in order to make sure that Akane's blood rage had been sealed once she found out about Akane's situation. The seal had been judged as acceptable by the elder so that was the end of that particular issue for Shampoo.
But Shampoo had to wonder what she had done to deserve having Kasumi replace Akane! The oldest Tendo sister had none of the flaws that Shampoo had been trying to use to show her husband why he should ignore Akane. Kasumi not being a fighter by nature meant that Shampoo could not use more marshal contests against the girl. There was also the fact that Kasumi was technically the matron of her family which would naturally exempt her from a warrior's challenge back home. Shampoo also couldn't be upset at Kasumi for stepping into Akane's place since she did so at her elder's request to preserve what they saw as family honor.
Even if these reasons had not existed, Shampoo would be unable to attack Kasumi like she would other interlopers who did not have reasonable cause to quarrel with her. She liked the older girl and saw her as a friendly acquaintance if not a friend. It was hard for Shampoo to find girls near her in age that she could get along with. Back in the village the girls her age all wanted her spot as the top junior warrior. Here in Nerima, she was seen as an outsider with many of the local girls calling her a bimbo for her looks and less than perfect Japanese. Kasumi had always treated Shampoo with respect and warm kindness even when one could expect her to be frosty to the Amazon given her family's issues with Shampoo. The two young women had met frequently at different spice shops and had very enjoyable conversations on each meeting.
About the only solace Shampoo had in this situation was that Ranma had early on placed Kasumi into a friendly acquaintance almost pseudo-sibling mental box. She knew from personal experience that getting Ranma to change which mental category he put people in was a very difficult task. Not an impossible task or her own situation would be in a very sorry state. From what Shampoo had observed when going to her Thunderan lessons Kasumi was in no great hurry to get Ranma to change his opinion of her on her own part. However, Shampoo was only certain that such actions would only delay shifting Ranma's thoughts on Kasumi rather than stop the shift as she privately wished. Such time would be shortened once Kasumi finished her own shift in thoughts on Ranma and began to actively work to win his affection.
Returning to a three-way struggle for Ranma's attention and affection was not something Shampoo was looking forward to facing. This struggle between her and the spatula girl was aggravating enough even if Shampoo was pulling steadily ahead from her own observations. But as her grandmother said, she couldn't play the part of a bimbo. Not admitting that something unpleasant was going to happen just because you didn't want it to happen fell into that category. What mattered at the moment was setting things up so that she'd be in the best position when that struggle started and pay attention to when Kasumi entered the fray.
Shampoo shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. She should worry about that issue later when she was alone. Now she should enjoy the time with Ranma as there were just a couple of blocks left to the Nekohaten. Maybe she could tempt Ranma to stay a little longer with the offer of one of the restaurant's desert items? It couldn't be a very fancy desert but surely, she could squeeze fifteen more minutes with Ranma.
Ranma spoke up drawing Shampoo's attention saying. "Isn't that Officer Hunter? I thought his route didn't come around here at this time." Shampoo looked and saw officer Adam Hunter walking in full police uniform radiating an official presence. She frowned as she noticed the presence he was carrying. The officer often walked the route near the Nekohaten, but usually in a less noticeable manner. You wouldn't know he was a police officer on those rounds unless you spotted his uniform. Hell, the only reason people tended to notice Officer Hunter when he made his rounds was because a black man was not a common sight in Nerima.
Both teens pace quickened slightly when they noticed that the police officer did not turn as he usually did on patrol and continued on walking straight. They nearly broke out into a run when they saw him turn and face the Nekohaten. That became a full run when they saw the officer grab the door handle to the restaurant. Neither teen wanted to risk something happening in the restaurant given how Officer Hunter was acting.
They quickly closed the gap to the Nekohaten after Officer Hunter went in and opened the door themselves. Both teens saw the officer quietly talking to someone in the restaurant that was covered in a very large cloak hiding their face and their figure. Cologne was standing near the figure, but kept a polite distance from them. Everyone in the room could sense that the clocked figure had extremely large almost inhuman sized chi reserves.
The cloaked individual then muttered when they heard with the policeman had said. "The idiots!" With an aura of impatient frustration, the person turned to Cologne and said, "I will return later for the information. My servants need to be chastised for their unseemly behavior." They then turned to Officer Hunter and said, "lead the way. I want this resolved as soon as we can. Those idiots are going to regret delaying our journey for even an hour!"
Shampoo and Ramna both got out of the duo's way as Officer Hunter led Cologne's guest out of the restaurant. The duo approached Cologne once they were alone and Shampoo spoke. "Who was guest Great-Grandmother?"
Cologne looked at the teens and said, "A ghost from a past our people thought lost to history. That was Prince Herb of the Musk Tribe."
That news caused Shampoo to let out a gasp of shock while leaving Ranma befuddled. He looked at Cologne and said, "Who are the Musk? I've never heard of them until now."
"No, I don't suppose you would have heard of them Son-in-Law." Cologne paused for a moment before continuing. "The Musk Tribe was a long-time rival of the Amazon nation for land in the valley. We haven't heard from them since the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty fought against them and us as a sideshow in his second campaign against the Dzungars. That would be the mid-1750s by western reckoning. I remember it well as it was my last campaign as a warrior before I shifted over to training for my elder duties."
Ranma's curiosity was piqued and he said, "What happened during the campaign? I mean, you Chinese Amazons are still in the valley and it sounds like the Musk aren't around."
Cologne sighed and said, "We won the battle, but could not hope to win the war. I wasn't joking about Chinese emperors fearing the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. 20 of our bowwomen trained in that technique were able to equal the fire rate of 1000 highly skilled Qing bowmen. Thanks to their additional training they were able fire bolts more like a scorpion's bolt with similar ranges. We fought from sun up to sun down that day and inflicted terrible casualties."
"However, the 3,000 warriors of the combined Amazon and Musk peoples were fighting over 60,000 men in the emperor's army between his own forces, his vassals, and some mercenaries. We had few deaths that day and each one was a serious blow to our strength. We had also exhausted so much ammunition and the fact that our equipment was so damaged from the battle that fighting a second day would have been foolish. Then we had the fact that almost everyone was had at least some sort of injury."
"The matriarch of the time did the only thing she could do to save our people. She met with the Qianlong Emperor that night and requested terms of our surrender to him. We agreed to become his subjects paying an annual tribute and one of the matriarch's granddaughters was given to the emperor as a concubine. The village was spared at the cost of our pride. A fair bargain I must say especially since the Qianlong Emperor was so impressed by our warriors that he made the tribute rather light."
"However, the Musk refused to bend the knee to the Qianlong Emperor. The next day their exhausted and now ill-equipped troops were slaughtered by the emperor's forces. Their village was put to the torch and most of the inhabitants slaughtered. I had heard rumors at the time that one of their royal family and some retainers had fled further west into another nearby valley. I didn't pay much attention to them at the time and hoped then that the degenerates died out. It seems like I was mistaken even if they had to have changed somewhat without access to Jusenkyo."
It was time like this that Ranma was reminded that Cologne wasn't just boasting about being 300 years old. She might no longer be in her physical prime, but that didn't change just how dangerous she was as a person and a fighter to have survived for so long. Especially since she used chi training instead of whatever magic kept the principal alive for millennia.
A thought came to Ranma's mind as he considered Cologne's final bit of the statement. "Why would not being near Jusenkyo cause the Musk to change?"
Cologne briefly had a look of revulsion on her face before she could control herself again. "The Musk started as an ancient order of martial artists who drew inspiration from various animals. However, they decided that merely copying the animals was not enough when they learned about Jusenkyo. They began capturing the animals that their styles were based on, throwing them into the spring of drowned girl, and began a breeding program with the newly cursed animals. They even created two artifacts to work with Jusenkyo's magic. There was the Pail of Preservation to lock curses so that the transformed animals could not return to their original forms. Then there was the Pot of Liberation That could remove the seal caused by the Pail of Preservation so that a cursed individual could resume changing forms."
"From what my guest has told me, the Musk were able to keep the Pail of Preservation when they fled to their new homeland. The Pot of Liberation was captured by the Qianlong Emperor and taken back to Beijing. I haven't followed the pot's history closely. However, I did hear that it fell into the hands of a Japanese soldier during your country's invasion of China. This soldier is supposed to have been maimed in the fighting and retired to Horai Mountain with the pot as one of his few possessions when he became a monk."
Shampoo then asked, "Why was someone from the Musk here to see you Great-grandmother? How would they even know you were here?"
That earned Shampoo a soft bump on the head from Cologne's staff. "Use your head dear great-grandchild. We made sure our passports were in order before we came to Japan. It would have been tedious but possible for them to get the information from official sources. There is also the fact that we are rather unique in the local moonlight community. Word of our location would be easy for someone to find."
"As to why the Musk where here, that involves the Pot of Liberation I mentioned earlier. They had heard the reports that it was in Japan and wanted confirmation of how accurate those rumors were. I have my suspicions as to why they are suddenly after the pot. However, that is not important for the moment. My visitor will no doubt be returning to continue their questioning once their issues with the police are solved."
Ranma nodded his head and said, "Thank you for explaining everything Cologne. I hope everything resolves itself quickly for you on this matter. My school work still needs to get done so I will have to leave now. Have a good day Cologne and Shampoo." With that said, Ranma headed out the door.
It didn't take Ranma too long to get back to the dojo and complete his homework. The work might not have been flawless, but it was solid B maybe A- territory if he was underestimating his abilities. Good enough in Ranma's book even if such an attitude was supposed to horrify a Japanese high school student. Ranma's goal in life might have shifted over the past couple of months, but the Japanese school system still wasn't the path for his success with life. It was helpful. Just not to the point where it needed to consume his life like it did so many of his 'peers'.
With the obligatory work out of the way, Ranma was able to focus on more relevant studies such as learning how to speak and read Thunderan. The wealth of knowledge waiting him on Thundera wasn't going to be of much use to him if Snarf had to translate everything! It still annoyed Ranma that he was stuck reading the Thunderan equivalent to my first reader books even if he was making good progress. Maybe he could have been going farther if he devoted all his extra time to learning Thunderan.
That thought was quickly snorted away by Ranma. He had his magic training, swordsmanship training, martial arts, and other training that he needed to do in addition to learning Thunderan. Steady pace in all of them would be better in the long run for him than trying to hyperfocus on just one aspect of what he needed to know. Less chance of a burnout as well. Part of the reason Ranma was so good at martial arts before having to figure out how to integrate mana was the fact that he knew how to rotate between different aspects of the art so he didn't get exhausted doing one thing.
There was a polite knock on the door that pulled Ranma out of his book. He looked up and called out, "You can come in." The bedroom door opened and Ranma was surprised to see Kasumi standing in the doorway. He wondered why she was there and said, "Yes Kasumi?"
Kasumi replied, "I just wanted to let you know that Snarf says dinner will be ready in about 10 more minutes." The little helper had gotten permission to try making a version of a popular Saturnian dish with local ingredients. Snarf had also been freeing up more of Kasumi's time by taking over some of the housework when he could. Part of the girl found it a little odd to have someone help out with so much of the housework as that was something she took pride in handling herself. On the other hand, it did give her more time for her own hobbies.
Part of Kasumi thought about leaving Ranma alone now that she had delivered the message. Another part of her wanted to talk to him and just get over the uneasiness that had settled between the two of them ever since the shift in the engagement. They hadn't had any arguments like Ranma and Akane had been known for before Akane's transformation. At the same time, they hadn't gotten any closer or changed anything really in their interactions.
On the other hand, Kasumi had no clue how she wanted things to change between them. It wasn't like she had a wealth of dating experience to draw on. Too many of the guys at school who had expressed interest in her were obviously after one thing. They were naturally given a hard pass as even then Kasumi had standards and self-respect. Unfortunately for her most of the guys she might have been interested in dating were frightened by the strange circumstances around her. Word had quickly spread among the guys at school after dates with two different guys went sideways in memorably odd circumstances.
Kasumi looked at Ranma wondering what it was she wanted from him. Was she looking for a reliable partner? On the whole she'd have to admit that Ranma was reliable since he came through when things got serious. Not always how one expected him to come through, but he came through regardless. Was it someone who wouldn't be driven away by the strange situations she somewhat regularly attracted? That question really should be flipped on its head with her asking if she would be driven away by Ranma's crazy life. His made hers look tame in comparison.
What about romantic potential? Was that what she was looking for? Well, she was out of luck in that case. Ranma was no hero from a bodice ripper or even just a romantic novel. He might have the looks for it. But there were times when Kasumi honestly wondered if Ranma even knew what the word romantic meant! Meaningful dates or romantic poetry would probably require her training him in how to do it. That would probably ruin the whole effect honestly.
Maybe she should reconsider the romantic potential issue a bit. Ranma from what she knew was not one for grand romantic gestures. However, he had repeatedly demonstrated that he cared for others by his actions. Ranma could be very sweet and romantic if you focused on what he did instead of what he said. That was something she could accept even if she would like to hear the words instead of just see the action.
This still didn't answer Kasumi's question of what it was that she wanted to change between the two of them at this time and this moment was stretching on to become more awkward. Kasumi decided that discretion would be the better part of valor and said with a bow. "I will see you at dinner Ranma."
Ranma watched Kasumi leave his room and felt like he had somehow messed something up. There was this feeling that he should have done something and that he had completely blown whatever it was that he should have done. If only someone could give him a clue about what he should have done or at least needed to do! The young man released a sigh of frustration and could only think one thought. Women were completely confusing and could not be understood by men at all. He couldn't understand them and he had been cursed to be one for a time.
Maybe it had something to do with their engagement? Most issue with his fiancées seemed to have something to do with their engagement and the other engagements he was saddled with. It wasn't like he liked having multiple fiancees. Having 1 was confusing and difficult enough for him. Added more made each relationship exponentially harder for him. Didn't help that no one seemed to have an honorable solution to his mess. Even Snarf was silent on how he could resolve the problem and his loyal friend had been investigating into a solution. Ranma prayed that if he kept things from exploding long enough the situation would somehow resolve itself.
Dinner time was wrapping up at the dojo when there was a knock on the door. Soun got up to see who it was and opened the front door. He was surprised to see the visitor and said, "Good evening, Officer Fielding. Please come in and how can we help you?"
Blaze gave him a bow and then took off her shoes. She spoke as she slipped on the guest sandals. "Thank you for inviting me in Mr. Tendo. Are the Saotomes also in as well? I am here on behalf of Officer Hunter regarding something that the three of you could help the Nerima police with under the table. The mayor might need you and several other of the more experience council members to have an 'informal discussion' at his house if this issue is not resolved soon."
Soun led Blaze into the family room and then left to get the Saotomes. Blaze did not have long to wait until Soun returned with the Saotomes and everyone else who lived in the house. The officer thought for a moment about asking the other to step out and decided against it. She didn't want to annoy the people she was asking help from and the people here were used to dealing with the unusual.
Blaze looked at everyone and spoke. "What I am about to tell you all is strictly off the books. Even given the mystical natures of what I am about to discuss there will be parts I will have to be silent on for legal reasons. There was an incident today involving some persons who tend to be more mystically inclined than the government or society as a whole would like to admit. We had to bring in a companion of theirs for questioning and things did not progress as smoothly as the police would like. A minor issue grew into a much more serious one requiring several high level foreign martial artists to be locked up and drugged to keep them from escaping."
"Our normal procedure in such circumstances is to drop such individuals off at their embassy with a note to get them back to their country ASAP. The fact that they entered the country outside of official channels would get them permanently banned from returning. I am here because there is a problem that keeps us from doing this."
"One of the individuals is under a Jusenkyo curse that has been locked and their passport is only set up for their uncursed form. We've already contacted the individual's embassy and they are refusing to acknowledge the individual as a citizen because there is no paperwork for their cursed state. They probably don't want to acknowledge the person because transporting such individuals back when they do not want to go is an expensive process and generates lots of paperwork to hide."
Ranma remembered Cologne's visitor from earlier. He started to suspect who the individual Blaze was talking about was and why the police had come to them. Blaze quickly confirmed his suspicions as she continued. "We have come to find out that there is an artifact known as the Pot of Liberation somewhere in Japan that will unlock whatever has locked this individual's jusenkyo curse. Once the curse is unlocked, we can force this individual's embassy to acknowledge them so they can be deported."
Soun spoke up at this point. "The police cannot search for this Pot of Liberation without drawing undue attention to the situation. So, you are hoping we can step in and handle the search for you."
Blaze nodded her head. "That is correct Mr. Tendo. We would all be deeply grateful if you and those you deem both necessary as well as trustworthy were to handle this issue for us."
"We will handle it Officer Fielding," Soun said with gravatas. He knew that situations like this had to be handled delicately and quickly. Trying to contain a high-level martial artist that did not want to be contained was not an easy task. The best way to do so involved keeping the martial artist drugged into a stupor which was tricky given the doctor had to guess how efficient the martial artist's chi was at burning through toxins. That wasn't going into the fact that the drug costs quickly added up and were potentially lethal if the martial artist was kept under for long periods of time or mis dosed.
Genma spoke up at this point. "Where do we start looking for this Pot of Liberation? Japan is a pretty big place and we need to solve this soon. Does anyone have any leads on this artifact?"
Ranma cut in at this point. "Horai Mountain would be a good starting place to look. Cologne has mentioned this artifact to me before. There is a rumor that a former soldier turned monk had the Pot of Liberation and took it to Horai Mountain. She doesn't know how reliable the rumor was, but it seemed to fit what she knew about it."
Snarf raised himself up on his tail so that he was more easily seen. "Snarf, If I may speak Officer Fielding and Lord Ranma?" The duo both turned to the little guy and nodded their heads. He returned the gesture before continuing. "We can use my shuttle to scan the Horai Mountain to see if we can detect any mystical artifacts. The search would be even easier if we had a similar artifact or an artifact related to the Pot of Liberation to scan beforehand to narrow the search."
Ranma answered. "I remember Cologne mentioning that there's supposed to be a pail that went with the Pot of Liberation. Can't recall exactly what the pail is called right now but it's supposed to lock the Jusenkyo curses so that a person can't revert back to normal while the Pot unlocks the curse. Last time Cologne heard anything about that thing was over 200 years and I hope it stays lost far away from here."
Blaze let out a nervous chuckle and said, "I'm sorry Ranma, but that hope is dashed. One of the individuals in custody had the Pail of Preservation in their possession. When we found out what it was, we moved it out of the normal evidence locker to a special safe we use to store hazardous items we don't want the press to talk about."
The thought of the Pail of Preservation being in Nerima did not sit well with anyone in the dojo. Those with a curse were even more upset at the news. Who would be cool with thought of an item that could keep them from being human being near them?
Snarf spoke up and said, "If your superiors okay it I can use a mobile scanner to examine the pail while keeping it in your custody. That should allow me to refine my shuttle's sensors to locate the pot."
Blaze quickly agreed thankful to have some real leads to solving this issue. "I can escort you back to the police station when I leave to do the scan tonight if you want."
Ranma glanced over at his friend and nodded his head showing his agreement. Snarf then said, "I will go get a scanner." He then lowered his tail so he could scurry away.
Soun then said, "I think it would be best to plan the trip to the mountain early tomorrow Ranma. We can decide who is going with you on this hunt later tonight. You father and I can handle your absence from school tomorrow."