The group travel to Maemikake, stopping at waystations along the way, feeling a sense of dread as they head closer to the Wall, even though they won’t be going anywhere near it when they finally stop. The weather bites at them, and they rest for a time in an abandoned, desolate village with no plants or growth. As they travel, Minoru is unsettled by the trees of the Shinomen Mori on the horizon, and one night he sees a ghost flame traveling on the road, triggering the ringing of the bells in his mind. He takes this as a sign that they need to take a detour off the main road, and the next day they find a patrol of Crab samurai, who direct them to Maemikake and ask if the group met any other samurai on the road, as there are reports that some are harassing the local peasants.
Finally arriving at Maemikake, they realize that this ‘small town’ is more similar in size to a city, and that the lake it sits next to is full of Iron Turtle ships like Hida Kunohide’s. It’s extremely well-fortified, with watchtowers looking over the lake, and has a dry-docks for more shipbuilding, but outside of those fortifications are shantytowns, full of refugees from the winter in Hirosaka who were unable to go back.
Before going to meet the local lords, the team heads to an inn to rest and clean up. They find one that’s owned by the Daidoji, and notice a few Falcon guests on their way to the baths. As they finally get to unwind in the water, an old woman named Dhitsi joins them with a bottle of extremely potent sake to share with them, greeting them on behalf of the inn’s patron. She joins them for some conversation, bringing up how much she loves the town, in spite of the scarcity it’s going through, and after some chat takes her leave. Minoru, Eiko and Hajime then decide to get dressed and ready to meet with the local daimyo, while a drunk Yuzume decides to stay in the bath – no one seems keen to tell her to do her actual job.
When the three go downstairs, they are met by Hiruma Liway, local magistrate for Maemikake, who Hajime is immediately taken with. Liway leads them to the magistrate station to ask if they’re here on official business, then inquires after Hirosaka’s welfare. Eiko brings up the food that Kunohide supplied, and rewarding the Crab in kind, which seems to stress Liway out somewhat. They tell Eiko that that’s something to talk to the local lord, Yasuki Varun, about, and changes the subject swiftly to ask Minoru to help find a missing child. A local prodigy from the local dojo, Hiruma Peschay, has gone missing participating in a little ‘game’, where the scouts-in-training travel to the Uebe Marshes to disarm and bring back a Hiramori trap. It’s likely that he’s also looking for a Hiramori scout who has trained with the Hiruma and served on the Wall, which may put him in even more danger. Liway recounts the methods they’ve used to try to find Peschay, including setting a ‘terrifying local authority’ on the other students to discover where Peschay might be. Before the three leave, Liway says they will keep in touch and contact them if they need assistance from the Emerald Office, rather than going up the chain to Satsume, and Minoru passes on the news that the Emerald Champion is dead.
After picking up a still-tipsy Yuzume from the inn, the group head to the docks to meet Yasuki Varun. There they see Miya Wakaba, who congratulates Minoru on his promotion. They are in town to investigate issues relating to the Emperor’s Blessing in rebuilding Ryoko Owari. Apparently some of the supplies headed for the city were diverted to the Wall by the Yasuki, based on a ‘paperwork mishap’, and they may need to go to the Wall to look into this. They wish the group luck, and let them head further into the docks.
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