Deceiving The Deceivers[Solo/Job]

Spoiler:

Much had happened since Yakuroro had come to Zou, yet despite all that had transpired he almost felt like nothing had been accomplished at all. The Finalis that had proclaimed guardianship over the power the Imuchakk obtained in Marax had left Yakuroro's company. The finalis siblings he'd met along the way had settled in a mountain temple longer than the wanderer cared to stick around. The crimes he committed to break a young girl out of prison were cleared thanks to a visit with a Zouen prince, but during that time the girl herself had disappeared.

However perhaps his time here had been valuable after all? He DID successfully learn how to wield the power of his mysterious Djinn even if it was still drenched in mystery. The man had also gained a new companion in the form of a baby chimera with a quite literally thick skull, Akatetsu. The Blue Magician tried not to let his mind linger on the fruitless debate of whether he'd wasted his time here or spent it wisely.

The tall Imuchakk's steps slowly carried him down a surprisingly well kept back road as he returned from his visit to the palace. Yakuroro managed to clear his name so he would now head to the temple where Dynatos, Ares, and Kana were staying. The man decided to ask the two if they would like to join him as he departed to...well, Yakuroro wasn't sure exactly where he was going yet. But with no more guards looking to capture or kill him, there was no need to rush. Instead of riding his flying carpet Yaku made the trek on foot at a casual pace. He'd been walking since morning when he left the capital and the sun was now setting behind the Jade Dragon Mountains to the west. There was a village up ahead that looked to be surprisingly large for one found on the outskirts of the empire.

~324/1500~

Weary from a full days travel, Yakuroro guided his aching feet into the village and began looking for an inn to stay at. As the Imuchakk entered the streets of the town and observed his surroundings something seemed very off. There were few people out despite the size of the town and those who were seemed to be taking extra efforts to avoid each other. While the Imuchakk strolled down the middle of the road he watched as villagers would cross the street so they wouldn't pass one another and most seemed to be against even looking at one another. This was troubling and spurred Yaku to investigate by approaching the market place. After finding a seat next to a fountain the blue magician closed his eyes and listened carefully for any rumors but there weren't many people for him to eavesdrop on and all the shops closed up soon as the sun settled behind the mountain ridge to the west.

Yakuroro sighed before getting up from his seat as he hadn't heard or learned a single thing to help him understand the nature behind the tension between the people here. Hoping the inn keep would be a more fruitful source of information, and food, Yakuroro made his way to the only inn in town. As the Imuchakk ducked his head and entered the building he saw a band on mercenaries drinking and eating in the den. Turning to the elderly Zou citizen behind the desk Yakuroro placed enough huang to pay for a nights stay and a decent meal as he spoke, "I'd like a room for one and a meal for 5 please." His words were laced with a kind smile to show that he wasn't here to cause trouble. The old man behind the counter eyed Yakuroro carefully and then frowned as he asked, "Did the Choqin hire you?" The question was spoken with an under laying spite which confused the large magician. "The Choqin? I don't know who that is, but I'm not under hire from any body..." The old man didn't looked fully convinced, but he slowly grabbed a room key from under the desk and handed it to the guest anyways. "You better leave in the morning then...If the Wu family think's you've been hired by the Choqin then those ruffians will cut your throat when you aren't looking..."

~719/1500~

Yakuroro took the inn keeps warning and weighed it against the thugs whom were feasting near by as he took his own seat on the opposite side of the den closer to the fire place. If he could be killed by the likes of them then perhaps Yaku deserved to die. They were wearing expensive gear and fancy blades, however everything looked brand new and then men spoke in a dialect familiar to a farming community elsewhere in Zou. Upon closer inspection it was likely they were simple people of the land dressed up to look like warriors, but the lack of battle wear on their armor and weapons gave away that most of them had probably never been in a fight before. While the blue magician waited for his food he turned his head towards the fireplace and his ear towards the men. As his blue eyes watched the flames dance he listened for any useful information.

"Bwahaha! We really need to thank the Butcher of Balbadd, we wouldn't have money to pay for all this drink if it weren't for hi-" Another mercenary spoke up and cut the man off, "Shh! We shouldn't be calling Dolhab-sama that here. Be quiet and drink your ale ya fool."

The exchange would be the only useful information the men mentioned as the rest of the conversation moved to tales of bedding women and other nonsense.

~953/1500~

When Yakuroro's meal arrived he finished all five servings and then made his way up to his room to get some rest. Through out his meal the hired men eventually ran out of things to talk about other than the harvest and their lives back in their home villages confirming his suspicions that they were not really mercenaries. It was hard to sleep when there was such a confusing puzzle before him. Why were two families at odds and why were fake mercenaries here? There was no point in trying to figure out the answer until he had more information so Yakuroro eventually drifted off to sleep no more wiser to the events going on here than he was before. In the morning Yaku set out to wander around the village a bit more. He needed to get back to the temple to regroup with the finalis siblings, but something about the tension here made the Imuchakk worry that if he just left the village as it was black rukh would begin to spread its influence.

~1130/1500~

Instead of taking the western road out of the village Yakuroro decided to find temporary employment so he could afford to stick around and observe the strange conflict going on beneath the surface. This intent would carry him to the farmlands on the outskirts of town where his water magic might prove useful against the dangers of dry weather. The lack of livestock made the Imuchakk assume the farm worked crops, however as he arrived Yaku would learn there was more to the story...

"Who else could have taken all of the cattle!? The Choqin are clearly "retaliating" using their horrible lies that you Wu are responsible for their daughter's death as a pretense!"

One of the hired farmhands in mercenaries clothing from the inn last night shouted at the Wu family whom seemed frightened from the way he brandished his sword. Yakuroro's first impulse was to step in, however another man beat him to it. A stylish young male with the look of an important figure place a hand on the mercenaries shoulders and took a more calm approach, "Now, now, they are scared so it's understandable they don't want to take action. However, you can't let the Choqin get away with the crime's they've committed. I will supply you and your friends with weapons so you can defend yourselves from their depraved acts. Of course, we don't believe that you truly murdered their daughters. Those filthy Choqin have plenty of daughters so they probably hired an assassin to kill the two least beautiful ones who were less likely to be married off at high values. All in order to make it seem like they would be just in stealing your livestock." The man's words were that of a silver tongued snake.

Yakuroro watched and listened carefully. So there was some kind of family based feud, but who was this man hiring false warriors and supplying weapons to farm hands? He had to be up to no good, but Yakuroro could not prove this as of right now. Instead of engaging the situation the blue magician turned around and headed to the other side of town. It was time to visit the Choqin estate and learn their side of things.

~1500+/1500~

As Yakuroro reached the half way point between the two ends of the villages he saw a peculiar sight. Two wagon carts being lead by all black oxen were spotted slipping off the main road and into the alleys. One was headed to the farm where he'd just come from and the other was heading in the direction of the Choqin estate (which Yaku only knew the location of thanks to a passing citizen he'd asked). The large Imuchakk couldn't catch up to the wagon on foot without making a lot of noise so he willed the flying carpet around his waist to carry him into the air. With the carpet's help Yaku would be able to move at an impressive speed and make no noise allowing him to sneak behind the cart headed to the Choqin and peek inside. The cargo was weapons. Lots and lots of weapons. Perhaps enough to arm half the people in the village. It was safe to assume that the other cart was also filled with dangerous tools of war as the young man he'd seen earlier had straight out mentioned supplying the farmers with such objects.

Yakuroro would fly over the cart and towards the estate at a faster speed so he could beat them there and see what the situation was like before weapons were in the people's hands. Something about having a sharp blade in hand seemed to dull a man's judgement with delusions that it means they have the power and right to do as they please.

Upon arriving at the Choqin estate, Yakuroro landed on the roof a nearby building as a rather loud confrontation was taking place just outside the estate. Several members of the Choqin family were being addressed by a red haired muscular man who looked to be a finalis. The man was shouting with aggression in his voice as he tried to coerce the family into action.

"How many times do I have to tell you people!? If you let the Wu get away with claiming you stole their cattle then your daughter's deaths will never go unpunished! They will demonize you and drag your name through the mud, then it will be your word against theirs!" The man stomped his foot on the ground and crushed the earth beneath him. Yup, he was definately a finalis..."Ah, the weapons have arrived. Arm yourselves men of the Choqin family! Half the village already supports you! If we run the other half out of town then sacrifices like your poor daughters will never have to happen again!" The man's shouts stirred a myriad of cheering from the fathers of the killed women and this spread to the other people present.

Things weren't looking good.

Returning to flight once more, Yakuroro rushed back towards the farm lands in order to warn the Wu family as he pieced the situation together. The identity of the two men was unknown, but their intentions were clear enough. The weapons being supplied to both parties has presumably come from the same place which meant that the Wu and Choqin families were being driven towards a conflict. What confused the blue magician was that in both cases the weapons seemed to be offered for free. The masterminds behind this quarrel were not simple arms dealers as they would not have given their merchandise away for free if that were the case. No, the intentions behind this plot were focused elsewhere but to what end? Worst case scenario, the goal was simply to create a blood bath. This was something Yakuroro could not allow to happen, but he would need to act quickly as it was already almost too late.

As Yakuroro neared the farm he spotted a number of people already geared up with weapons marching through the village towards the Choqin estate. Yakuroro then turned around and flew back in the other direction to find the Choqin men were armed and likewise on the move. At this rate they would both meet in the center of town and be spurred into a battle that would surely end poorly for both sides.

As the two small armies of villagers began to converge at the town center Yakuroro rose his left hand into the air and prepared to transform and equip his Djinn's power. "O' Djinn of Mischief and Deceit! Let my will bend reality and grant me the power to fool even the wise! Dwell in my body and let your power be unleashed!" Light and sound rukh enveloped the Imuchakk's body as he became wrapped in the power of Marax. The light of his transformation would be eclipsed by the sun allowing him to go unnoticed even as he brandished Marax's greatsword. From above, Yakuroro could see that the two men whom has spurred the groups into action were leading the groups together but neither of them had their weapons out and at the ready so they probably had no intention of actually participating in the slaughter. It was more likely that they would give the orders to charge before slipping out of sight.

But before either of the two could start the bloody conflict Yakuroro moved into action. His demonic looking form wrapped in blue flames descended down in the middle of the town square as the two groups arrived. Some people screamed and others looked on in shock as the armored Djinn Equip gave Yaku the presence of a monster. Before the two agents could recover from the surprise, Yakuroro spoke, "HOLD! You have done well to lead these families against each other my servants, but I have changed my mind. Your god demands that you take the weapons back to our temple. We will burn and bleed this village another day!" The king vessel lied and claimed the men were working for him which would paint them both as servants to a demon. The ensuing chaos of people running away and throwing down their weapons would make it impossible for the two to rally the Wu and Choqin families. Only a few villagers had the bravery to remain but most of those who lingered did so as they were paralyzed with fear.

180/200 Magoi

With the two aggressive forces disbanded there would be no blood bath today and with the reputation of the two men now set as servants of a demon they would likely never be able to regain the trust of the villagers here. Yet despite this victory, Yaku's job was not done. The first of the two men to address him was the hot headed Finalis Maxio, "Where the hell did you come from!? You've ruined everything!" Maxio then ran towards Yakuroro from 20m away at 15m/s with his spear at the ready. Yaku determined that the man would be hard to get information from so he would need to be defeated quickly. The djinn equipped Imuchakk flew towards Maxio at 15m/s as well and curved his trajectory at the last moment to slip past Maxio's spear thrust. A single slash from Marax's great sword would sever Maxio's arm dealing A-tier damage. Losing a limb would not kill the man, but it would render him unable to fight with the same strength he had all his life.

With the Finalis defeated Yakuroro turned his attention towards Sahiir whom had chosen to keep his head cool and his weapon sheathed. "I give up. I don't know who or what you are, but you've clearly foiled our plans." Sahiir already knew he'd lost any chance of tricking the villagers into killing each other and was now prioritizing his life and limbs safety. "I'll admit that I stole the farmer's cattle and blamed it on the Choqin, now would you mind admitting that I've never seen you before in my life? Too many people here know my name and I'd rather not get a reputation for being a monster's pet." Sahiir held his hands up in surrender as he spoke.

170/200 Magoi

Sahiir was smart to have surrendered while people were still present. If Yakuroro obliged him then they would know that he was being played. However Yakuroro was not keen on disengaging his Djinn Equip as so far only Dynatos knew of his identity behind the flaming mask of his Djinn's power. Sure, Yaku could have verbally relieved Sahiir of the claim but the man didn't deserve such mercy after he was about to lead countless innocent people to their deaths over a lie. "You dare to speak back to your lord?" Yaku growled as he flew towards Sahiir and picked him up by the back of his collar. The king vessel would fly at top speed towards the Jade Dragon Mountains carrying Sahiir behind him until they were well out of the sight of the village.

In hindsight, Yakuroro probably should have flown higher so the fall would threaten Sahiir with death. Shortly after they got out of sight from the village Sahiir drew his blade and slashed Yaku's hand drawing blood and forcing the Imuchakk to drop him. Yakuroro landed nearby and held his cut wrist to slow the bleeding as he turned to face Sahiir whom had landed on his feet and was now turning to lunge a stabbing attack aimed for Yakuroro's back. "Marx Vanish..." Yakuroro muttered as he disappeared from sight and flew out of the way of Sahiir's attack only to impale the man's left leg with Marax's great sword dealing A-tier damage. Yakuroro reappeared behind Sahiir and shifted the blade inside the man's limb causing a great deal of pain. "If you want to keep all of your limbs like unlike your friend, I suggest you tell me what you were doing in that village."

Sahiir howled in pain and let go of his weapon as he reached for the impaled limb only to realize that touching it right now only caused more agony. "All right! All right! We work for The Brotherhood of Ash! An organization based in Reim...P-Please, take it out! I'll tell you whatever you want! Take it out!" Yakuroro complied this time and removed the great sword from Sahiir's leg. The man tore off part of his expensive looking cloths and began wrapping his wound. "What did this "brotherhood" want with that village?" Sahiir was quietly moaning in pain as he tried to treat his injury and wasn't speaking. Yaku rose the great sword once again and upon seeing that Sahiir quickly spoke up, "Please not again! There wasn't any real goal...we just do what we want stealing power and wealth from others. All we need to do is ask for support from the local communications team and they give us all the money and man power we need to take what we want. It's that kind of group. Maxio and I wanted to kill the townsfolk so we could take the assets of both the Wu and Choqin family."

Yakuroro didn't see any reason for Sahiir to be lying and sighed as he realized there were more pressing matters to keep him in Zou a while longer. If there were more men working for this brotherhood in Zou then someone needed to stop them before they cause more tragedies like the one Yaku had just narrowly diffused. "Where is this communications team?"

"In a cave...in the southern region of the Jade Dragon Mountains..."

"Thanks for the information. Sorry about the leg..." and with that Yakuroro flew south west intending to clear out the Brotherhood presence.