. cig § te. y, ‘ ] a ~ nan Tees Oy] Pa v Ashidaka Naritoki“Month of the Tiger, Third Da ee et a ny txday AIL Tint hoping fri ite pe around how take her for ranted: how Tat ke Tm ashamed Sery ell wet er wiwiow cant? To tell the truth, i's almost as in some oat bowie ep quiet, All the lite things seem to be conspFing aga My tirrup broke as Lvs going to work, Tve develo that fst wort go away” Finally) is being comy ‘upaas.a mendicant beggar while he flaunts his wealth this way ahd that. He demands ot for his measly hundred kok, and if he's not careful Tl hang him out to dry jist to shut him up. Ett could be woree | suppore. Im just aefl for this ok To be truthful and wh me be truth if pillow book?) | almost look forward to coming o This journal mie than I Wook forward to seing M Month of the Tiger, Seventh Day re whole thing «pack of le. AL the same time ne believes fe completl entities of the peop Tread the book forthe first time two months ago when Ichi 0 I've been prepared foe ths ne mentions the bank, Langue that t's most change the clan depending an my listener to sow conf mistrust. In shot Veep telling people t's a basket hat. can tock this up by presenting a numberof conlcts and ontradictions inthe text although they don really exist, no one iS going to look them up while aking t find themrealized this right away. but this is handly sugprisin can dramatic role inthe book). The more people the Feader can everness Iced to them. 1 ah once, then read it Aer doubt Month of the Tiger, Fourteenth Day Curse him, the bandit Fade ver Everytime | think Ive seen all his tik must have heen raised noble, no pe ‘the leadership to pl off su and name to ensure compl foating isnt face's usual style, and both treat deal by exchonging names, The real Fade could et himsell ‘i scen in public many nile from the incident. wile the fal if have the reassurance that we magistrates would b Tboking for Kim vith clues that lead tora different man alt ‘On one hand, its teeould work i simple bandits even bother with such suberf fade is handy a simp bandit. Besides ly less comp m raiding river instead of ‘tly tv fel lke this citys starting to work its way into my mind. Even things that should be simple appear complicated to te now, because | Keep thinking “surely pevhape the simplicity is only a omplesty Is ike ling in a maze ne with mirorsOb wel atleast eh better with M. — for now: When bothering me, because she didnt sar th S ints Instead, she gave me nice si strange he hos. Then, when she was done rubbing my ered ry heed with a towel and h a walk on my back. Whoever it was, “ ies los. woh could seep here but TW. il Now’ know the burdens of an Emerald M ‘Month of the Tiger, Twenty-Second Day That busterngf601 K. made que a scene totay, demanding that Teatch Fade immediatly. {assured him that fas doi add when {asked if had any advice that ocee Redes Pee Gare Corian all the time Ive been her sme privately, He atways does ths; shouts and threatens me in front of my stall lecuse things as equal he revealed his veal fear IF am shipments to Necessary Village Thm, "Mort magistrates here woul be spore Seg illegal Trteady know ther, lean spend tat time searchin Telly, I meant it ae ajoke, but he got upset and fen him. 1 found th yo Unbelievably picked this juncture asthe perfect time to get Invalved in power pots, He sad he'd everheard K talking Pel phac siponentd ttre Kaeo ‘Sepesilly fore Scorpion) tnd woridared it bea thing itsuch » sh siawanted to let oy ruck im and tol icave thinking about the opium tade to perspective Things looked wer diferent atthe top mf aclungheap, 201 guess shouldnt be surpased Hoke Ovotl would be runes i the TE dcaat understand ho horned | te toexplain but doubt that | i made sure he with the opium rl but Fas in no ores 01 through to him He can be erstood that no one was goin Sipe happy Month of the Rabbit, First Day the mann Mem sn Oplum ate ee at hase wa torah soar ss prset and iy, He's not fast hough. while oul consider Osaks offer to lend me made a break on talk ve nem fo foo much ume. Maybe fier man. But she says she doesnt need a new torturer, sod have {aay her back some other way, Notan attractive prospect.In any event, we got names (ora leat aliases) of other ninja but it tok $9 much fine that they were long gone by the time we learned where they were Shosuro Re (a Daimyo's N atches Belden Pass an vet forged Now, however find out called Long Ears going towards Cra pps | te tty Be Te Meda request to interrogate him before his execution 1 hope fe gets there in tim “SM. introduced me to a geisha called G. tonight, M. got her in from the country three yeas ago, and has just recently decided it she's completed er im impressed, not on i lip up and reveal her cofimon roots: She's 60 et outy just ow coming ripe. M. must have ifshe sun anh had diet under her fingernails. too 9 (Once @ fad tet us, pe was the ge sso walked upon my back so expertly. M_has been saving her Toping to esadish Rer es the iste of someone discerning and powerful. From what Ive seen of her, her man wil be lek se wel Month of the Rabbit, Sixth Day Every lead on the ease of Fade has le nd. t's J'selFinterested, making i relatively easy to-go from capeured ninja to freeones. Fade pure ily through the year. Then they hide out ind they make a steady income through countl drag off the lowest levels of the organization —t knows this and i careful to Insulate himselfTunderlings. Fade, on the other hr ten band ecution delayed and in hoving him sent to Ryoko Owars. Surprisingly, Shosuro Re Showed up ae well. Im not sure what to make of her, she seems but oti the usual Scorpion way, Tm not ibe i, Most Scorpions act ike you've Tight, like they'd do the same thing in your place- Almost like they regret Slackmail like that; instead, sh knew Td done ig erong and ike tam Aileen fron fake sympa a Of threat, Nota blackmailers threat; a maysrate’s thre Maybe Pim just jumping at shadoves, More likely the Scorpion inthe south have o diferent that ve done anything she could stick me for Accusi bribes would cause her ate =| ke she i her Not that ick ci must know these things, unless sh planning to cross me, knowing she'd lose Ei sibly just my oven nerve 1's ining for me to come to bed Perhaps rind olf things Hrnothing eae wil shut her ‘Month of the Rabbit, Eleventh Day aang Eats has been quite help, thanks to Pi ‘been identified in the sherman Quarter Tm al make an example of one of them just to stv chin mune or create a tle war betwee the ninja’ and the firemen, Sill cart take 2 hat the one I gave ther would bethme — setting up some show arests, agreeing to keep out Nobile Quarter and to ep her activities que uch toask? Ayako was happy sith i merchants to her heat de Socal onder It was fomnbeing done Get least preventing them, the lact. Everything was fne, dammit, and then this new guy has to come i kilt Ayako and dump a bucket of fish gut Nover a perfect situlion It's proaly her own darn fa ve Sut there is heat ta pai guards and defenses ands Matching for betrayal from an in subly Ba o make thing for them fer le their oem enterpaes prosper Get them satel Mae them lok good whe they take mc look goods and then tetra the nov leader tome, Ll hie srl pst one of Rem in fis ple Or jst eradicate the whole oganization ia nee Idea, Ti have to see they sultable. Even they rent, the approach might get noticed by the new ciel. who wil probably be poranotd enough to ash out on mere suspicion. And tthe he lobes out, ofcourse, hel be vunerbl Tinreasonable people ca take sure thatFust got bock fi Champion. Luckily was ane of hie months out {to ride two days and tke an overnight barge use he is my Daimyo and the Emerald Champion. Ir of his high station — Seteen us 0s men. Tmade novexc did stress the promi Tine to wall I lint revel to hit workings, but i subtly sound him ithe underings. | could shout their inne tout on ray plan of subverting one anything outright, but when I present Cavor or favor, he sermed to understand ve other magistrates reporting, so 1 didn have i might selfishly spuch individual time with she Champion ASesie- He did make time to speak with me personally however. etold me he understood whats thorn Rydko Owar can be that he appreciates my efforts He congratulated me igneral ducharge of my duties — even though I havent captured Fade or completly destroyed the in "Wath another men, I would have dismissed his words as mer Aattery, but coming from him, they meant more. in ray hear. 1 ‘rant tobeticve hint admire him, obey him 1 fel more loyalty [Sehhim thar have felt for any man, place or ideal in my ie. T atch myset hoping some part is reflected from iim to me — that he really appr anderstands my true loyalty to ur, de ein pursuit of the larger good. fel that he does: but 1 (ha would think or fel anything fhe wanted eto had alo br its pertectly possibie that Do 5 ranipulator by Rokugan. 1 hope my felings for him are valid: but must accept that hs sincerity and careful tpt anything he wanted in my heart 1 have n‘On my way in here, G. bowed to me and greted me ina familar lshion, U asked her how she'd recopized te (st ad faturally taken reat care to conceal my features and wear 2 plain robe She said that when M. introduced me, she had Beth struck by my graceful walk and that she hod recognized Tested her i her mother had ben as beautiful as she, and she jst pagled. Then fesked if her beautiful mothe had Shared the love ofa sarnurei — for surely no peasant have the refinement to notice a ‘comport herself as sh my word ud pois to Gt she was lected by ‘raving to supplant Feflected in her? In any event, k probably sould be worth the fHfort One mistress fs trouble enough, Uhave no ned d'watch them fight, Regardless of which won, Iw Month of the Rabbit, Last Day td by Long Fars. Backed by A and LW, I comered tnd presented hm wits my offer — my ps protection in return for his a He said he'd doi, but I could tell right away that he intended to betray me He 98 com ely unsuitable, he might as wel ove hed! up a sign ‘rm Going To Stab Your Back People wh nie to be well should just tell the truth and stay out of trouble Tet him think that he'd et me (and how ging twas to pretend that somcone so transparent could dupe me) and then Ralowed him when he departed He went straight tothe home of isl by Long Ears ie alld ih to see side, and then was able to the pir with his aie Aric tured out, Skender was not just planning to betray me to he master — he had ambitions te backmal meas well ‘Geary he wouldrt do, We moved inTwas, perhaps, abit sloppy. We didnt k vasa thir man inside an he had a bow, We tried to take the thi ma ice TW got hit and responded with a spel that kil bulking on fre sheathed when the third man trust have thought he could Sad attack before {could crave. The look of surprise Rocher he died would have Been more gratifying from familar with the art of thew but Tt rely conte nar wok great pleasure in ling him. Such ain my sword, and the archer by T. snd was sop Month of the Dragon, Third Day TW hs gotten ove my reprimand must have had a eak hull an ah sad tort, [dont kno Sized turyp of mopey samura around my o ier problems etal definitely cokd on Fade’ atest heist, andl the in Seppe thems thee just scared fora while working in secret have mo co out tm sore wont ike“Month ofthe Dragon, Fighth Day eal nen fra eing th he pa complaining replied that she ‘hile Re andl Hh to make with a pins Ive heard before dont buy opium, the Un ‘addicted — perhaps by sheaking Ie ts plensed. Ke spate next rel renewed is ejuest that the Mantis ‘contol He restated his distrnute opium in Scompargued that H. should distrbut wan accent to her regular Lionel Ustrute t the Mantis because they're next Au he invoked “eflcency” and the good of the entire can. aaartcre by saying thot Hf that was his only interest, he should Ae give her the Scorpion temitory (which ss convenient to he Jon network and let her Keep the Marts where she has wr tablished jroupof sellers) He was ready: his ‘ofthe markt, would tas the reply was that iT had 20 uel Felds she owns, while his would produce more FHentifain another i rtsed the specter of aernative Pecetdcnt merchants smuggling i across cartel boundaries. aa et Hwan either HFK. wants the Manti Pe'isitts he can make more money of it than he Scorpion, My guess would be that he'd like to use the Mi Seritaleopiurs into Otosan Uchi (H's tertory. and the ntional Sthnboddpium use and into the Phoenix lands aaa Gree opium could reach much caler by sea than by her nt land route the syatem worked ine as 1 3 eri oer for next year K looked dsgruntl woul be surprised iF H. 1s sneaking cheap {na Phocnis territories on the sly, and the Mantis w perfect way t0 move Sey asked me if Thad any’ input from an enforcement istribution Troll them that Ks plan to diversity hi fot the riverbank inspector eel I but what did he expe perspective Efarincs was a se one. While he Gael for now that could change in a mon cane ilpin ta have an overland route into Crab territory Seethhe rsk and elfor of establishing it nov. lalso sak { * to ehange a aystem that was working fine "Asa The ena Tenecte are often the7K expressed the opinion tha with, Shigeko had been, thought K's new overland distibution would be. il Thought it would be fairy secure, barring any unforeseen probleme. She nodded narrowed her eyes and asked me hon inforecen problems” might come about fo cross him for her unles he was planning to destroy bith Completely, She sa she understood and that my impartial Sctuoly made the threecertel opium situation more sable Tsmiled af that. Afterall ve stably the ultimate goal of an Emerald Magistrate Month of the Dragon, Sixteenth Day been ily and ic ne for years without ny children, but Wee sll close, She a8 good n goon! helper ad she Keeps the house os |i eve rusted he with every legitimate problem ve face as a agitate, and her advice has always been Inet ny work the se no on cuties cant tel be T owe her that atleast But the pressure cant tel I must tell someone. AndThe prose hs coments. So ony merchant a ion compliance fr tempted to just drop the entire charade 1 could stop tality tribes from them ak — and serest them all for offering Fite clo thave for more money? T already have wealth eo esti aad no time to spend it all. The bribes from the m eavtts is dificult enough to hide Tow-level grafts wll tothink it over Month of the Dragon, Tiventy-Ninth Day ee eng aariake ata Emerald Maga Ee this Blasphemy could be toler. haming loss.camer pigeons, but Fade and astautted the Iida Geter ian unter jring the shipment men were killed, and filing that ene ‘One of them wail iefttichind was eight But what if it doeart? We had one of his men still were unable to find him The inate embarrassing enough, but at Sit ‘quit. This s making me look ike am id in front of the entre Country — people ar losing thei at in the Emerald Doji Sats have humbly that Fade hos escalated his pre He is well on hi Ryoko Ovart in prt 1 beng major thveat to Rokugan, and tc Month of the Dragon, Last Day Damn the backna ond shallows city Hf Beery request for an Ereertid Legion and recommended agains to the Emerald Champion and to Bavush shoyu 8 Spoke tothe Emperor and Im fo get nothin That titch! Doesnt she understand that we want the same ae, stable city? Ryoko Owar nk