The mission had been a success. They'd subdued the tsukai, and killed his monstrous creations. But justice was not complete. And perhaps Chiyoko would not be avenged until it was.

The four of them marched the criminal, still secured by rope, to the castle. Hopefully then, their mission would truly be complete.

Duo of nervous guards would escort the samurai and their prisoner deep into the bowels of the castle, passing through moldy and humid corridors. Yul in particular would recognize the path, the guards having take him to his punishment not too long ago through the very same route. The local security officers, after offering their compliment to the heroes would remain rather quiet, both holding to their stun-staves as they half-dragged, half-shove Isawa Shin to the justice.

Looking at his communicator, one of the guards addressed the samurai. "The lord magistrate have been informed. She will want to talk to you."

Yul made sure the guards knew, hey, maho user, possibly very dangerous.

Somewhat stiffly, Yul bowed to the guard. "We are at the lord magistrate's disposal." Yul said, his tone neutral.

Hyeon-ju's face was set in a stoic but grim expression. If Shin had more people he was working with, she wanted the Phoenix to find out before executing him.

This matter of honor was almost resolved, and she hoped it would give Chiyoko's spirit some peace.

Likewise, she bowed to the guard. "Thank you."

Nozomi stood at the ready, uncharacteristically silent after all that had happened. She glanced at the others and uttered a soft sigh.

The guards would eventually leave the four samurai into a small lobby of sorts, telling them to wait even as they dragged Shin away, the Phoenix shugenja all but graceful in his defeat, murmuring under his breath with a mad gleam in his eyes.

The lobby - more like a large room was rather plain, lit by two large lamps on the ceiling, the walls thinly plastered steel, rust visible from the cracks on the wall. A large banner noting 'Punished is the evil within' hung by the door, reminding the criminals exactly why there were here.

It would not take long before a Phoenix woman dressed in a nice, orange kimono walked to the room, resting her palm on the handle of her katana as she eyed the unlikely group of heroes. "Good evening, samurai-sama."

"I am Asako Masako, the lord magistrate of Asakaza. You have done a great service to us." She offered them a bow with a thin smile on her lips.

Yul blinked, then bowed low. "Magistrate-sama." He said. "This one is Shinjo Yul." With no one especially being the spokesperson for the group, he decided to let the others introduce themselves.

He straightened, frowning curiously. "My apologies, Magistrate-sama, but I thought the office was held by Agasha Kaori-sama."

“Magistrate-sama”
Shoan’s bow is very respectful, as befitting someone of the phoenix’s position.
If she is surprised by Masako’s expression or the nagging feeling that there was some missing subtext here, she gives no sign.

“I am Shoan of the Murame who serve the Ikoma.”

"Agasha Kaori-sama is no more. She goes now by the same Kindan." Masako replied, sighing softly. "She retired not... two hours ago." she tilted her head to the side. "I believe she is joining a monastery in Shiro Shiokaze. But, we should not speak of the person that is no more." Masako smirked as she pulled out a recorder, flicking it on. "Now, may I have your testimonies please?"

"Oh." Yul acknowledged all that, blinking.

His lips parted as he began to speak, but then stopped. "Magistrate-sama. My wingmate, Utaku Hyeon-ju-san, was the lead on this mission, and her testimony on the tsukai is the most complete."

He bowed again, and then gave Hyeon-ju a respectful nod. You got this.

One magistrate instead of another. Maybe this one wouldn't be covering up crimes.

"Utaku Hyeon-ju, hohei of the 7th Sky Rider Wing," she introduced herself with a curt bow, easily falling back into stiff military-like posture and demeanor.

"If Lord Magistrate is aware of the murder on Matsu Chiyoko-san of the Lion Clan that happened the day before yesterday, I won't take up your time with the details of that event and the testimony already given there," a beat to give the Lord Magistrate the chance to confirm or deny.

Given the go-ahead, she continued.

"As a matter of honor for myself for the personal attack on me, and for the Lion for an attack and murder on one of theirs, we worked together to track down where the blasphemer Isawa Shin could possibly be hiding. Following tracks and rumors of someone having gone to one of the outposts in the forest outside the city limits. Our suspicions were proven right when we found one of his... monstrous creations, guarding one of the outposts; the fungul-creature that had attack myself and killed Matsu-san earlier."

"The creature was taken out by our combined efforts, and Isawa Shin himself appeared along with more of those creatures. It was a hard fight, but with our honor at stake, we prevailed and destroyed the enemy. Shinjo-san placed a well-aimed shot at Isawa Shin that disabled him, and it was decided that he would be brought back to face proper reprecussions for his crime." If the Phoenix would question him aggressively for conspirators, she didn't say, not wanting to make it seem like she didn't think they could do the job right.

"We sweeped the outpost for other enemies, but found no more. Only evidence of Isawa Shin's research into these things... we did not burn down the outpost or cleanse it, as our inexperience in the area could have led to damage to the surrounding area, realising it wisest to let it fall to the experts in the area."

Hyeon-ju bowed once more, finishing her report.

"The magistrate's office is aware of the tragedy." Masako murmured. "Many of my officers lit candles for Matsu-san." The smoke rising from the candles was meant to guide the restless soul to the heavens. "We were disturbed by such news." She shook her head. "The wage of such heresy is death. First, however, we must determine if he acted truly alone." A cry of anguish, presumably that of Shin, pealed through the corridors. "My magistrates and eta are taking the renegade's testimony as we speak." The gentle smile turned into a wicked sneer.




"For apprehending him, you have our thanks." Masako bowed his head at the samurai. "You have done us a great service indeed. Now, of course we cannot discuss such matters openly, but my lord will prepare a writ of deeds for each of you, so that you can present it to your lords, if you so wish." She looked at all of them as if trying to take measure of each and everyone. "My people will be heading to the outpost as soon as the renegade speaks." Another doleful cry echoed somewhere not too far away, the scream cut short by a faint, sickening thud. "That should not take long." Smirking, Masako picked up a densai, tapping it few times. "Kitsu-san. Do you have anything to add?"


__________
Everyone involved gets 0.2 Glory and may purchase one rank of Lore: Shadowlands or Lore: Maho paying the normal cost, if they wish to do so.

Yul's jaw tensed, and he stood a little straighter, but he said nothing. A glance at Hyeon-ju, and Yul relaxed somewhat, although his lips were still pressed tightly together.

He glanced at Nozomi, eyebrows going slightly up.

Nozomi pushed up her glasses. "Shin's misdoings run deep in the area. Cleansing is indeed beyond my capabilities. Beyond, well, simply torching the place."

She waved her hand a bit. "Jade had the intended effects upon both the prisoner and his constructs. I am unable to ascertain how he created them exactly but he can augment him with... help."

"Oh, I believe me, we are going to torch the place to the ground - just like we did with his studio." Good three dozen ji-samurai were now homeless because the building had been destroyed - a price the Phoenix were more than willing to pay. It wasn't as if any of the people responsible for the decision had to suffer from consequences.

"We are just going to look around first." Masako added. "We want to figure out how this could happen without anyone noticing anything." When Nozomi mentioned Jade, the magistrate smile. "Kitsu-san knows her history. Foul magicks like this can indeed by thwarted by purity of heaves." Another scream interrupted her, Masako merely waiting for the wailing to end before she continued. "Augment them?"

"Ah. Well, I suspect your teams would be better able to contain any fire than the four of us alone," Nozomi said with a plain smile.

She patted her spells list. "Oh I never like to forget about such impurities. One must never let anyone get too comfortable with the idea that someone might forget," she beamed with a triumphant glasses push-up. "As for the augmentation, the prisoner hid scrolls that detailed the process on how to augment the creatures with the help of blood. I burned them on the spot as there was no chance of purifying those."

"One would think so as well." Masako smirked. "If any of you want to be purified, I have a priest coming here with all the bamboo leaves, salt and incense they could find." she added, sounding dead serious. "Of course we are not forcing you to stay, but..." an eyebrow rose to indicate that the Phoenix would highly prefer to ensure the spiritual purity of their guests. "You did? Shame. Still, one can hardly blame you. Such vile things deserve to be destroyed once they have been studied."

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OOC: Thread is more or less over, feel free to chatter with each other if you want.

"I would like to be purified, thank you," she bowed to the magistrate, grateful that this had gone well and there would be no flogging involved.

Maybe it was because no Crab were involved?