The trunks Yamikaji had summoned shattered, and immediately the temperature returned to normal. Sojo and Vard stepped down from the carriage and approached Yamikaji, whose angry glare at Graid had not softened.
Graid turned, giving his back to Yamikaji, and said with a sardonic smile,
"Follow me now!"
Yamikaji's anger flared, but he forced himself to calm down, slipping back into his mocking persona as he said,
"Step down from your post, Ice Flower. What I brought here is more precious and rarer than anything ever brought—by it I will become the second man in the gang."
At first glance Graid seemed just a handsome, ordinary man. Yet he was a member of the King's Skull Gang even though he did not wear the white robe that marked its members — and, more important, he was the gang's second-in-command.
Graid said nothing aloud; he walked ahead with a small, hidden smile, thinking to himself,
"Second-in-command, the deputy? Your shallow perspective shows how foolish people are about what happens in the shadows. That's human nature: judge everything by the surface. Most likely your view of the leader's goal — stealing that sword — is as shallow as you are, Yamikaji."
The carriage rolled on behind Graid's steps, passing crowded markets where merchants shouted their wares, through residential neighborhoods with children playing and running, and finally into an area of abandoned buildings.
This district was bleak and frightening; the houses and structures were ruined and deserted, as if evil spirits had taken up permanent residence. The air felt tight and hard to breathe, but Graid, Yamikaji, and their followers Juso and Vard walked on with steady hearts as if they were used to coming here.
After passing several derelict buildings they reached a tall structure that, despite its age and neglect, looked less grim than the rest. Its door was a heavy metal one that wouldn't be easy to open.
Yamikaji got down from the carriage carrying a black bag — inside it, Takeshi's sword. Vard and Juso went to park the carriage properly.
Graid grabbed the cold metal handle and closed his eyes, entering a state of concentration. Suddenly, a cold blue aura surrounded him; it flowed from every part of his body into his hand and onto the handle.
The door loosened and opened slowly. Graid and Yamikaji entered. The light was dim; only thin slivers of sunlight filtered through cracks and windows.
They descended a staircase into a dark cellar until they reached the building's lowest point, where a huge, battered door awaited them — with no conventional knob, only a long iron bar running vertically along it.
Graid grabbed the bar and closed his eyes to focus. A cold blue aura enveloped him and flowed into his hand and then into the bar.
The door creaked open. Graid and Yamikaji stepped in.
Beneath the ground lay a vast hall the size of a large public garden. The floors, walls, and columns were built in an ancient Roman style, lit by gigantic candles casting a warm yellow glow. Despite a faint scent of blood, the room smelled pleasantly of wax and old stone.
Opposite the doorway sat a lavish throne inlaid with gold, taller than three men. Steps led up to it over which a crimson carpet was laid.
On the throne sat the gang's leader, staring ahead with sharp eyes, his right foot resting on his left.
Graid and Yamikaji — the latter wearing a triumphant smile — walked forward. Their footsteps echoed through the hall. They knelt before the throne without a word.
"Yamikaji," the leader said first.
"Yes, my lord," Yamikaji answered.
The leader looked at the black bag Yamikaji had brought and, in a deep voice, said,
"From what I see, you have brought what I ordered."
Yamikaji pulled the crystal-studded glove from his robe and put it on his right hand. He drew the sword from the black bag; the crystals flared with a blinding yellow light.
Holding the sword aloft, Yamikaji declared proudly,
"I completed the mission successfully!"
The leader descended the steps slowly and asked,
"Did you kill the owner of this sword?"
Yamikaji tucked his malicious grin and replied,
"No. As you commanded, I left him alive."
The leader had specifically ordered the sword stolen without killing its owner for reasons unknown. Yamikaji, however, had intended to kill Takeshi — so he had drugged him, brought a Rivarg to the place, and used the child to provoke Takeshi before he died. If Takeshi had not been killed by the monster, more of the beasts would have converged and finished him. Yamikaji had staged it so he would not be directly responsible for killing Takeshi. But Orifen's intervention had ruined that plan.
***
In the dark of the forest, near Takeshi's area, Takeshi and Orifen stood together at the edge of a pit large enough for a child. Beside it lay a cloth, a small corpse, and a mound of dirt — the body of the boy Yamikaji had brought and that the Rivarg had devoured.
Takeshi placed the corpse gently into the pit while Orifen used a heavy branch to shovel dirt over it.
"So they went this far?" Orifen said, breaking the silence.
Takeshi ground his teeth and clenched his fist as he watched the child's burial. He said,
"This gives me an even stronger reason to ally with you, old man…"