“Only the Shōgun and his samurai are permitted to carry blades longer than a knife.” Yamagata lifted his goggles long enough to raise an eyebrow at Akihito. “Does the thought of death by slow dismemberment hold some appeal for you, Hunter?”
“They were a gift.” Akihito didn’t look up. “From Shōgun Kaneda himself.” “Presented to the Black Fox and his fellows after the grand hunt, Yamagata-san,” Kasumi said. “The day we and the Shōgun stalked the last nagaraja of Shima through the Renshi swamps, and laid her to rest.”
“The Mother to All Vipers.” Yamagata stroked his goatee. “Last of the Black Yōkai. What was she like?”
“Twenty feet long. Woman from her waist up, serpent from her waist down.
A mane of living snakes, skin like pale jade, eyes in which a hundred men had
drowned. She was beautiful.” Kasumi shook her head. “Beautiful and terrible.” Akihito nodded and recited,
“Serpents in her hair,
A dark grace, midnight’s beauty. I weep at her fall.”
“You’ll have to forgive him, Yamagata-san,” Kasumi smiled. “Our Akihito fancies himself a poet.”
“It’s in the blood.” The big man patted the phoenix tattoo on his right arm.
“Maybe you were adopted?”
Akihito made a face, threw his whetstone at Kasumi’s head. She snatched it from the air, tossed it back with a laugh.
“I have heard the tale sung in taverns from here to Danro,” Yamagata said. “How Shōgun Kaneda and the Black Fox slew the only great evil of the Yomi underworld yet loose in the world. But I did not know you were there also.” The captain covered his fist and bowed. “Respect, Hunters.”
Akihito smiled at the memory, touched the scars on his chest. Yamagata seemed satisfied, and Kasumi began filling another hypo with blacksleep. The dark, viscous liquid was a potent toxin. A few drops would send the average man dreaming for several hours. Much more than a mouthful, he might sleep forever. The poison was derived from the black roots of the lotus plant, and each vial was adorned with a red paper amulet marked with Guild kanji.
“Are you all right up there?” Yamagata peered at Yukiko, crouched by the bow. “You’re missing the view.”
“I’ve seen it.” Yukiko lifted her kerchief, scratched at her nose. “Chi pipelines, deadlands and blood lotus as far as the eye can see.”
“Ah, lotus.” Yamagata looked out over the swaying fields below. “Who would have thought that iron could grow on trees, eh? Lord Izanagi be praised.”
Akihito glanced up at the captain. “Business is good, then.”
“What do you think?” Yamagata grinned behind his breather. “A third of the country is hooked on bud smoke, and the rest drink lotus leaf tea. That plant is a blessing from the Maker God to anyone with eyes to see.” Yamagata started counting off on his fingers. “Anesthetics from its sap, toxins from its roots, rope and canvas from its rind. And from its seeds? The lifeblood of the whole damn country, my friend.”
He patted the Thunder Child’s rail.
“Fuel for sky-ships, ō-yoroi, motor-rickshaw, chainkatana and memory machines.” He laughed. “Anything the Guild Artificers can dream up. Without chi, we’d still be a mob of farmer clans feuding in the mud. Instead, we’re an Empire. Exploring the seas and conquering the skies. The most powerful nation in the history of the world.”
“Everything comes with a price,” Kasumi muttered. “You’ll see.”
Yamagata stared silently as she continued filling the hypos.
“She’s beautiful now, Captain-san. But in a few years this ship of yours is going to melt under the black rain. And though you’re probably safe with that breather, the chi fumes will see most of your crew in the gutters with the other blacklung beggars.” She sighed. “Even walking among the clouds, you must notice the weather growing hotter by the year? Or that the sun is bright enough to burn you blind if you look at it with your naked eye? Did you know the skies used to be blue once, Yamagata-san? Brilliant blue, like a gaijin’s eyes. And now?” Kasumi shook her head. “Red as your lotus. Red as blood.”
Yamagata looked at her sideways. “Not that it’s my business, but some might call that dangerous talk, Hunter.”
“Perhaps. But no more dangerous than ignoring what lotus is doing to this land.”