I. The city that never forgets
The city of Varnhem, a bastion of the old Eastern mafias, awoke shrouded in a dense fog that smelled of gasoline, dried blood, and fresh mourning. Its streets weren't made for tourists or dreamers, but for survivors and traitors. In the slums, children grew up knowing that silence was more valuable than any currency.
High atop Steel Hill, the wind whipped around the gargoyles of Kurobane Keep, home to the most feared family of the Twelve Houses: the Ravens.
Death sentences were carved on its walls. In its halls, history was written with knives. And on his black throne, Renjirō Kurobane, the Patriarch, watched over the city like a faithless god.
"The balance has been broken," he said, his voice cracking, but still sharp. "The Tartars are after the Ash Scroll. If they get it, there will be no safe place left for any of us."
In front of him, the minor mafia bosses bowed their heads. Not out of respect, but out of fear that one wrong look could cost them their lives. One of them dared to speak.
—I propose eliminating the messengers before they cross the Salt Border. If the manuscript exists, we will destroy it.
Renjirō closed his eyes. He knew they couldn't destroy what they didn't yet understand. The Manuscript wasn't just a text; it was a map, a pact, a key... And its origins were tied to something older than any crime family.
He was linked to the Tree.
II. Shadows under the altar
At Ryousa's Silent Temple, where the Tree had put down one of its oldest roots, dampness and moss covered the broken altars and stone offerings. The temple had been forgotten by the devotees, but not by the heirs of the True Blood.
Kazuo, a renegade from the Tōzai Clan, was traversing the underground chambers with Ikari, an exiled informant. They carried a sealed box inscribed with living ink. Inside: fragments of the Ash Scroll.
"Why did the Tree let them get here?" Ikari asked, staring at the gently pulsing symbols. "We're not worthy."
Kazuo didn't reply. His gaze was fixed on the main altar. There, carved into the rock, was a spiral figure: a branch devouring itself. And beside it, a warning carved in a lost language:
"Those who read the third verse will bleed their own name."
The Tree was not benevolent.
He was an eternal witness. And every witness eventually judges.
III. In the throat of traitors
Meanwhile, in the Red Walls District, among brothels disguised as opera houses and gambling halls filled with gunpowder and wine, Mizuki Inari, illegitimate daughter of the Inari Clan, wore a scarlet kimono as she shared a table with three emissaries of the Fumetsu Clan.
His movements were slow and measured. His voice was as soft as warm poison.
"My brothers want war. I prefer knowledge," he said as he poured sake. "Do you... want territory or legacy?"
One of the emissaries smiled. "We want the roots."
"From the Tree?" she asked, not hiding the venom in her tone. "From the mafias," he replied. "The old ones. The pure ones. The ones that still believe in the honor of blood."
Mizuki looked up, sharp as a dagger.
—Then go north. Seek out the Sap Brothers. They haven't forgotten. But beware… in the forest, the Tree doesn't tolerate ego.
That night, the three emissaries were found flayed, hanging from live branches on the outskirts of the district. On their tongues, etched with fire, was a single symbol:
"Dishonor."
IV. Renjirō and the Echo of the Past
At Kurobane Fortress, Renjirō retreated to his prayer chamber. No one but him knew that beneath the sacred stone of the throne lay a seed: one of the Thirteen Seeds of the Tree of First Blood.
When the world was split apart, when the wizards, monks, and warlords sealed the Tree's body in different regions, each family received a seed. Only three survived.
Renjirō lit a black candle and placed the seed on a bowl of bones.
—Father Tree… if you have to judge us…
Do it now.
The candle flickered. The seed stirred.
And the bowl began to bleed.
V. The message reaches Akihiko
Far away, in a border region known as Naram, where the mafias have yet to claim control, Akihiko received news of the factions' movements.
A tongue-tied messenger came to him, carrying an envelope sealed in flesh. Upon opening it, he found a map, a phrase, and a symbol:
Map: Route to the Valley of Tartarus, where the roots of the Tree still move.Phrase: "The Manuscript has spoken. Your name is written in the last verse."Symbol: The dead crow.
Akihiko sealed the envelope. "So it's started."
"What do we do?" one of his allies asked.
He looked east, toward the mountains where the land no longer responds to maps.
—Let's go to Ryousa. The Tree is calling us.
END OF CHAPTER 78