>>5527542 >>5527548 >>5527702 >>5528192「Yes sir. I'll make sure the job is done well.」
"Good. You're dismissed." Takigi doesn't move. 「One more thing sir. Who's in charge of the debt?」 Kanekatsu thinks for a moment. "That'd be Yo Hua. You know where to find him." With that, Takigi bows slightly and takes his leave. Once he's out of the room he wipes his sweat and mutters to himself. 「I really like having my fingers...」
Takigi grumbles as he plods along a muddy path and towards the main agricultural area of the village, pulling his hood up to block the rain. After nearly an hour's walk, uneven hills and scattered woods turn to fields and carts. A basin in the midst of the village's mainly hilly terrain, serving as one of the more convenient places to grow crops. Houses and workshops stand erected near the side of the road, aiming to save the residents of the area from the long walk to Fogtop proper.
Scattered among these buildings is Yo Hua's home. Two rooms, mainly made of wood. A nice enough place. It only takes a couple knocks until an older man opens the door. An over-exaggerated grin covers his face as he ingratiates himself. "Mr. Takigi, Mr. Takigi, come right on in. Would you like to warm yourself up by the fire? Have you eaten?"
「I'm not hungry, but I will sit by the fire.」 Takigi takes a seat on a stool near the hearth and removes his cloak. 「I'm supposed to deal with the issue about Baku. Tell me anything that might cause problems handling this. Whether you skimmed money off the top, if anything was calculated 'wrongly' in our favor, anything. I'm not the boss, I'm not going to rat you out.」
Yo Hua shakes his head. "Oh no no no, I would never do such a thing. Especially not after..." Despite being in his own house, the man throws a furtive glance about. "...what happened to the last guy. Have you heard about Mu Bou?" You feel feelings of disgust, but Takigi barely maintains a straight face. 「A bit. What about him?」
"He was skimming money off the top and... well, no one is sure what Kanekatsu did, but it was horrifying. He couldn't speak, could barely move, and had to be helped to eat and drink. Whenever you looked in his eyes you couldn't see any emotion. It was like he was an empty husk." Yo Hua shudders. "In the end they say he dragged himself into the woods and disappeared, preferring death. No, no one's brave enough to go over the boss's head after that."
Takigi has an odd expression. 「I... see. That certainly sounds terrifying.」A short transmission to you. 「By the emperor. Now I'm disappointed that I was too late to see the bastard lying there.」 <span class="mu-i">I observed it. It was not an incident of much interest.</span> Takigi struggles not to laugh.
