This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/SteelTrim on 2025-10-01 04:35:20+00:00.

First | Previous | Next (Patreon)

There were more people than John expected, but he just had to stick to the plan they had discussed. He just had to say a few words and then step out before Yuki did a particularly gruesome trick to mollify the mob.

At some point, the skies had turned ugly gray, and it started drizzling. The rain was thin, light, almost akin to a summer afternoon’s, other than the bite it carried, like tiny little fangs scraping against his flesh. The heat had nearly been entirely sucked out of the day like someone had flipped a switch.

Yet, around the edges of the cordon, there was still a growing crowd, held back by militia men unsure of whether to face out or in, weapons barring the streets as they constantly alternated between watching the building and the growing mob of people with less self-preservation than sense attempting to get a glimpse at active combat. He could have sworn that they had set up farther away, but… Oh well, this would work well enough.

John was just happy that they were far enough away that nobody could throw rocks at their captive roof tax collectors.

Say, speaking of.

“Well, that’s a bit of a mess, isn’t it?” John half-whispered to the kitsune at his side, standing before the door. “Are you sure I have to address the crowd too? I know we discussed it earlier, but…”

“It’s probably for the best, sadly,” she sighed, watching Rin run off, taking the role of their messenger. “We can skip your part of the speech, if you wish, but you should probably talk to your captives, at the very least. They’ll be too terrified to understand me.”

No matter how much he disliked the solution, it made sense, and he could think of no better answer. He couldn’t be too mad, though, given he was still riding the emotional high of having a functioning Kiku detector!

He waved it toward the distant crowd, the lack of clicks a balm for his tired, stressed mind.

“Right, I guess I’d better get on it then, before Rin returns with an audience,” commented John, unclipping the flying disc from his bag and setting it on the ground, turning it on and stepping onto it.

“Good luck,” Yuki said as he started to hover, and he responded with a smile and quick nod before rising into the air.

As he drifted over the street, what greeted him was a series of wet, scared men trapped on the second floor of the building across the lot. Water dripped off their forms, and a few of them were shivering. The clothing they had under their lacking armour was only lightly layered; a few hardly had anything under their protective plating. It was strange to think it probably would have helped them about as much as a sternly worded letter if either he or Yuki were actually to want to harm them.

It was sobering. John hadn’t thought too much about what his tools could do to actual people before recent events, even if there were admittedly a few times in his darkest moments when they called to him like a siren. It was like seeing a perfectly normal machine in a factory or a shop, and then seeing the training videos designed to scar you into compliance.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” he greeted. “It’s a shame we didn’t meet in better circumstances,” he lied. He was sure that anyone who stayed in this line of work would be unpleasant at the best of times. “Lady Yuki will be personally handling your interrogations later, but for now, I have some things to go over with you.”

It was as if time froze for them with how they ceased all movement, and he let them marinate in their fear for just long enough to let it sink in how dire their situation was. Admittedly, it felt dirty, but Yuki knew best here. Still, John couldn’t have too much sympathy for them; robbing countless people blind tended to do that.

“Don’t worry, she’s a generous yokai… most of the time. Vengeful, though. I had to fight tooth and nail for this deal,” John lied again, shaking his head. “Although I have some information for all of you, and a deal. I’m afraid you won’t like it, but it’s the best chance you have. First off, what would you say happened last night?”

John hated having to discuss this, but there was no other choice. He had to know what he was working with first.

He stopped again, taking a minute to take in the faces of his enraptured, absolutely terrified audience.

Breaking their trance, an awkward murmur came over the down or so vulnerable men, looking between one another as if daring someone to speak up first. John was just about to pick someone like a teacher voluntelling some poor kid in front of the whole class, but one mousy-looking man towards the back sheepishly chimed in with “We were told you ambushed the convoy heading towards the drop off spot and wiped it out, Lord Hall.”

Guilt momentarily seized his chest, although he kept his face level as he mercilessly beat it back down, unwilling to show weakness in front of these men.

“So, do any of you know what a Nameless is?” John asked once he got himself back under control.

A few hands haltingly went up, and the men who did were getting a bit worried.

“Good, good. So, I’ll let those people catch everyone else up on what’s going on, but the long and short of it is that you have been working for a spider monster the size of a small house that is obsessed with hoarding money, and the ‘special taxes’ you’ve been enforcing have been purely to enrich it. That warehouse you were dropping some of the goods off at was a collection point for it to snag its ill-gotten gains,” he blasely explained, and that actually caused a clamour.

Some of them seemed confused. Others were panicked. A pair were much less surprised than they should have been, actually. John made a mental note of those two. You know, just to keep an eye on them.

“It looks pretty bad… but I’ve come to offer a deal. Those yokai have been angered, and they’ll probably come to kill everyone sooner or later for whatever wealth remains in town.” The fact that it was to fight John and Yuki went unmentioned, lest they get any thoughts about trying to bargain for their safety. “Plus, their presence would bring down powerful groups to scour the area, ones that will very much not be happy with you enabling them.”

The men tensed, fresh terror clouding their expressions as they looked ready to bolt, despite it being a long drop followed by a quick stop.

“You can either work under the local militia because we need all the men we can get, or you can take your chances with the Nameless. Don’t worry, if they capture you, they’ll only hollow you out and wear you like clothing,” John stated, pausing. Using the ongoing tragedy as a weapon felt dirty, but he had to at least lay out the situation for them. Besides, he wouldn’t let someone do that to themselves; no, he’d find some way to stop them. “I’m not sure how aware you remain after it happens, but I’d probably not test it, myself.”

“Oh, fuck that, I’m in!” a man hurriedly offered. “I swear my service to Lord Hall!”

Wait. No, not like that!

“To Lord Hall!”

The first two caused a wave of hurried agreements and sworn oaths that weren’t worth the air used to speak them, as John’s brain was busy shutting down and rebooting.

Oh fuck, he was not ready for this level of responsibility. What the hell was he going to do with a dozen sworn ex-bandits? Would he be responsible for all their crimes? Would it only be future crimes?

“No,” John answered, trying to keep his expression calm, maybe with a slight bit of natural disdain. You could reject someone swearing themselves to you, right? Especially when they were clearly just bullshitting you. “I will not accept your oath. This group will be broken up and assist the people of this village in surviving the coming threat. Do well, and I’ll see what I can do. Will this be a problem?”

Hesitant shakes of the head all around.

“Good,” he said, and at that, he left, feeling slightly slimy.

John froze for just a minute as he did so, thinking about their shivering forms and made a quick stop, floating by the strange combination inn-hot spring that he couldn’t remember the term for, grabbing some towels through an open window, and tossing them over, waiting for no reply before he headed back off to Yuki.

If they were damaged, he’d make sure to pay whoever owned that place before back once he found out who they were, but he wouldn’t have any of them, criminals or not, getting something from exposure if he could help it.

Drifting back down, he saw Yuki and Rin briefing Sergeant Yashiro, who had a complex expression on his face, like he had bitten into sour candy and was trying to decide how much he liked it.

“It is done. They said yes,” John stated, putting on his most unaffected expression for the audience. It wasn’t as if they had a choice.

Yashiro’s expression only soured further. Oh, they must have gone into things pretty deeply already.

“If it makes you feel any better, Sergeant,” Yuki interjected, “those are the only living tax collectors you’ll have to deal with.” She pointed a tail tip back to the inn. "You may want to get some cleaners in there sooner rather than later, before the blood sets in too much. No need to get the priests involved before you hand the place back to whoever owns it, though. Those men will not be haun…

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1nuyyk3/engineering_magic_and_kitsune_ch_46/