Episode 08: Imperial Capital Detective Stories

## Plot

A grand ship presides in the port of the Imperial Capital, and on a small protruding balcony outside Dekopompo's fine quarters, he and Bokoinante discuss their plans. Visible on the desk behind them is an exquisite golden statue of a goddess, while on the ground below outside, Haku, Ukon, and Atuy are among the masquerade-masked crowd coming aboard. Atuy puts a cute little mask on Kurarin.

The ship's interior is unbelievably grand, with a tall ceiling and ceremonial gates inside surrounding a sort of shipboard festival street. Ukon recognizes many of the passing faces, and takes Haku to task for standing out. He reminds Haku that they've come to expose Dekopompo's wrongdoing, and right on cue, a masked Dekopompo steps forward and promises the assembled crowd a party.

Dekopompo flings his arms wide and mechanisms in the floor move, raising a massive cage up from below. Inside are two massive boro-gigiri, and Ukon explains that this is an insect-fighting operation: They'll fight to the death. Nosuri, among the bettors, puts money on the red one, Atuy on the black.

Ukon pulls Haku out of the wrong towards some destination he hasn't explained, leaving Atuy behind. Haku asks why Ukon seems so uncharacteristically on edge but Ukon just presses onward, truncheoning two guards outside a locked door.

Inside, the two are met with a wall of red eyes. Ukon's tension reaches the point that he ignores Haku outright so the latter karate-chops him on the head--then offers him a drink to calm him down. Ukon chugs and explains.

Long ago, a single insect got loose in the capital and made itself a nest. This insect was a type that laid its eggs in human bodies, and though it was eventually killed and its eggs burned, some of its victims were small children. Ukon can still remember the face his father made that day.

Haku figures they have enough evidence to bring Dekopompo down, but Ukon recognized some of the guests as nobles with access to the palace. They don't have enough yet to sever those ties fully, so they two go back to collect more information. Ukon gives back the bottle Haku lent him, but it's empty.

As the two leave the room behind, an insect bites through the bars of its cage...

Meanwhile, in the arena, Nosuri loses her third bet in a row, a red insect slaying a black one, while Atuy wins her bet once again. Haku comes back and checks in with Atuy, who's been watching the crowd while gambling. Ukon is asking more questions. Then all hell breaks loose.

The insects from the cages break into the room, and soon there's blood and bodies everywhere. Ukon kills one but there are bugs in all directions, and Haku wonders what management will doing about it.

Sadly, management is Dekopompo. He graciously forgives Bokoinante for allowing the slip, then commands him to rescue his treasure from the ship and saunters off to a lifeboat.

Ukon, Haku, and Atuy are still fighting. Atuy is scared of the bugs but makes short work of them, while Kurarin nibbles on a smaller one. Ukon sends Haku to Dekopompo's room, on the highest floor, to see what evidence can be found there.

In Dekopompo's lifeboat, Bokoinante has caught up too, and pushes a floating survivor on a piece of driftwood away from the lifeboat and back into the sea. However, Dekopompo notices that his golden statue hasn't been evacuated--Bokoinante accidentally dropped it earlier. He coldly sends Bokoinante back onto the ship to retrieve it.

Bokoinante soon runs into Haku, who's found the statue. He goes to cut Haku down but Haku blocks with the statue, and that gets cut in two instead. An arrow shoots his sword out of his hands and Nosuri and Ougi appear, then make off with paper evidence of Dekopompo's crimes. Haku sees his moment and makes a run for it.

Atuy's overly enthusiastic self-defense opens a gaping hole in the side of the ship, which begins to sink. Haku is still carrying the statue as the ship fills with water, and Ukon, having swum down to retrieve him, forces him to drop it. The two reach the surface, where Kuon and the rest of Haku's team are helping survivors--too busy to help Ukon and Haku himself. Sitting, Ukon and Haku look out over the water.

Stray insects begin to attack straggling swimmers and Haku moves to react, but Ukon says he needn't bother. At the command of Mikazuchi, Imperial General of the Left, a unit of Yamatan archers shoot them all down, and now the day really is saved.

Ukon reminisces a little more about his father. His father was a man shared the troubles of the people, and Ukon has always been chasing his back. He came to the capital, as his father had, and worked his butt off, and by a series of coincidences found himself the General of the Right. Haku says that his father would be proud, but Ukon points out that the higher he rose, the more he found himself bound by rules, and the less he could hear the people's voices. Oshtor isn't who he wanted to be--Ukon is.

But today, Haku says, it was Oshtor who saved them, by summoning the aid of the General of the Left. The two rejoin the rest to share a drink: Tonight, it's Ukon's treat.

The next morning, Haku yawns, strolling down a deserted, misty street. He comes upon two black-robed figures, bowing low, who invite him to come with them. The robed figures lead him through a strange light down a mystical cave and out into a huge room with futuristic walls and tasteful but luxurious furnishings, in the center of which sits an old man in a wheelchair, attended by a woman with flowing blond hair. The man introduces himself as Mito, while the woman provides him with a drink. Haku asks if she's met her before but she says no.

The drink Haku does recognize as green tea, which he finds himself strangely fond of. He explains how he awoke in the mountains to the old man, who, being too old to move, states that he now finds his joy in hearing people's stories, and asks to hear more of Haku's. Haku asks, in turn, for another cup of tea, and begins to relate the rest of his tale.