Chapter 7:
The Enemy
IN THE END I HAD TO HAND OVER YOMEIMON TO His Majesty, which meant I needed, yet again, to build more accommodations for myself. Now that I thought about it, most of the nobles here outranked me, which meant there was a decent risk I’d have to give up whatever lodgings I made next. I would have to be more discreet.
I started thinking about a design that wouldn’t stand out too much. Specifically, something underground. If I was careful about how and where I built the entrance, nobody would even notice it was there.
I created a set of descending stairs. “If I’m going that far, I should make it nice and big like those underground cities you see near stations in Japan,” I mused aloud. “I’ll make the passage a straight line so that it’s easy to see. Or, wait, should it be more like a labyrinth so any intruders get lost?”
Khamsin, Till, and Arte exchanged glances. Khamsin said, “As Lord Van’s protector, a place that’s easy to guard would certainly be helpful, but…”
“Um, a labyrinth would be difficult for me to navigate,” said Till.
“What if you made it a simple labyrinth?” asked Arte. “For example, by going right at every turn, you can safely reach your destination. That way none of us will get lost.”
“Oooh, that’s a good idea. Nicely done, Arte.” I smiled at her, and she bashfully returned my gaze. Then I got back to work, drawing a simple blueprint on the ground.
As soon as you descended the stairs, you would encounter a forked passageway going three different directions. I would have two more paths branch off from each of those. “I heard somewhere that people often choose left when given the choice, so I’ll design the labyrinth so you have to turn right at each opportunity to arrive at our accommodations. Personally, I’d love to have it so that if you chose the wrong path, you’d get sent to the same room no matter what…”
I thought long and hard about the design, drawing multiple paths on the ground. The others began to think along with me. This time, Till raised her hand to speak. “What if you make it so that if an intruder chooses the wrong path, they get sent in circles? That might make them give up altogether.”
What a charming idea! I smiled and nodded. “Right, right. In that case, let’s have an alert system that will make a noise every time someone passes through one of the branches. That way if things are looking bad, I can just build a door that won’t open, giving us ample time to prepare.”
“How will it make a sound?” Till asked, just as Khamsin said, “You mean with string and boards?”
For some reason, Khamsin seemed to be thinking of the sort of security you’d find in old estates belonging to samurai families. Honestly, I wanted to ask him how he even knew about something like that. Did that sort of thing exist in this world?
“Let’s go with Khamsin’s idea. We can attach strings to the bottom of the boards and have them pass behind the wall and into our rooms all the way in the back. I’ve never designed anything like that before, but it’d be worth experimenting with for the future, too.”
Khamsin nodded, beaming. Till and Arte looked confused, but they agreed nonetheless. Making new things is so much fun!
I let my creative juices flow, thinking up all sorts of traps for detecting intruders. Eventually, night was upon us, and I heard the thin metal plates I’d set up on the ceiling collide. Someone had already activated our early detection system.
“Wh-what an incredible sound…” Arte whispered, rubbing her eyes. She must have been half asleep. I watched, smiling, as she walked over to me. Then I sat on the sofa, stretching my back out.
“Yeah. I modeled them after cymbals, so they ended up louder than I expected.”
“Symbols?” she asked, tilting her head.
“A type of musical instrument that makes loud sounds.” It was the simplest explanation I could think of. Arte nodded seriously.
When I stood up from the sofa, Khamsin made his way over from the entrance. I knew how intense he could be, so I was unsurprised that he was clad in his usual light armor and had his weapon at the ready. “Intruders,” he said.
“Looks like it.” I smirked.
Till stood up from the opposing sofa and looked at me. She was smiling too. “Shall I prepare some tea?”
“That would be lovely. Hot black tea, please!”
“As you wish.” Till bowed and left.