"What do you have in terms of jewelry? It's for a gift indeed. The exotic ring looks interesting. Is it a local production taking inspiration from foreign styles, or an actual import? From the Sands you say? Did you bring it back yourself? Bought from a reputed merchant instead? Oh, did you get to meet a gaijin? Ah, it was someone from Rokugan..."

Kaoru had no real intention to buy anything for anyone at the moment. It was too early for gifts to be meaningful, and while the market was well-stocked, she was unlikely to find something truly unique just by walking around.

However, she was very interested in any piece of information she could get from making the merchant talk, in particular anything she could get about how they interacted with each other, who were the big fishes and the simple resellers.

She had also heard about some incident with samurai, yet another one, near here yesterday, but the descriptions of it so far have been more confusing and conflicting than anything else. She should inquire more about this later.

Kasumi was prowling the market again, her wish to get a present for somebody

Someone else's betrothed

was simply awful.

But maybe she could find something for Mitsuko, too. Or something for Hirame to spring on his Crane bride-to-be.

And of course, there was the other.... little thing. A small matter of some smuggling she was fairly sure her clan wasn't directly involved in.

So her focus was a bit scattered as she ambled from stall to stall.

"Mantis-sama."

The small silhouette of Kaoru had appeared next to her, an amazed expression on her face:

"Still arranging for more supplies for the shrines of the city? You're relentless in your dedication to the Fortunes."

!

S C O R P I O N

!

...

Just a baby one. She was at the feast. Very quiet. Same table.

Unless that's what they WANT me to think...

"Er, h'lo, Shosuro-san. No, this is more... ah, of a personal interest."

The Fortunes should be able to look after themselves!

"Well, you'll find the market extremely well-stocked for such a small city. For real, most towns the size of Tsuma simply don't sell so much exotic merchandises. I was actually wondering if it was not thank to an agreement with your clan the stalls are so blessed."

"Oh, uh, well, sure we do our bit, but..."

She cocked her head to the side.

"Think it's more t'do with Tsuma bein' made into a place everyone in the Empire has reason t'go to. Yeah, the tournament's only once a year, but since I can't think'a any Great Clan that doesn't get at least one Invite, I think there's just more... flow, here. Best trade ports ain't always the best ports,l sometimes it's just where everybody ends up. I mean, we trade plenty, but Tsuma's a lot closer t'everyone else than the City of Lightning, f'rexample."

"The city is still stuck between Kyuden Kakita and the sea ports of the coast. There's competition.

On the championship having its own gravity, I agree though. I do wonder how many of these vibrant stalls only open there for the duration of the tournament, and move elsewhere when there's less liveliness in town.

I mean, look around Mantis-sam. What do you see?"

"I see the familiar. And the unfamiliar. Don't have much experience with the Unicorn- since horses don't run on th'sea- but feels like a little slice of one-a their towns might. Some of it reminds me of the home ports."

She paused.

"Includiong some of the, er... activity."

She's a Scorpion, she knows about that kind of stuff, right?

"What I see is money. Lot of money.

The Crane was utterly devastated by a tsunami a few years ago. What the wave did not physically touch and destroy was still struck by the repercussions of the economic and political chaos that followed. Relief funds and goods moved through the land, but where they eventually ended was more decided by influence than need. Some places were bled dried or left to rot while others managed to turn the disaster into a nice profit.

We've visited one of the losers just before. Now, the question is: How did Little Khanbulak manage to be a winner?"

"With all th' foreign goods? Seems simple t'me. Y'make a place a destination in its own right, an' y'get people with exotic wares- us, th' Unicorn, th'Tortoise- t'trade at that destination 'cause you're willing t'deal."

She paused.

"An it's upriver, as y'note, so it didn't get thrashed s'hard as the more proper coastal ports of the Crane.".

"Goods need buyers. And this is a rich people market. Not the kind of ware any peasant can buy.

In so, it is a direct mirror of how rich the richest people of the city are. And the answer seems: Quite.

This in turn raises extra questions.

Is it just the old nobility that went through the crisis mostly unscathed that spend their coins here?

Did some of the local merchants took advantages of the catastrophe, making a lot of money by virtue of dealing with goods there was a shortage of, going from well-off nobodies to big fishes in a small pond?

Or did Tsuma attract a new economical elite in the wake of the catastrophe? As you said, the city was relatively spared by the wave itself while still being relatively close to the coast, making it a good place to relocate if you've got the means to do so.

Other hypotheses are of course not unlikely. But, in short, knowing how much Little Khanbulak has changed in the last few years can give quite the hint about who holds power of coin in this city."

"Foreign traders in any part ain't got deep roots. Might be some'a these relocated to a cozier berth after th'disaster."

She paused.

"An' I'm not so sure the wealthiest here are s'wealthy as they seem. Crane're big on appearances, after all."

"I have absolutely no doubt most of the city budget is spent on making the city look pretty for visitors such as ourselves, at the expense of pretty much everything else. Hence all the cracks we've been seeing as soon as we leave the vicinity of the inn and the academy.

Which makes it even more easy for people with money to have influence, regardless of their caste."

"True enough. While we don't share more... traditional sorts' issues with trade, I c'n see how it'd rub someone caste-minded th'wrong way. Lookin' for anyone in particular?"

"Actually, I was kind of hoping you'll be the one able to tell me about the who's who of this place. The Scorpion is not involved with Tsuma's trade while if goods in or out of the Winter Wind about all day long."

"Not so sure of all th'faces m'self seein' as I just got here 'bout three days ago, but, ah... I find that f'rall the cargo we unload the important name 'round here is Kasuga."

"A Tortoise?

I thought there was some sort of implicit agreement for both of your clans to not hunt on each other's turf since that incident decades ago. Did you finally bury the hatchet?"

"Oh, y'can't call th'relationship hostile, but y'can't call it close, either. But this is more their place than ours."

She nodded toward the House of the Exotic.

"Kasuga Touji runs that place. An' everythin' that comes in or goes out."

"Everything everything? Or everything that's noted in the books?"

"Depends on th'books, don't it?"