The New Year Begins

[ninja_coder]

Back at Castle Noriaibasha, bright and early as the new year starts. Last week, the castle was almost silent as people enjoyed their holidays and vacations. Today, everyone is back. The castle bustles with activity as people return to their old tasks.

I have much to accomplish in Ichimen. Seijun the samurai is clamoring for some neighborhood, any one, to be cleared of underworld elements so that he can bring in his troops and have Nayumi start her work. I think Keishutsu will be of the most use to them, if only I can remove the Mōjin fighters that still plague it; after that, I have hopes of liberating Ichibanyōshi from its gangs.

My previous plan had been to finish off the chain-wielding thugs in Kakunin Shiken first, because the Kakunin Shiken district borders Ichibanyōshi. There is much travel between the two neighborhoods, and I fear that the chain-fighters will try to step into the power vacuum left by my removal of the Ichibanyōshi gangs. But the samurai can’t deal with Kakunin Shiken at all. They can deal with Ichibanyōshi, once I’ve gotten rid of the gangs.

This means I may as well clear out Ichibanyōshi now, deliver it to the samurai, and then take care of Kakunin Shiken in parallel with the samurai’s Ichibanyōshi efforts. I just hope this decision doesn’t come back to haunt me later.

This was originally published at The Tales of the Ninja Coder. You may comment here, if you wish, but Ichirō invites you to comment at his humble blog.