21 _ Arriving in the Fuyo Empire.

Dai Xiu places his fist down and the table and scattered the contents to the floor in wild anger.

"That bastard!" He shouted enraged , his voice full of hostility. "I must kill you! Even if it is the last thing that I do!"

His henchmen stood about him in fear for they knew he had a terrible anger if unleashed. They had heard about the slaughter of their comrades in the forests and the humiliation that their leader had face which lowered their respect for their leader but they dared not show it , lest they wanted to die horribly by Dai Xiu's hand.

"How should we proceed Xiu?" Hanji , his second-in-command with a large scar that had also managed to escape from Lucian's hand , asked the Dai Xiu who was burning with infuriation and tossed his blade to the wall as he gazed at it deep in thought.

"Search the entire Empire ! Send word out , to every nook and crannny of the Fuyo Empire." He spoke with menace. "A hundred thousand zen , if Lucian is brought to me alive ; fifty if dead. I will not rest until I have his head!"

Hanji nodded and motioned for the other men to get to work in what Dai had ordered , also leaving the room behind them.

Dai Xiu smiled inauspiciously as he balled his fist , his face contorted with clear hate. "You will pay for what you have done to me. The time shall come for my revenge and I shall make you beg for my mercy!"

*Zen is a fictional unit of currency.

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Exactly as Hikaru had predicted, they arrived in the Fuyo Empire by midday. As their journey was to be long and tiresome , they could not make the distance by foot so they needed to get some new horses.

Lucian took out the royal diadem that he was wore on the day of his coronation. It was An ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty. It symbolized the Regal Power and Sovereignty of the Kanerria Dynasty and had been passed down their family for generations. It was his mother that presented it to him...Right before her death...

Lucian clenched his fist as he remembered .

The night he fled , he took this with him ; Taking a part of his previous life that he did not fully want to forget ; Still holding on to the past.

Hikaru brought out a string of jade beads he kindly 'borrowed' from the Palace. They needed money to get the horses , but it would be too risky to present such costly beads to a commoner. Word would eventually get around and they could be robbed , or worse.

"You are drawing needless attention." Lucian said in A low tone so that other persons might not here.Hikaru then pushed the beads into the bag and stared around. He was right as certain scrupulous eyes followed them knowing at once they were strangers and therefore easy targets.

One man gambling away noticed this odd trio and whispered to the other near him. "Is that not the man that Dai Xiu put a bounty on?" He asked whispering while nodding in the direction of Lucian.

"Yes. And by the looks of those jade beads , there is no reason why Dai would not want them so badly." His friend commented.

"When we get them..." He continued. "That hundred thousand zen will surely be ours."

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Making their way to the open markets , Hikaru led them through the clear opening As they made their way through the darkened alley into the more suspicious part of town.

"Welcome to Fushun Quarters ." He announced. "A bazaar where shady deals, business and exchanges take place, where exotic items such as costly jewels are being rid of in barter for zen.More often than not, bandits, petty thieves and even rogue guards come here to sell their loot."

A number of people moved around hurriedly , their eyes darting here and there in obvious fear of being caught in the act.

"How do you know this place?" Lucian asked as he made a turn to an even darker passage way.

"I have picked up a little bit here and there from my occasional sojourns outside of the Palace Walls."

They arrived at a small shop, with tardy surroundings and a slightly offensive odor. The entire building was creaked and worn out as dubious men hung around the entrance to the scrappy looking building.

"Do not touch anything." The man with the reddish-brown hair cautioned. "It is all scum ... or worse."

He pushed open the door and the bell jingles solemly as they approached the wooden desk. Sitting behind it was a fat, sly looking man with little eyes and a long dark beard resting on his pretentious face.

"Ah Hikaru , Long time , no see." He greeted warmly.

"I would like to keep it 'no see' Chen." Hikaru returned with a dismal reply.

"You break my heart old friend ."The old man smiled , giving a sidelong glance in Hikaru's companions direction. "You have brought company. Who might they be?"

"If you keep meddling other people affairs , one of these days someone is going to make you quiet _ It could be me."The brown haired man added, his eyes hardened.

Chen smile vanished as Lucian took out the string of jade beads and dropped on the wooden table top. At the sight of these precious stones, the old man sucked in his breath. This was the finest haul he had ever seen in years.

"Where did you get this?" He asked Lucian while he took out a monocle to closely analyse the genuine quality of the bead.

He did not reply.

"The silent type." Chen continued nodding as he examined the various settings. Finally he took the glass from his eye and faced the three. " It is truly exceptional...So I will offer you two million zen for it."

"Enough of your tricks Old Fox ." Hikaru said quietly. "It is worth more than that and You know it. You take it for ten million zen or you don't get it at all!"

Chen sat back with a look of astonishment etched in to his face. The actual worth of the beads were up to twenty million zen But he knew desperate people once he saw them and these people were desperate so he was going to undercut them. "Hikaru... You know I do not do business like that."

"None of my concern."

"You drive a hard bargin." Chen said with a nasty grin. "I will give you ten million zen for the beads ...and her." He looked meaningfully at Kaya who now recoiled in disgust. "I will call it a fair trade."

Lucian put his royal diadem on the table and swiftly took out his sword and placed it against his neck, as the big man regarded this dangerous man with fear.

"Is it now worth ten million yen?"

"Lucian..." Hikaru tried to stop him as the items were being sold less than their original cost.

"He knows we are desperate and we are." He replied.

"Yes...Yes..." Chen shivered as this was the first time he had come close to death but was happy that he had gotten the jewels as a steal.

'Good." Hikaru nodded finally. "But there is one last thing I need you to do for me."