Enemies

By all rights, Riku should be rich. As the last survivor of the Xi Clan, the possessions of his clan should belong to him. The Xi Clan were famous for their talented Spirit Smiths; putting aside their goods and treasures, their forging equipment and techniques were priceless. As the Magistrate, Master Huang could assure him; all of it legally belonged to Riku.

Unfortunately, most of it was currently missing. That is, to say, the ruins of the Xi Clan had been well and thoroughly looted. Everything that could be grabbed up and taken away was long gone. Even the forges and the walls had been stripped down of anything that looked valuable. If there were anything left of value in the ruins, they were well hidden indeed.

"Just about the only thing left of value for you to inherit is the land itself." Master Huang told him after a long discourse. "Which is actually quite valuable. It's right next to the Temple of the Emperor. That's five acres of the most spiritually rich lands you could find around Widon Fief. However, as you are now… there's no way a ten year-old boy could hold it on his own. Not even as a Closer Disciple of the Magistrate. Because of that, the land is currently being contested."

"Contested?" Riku blinked. "By whom?"

"By no less than three prominent clans." Master Huang cleared his throat. "The Ji Clan wants to use it to expand their spiritual herb plantations. The Wu Clan wants to establish a combat arena. The Zhong Clan wants to build a high-end resort. All three claim their plans would benefit Widon Fief the most. Since the Xi Clan can no longer utilize such valuable territory, for the good of Widon Fief and Baron Tarn, I must select one of the three to award the lands to."

"What if I can hold it and use it myself?" Riku asked.

"Don't try it. People have been murdered for less. These days there are far too many people in town stronger than me for my liking." Master Huang shook his head. "The best I can do is negotiate on your behalf, so that you would be selling them the land rather than them forcefully just taking it. Since you are a Closer Disciple of mine, I believe they would give me some face."

Riku fell silent. "What are the offers?"

"The Zhong Clan offers 100,000 lir flat out. The WuClan offers 80,000 lir, and they'll erect a memorial hall for your clan as well as give you an honorary VIP pass in the arena. The Ji Clan…" Master Huang trailed off. "The Ji Clan wants to negotiate with you directly."

Riku shifted uncomfortably. 100,000 lir sounded like a lot for a guy who didn't even have 1 lir at the moment, but when he considered that it was 5 acres of high value land… 1,000,000 lir wouldn't be high enough. These offers were clearly just tokens, indeed just a way to 'give face' to Master Huang. The Wu Clan took it a step further and offered to give face to the fallen Xi Clan as well.

"They're trying to bully me because I'm just a ten year-old boy." Riku summarized.

Master Huang gave him a startled look. "It's not as high as I wanted, but it's still a lot of money…"

Riku eyed Master Huang sideways. Even he seemed to think that this 'ten year old boy' could be easily fooled.

"When do I meet the Ji Clan?" he asked then.

"What?" Master Huang blinked.

"They want to negotiate with me directly, right? When do they want to meet?" Riku asked.

"Um…" Master Huang picked up a scroll and scanned through it. "You are invited to see their herb gardens at your convenience."

"So… find them at their place, any time." Riku bit his lip. Walking into Ji Clan territory might not be the smartest thing for him to do.

"Ask Mu and Shui if they want to go with you." Master Huang advised. "Do not go alone."

In other words… he's not coming.

***

The Temple of the Emperor and the surrounding lands were on the same hill as the Magistrate, simply on the 'Spring' quarter of it.

There wasn't much of the Xi Clan territory when Riku, Mu and Shui arrived. Most of it were just ruins and ashes. A pair of Town Guards were idly playing dice while supposedly guarding the ruins on order of Master Huang, but anyone could see that there was practically nothing left to guard any more.

As they passed the temple, they went by fields of neatly planted herbs. This was the Ji Clan territory. Most of it had been dedicated to herb cultivation, but there was one tree by the roadside at the junction to the Ji Villa. That tree had a swing, with a long-haired girl on it, dressed in a white frock with a silver butterfly pin in her hair. She watched them arrive curiously, waving in an innocent manner. Riku waved back at her politely. That was one of the Ji Clan daughters. He could vaguely remember this-world Riku meeting her at some social event or the other.

The Apothecary was on the other side of the road. Below them were plantations of tea and berries, and the road went right through them straight into the town market street. It was a quiet, scenic area that oddly enough also enjoyed a high volume of traffic whether they were visitors to the temple or customers of the apothecary. The Ji and Xi clans had only added to that area's prosperity.

"Hello." Riku went up to the girl on the swing.

"Hi." She greeted him back.

"I'm here to negotiate about the Xi Clan lands?" Riku mentioned. "I'm Xi Riku."

"I remember you… vaguely." She looked him up and down. "We are contesting the land, you know. That means you and I are enemies."

"Oh." Riku scratched his head. "But your family invited me over here to negotiate."

"Right. Hold on, please." She hopped off the swing and ran inside.

Inside her house, her father was poring over some maps.

"Father, Xi Riku is here to negotiate the Xi lands."

"Xi Riku…" Her father paused. "Well? How does he look at you? Does he see us as his enemies?"

"No, father. The last son of Xi actually seems… friendly." She said, sounding a bit confused herself.

"Friendly?" her father blinked. "Well, now. Well, well, well."

"Father, what does it mean? Do we kill him? Do we reduce the offer? Raise it?"

"Kill him?" her father blinked. "My dear, if he's friendly to you, this could be an opportunity of a lifetime! We have a chance to make peace!"

"Make peace?" she blinked.

"This boy might be far wiser than I thought…" her father rubbed his chin. "And we might gain an unrivaled talent in Spirit Smithing! Looking at it from that point of view, it could be a very beneficial alliance. But of course, we have the overwhelming advantage…"

"Father, what are you talking about?" the poor girl was in a daze trying to figure out what any of it meant.

"Nothing! Never mind! I must speak with him. Indeed, we have a very important matter to discuss today…"

They brought Riku in, with Mu and Shui following politely behind.

"Xi Riku!" Elder Ji boomed. "So you've come to negotiate for your land?"

"I came here to hear your offer, yes." Riku began.

"I offer you everything!" Elder Ji said grandly. "The land, the forges, manpower and money to fix it all back again! But in return…"

"In return?" Riku asked, dazed.

"I want your blood!" Elder Ji proclaimed.

Shui choked.

"You want to murder me? What's the point of helping me out then?" Riku cried.

"No, no, I mean… I want YOU!"

Mu choked.

"Uh… sorry, I don't swing that way." Riku said defensively.

Elder Ji stared at him blankly. Then, he said, "What's wrong with our swing?"

"There's nothing wrong with our swing." His daughter told him. She should know.

"Then what's wrong with my daughter?" he asked.

His daughter choked. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

"Then why don't you like her?" He roared.

"Wha…?" Riku stared. "What are we talking about, now?"

Shui cleared his throat. "Elder Ji, could you clarify the offer you are making for the land? In simple terms?"

"Ah. Yes. The land will belong to the Ji Clan. And you will marry my daughter, and join the Ji Clan. Therefore, what is yours will be ours, and what is ours will be yours. Naturally, we will help you restore the Xi forges."

"Under the Ji name." Riku pointed out.

"Wait. How come I ended up part of the offer?" His daughter protested.

"Not to mention, even I ended up being part of that offer." Riku added. "It is very generous, but I want to restore the Xi Clan, not marry into the Ji."

"You're rejecting me?!" the Ji daughter gasped. "We haven't even dated!"

"I thought you said you liked her." Shui poked Riku.

"I didn't say that!"

"You don't like me?" the Ji daughter gasped. "You don't even know me!"

Mu whacked Riku on the head. "Riku. Bad."

"I didn't say that either!!"

Shui leapt. "Then you DO like her!"

"That's not the issue here!"

"Of course it is! The Ji are offering you the land, the money, the protection AND the girl! What's not to like?"

"Like I said! The Xi Clan…"

Shui snapped his fingers. "I get it! You want them to give you everything, INCLUDING the girl, have her marry into the Xi Clan, and give them nothing in return!"

"How did she get involved with all this, again?"

Mu sighed. "Negotiations… failed!"

The Ji daughter gasped. "This means… WAR!"

"No killing allowed in the vicinity of Widon Town! The security and peace of Widon Fief must be upheld! Give Magistrate Huang some face!" Shui said at once.

Elder Ji blinked. "Wait. How did…"

"They're going to kidnap me at SCHOOL!" the Ji daughter wailed.

"No kidnapping! No, no, no!" Mu scolded Riku immediately.

"I never even said a word about kidnapping!" Riku protested.

The Ji daughter held up both hands to her face. "I'm going to be bullied in class!!"

"No bullying girls!" Mu barked at Riku.

"Nobody's bullying anyone!" Riku protested.

"Economic sanctions are acceptable, but wanton destruction of long-term assets is not permitted!" Elder Ji said then. "That means, you can boycott our products, but no burning our herb fields!"

"Blackmail and public defamation is banned!" Shui shot back.

Riku choked. "Who's blackmailing? Nobody is blackmailing…"

"The time span should be set to ten years!" Elder Ji said then. "No more than ten!"

"Five years should be enough for Riku to gain enough power to retake his lands all by himself!" Shui snapped. "Unless you Elders are so shameless as to get involved in a younger generation's battles?"

"Seven years! My children will kick his tailroots!" Elder Ji declared.

"Fine!" Shui roared.

"Fine?!" the Ji daughter gaped, incredulous.

"Fine!" Mu added, unnecessarily. "Riku, we go home!"

"Wha…?" Riku was still in a daze as his companions and his counterparts unilaterally dragged him into a seven-year clan war and then out the door before he could settle peacefully.