The Tale of Nuegiri

Long, long ago...

War raged across Higashi, with many ambitious warlords lording over their own territories.

This is a story that takes place in one of these territories of no particular note, on a night of no particular note.

Several Bugyous patrol the empty city streets, carrying lanterns in one hand, gripping sword hilts with the other.

The houses that line the street are completely silent. Perhaps they have been abandoned, or perhaps their residents simply dare not make a sound.

Disease and war have made the city a bleak and gloomy place.

The Bugyous are used to nights like this, and continue to solemnly carry out their duties.

The daimyo who rules over the city is strong, wise, and virtuous. But even the greatest leader cannot make food and medicine appear out of thin air.

What fate awaits this city?

No one discusses it, but the same answer is on everyone's minds.

The Bugyous look up, hoping to find the wind or some kind of small, harmless animal, in a time of war like this.

What they find is a humanoid silhouette with a hunched back, thick limbs, long fur growing from its body, and a tail winding and twisting as though it has a mind of its own.

The strange monster hides on the rooftops, its face shadowed, with only a pair of lilac eyes staring at the Bugyous with a gleam of malice.

The Bugyous stare in stunned silence, daring not to avert their eyes, nor make a single movement...

Until the monster lets out an eerie, earsplitting cry.

The monster leaps, its purple eyes drawing a curve in the night sky, landing beside the Bugyous.

It swings its massive claws without hesitation at the Bugyou trying to shoot it.

The blow sends the Bugyou flying. He does not make a sound as he impacts a house by the street, causing it to collapse.

The other Bugyous attempt to scatter, but the monster's attacks are relentless.

Soon, only a single young Bugyou is left to face the monster, his sword offering little comfort in the face of such a foe.

His legs tremble. Unable to flee, all he can do is await his inevitable death.

With a roar, the monster bares its fangs and charges at him, the ground rumbling under its thick limbs.

Yet the flash of a blade coming down from the roof is even faster. The monster takes a couple of steps back, its arm injured, showing fear for the first time.

The daimyo himself has come, sword in hand.

The brave daimyo has the upper hand at first, but he is mortal flesh and blood, and his strength alone is insufficient to overcome the mysterious creature.

Even as the daimyo's sword cuts the creature's flesh and draws its blood, its attacks do not cease.

The monster's black claw wounds the daimyo, and corrupt blood seeps into his body, draining the last bit of his strength.

As the daimyo falls to the ground, he sees a figure charging the fleeing monster.

It is the young Bugyou, who has mustered the courage to strike at the monster with no regard for his own safety, impaling its heart with his sword.

The monster's corpse hits the ground, and the night is silent once more. The smell of blood is the only reminder that remains of the terrible battle that just occurred.

The daimyo bestowed his own sword upon the young Bugyou, in recognition of the courage he displayed.

The young Bugyou became the daimyo's personal guard, and was granted the name of Nuegiri, an honor that would be passed down from generation to generation.

The daimyo himself contracted Oripathy that night.

The accursed illness invoked by the accursed beast did not crush the daimyo's virtuous heart. Knowing that his days were numbered, he devoted his last days to improving the lot of his city.

His son inherited his will and continued to develop the city, overcoming challenging times to enter an era of prosperity.

The mysterious monster, the Nue, became a local legend.

The Nue would appear periodically, announcing its arrival with its ominous call, whereupon the descendants of Nuegiri would pursue and kill it.

Defeating the Nue drives out bad luck and brings good fortune.

Rhodes Island Liaison Office

The Messenger does not realize that Utage has not left. She is hiding behind a corner, just out of sight.

Utage holds the box like it is the most precious thing she has ever held.

She follows behind the Messenger, completely silent.

The story takes place in the same city, but in this story, the daimyo was not a paragon of virtue and selflessness.

He was short-sighted and arrogant, little different from the bandits in the hills.

He was cruel and brutal, and carried a hatred of all ill omens.

He loathed the Infected, stopping at nothing to eliminate any he discovered.

The daimyo's reign over his territory was one of terror and misery.

Things came to a head when the daimyo was attacked by the Infected in a riot. Driven to desperation, the Infected had set a trap for the daimyo, who managed to escape, but not before contracting Oripathy himself.

The daimyo slew his assassins, then threw his sword, stained with Infected blood, to the ground in disgust.

He could not accept his end, to be brought down by a filthy peasant illness.

He ordered his servants, the Nuegiri clan, to protect everything he had—his city, his family, his status, and his reputation.

The Nuegiri were no longer just the guardians of the daimyo. They were also tasked with eliminating all the 'Nue' in the daimyo's eyes—

Be it people, armies, or Catastrophes.

To those on the outside, they were killing some kind of mysterious monster that threatened them.

The duty of the Nuegiri became a curse, a cycle.

A cycle they repeated generation after generation.

Countless innocent souls were branded 'Nue' simply because they learned the truth, and were eliminated in order to hide it.

There are several operators standing by in the corridor leading to Closure's storage room.

The operator shakes his head.

The Doctor crouches by the side of the cart, catching a slight whiff of a certain scent.

A minute, sweet scent.

Utage looks down at the slightly dented cardboard box in her hands as she mutters irritably.

Utage puts the package on the table, along with her katana.

With her painstakingly-painted nail-adorned fingers, she takes a small knife and cuts the cardboard box open, revealing a tiny component between the layers of cardboard.

It is a delicate component connected to a tiny Originium battery.

Utage stares at the component. The smile is gone from her face.

Utage starts talking to the component, obviously a covert listening device.

Back in the secret manor, she knew nothing of duty or responsibility; she was simply raised according to the elders' plans.

She did not know what lay outside the manor's walls; she did not even know enough to be curious.

For better or for worse, she demonstrated outstanding aptitude and easily passed the Nuegiri clan's rigorous training regimen.

She received her mission—

Become an ordinary Higashinese citizen, an ordinary high-schooler who likes to look good, a Rhodes Islander who keeps a low profile, and eliminate the 'Nue' in the name of her master.

It was an easy assignment. No one would ever find out who she was.

Her parents and the rest of the family had no doubt that she would become the next leader of the Nuegiri clan.

The final step to becoming leader was to complete her mission at Rhodes Island.

Utage pivots as she draws her katana.

Cut cleanly in half, the pieces of the listening device fall into the trash can.

Utage does not want to be an assassin or a spy, nor carry the burden of whatever 'ancestral duty' her clan keeps babbling about.

Utage does not like training. Being an operator can be rather exhausting, after all.

All she wants to be is a high-schooler, a real Higashinese JK.