"Wait!" Takao calls, trying to catch him. " I don't know what you have in mind, but this is not a good time for heroics! Van Synt won't leave you alive, whether you try to stop him by force or by handing him the sword."

"Just a little chase, don't worry!" Toshi shouts and disappears around the corner.

"But they have gonnes, and the balls run faster than you..."

Takao's voice trails off as Toshi disappears around the corner. He jogs another few steps before quitting the chase. There's no way and armored man can keep up with someone as nimble as the "farmer".

Takao heads back to the cart. On the way, he takes a cloak off of a washing line and leaves a few coins for the owner. Then he drapes the cloak around himself to cover up the armor, and he pulls the blades from his obi and puts them in the cart under the tarp, hilts facing towards him so that he can reach them easily. He puts down a few more coins for the cart, and starts pushing the cart away from the warehouse, at moderate pace so as not to draw suspicion. He disguise is mediocre, but maybe it will stand up at long range, and Takao intends to make good use of Toshi's diversion to keep the range long.

But now what? The warehouse was the safe house. Where would everybody meet when things went south?

Takao looks to the Heavens for guidance - and finds Nagani perched on a crossbeam reaching from a nearby roof, watching down on him.

"I have a plan," she sighs. "You will not like it, Takao-san. But I am out of hiding places and resources. We've only one man on our side who can shield us from Van Synt - the Count. I suggest we seek him out and offer him whatever it takes to get his protection."

"This is our only recourse? I admit, I am out of ideas myself, and I certainly don't have any allies or hiding places in this city that haven't hitherto been mentioned."

Takao thinks for a while as he continues walking away from the guards as Nagani keeps up on the rooftop. "I can certainly take your brother to the Count. If I push the cart, and you scout ahead and warn me of trouble, we should easily get him there in one piece. I might hear the Count out, but I will not swear fealty to a gaijin lord, nor do I feel like putting myself at his mercy."

"You shall not be any part of the due the Count may extract from us, I guarantee that," Nagani replies. "His demands are my price to pay."

Nagani sighs. "If you have no objections, we should hurry. Let us not waste Toshi's diversion."

"Lead on, then", Takao replies, walking as fast as he dares without attracting attention.

For inexplicable reasons, the precise details of what happened to Takao, Sadatsugu and Nagani in the following minutes will not be described. (Well, it would be boring. I guess that's explicable.)

Eventually, the three of you end up at the Count's residence, the posh theater building. The plaza in front of it is empty now - no doubt anyone who would visit it is still fighting their hangover - but Nagani doesn't chance going by the main entrance. Instead, she leads the cart to the servant's entrants, which is decidedly more shadowy.

Nagani's desperation is obvious from how loud her knocks on said door are; Takao stands back to watch for pursuers. After half a minute, Nagani knocks again, and this time, the door opens. A bleary-eyed servant of the Count stands before you, missing his jacket and holding a candle for light.

"Do rennt d'r a Schücker den Buckel nunter!" he says in deeply accented Hanse, clearly surprised in a bad way. "S'isch a friedliche Nacht un' da seid ihr Gestalten plötzlig! Nu blebt nich drüsse, kommt rin, kommt rin! Isch hol den Graf'n!" He beckons for you to come inside.

Takao turns from his watch to face the servant as he opens the door. He parses the servant's words for the typical Hanse greetings, finds none but responds to the beckoning with a glance to Nagani and a nod.

Takao then turns back to the cart. He first places the swords back into his obi, then casts aside the tarp and lifts the unconscious Sadatsugu and follows Nagani into the theater.

The servant leads Nagani and Takao through the building's bowels. What qualifies as the servant's quarters here would probably pass for the home of a well-off trader elsewhere in the city. A few hallways later, he casts open a large double door to the theater's main ballroom; down the imposing stairs lies the floor, where a large banquet table is set and lit for the Count's midnight snack. The Count seems to be in the middle of the third course, to judge from the plates surrounding him. You then witness the absolute height of decadence; the Count nods to the retainer at his side, who claps his hands thrice, and the rest of the servants leave the room on that signal. The Count rises from his chair and walks to meet you.

"A good evening to you," he says, seemingly unflapped by the sight of two ninja and a samurai. "I say, that young fellow you're carrying is a rather good match for the man who is said to have murdered my good friend. Are you here in hopes of a reward, then?"
"We are not, your Lordship," Nagani says, bowing deeply. "It is true that this man struck the blow that killed Magistrate Tingarson, but if you would hear us out - we have come to beg your aid for him. He will not last the night without a surgeon and the Captain of the Guard is determined to arrest him by any means necessary."
"I should hope that Van Synt executes his office, being as I pay a rather sizeable portion of the taxes that fund him," the Count says. "But I will not abide this man suffering when it is within my power to help." He leans to his retainer. "Send for Docteur Schmidt at once and clear a table for the surgery."

"Now," the Count says, looking at Nagani, "you wear the same garb - are of the same clan, then? You wish to align me against the law to protect the murderer of a friend of mine. That should prove an interesting argument."

He turns to Takao.

"And what of you, samurai? The seal on your sword is broken; I presume you seek shelter, too."

Takao's gaze, usually fixed to a point a few yards in front of his feet, moves all about as the small group walks through the theater. At first, Takao is simply amazed at the display of wealth, but soon he starts to take in details: locations of doors, windows, potential areas for ambush, things that may become relevant before long, for the motives and and intentions of the Count are as of yet unknown.

As the Count adresses him, Takao gives a short bow, not much more than a nod, and replies: "Your assumption is not unreasonable, but incorrect. The seal has been broken for a while. Jin - compassion - brings me here, the unwillingness to leave this young man to die. His ways, his honor are as alien to me as they are to you, perhaps more so, yet I can tell that he has honor, and I feel compelled to help."

Having so far face the Count squarely, Takao now turns slightly towards Nagani. "The lady's request may not be as audacious as you make it sound, and your tone tells me that you do not consider it such (or maybe it's just a guess; I rolled a 24, which sucks, but I closed the window without copying the result). I would assume a man of your stature to be well informed about the goings-on in this town, so you will be well aware of the all-out assault that Van Synt ordered on the Thieves' Den today. It is of note that he was not present himself, but instead ordered a squad of his guards to storm the safe house where this man and I resided, at a time when all eyes were elsewhere. What this implies you will puzzle out much faster than a humble samurai." Takao's tone leaves no doubt that he thinks the implications are negative for the Count.

The Count nods to Takao's words.

"It is compassion that moves me, too, samurai," he says. While he talks, a few servants reenter the room with a groggy-looking man wielding a stiff leather bag. They efficiently wrestle Sadatsugu from Takao's arms on a hastily-cleared table and quickly set to work on assisting Docteur Schmidt. You get the distinct impression that this is not the first stab wound getting emergency treatment here. Kind of makes you wonder what kind of parties go on here.

"The scenario your words paint is not quite the one I envisioned, but I have seen enough of Van Synt to know what that man is prepared to do to get his way. Murdering a helpless man under the guise of a raid is not the justice I want for my departed friend. Yet worse is what Van Synt is undoubtedly planning to do with the achievement of catching the murderer. If he can bring down Adler in the same swoop, then his star will rise, and he may sway the remaining magistrates with his achievements and their fear of that pirate Olafsen into naming him dictateur."

Seeing the questioning look on Nagani's face, he continues.

"As absolute ruler for the duration of a crisis. Unfortunately, such people make a habit of prolonging the crisis to suit their needs, and Van Synt has a ready-made army of thugs to do so. That, I cannot allow to happen."

His arm sweeps the theater hall.

"You will no doubt think that I fear for my riches, that Van Synt would have it all seized for the 'good of the people', and that this drives me. I admit that it is part of it. But we must look beyond and see what this would do to the city. Look at its walls and its heavily-armed guard. Fear is the ruin of this city. It chokes the life out of the city, and as such will make matters assuredly worse for everyone. No, a city must be free to breathe so that it may thrive. It needs a free spirit and a little opulence, a government that is busy enough with itself to let the people live in peace and good trade with the surrounding lands. All that would end were Van Synt in charge."

His eyes refocus on Nagani.

"Make note, Mademoiselle, that I will call your clan to account for the murder of my friend when the time to do so is opportune. I do not forget such wrongs. But on this night, we have problems on a grander scale that we must concern ourselves with, non?"