unfortunate. However, that still leaves us with the question of how

he knew where to find us.”

“He didn’t, ” Fugisawa said. “I found you. I’ve had Kobayashi

under surveillance and I’ve been keeping track of everyone he’s met

with since this whole thing started.”

“You saw us leaving the House of Nihonto, ” Kira said.

“A couple of my men did. They saw Kobayashi and his people go

in, then they saw them close the store. They thought that was a bit

unusual. They thought it was even more unusual when you came

out after a while, so one of them followed you while the other one

remained to watch the store. He saw Kobayashi and his people

come out a short while later. They looked upset.”

“I picked up the tail, ” Modred said. “I thought it was one of

Kobayashi’s people, but I was certain that we shook him.”

“You did, ” Fugisawa replied. “He was very upset about that. He’s

very good, which meant that you were even better. And it also

meant that you weren’t just ordinary tourists looking at some

swords.”

“So you checked with the hotels, of course, ” said Modred.

“It didn’t take that long. You’re not exactly an

inconspicuous-looking group.”

“I see I’ve become quite careless in my old age, ” said Modred

wryly. “We’ll have to arrange for other accommodations.”

“What, I have to pack again?” said Broom.

“Broom, we have some important matters to discuss, ” said

Modred. “Why don’t you go into the other room and watch some

television?”

“If I wanted to watch television, I could’ve stayed at home, ” said

Broom, “where at least I could understand what they were saying. I

haven’t left that room ever since we got here. Some fun trip this is

turning out to be!”

“Broom, ” said Wyrdrune, “this isn’t a vacation.”

“You’re telling me?”

“Broom…”