You want to at least make time to check out the abandoned Sakura Church before calling it a day. It would be a good place for a Master to lay low at without arousing suspicion, so it's as good a place as any to check out. You might even find your missing master, or one of the other three if you're lucky. But, checking your map against the address given to you by Kure Minako reveals that it would actually make more sense to investigate Mikuni Oriko first. It's barely a kilometer away, and its located in such a way that you'd be able to take the train back into Mitakihara, and then over the bridge into Kazamino.
Yes, that sounds like a good plan.
Kure Minako was right when she said that you "can't miss it", when it takes up the entire block all by itself. You aren't sure just how rich Mikuni Oriko is, but her mansion is easily the size of the Tohsaka residence. Standing tall above a fence of brick and wrought iron, the western-style structure exudes the kind of wealth and prestige that would be right at home among some of the longest-lived mage families at the Clocktower. You wonder just who its owner really is, or what she's doing dating an apparent ruffian like Kure Kirika. Perhaps that's something you should look into. It might be helpful to know more about the allies of each of your masters.
But that's not all. Much like the highrise residence of Tomoe, this mansion has a Bounded Field of some quality surrounding it. It's actually rather impressive how, despite the gaping hole in the fence that invites a direct view of a rose garden in the process of some pretty severe landscaping work, no one seems to want to bother trying to gain entry. You seem to be the only one who even notices it, judging by the nonchalant reactions of passersbys.
[ ] Kure Kirika has a Caster servant with a great rank in Territory Creation
[ ] Kure Kirika is a better mage than you gave her credit for; maybe she's not a placeholder
[ ] Mikuni Oriko is a skilled mage, though not a member of Kure's order
-[ ] Could Mikuni Oriko still be a master despite not being in that order?
--[ ] If yes, is this Bounded Field the work of her, or of her servant?
[ ] Other (write-in)
At any rate, should you attempt to gain entry now, it would be troublesome if the wrong pair of eyes were to spy your actions. Seeing no immediate signs of life, save for the bushy white tail of a stray cat as it saunters away from the boundary, you decide to turn around and head back into town to check out the abandoned church.
Or at least, that's what you would do if the train bridge weren't closed for repairs -
That's right, Archer and Berserker had been fighting here a few nights ago - Instead, you're forced to get off at the stop near the school and leg it the rest of the way. Fortunately, there is a footbridge not too far from the school that you can use, otherwise you might have had to swim across. You cut through the woods that flank either side of the train tracks, and as you leave the treeline,
there it is.
It really is a damn sorry sight. Windows are busted, the outer walls blackened with soot, hell, even part of the roof's caved in. And yet, you can still sense something faint here. Maybe it's just the flow of this city's leylines, but you'd wager a pint or two that someone's been making camp here, and recently at that. Now, there's trespassing, and then there's
trespassing. Both will get you in the same trouble, but only one will get you in
trouble. So unlike the Tomoe, Akemi, or Mikuni residences, you're feeling a bit more confident about your odds inside the old church.
The doors aren't locked, and once you've entered, you see just how right you were. Discarded candy wrappers can be seen scattered about the first few rows of seats, much of the broken glass and debris you would expect to see have been swept off to the sides, and the dust isn't quite so thick in some places as in others. In fact, as you run a finger across one of the frontmost seats, you realize that some places don't even have dust.
There are a few distinct sets of footprints that you can make out against the dusty floor. Judging by their size and the lengths of their stride, four females and two taller males have been here within the past week or two, with varying degrees of ambulance based on the way one pair seems to drag their foot. You'd guess that they belong to ( ) and that this is their hideout. But there doesn't seem to be anyone around at the moment.
[ ] The masters and their servants
[ ] A gang of random hoodlums
[ ] Other (write-in)
With the coast clear, you decide to see about checking the basement. Down the dusty stairs, only one set of footprints dares to tread. You reach the bottom, and aren't quite sure what to expect as you come upon a closed door. Hesitantly, head on a swivel, you grasp the handle and jiggle it.
It opens with little complaint into a sparse basement room, charred black like much everything else in the church. A heater, minifridge, and a futon have been set up off in the corner, and by the tracks in the dust these are changes made fairly recently, within the past few weeks or so. There's little else to see of note, save for a curling piece of paper sitting on top of the minifridge. Carefully, you pick it up, finding it to be no more than a black-and-white
photograph, weathered by age and marred with the same burns as the rest of the building. It depicts a young girl with braided hair, flanked on either side by figures too burnt to identify.
"Well Ortensia, it looks like there might be some truth to those rumours, after all," you say, placing the photograph back where you found it. "But, if the elder Sakura daughter really is still alive, then what's she doing back here after all this time?"
And, what should you do now that you've found her hideout?
You can hear school bells ringing in the distance, and a quick check of your watch informs you that those are likely the end-of-day bells.
Do you
[ ] Head back to school and try to catch Akemi or Tomoe
-[ ] What do you want to ask them if you can manage?
[ ] Stay here and see if anyone comes by the church
-[ ] What do you do if you are caught?
-[ ] How long do you stay if no one shows up?
[ ] Head to the library and do some digging
-[ ] on Mikuni Oriko
-[ ] on the Sakura family
-[ ] On (write-in who or what you're interested in)
[ ] Head back to your hotel room and wait for nightfall
-[ ] What do you do then?
[ ] Other (write-in)
?
