Canticle: Code Caligula

Chapter 51: Ruin in Extravagance, Part 2

Kishin walked out of the alleyway, slipping the white glove off his hand and casually shaking away the ethereal blood dripping from it. He made his way across the sidewalks; acting as if nothing had happened just moments earlier.

Not too far from where the station was, there was a small restaurant nestled between a few surrounding buildings. It had a sign is neon Japanese characters that read "Park Yakisoba". Clearly the place didn't have enough cash to afford a more luxurious sign, but Kishin preferred things simple like that.

He removed his black coat and folded it overtop his arm before walking in through the automated sliding glass doors. Kishin was greeted inside by a man who bowed and greeted him in a friendly manner. The inside was filled with nostalgic décor of black wood carved designs and motifs along the walls, with wooden floors covered in pale green rugs and traditional zashiki seating.

"Hello, I should be expectin' another for a business meetin'," Kishin told the greeter.

"Of course, sir. Shall I take your name?"

"Sure, name is Kisen."

"Aha, like the old poet? Quite an uncommon surname this day and age!"

"Tell me about it, haha! I get that all the time," Kishin laughed in a friendly manner. "Just send him over to my table when he arrives."

The greeter nodded as a waitress appeared and smiled at Kishin, who then led him over to a table close to the floor. He bowed and thanked her before taking his seat at the head of the table, facing the entrance. Kneeling in front of the table, Kishin took the customary warm towel placed there for him and washed his hands of any remaining dirt and blood.

—Gods, times have changed. I remember back when this city was stinkin' of horse shit as far as the eye could see. Kinda makes me wish for that again... before everyone just decided to get themselves in a goddamn hurry.

After about seven minutes, an older man walked into the shop with spectacles and a brown suit jacket over his arm. His hair and beard were whitened with age. The man's face and brow were lined with wrinkled creases as well, but the most striking feature was his long hooked nose. The same greeter conversed with the man, but Kishin couldn't make out the words from his distance.

—That the guy? Crap, he's older than I thought he'd be! Maybe I should've waited before sittin'?'

The waitress led the old man over to the table Kishin was seated at.

"Aha, Mr. Kisen, sir! Good to see you!"

The two men bowed to each other as the waitress stood confused with a smile still on her face.

"H-He's your senior, sir??" the waitress asked the elderly man. The man raised his thick bushy eyebrows in shock.

"Of course he is! Mr. Kisen is a great achiever, I just happened to get through life with little success! Don't go off judging by appearances, missy!"

The waitress apologized with widened eyes and bowed repeatedly before leaving to get the complimentary tea.

Kishin smiled nervously as the woman left before looking back at the old man. The elder looked vaguely familiar to him, somewhere he had seen that nose before nearly an eon ago.

"Lord Zenkibō!" Kishin proclaimed in shock.

"So you do remember me, I had hoped so!" the grizzled elder laughed. "How many centuries has it been since you sought out your old teacher?"

Kishin immediately bowed before the man. This wasn't his junior in any sense, despite what Zenkibō claimed. The old man was a tengu lord in actuality, having command over Mount Ōmine. It was Zenkibō who had trained Kishin a millennia ago in the art of swordsmanship.