The guards accompanying the four traveling noble ladies were completely killed. The women disappeared without a trace. Are they dead? But the bodies were never found... Were they kidnapped? But what kind of madman would dare to kidnap the mother of the shogun himself and the wife of Chancellor Yanagisawa? The Shogun and the Chancellor demand immediate action from Sano. The famous eriki - investigator for especially important cases Sano Ishiro is ready to find the missing travelers, even if it costs his own life. Moreover, one of them is his beloved wife and assistant Reiko...