[Ronin]

Most of the pedestrians moving into the town of Kagura no Mura were those coming in from the ports, and Shou would have no issues blending in with the people moving away from the port district of the town. Further in, the traffic reduced quite a bit, though not enough to be anywhere near having the place becoming deserted. Many of the people walking around now had tired looks on their faces, and moved a bit sluggishly, evidently night workers going to the comforts of wherever they called home.

For Shou, however, his path would lead him along the main street of the town, and to the gates of the fence which demarcated the other end of Kagura no Mura. He would have no issues with the security at those gates as well, and would soon be on a road through the countryside leading to the capital city of Mizu no Kuni, Kagamino no Shi. Initially, the path would be devoid of any passengers, except wildlife, which did not seem lacking in the forests that Mizu no Kuni had no shortage of. But soo, Shou would discover that the land would gently begin to slope upwards, and he would begin to come across other wayfarers, either traveling to or from the capital. Most seemed to be of the merchant sort, and none seemed likely to cause him any trouble.

Gurē Shō

[Gurē Shō]

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Nobles and Corruption [B-rank] [break][break] - Evergreen #2 - [break][break][break]

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Ikō

Henge no Shin

Truth Cursing Seal

False Summoning

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"Sigh… This is tiring..." Shō complained, his breaths was loud as he desperately gasped for fresh air... or at least, that was the impression he aimed to give. Not wishing to draw any unnecessary attention, he gave his best effort to appear as unremarkable as possible until he reached his checkpoint and meet up with the noble.
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The likelihood of being under surveillance by the potential enemy he was up against seemed high in his opinion, especially considering the nature of the mission. Who knew? Perhaps the faction he opposed was observing his every move at this very moment!
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Say what you will, but exercising caution was a habit that he would never change. He understood all too well the repercussions of complacency in his line of work. In the realm of espionage and infiltration, a single mistake, which sometimes you didn’t even think was significant, was all it took to spell disaster.
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While he was on his way to the town, the wildlife and nature were something he wanted to explore, but he knew better than to spend time on it right now. He was in the middle of the mission; exploring and adventuring could wait. However, he constantly watched his surroundings, absorbing every detail as he travelled along the road.



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Gurē Shō – 210 words

[attr="class","credits"]made by gimmick

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[Ronin]

Most of the people Shou met on the way responded to his huffing with indifference, or with sympathetic expressions. Climbing uphill was not an easy task, at least for any normal person, and the Mizu nin had so far acted his façade of normalcy well enough to fool those who looked at him. The air began to feel more crisp as the land sloped ever upwards, and soon Shou would see the checkpoint where he was supposed to meet with the noble.

There was no noble there. There were instead two youngsters, about his age or so, standing and looking expectant, as though they were waiting for someone or something. With the way the checkpoint was designed to sit just a little bit out of the path, it would be easy for the two youths, who stood under the simply designed shade, to see anyone who turned off the road to approach the checkpoint.

Obviously, neither of them could be Wakayama Jinnai. They were both too young. But even though their clothes were simple, they were of good quality, signifying that these youths were affiliated with some organization of repute. The taller one seemed a bit on edge, as he fidgeted slightly, while his companion seemed calmer, although someone such as Shou would easily be able to tell that she was as tense as a taut bowstring, even though her face seemed tranquil.

But perhaps what was more important than the waiting youths was a subtle glint of light from the bushes some distance away up the slope. It seemed someone was watching the checkpoint with a spyglass, although this mystery observer would certainly not be close enough to hear whatever conversations would be made at the checkpoint.

Gurē Shō