Nobles and CorruptionJun 2, 2024 20:48:40 GMT -5
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The two youngsters lifted their heads on being asked to by Shou, some degree of hope mixed with relief in their eyes. Hatsuko whispered something to Jiro, who immediately went out, as she turned to the Kiri ninja, gesturing for him to sit at the table in the room. "I guess I'll have to start from the very beginning," she said, as she took a seat. "Jinnai-sama is the leader of the Wakayama Clan; we are mostly traders, but also have a strong presence in the arts. Our father, Jinnai-sama's elder brother and former clan leader, died a long time ago, and Jinnai-sama adopted me and Jiro."She paused as Jiro returned with a servant, who poured them all tea and left, allowing Hatsuko to continue, as her brother seated himself beside her. "The Wakayama have a rule about clan leadership: the youngest a clan leader can be is 25 years. While Jinnai-sama is well into his fifties, he has no children, and wants me to become the next clan leader. But some of the clan members don't agree with his decision, because the hope was that since he was childless, Jinnai-sama would pass on clan leadership to one of his younger siblings. However, as Jinnai-sama adopted us, then he can officially name me his successor, which they don't want." Jiro took this moment to interject. "That's because, despite her appearance, Hatsuko-chan is a tigress, and won't easily be swayed by the other higher ups--""Jiro!"The boy cleared his throat, and took a sip of tea. Hatsuko's cheeks looked a little flushed, but she seemed pleased by her brother's description of her, even though she had quieted him. "Pardon the interruption. Being a fit man, the expectation is that Jinnai-sama would grow old enough to see me take over as clan leader. But recently, he fell sick and nearly died. Initially, we thought it was a normal sickness, until one of our loyal guards confided to Jinnai-sama that he thought he had recognized signs of poisoning, having worked a bit as an apprentice to a medic ninja before retiring. And as Jinnai-sama recovered, we uncovered that clandestine messages were being sent out from Wakayama Manor. We aren't sure of the details of these messages, but we suspected that there might be foul play afoot. In the meantime, Jinnai-sama traveled south to Nagi Island for some business, as soon as he recovered, and the strange messages stopped. As soon as there was word that he was returning, the messages resumed, and we started seeing strange faces at the manor. I initially wanted to try to have some of our loyal servants intercept the messages, but Jiro suggested that we didn't, as that could alert whoever wants to harm Jinnai-sama that we were onto them."Hatsuko turned and looked at her brother, who stalled until he realized she wanted him to continue, and hurriedly began. "So, I thought that if we caught whoever was sending the messages, they could have had the messages in some form of code we wouldn't understand, and they would deny any wrongdoing, and become a lot more prudent and difficult to catch red-handed. Since the Wakayama are, as you earlier mentioned, loyal citizens of Mizu no Kuni, I suggested that we secretly involve Kirigakure personnel to help us catch the culprit, as ninja are well-versed in data collection and secret tactics."Hatsuko beamed at her brother. "He can have a very quick mouth, but Jiro is really smart. At times. In any case, we were told that the strange faces we saw are people from an artist's guild, who want to entertain Jinnai-sama on his return. So Jiro suggested that we get an 'artist' of our own, and here you are." She took a pointed look at Shou. "I must say you look dressed the part, Tsurudan-dono, so that helps things. Whatever art you are a master of is yours to decide, but we hope you can find out if harm is intended for Jinnai-sama, and stop it from happening.""And catch whoever is responsible.""Yes. That too."Gurē Shō
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Ronin
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