The skittering grows louder, and soon the four adventurers see black shapes at the edge of the torchlight.
"Not that I can think of, no." She shakes her head. "I was saddened when your mother left. I'm very grateful that she sent you in her stead."
“Next time I see mother I will let her know that you think so highly of her.” Midori smiled. “It has been a pleasure speaking with you, your highness. I will not take any more of your time, but I look forward to speaking with you again.” She prepared to leave once the Empress dismissed her.
"Likewise. I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish." She presses a fist against her palm in the mainland style, before nodding to indicate that Midori has permission to leave.
“I wish you a nice day, your highness.” Midori bowed to the Empress before leave and heading back to her quarters. Once she was outside she looked at the sky and tried to determine the time, to figure out how long the meeting had taken.
Looking up, she judges that it's the late morning, probably close to noon. Yuki awaits inside the room as Midori returns. "How'd it go, sis? Everything okay?" She gives a concerned look.
"Hmm." Kyouka cooes, moving her hands from her sword, to her gun. "Haven't used this in awhile." She hums, looking down at the sigh of her matchlock, ready to fire once the creatures are clearly visible.
'They could be afraid of the torch's fire,' Jian said, as he noticed the creatures staying in the shadows.
Jian's theory seems to be correct, the creatures scurrying around. The ronin chuckles. "I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I'm terrified of spiders." Despite her flippancy about her phobia, her hand shakes slightly as she reaches for her sword, the torchlight jittering. Finally, one of the creatures gathers its courage and approaches. It's a spider, but something is noticeably wrong with it, besides the fact that it's the size of a large dog. It seems...malformed, a mess of asymmetrical limbs and hateful eyes, more than the usual eight, with strange growths and fleshy protrusions erupting from its tough hide. It rears back, preparing to jump towards the group.
“Everything's fine, no need to worry. We had tea and the Empress mostly asked me about mother.” Midori gave a brief overview of the conversation, not mentioning the part about the ambassador and the box just yet. “I would go into more detail, but, as I told you earlier, I got an invitation for a tea ceremony at the estate of lord Terada, one hour past noon today. I still haven't gotten around to finding out where the avenue of blossoms is and the specified time is getting pretty close, so I should probably focus on that. Any assistance or advice you can offer will be appreciated.”
"Oh, it'll be appreciated, will it?" Yuki chuckles. "You're in luck, you've already been to the Avenue of Blossoms. It's the long street you walk out onto when you leave the gates of the Palace Complex. Midori-san met with some fat cat at a mansion there a few days back."
“Yes, it will be appreciated very much,” Midori nodded, her expression serious, then broke into a giggle. “So that is the Avenue of Blossoms. I guess all that is left is to find the right address. Shouldn't be that hard.” She paused and looked at Yuki. “Looks like we won't be able to spend a lot of time together today. I assume you will be back on duty tomorrow?”
“What, you're not going to miss me?” Midori smirked for a moment before turning serious. “I guess I will visit lord Tiyaka on my own when I have the time and let you know if I learn anything more about mother's past.” She made a brief pause. “I probably don't need to say this, but please be careful, Yuki. The death of lord Yokuboo will definitely have consequences. In the worst case it could lead to a war in the clan over who gets to become the next clan head. I hope I'm just worrying too much, but it never hurts to be prepared for the worst – just in case.”
"Heh." Kyouka chuckle to herself as the ronin spoke, "Don't tell me you're also afraid of me?" She asked due to her nickname being taken from a spider. But, as the creature showed itself. The redhead thoughts she made the right call in using her gun. There was no telling if its blood was also mutated after all. And just before the arachnid could leap at them. Kyouka fires right at its head.
The round bullet digs into the creature's face, right between two of its many malformed eyes, as it jumps. Its body flies backwards, out of the torchlight, and the rest of the spiders begin skittering away, though their legs can still be heard moving distantly.
"Hmm? Is that it?" Kyouka hums as she starts readying another shot. If the spiders leave for good, she slings her matchlock on her back again.
She notices a group of spiders moving in front of her, while some go behind her, and her tactical mind realises that some are attempting to distract while the others move into attacking range. She's not sure which group is which, though.
@unisol_gr44 Kyouka closely watches the spiders, Pretty smart. Which is weird, this means these things are used to hunting. She thinks to herself as they surround her. The redhead would usually think of a way to kill all of them, but since she has a group of her own. She simply prepares for a fight, "So, which side do you guys want?"
