"I prefer my armour to be more lightweight, but..." She looks at him. "Perhaps if we gave it to my father, he'd give us his blessing."
He nods, taking the weapon and engraving it. After a fair amount of time, he returns it to her, engraved with the Horatio company's logo. One of the guards approaches as she readies to leave. "Hey, your servant said to go to some pub after you finished." She gives an address.
'I don't know him, if you think it will help,' Jian nodded, 'Alright, let's sell the gem and statue and keep the armour.'
"Fufu." Chuckling as she receives the gun, Kyouka looks at the guard that hands her the address. "Alright. Feel free to wait for the news about the gun." She waved her hands as she walked away. And unless something else happened, Kyouka heads straight to the pub.
Together, the group is able to easily find a buyer for the goods, and split the profits. (+2 Wealth) The armour is put up on a stand, glaring down at Jian and Chitsukiko, as they lie together, now alone in the room after the ronin took her money and left. Idly, his fiancee strokes his chest.
By the time she was finished studying Midori was feeling tired but happy with the results. Alright, now I just need to practice them to get a feel for how best to use them. Her thoughts were interrupted by Yuki's return. “Welcome back, sis. How was your day? Anything interesting happen?”
She finds Santo drunk as she enters the establishment, a rowdy place tucked away in the slums. "Hey," he belches, "boss lady, meet the gang!" He gestures to a group of tough looking thugs, 16 in total, gathered around and drinking liberally. Each one seems independent, but they've gathered into three groups, led by the members who are most respected. Santo gives the introduction. "Meet Ujo, master of the Eastern Wind." "Grugga, of the Head Takers" "And Ya-Ming of the Tiger Strikes" Grugga, the huge lumbering masked man, approaches. "So, we heard you're the Black Widow." His voice is impossibly deep. "We've all heard of the men you killed, but why should anyone here follow you?"
'About what I said in the carriage,' Jian sighed, 'That... woman who talked to us in the cavern with the spider, she talked to me in my dream, before Kyouka and you woke me up. She offered power... and maybe even a Lord's title for me if we returned there and helped her with some problem.'
Yuki grunts. "Yep. One of the samurai said that Midori was a stupid whore who wasn't worthy of leading the clan, so I butchered him in a duel. How about you?"
'Well, not exactly,' Jian said, 'She gave me a bit of her power as an incentive to come and help her, but I haven't agreed to anything more. I am tempted by it, though... If I was a Lord, marrying you wouldn't be a problem and I could provide for our children.'
"Its best we return in The Town. It's dark and he could easier jump us like the Samurai before Us, and it's not safe for our Friend here. We return by Daylight and look for more Clues."
She's silent for a moment. "You don't have to be a lord for me to love you, Jian." She kisses him. "Children..." She leaves the word hanging in the air.
"A good idea, I'd say." The wood cutter nods, evidently thinking that they made a good decision, and leads them back towards town. Azai and Yunah make it back to the inn as darkness falls and the townsfolk begin lighting lanterns. The innkeeper shows them to their room, a small cube with a desk and a futon on the floor for sleeping.
Jian kissed back, pulling his lover in close, 'I know... and I love you too no matter what, but... having a good life instead of struggling every day would be a nice bonus.' He smiled, 'You don't want to have children? We don't have to make plans like that now.'
“Good job, hope you did not get hurt.” Midori nodded in approval. “My day was fine. I had tea with the Empress, answered her questions as best as I could...” she told her sister what had happened, though skipping the Empress' request to get the box “...then had tea with Yatsebe and met some of her family. Finally I came back and studied the spells I bought previously. That's about it.” She leaned closer and whispered in Yuki's ear. “There's more, but I'd rather not discuss it right now – no way to know who is listening. It's probably safe to talk here... but lord Yokuboo likely thought that he was safe, too, and we know how that ended... no need to take chances.” She pulled away before continuing. “Speaking of the spells I just learned, how about I give the shadow clone spell a try? The fireball one is out of the question – I'd rather not set the place on fire, even by accident.”
"Fuuu. Quite a group indeed." Kyouka hums with a wide grin as she saw the group. She was a little surprised to see a woman among the group though. But, as the masked giant approached. She looks up staring right into his covered eyes. "Why? Because I plan on defeating a veeery irritating bitch. Who also happens to be my sister. Sadly, she's had a headstart of a few years. So, I'll be needing capable men of my own to challenge her. But don't worry! I don't expect anyone to do it for free. Name your price, and I will make sure by the end of this your worldly desires will be satiated!" She exclaimed proudly, looking at each and every one of their reactions.
"I do want children, if they're yours. Preferably several." She sighs. "I wouldn't exactly be against you becoming a lord, I just want you to be safe."
Yuki nods, not drawing any attention to unseen listeners. "We could do that, sure. Why don't I leave the room while you do the spell, and then come back in and try to pick which one is you? If I can't, then your clone is a success."
'That's good to hear,' Jian smiled and gave Chitsukiko a peck on the lips, 'You could come with me to make sure I'm safe. Heh, maybe that sorceress will invade your dreams next to convince you. I have no idea how she did that to me.'
