Dinner With The Magistrate
Having only a few hours, before the dinner with the Chief Magistrate, to get cleaned up and bind any lingering wounds from the Tournament, the Samurai of Sendai left the Tournament Hall and the beautiful yet unusual Samurai-ko, to go tend to themselves. For Roka, it seemed like leaving unfinished business for some reason, but the conversation with the Samurai-ko had winded down naturally with no further sexual overtones and he did have a little celebrating to do for the day’s Win after all.
Kioko hugged Yuki and then went home with Yuki’s Mother, while Yuki and Miya went to their homes to wash up and choose nice outfits for the dinner.
Keitaro had already left previous with Rai, while Roka (of course) was not afforded any real rest – his adoring fans demanding his attentions and bringing round-after-round of celebratory drinks for him in the very streets a full hour and a half before he could finally slip away.
Udo thought that taking a hike out in the woods might do him good – until he nearly fell over dead from his serious wounds that unfortunately, had not been attended to after his loss in his last competition – and realized that perhaps rest (and simply not moving) would be a better idea. It only hurt when he breathed, and blinked, and thought about eating for some reason… Hopefully, the Priests of Sendai could do something for him tomorrow, as trying to do Surgery on oneself was probably not going to be the most pleasant thing one could experience (but if it came to that)…
Jei Hu meanwhile, left thinking of how close he had come to winning first place. Hopefully by this time next year, his experience and skill will have improved enough to be a real threat for the General of Sendai.
As he was headed home, the thought that he should change the spelling of his name, by switching the ‘I’ and the ‘E’ in his first name popped inexplicably into his head, but he dismissed it as a silly impulse and went on his way.
---
Entering the Magistrate’s home later that evening, the Samurai were met as usual, by Juro Saito, the Chief Magistrate’s brother and Steward of Sendai.
Juro carefully took each of the Samurai’s long weapons as they entered and placed them in a special room near the front of the house – but left them with their waiksashi.
While it was customary to be allowed to retain one’s short sword when entering the home of an equal of less, being allowed to do so by a Superior as a great honor. The fact that the Chief Magistrate was now allowing them this privilege was a sign that the Samurai Yoriki of Sendai were beginning to earn his approval and trust.
The evening at the Chief Magistrate’s home then proceeded as it had always gone before; the requisite entertainment, food and music – not to mention the lovely young geisha running about – and all this time with no sign of the host. This was not terribly unusual for a busy Superior though, and it would be at the end of the evening when the Magistrate would make an appearance – then he would reveal the purpose of the meeting.
Sure enough, after things had begun to wind down, the Samurai found themselves alone with Juro in one of the great rooms after all the geisha had suddenly stood and hurried away. Moments later, the white rice-paper door at the far end of the room slid open and the Chief Magistrate Noburu Saito entered.
Everyone bowed their heads, waiting for the Chief Magistrate to speak, which he did after glancing them over and biding them to rise – “Welcome my Yoriki! I trust your dinner was enjoyable?”
“As I mentioned before, I am very proud of not only your performances in the competitions today, but of the outstanding manner in which you and your Doshin carried out the security details to ensured a safe and smooth-running venue for our Great Daimyo. You have all brought great honor to yourselves and your families.”
As he spoke, the Magistrate moved to a dark lacquer box in the corner and pulled six small scrolls out from it.
“Kenjiro Yunikawa, a retired Wu-Jen of Sendai, Grand Premier Emeritus of the Sendai Order of Arcanum, and personal mentor of the Daimyo, has requested your services in a private matter – of which I am not privy to.”
“The Daimyo has therefore authorized you all a Leave of Absence, so that you may go and attend to Master Yunikawa’s request. He will expect your arrival at his mountain home, sixteen miles west of Sendai in three days.”
Handing the papers to Juro, the Chief Magistrate continued – “Your Doshin can handle things while you are away; please do not take any with you in this particular case, as this is not official business of Sendai, but more of a personal favor of the Daimyo and myself.”
“You may take as long as you need to see to Master Yunikawa’s needs.”
“I am sure that Juro can handle any of your questions.”
With that, the Magistrate moved to leave the room. While he didn’t seem upset or anything by the sudden outsourcing of his Yoriki, one got the feeling that this sort of thing was not exactly the status quo.
It was at this point that anyone wanting to speak with him personally would have to quickly (but carefully) get his attention…
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Topic: Mythic Nippon Adventure III (Read 361369 times)