As our group was walking towards the city, a group of riders sped past us in a hurry. I noticed that there were some people in this group who wore expensive clothing and there were also a couple samurai accompanying them as well. They went directly through the gates of the city, barely stopping, and out of sight.
When we reached the gates, I witnessed many people being directed to the nearby guard facility for inspection and tax collection, especially those with carts or or large packs.
"Are these two with you monks?" A guard questioned our group.
"Yes, they have been travelling with us and have been invited as our guests."
"Alright, but I'm going to have to see the license for that katana." The guard said to Teru.
"Sure, it's right here." Teru was already reaching into his robes, familiar with the process.
'They probably wouldn't have read through Ryota's letter but it's good thing we avoided a bag check anyways.' I thought.
After we entered the city, we split up from the monks.
"If you have time, come visit our temple. You are welcome at anytime, friends."
The monks held up their palms and gave a short bow to us. "Amida."
We walked down the street for a bit when a certain shop caught my attention.
"Teru, look." I pulled on his sleeve and pointed.
We entered the shop to look around. There were a clocks and pocket watches on display.
"It's just like the one we found." Teru said as he examined a grandfather clock.
"Is there something I can help you with, esteemed customer?" The shopkeeper asked.
"I was just curious. I've never seen anything like these before."
"These are called timepieces and they were introduced by the Daimyo. They are new instruments used to tell time with the use these gears." The shopkeeper pointed.
"How does it move on it's own?"
The shopkeeper picked up a brass pocket watch. "There is a mainspring which must wound daily to power the device."
"How much for one?"
"This particular pocket watch is 6 ryo."
"What!? That's more than I paid for this katana." Teru said in alarm.
"A great amount of craftsmanship and expertise must go into creating a single timepiece, I dare say more so than bladesmithing." The shopkeepers spoke condescendingly, his attitude changed when he learned we couldn't afford anything in his shop.
Teru left the shop dejected. After asking for some directions and moving through the city a bit, we arrived at the merchant house where our group was suppose to be staying, only to find that it was swarming with police.
Supervisor Murata, who was talking to a samurai police, caught sight of us and waved us over. The samurai police he was talking to issued a command and two of the police came to us and led us over to them.
"What's going on?" Teru said as we reached them.
"You are Maeda Teru and Umezaki Zai of Yamainu Town, correct?" The samurai police questioned.
"Yes, we are."
"The two of you are going to have to accompany us to the City Lord's castle." He stated.
"Is something wrong?"
"We'll discuss this once we arrive."
We were led to the City Lord's castle with an entourage of around 15 policemen surrounding us. All I could think about was that letter in my bag. Although it didn't have anything incriminating written in it, I still couldn't help but sweat.
When we arrived at the castle complex, which was twice as big as Yamainu's, we were led into a large room and told to wait. We sat there on the cushions for around 25 minutes before six men entered the room, three of them in expensive clothing, accompanied by two samurai and the samurai police from earlier.
I recognized some of them as the riders who had rushed into the city earlier. The three men in expensive clothing sat down across from us.
"I am the Inspector General here at Shimamaki Castle. You may call me Inspector General Ukita." An old man from the three said. "As an Inspector General, I am here under the authority of the Daimyo and report directly to the Capital, my position here is second only to the City Lord. Now, these two gentlemen with me are scholars under the Daimyo and they would like to speak with the both of you."
"I am Hirata Heihachiro and I specialize in the study of literature, philosophy and culture." A man with a goatee give a short bow.
"Motoori Tatsumaro, I specialize in the study of philology." A bald man said as he gave a curt nod.
"It is to our understanding that the two of you have come across the site of some ruins during your journey here?" Hirata Heihachiro questioned.
"Yes, that is correct." Teru said politely.
"Would you mind disclosing to us what you have discovered in detail?"
"Not at all, Lord Hirata." Teru said and he began telling them about what we found.
"Very good." He clapped after hearing the recounting.
"Now, we all have the utmost respect for the esteemed monks here in Shimamaki but you'll understand when I say that we must check your belongings, right?" Inspector General Ukita said.
"Of course, Inspector General Ukita. We have nothing to hide."
Inspector General Ukita nodded and gestured with his hand. The two samurai walked over from their place behind the three men and retrieved our bags to begin searching through them.
I couldn't help but become a little nervous when the samurai began searching my bag. He slowly took out the items in my bag and scanned them thoroughly. When he finally reached the bottom of my bag and brought the letter out, my heart started beating like crazy.
He opened the letter and began to read it.
"What's this?" Just at that moment the other samurai, who was searching through Teru's robes spoke up.
The samurai on my side looked up from the letter to check out what was happening, I glanced over as well.
The man searching through Teru's robes had what looked like a pair of old and broken headsets in his hands.
'Those must be from the old radio.'
"Hehe, I must have forgotten about those." Teru scratched his neck.
"Of course." The Inspector General smiled humorously.
The samurai on my side put the letter back in the bag.
"It's all good here." He nodded after searching my robes as well.
They ended up confiscating Teru's headsets after finishing the search.
"Then just one last thing." Inspector General Ukita said as he brought out a scroll and unfurled it on the ground. "This is a document of secrecy, and it bears the seal of the Daimyo. It states that everything you have seen in those ruins and discussed with us here today must remain an absolute secret. Any who violates the confidentiality will be punished to the full extent of the law. If you understand, please sign your names here."
The samurai police placed a brush and ink set in front of us, and we signed our names on the document.
"Excellent. We will require the two of you stay in Shimamaki City for a few days as we verify your story and Lord Hirata and Lord Motoori here lead an expedition to the site." Inspector Inspector General Ukita said. "The two of you will be shown to your accommodations."
After leaving the castle, the samurai police led us to our accommodations, a very large and luxurious inn, where we met Mister Bando and Shohei, who had also invited the rest of our caravan to stay with us.
"They said to make ourselves at home, they're paying for everything, so we invited everyone here." Mister Bando said as we settled down in a spacious banquet hall for a feast.
"After what we had to go through, I'm going to drink to my hearts content today."
"That sounds like a good idea." Teru joined in.
Other than me, everyone drank as we enjoyed a luxurious spread and partied until the night, including the 14 year old Shohei. Everyone was extremely rowdy as they let loose and got completely wasted.
"Everyone, cheers!" "Cheers!" "Cheers!" "Cheers!"
"Hey! The ones in this room, you are making too much noise!" A handsome man suddenly opened the door to our banquet hall.
He was also wasted, judging by how he was swaying and how red his face was. He wobbled in and was joined by a whole retinue, some of which were swordsmen. The ones who weren't swordsmen were all quite good looking as well.
"What did you say!?" Supervisor Murata shouted. "This is our banquet hall, we can do as we please!"
"You dare speak to me like that, do you know who I am?!" The handsome man raised his chin to look down on our supervisor.
'This doesn't look good.'