Nine Days Later
"I'm sorry, Mister Zai. Renji left early this morning." Mitsue told me at the Miyoshi residence gate. "I'll be sure to tell him that you came."
"Alright, thank you."
I hadn't talked to Renji since that day and decided to visit him before I left for my trip but it seemed that I had missed him. As I was leaving, a carriage arrived and Sumire descended from it with the help of her maid.
"Good morning, Zai, you're early today. I haven't seen you since that last time. It must have been a of couple months." She said as she held her bulging belly.
"Good morning. I was just stopping by, and congratulations on the baby." I said.
We made small talk for a little before I left for Yamainu Castle.
I arrived at the castle to find a large group of horsemen and carriages being prepared.
"You're here!" Kuro came out to greet me, the Inspector General next to him along with a town official.
"You're also here?" I asked.
"I just barely made it. I can't really travel with the group from Nishihara can I?"
"That's true."
'So I guess Kuro's uncle will be attending as well.'
"Ahh, I see your friend has made it on time, Young Master Sakamoto." The Inspector General said as the official jotted down something unto a scroll they were holding.
"Thank you very much for your assistance." Kuro said with a polite dip of his head.
"Not at all, it is great to see the young take interest in domestic and foreign affairs. The rest of the delegation will soon be arriving. Since the two of you are accounted for I should get back to work, I bid you a good trip."
The two of them went off to check on other people as Kuro took me to a carriage near the back.
"You can keep your things here." He said, taking my pack from me and storing it behind the carriage before leading me inside. "This is the carriage we'll be using for the trip."
"Where are the others?" I asked as we settled down across from each other. "You said they weren't good at dealing with people but this seems like a huge event to not miss out on."
"My mother has to look after the household while Sena and Chikane are still too young for something like this, especially since I had to sneak out to get here. And Hiro...Hiro is still frustrated about our trip to the Land of Rice Fields. He feels that even though he's older than you, he didn't do as much. So he's training hard to catch up back in Nishihara."
We waited for about half an hour until a group of important looking people came out from the castle escorted by samurai and their attendants. I recognized two of them.
One was a man in his 50s, carrying a pair of swords on his waist, but I knew they were only for show. It was Ryota's boss, the boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi. Another was a young man with a wild head of gray hair, carrying what looked like a great sword on his back.
'People actually use those giant things?'
I had seen this young man before in the castle, he was the one I assumed was the Town Lord's son from how the Commissioner of Treasury addressed him. And from how he was walking next to an important looking man with short gray hair, I think my assumption back then was right.
"That's the Town Lord?" I asked Kuro as looked at the man with gray hair.
"Yes, that's Lord Kamitani Tomonobu, and his son Kamitani Takashi."
"Why is their hair gray?" I asked as they were escorted to the middle of the line of carriages and entered their own private carriage.
"I think it has to do with their hereditary technique or bloodline. Don't ask me about their technique, Lord Kamitani is not a warrior so the Kamitani family technique hasn't been seen for decades."
"But his son seems like he can fight."
"Yes, so we might be able to see it."
Shortly after, our group of carriages, escorted by samurai horsemen, left the castle complex. We caught a lot of attention from the town's people as our group cut through town. We eventually exited through the south gate and went straight south.
As the trip progressed, I noticed that we were being followed by birds in the sky.
"What are those?" I asked Kuro.
"They are trained scouts used by Lord Kamitani's guards."
"That's pretty cool."
Kuro and I spent the whole time meditating until we stopped for a lunch break later in the day.
"The Town Lord asks if Young Master Sakamoto and his retainer would like to attend the luncheon with him." One of the samurai guards said as he arrived by our carriage.
"Of course, it would be a pleasure to have a meal with Lord Kamitani." Kuro said and the two of us exited the carriage.
The guard led us to where a large tented pavilion was set-up. Lord Kamitani and his son were already sitting at a table inside along with Ryota's boss and 4 other men. Each of the men had one guard standing behind them.
"Ah, here is the young Sakamoto heir." Lord Kamitani smiled when he spotted us. "Come take a seat and join us."
"Uhh, we'll need another seat for my friend." Kuro said after noticing that there was only one extra seat available.
"Oh my. Forgive me, I mistook him as your retainer." He said as he waved at one of his attendants.
The attendant ran off and soon returned with another chair. Once I was seated, Lord Kamitani spoke up again.
"Now, let me introduce Young Master Sakamoto to everyone here." He said as he first gestured to his son before gesturing at a man with neatly done hair sitting next to him. "You've already met Takashi. This is Yamainu's Chief of Police, Lord Hosokawa Seiichi. He's recently been blessed with child and is expecting soon."
"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Lord Hosokawa. And congratulations on the baby." Kuro said with a polite bow of his head.
"It's also a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your words, Young Master Sakamoto." The Chief of Police bowed back politely.
The introductions continued until we reached Ryota's boss.
"And this is Sir Yamaguchi. He is a very prolific merchant whose influence is starting to expand outside of Yamainu."
"Nice to meet you, Sir Yamaguchi."
"Likewise, Young Master Sakamoto." He said in a deep voice.
"And who is your friend here, Young Master Sakamoto?" Lord Kamitani asked.
"He's someone I grew up with in Yamainu. Umezaki Zai, a good friend of mine." Right after Kuro introduced me, the Chief of Police's retainer, an elder man in his 60s, as well as Ryota's boss' guard stepped forward and whispered something into the ears of their respective bosses.
"It's nice to meet the all of you." I bowed.
"I see, so a childhood friend." Lord Kamitani nodded.
"Are you perhaps a friend of Renji's?" Lord Hosokawa Seiichi asked.
"Uh, yes."
"I see, then I hope you continue to treat him well from now on as well." He said as he bowed.
"Ah, so young Umezaki here is a friend of your little brother-in-law, Lord Hosokawa?" Lord Kamitani asked.
'Brother-in-law? So this is Sumire's husband?'
"Do you mean the young genius of the Miyoshi family?" Takashi asked with interest.
Lord Hosokawa nodded. "I hear the two of you are sparring partners, correct?"
'More like me and Junpei are moving targets for Fumi and Renji to practice on.'
"Sort of." I answered.
"How are you?" Takashi asked me.
"I'm 10 years old this year."
"Now it makes sense why he's accompanying Young Master Sakamoto at such a young age." Another man nodded.
Kuro looked at me with his eyebrows raised but I just shrugged in return. The servants arrived with food soon after and we had lunch together. I felt a bit strange eating together with all these important men. They mostly talked about business and politics in Yamainu. Eventually, the conversation turned to a subject I was familiar with.
"Lord Kamitani, have you heard about that new business alliance in town?" One of the lords asked.
"Ah, them. I've heard." Lord Kamitani nodded as he took a sip of his sake. "I had been planning to ask them for a loan. Seeing as how successful they were, surely they can contribute a little to the town."
"I also know about them." Sir Yamaguchi added. "I heard that they were planning to contribute to the town by increasing the number of travelers."
"How would they do that?" Another lord asked.
"By spreading interest and awareness of their businesses throughout the country and abroad. This can help Yamainu in the long-term as we receive more visitors and they spend more money in the town. Yamainu has the potential to become a tourist hotspot."
"There's no need to be so roundabout, I know you have invested interests in the alliance, Sir Yamaguchi." Lord Kamitani said.
"Hehe, looks like I can't hide anything from your eyes, Lord Kamitani. But the long-term benefits I speak of is absolutely true."
"I'm sure this alliance can spare a little extra for the town's other prospects."
The mood suddenly turned a little awkward as we quietly ate. About a minute later a horseman suddenly galloped to our camp from the north. After talking to the guards, he was let in and approached the pavilion.
"Lord Kamitani." He bowed. "I have a message from the Inspector General."
"What is it?"
He presented a scroll to the Town Lord, who unfurled it and read through it.
"A matter of importance has come up in the Capital and the Daimyo will be unable to make the trip?" Lord Kamitani said as he read. "Is this true?"
"Yes, Lord Kamitani, it's true."
"Then is the trip cancelled?" One of the men at the table asked.
"As some of the foreign envoys and ambassadors have already arrived and many will still be making the trip, the Inspector General has asked that our delegation continue as planned." Lord Kamitani said.
"Should we head straight there or find a place to stay the night?" Someone asked.
"It's a bit out of the way but if we change our route and go southeast, we can make it to Shukuba Town by midnight. I hear they have excellent inns there, we can sleep inside rather than outdoors." Sir Yamaguchi suggested.
"We'll continue on our route. The sooner we arrive, the sooner I can figure out why the Daimyo altered his plans."
'I bought a fancy new robe for nothing?'
The meal continued with the group speculating on what had happened for the Daimyo to cancel. After lunch, we split up to return to our carriages. As we were leaving, Ryota's boss scrutinized me before going his own way.
"Whose Miyoshi Renji?" Kuro asked as we walked back to the carriage.
"A friend I met back in school. Now that I think about it, you're the only one from the orphanage that hasn't met him."
We returned to our carriage and found the Chief of Police's retainer waiting for us there.
"So you're one of the youngsters my student has been teaching a bunch of nonsense to." The elder man said.