A pair of ninja in flashy and colorful robes jumped onto the stage and stepped right past the vibrant trails of different shades of smoke. They disturbed the narrow layer of smoke down low, making Mana drag the leg that was missing a chunk behind her healthy one subconsciously. Levitating in mid-air on the Mystical Wings, she let her legs form a 4-like shape, except nothing peeked out from the cover of her left leg since the right one was a bit short. The sight was a tad illusionary in of itself, like the finger-pulling illusion Mana used to have fun with as a kid.
"King Kamar wants to see you, Konoha's Sorceress," one of the pair reported. The crowd watching Mana's show raised a bit of an uneasy wash through the mass of people. It would take a few more moments for the rustling to escalate and become flat-out public displeasure. Even then, King Kamar was popular with the smallfolk as the economy was booming, and pretty much every department of Getsugakure's was a pinch short of being flat-out golden. It wouldn't have been likely that this would turn into much more than gossip and whispering.
No one would've risked their prosperous lives by attacking a pair of ninja answering to the king himself. Mana had more common sense in her than to see something more than this truly was. If these two wanted to attack or hurt her, they wouldn't have waited for the end of her show. They'd have kept it private, either attacking her before or after the show when Mana was off the public eyes. The last thing they'd have done would've been to show up onstage, and bravely looked her in the eyes as they voiced their requests.
"What great timing, I'm just done with my evening show!" Mana smiled politely. She loved to see grown and toughened men become baffled by politeness. Their entire life they've dealt with toughness and constant attempts at one-upping each other, never letting their weaknesses or the true state of things become public. Always wearing a mask of toughness and standing behind a wall of cool. Only a polite person could've walked right around that wall and made them slip off their own mask in confusion about how this was even possible. Politeness was one thing they had no answer for and did not know how to deal with. "May I change and get ready to see King Kamar first?" she looked at the two as if asking their permission.
"Umm… Sure, I don't see why not…" the left ninja with a white and pink robe and spiky, blond hairdo scratched the back of his neck with a flustered look. No one wanted to be seen as the villain. With their public appearance and what the Getsugakure folks saw as an interruption of an already ending show, they've taken that role in the eyes of the small folks no matter their wishes or intentions. Seeing Mana greet the two with a bow of her head and act politely toward the two ninja, the villagers' ire soothed as well as they began seeing this was something ordinary.
After all, if Mana saw nothing wrong with two ninja taking the stage and asking her to come with them, they probably had nothing to worry about either. It was no secret that Konoha's Sorceress was once a famed Konohagakure kunoichi herself.
"Just please don't take too long and make the King wait, ma'am," the ninja on the right with curly, shoulder-long hair split down by the middle and a blue and black robe raised his hand with a polite request.
Seeing an opportunity to dazzle her audience one last time and make haste, Mana snapped her fingers, letting an azure flame engulf her in a fireball blaze. The two ninja covered up, taking a bountiful dash back and teetering on the edge of the elevated stage to avoid the punch of the heatwave that cooked the oxygen in their lungs in a snap. When the fireball vanished, only cerulean cinders sparkled where Mana just was with the public roaring in wild ovations.
"Did she just bolt on us?" the blond-haired ninja grumbled, leaning in to his friend's side so that they could hear each other through the deafening noise surrounding them.
"No, listen to that…" the curly-haired shinobi pointed at the flashy caravan with Mana's plastic likeness looming over her and flashing with neon colors. "There's noise in her caravan. She must be getting ready, just like she said. The public isn't disturbed, no one's turned away. That means no one saw her leave."
"That blue flame… It was… Just another illusion, right?" the ninja on the left tilted his headband to wipe his sweaty forehead before setting it back on his forehead where it belonged.
"I don't know… Did you feel that? The heat behind that flame and… How it… Almost… Called for us," his partner crossed his arms and puffed out his muscles with tension to stop his arms from shivering. It did little to stop his calves from quaking in their place.
Mana gently pushed the door open, making the two ninja turn at her and breathe easier when they could confirm that she truly just went back to her caravan with a spice of some artistic flare to change into a long dress that covered her lower body up all the way to her feet and nearly grazed against the floor. Because of the charcoal color of the silky outfit, a shine of azure light through on her right side underneath the dress' cover.
Given the weight of the moment, Mana found it more proper to reform her missing part of the limb with armor ninjutsu rather than use Mystical Wings. While using Mystical Wings to fly, Mana employed air currents generated by Wind Release ninjutsu, which made her lower section of the clothes flap about. When wearing sophisticated clothes, it often enough revealed that Mana preferred to stay hidden in the process and she didn't feel like T-posing the whole meeting by having the Mystical Wings suspend her by her upper body rather than her bottom, like she's been used to.
This also had the nasty effect of a notable clang and a corroding sizzle to Mana's step. The stamp of Serenity Arcana's heel didn't quite leave any notable, lasting damage to wherever Mana went, but it had a signature interaction with the ground she walked on regardless of her intention or need for that effect to happen. This occupied the attention of her mandatory companions that led her to the palace for a little while. At least until they realized that this was nothing too special, just something for Mana to help deal with her handicap.
"Ah, Mimas, Iapetus, you've brought Mana with you as I've requested, I'm glad…" King Kamar's voice filled the throne room where the King and a few of his advisors and his personal assistant waited for the meeting to take place so they could conclude their day already and go home. Given the time of day, this must've been one of the last things on their agenda, then again, Mana wasn't too familiar with the royal schedule or how late into the night political bickering could go.
"The Konoha's Sorceress is a uniquely flashy personality, my King, but she's… Made it simple and pleasant for us," the curly-haired ninja, whether he be Mimas or Iapetus, nodded.
"I'm glad to hear that," a woman in a colorful dress filled with various flower ring motifs, seated amongst the various advisors, waved her hand. "Though I expect a couple of active ninja like the two of you to be able to handle one handicapped woman if the need arose, and bring her here regardless of her wishes."
The passive-aggressive response of this advisor made Mana wonder if she's done anything to offend the monarch of Getsugakure. To her knowledge, she's been nothing if not courteous and compromising. She did her best in helping Getsugakure train their ninja by assisting the growth of Stea's team; she brought additional eyes and ryo onto Getsugakure by serving as a supplementary attraction to the island nation besides being an excellent resort location to visit; she's never denied a request from the King to entertain his court and guests, no matter her mood or plans for that time. All of this is because Mana feels indebted to the King and his people for giving her a place she felt like she could belong in for at least a little snap of time.
"Come now, councilwoman Dione, we'd be utter fools for considering Mana our enemy. She and Stea brought our village back from the jaws of starvation, since then she had entertained our court and our people countless evenings and she's shared her invaluable experience with our young and aspiring ninja. We have no reason to doubt Mana's loyalty to our village," King Kamar raised his hand that looked so massive it could fit the councilwoman's entire head inside it. Despite the fearsome implications of the man's size, he showed himself to be a gentle giant by merely reaching out over the woman with a wide and pleasant smile before pulling his hand back on his throne where he leaned forward on one elbow to bring himself closer to Mana. Even if that only came as a symbolic gesture because of the considerable distance that still remained between them.
"However, Mana, I'm afraid we'll have to have that conversation we alluded to some weeks earlier. I know, I've been lulled by the wonderful time that's passed but I'm afraid some circumstances forced my hand to escalate us having this talk," King Kamar said out loud what Mana had been worried about.
"Is it something related to Konoha?" Mana wondered. The King's face when speaking of those mysterious circumstances wasn't one of the most pleasant ones, suggesting that something about this news gave him indigestion. Mana couldn't believe that Konoha would be petty enough to make an actual move on Getsugakure because of something as miserable as one suspended kunoichi training and performing here.
"No, honestly, had it not been for the presumption that I'm surrounded by spies at all times that a leader always has, I wouldn't be sure if Konoha even knows about your presence here. Even though I'm sure someone had brought the news back home to them by now, they certainly didn't show that they know. It's… About the Allied Ninja," King Kamar replied. When he mentioned that organization, the faces of his counselors became grimmer. The degree of grimness depending on how much bad faith and mistrust they had toward the Allied Ninja.
"The Allied Ninja, King Kamar?" Mana asked, relaying to the King that she's been unaware of whatever it was the Allied Ninja were doing at the same time as requesting more information.
"Correct, our own agents received a word that a party of Allied Ninja, one quite familiar to you, is sailing to Getsugakure. They haven't come close to our shores yet and unless they have the documentation of their business here, I don't plan on letting them in, given our village's complicated history with that organization, but these circumstances forced my hand in requesting your answer about what we spoke about the last time I called you here on official business." King Kamar explained.
"In other words, Konoha's Sorceress…" a councilman spoke up, but he saw a grumpy look from his king's side when he uttered that alias, making him stutter for a second before correcting himself "… Mana… We'd like to know from you ahead of time if we can make preparations for including you in our active ninja roster as a Getsugakure kunoichi. This sort of thing does not happen often, very few foreigners or rogues usually get the honor of becoming legitimate, so I advise you don't let that chance go to waste, however, the choice is yours."
"And let me remind you that you've had ample time to consider our King's unprecedented offer," councilwoman Dione spoke up again after gulping down being addressed directly by the King like that and feeling his heavyweight hand looming over her head momentarily. Even if the King never gave the impression that one had anything to fear from him under normal circumstances, his considerable bulk and charisma still granted him a presence that was to be respected in any given room.
"I did," Mana politely bowed her upper body to a half-static angle. "I think you'll also know my answer by now."
"Ah, I see then that there is more to you moving from the Imbrium Estate last week and living in a caravan you bought with your own money," King Kamar sighed.
"Please do not take this as a sign of disrespect, King Kamar. I merely tried to avoid being in any more debt of your generosity than I've already gotten myself in. That is why I could not stay in the Imbrium Estate any longer or request for another home to be provided to me," Mana looked away while brushing her exposed elbow with her other hand.
"Technically, any money and any property within the boundaries of Getsugakure are King Kamar's. You cannot escape his generosity whenever you are within this village. The King merely allows the peasants and the merchants to lend that money and property and use them for their own needs out of the kindness of his heart, and because that's how settlements are being run," the King's assistant raised his voice though only to be heard loud and clear and not yet vocally enough to scold Mana with it.
"I see, in that case, I will not make the King stoop himself so low as to request that I leave his village. I will leave by my volition if I may," Mana nodded. She wasn't sure where she'd go and how she'd get there but… She meant every word when she said that she was done feeling indebted to King Kamar like a pig being fed buttery shrooms only to make a juicier steak. "I am eternally grateful for the King's generosity and the grace of letting me perform here for these last weeks, it's been revitalizing to my spirit as a performer and stimulating to me as a kunoichi."
In gratitude, Mana brought herself to the mat.
"If I may, King Kamar, I don't believe that it is in your best interests to let Kono… Em… Mana… Leave the village. After all, it is as she's said, she is indebted to our village financially. We are well within our rights to make estimations of how much money she's brought in from abroad and how much she's spent living here, ask that Mana performs and earns that money back if she is so passionate about ridding herself of feeling indebted to Getsugakure," a councilwoman that had stayed silent until now spoke up. King Kamar stroked his meaty chin for a little while before waving it off.
"Nonsense, councilman Centas, because of her contributions to Getsugakure's prosperity, we have never considered Mana to be in our debt since she's had a vital role to play in us gaining all that wealth, to begin with. Plus, it is as my assistant has so brutally laid out–there's simply no repaying a debt to the King when the King owns all property and currency in their land already. She'd be working here until her dying breath if I asked Mana to repay whatever money she allegedly owes. It'll be a sad day to see you leave, Mana, but… I'm afraid that this is the deal we've agreed upon back when isn't it?" King Kamar pressed his open hands and shook them as a gesture, wishing Mana good luck in her future endeavors.
"Ah, Konoha's Sorceress!" a plain and withered man jumped up from behind his stand of a simple hut he based his business in. This was the man buying and selling horses and caravans as well as organizing excursions and trips all over Getsugakure or its neighboring islands. Maybe Mana should've stayed on one of those remote islands instead? Even if Getsugakure technically claimed them as their own, they rarely sailed out there to enforce their laws, and, from what Mana has heard, they had a culture of their own to them.
"I know this is a bad time but I would prefer that I leave as soon as possible rather than wait until morning," Mana bowed her head in greeting the man she bought her caravan from. "I'd like you to take me to the port. I'll offer you your caravan back and… Hopefully, this money will cover the rest…" Mana spilled a sash of golden ryo on the table, making the man gasp for air.
"A trip like that costs three silver ryo, Sorceress-san. You've spilled a hundred and fifty golden ryo which is six times the caravan's worth, even with all the enhancements and modifications you made after purchasing it," the old man muttered with a meek voice, still struggling to wrap his head around the overwhelmingly favorable offering that was so weighed in his direction it would never have stopped feeling like a scam.
"I don't think I understand but… You needn't be worried, I have not displeased King Kamar in any way and I can guarantee your security. Even if you don't take my word for it, I am being watched by a pair of splendid ninja right now who have undoubtedly been asked to ensure that I leave within a matter of a few days," Mana tried to soothe what she saw the man's problems being.
"You… Don't understand…" the man stuffed the golden coins back into Mana's sash and shoved it back into her hand. "The caravan alone is thousands of times more expensive than the trip you're asking me to make!"
"Oh, I see…" Mana pondered on it before shrugging. "I will have no use for it, though. No vessel will take it onboard unless I buy an entire ship just for myself, which… Now that I mention it… How much does a ship capable of sailing alongside a caravan and a few horses cost? Will this much money cover it? I'd appreciate some help, I'm not very good with money."
"Believe it or not, I've noticed…" the man squinted before rushing from behind his counter and shoving Mana through the door. With the magician turning around to knock on it, he peeked out again. "Go back to the caravan and wait for a little. I'll bring my horses and take you and that blasted thing to the port. Then I'll hand you off to the sailors and see if any of them would be willing to take you or your caravan. I'll sell you my horses too if you insist. It's three hundred and fifty silver ryo per horse."
"Wait…" Mana cried out immediately after the old-timer unexpectedly slammed the door in front of her. "How many gold ryo are in a silver ryo again? Jeez… Why does currency have to be so confusing…?"