To the Capital (2)
As Asuma continued his lecture, elaborating on what he was expecting from us mission wise, a horse-drawn carriage approached us. The carriage itself was a modest, open-air vehicle that was being pulled by a single horse.
Two men were on the carriage; one, the driver, a nondescript coachman presumably of civilian origin, and the other was the passenger, a man roughly the same age as Asuma, dressed in luxurious looking robes and whose fingers were decorated with simple but expensive looking rings. He, the client I presumed, wore clothes that looked like the man was trying to impress, rather than for any purposes of comfort or practicality.
The carriage stopped near us, and the passenger alighted before throwing his arms out while approaching our team, "Asuma! How have you been my friend?"
The jounin returned a smile and embraced the man for a moment before coming apart, "Worse now that you're here."
The client feigned a hurt expression, "And after I went through the trouble of dismissing the mercenaries I had hired so that I could hire you instead? You wound me, Asuma."
"Yeah, yeah, cry me a river. You got an elite jounin for the price of a C-rank mission. You're a merchant through and through." The jounin shot back teasingly.
The man chuckled, "Hey, penny-pinching is the foundation of any successful businessman."
Internally I scoffed at their exchange. So much for maintaining professionalism and staying courteous to the client. And as they spoke, I received a system notification – it was a quest alert. Odd that it took this long to be generated since they were usually created the moment our sensei accepted a mission for us.
[Quest Alert!]
[To the Capital]:
Successfully escort Kurokawa Yoshiro to the Capital!
Ensure no harm comes to Yoshiro before he arrives at the Capital
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[Rewards:]
+20000 EXP
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[Failure:]
REP significantly decreased with Sarutobi Asuma
C-rank missions locked for three months
Accept? (Y/N)
Right off the bat, the EXP reward for the quest was just spectacular, it would guarantee at least one or more level ups instantly upon mission completion, and that was excluding any bonus rewards from the hidden objectives. However, that was also admittedly concerning. Because unless such a high quest reward was the average for C-rank missions, it might possibly mean that something was up with the mission. This was my first C-rank mission so I couldn't tell, but either way I wasn't about to let down my guard for the duration of the mission.
The two continued exchanging barbs before sharing a laugh as Asuma gestured towards us.
"Come Yoshiro, meet my team. They may look tiny, but trust me, they're definitely one of the best genin teams in the village."
The man turned to us, and if I had to use one word to describe the man it would be handsome. He had clear, sharp eyes and striking features. Yoshiro didn't fit the mainstream appeal of what was considered attractive, but he definitely possessed a certain je ne sais quos that enhanced his appeal. If I could see the man's stats, it would probably read that his CHA was around 100 or something.
"Nice to meet you all. My name is Kurokawa Yoshiro, and I'm sure I will be tremendously satisfied with your performance. Please take care of me. Pardon my previous rudeness, I was overcome with nostalgia upon meeting your sensei. He has saved my life once or twice, you know?"
"Pfft, try three times." The snide comment from Asuma was ignored by the client.
We bowed in return and I spoke for the team, "There is no need, Kurokawa-dono. My name is Shinji Ikari, on my left is Hyuuga Hinata and my right is Aburame Shino. We are at your service."
Yoshiro laughed, "Oh my, how polite. You have taught them well, Asuma. And please, there's no need for formalities, you can just call me by my name."
Asuma stepped in with a hand on the merchant's shoulder, "Alright, enough pleasantries. We should get going, daylight's burning."
With that, we suspended our conversation and Yoshiro took his seat on the carriage while the rest of us positioned ourselves around the carriage in a diamond formation. Asuma took the position of vanguard such that he would be the first to respond to any threat we would meet on the road while Hinata and Shino, our tracking and capture specialists, took the position of left and right flank. Their respective abilities allowed them to perform the role of both reconnaissance and guard duty at the same time.
As for me, I shored up the rear guard as the quote unquote long-ranged specialist, though I would argue that I was much more proficient in a taijutsu exchange than throwing around ninjutsu.
It was in this formation that Team Ten escorted our client, Kurokawa Yoshiro, out the village gates and onwards to the Capital in our very first C-rank Mission.
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It has been some time since we left the village. The road to the Land of Fire's Capital city from Konoha was littered with small villages and other supply outposts. It was a road with moderately heavy traffic taken by travellers, merchants and craftsmen. There was even a large town at the halfway mark between Konoha and the Capital where we encountered quite a few other Konoha shinobi either on the way back to the village or stationed there permanently.
Coincidentally, I even found a shop there selling weapons and other tools with a signboard that wrote 'Kotetsu no Ryuu'. Naturally, I did not enter the shop no matter how curious I was.
The mission was initially estimated to take at most two weeks, taking into account a week's travel from Konoha to the Capital at the pace of a civilian walking on foot. However, since our client had procured a horse-drawn carriage for himself, we could travel at a much faster pace than we would have walking.
It was our third day on the road and at our current pace we would reach the Capital city the next evening. We haven't really needed to camp out in the woods at all ever since we left Konoha since there were the occasional inns that we could rest in, which suited the client's preference just fine. He was a merchant who was used to a certain standard of comfort and civilization, so camping out in the woods was a last resort for the man.
The journey was largely uneventful without encountering any surprises on the road. We were travelling on the main highway between a hidden village and the Capital city of one of the five largest and most powerful nations on the continent – no bandits or marauders would be foolish enough to throw their lives away trying to rob travellers on a road that was regularly patrolled by Konoha shinobi or the Daimyo's own soldiers.
Punitive expeditions consisting of the Daimyo's troops were also occasionally sent out to clear the surrounding land of bandits and thieves, so crimes were few and far between. Generally, even civilians could make their way between Konoha and the Capital city unmolested by any of the more criminal persuasion.
We were only hired as by Yoshiro as a precautionary measure. After all, it was better to have shinobi bodyguards and not need them, rather than having to need us not having hired us. Even then, it wasn't cost efficient to be hiring professional shinobi to serve as bodyguards to travel on this road. Mercenary fighters, who were just a step up above hired thugs, were more than sufficient.
But Asuma had been requested by the client for old times' sake as he had put it. So we were lucky, in a sense. Yoshiro had elaborated that he originally hired mercenary escorts but dismissed them after hearing that Asuma was in Konoha training a genin team. So he released the mercenaries from their contract, even at the expense of having to pay the full amount for a job only half done, to hire Asuma and us instead.
Regardless, we performed our duties at a standard that was expected of professional shinobi belonging to the greatest of the hidden villages. Shino constantly sent out several Kikaichuu to perform reconnaissance while Hinata activated her Byakugan every so often to scan our surroundings just in case. Though I lacked the monitoring abilities of the Hyuuga and Aburame, I had superhuman senses owing to my perk [Heightened Senses], so I could still keep an eye and ear out for any potential trouble even if it weren't at the level of my teammates.
Asuma was content with just leading the way and acting as a major deterrent to any would be troublemakers. The forehead protector engraved with Konoha's symbol coupled with the dark green jounin vest signalled to other travellers that he was an individual to be reckoned with. Even the most clueless civilians would be able to recognize a monster in human form just from the way Asuma carried himself and the outward pressure of a crouching tiger he exuded.
Currently, we were on our way to an inn that would be our last accommodations before we arrived at the Capital city. Throughout the journey, since there was barely anything happening, the genin passed the time by talking to Yoshiro. He was a worldly merchant who had travelled across the lands, and thus had plenty of stories and experiences he could share with us.
Yoshiro explained that he went to Konoha to meet a trading partner from the Land of Wind, in order to finalize a trading agreement. With the meeting a success and a contract signed, he was now heading back to the Capital to start working.
The merchant then shared that he was originally from the Land of Noodles, south of the Land of Wind. He made his first bucket of gold exporting seafood to the land locked Land of Wind before making his way to the Land of Fire, the most prosperous of the elemental nations. Yoshiro subsequently set up a business in the Land of Fire's Capital city with the goal of seeking further riches and success.
However, he found himself being only one of many, many merchants and traders who arrived at the Land of Fire's Capital with the same ambitions. Initially, he encountered difficulty trying to establish himself in a market already saturated with people like him. However, he was able to rely on his good looks and charm to attract the attention of a widowed Kizoku baroness in the Capital and subsequently received her patronage.
With the backing of a Kizoku noble and her financial support, he was able to set up a firm foundation in the Land of Fire's markets and achieve further success trading goods to and from other nations.
I was surprised to find Yoshiro proudly sharing the sacrifices he had to make in order to achieve his current success as a merchant. He wasn't ashamed that he basically had to perform the duties of a gigolo for an older woman and in return receive financial support. The man had added that many others were envious of his position, and would kill to take his place, thus he was not at all ashamed of his actions. In fact, he took some pride in his appearance and charm that was found attractive by one of the wealthy Kizoku.
Although, I was initially confused by the term he had used, 'Kizoku', and so I asked him to elaborate. Yoshiro explained that Kizoku was a catch-all term used to refer to the nobility. There were several categories organized under the court nobility: In order of hierarchy, Koshaku, the dukes and duchesses, Hakushaku, the counts, countesses and earls, Shishaku, viscounts, and Danshaku, the barons.
These were four of the five aristocratic titles conferred on to or inherited by the nobles. The last of the nobility were the princes and princesses, who was instead categorized under the royal Kazoku. They were separately organized as these were titles that were limited to the royal family and stood at the top of the political food chain in the Daimyo's court.
I was immensely intrigued by the explanation, since I had never really given much thought to the system of power in the nations, only focusing on my own personal growth and strength. The world outside of Konoha was much more complicated than I had once thought.
Ultimately, however, such matters were not relevant, nor would it affect me in the near future, so I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my mind. It was an interesting explanation but as a shinobi I was pretty much almost entirely divorced from the court intrigue and schemes for power.
It was nearly sundown when we arrived at our destination for the day, a large but modest comfortable inn located a day's travel from the Capital city. It was packed with other travellers making their way either to or from the Capital, but the inn keeper already knew that it was a popular resting spot for weary travellers, so the inn was expanded to be able to house more than a hundred guests concurrently.
After hitching the horse and carriage, we got three rooms; one would be taken by Yoshiro alone, the other shared by Asuma and the driver, while the last would be shared between the three genin. This was the usual arrangement whenever we stayed overnight at an inn. Since Yoshiro was expected to pay for all of our travel expenses, which naturally included accommodations and meals, paying for three rooms was the most the penny-pinching merchant would tolerate.
Even if he had a good relationship with Asuma, profit making was still at the forefront of the merchant's mind. He had plainly stated that paying for three rooms was already out of consideration for his old friend. As professionals, we could hardly complain since it was already a great deal better than having to sleep out in the open. Truth be told, many clients would have refused to pay for more than they had to and would have insisted the shinobi bodyguards to stay outside his window or something for protection.
The first night, Hinata had sputtered and stammered incoherently upon learning that she had to share a room with two boys. But she quickly calmed down and accepted the situation pretty easily, albeit still blushing crimson red. Yoshiro had taken one look and laughed, commenting that it was great to be young. I agreed. If Hinata was older, I might have some resistance sharing a room with her too.