Private Tales Cat and Dog

[Acteon Cass]

The man spit at Akane's feet. This girl was frustrating him with all of her flawed arguments. Any of the common people gathered in the crowd could tell her why the outposts were important, yet she was wanting to make things sound as bad as possible. She was the kind of person he hated dealing with the most. Lucky for her all these people were here or he would have already beat her and likely more by now.

"The outposts are to keep the raiders away. What I said before. Would think with animal ears as big as your's you would hear what I said. Your argument is nothing but empty words. You know nothing of our lands you foreign bitch, so don't go trying to act like you get it." The man said before poking her roughly again. "Now why don't you make yourself useful by either leaving or spreading your legs like the cat eared whore you are?"

The man made it a point to look her up and down as obviously as anyone possibly could. Once he was done he made a disappointed face before adding, "Don't think you got much anyone wants. A hole is a hole though."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"The outposts are to keep the raiders away. What I said before. Would think with animal ears as big as your's you would hear what I said. Your argument is nothing but empty words. You know nothing of our lands you foreign bitch, so don't go trying to act like you get it." The man said before poking her roughly again. "Now why don't you make yourself useful by either leaving or spreading your legs like the cat eared whore you are?"

The man made it a point to look her up and down as obviously as anyone possibly could. Once he was done he made a disappointed face before adding, "Don't think you got much anyone wants. A hole is a hole though."

Her tails twitched again, she was getting angry at his insults, but still diplomacy was better. "You keep contradicting yourself sir. If the raiders are a problem than my saying I was ambushed has validity to it, yet you say that it is rare for them to be there, which in turn says that the outposts aren't as necessary as you claim. Which is it?"

She was less than happy with this man, they were arguing yes but there was no call for such vulgar language. "And I will do no such thing. What lies between my legs is for my husband and him alone. Now would you please refrain from speaking of my private bits, it's unbecoming."

 

[Acteon Cass]

The man laughed at Akane. Her reactions were what he wanted from her. The bitch had been gossiping around the town about things she did not know. It was only fair she had to deal with this little abuse. She was lucky she had not run into one of the others. They would have just killed her and not even tried to argue. No one would care if a foreigner was killed after all.

"Look at you getting so flustered. Act like no one has ever shown an interest in you before. Feel bad for your supposed husband." The man said to her in response. Then he looked around dramatically. "Where is this husband of yours? Don't see him anywhere. Could it be he ran off at the first chance he got?"

Once again he laughed at her. He had started things off mad but now he was having fun. His job was to get people working and get those stones ordered. He had done the latter of the two, but it would not take much for the former. All he would need to do is yell that there was work and people would rush to get their measly coins. That meant he had more time to waste tormenting this foreigner. Perhaps if she was lucky he would even take pity and pay for her to drop to her knees in front of him.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Look at you getting so flustered. Act like no one has ever shown an interest in you before. Feel bad for your supposed husband." The man said to her in response. Then he looked around dramatically. "Where is this husband of yours? Don't see him anywhere. Could it be he ran off at the first chance he got?"

"He's speaking with the blacksmith right now," She told him. "Trying to get the people their weapons back so that in case your beloved mercenaries fail they don't need to rely on pampered brats such as yourself to defend them. Considering you don't actually care about these people, I doubt you'll defend them at all."

 

[Acteon Cass]

The man just laughed yet again. The blacksmith? She was saying her husband was at the blacksmith? This foreign whore just gave him another way to insult her as well as was not providing proof of anything she had to say. At least his lord had stopped the raiders and the locals knew that to be true.

"So instead of running away he is buying a knife to kill you and himself with. Good. Hope he takes your miserable ass and lacking chest out of this world. Be one less whore corrupting the good morals of hard working commoners like these people." The man said to her before making sure to poke her once again. He was nearly done with her. She had proven herself to be a liar and a fool already so he had done his job.

But as the man started to discreetly draw his sword, the spear holding woodcutter stepped forth from the crowd. The usurper's man looked over at him with a questioning look.

"Not sure if he was her husband, but a man at the blacksmith gave me coin to keep my weapon. Said something like she did." The woodcutter said pointing in the directions and at the people he was mentioning as he did.

The usurper's man frowned. "So what?"

"So the new lord isn't giving us food or coin to buy food with. He hasn't done anything but pay those mercenaries and expect us to keep them fed. Makes me think that guy and this foreigner might be right about something." The woodcutter responded.

At that the usurper's man drew his sword. A sneer on his face. "You dare challenge the authority and decisions of your rightful lord?!"

The crowd was not so happy or curious anymore. Now a mix of fear and anger was beginning to brew. Which side the feelings were directed at was impossible to say yet.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

At that the usurper's man drew his sword. A sneer on his face. "You dare challenge the authority and decisions of your rightful lord?!"

The crowd was not so happy or curious anymore. Now a mix of fear and anger was beginning to brew. Which side the feelings were directed at was impossible to say yet.

She stepped between the man and the woodcutter. "It seems to me that you're more than happy to dismiss anything a foreigner says, but when the people you're supposed to protect speak any sort of agreement with her you move to strike them down. Sounds to me like you're here to suppress the public, not protect it."

He had his weapon drawn sure, but one should never underestimate a cat with knives. It would only take an instant to draw her sai, and less than an instant to end this man where he stood. But that wasn't the goal, she'd kill him if she had to, but right now it had to be shown that she had no violent intentions. This wasn't the case of course but she had to appear to be a peacefully minded woman who found herself in the middle of violence.

She met the man's gaze, her own no longer the complacent calm that it was before, now it was calm cruelty. A subtle but still clear intent for murder in her gaze.

 

[Acteon Cass]

The man shot Akane a murderous glare. It was clear he had not caught the intent to murder him in her own eyes. He just pointed his sword at her, although it was not close enough to be able to stab her with. "Be quiet whore. This is an official matter of the lord."

The man then redirected his murderous gaze onto the woodcutter. "You have one chance to take back your words or you will be deemed an enemy of the lord and his people."

The woodcutter frowned at the lord's man. The threat and show of authority clearly were not going over well with him. But before he could even respond someone from the crowd yelled out, "He can speak his mind you gods' forsaken toad!"

The man snapped his attention, and the point of his sword, towards the crowd. A sneer on his face he yelled back, "Who said that! Show yourself!"

A different voice from the crowd responded, "I showed your mother last night!"

A noticeable number of people laughed at that comment. The general mood of the crowd went from unsure to being in favor of mockery. More hecklers were emboldened to begin screaming profanities about the man's mother that were far harsher than what he had said about Akane.

The woodcutter found his courage in this and said, "So why is the lord leaving us to ro-"

The poor woodcutter did not have time to finish before the tip of a sword was thrust through his throat. He dropped to the ground, along with his spear and coins, clutching at his throat for the brief few moments left of his life.

The lord's man screamed at the crowd pointing his bloodied blade at them, "Which traitor wishes to die next?!"

No words came forth, only several stones. The lord's man found himself pelted which one striking his head just above an eye. He flinched as he instinctive moved to place a hand over the already bruising wound. That minor moment of weakness was all it took for the more aggressive members of the crowd to rush the man. They began to beat him with their fists and feet or whatever they had at hand. The lord's man fought back as best he could. Two more died from well placed thrusts and most of his assailants were injured.

But the whole affair was as quick as it was bloody. Less than a minute and the lord's man lay on the ground dead as the mini mob continued to beat his corpse. Those less inclined to violence in the crowd were horrified. By the sight. By the deaths. By the blood. Some of them ran off. Some of them rushed over to try to calm their fellows down before their anger was turned on them.

One man in the crowd said clearly to himself but in a voice loud enough those gathered could hear, "He just had a sword and did this. Two dead and more injured.... Why don't we have our weapons anymore?"

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

One man in the crowd said clearly to himself but in a voice loud enough those gathered could hear, "He just had a sword and did this. Two dead and more injured.... Why don't we have our weapons anymore?"

Akane answered this question. "Because they want to make sure they can do this with fewer men on their side. What better way to make something less dangerous than to remove it's claws and it's teeth?"

Akane had nearly skewered the lord's man herself with one of her sai, and her hand had even reach the handle of one of them when the first stone struck the man. Akane spied the samurai who'd come to collect them and bring them to the rightful lord amongst the crowd near the back, his hand on his sword, but she told him to wait, they kill the man then they're committed, and they'll be more likely to fight harder later on when it really counts. So he let go of his sword and left it in it's scabbard. The death of the lord's man soon followed.

Looks like things were escalating faster than she thought they would, that just meant they had to be quicker.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Akane was mostly being ignored by the crowd now. Her words had fallen on deaf ears as the locals were too busy going through their various reactions amongst one another. Some were still panicking about all the bloodshed. Some were going on rants about how filthy foreigners were taking everything that belonged to them. Most were just trying to figure out what to do next.

It was during this chaos that Acteon found his way here from the smithy. News of the violence and argument that preceded was already spreading fast. He could smell the blood long before he ever caught sight of it and knew what to expect. The lord's man was dead on the ground, and no one seemed interested in doing anything about his corpse. Everyone was more interested in attending to the wounded, their own dead, or speaking with their neighbors.

The Allirian pulled a ratty old cloak off a vendor's stall, since no one was currently manning it or guarding it, and slipped it over his clothes. Then he walked over to the corpse of the lord's man and picked it up off the ground. He threw it over his shoulder like a sack of grain. A couple curious eyes were glanced his way.

"Going to dump this sack of flesh in a ditch and make it look like an accident." Acteon said to them. Either they did not truly care or they were satisfied with his answer. Hard to say with the apathy of the crowd towards anyone not of the town.

As he walked by Akane, he said, "Come along kitten. Our business here is over."

And the man just continued on road out of town in the direction the heir was suppose to be in, the corpse still over his shoulder.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

The Allirian pulled a ratty old cloak off a vendor's stall, since no one was currently manning it or guarding it, and slipped it over his clothes. Then he walked over to the corpse of the lord's man and picked it up off the ground. He threw it over his shoulder like a sack of grain. A couple curious eyes were glanced his way.

"Going to dump this sack of flesh in a ditch and make it look like an accident." Acteon said to them. Either they did not truly care or they were satisfied with his answer. Hard to say with the apathy of the crowd towards anyone not of the town.

Akane really hadn't had anything under control. She was trying to do as her 'husband' had told her and she seemed to do poorly. Starting a riot on the first day was hardly the goal, but regardless she kept her focus on the future, and what they would have to do next.

As he walked by Akane, he said, "Come along kitten. Our business here is over."

And the man just continued on road out of town in the direction the heir was suppose to be in, the corpse still over his shoulder.

She wordlessly obeyed, following behind him with her eyes downcast and her tails low like she had been a very bad dog and knew it. She didn't say anything for the first few minutes of walking, but before the samurai joined them she said, "I'm sorry. I failed to keep the situation under control."

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon was not paying much attention to Akane as they walked. He had other things on his mind. One of which was how useful the body on his shoulder could prove to be after they were out of town. But when she spoke he finally looked back at her. A brow was raised when he saw how disappointed she seemed to be.

"You did not fail. It was never about having control of the situation. We want things to get chaotic. The fact they turned on this man and killed him despite his position is a good sign. Means the people are less loyal and happy with the usurper than we thought." Acteon said to her in a voice low enough he knew she could hear it but not any casual passers by.

He shifted the corpse on his shoulder back into a more stable position after it had slowly gotten closer to sliding off him. Why was the girl so down on herself? Even if she had failed it seemed odd for her to be taking it this badly. Was she worried he would abandon her now? Possible, but seemed unlikely. Perhaps it had something to do with the details he had missed out on.

After a bit of a pause Acteon said, "Tell me what happened back there. Might give us a better idea on what to do next time to get the crowd to turn again."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"You did not fail. It was never about having control of the situation. We want things to get chaotic. The fact they turned on this man and killed him despite his position is a good sign. Means the people are less loyal and happy with the usurper than we thought." Acteon said to her in a voice low enough he knew she could hear it but not any casual passers by.

She relaxed when he said this relieved that she hadn't done poorly. Her ears perked up quite a bit at this and she was instantly no longer sad. "Alright. At least I accomplished what we had intended."

After a bit of a pause Acteon said, "Tell me what happened back there. Might give us a better idea on what to do next time to get the crowd to turn again."

She relayed the entire thing to him, the words spoken by both parties and how the woodcutter had come to help her. She told him about the incident itself and how the people reacted to it in the first few instances. She spared few details, but was dismissive when talking about the words spoken by the guard himself when regarding her "Whore" status, it frankly hadn't bothered her.

Once that was relayed the samurai caught up to them. And would take the lead when necessary.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon listened closely to what the girl had to say. Sounded like a real shit show. How had that man gotten a job that required a level of diplomacy and tact he clearly lacked? This usurper truly did not bother with the details of things and just worried if he had someone who could do it at all.

The repeated calling the girl a bitch and whore did bother him a bit. It was less in what it said about her and more on how it was insulting him. As her owner it was as if saying he only slept with bitches and whores. Good thing the locals had killed the man because Acteon would not have been so kind as to grant him death to escape punishment.

"Sounds like we need to get the people to push the boundaries on the usurper's authority. If the other officials react the same way then convincing people to side with the heir should not be too hard." Acteon said to her as her guard reunited with them. He began to follow the cat man out of the town in the direction they needed to go.

Once they were a couple of hours out of the town, Acteon brought the group to a halt. He finally dumped the corpse onto the ground and took off the blood covered cloak. Idly tossing the bloody thing off in a random direction, he began to rummage through the pockets of the dead man. The man was carrying several letters with what looked like an official seal on them. He handed one to Akane before putting the rest in his bag.

"Read it and tell me if there is anything useful." Acteon said as he pulled out a letter to read himself.

The letter Akane had just detailed what the usurper wanted him to do in a small list of towns, one of which was the one they were just at. It seemed the temple part was true, but was not the whole truth. The temple was going to be a part of a new personal castle that the usurper was building for himself. Instead of being located near the border however it was going to be placed in a location better suited for dominating the locals than protecting them from raiders and bandits.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Sounds like we need to get the people to push the boundaries on the usurper's authority. If the other officials react the same way then convincing people to side with the heir should not be too hard." Acteon said to her as her guard reunited with them. He began to follow the cat man out of the town in the direction they needed to go.

"Especially if they react violently, and if the heir or his men defend the people in some way then that would be even more beneficial." She commented, absentmindedly following the samurai ahead of them.

"Read it and tell me if there is anything useful." Acteon said as he pulled out a letter to read himself.

The letter Akane had just detailed what the usurper wanted him to do in a small list of towns, one of which was the one they were just at. It seemed the temple part was true, but was not the whole truth. The temple was going to be a part of a new personal castle that the usurper was building for himself. Instead of being located near the border however it was going to be placed in a location better suited for dominating the locals than protecting them from raiders and bandits.

She read through it quietly the first time around, and she told him. "If the people learn about this, it's almost a guarantee that they will turn on this usurper. Apparently the temple was to be a part of a new castle complex to be built around the center of the region. Quite the undertaking it is too. From what I understand, this castle is to be the size of a small city. Not something that's affordable in the current setting."

 

[Acteon Cass]

The document Acteon looked over was just a listing of available funds and the materials they were to go about purchasing. Stone. Wood. Iron. Mortar. Pretty common things for any kind of building project. Impossible to say what it might be other than something big from the information.

But there was also a bit of a code at the bottom detailing the location of a cache. Could that be where the funds were located or perhaps things just as valuable? He could not say until the code was broken or a cypher came along.... Perhaps there was a cypher that he had missed earlier.

Before he could move to check out the dead man's pockets one more time the girl told him what her document had to say. A castle it seemed and one in the center of the region. An odd thing to build when the usurper was supposedly worried about raiders not an army. Maybe a rebellion was already brewing under the surface and just had yet to become public. A castle would be good for dealing with a rebel army as easily as it could a foreign one.

"Interesting. My paper confirms those intentions. A listing of funds and materials required. The amounts make sense for building a castle." Acteon said as he walked over to Akane. He held out his paper and pointed to the end section. "Does your paper have a code written on it as well?"

If Akane looked to the end she would notice a similar looking code in the same general place as the papers Acteon had in hand.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Interesting. My paper confirms those intentions. A listing of funds and materials required. The amounts make sense for building a castle." Acteon said as he walked over to Akane. He held out his paper and pointed to the end section. "Does your paper have a code written on it as well?"

If Akane looked to the end she would notice a similar looking code in the same general place as the papers Acteon had in hand.

"It does." She told him showing him the paper. "I don't know if he's got a cypher or if it's a simplistic enough code to memorize how to translate it. Did you find anything that could be a cypher of some kind? Or no? If not, then most likely he was bringing this to someone as a message, with the added bonus of having actual instructions put onto it at the same time."

She was really putting her brain to work here. She had a few personal motivations of her own to see this upstart brought down.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon began to rub his chin a bit. Things were looking more and more complicated with each new piece of information. This usurper might have been less opportunistic and more purposeful in his takeover. The local merchants wanted to remove the pricing limits off of foods and other necessary goods. Mercenaries were being hired in large numbers to man outposts rather than using local forces who would cost far less and be far more loyal as a whole. Raiding seems to have stopped after he took over. Now this plan for a castle.

Could the usurper have made a deal with the raiders to secure the lordship?

His thoughts were pushed to the side for now. He looked over at Akane. "Check the man for a cypher. If you do not find one see if you can possibly figure out the code while we head to the heir. Even if you can not these documents should buy us some favor and help tip the scales."

The paper he held was offered over to her as he fished out the other documents with his free hand. The girl said she was trained as a diplomat and spy. She would be familiar with this kind of work and it would be a good chance to gauge her skills. Time for her to prove her worth as something more than a pet to keep his bed warm and desires sated.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

His thoughts were pushed to the side for now. He looked over at Akane. "Check the man for a cypher. If you do not find one see if you can possibly figure out the code while we head to the heir. Even if you can not these documents should buy us some favor and help tip the scales."

The paper he held was offered over to her as he fished out the other documents with his free hand. The girl said she was trained as a diplomat and spy. She would be familiar with this kind of work and it would be a good chance to gauge her skills. Time for her to prove her worth as something more than a pet to keep his bed warm and desires sated.

She nodded and did as he said, searching the man for a cypher of some kind. If there was none to be found she'd take the other letter and compare the two codes, looking for patterns in particular, that was usually the first step in deciphering something. Unless of course it's layered incription, then they'd likely need a cypher in order to decode it, or at least understand how it works. It would take a while if she had to decrypt it on her own without any clues as to what any group of characters or numbers meant.

As they walked she'd work, it would be a little more challenging since she didn't have paper or charcoal to write down anything with, but still, not entirely impossible.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Akane would find the cypher as she looked through the man's pockets, but it was broken. Parts of it had been hit by his attackers and parts were so covered in blood it would be difficult to make out what was there. If she put in the effort however she would get a start for figuring out the code.

Acteon had other things on his mind as he left the girl to her task. If his suspicion was correct then the usurper would likely be making a move against the mercenaries in the outposts when the castle was completed. But that would be years away and he ran the risk of the mercenaries leaving before he was ready. The way all the coin was being funneled into them meant it was likely he was using them as a sort of cache for the tribute he would owe the raiders for their part in this plot.

But where would such evidence of this be found? Going to the raiders would not work as they were sure to be hostile to outsiders and have no reason to ruin things before they were paid. The usurper was more clever than he had let on as well so it would be unlikely for him to keep it in the current castle. Perhaps the codes at the bottom of the letters could provide them with a clue for the central hub of the plot?

He walked on silently going over the details in his head for some time. No new clue was coming to mind. So after a couple of hours he said, "Any luck with the code breaking kitten?"

Ōjo Akane

(Feel free to determine how well things worked out for her on the code breaking)

 

[Ōjo Akane]

He walked on silently going over the details in his head for some time. No new clue was coming to mind. So after a couple of hours he said, "Any luck with the code breaking kitten?"

"Some." She told him without looking away from the papers in her hand. "The cypher has been damaged so it's incomplete, but it's definitely made it easier, and it shouldn't be too hard to fill in the blanks once we've figured it all out. But from what I can tell so far, it's a double encryption, there are two codes, one under another. Which means either this cypher is a rule for both and we simply repeat the same process twice, or if it's the worst case scenario, then it's a different system to break the second layer, which means we could be dead in the water. It'll be a little while before I'm certain, these things take time after all. Any idea on how to proceed once we get where we're going?"

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon listened to what Akane had to say then frowned a bit. It was mixed news to be sure. The success of having a cypher and figuring parts of it out was good but the fact it might require another cypher was bad. They only had the one and it was broken. A second would be impossible to find for them and they did not have the time to search for it.

"Keep working on it. For now we will present these documents to the heir along with the cypher when we arrive. Anything you learn we will keep to ourselves until we have an idea of who we are dealing with and if it they are worth committing fully to helping." Acteon said to her. " The heir could be worthless and if that happens we might just kill the usurper ourselves for our own revenge then flee with whatever we decide to take with us."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Keep working on it. For now we will present these documents to the heir along with the cypher when we arrive. Anything you learn we will keep to ourselves until we have an idea of who we are dealing with and if it they are worth committing fully to helping." Acteon said to her. " The heir could be worthless and if that happens we might just kill the usurper ourselves for our own revenge then flee with whatever we decide to take with us."

She gave that a couple moments of thought. Yes, it could be that the heir was no better than the usurper. In which case they had two options. Flee, as he had suggested, or take it over themselves by rallying the people behind them. It wouldn't just help the people, it would a!so give her people a colony in the west. Very useful, very profitable. But maybe not the most achievable goal.

She got back to her work, and made some progress, identifying patterns and trying to fit them together, it was tedious but rewarding.

 

[Acteon Cass]

The walk for them was steady. The roads were actually maintained. Something the previous lord had made sure was a priority. Too much raw ore and lumber needed to be transported for the roads to be worn and jagged. It would discourage travel and the much needed flow of coins that they brought with them into the region. If the usurper understood the need as well was unknown, but he was currently bleeding the region dry of its coins.

After they had gotten past the midday sun, Acteon called for a break. Too much walking would be bad and they should take the moments to rest while they still could. Something soldiers, sellswords, and traders knew all too well. A clearing with a stream flowing through the opposite edge of it from the road had appeared, which prompted his call to stop.

The Allirian went over to the stream and dipped his hands in the water. Cool and clear. It should be drinkable. A bit of a surprise. Between the charcoal trade and tanneries, little streams like this often were not so pristine. He splashed his face a couple of times and then took a drink.

"So kitten. How goes your task? Any progress?" Acteon asked as he got his waterskin out to refill.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

The walk for them was steady. The roads were actually maintained. Something the previous lord had made sure was a priority. Too much raw ore and lumber needed to be transported for the roads to be worn and jagged. It would discourage travel and the much needed flow of coins that they brought with them into the region. If the usurper understood the need as well was unknown, but he was currently bleeding the region dry of its coins.

After they had gotten past the midday sun, Acteon called for a break. Too much walking would be bad and they should take the moments to rest while they still could. Something soldiers, sellswords, and traders knew all too well. A clearing with a stream flowing through the opposite edge of it from the road had appeared, which prompted his call to stop.

The two Keiji stopped when Acteon called for a stop, both understood his reasonings but both were a tad surprised considering he ran for almost a week straight with next to no stops or breaks. Either way they stopped, Akane sat down as she normally did in the grass beside the road, sitting on her knees and thinking on her current task.

"So kitten. How goes your task? Any progress?" Acteon asked as he got his waterskin out to refill.

"A little, I've gotten past most of the first layer, but it'll take a little longer to crack the second one. I've tried applying this cypher to it, but it doesn't turn out right. I'll have to keep going with the more tedious process of elimination. It's possible to crack a code without a cypher, but it's difficult, tedious and time consuming, which means I likely won't be able to get it fully translated until I've spent at least a few days on it."

She glanced at her guard, "How far away is the heir?"

"Three Ri." He replied,

"Five miles." Akane translated into western measurements. "We have roughly five miles left before we reach our destination."

 

[Acteon Cass]

"Excellent. Keep working on it while we take a break." Acteon said as he stoppered his full waterline.

The Allirian found a place to sit down. He waited until he had Akane's attention then patted next to him. A little invitation for her to sit next to him and a way to give her some affection so she did not complain of having a neglectful master.

The thought of some outdoor fun crossed his mind, but it was not the time. Only five more miles and they would be at their destination. Not much longer. The break would hopefully buy her a bit more time before they arrived. He wanted to know what those papers said in case it was worth leveraging or keeping for themselves.

Ōjo Akane