"We ARE getting paid more when you bring in more, er, Bards, right? I can do a bit with my spear, but protecting a circus from a bunch of Yakuza isn't going to be easy."
"As I said before, I will cover your food, and perhaps the occasional inn for our journey. Your payment will come directly from the Shogun himself, and so that's for him to work out. Realize I'm merely the middleman in this exchange, but trust me when I say his coffers are doing fairly well. Shogun Pao is nothing if not a diligent spender, but he knows how to reward valor."
"Perhaps we should think about simply disguising our own troops? It's better than having actual, defenseless men in our ranks."
"Disguising ourselves would make us appear defenseless and invite trouble. Not to mention travelling parties at times like this aim to be as large as possible. Strength in numbers. These genuine merchants, artists and the like aid in that. You warriors will not be seen as out of place for protecting a caravan."
"I've ran with a fair few companies in my time, might be some of them owe me favours."
"A few. I'll run through the names with you later." Emmett nodded approvingly. That was why he'd decided to bear with the man, despite his unsavory appearance. "If any sufficiently skilled men do see fit to join us, provided we can ascertain their trust worthiness, that may be easier than you think. Recruiting mercenaries in droves, the Yakuza will be paying an affordable fixed rate. Recruiting smaller numbers and being quite wealthy, the Shogun can afford to be generous." That was as much for any potential dissenters as well as the idea of persuading warriors to turn cloaks.
"It what numbers do our enemy encircle the city? How well organised are they? Who has supreme command of their forces?"
Emmett sipped the beer he'd brought through before answering. "Very good questions. The reason Shogun Pao does not sweep these criminals away where they stand is because the combined Yakuza clans are nearly as large as Pao's standing army, which itself is the largest military force in the Empire. As I suspect you know, Sato, the Nobility, even those of a military persuasion, are not squeaky clean. Aiding forces would not seem to have arrived, and we suspect the Yakuza bribed key officials, perhaps even other Shoguns. And quite frankly, the emperor is... eccentric." He avoided saying completely insane. Who knew how patriotic some of these men might be?
"The Emperor grows wary of Pao's skill at dominating the field, and minds little if he is cut down to size some. More than that, he sees it as a test to see if his finest general is still worthy. As contrary as those two goals seem..."
Mujo spoke up for the first time in a while, but seemed to be speaking to himself. "The Emperor is mad..."
"Opinions, opinions," overrode Emmett. "In any case, the Yakuza's forces are being headed by Tjin Zao, also known as the Red Mist. A street name, for his practice of having those who cross him utterly eviscerated, but it's giving him some intimidation factor in the field."
And that also answered Shiori's question. Producing a tightly folded map from inside one of his endless pockets, Emmett spread it over the table.
"Now, as for our travel. From here, we head north east, to the town of Mimasa. From there, we follow the Jinsei river, and head through the Emerarudo Plains. From there, we reach the coast, where we will take ship, then when we dock, we head south, through various villages, and eventually to Namako itself. It's the route Reiko and I used to get here, and avoids the most war torn and crime infested areas. However, all that will inevitably spread, so I cannot guarantee our safety on the return journey. If that is everything, everyone should see to their belongings, as well as horses if you have them. I must see to my cart. We gather at the North Gate in twenty minutes."
