Ecology Management [Mission]

Goro gave a thumbs up, the affecting finger brushing awkwardly against the bird's wing. "Meatball's my bro now. I'm going to get him a backpack and everything. You'll see!"

Would Murata even let him keep a penguin? What if he, like. Called him a ninja penguin? Meatball squirmed in his grip as if sensing his inner turmoil.

He vaguely wondered if he could give Meatball a knife.

Yeah. Instant approval. Who needed enhanced monkeys anyway? The Tanaka shrugged in response to his own thoughts, likely coming off as strange to his two temporary mission partners. He followed the group behind just slightly, not wanting to jostle the penguin any further than he'd already been. He'd have to make a stop at the lab works after wherever the bird needed to go for the soil and water samples- hopefully, he wouldn't be yelled at for being late or whatever.

As he walked, he'd occasionally coo at the bird when convinced the other two weren't listening. The bird... Didn't respond, but would occasionally make half hearted pecks at his chin.

Would he be getting paid for this? He technically participated in the mission. More ryo for lab supplies, maybe.

Food for thought- and maybe for the penguin.

[WC: 205]
[Total WC: 1,005]

Shoko, meanwhile, attempts to pet the penguin on the head and gets bitten for her trouble. "Ow! I mean, I deserved that, I guess," she says, still sounding offended despite her admittance of wrongdoing. They head to meet up with the techs, and are greeted with raised eyebrows and awkward expressions.

"...what?" Shoko asks, after a long, awkward couple of moments, Meatball wriggling in Goro's arms, sensing the tension once again.

One ecologist looks at the clipboard in their hands, to meatball, back to the clipboard. "Nothing. Um. Iouchiryo and Uchiha, right? It's just, your mission group was assigned to the Lesser Island Grouse."

"Yeah, that's a penguin, right?"

"Well - no, not quite, it's more like a peacock..."

That... makes sense, even if it's supremely annoying. Why are they out here hunting these dumb birds anyway? It's going to be a long day.

On the plus side, despite Koutaku and Shoko having to go back out bird-hunting with likely little success, it turns out that Meatball's species of penguin is highly invasive. It's not just that Goro can keep him - in fact, it might be somewhat illegal to release him now that they've caught him. It's possible that Murata might change the laws to prevent herself from having to live with a penguin - but she's away, so for now, Goro's nefarious plan is proceeding as well as one could hope. Maybe he can rope Saya into building the estate a penguin expansion while the Mizukage isn't around and hope she doesn't notice.


252
TWC 1,000

Mission... success? Will make claims later.

Approved

Approved