Tea Leaf Trustee

Mission Catalogue:

Meanwhile, a little ways away at The Water Gardens of Hoshigakure-no-Sato toward…

Over at the Ryoinsatsu family estate where her mother, Ryoinsatsu Chihiro, resides in the kitchen, that's adorned in traditional Japanese decorum. Chihiro is preparing to make some lunch for herself and Jurei, the clamors of pots and pans, the sizzling oil, the chopping of vegetables, and the boiling water all filling the air. Chihiro glances over at her daughter as she works. Jurei is sitting at a small table in front of a large window overlooking the garden with a book in front of her. She's reading it intently while occasionally taking sips from a cup of tea. Her raccoon dog, Ninjiro, loafs beside her on the couch where he rests his head atop her lap.

"Lady Ryoinsatsu," She hears a gruff voice call to her. The platinum-blonde ears perk up, lowering the book in her hand and seeing one of her butlers dressed in a black suit and tailcoat. "A letter for you." He says, holding out an envelope to her.

She takes it from him. "Thank you, Toru." She says, looking at it curiously. She turns it over, seeing it was addressed to her from the village administration. The envelope, sealed with a wax stamp bearing an intricate crest she didn't recognize, felt heavy with importance. She carefully broke the seal and unfolded the elegant parchment within.

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She reads over the letter several times to make sure she understood it correctly before looking up at Toru again. "Toru-san, What time is it right now?"

Flicking his wrist as his jacket and shirt sleeve slides down his arm, revealing a wrist watch. "It is presently... fifteen minutes to seven o'clock, My Lady."

The blonde sighs. "Could you please tell my mother and father I will not be able to join her for dinner today? I must leave immediately." She says, getting up from her seat and petting Ninjiro's head as she sets her book down.

"Of course, Lady Ryoinsatsu." He nods, bowing respectfully before leaving the room.

Jurei changes into her uniform, dressed from head to shoulders—save for the gold earrings—a black, long sleeve, high-collared, qipao-styled blouse plastered with graphics of golden lily flowers and equally vibrant gold sashes that wrap over and under her right shoulder and another across from her right shoulder to left waist, and accompanied with a silk, yellow long skirt secured with a brown belt—which she loathes for the length to be needlessly long—and black-buckled platform shoes. Her forehead protector, as always, secures itself around her hips facing forward and Honor's Student Pin fastens itself below the diagonal sash of her dress.

She leaves through the front gate of the estate and makes her way toward the western district of The Water Gardens where many nobles reside. She arrives at the daimyō's mansion just before 7:30 PM. The sun is still out but beginning to set, casting long shadows across the ground as it descends behind the mountains surrounding Hoshigakure. The moon hangs high in the sky above, illuminating the village landscape with a pale white light. Jurei walks up to the main entrance of the mansion, where she's greeted by one of the unoccupied bouncers at the estate.

The Bouncer eyes up the gold-eyed and addresses her with a bob of his head. "Good evening, Miss.... do you have a reservation with us today?" And from his peripheral, although unbeknownst to him—Ninjiro scurries along the village streets before his tail gradually swings like a rotor before lifting himself off the ground toward the top of the daimyō's estate. Jurei informed the familiar to take a higher position to, at most, 15 meters above ground to relay any information she can work on should anything peculiar arise.

Jurei nods, pulling out the invitation from her pocket and handing it to him. "I am Ryoinsatsu Jurei, I was invited here for tonight's event by the Lord of this estate." She explains, performing the hand seals of Rat → Dog with her left hand, as the envelope blinks into existence outward from her right sleeve, flicks her wrist to reveal the parchment, flips it over, and hands the item toward the bouncer with the wax seal showing.

The bouncer takes the invitation, flipping and looking it over briefly before nodding again. "Ah, yes... I see. Please go right in." He says, stepping aside so she could enter. "Your partner should be arriving shortly. Enjoy your night."

Jurei bows politely before entering the building. She follows a small crowd of people into the main hall where the tea ceremony will be held, taking in all of the sights around her as she does. The room is large and open with high ceilings and arched windows lining one wall that look out onto a beautiful garden filled with flowers and trees that are illuminated by moonlight shining down through the glass panes above them. There are tables set up around the perimeter of the room where guests can sit and enjoy refreshments while watching others participate in the event itself.

She also notices there's quite a few bouncers stationed throughout the room—some standing near entrances or exits while others wander around checking on things—and they're all dressed similarly to how Jurei is dressed herself: black suits with matching ties and white shirts underneath their jackets that have golden buttons sewn into them. She takes note of this, thinking that it may be important later on during her assignment.

The ceremony starts a half hour later and during that time, Jurei and Ninjiro have been able to relay to one another information. The latter being able to deduce possible vantage points, including exits and entries, while Jurei, well-versed in the realm politics, could scout out VIPs and who they often surround themselves with, any who appear to linger too long in one spot for longer than what would be considered normal behavior for someone attending an event such as this one, and pick up the subtleties in the language used among aristocrats to infer their true meanings.

Minutes before the ceremony begins, Jurei was able to narrow down her list of suspects to three persons. If Joro is present during this time, she will innocuously strike up a conversation with him to inform of her "targets of interest" to distract while she arranges to inform the bodyguards of whom to keep an eye one of the to intervene on her behalf, if she finds herself preoccupied. If not, she will inform the same bodyguards of her third suspect and be on her way to busy herself with her first.

Thankfully, the tea ceremony proceeds without further incident, as third suspect appeared to be a normal civilian who was simply nervous attending their first major event. The first suspect, a middle-aged woman with brown hair tied into a bun, realizing her window of opportunity closing and the deliberate movements and attempts at conversation by Jurei gave them cause for concern that someone was onto her. In an attempt to retreat, the bodyguards prior accost them for questioning and is sidelined.

When all is said and done, Jurei reconvenes with Joro at the estate entrance and bids him good night before retiring to her household for the night.

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“Related Stats”:

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WC: 1,347
TWC: 1,347/1,000
TMWC: 1,347/2,000

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Requesting approval for the following claim(s):

Claiming the following *mission reward(s):

► Total Ryo Earned: +12,000 Ryo (storing in "Ryoinsatsu Bank" via Cha-Ching! Bloodline Limit)
► Total AP Earned: +60 AP
► Current Total Bonus AP: +952
► New Total Bonus AP: +1,000

*Mission Rewards doubled via Beloved Presence

Investing 1,347 TWC into the following **Jutsu:

► Training Gold Release: Crippling Debt @ B-Rank [88/1,125] → (1,125/1,125) [310 TWC Left] [Prog' Here]
► Improving Ninja Art: Capital Expenditure from A-Rank → S-Rank [Clanned Slotless] (310/1,875) [0 TWC Left]

**Applied "25% Discount" via max stats

Joro Shokku wrote:Claims:
6,000 Ryo
30 AP for a new Total Bonus AP of 799.
WC:1008
625 to Shokku Royal Cowl S-Rank 1125/1125 Rest of Progress fromHere.
383 to One Handed Seals 1214/1500

Approved

Jurei Ryoinsatsu wrote:Requesting approval for the following claim(s):

Claiming the following *mission reward(s):

► Total Ryo Earned: +12,000 Ryo (storing in "Ryoinsatsu Bank" via Cha-Ching! Bloodline Limit)
► Total AP Earned: +60 AP
► Current Total Bonus AP: +952
► New Total Bonus AP: +1,000

*Mission Rewards doubled via Beloved Presence

Investing 1,347 TWC into the following **Jutsu:

► Training Gold Release: Crippling Debt @ B-Rank [88/1,125] → (1,125/1,125) [310 TWC Left] [Prog' Here]
► Improving Ninja Art: Capital Expenditure from A-Rank → S-Rank [Clanned Slotless] (310/1,875) [0 TWC Left]

**Applied "25% Discount" via max stats

Approved