TRIP TO THE ROYAL PALACE

[TOR]

Jin walked out of his mansion with Renji beside him and Fang behind them. He was dressed In a Lord's robe, as it was mandatory for visiting the king. The white and grey of the gown clashed finely with the blue of his hair, giving him a regal look. He saw the servants placing the clothing and materials that would be used as gifts for the King into the carriages. Lynne was supervising them in her usual slave-driving manner.

Seeing Lynne again caused him to chuckle a bit in embarrassment. He still remembered how shocked she had been when he introduced his three new bodyguards to her, she wasn't happy afterward either and it took another swearing of allegiance to get her to calm down. She trusted that a Shinobi wouldn't swear allegiance nonchalantly.

Jin walked down the stairs and towards Lynne, while Renji broke off from him and walked towards his two subordinates standing at the side.

"Do you think we can trust him, Hiro? He's a Lord, you know they're all the same" Mai said, she had her back turned to the carriages and was facing her partner.

"Look, Mai, I know you don't trust them. I don't too. But we've been given our orders, and we have no choice but to obey. You of all people should know that" Hiro replied

"Yes, she should..." Renji said as he walked towards the pair from the side.

"Ah! H-hello sensei, I didn't mean anything by what I said. I was simply being cautious" Mai hurried to apologize.

"It's fine Mai. I understand your hesitation; this isn't the first time we've been contracted by a Lord, and a lot of the other times were not very good experiences" Renji placed his palm on his jaw, he was still not comfortable without his mask "But there is a reason I decided to follow this Lord. Did you know that he defeated me?"

"what?" Hiro said with wide eyes, "But you're a joniñ, an A-class ninja. How in the world was he able to do that?"

Renji turned his head to look back at Jin, who was currently being hugged to death by his advisor "I don't think I would've won, even if I was an S-class. He was simply much stronger than I was. There's nothing else to it"

Hiro and Mai couldn't say anything in response to that. They always believed Lord's were weak men who had nothing better to do than plan out the deaths of each other. But for this Lord to not only take on an A-class ninja but to overwhelm him as well...

"I suppose we'll have no choice but to follow him then. Perhaps this will be different from all the other contracts" Mai said.

"Yes, that would be wise. Now come, we're leaving"

The trio walked towards the carriage; and after a quick greeting from Lynne, and a promise to watch out for Jin, they climbed in to leave for the palace.

.....

Jin sat opposite Renji in the carriage, with Hiro sitting beside him, and Mai opposite Hiro.

The silence that encompasses them wasn't the most comfortable one, it was the first time after last night that they had all been close to one another. He glanced over to Renji to see he was sitting perfectly still and staring at the space right above his shoulders. He probably didn't feel even the slightest discomfort.

"Uhmm, Renji..." Jin spoke up, trying to make some conversation

"Yes, my Lord"

"If you don't mind me asking, do you have a magic skill? I heard that all members of the Sasaki tribe possess one" Jin said.

"Yes, I actually do have one," Renji said

"Oh, then what is? And why didn't you use it against me?"

Jin wondered why Renji didn't use it against him during their fight. The only explanation for that would either be that Renji's skill couldn't be used against him or that it wasn't an offensive skill.

"I didn't use it against you because I couldn't use it." Renji said, "My skill is 'Manipulation'. It allows me to manipulate the structures of inanimate objects. Using it during fights would render me vulnerable, especially since it requires some level of concentration to work"

"Oh, I suppose that's a handy skill for an assassin to have. You could easily make knives sharper or open doors to places"

"Yes, I could." Renji replied, "Though, like everything else, it does have its drawbacks as well".

"Hmm". Jin hummed in reply. He then turned to the other two occupants of the carriage, "And you two? Do you have any magic skill?" he asked

"No we don't sir" Hiro replied when Mai didn't speak up for a while, "We aren't original members of the Sasaki tribe, but rather orphans that sensei took in when we were younger"

"Well, I sup-"

"Dismount from the vehicle and put your hand where I can see them!!!". A voice shouted from outside the carriage, bringing it to a jerking stop.

"Sigh~ what is it this time," Jin said. He watched as Renji placed his mask back on; Hiro and Mai both following his lead and placing theirs on as well. Even Fang stood up from the floor and seemed ready for a fight.

He just sighed, again.

"Hiro, go see what's going on out there," Jin said, "But be careful"

"Yes sir" Hiro replied

Jin watched as he got down from the carriage and walked towards the front. He heard some voices shouting, as well as a sword being drawn; before a clash of steel resounded through the road and Hiro's voice was heard grunting as though he were parrying a strike.

"Renji, Mai, let's go," Jin said to the other two occupants.

They all came down from the carriage and Jin got a quick look around, noting that they were surrounded by forest on both their left and right sides. The road ahead was blocked by a group of men on horses, with one of them having drawn his sword already. But what caught Jin's interest the most was the fact that the men wore the uniform of the Royal Guards.

' These are the king's men ' Jin thought 'But why would they confront us like this? Especially since we're already on our way to the palace'

Jin walked forward towards his bodyguards. Mai was standing beside Hiro already and they both were standing opposite the guards.

"What is the meaning of this?" Jin asked as he moved to stand opposite the guard as well

"Are you Lord Jin Xiang?" the guard asked

"Yes, and?"

"You are under arrest for insubordination and crimes against the crown, you are to be brought in for questioning. Please, do not resist arrest"

Jin narrowed his eyes "What is the meaning of this nonsense?"

"This is not nonsense Lord Jin. Or is it just Jin now?" A man said from atop his horse. He wore the regular uniform of the guard, but had a cross-like badge on his chess, denoting him as the leader of this platoon. He chuckled a bit at his own words before continuing "As your carriage driver can attest to, we don't take kindly to insubordination, so please, don't make this any harder than it should be"

His words caused Jin to look to the side of the road. Where he could see his former carriage rider laying on the floor with blood pooling under him and staining the ground red. He has three stab wounds to the chest and his skull had been caved in.

Jin frowned at this.

"What are my crimes?" Jin asked the platoon leader

"Those are not for me to regale to you." he replied "Come with us to see the king, and you will learn what you did there"

Jin didn't want to. He knew exactly how this would go, he would be asked to come peacefully or suffer consequences, then when he does, he would be given a nonsensical trial and thrown in jail faster than he could blink. It was something he had seen happen over and over to other people in his memories.

'But I have to go' Jin said while looking at the number of guards present. There were at least 50 guards there and they all possessed some sort of weapon or the other.

Even if he was capable of dealing with most of the guards, he couldn't place his subordinates in a situation where they had to fight this many people. They weren't nearly as strong as him and wouldn't be able to handle multiple opponents at once.

Jin bit his lips - a nervous tick he never could get rid of - and thought of the possibility of this all being a trap.

'But wouldn't they have already attacked me if they wanted me dead.' he mused 'With this many people they could easily kill us. Or at least they could easily kill the Shinobi'

"We do not have all day 'Lord'" The guard that dismounted his horse previously sneered "This is not a suggestion, it is a direct order from the king. There is no choice to be made"

Jin turned his eyes to the guard with a sharp look. The guard unconsciously took a step backward towards his horse, before getting control of himself and trying to return Jin's glare.

"Very well then," Jin said, ignoring the looks his three subordinates were giving him "We will come with you. But I will follow you from my carriage, you may do whatever you wish out here"

With that Jin turned and started walking back towards his carriage. He saw Hiro and Mai move to the front to drive it while Renji followed him in.

'I just knew today would be a hassle' he thought ' Especially after Spectre stopped responding to my summons.'

The only response he got was a system tab opening up in front of him

....

< Daily Quest >

< Survive the [ Baptist of Fire ] >

< You will be confronted by the [ Baptist of Fire ]. Survive the encounter >

< Reward : 150 Exp, ???>

< Failure: Death >

...

Jin sighed at this, causing Renji to look at him

"Do not worry my Lord, I am sure it is just a misunderstanding" Renji said

"No, Renji," Jin replied, not at all sharing in the optimism, "I am not so sure myself."