Mumei taps at her communicator as she approaches the castle.



There wasn't anything particularly formal about the request, so Mumei hasn't changed from the basics she wears every day. Hopefully ths would be short.

A rather bored servant waited at the lobby of the castle, fiddling the sleeve of her cheap kimono. The yawning servant would lead Mumei through labyrinthine corridors that were result of the shiro having been expanded time after time, some parts of the corridors running along what once had been the outer walls. Eventually the unlikely duo would arrive at nondescript purple door, the servant knocking and pushing the door open, revealing a young-ish woman dressed in a prestine uniform, sitting behind a rather wonky wooden desk. Several densai and no fewer than two computers sat on the desk that looked like it had escaped a serial play taking place sometime in 22nd century. Several posters, presumably portraying known fugitives hung on the walls white walls. Three pillows were set on the floor, one rather comfy with embroidery depicting the five elemental dragons and two worn pillows showing the logo of Asako BioPharma.

"Good afternoon, Nakauchi-san. Please have a seat." A voice not much older than Mumei's called out, Kaori's tone ringing with steel.

The Osprey bows carefully before stepping in and sinking to a very graceful seiza on one of the BioPharm cushions she deemed suitable for a casually dressed minor clan visitor. "Greetings, and...thank you Agasha-sama."

She had just enough etiquette not to open with a question before spoken to again, but her expression was openly curious.

"We have heard that Nakauchi-san has been snooping around." Kaori wrinkled her nose, looking at the Ospray shugenja as she was a rat or cockroach. "Spreading alarmist rumors. Wild rumors." She laughed softly, her calloused fingers drumming the desk. "Maybe Nakauchi-could explain why?"

Mumei sighs inwardly. That was the pretty much the response she'd been afraid of since Mai-chin forwarded her warning to anyone semi-official. So the response isn't exactly practiced, but she's thought about it already. "It's hard to ignore the spirits' warnings when that's what I've been trained to hear." It's offered with a small shrug. "And hard to expect anyone to take a minor clan priestess particularly seriously without anyone to vouch for her. Have to talk to someone to advance that at all, so I did."

"Perhaps." Kaori tilted her head to the side. "But as one cannot hear the whispers, one has to take a word of one who can." she added, drumming the table somewhat aggressively. "Whispers of the kami hardly pass as a testimony either, as Nakauchi-san should well know." An eyebrow rose, the lord magistrate curious if Mumei would protest. "That being said, superstitious ramblings are hardly a crime." she huffed. "If they were, our eta would need new pair of arms every few weeks."

"That being said, agitating people is a crime." She coughed softly, fiddling with the lantern shaped netsuke on her belt. Old fashioned lantern that was hardly seen anymore as electric lanterns had replaced such items. "And yes, very few care what Osprey have to say. Still, some seem to care. Some are agitated, shall we say. The lord governor is not particularly happy with all the attention this silly rumor has gained." Kaori shook her head. "Perhaps Nakauchi-san follows, yes?"


__________
The bit about the governor thinking... things.
Sweet little lies, sincerely: 5d10o10k3 13

"I see...The governor's heard my reports then?" By all accounts, this governor would love an excuse to crack down on a sect that's so devoted to the wild places he views with distaste. So she's not at all sure this sort of threat comes from him.

"I mean, It may not be testimony, but simply calling it superstitious doesn't actually make it untrue. You're welcome to question if I report truthfully what the kami have spoken. The heavens know my truth, and I have little worry there." Her hands shift, fingers interlacing in her lap to keep still as she takes a longer breath. "I'd think there were more important things than my words to trouble him when dark forces strike down a well-known guest within the walls of the city."

_________
D9 EA Magistrate. Is that...lying? Inv/Per: 5d10o10k3 46 Very yes
D9 EA Magistrate that might look familiar, Raw Int, Void, TN 20: 3d10o10 16 nope

"Oh yes." she nodded. "Asako Chiruha-san brought the matter to Asako-sama. I understand that she was rather adamant that it was... important." The expression on Kaori's face made it rather evident that she did not agree with that particular assessment. "I have talked with her as well." lord magistrate added. "Nakauchi-san came up few times." As did a name of some useless Phoenix scholar.

"It is a testimony, yes. But there are other testimonies as well." Kaori looked Mumei rather markedly. "And as lord magistrate of the city I have to consider them all. "There are several testimonies from several honorable citizens that there is nothing unusual going on. The sect has been part of our lives for decades. I know many of its members." She shook her head. "As things are, someone is lying." She left the implications of the phrase for Mumei to parse up. "And yes. The perpetrator will be caught, put to trial and executed. Nakauchi-san has my word on that." Wrinkling her nose, Kaori reached to pick up a densai from the table. "He won't be on the loose for a long. We are following several leads." Dropping the tablet, she looked straight at Mumei. "Wild rumors are particularly harmful at times like this. We do not want to hear about this nonsense again. Are we clear?"

"Two people can look at a lake. If only one knows there's a drifter under the surface, one may say it's safe and the other can say it's deeply dangerous, and both tell the truth they know." There's deference and then there's being called a liar and letting it stand.

"But we're quite clear," She offers a bow of what she expects is acceptance of a dismissal.

"Does Nakauchi-san wish to imply that she knows better?" Kaori asked, rising an eyebrow. When the Osprey admitted that she was indeed following what the magistrate was saying, the lord magistrate relaxed. "Very good. Please do enjoy your stay here." She picked up the other densai. "Nakauchi-san would do well to stay in the city. The forests are not exactly safe - as she probably knows."

"I do. The warning is noted, Agasha-sama." Rising, she backs toward the door and resists any impulses toward saying anything more inflammatory.

/exit

/scene!