The Margrave adjusted the collar on his greatcoat in an attempt to prevent the frost in the air from biting at his neck as he waited for the shinobi agent to show up. Kumo’s weather was always cold and crappy, which was to be expected since the village was located on an inhospitable mountain plateau surrounded by impenetrable natural barriers. Raiden’s eye, in contrast, was located at the bottom of a valley closer to sea level, and thus enjoyed a mild climate with little seasonal change - which was why all of his subordinates had given Mizuki strange looks when he had said he would go to Cloud personally to conduct recruitment and deliver briefings.
What the others at the BSA did not realize was that with shinobi, personal contact and assessment was
everything. Shinobi were not a homogenous group by any means – not only did they have difference levels of personal competence and even basic literacy, but their stated military ranks often meant little. A chuunin could be more combat-capable than a jounin, an ANBU trainee more intelligent than a Buntaichou. Similarly, a sennin of a branch could be a total incompetent, whereas a genin could be directing his or her own nationwide smuggling ring. Of course, given that perhaps ninety-five percent of the inhabitants of Lightning Country had never beheld a shinobi, much less believed they actually existed, having that knowledge basically made the Margrave an expert on shinobi by default. The Chancellor depended on his skills, especially in this time of turmoil, and thus he was ready to make any sacrifices necessary, especially a bit of cold weather.
At the appointed time, his shinobi contact appeared. Mizuki’s first reaction was to gasp involuntarily as he beheld the scarred, burned matrix that made up half the man’s face. The Council hadn’t been lying when they said that Kizoku Shindou was a
grizzled veteran. Fortunately, this was the type of operator that was needed for the task at hand – a professional with the heart of a detective. The Margrave turned to greet the shinobi.
“Greetings, Agent Kizoku. I am Tokugawa Mizuki, Director of the Bakufuu Security Agency and Margrave in the Council of Nobles. I am sure that you wish to get out of the cold here, so I will be brief for both our sakes,” said Mizuki, bowing.
“Your mission is to find and neutralize the source of a series of inflammatory printed accusations against Count Zerotsuki of Ginza, who is a staunch supporter of His Majesty Shogun Shiranai and Chancellor Tachibana. Someone, or perhaps, some
organization, is spreading slanderous lies against the Count accusing him of engaging in human trafficking, specifically the purchasing and distribution of young women to perverts and other miscreants who abuse, maim, and even kill the girls for their own sick enjoyment.
“Let me be perfectly clear on one thing – Lightning Country law allows indentured servitude provided the transaction is consensual between a potential contract holder and the contractee. Your Academy does this all the time when it buys ownership of children with chakra potential from their parents. The slander against Count Zerotsuki is not that he
purchases the young women – the slander is that he in turn
knowingly resells them to individuals who mean to do them harm, which is unlawful. The official reality is that the Count is a philanthropist who out of the kindness of his own heart rescues impoverished young women from lives of misery and sends them to receive education and job training. For some group to accuse him of abusing the very women he seeks to help is utterly outrageous, so we have to stop these lies before they get out of hand.
"Your mission will take place in Kelmura, which is the sister city of Port Cirrus and located southwest of here. We at the BSA believe that there is a single printing press responsible for producing the slanderous materials, but we have been unable to locate it within the dense ghettos of the city. That is where you come in. Your job will be to conduct an investigation on the ground, locate the press, and then neutralize it with any means necessary. If you can find out who is actually responsible for making these allegations, all the better, but for now, we believe that destroying the press will send a sufficient message to the community.
"As always, discretion and investigative sense will be key to your mission. If you storm in there announcing that you are a shinobi of Kumogakure, of course the locals will only lead you to dead ends. But then again, you were selected for this mission because of your experience, unlike some of the younger candidates. I expect great results from you, son of Takao the Mad. Do you have any questions?"
