"Fine, let's draw an hypothetical scenario where we would discard Dragon's ideologies for a moment and look this issue as a mere business..." Dato replied in a lower tone while getting closer to Saerieve. "We decide to trust Chrysanthemums words, we give you a Katana, you destroy our enemies -the ones we both share-... For how long? Do you expect us to be the only contractors here? Where would your loyalty lie? Chrysanthemums, Dragons... Anyone else?"
He finally stopped in front of Saerieve, not planning to continue his 'wardance' anymore.
He thought for a moment, staring directly into the man's eyes, "We give you a Katana, eh?" he thought to himself, then said,"So if I get it right, you pretty much want to know about my other 'Friends', right? To put it simple, the closest are the Chrysanthemums - whether you call it 'Friend', 'Contractor' or whatever."then paused for a second and continued,"I don't really like those Outcasts, I know a few of them, but I gladly keep the rest as 'Strangers'... Although you might not like it, I'm a Cardamine user, which means even though I'm not 'Buddy-Buddy' with them, I don't mind them as long as they don't poke their nose into -My- business either."and thinking for a moment again, he added,"Ahh... And one thing I feel I should let you know about..."then stared at the man's expressionless face before saying,"I have a close friend in the RHA - an Old one too. That's why I only asked for one of your ships, and not your guns. Because he's helping me to get a set of their guns for the Katana - if you let me have one, that is."then cleared his throat and said,"... But I'm mainly flying around with the Golden C., and you know it."
"Attached to the Chrysanthemums, Cardamine and your better half... Connections with those Hessians in Rheinland..." He meditated for a few seconds before continuing. "Since we have been trusting the words of Sisterhood for long time, if they claim you are a trustworthy person, we'll believe it. If you claim that you can double up 'our' capacities in order to restore the True Throne... Then I will grant you a Katana ship. If you're loyal to your words, this Katana ship won't fly further away from Kusari, Taus and Sigmas. But don't think this will be easy. As I said, you will have to prove yourself useful... By wipping out the most loyal soldiers of the Emperor -Imperial Guard, Kempeitai, the 113th...- What do you think? Is it a reasonable 'deal'?"
Finally loosening his straight stance, he scratched his chin with a chukcle,"I don't call it a 'Deal', I call it a 'Challenge'. And Challenge is what I live for!"then adds,"You have my word for not taking the ship out of 'your' area of interest, and only using it in your favor. So I believe, to put it back in example form, we have a 'Deal'."
The Shogun turned around and walked slowly out of the center of the chamber.
"We will grant you a Katana and you will prove we did right by giving it to you. We will be waiting for your reports, Pradier-san... Even our bounty board is still active. Do not fail us, or there will be consequences."
Once he reached his seat, he turned to Saerieve and nodded. "Now you shall depart."
Toshiro walks into the chambers confidently bearing a grim and serious looks that speaks volumes of his own grim and serious personality. He walks around in his white robes giving slight nods to those he encounters before he can actually settle in a corner near a flower pot. He gazes around the chamber and thinks ''Nothing I haven't seen before...''
He stands there quietly, observing the events that develop around him...
As the Katana docked on Kyoto, Saerieve turned off all the systems one by one, and after he was sure everything's in order walked out of his ship. It wasn't long since he was here last, but too many things had happened ever since to make him doubt if it really was only a few weeks ago. But although it seemed distant, he still remembered the way. Looking back at his Katana for a moment, he turned around and walked toward the elevator, from here, all he needed was good luck, as he had nothing to give, but had everything to earn.
As the elevator door opened, he walked directly toward the room they called 'Imperial Court', he still remembered the procedure, so walking toward the center of the room, he stood up straight and waited for one of the shoguns to turn to him.