Thread: Of Shoguns and Samurai! (Major Mario x Iridium248)

Thankfully there weren't any flying abominations in this part of Japan, or in the world in general. A scholar did mention something about dragons and succubi, and while there were traces of the latter, there were no monsters that could fly. Lucky for the merchants, else fire and brimstone would rain down upon them on the main trade routes of Tkaid! No no, all they had to worry about was what came from the land nearby. At the very least each merchant would have to deal with some bandits and brigands in their travels. Those simple-minded peddlers never strayed from the road unlike seasoned warriors, and as such they were easy pickings. But hardly any merchant thought that they were mere sheep for the slaughter. It would be their produce or merchandise that was stolen, not their lives. As Saeko traveled south down the trade route out of Tkaid village with the midday sun beginning to dip she would pass plenty of merchants, though many were headed north and those who were headed south were doing so on foot. Nearly none of them were in the mood for conversation. It was interesting to note that those merchants coming from the north took quite an interest in the strange yet stunning woman in a silken cheongsam. Old men and young apprentices alike slowed their pace to gaze at Saeko as she passed while those few women on the road stopped and stared with varying degrees of shock, awe and envy. In fact, one female merchant even glanced back into her cart at a few cantaloupes, then at Saeko, then at her own bosom before heaving a disappointed sigh. Jeez, did you see the butt on that one? said a trader to another once they passed the kunoichi. Yeah. She must work out, was the reply. I think I can see a bit of cheek... And those thighs! What god on this great green Earth blessed that thing with thighs that silky and a bosom that big? Whoever the god is, he's a vindictive one. I'd love to turn right around and spend some quality time with that one, but this damned work comes first. But if the girls in the village up ahead are half as enticin' as that one back there, I'd die a happy man. Such were the comments made by many of the merchants as they passed Saeko on their way north. Some even offered the woman a ride north to the village, unknowing that she had just came from there. You lost sweetie? asked a traveling blacksmith from atop his two-horse caravan. With a full beard and a bald spot on his head he looked like he had a demanding family back home, but it wasn't stopping him from trying to get Saeko's attention. There's nothing to the south but forests and scum, both men and monsters, and Mikawa, and we all know what a den of inequity Mikawa Province is. The blacksmith patted an empty spot next to him on the wagon where he directed his two horses. Why don't you come north with me? I've got a map you can look at, but I can also show you where you can go to have a good time. Stunning thing like yourself oughta be up here on my lap. What do you say, eh? It probably would have been a tempting offer for any thrill-seeking lady who was lost. Taking the traveling blacksmith's offer was Saeko's decision, though staying with him would bring her all the way back to the village where she started from. However, before the blacksmith could even finish his final sentence another merchant came by with a cart laden with food, building supplies and lantern oil for the southern villages' lighthouses. This cart was important for three reasons one, there were three horses moving the cart at a fast pace that outdid Saeko's own gait by a comfortable amount. Two, the merchant, a potion-maker by the looks of it, did not notice the kunoichi as he drove right past her. And three, the whole caravan was going south, probably right into the forest where the faster but more dangerous route was...