Mars and the rest of the group stepped onto solid ground for the first time in a couple of days, Mars looked around, the whole port gave a 1700"s j.a.panese feeling with the buildings looking like something right out of a period drama, the clothes that people wore were also what Mars would call for "old j.a.panaes clothes" although he didn"t remember the proper names for the clothes. After making sure that the former slave soldiers were following along Mars asked Hide"how long until we reach the crown prince"s places?"
"not long, there should be a couple of carriages here to pick us up... there they are"
Hide pointed over to three carriages which was pulled by pure black horses
"....neat"
"the color black is the symbol of the crown prince, likewise the color white is the symbol of the emperor"
Mars gave a nod and decided to be wary of the color white and black while they were in Hinode, after all they were just diplomats and he was the only one that was half immortal, the group boarded the black carriages, they were just able to squeeze into one carriage under Mars" instructions, he was to say the least on high alert
"how nice would it be if nothing happened for once...?"
while Mars made those wishful thoughts he closed his eyes and expanded his area of awareness to about 500 meters from the usual 200 or so meters, everything that happened in the 500 square meters around the carriage entered his mind and was quickly sorted from useful information. After riding the carriages for sometime Mars discovered a pattern of footsteps of a small group of around 10 or so people that seemed to be following the carriages and opened his eyes before he asked Hide
"is there any form of hidden security detail following the carriages?"
Hide gave a diplomatic smile before he spoke
"I don"t think it"s right for you to be snooping around in our security, am I wrong Mars?"
Mars gave a smile before he spoke
"oh? so they are not with you guys, then you don"t mind if I annihilate them do you?"
Hide"s smile stiffened slightly before he spoke again
"if there is any hidden security detail following the carriages they will be highly trained, do you think you can handle them in that case?"
"...I don"t know how you do it here in Hinode but in Green river we only give the t.i.tle of general to the ones that are the highest skilled in combat of all forms"
"...and what does that have to do with you Mars? are you not just a diplomat?"
"yeah but I am also head of military technological development as well as marshal of Green river"
"hahahaha! just must be kidding Mars"
at this point in time Hanna spoke up to try and defuse the situation
"umm mister Hide I have known Mars for sometime... he doesn"t kid about such things"
HIde stared down Mars for sometime until he gave a sigh and knocked on the wall of the carriage three times, then the pattern of footsteps dispersed Mars gave a nod before he closed his eyes again, soon they arrived at a j.a.panese style mansion, there was a high wall all the way around the mansion so it was not possible to see what it was like from the outside but soon the carriages went through a gate and it was possible to see the mansion and what a mansion it was. Mars gave a nod as his expectations of the mansion lined up with reality as it looked exactly like a 1700"s j.a.panesse mansion he had seen in his past life, soon the carriages stopped and the group stepped out from the carriages a group of servants stood ready to receive them and bowed down when they stepped out of the carriages, only one person didn"t bow down so Mars" eyes was attracted to him, he looked to be in his 30"s and wore a black outfit, as soon as Mars looked at him he gave a smile and spoke
"welcome visitors from Green river!"
Mars gave a smile, this person seemed to be somewhat aprocable
"my name is Satou and I will be your host"
Mars gave a wide smile before he introduced himself
"my name is Mars, I am the head of Green rivers military development as well as marshal of Green river, I have come today to taste Hinode"s hospitality"
Mars walked forwards and shock hands with Satou before Satou turned his gaze to the former slave soldiers
"so Mars, who might these children be?"
"they are former slaves which I am unable to let out of my sight just yet, I hope crown prince Satou doesn"t mind the extra guests?"
"no, not at all! In fact I welcome them to my humble home with open arms!"
Mars gave a nod before he introduced the former slave soldiers to Satou
"this is Jess, James, Hanna and Marie"
the crown prince gave a smile and a slight bow to the former slave soldiers before he spoke
"I welcome you to my humble home and please don"t worry you will all be perfectly safe here"
the former slave soldiers gave smiles and nods except for Jess that was in soldier mode and gave a salute, the crown prince gave a laugh before he turned to Mars again
"please come in, you must be famished from the journey, the chefs have already prepared some breakfast for you all"
Mars gave a nod and followed after the crown prince into the mansion, the inside of the mansion had bamboo floor mats and black paper walls which fit with the color of the crown prince, although Mars could see it would be a problem to walk around during night time with the mostly black walls and all. The crown prince let the way into a hall were there had been prepared for a grand meal, the crown prince instructed Mars and the others to take a seat on the floor cus.h.i.+ons by the grand obsidian table while he himself took a seat at the end of the table, soon all kinds of delicacies were served and while they ate Mars and the crown prince had a lengthy talk about the two countries, Mars for instance expressed interest in receiving help to build up a navy for Green river while the crown prince seemed interested in the grand sky trees of Green river. After a couple of hours the meal was finished and the crown prince let the way to the outside of the mansion where a shooting range whereas they arrived at the shooting range the crown prince explained
"my favorite pastime recently have been archery and so I would like for you all to try it since it has helped me greatly with finding peace of mind"
Mars gave a nod and picked up a bow and after a brief introduction on how Hinodian archery worked he fired his first arrow that just managed to hit the center of the target, the crown prince exclaimed
"just as you would expect from Green rivers esteemed marshal! Very impressive!"
Mars gave a smile
"you flatter me Satou, I am sure it"s just beginners luck... Now let"s have you guys try this"
Mars called over the former slave soldiers that all quickly received instructions from Satou on how to shoot and soon they were all shooting arrows at the targets, Mars and Satou noticed how James seemed to have a nak for it as he almost at once entered a sort of trance as he fired off arrows at the target, the other three having experience with other forms of archery quickly got the hang of it and soon they were all able to hit the target, the crown prince gestured for Mars to follow him which he did with a nod, after they were a little away from the archery range the crown prince asked him
"you said they were former slave soldiers? can you tell me more about them?"
"sure... First off I knew one of them, Hanna before she was enslaved and also briefly fought with her to remove her slave collar"
"I see... when you say slave collar what do you mean exactly? is it some sort of special collar?"
"yeah it"s interlaced with some sort of magic formation that grants the wearer total obedience towards a certain person"
"...that sounds dreadful"
"it is, lucky I have a skill that allows me to remove the collars without much trouble"
"I see... That certainly is lucky... Thank you for telling me Mars, now that I know a little about them I think I can better make them comfortable during their stay here"
"that would help, to tell you the truth, I am at a loss of what to do with them other than just watching over them for now"
the crown prince gave a nod and spoke
"yes that is probably for the best..."