Ralph cursed as he climbed the fire escape ladder attached the side of his building. He couldn’t believe he overslept. His feet made a rhythmic pounding noise as his hands slid up the sides of the ladder. He didn’t understand why he overslept. His teacher, Raizen, didn’t push them in their afternoon training, but just questioned the team in their knowledge, even though they did try to attack him when they first arrived back at the Training Field. It didn’t work, of course.
Maybe it was another reason. Since he quit his other job, he didn’t have to get up early in the morning to work and thought it was his day off. Maybe it was something else. It didn’t matter. He grabbed the edge of the rooftop and hauled himself up over the edge, rolling over the lip, landing on his feet, and running across the flat rooftop. He was running late. He reached the far edge of the rooftop and jumped across the alleyway, heading to the mission desk room at the bottom of the Village Government tower.
Ralph panted, reaching the last building before the governmental tower at the center of the Village. He dashed across it, reached the edge, and threw himself over it. He watched as the ground approached. He relaxed his feet and legs before he landed and crunched. He didn’t stay put. He knew the energy would rebound up his legs if he didn’t move on. It would be extremely painful, too. He looked forward and cursed. The cabbage vendor wondered straight into his path.
“No, no, no,” the cabbage vendor cried, finally seeing Ralph, waving his hands wildly. Ralph drove through the space between the cabbage and the rooftop of the cart, completely missing the cabbages. He extended his arms and his hands slapped against the dirty road before he flipped backwards, landing on his feet. Ralph sighed and ran on. “Thank you for not destroying my cabbages!”
Ralph waved a hand over his shoulder. He heard it a moment later. The familiar crashing sound of the cabbage cart. He turned, sliding to a stop, looking back. The Cabbage vendor stared at the cart as one of Ralph’s classmates, Koga Wolfbanes stood up from what remained of the cart. Ralph shook his head. Koga was back at it, again - running around the village during the early morning hours like manic. He claimed it was endurance training.
“I’m sorry, sir, please forgive me,” Koga bowed at the cabbage vendor then he dashed off. “I have to get back to training.”
Ralph’s eyes widened. He would be expected to help pick up those cabbages. He glanced toward the tower door then at the cabbage vendor. He didn’t want to be any later then he already was. A thought darted across his brain. He would have an excuse if he was late - he was helping the cabbage vendor with his cabbages. It would be classified as an unpaid mission if the higher ups desired to call it that.
He made his decision and jogged back to the cabbage vendor. He bent his legs and grabbed the edge of the roof of the cart. He sucked in a breath and lifted up the cart. He managed to waist height before he had changed his hand position, holding onto the pole connecting the roof to the main cart, and walked the cart up back onto its wheels. He watched as it rocked a bit. He turned to the cabbage vendor, noticing he was starting at him in shock.
“What?” Ralph asked.
“You are the first person who stopped to help me,” the cabbage vendor stated.
Ralph blinked in surprise. He always thought other ninja or at least the civilians would stopped and helped the cabbage vendor.
“Whenever this happens,” the cabbage vendor waved his hand toward the cart and the cabbages on the ground, “No one ever stops to help me out. I usually lose a few hours of work as a result.” The vendor looked like he was about to cry.
“Well,” Ralph wasn’t for sure how to handle this situation. He looked side to side, looking for some help. He didn’t get any. “I’m sorry, sir, but I need to get going. I’m running late for a mission.”
The Cabbage vendor nodded in his head and bowed, saying, “Thank you, again, for the help.”
Ralph twisted on his heel and darted to the door at the Government Tower. He reached it, opened it, and stepped inside the tower. At first, Ralph couldn’t see anything, but darkness as he left the bright sunny morning. As he continued walking, his eyes adjusted and he was able to spot Raizen, standing to one side of the room, reading his book; Lilian glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest; and Enzo lending against the wall behind him, his eyes closed. He walked over to them and said, “I’m sorry for being late. I had to help the cabbage merchant, pick up his cabbages.”
“Huh-uh, sure,” Lilian’s tone informed Ralph she didn’t believe him. “Nice story, Barkson, but I don’t think anyone will stop and help the Cabbage Merchant.”
Ralph felt Raizen’s gaze on him and turned to face his teacher. He raised his eyes to meet Raizen’s eyes. Neither said anything for a moment before Raizen nodded. “Anyway, Enzo!” the Team 17 teacher called out and Enzo straightened up, looking startled until he realized where he was and what he did, his cheeks turned red. “Ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Enzo replied.
“Alright,” Raizen nodded, “Please, follow me.” He turned away from the trio. Ralph hurried after him. Lilian fell into step, walking on Ralph’s right side. Enzo appeared on Ralph’s left side. They went down a long hallway, following the curve of the Government building until Raizen stopped at the end of a line, forming. Ralph peered around his teacher and sighed, seeing the 20 deep ninja. He didn’t think it would be this bad. Maybe these ninja wanted to picked up some extra money to help them out at home.
“I guess we are at the end of the Line for getting a mission,” Lilian said. She didn’t sound too pleased.
“Yup,” Raizen said, “Hopefully, you brought a book with you or something to keep yourself occupy for the next hour. We will be waiting a while.” He lend against the wall and pulled out a book. He opened it to a saved page and started reading it. Ralph glanced at the title and blinked in surprise. The book Raizen held was called ‘Raising your child to be a responsible Adult’.
“I guess you are married, Sir,” Ralph started, “When is your wife due?”
“In December,” Raizen replied, not looking up from his book.
“Do you know the baby’s sex, yet?” Lilian asked. There was a gleeful note in her voice.
“Not yet,” Raizen said, “We won’t find out until July or August.”
“Have you thought about any names?” Enzo asked, sounding just as excited as Lilian sounded.
Ralph glanced between them. He didn’t understand why they would be excited about a baby. He kept silent as Lilian and Enzo showered Raizen with questions about the nameless baby and Raizen answered the questions the best he could until they stopped asking him for information.
Ralph’s head fell toward his chest. It had been a hour since Team 17 joined the growing line of the ninja who were getting a mission. He jerked his head up when an excited yell echoed down the hallway. He pushed away from the wall and peered down the hall as the excited voice drifted closer.
“Yahoo!” It was a young man from the deep tone of his voice, “We finally got a mission outside the village.”
There was a series of chuckles.
“Calm down, Anakin,” A gentle voice followed the excited declaration, “We’re just leaving the village for the night.”
“Still,” Anakin protested, “We haven’t left the village for any reason, Padme!”
“He’s right,” another voice rang out, “We have been Apprentice Ninja for almost a year and this is our first C-rank mission.”
“I wonder whose fault is that,” Padme drawled.
“Now, you three,” a much deeper voice could be heard before the team appeared, “This isn’t the time to fight. We have to pack for the mission.”
Ralph recognized the Master ninja when he appeared by reputation more then appearance. It was Quill of the Rogers Clan. He had sent majority of the team he had been to trained back to Basic Training until something happen with his current team and they managed to persuade Quill into forming the team.
Ralph saw them. It was hard to miss them, due to their unique characteristics. He watched them as they approached.
Quill cut a path down the hallway, his students following him. Quill was a tall man with a broad shoulders. His brunette hair pushed back, behind his pointed ears as his brilliant blue eyes stared a head. A hilt of a broadsword sticking up over his right shoulder. He wore a dark tan vest, half hidden by the brown coat.
Behind Quill, a curly black haired teen male followed, almost bouncing on his feet. A wide grin spread across his face. His hazel eyes sparkled with excitement. It was safer to assume to say this was Anakin from the way he was acting. A necklace with the symbol of the Hunter clan swung on his neck, bouncing off his chest. He wore a tan vest; meaning he was an apprentice ninja; over his cameo clothes. He was shorter then Quill, but taller then the blond female and roughly the same height as the third male on the team.
Following Anakin, the female apprentice looked amuse at her teammate’s antics. Her blond hair was braided, up and close to her head. Her chocolate brown hair were warmed as she looked at Anakin. She wore various shades of brown with a tan vest. Ralph knew this was Padme of Burns Clan.
Ralph darted his eyes to the apprentice bringing up the rear, Ben of Barton Clan, and blinked in surprise, eyes widening once he realized what Ben was. Ben was a part Tiefling. His skin held a reddish hue. His eyes were the same shade of gold as a hawk’s. There were short horns raising out of his short black hair. His arms were bare and thick as small trees trucks. He did wear a tan vest over a black sleeveless shirt. An quiver hung off his back with a bow sticking out bounced off his lower back.
They walked by, still bickering over their newly assigned mission. Ralph watched them go. He knew there were Tieflings in the village, but they often hid their true form, thanks to the laws of Kingdom of Camelot. The Ruling Family of Camelot had outlawed the non-humans to the second rate citizens and the non-humans often used in various forms of slavery if they were lucky. He knew the Hidden Bark Village had been one of the last few safe heavens for the non-humans who weren’t able to leave the Kingdom before the laws went into effect.
“Well,” Enzo commented, “I didn’t think the village had any Tieflings left after the war.” He stared after the tall creature.
Raizen glanced down at him. Ralph hummed in agreement. Lilian shifted, and commented, “We have a lot of non-humans. Many of them declared loyalty to the village when they sought protection from the Ruling Family when they made the laws against them. Master Rogers is an Elf, if you missed his pointed ears, while Anakin Hunter is a part halfing.” She paused, thinking, “I think Padme is pure human, but she is related to several elves, halfings, and a dwarf or two through marriages and other clan agreements.”
Raizen spoke up, “She’s right. We have a lot of non-humans living among us, but they hid their traits while they are out in public unless they trust the people around them or they have run out of chakra.” He moved forward a few feet with the rest of team 13 following him. “Of course, Quill is powerful enough where he can roam without hiding himself.”
They fell silent as they continued to wait for the long line to move forward to grab a mission. Ralph yawned as they walked forward every 15 minutes or so. He had mixed feelings over waiting in line. A part of him was glad Raizen had ordered the Team to get there early, but he didn’t like standing in line, waiting. He reached up and rubbed his eye. Maybe when he reached the point in his career where he could sleep in and grab his own mission, he would do that.
“Next!”
Ralph turned his attention to look and blinked as Raizen disappeared through the doorway with Lilian and Enzo following him. He pushed off the wall and hurried forward. It was finally time to grab a mission. He couldn’t wait to see what kind of mission his team would be able to get.
Ralph stepped through the doorway and blinked, rapidly, as he was temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight coming in from the windows. His vision adjusted and he was able to see a table at the far end of the room where several people sat. Ralph glanced down at the table with excitement bubbling in his veins to see there were still dozens of scrolls on the table top, sorted into bins by ranks. He glanced at the far right bin with the label of SSS. There were only two mission scrolls in the bin. The next bin was labeled with SS and it had, from the angle Ralph was standing at, he couldn’t really see how many scrolls still in the bin, but from he was able to see, there were possible two or three scrolls. The bin sitting on the left of the SS bin was the S rank mission. There were possible five or six scrolls still in the bin.
However, the following bin with the label A rank had a lot more scrolls sitting in in. If Ralph had to take a guess, there had to be at least 10 scrolls, waiting to be claimed. The B ranked mission bin appeared to have the same amount. Maybe a little bit more then the A ranked mission bin. Ralph’s breath picked up when he rested his eyes on the C ranked mission bin. He was able to see it towered over the edge of the bin. That was a good thing. It meant there were a lot of C ranked missions, available. He couldn’t wait until he was able to go on C ranked missions. It would be excellent to leave the village and explore the country side, possible visit the Kingdom.
He turned his gaze onto the second to last bin on the left of the table. The D-rank missions. He blinked. There wasn’t one bin as he thought, but three bins. All of them were labeled as D ranked. Ralph stared at the bins. It shouldn’t be a surprise to him that there would be a lot of D ranked missions. He had heard there was a huge up tick in D ranked missions, shortly after graduation of the newly minted Novice ninja. He didn’t think it would be true.
He glanced at the last bin, holding the E ranked missions. There was only one bin, but there were at least two or three dozen mission scrolls, sitting there, waiting to be claimed. He wondered if the ninja who showed up, standing at the near of the line, if they would be forced to take an E ranked mission in order to have a job for the day, maybe lining up two or three to make sure they had enough money to make ends meet for the day.
A rush of gratitude went through him at Raizen who had ordered them to be there early. Raizen, with his experience, knew what would happened if they had waited until closer to 8 or 9 before they went to claim a mission.
“Welcome,” a deep voice rang out. Ralph turned his attention to the group of people; two women and three men; sitting behind the tables. The speaker turned out to be the leader of the Bark Village, Lord Jackson. He wore the white and rich brown trench style coat representing the leadership of the Bark Village. On his head, a matching hat sat on his slowly graying black hair. His tan face showed how harsh his life had been with a scar stretching over his chin, one going across his forehead, and another one over his left eye. His hazel eyes showed with warmth as he stared at Team 17. “I must say I’m surprised that you are requesting a mission, Raizen, already. I thought we weren’t get any of the new teams for at least a week or two.”
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“As we both know, Life is a cruel mistress,” Raizen shrugged, “She likes to give tests before she gives lessons.”
Lord Jackson nodded in agreement, “That she is.” He looked down at the bin holding D-ranked missions, humming thoughtful. “Since you are a new team, I think it would be best to give a simple mission to see how well your team works together.” He gestured to the elderly woman sitting next to him.
“I think you should wait on getting assigned missions,” the elderly lady spoke up, glaring at Raizen, “You were just assigned this team, yesterday, Master Raizen. How confident are you in their skills? How well do they work in a team together? What kind of knowledge have they shared with each other over various topics?”
Raizen stayed silent with thoughtful expression on his face. Ralph glanced at the elderly lady and recognized her as one of the Village Elders, Lady Eris of the Clover Clan. He tried not to pull a face as he fought to keep his face neutral. He had several run in with her and the Clover Clan while growing up, especially after he was kicked out of the orphanage and looking for a place to stay. He glanced at Lilian and Enzo from the corner of his eye.
Lilian blinked as she recognized Lady Clover, but she didn’t show any other emotion. Ralph guessed it was part of Lilian’s up bringing to recognize and acknowledge every Village Elder and know how the clans interacted with each other.
Enzo looked apprehensive as he stared at Lady Clover. He recognized her as well. Maybe she was a customer, Ralph mused, but the apprehensive look on Enzo could be from dealing with her while Enzo helped with his father’s blacksmithing business.
Finally, Raizen spoke, “Like I said, Lady Clover,” he gave a silent bow, “Life doesn't give lessons then tests. She delivers tests then the lessons. I rather have my students realized that now instead of later, out of a mission or the battlefield and have no clue how to handle a situation. If I start with the missions, now, even the simple ones, I have a control environment with their development into the Ninja this Village needs to have for the future.”
Lady Clover humphed at Raizen’s response.
“As you wish,” another Village Elder spoke up from beside Lady Clover. Ralph thought he was Draco Black of the Grimwell Clan. “Here’s a D-rank mission.” He grabbed a mission scroll from on top of the pile of D bin and held it out. Raizen walked over and grabbed it from him with a slight bow.
Ralph lend over to Lilian and whispered, “That’s Draco Black of the Grimwell Clan, right.”
Lilian sent him a scowl and replied back in the same low tone, “Yes. Now pay attention. You are being rude to the Village Elders.”
Ralph resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at her. He did what she suggested and saw the glare Lady Clover sent him, the amused look of Lord Jackson, the annoyed look on the last woman’s face, the pressed lip expression of Draco, and the blank look on the masked man sitting on the other side of Lord Jackson. The last man, the masked man, Ralph knew, he was the head of the Black Ops squad. They were the hardest group to get into, but they were well trained to handle every situation they ran into and were assigned. It was impressive to see him in person, but it didn’t mean Ralph would have like running into him in a dark alley.
Raizen didn’t say anything, but Ralph did noticed his teacher did glance at him. The older ninja took his place back in front of the trio of students and bowed to the Village Elders. Lilian followed his example and Ralph and Enzo were seconds behind them. Raizen’s voice rang out, “Thank you for this opportunity to serve the village.”
“You are welcome,” Lord Jackson replied, “Dismissed.”
Raizen straightened and turned on his heel, leaving the mission room. Ralph stood and walked after Raizen. Enzo walked behind Ralph with Lilian bringing up the rear.
Once they were outside the Government Tower, Raizen stopped and turned to Team 17. He opened up their mission scroll and read it over.
Ralph couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. His first mission. He was pumped to get started. He looked at Raizen and asked, “What’s our first mission?”
“ A simple one,” Raizen confessed, “We will be shopping for Mrs. Emberglow.”
Ralph frowned. Who was Mrs. Emberglow?
“Which Mrs. Emberglow?” Lilian asked, “There are several families with the name of Emberglow and no connection to each other.”
Ralph glanced at Lilian. He wasn’t aware of that interesting fact. He thought most of the families with the same family name were related through marriages or births. It could be even distantly. He directed his gaze to his teacher.
“Sapphire Emberglow,” Raizen explained without looking up from the scroll.
“Whose that?” Enzo asked. Ralph nodded.
“I have heard of Sapphire Emberglow, but I don’t remember who she is, exactly,” Lilian confessed.
“Mrs. Emberglow married into the Village due to the White Bark Treaty,” Raizen stated. He looked at the students.
Ralph blinked. White Bark Treaty did sound familiar. He glanced at Lilian. She frowned, a thoughtful expression on her face, as she lowered her eyes to the ground.
“Oh yeah, that Mrs. Emberglow!” Enzo commented with a glee. Ralph and Lilian looked at him, surprised. Enzo looked sheepishly at them. “Whenever my cousins from the White Hall Estate comes to visit, one of the White Hall children from the lesser houses usually comes to visit her as well.” He looked thoughtful for a moment, “It was either the White Halls from the Clover Estate or the Morning Glory Estate. I don’t remember which, but I do know, these White Halls are not from the Main Estate.”
“That sounds about right,” Raizen said, “If it was the Main White Hall Family, Lord Jackson would have rolled out the red carpet for them. It’s thanks to them, our village has been able to survive, thrive, and grow into what is it today.”
Ralph thought about what Raizen said and decided to read up on the Village’s history before he went to bed or whenever he had the spare time. It sounded like the White Hall Family was highly important to the Village, besides the fact, the Hidden Bark Village had to participate in the last major conflict involving the White Hall Family and caused a lot of ninja’s deaths.
“Alright,” Raizen’s tone changed causing Ralph to turn his attention back to his teacher, “We are heading to the Emberglow Compound on the Far South of the Village. She is expecting us to be there in a hour.”
“Yes, sir,” Ralph, Lilian, and Enzo echoed. Raizen walked past them and the trio followed.
“So, what else does the mission scroll say,” Lilian asked.
“We are to shop for Mrs. Emberglow for the week,” Raizen replied, “Here. Read it for yourselves.” He tossed the mission scroll over his shoulder at them.
Ralph’s eyes widened. He was not expecting that. Lilian, however, gapped and her arms didn’t move from her sides. Enzo’s hand snapped out and grabbed the mission scroll from midair. Ralph blinked. He had forgotten Enzo had quick reflexes when it came to catching items from midair. He dimly remembered someone questioning him about it back in class one day and Enzo had replied that sometimes in the smithy he had to be quick in his tasks or risk getting seriously hurt, plus his dad forced him to make sure the ninja weapons they sold were up to par.
“What does the Mission Scroll say,” Lilian asked, turning to Enzo.
Enzo took a deep breath and read the scroll out loud, “Mission Rank: D; Mission: Shopping for Mrs. Emberglow
Mrs. Sapphire Emberglow, an Village Elder, has requested help in her weekly shopping. She lives on a limited income, provided both the Village Government and her family’s Elderly funds.
Mission start time: 10:00
Possible Mission End time: 15:00
Mission Objectives: Shop for Mrs. Emberglow and complete her shopping list.”
Ralph hummed, “It should be easy enough.” Lilian and Enzo nodded. Raizen didn’t say anything as they walked on.
Team 17 arrived at the Emberglow compound, nearly 45 minutes later. Ralph glanced at the clock nearby. It was 9:55 am. He panted and shook his head. They were nearly late. It was a good thing that he knew a short cut to the compound, instead of using the more common pathways like Lilian wanted to use.
Ralph glanced to Raizen. Ralph couldn’t read the teacher’s expression as he strolled toward the compound. Ralph turned his gaze to his teammates. Lilian’s cheeks were redden as her lips parted. Her shoulders heaved as she tried to catch her breath. Enzo didn’t look like he was phased by the harsh run over to the compound, but he did panted, hard. He reached to his side and grabbed a water skin. He twisted the top off and took a swing of water. He walked after Raizen.
“Are you alright, Lilian?” Ralph asked Lilian as he directed his attention to her. She glared at him. He took a step back, raising up his hands in a defensive motion. She humphed, crossing her arms over her chest and walked away. “I’m sorry for dragging you with me,” Ralph called out after her. She didn’t response. Ralph shook his head. He still couldn’t believe he had misstepped and dragged Lilian with him before he fell to the ground. They had hit the ground hard. She had smacked him for that one, once they got back to their feet. His cheek still ached from her hit. He hurried after them, brushing himself off.
The Emberglow Compound was a simple looking one, compared to the other rich families living in the village. In a way, it was a lot nicer, at least to Ralph. Of course, he didn’t have much to compare the compound to. Only from what he had seen around the village and his own modest housing.
The team approached the compound doors where two ninjas from the Emberglow Clan stood, looking bored out of their minds. They snapped to attention once they noticed Team 17 walking toward them and waited until the team came closer to them before one of them spoke, “Good morning and welcome to the Clan Emberglow Compound.”
“Thank you,” Raizen replied, “We are here to see Mrs. Sapphire Emberglow.”
“Weekly shopping,” the other guard commented. Raizen nodded. “Alright. Go on through.”
Ralph walked after Raizen as they entered the Emberglow Compound. He tried to keep his amazement off his face as he looked around the interior of the compound.
A large tree with bright red apples stood in the center of the compound clearing. An woman with a young child sat on a bench near the base of the tree, her voice drifted through the air as she read a child’s story to her child. It was a story about a tree cutter meeting a witch in the woods. Ralph frowned, thinking. It was a similar story that the ladies at the orphanage used to tell children before sending them to bed. The ending, however, was a sad ending, the witch met her end because she transformed into a hawthrone tree and the tree cutter turned the tree into firewood. He was sure there was more to the story. Something about a mage called Merlin and the Fallen Lady of Earth Magic. He shook his head. He would figure it out later.
Ralph glanced at Raizen, making sure he was able to follow his teacher, up a small set of stairs, reaching a porch that went around, before his gaze roamed over the rest of the compound. Members of the Emberglow Clan appeared and disappeared through various doorways, few servants swept the porch, and small aged children darted out of doorways with cheers before they jumped off the porch and ran toward the far end of the compound where a small playground sat. It was something different. Ralph wasn’t expecting the compound to have a welcoming atmosphere. He thought it would the opposite. He had heard a few of his classmates who visited some of the Clan compounds complain how unwelcoming and cold it was. He thought it would be the same thing with the Emberglow Compound.
Ralph blinked and turned his attention ahead of him as Raizen passed through a final door and stepped to the side, allowing the students to pass through the doorway. Inside the room, a small old lady sat in a rocking chair by a roaring fire, a cat curled up on her lap as she moved her hands in a rhythmic pattern, playing with orange colored yarn. She looked up when they entered, her sapphire blue eyes were like gems - bright and beautiful. Ralph blinked in surprise at that thought and fought to keep the heat raising in his cheeks.
“Good morning, Mrs. Emberglow, how are those crochet needles holding up,” Enzo stepped forward with a wide grin.
“Enzo Smith, is that you, sweetheart?” She narrowed her eyes, trying to see them. “Oh blast it, where are my glasses?” she reached out to the stand beside her and patted the surface until she found her glasses, “I can’t see a thing without my glasses. My eye sight isn’t what it used to be.” She slid on the glasses and turned to look at them. “Enzo, dear, the needles your father made are excellent,” Mrs. Emberglow sent a content grin, “How are you doing this morning?”
“I’m doing fine, ma’am,” Enzo said, “I got my first mission today with my team.”
“Oh, that is good,” Mrs. Emberglow nodded, “What is your mission, if you can tell me?”
“Apparently, we are going to be shopping for you, Mrs. Emberglow,” Enzo stated.
Mrs. Emberglow’ eyes widened and she giggled. She set her yarn project to the side. It looked like a blanket of some kind. She stood up. She appeared to be only 5 foot tall, but she did hunch over a bent. “That is a surprise,” She started, “I knew there would be a ninja team coming this morning to grab my list of groceries, but to know that you would be arriving to shop for me, and it’s your first mission, that is a great honor.” She walked toward a small table by a couch sitting several feet away. “Maybe I should bake up some treats while you are shopping. Perhaps, some chocolate chip cookies, hmm?”
“Really, Mrs. Emberglow, that wouldn’t be necessary,” Raizen started, but Enzo cut him off, “Really? Mrs. Emberglow, you are the greatest!”
He turned to the rest of the team and started on, “Oh, you guys, you should really try her chocolate chip cookies! They taste so good.” He smacked his lips. “I have them every time I come here with my father.” He turned to Mrs. Emberglow and asked, “Would you make some extra so I can take them back to my family, please?”
“Of course, dear,” Mrs. Emberglow gave him a grandmotherly smile, “Here’s my list of groceries I need for the week, dears.”
Raizen stepped forwarded and grabbed it before Enzo could. Ralph blinked, surprised. He didn’t think his teacher would do something like that, but this was their first mission. Maybe Raizen wanted to be the one in charge of the mission? Of course, Ralph mused it could be something else.
“Thank you, Mrs. Emberglow,” Raizen spoke up, “We should be getting going if we are supposed to have this done in a timely manner.” Ralph saw him glance at Enzo with a guarded look before Raizen turned away.
“See ya later, Mrs. Emberglow,” Enzo followed as he waved at Mrs. Emberglow.
Ralph glanced toward Lillian who bowed slightly and out of instinct, Ralph repeated the motion, saying, “We will be back with your groceries.” He turned away and followed Enzo out of the compound.
“Oh wait!” Mrs. Emberglow called, “I forgot to give you the money for the groceries.”
Ralph paused in the doorway, saw Enzo and Raizen stopped as well, and heard Lillian finally speak up, “I can take it, Mrs. Emberglow.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Mrs. Emberglow placed the money in Lillian’s hand.
There was a pause from Lillian before she spoke, “I’m not sure if this will be enough, Ma’am.” Ralph wanted to slap his hand against his face. Even though this was their first mission, he knew it was bad form to inform their client of that. “Whenever I went with my mother to do the grocery shopping, it is usually way more then this amount.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart,” Mrs. Emberglow’ voice took on an uncertain note.
Raizen’s sigh was audible as he walked past Enzo and Ralph to Lillian. Ralph watched him look the money Lilian held and announced in a guarded tone, “Mrs. Emberglow, I promise you this is more then enough to cover your weekly groceries.”
“But it’s 3 gold pieces,” Lillian protested. Ralph blinked. He usually had 1 gold piece to spend on food each week, if he was lucky and he still got a lot with a single gold piece. His mind darted through several stores with the best deals he usually visited. He needed to see the list before he could throw out any suggestions.
“Are you sure, Mr. Raizen,” Mrs. Emberglow asked, “I can provide your team with more, if it is necessary.”
“That’s more then enough,” Ralph commented, “I can get your entire grocery list and then some with 3 gold pieces.” He knew the butcher would offer a few good deals on the best pieces of meat toward the end of the day, roughly hour before he closed up shop for the day.
“It is not necessary, Mrs. Emberglow,” Raizen spoke, “My students needs to learn some manners when it comes to dealing with clients and need to remember they are no longer academy students.” The way Raizen’s voice took on a harsh note, Ralph noticed Enzo winced from the corner of his eye while Lillian’s cheek heated before Raizen walked past Ralph with Lillian on his heels.
Team 17 left the Emberglow compound without another word. Ralph followed, bringing up the rear. He didn’t want to be near Raizen when he turned around and decided to give them a tongue lashing. However, once they were far enough away, Raizen led them to a tree line near a park where young children played under the watchful eye of their parents then he turned around to face them.
“Well,” Raizen started, “It was nice to know that you, Enzo, are familiar terms with Mrs. Emberglow. It would have been nicer to know that before we got there.”
“I don’t see what is the big deal is about if I know Mrs. Emberglow personally or not,” Enzo kicked the ground, sending a rock toward the playground. “My father knows her better then I do.”
“Still, relationships with any of our future or possible clients could pose a risk to the mission,” Raizen stated, “In the future, it might be best if you announced you know the client outside of ninja work before meeting them. It might jeopardized the mission if you don’t.”
“Like how?” Enzo argued.
“If the client had requested we remove a person from a position of power and you personally had a connection to the target, would you try to stop me from permanently removing that person from power?” Raizen glared at Enzo.
“I don’t know anyone in a position of power,” Enzo pointed out.
“Yes, you do. Lord Jackson, the leader of our village, is in a position of power,” Raizen shot back, “If I worked for a different village, would you be able to stop me from trying to remove Lord Jackson from power?”
“Yes,” Enzo’s eyes widened, understanding. “So, knowing someone outside of ninja work on personal terms could jeopardize the mission if we get assigned to do something to them, either helpful or harmful?”
“Correct,” Raizen nodded at Enzo before he turned to Lillian, “You, Miss Sakura, do not inform the client of any money related problems like that again.” Lillian looked down, ashamed. “If we are short on the provided money, we will have to use our own and submit a copy of the receipt to the financial department to get reimbursed for it.” He sighed. “Ralph, it is a good thing you spoke up. Mrs. Emberglow would have handed us another gold coin or two to cover the expenses of her grocery shopping, but it would have cost her in return like some of her medicine she is taking. That medicine isn’t cheap and has to be transported from the White Hall Estate, every month. Even though she is a daughter of the White Hall Estate, she doesn’t get a discount from the Estate, anymore.”
Ralph waited for Raizen to speak more, but he didn’t and Ralph spoke up instead, “So, what’s on the list of groceries do we need to get for Mrs. Emberglow?”