Geraldine
The Shosuro Palace was grand, housing many Scorpion and spaces of work for them inside its halls. Some of those with status and respect had various rooms dedicated to their leisure. Yuto was not one of them. Here in his room, he often reorganized it throughout the day based on his needs. Not only did it serve as a bedroom, but his place of work as well. Typically he'd move things around with the help of the servants afterward. 

Currently, the room was quite desolate. Near the back wall was the rack which held his Daisho. In the middle of the room was a table with tokurri and cups for Sake. Along the side were two scrolls, both were copies of one another. This enlisted a detailed plan he wanted to discuss with the two he summoned. 

Yogo no Tansaku Kiyo and Soshi Sayako would have received letters of the day and time of the meeting. While he normally would have done a restaurant to appease the Wardmaster, the topic of conversation was confidential. 

Chinatsu, a humble servant of the palace and personal attendant to the Magistrate waited outside the door. She'd be the one to greet and let them in to begin. 

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Howard
*Sayako takes her silent steps up into the palace and towards the meeting room. As she reaches the destination, she smoothly transitions into a small bow to the servant waiting outside for her and her soon to be acquaintance. With a smile hidden behind her mask, she addressed the woman,* "I hope the day is finding you well, today?" *When motioned to enter the room, she takes one last look around, ensuring she knew where people could enter and exit from out of habit.*

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Geraldine
Yuto was glad to see Sayako come in, one waited patiently for their arrival. There was much to discuss and a lot to break down, he had a special assignment for her. Waiting for the Shugenja to settle in, Yuto had tea poured for her. 

"I'm glad to see you in good health, Soshi-san, the day does find me well. I've been wanting to speak with you about a few things, assigning a duty to you has been a thought of mine since after we first met. Hope you're ready to assume responsibility, I wouldn't want to force you to work so soon after your arrival." 

He was sincere, Yuto did care for his subordinates, but in each one, he saw an opportunity. Utilizing them to their strengths is why they were here and the Magistrate would not hesitate. 

"Before you showed me a spell allowing you to switch faces, what else can you do? Can you be perceived with a different height, voice, or something else?"
Esther
Kiyo hated meetings. She didn't see this fact changing in the future. Unfortunately, life is a series of meetings. Discussions, negotiations, plotting, and maybe even some friendly socials. Those last ones were probably the worst most of the time. It's long since she made her peace with her disinterest in participating in these essential human things, but she certainly wasn't going to not complain (mentally) even if she has already resigned to participate.

She arrived not too long after Sayako, although it was separate enough that she had to wait until Shinatsu finished leading the Soshi to her seat and return before she would be led in herself. While she figured that she could probably walk in herself, she didn't think that was correct for her to do and, most importantly, she didn't really want to. She wasn't given long to delay her entry. Servants have a tendency to rush to serve her, and Chinatsu seemed did not deviate from what seemed to be the norm and hurried to seat Kiyo in the palace room.

She couldn't say exactly what she expected to hear today, but she imagined that the scroll likely contained a decent amount of it. Seems Yuto understands what Kiyo really wanted in this meeting. Given that the other two had already started the conversation, she figured that she'd be fine to leave them to it and inspect the scroll without giving either of them a greeting. She would respond if met with any words but currently she does not seem to be paying any mind to the rest of the table.
Geraldine
There was some relief in seeing Kiyo arrive, the Tansaku wasn't too late which didn't bring any impediment. Yuto gave a nod of approval to Chinatsu and turned to look at the fellow vassal. He knew her to be disinterested and unenthusiastic to these meetings, part of him hated calling her for knowing this fact. However, duty beckoned and she possessed the skills he needed to fulfill a proper goal. The Scorpion in the city needed a lot of wins, starting with a small one would have to do. 

When he saw her eye the scroll, he placed a hand on it and placed it before her to read. It was a copy of the letters exchanged between himself and Matsu Tatsuji, the secretary beneath Otomo Tanimaru: the Overseer himself. 

Giving her a few seconds to read it over, he'd then speak to her personally: "I was going to go and handle the meetings myself, but a few urgent matters are pulling me away. I felt it appropriate to call upon you for this meeting. Getting the temple remodeled into something new with one of the Scorpions as its manager will give us an Edge. It'll also take away funds from another construction plan we don't want to go through." He explained. The next scroll he placed before the Yogo was another set of copies. 

"This project should tip the scales in our favor. The temple district demands respect from all, a crumbling temple is a sight not many will want, it will also demonstrate our dedication to the city and ability to solve several problems in one step. I know I promised you the meetings you find frivolous would cease, but I can only be in so many places at once." Yuto despite his words and tone couldn't create a remorseful look. A lot of weight was on his shoulders, passing some of it on would be a lot better than falling and breaking the carried stones. 

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Howard
*Once inside, Sayuki drops to a respectful knee briefly before rising again to speak with her commander and await their companion."Thank you, I am glad to see you are well yourself. I appreciate the care I have been quite eager to get started on my duties" *She moves a bit closer to have a more comfortable conversation while she listens to his further questions and answers them* "I am able to alter my height In a minor capacity, and further alter my appearance beyond minor facial changes, but it takes more time. I can't magically alter my voice as of this moment, but I did put effort into knowing how to do so naturally, among many of the other skills the kami aid me with." 

*Sayako smiles with a bit of pride, feeling that Yuto appears to truly appreciate her capabilities. When she hears the door slide open, she turns to face their new guest, and gives them a courteous bow.* "Would I were more established in the city, I would not mind attending the meeting alone. Hopefully that would alleviate future stresses for you, my Lady."

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Esther
Kiyo quickly read the first scroll. Temple refurbishment? It's about time someone did something about that eyesore in the district. Better yet that someone else was paying for it. What she is not sure of though, is she was the right person to champion the project. Her distaste for others was quite the problematic attitude when meant to seek out cooperation on a project, although this was dwarfed by an additional issue that would come up. Kiyo truly and deeply hated the imperial families, and she wasn't sure she was very capable of hiding her disdain to them. Still... Perhaps she may be able to live with it just long enough to make sure their resources were heading into the Scorpion's pocket. The idea of playing nice did disgust her though. How did courtiers live like this?

She would respond to Yuto's explanation "I have some... Doubts... About your selection for this project. I am no diplomat, nor architect, nor a particular expert on the fortunes (she was assuming the temple was for a fortune, as Scorpion religiosity tended to focus more on them). That said, I can do my best to advance our interests." An unspoken 'Don't expect much' seems to be appended to that sentence. "When are these meetings?" She asked after letting the previous statement simmer for a brief moment.

Kiyo had no knowledge of Sayako. Her disposition seemed sunny, which always seemed to grate on Kiyo, and Kiyo's definitely reading some immediate desire for approval from her, and that's probably going to get old quickly. Still she had to concede that a friendly person in these meetings would probably be better than doing them all herself. She would return the bow and give her standard greeting that those who spend quite a bit of time around her are quite familiar with. "Yogo Kiyo, Wardmaster and one who maintains a few temples in the Temple district." The bow is a bit shallow, showing that she assumes that she is higher status, but the greeting has a practiced politeness to it. "I don't believe we've met. ||It's entirely possible we have and Kiyo doesn't remember|| Having an additional person in those meetings would probably do us some favors." She has to suppress a *As you may not have noticed, I'm not exactly a people person*.
Geraldine
Sayako seemed to be in high spirits, something he appreciated. The woman was eager to get to work, and what results she'd bring he hoped would be exemplary. Her skills were suited to a specific situation he had in mind for her. However some confusion came as she believed to be part of the temple project, and Kiyo as well was under this misconception. Yuto sighed. 

"Forgive me, you two are being given different assignments. I'm very short on time so I decided to meet with you both at once." He hoped they wouldn't be too upset. 

Turning to Kiyo he spoke, "I know you hate meetings and don't think yourself suited for diplomacy, to tell the truth, I'm running out of hands to extend." He signed again, part of him almost felt bad. "You have a good head on your shoulders, despite not having perfect expertise you possess skills that will serve the temples purpose." Yuto was sincere, however, he wasn't sending her in alone. "Agasha Kokuto, an apothecary and shugenja from the Dragon will be accompanying you to the meeting. She's no strong diplomat either, once you two relay the temples purpose and how it'll be ran, I'm certain they'll favor you over the Mantis bathhouse project." 

Shifting his attention to Soshi Sayako. Her job was an even larger headache, he hoped she could pull it off. "I'm afraid your task is a bit more dangerous. I need your skills for an upcoming meeting with the Phoenix, there's a spy in there walls who've leaked our meetings with them to the Crane. We've let the Phoenix know discreetly, but we need your skills to dig them out. Shosuro Kaze will be assisting you, holding the meeting while you go in disguise as a servant to see who's listening in." 

Giving both a quick glance, he rested both hands on the table, almost pressing his weight onto them, but he stayed upright. "Seeing as you two are Shugenja, I have... Another question, if you know of course."

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Howard
*Sayoshi kicks herself a little mentally for the mix up. Yuto certainly appears quite attentive and she feels she should have known that he would choose a mission more in her skillset. While she is certainly able to handle meetings and bureaucracy, there's usually more of an angle that she is pushing or some sort of deceit than the temple meeting.* "Of course, sir. My apologies for misunderstanding. You can be certain that we will locate them." 

*Her mind starts to flood with the possible actions she can take. She doesn't have enough time to embed herself truely with the servants, so there's a good chance she will need to take some risks to uncover who the spy is.* "Is there any way I can get a look at the meeting location and its surrounding area ahead of time? I should be able to do so undetected and I would like to figure out where they might likely be listening in from. That is assuming that I am correct and my job is to find any spies that are outside the room, as opposed to inside it"

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Esther
A misunderstanding? Whatever. So, what did Kiyo need to be doing then?

Ah, interesting. Kiyo hadn't spoken much with the Dragon (she had no opinion on the Dragon, it was hard to have one when the clan was as irrelevant as it was). She's sure Agasha Kokuto didn't fall into every Dragon stereotype either, but if she did that meeting was going to be a hassle. "Sure, I can meet with this Agasha. Anything I need to know in particular about this project?" ||Assume I know nothing about this plan OOC, because that's pretty close to the truth|| She'd probably ask about Kokuto around the information side of the clan, they might have some useful stuff to tell her.

The final question is a bit of a puzzle. What did Yuto intend to ask of them?

"By all means, I can attempt to answer a question." She replied.
Geraldine
With the misconceptions out of the way and assignments being understood, they could now get to making progress. While he would have loved to give her an opportunity to surveillance the embassy, there was no time, nor could they risk compromise. 

"If the spy learns we're onto them, they'll further secure themselves within the embassy. We're already taking much risk going after them, I'm afraid there's no time to heed your request." He spoke with a bit of remorse. "Shosuro Kaze and Satoshi will help you in this endeavor. You won't be alone in this endeavor." 

Turning back to Kiyo, besides the letters he showed her there wasn't much—although he could reiterate. "Otomo Aoi sent us a copy of letters, the mantis wishes to arrange a bathhouse in the city. I won't allow them to profit while they court our enemies. Using our request to remodel an old construct in the temple quarter is more noble, designing it to be a bathhouse, apothecary, and clinic will lean purpose into our cause. I will arrange your meeting with Agasha Kokuto-san." 

As for his personal question. It would be directed to the two of them, they were both experienced Shugenja with more knowledge than the Magistrate possessed. "Is there a spell that allows one gifted with the Kami to read the minds of others?" 

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Esther
Hmm. More open ended an assignment than she'd prefer, but she could roll with it. This renovation project would probably look a bit more like her own pet project in that case. The basic direction was something she could go on. The city had a slight shortage of apothecaries, and it might be a way for her to make an even bigger name for herself here, not that she really wanted that. It could also be a nice way for her to make quite a bit of money, she was not in short supply of medical supplies and if she were the supplier, well, it would suit her just fine. Not that a proper samurai should care about money, but Kiyo wasn't very good at being proper anyway.

Now the question about the spell was cause for concern. She didn't expect to hear Yuto ask for someone to use it, Junshin that he is, so it might not be that. She suspected that it was more likely that he was asking about it after the fact. "Well, there sort of is, it's commonly referred to as 'Know the Mind'" Kiyo explains, "It doesn't exactly let you learn what someone else knows, but from what I've read it does let you hear/see what they're thinking at the moment." Kiyo decides to give a bit of practical advice on defending from it. "So if someone seems to be asking leading questions, you'll give them all the information they're probably looking for. Although that would probably be a little obvious if you know the trick of it. There's another downside to it: It doesn't last very long, so if you suspect that someone is trying to pry into your surface thoughts you may be able to delay them out of the spell by taking your time speaking to them. Additionally, and this is always good advice, be wary of talking to shugenja who are known to be strong in air, as this spell requires high air, and air spells are often nefarious. More so than any other element." Kiyo didn't care that she was sitting with a Soshi illusionist, it was the truth, and if feelings were hurt because she told the truth about air invocations, so be it.