The scent of charred wood and toasted sugar could be smelled even here in the throne room of the shiro far from anywhere which would touch the outer walls.  Mirumoto Kazuki walks back and forth glowering at all of you.  Perhaps glowering is not the right word...let's go with trying to murder everyone in the group seated before him with his eyes.  His skin has taken on a reddish hue and you can see a vein throbbing on his forehead.  For another moment he is silent and the hatamoto kneeling next to where Kazuki should be seated looks relieved that this was all his lord was going to do...<br/><br/>"THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SIMPLE!  YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO FIND THE CAMP AND UPROOT THEM!  INSTEAD I HAVE A FIRE THAT THREATENED TO BURN DOWN THIS TOWN!"  With that outburst, he lapsed into silence again, his breathing coming out in sharp jags as he tries to find some sort of calm center.  After another moment, Kazuki achieves it, although his next lines were still loaded with venom.  "I wasn't aware that the Imperial Legions were so lacking in manpower that they had to draft the stupid and the hopelessly incompetent into their ranks.  Your shireikan will hear of your disgraceful actions burning down the Green Bamboo sakeworks...  An entire year's production gone up in flames.  Was that your intent coming here?  To destroy this town more thoroughly than the bandits?"<br/><br/>~~~<br/><br/>*Three Days Ago*<br/><br/>After a brief return to the training camp to rest after the assignment in the Hiruma lands, the order had came down from your shireikan.  A relatively minor Mirumoto lord had recently sent a report requesting aid.  Apparently his town had under attack from bandits and they had already struck several times terrorizing the town.  In particular, the Green Bamboo sakeworks whose sake was popular amongst some in the Empire was about to ship out this year's production.  The lord's own private guards could not track down the bandits and he feared for the safety of the outgoing shipment.<br/><br/>As such, you were to ride out to the town, investigate, and deal with the bandits appropriately ensuring that the sakeworks was not harmed.  The trip itself had taken a week on horseback.  Nothing exciting in particular occurred, merely the occasional passing wanderers and other wayfarers on their way to some place.  Finally passing through the light forest that covered the region, the path leads through rice paddies seeing the green shoots of the second planting peeking out of the water although there are very few peasants out tending to them.  The wooden palisades of the small town can be seen up ahead on the path and a small keep that could be charitably called a shiro peered over the sharpened wall top.