Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Twenty-seven

As soon as the ruffians spotted San Jin and his guard approaching they bolted. Junseo shook out his robes and grinned at the pair who had just scared off his assailants. Then he turned and made a face at the man who usually followed him around.

"That did not seem entirely random," San Jin probed.

"Probably not. I am overdue with a delivery I was supposed to make." Junseo blushed and kicked a small stone away.

"Is that why you have such a lazy palace tail," the guard asked loudly.

"I guess his job is to watch, not protect." Junseo shrugged. He had other things on his mind but did not refuse the offered company back to his dorm room.

The next day Junseo went directly to the forge after his morning session at the Temple. He had tossed and turned all night trying to find the right explanations for his new mentor. When he sat down at the work-table he found himself tongue-tied. After a couple of false starts he explained, "I don't think people here in the Capital have any idea how desperate things are getting in the countryside." Junseo continued in a voice just above a whisper. "I'm not making an excuse only trying to tell you where some of the sentiment comes from. It's things like taking the children for slaves when their families can't pay their debts. Folks might understand some sort of penalty for the parents but what did their children do to deserve that sort of treatment?"

Knight-Master Lie nodded slowly and gestured for Junseo to continue.

"Well, you probably already know the first protests were to break the wagons the slavers used to transport the farm families who could not meet their rents when the crops failed. From there the actions moved into town to protest the high food prices and the more aggressive responses by provincial guards. Mostly these were small actions, mischief making, to try to remind the powers-that-be to give more respect to ordinary folk. Other groups banded together to try to help with things like housing and medicine or proper payments for the piecework the women did from home." Junseo took a sip from the glass of water beside him before continuing. "I guess I am trying to say our friends were sincerely trying to make things better. They were not asking for big changes -- just some fairness."

Knight-Master Lie's face stayed still through the whole explanation, then he asked, "So how would all this touch on us, here and now?"

In answer Junseo carefully removed the messages he had tucked into the binding of his notebook and handed them over. "Since I was not able to make contact with any of the friends here in the Capital, I was wondering if I shouldn't just return these to Madam Chen, that is, if we are still going there for dinner."

"You have been carrying these around the whole time you have been here?" Knight-Master Lie shook his head in disbelief. "Wait, if they were in your design book you have taken them in and out of the palace."

"Yes, and left them here in the forge more than once," Junseo blushed, "They aren't addressed to me so I didn't not really look at them."

"I guess that makes you an honest courier but I have to tell you a letter of credit this size would certainly buy a lot more than mischief." Knight-Master Lie pointed to one of the documents.

"That doesn't look good," Junseo admitted.

"Especially when Manager Doak doesn't trust the contacts you were given. So, I think we need to take some professional advice about all of this. You should be in the clear since you were just doing a favor for a friend of your family. Nothing more."

"True, and if anyone checks I did have interests in a messenger service in Ilidan. We did runs for guild members and merchants, so all above board." When he said the last piece, Junseo squirmed a bit and looked away.