As Mizuki reentered the castle grounds and passed through the kitchens she then turned toward the direction of the servant's quarters and immediately made a beeline for her room that was assigned to her and as soon as she entered and slid the door closed. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief and exhaled the air from her lungs. Although this clan was small compared to the Takeda and Kuroda clans she still would not underestimate them and it always caused her to feel tense at times. Mizuki appreciated this feeling as it still made her cautious and careful and would not allow her to ever lower her guard in enemy territory. As was her habit she began to observe her small quarters in the servant's quarters and like checking an itemized list in her mind she began to look at everything in her room to make sure it was still in the place where she left it. The small wooden chest that held her cosmetics and clothing and various other items was locked with a keyhole that required a key to open, and she began to look at it to observe for scratches on the lock or tampering. Once she was satisfied no one tried to break into her chest, she then moved her eyes to her bed mat and large candlestick stand with the small flame flickering and illuminating the room she placed a small scratch where her bed mat and candle stick were placed and neither one appeared to have been moved. Once she was satisfied nothing in her tiny room was not disturbed, she then moved to the small desk and chair in the corner and observed no movements or the dust she sprinkled on the desk and chair had been disturbed. She then went and moved the small desk and chair as quietly as possible and removed a small plank from the floor she had loosened when she first moved into the room. She then looked to see her weapons and tools of the trade were still in place as well as the parchment and ink she used to draw and write for any intelligence she might gather. Mizuki noticed nothing was removed and then put the plank back over her stash and moved the small desk and chair back in place. Then she began to undress and prepare for bed and would try to get some rest as tomorrow would be a long day and she would try to entice Harunobu to finally approach her so she could begin to seduce him and gather the information she needed.

  The next morning, she was awakened by a small knock at her door, and she immediately dressed herself and then slid the door open and standing was to her surprise Harunobu in gray samurai robes with his fat pudgy face with dimples in both cheeks prominently showing from his big smile looking at her. He was barely thirty and still acting like a child. He had large belly protruding down barely covered by his robes that could burst out at any time with ease if he stood up or sat down the wrong way too quickly. His hair was the typical samurai style with black hair, and his eyes were a dark brown and with very bushy eyebrows. He was looking at her up and down with a hunger and desire like it was she was a meal waiting to be desired. Mizuki had no makeup and her hair was fixed with two black hair sticks that were unusually sharp if she ever needed them for defense or otherwise. Mizuki immediately changed her facial expressions to her innocent servant girl an smiled as sweetly as possible and spoke first in low soft voice, "My lord you have surprised me by appearing at my door, this is highly inappropriate" He spoke in fast nervous voice, "I am so sorry, I did not mean to scare you but the way you have been looking at me, I had to see you before anyone saw us and speak to you" Mizuki instinctively put her fingers to his lips to stop him from speaking and she then hushed him and continued, "You did not scare me my lord but rather you surprised me but I am so happy to see you and I have admired your greatness from afar and could not contain myself but simply smile and be in awe of you my lord. I see such greatness in you; you must be such a strong warrior and leader" He immediately turned tomato red and beamed from her compliments "You are correct I am a great warrior, and I will lead my clan to greatness; you are very wise in observing that in me. Although you are truly the first to see it in me and say out loud what I already know to be true" He then immediately leaned in to kiss Mizuki and Mizuki although repulsed by this man and his stinky breath simply held her breath and kissed him deeply and passionately as she could that she could feel his excitement in his robes. He then tried to push her into her room, but she then stopped him from making any further advances at her and he had a confused and disappointed look on his face. "My lord it is already morning and if we are discovered you would lose face and I would be banished from the castle and I would never be able to see you again" Mizuki knew this would be the perfect chance to bait him into inviting her into his private chambers although this was way sooner than she expected to be she simply adapted to the situation. "What shall we ever do my lord that I can see you again but without the other servants knowing about us?" Harunobu then with a dumfounded face thinking quizzically for a minute or two which seemed to Mizuki almost comical but had to suppress her laughter and keep the mask of the worried damsel in distress and finally his face lit up with an answer to their dilemma. "You could meet me in my chambers tonight after midnight, I will ensure the guards will allow you to pass with no interference and swear the guards and servants to silence upon penalty of death if they revealed to anyone about your visit to my chambers" Mizuki almost jumped with joy to how fast this imbecile fell straight into her trap. "Oh, that is perfect my lord and we can then be together with no one to stop us" She then kissed him again passionately and then stated she would be their tonight, and she quickly shooed him away leaving him hungrier and more desirous of being with her than before. He almost tripped on his way out of the servant's quarters because he was so smitten with this servant girl.

  With Mizuki finally alone she then immediately grabbed the wash basin and immediately washed herself off of all the filth that Harunobu had kissed with his dirty mouth and then satisfied his filth was removed. She then got cleaned up and applied her make up and got dressed for the day and decided she needed to contact Hanbei and Toshie in the market to inform them about her progress. She then left her quarters to find an excuse to leave the castle.

  Later that morning Hanbei and Toshie were at their stall trying to entice people passing by to stop and look at their wares. Despite barely setting up there stalls last night they were actually doing quite well in sales. Especially Toshie who with his was enticing people with his excellent flute playing skills and since this town was starved for salt, this inland province was not anywhere near any salt mines or the ocean, and they bought his wares very quickly and even though their intentions were to gather intelligence and sabotage it appears there actually making a tidy profit at their stall. Hanbei had managed to sell some small jars of ink, most customers were interested in the salt jars instead. However, it did allow Hanbei to observe the town and see who was moving about and see if he could gather small bits of information by watching who was walking by and what he could see was peasants walking to the rice fields and soldiers moving about patrolling the town, servants moving about gathering items for the various lords in the area. Children walking with their mothers and various other people moving about their business. He could hear the blacksmith hammering away like before at whatever item he was working on, the tea house was busy with people going in and out of there establishment. For a small town it really was quite busy. Then he noticed Mizuki walking down the avenue toward his stall and she as always caught the attention of everyone in the avenue because of here unparalleled beauty shining so brightly in the mid-morning sun. Hanbei knew it must be important if she decided to meet them so soon after they met barely last night. Hanbei then prepared a small vial of ink with a false bottom for notes to be passed and would pass her the information about the fat fool spending habits. She then approached and waited in line for her turn. Finally, her turn came and she spoke, "My good sir my lady needs a small vial of ink for her parchment do you have any for sale?" "I do my lady and this vial will suit your purposes perfectly" She then handed a few silver coins tied together very closely, and he handed her the small vial of ink, and she thanked him and simply left back down the main road to the castle gates. Hanbei quickly tucked the silver coins away in his robes and continued about his day of observations and tending to customers.

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  Several hours later as the sun was beginning to set both Hanbei and Toshie closed up the stall and headed to the inn further in town. Then they ate some noodles and drank some sake and then retired to their room for the night. As soon as Hanbei and Toshei were settled and sitting on the floor in their room. Hanbei then pulls out the silver coins stuck together and carefully pulled them apart and a small, tiny piece of paper pops out and Toshie notices right away and comments on it softly, "It seems sister already has news for us. What does it say?" Hanbei then read the note and sat quietly for a few minutes and simply smiled and Toshie was really curious now at his expression. Then Hanbei finally spoke, "While generals batter walls for months, Mizuki enters the inner chambers in a single evening. I should hire more women" Toshie and Hanbei chuckled and went on explain, "She managed to convince the daimyo son to let her into the inner part of the castle, this will help speed our mission up immensely" Toshie replied, "Most definitely our sister truly has a gift like no other" "We should begin preparations for scouting the town and castle grounds and get the numbers of armed men and armaments, Toshie begin your scouting tomorrow, do it carefully and cautiously" Hanbei and Toshie then began to form plans on how to support Mizuki and to begin to get a better lay of the land.

  Later that night, Mizuki was sitting in her room staring at the candle in her room waiting for the midnight hour to approach. She had fixed herself up with minimal clothing and just a large red silk robe to cover her almost bare body and fixed herself up with two hair sticks up and scented herself with her own perfume she made from the sweetest fragrances of flowers she harvested from the mountains of Iga that would entice any man to her beck and call. Yet despite all these preparations she still felt sick in the pit of her stomach and was convincing herself of her duty to go to Harunobu. She then thought of Ryuzen and her heart fluttered thinking of him and how he was the only lord to ever treat her kindly and gently. He never once forced himself on her and always treated her with the respect which made her admire him all the more and develop a crush and eventually real feelings for him. She was secretly jealous of Isabell being married to him and keeping him all to herself and wanted so badly to be a wife to him. She told no one of her secret desire for Ryuzen not even to her brothers in her ninja clan. In truth her feminine charms were her weapons, but she dreamed of a normal life that would involve someone that truly cared for her and finally she shook her head of such foolish notions and focused on her task she braced herself for what she must do to accomplish her mission. The midnight hour approached and she then stood up took a deep breath and exhaled. Then she exited her room and went down the dark hallway of the large samurai mansion. It was lit from various rooms by candles and lanterns were lit at various points in the mansion. She passed the kitchen and then took a left pass the meeting hall and dining area to the inner chambers and just before entering stood two guards. Mizuki stopped in front of them and they looked her up and down and smiled because they knew who she was supposed to meet at this late hour and allowed her to pass. Mizuki would now start making mental notes of the interior of the mansion. After passing the guards and she immediately noticed a male servant carrying a sake botte with two cups immediately passed her by and entered a room that was well lit and she could see the daimyo and it appeared that another samurai was present and tempted as Mizuki was to listen in on the conversation she could not delay her rendezvous with Harunobu. She then walked her way past the daimyo room and then a guard saw her and directed her toward Harunobu room on the far end of the hallway. She reached his door where she could see a light from candle flickering and she took another deep breath and knocked softly on the door. Then he slid the door open and quickly bid her inside and then slid the door closed quickly again. He was wearing a white robe open with his belly protruding prominently out and inwardly Mizuki wanted to vomit but she steeled herself. He then spoke, "I am glad you came to my room. I have been thinking about you all day. He then grabbed her hand and took her to his bed, and he sat down and she stood facing him he then turned her around and began to disrobe her and she closed her eyes and she performed the duty to seduce him and once concluded he lay next to her. Mizuki then began to try to ply him for information and armed with the knowledge of his spending habits from Hanbei she began to speak, "My lord you are truly the most powerful man I have ever been with, and I am most curious?" Harunobu beaming with pride from her satisfying him and now complimenting him he was like a child eager for more praise stated, "What are you most curious about my delicate flower?" Mizuki smiled like a fox in a hen house and then stated, "A woman who shares a lord's pillow should know the strength that protects her. Tell me how strong your clan's arm is?" Harunobu eager to please answered quickly without thinking, "We can call upon a thousand samurai and two thousand peasant militia should the need arise for it. Plus, my father is arranging for 100 muskets to be shipped here in a week's time to be brought here. You needn't worry about not being protected my flower I will personally ensure your safety. Furthermore, we can call upon our allies the Sanada clan with their thousand men to aid us as well" Mizuki making mental notes of the numbers and allies then feigned amazement and surprise, "Oh my I feel so safe to have such a strong lord with all his men" She then decided to take a chance and press her luck based on the information she received from Hanbei. "I do worry for your safety my lord, please make sure to have the best armor to protect yourself so you can return to me" Harunobu now really feeling pleased with himself foolishly proclaimed, "Then I will order the most expensive armor money can buy to protect myself little flower and ensure I come back to you safely" Mizuki was shocked how quickly this fool followed her suggestion so easily, with his weight and girth it would be a massive endeavor to arm this big man with the right fitting armor and it would further drain the Nagano clans resources. Then he began to yawn and doze off from all the excitement and bid Mizuki to leave quickly and made her promise to come back again in a few nights time. She then bowed her head and promised and left the way she came. Upon exiting the room of the now snoring Harunobu she made her way past the guard and past the daimyo room whose light was no longer lit and quickly and quietly made her way back to her quarters. Then as before inspected her room for any disturbances and saw nothing moved out of place. She then washed the filth of Harunobu off and quickly pulled out parchment and ink and recalled the information that the daimyo son provided and then added the bit about him buying new armor for himself and the shipment about the muskets. When she finished and put everything away and laid down on her bed to sleep her thoughts then drifted back to Ryuzen and stated to herself, "I do this all for you Ryuzen, I wish to see you become the great lord you will be and hopefully one day I will be by your side. With those comforting thoughts she then fell fast asleep.

  In less than two days Mizuki has already gotten the enemy strength in numbers, convinced the daimyos son to spend more money from the Nagano clans limited funds further weakening them and now has information about a shipment of muskets arriving in a week's time. The timetable for siphoning information and sabotaging the clan from within is now accelerating at faster pace than they had anticipated and the Nagano may fall sooner than expected.