Despite the city of Ahrno being on the palace doorstep the noise never managed to pierce the walls this far in. As Mariko lay upon the softest bed she’d ever have the joy to lay upon relative silence reigned around her. Some nocturnal birds cheeped and the wind blew, but those where soothing sounds and not ones that would keep someone up at night. The only sounds coming from her brother on the other side of the room they shared was his steady breathing, which she had long ago learned to ignore. It was well into the early hours, yet Mariko had only managed two or three hours of sleep at best. Itazura’s earlier news about this information broker, Kain Akai, had her worried. To her it seemed much too coincidental. They’d come with a secret mission from Ino to complete – gather information on