>>5966874With as much subtlety as you can muster, you tag Masami and Naoki, urging them to gather around you. You relay what Hotaru said, and ask for their opinions.
“We should break from the caravan before it’s noticed and ambush them.” Naoki explains. “We can put all of them down and return before the civilians even know there was an issue. It’s better we have a confrontation away from the caravan so none of them get caught in the crossfire.”
Masami shakes her head “There’s no reason things need to come to bloodshed yet.” She says “They may be bandits, but they’re also revolutionaries. They’re probably just marking their territory and charging a toll for the bridge to intimidate people. If we remove our headbands and just pay it, it probably won’t even be that expensive and we can get deeper into the area. If all of those guys go missing it won’t be long before the entire gang realizes that we’re hostiles. We can pay the Kumamoto’s back what they lost when we get access to the bandit loot later.”
“Wishful thinking.” Naoki points out. “What if they decide to tear the caravan to shreds? We have no idea what their attitude is, so we should hit them first, and hit them hard while we hold the advantage.”
They both look to you for your judgment. For better or worse, you were the decision maker.
>What’s your plan? 