Mastering A Thousand Arts From Infancy

Mo Gorbo was facing away from Mo Seris's gaze, walking into the thick of the crowd. 

All Mo Seris needed to do was slap the side of the cabin, signaling to the retainer that he wanted them to stop.

He could leave the carriage and greet Mo Gorbo. He could even mention that he was currently conducting the business of the Sixth House. That should give the captain a positive impression of him.

After all, the Sixth House directly served the Grand Elder. What greater purpose was there for a member of the Mo Family?

But, would the other man recognize him? Did Mo Gorbo even remember the social gathering?

Could Mo Seris really improve their relationship, or would he only worsen the faint acquaintance that currently existed?

If he stopped the carriage, it would also delay their return to the Sixth House. 

Mo Seris knew he was taking care of important work. If the infant was not taken back and fed quickly, then it could die of starvation. He had already experienced a scare earlier, on the way to the Mo Estate. He did not want to tempt fate any more than he already had.

The life and death of the infant was far more important than building a friendship with a captain.

The excuses ran through Mo Seris's mind until he had convinced himself that he was making the correct decision by avoiding the interaction. Conveniently, he forgot that he was the one who was seeking it out to begin with.

Mo Gorbo disappeared into the crowd. The carriage continued to move.

Outside, the bustle around the carriage disappeared, as they left the marketplaces behind, and entered a long stretch of residences. Then, the carriage slowed down.

Unlike the Song Manor, which separated their inner ring from their outer ring with gates, the Mo Estate did not have any internal gates at all.

This did not mean that the Mo Estate was less guarded than the Song Manor. In fact, the opposite was true. The Song Manor was protected purely by physical barriers, while the Mo Estate was protected by massive defensive arrays.

Physical barriers could be circumvented in a number of ways, but it was extremely difficult to bypass a full complement of defensive arrays. One either needed to have overwhelming strength, expert knowledge of the weak points of the array, or assistance from the guards who had possession of the controlling talismans.

In the event of the first or second condition, the estate would be under threat by a force that it could not stop, regardless of the defensive arrangement.

To prevent the third from occurring, there were different controlling talismans for each part of the estate, and the guards who possessed them were changed from day to day. There were also signal flares at many of the important chokepoints.

It might be possible for the enemy to secretly bribe one of the guards, but they would need to convert nearly the entire payroll to coordinate a full breach.

As the carriage moved through the Mo Estate, it passed by a few chokepoints. Each one consisted of a cluster of guardhouses surrounding the stretch of road, but the guards who emerged did not impede them once the 'Sixth House' was mentioned.

"State the name and purpose."

Spk! Spk! WOOSH! The signal flare shot through the sky.

"State the name and purpose."

Spk! Spk! WOOSH!

The carriage moved deeper into the estate, their path marked by a path of flares. The few guards who were paying attention from the central part of the Estate confirmed from the color of the flares that there were no abnormalities.

Eventually, the carriage entered into a section of the Estate that was closed-off behind a few simple guard-gates. As they passed through, they saw a couple of horseless carriage bodies that were identical to theirs, all arranged in an orderly line in front of a massive building. 

It was the External Affairs Sixth House, a building that dwarfed the Third Manager's residence in the Song Manor. It was overseen by the Sixth Steward, Mo Seris's immediate superior.