If the kitsune woman should deny his request then Tetsuya would find an alternative, he would hardly place all of his bets on this one chance. That being said it would be far more convenient if she agreed, goodness knows it would save him a ton of trouble. Keeping bowed as he awaited an answer he dared not get his hopes up, knowing there was no reason for his request to be accepted. Surprisingly enough he was given the chance to join them, looking up in slight surprise as he was given clear directions. Well that went without saying, he was here as an extension of Lord Shima himself and knew full well his actions would reflect on his Lord. The Neko would never dream of doing anything to shame the man, so he would be on his absolute best behavior, that went without saying.

[color=39b54a]"Thank you very much, I appreciate your courtesy,"[/color] Tetsuya said, smiling as he righted himself. How odd that he should be thanking a traveler for their courtesy, he really should be thanking the guards of Ru for having no issues with it. Ah, and so he had misunderstood the kitsune it seemed, he hadn't thought of her as being the princess' teacher. Interesting, he wondered what he might be teaching Eri, though it hardly felt appropriate to ask such things. [color=39b54a]"And I'm sure your Grandmother is a wonderful woman. There is nothing wrong with serving one's family."[/color] That was in effect what he was doing even now, even as he was carrying out Lord Shima's orders. Seeing everyone preparing to move out again Tetsuya fell in line with some guards, a little relieved no one tried to take his weapon from him. 

So the manor was outside of the town itself, that would explain why he'd been unable to find the place. Lord Shima's home was easily accessible inside of Shima and so he had assumed other places were similar, but evidently not. This was certainly more secretive than Lord Shima's too, hidden amongst the trees as it was. It struck Tetsuya as a bit odd how everyone here seemed prepared for battle and yet Lady Ru was still hidden away. If they hid her then why must everyone be ready to fight? Unless someone knew specifically where the manor was he couldn't see the need for an entire town to take up arms, not when the invaders would be able to find the Lady. Then again he supposed there was nothing wrong with caution either, and it never hurt to have a few more arms to protect someone important.

Though the manor was far from grand in size it more than made up for it in appearance. The polished stone floors and walkways gave a sense of high worth, and everything from the walls to the timbers supporting the roof seemed to be finely crafted. Even the weapons holstered in the racks, no doubt used for the servants, were impressive in their appearance. This could be one benefit of a smaller home, you had more money to make what little you had seem nicer. It was certainly nicer in Tetsuya's eyes than any massive castle, he always felt like those were just unnecessary and a waste of space. Lord Shima had a moderately large home, but hardly what he would call excessive. Having passed through the entryway to the manor grounds the group was finally brought to a halt, one of the guards giving them instructions on where to wait for the Lady to arrive. Easy enough, it wasn't as though any of them had anywhere else to be until after this meeting anyways. Nodding gratefully to the guard he smiled a little, taking a glance around the area and examining it a bit more closely. When he heard a voice speak out his ears perked up, turning his head curiously and blinking seeing who he could only assume to be the princess.

That was the princess... Right? She didn't really look the part, as her outfit made her look much more like a shrine maiden. As far as nobility went he was used to extravagant, flashy clothes to show position, not something as simple as this. Even the kitsune was dressed better than the princess, and that struck Tetsuya as a bit odd. Having been staring he didn't even realize that the girl was looking back at him, feeling quite embarrassed as he looked away, clearing his throat and shifting his feet a bit. How rude of him to stare, he should probably apologize for that. Turning to do such a thing he frowned in confusion when the princess had come closer to him, his jaw dropping slightly as she began to bow to him instead.

[color=39b54a]"W-What...? You're... Apologizing? To me?"[/color] Tetsuya asked, sounding rather confused by the sight. She was a princess, why was she apologizing to a guard like that? It was like she'd done him some horrible wrong with how frantic she was, it was kind of embarrassing to see. Feeling awkward over having nobility doing this his face heated up, looking around at the other guards before smiling meekly. [color=a2d39c]"It's um... It's fine, no harm done. Please, you don't have to do that for me,"[/color] the Neko responded, bowing his head slightly, [color=39b54a]"Thank you for your consideration though. And it's an honor to meet you princess."[/color] If Lady Ru wanted to come out right now he'd be fine with that, it felt so weird speaking to someone so important so casually.