Takumi quickly pushed Jiang off of him, not wanting anything to do with whatever silly plan he was thinking.  What he was saying sounded like something straight out of one of the foreign novels and comics that merchants sometimes have with them. Regardless he wasn't there to bond with him and would rather focus on gather info related to his job as a guide, and if he needed to get any new maps of the region due to clan changes.  [color=00a99d]"No, I'm not going to do any of that.  How about I ask some of the Naji guys where he went, they would be keeping an eye on anyone unusual since the princess is with them.  If you'd rather keep it a secret than at least ask a guard which area he went into and start from there.  My job isn't to help solve Shima problems though, so I'll give you needed info that will help with the journey but that is about as far as it goes."[/color] He wasn't friends with the others and didn't have any clan connection with any of them.  He didn't wish harm on them but found his job easier when he wasn't close to those he was guiding, made it easier to quit or run away if things got too out of control for him to handle. Though with the Ki Witch being involved he did wonder if he would even be allowed to quit, he may know too much to not see the mission through at this point. She was someone he imagined would be impossible to truly run from, and since no clan in his region would fight her such a thing wouldn't change any time soon.