After descending the hill, Nozawa and his party soon arrived before Hosokawa Castle.
It was not wartime at the moment, so the Hosokawa family's defenses were not especially strict; they walked all the way to the moat before encountering some Lang Faction samurai of the Hosokawa Family. After explaining their purpose, they waited a short while, and soon an elderly samurai, looking to be in his fifties, came out to greet them. He lacked the forcefulness of a local bully; instead, he bowed warmly from a distance and said, "Lord Nozawa, I'm truly grateful—thank you so much for making this journey."
"Not at all, not at all, I should have come to pay my respects much earlier." Nozawa responded courteously, returning the greeting with polite formality.
