Because there are things you can hear for the listening...
“How’d we get so lucky as to have a Karen in logistics?”
“You’d prefer her in command?”
“‘Where is the Empress?’ is what I want to know.”
“Yeah, you and a lot of other people.”
“I mean, wouldn’t Her Majesty be a better choice for a Regent than, well, anybody? She’d already know what was going on, after all.”
“Well, how much do you tell your wife about what you do?”
“Hey, no need to get personal!”
“I heard there was some kind of attack at the Wall, took out some kind of delegation.”
“I’d heard some Crane or another has it in for Mirumoto Tekkan. Something about a lost duel when they were young.”
“I think you’ve both got too much time on your hands if this is what you’re talking about.”
“Sorry, sir.”
“You know, I sometimes feel sorry for that Miya.”
“Why would Mirumoto-rikugunshokan have a ronin as his second-in-command?”
“Well, you know the Dragon.”
“Yeah, but why would the Throne allow a Legion to have a ronin as its second-in-command?”
“You gonna argue with the Throne?”
“No, no, no. Clearly not. It just doesn’t make sense, is all.”
“Do you think I have a shot with the Hiruma?”
“I don’t know. You think she likes fat bald guys?”
“A man can dream.”
“Something about the Seppun gives me the creeps. It’s like he’s not even breathing, man.”
“More like he’s planning how he’ll kill each person here.”
“I sometimes wonder about the physician. What’s he got hiding under all those robes?”
“And with that hair? Maybe he’s got some Lion blood in him.”
“The commander’s armor…seems a bit much, doesn’t it?”
“You know he knows something we don’t.”
“Well, he *is* in charge. I’d hope he knows more about what we’re doing.”
“Gilded mask? Gilded armor? Kind of makes you wonder where she gets the money.”
“Tell you this, that Shinjo leader can hold her liquor.”
“I didn’t know Shosuro-chui was an actor.”
“He’s not. He just likes to dress up like one and pretend.”
“Isn’t that what acting is?”
“Don’t roll dice with the Toritaka. He doesn’t cheat, he’s just damned lucky.”
“Nah. It isn’t that. It’s the clothes. I mean, look at them. How anyone can keep their head on straight looking at that…”
“The Daidoji? Saw her play kemari once. Quite the performance, that.”
“Since the Intelligence Chief got word about her cousin, she’s been a bit off.”
“Why, did her cousin die?”
“No, but the Kuni have apparently been asking questions.”
“Oh. That’s never good.”
Grizzled Legionnaire 1: “You know, I get that the Rikugunshokan keeps the Reserve Company his own. I get why the First Kaisha is the Shireikan’s. I get why the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth are doing what they’re doing. But what’s going on with the Sixth?”
Grizzled Legionnaire 2: “Political appointments, maybe? Gotta stick ‘em somewhere.”
Grizzled Legionnaire 1: “Maybe where the sun don’t shine.”
Yojimbo 1- “The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor!”
Yojimbo 2- “Which one?”
Yojimbo 1- “The younger, I think.”
Yojimbo 2- “Because that Scorpion said so?”
Yojimbo 1- “Well, didn’t the Emerald Champion sign off on that?”
Yojimbo 2- “You sure it was him, and not some kind of plot? I mean, don’t the Lion go in for tradition and all that?”
Yojimbo 1- “True, but there was Hantei VI Yugozohime. Younger sibling, and Lion-trained. The First Emperor was the youngest child, too.”
Yojimbo 2- “Admittedly. But with neither of them present upon the Throne, it’s unclear who truly will succeed His Majesty.”
