Despair and Wisdom: Imperial March

There was something deeply funny about marching halfway across the Empire to join the Legion, march all the way back and then some, only to end up being told his services weren't... trusted.

It was so utterly typical of the army that he couldn't even be all that upset!

So Kaigen bopped around his regular beat overseeing the other rejects, and, Fortunes forgive him, catching up on paperwork.


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Day 7 Metagame roll- Government/Water | TN: 2 | Success: 5 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 0


+2 Discipline.

"Usagi-san," comes the familiar voice of the Shireikan. "Didn't get a chance to tell you I appreciate you having that information handy for me."

"Oh! Hello, Osoroshii-sama. Think nothing of it..."

He made a bit of a face and brandished his latest bit of paper-related business.

"I try not to. Unfortunately, it seems I'm as valued for this as for my abilities to sneak around and catch others doing the same..."

"Many are the joys of command," Osoroshii replies, grinning wryly. "It's why I've so often sought it, myself."

"Oh, command is a long way from my personal horizon..."

"It might not be as far away as you think, Usagi-san," Osoroshii replies. "Depending on how the battle goes, of course."

There's a shrug.

"Never can tell about that, to be sure."

"Great. Now, in addition to losing my mind, life, or soul, you're telling me I have to worry about promotion?"

He grinned.

"Now I'm scared."

"There're some who'd argue that losing one's mind or soul makes promotion more likely," Osoroshii replies. "So the coming days might be a help with it!

"But, to be sure," he continues, "there are benefits to it. More choice of duty station's not seldom among them--and I know you've got a marriage in the works."

"Yeah, well. That'll shake out how it shakes out..."

"The marriage, you mean?" Osoroshii asks.

"Have you met your intended?"

His tone shifts, becoming a bit wistful.

"Hm? Oh yeah. She's where my jade came from. Tonbo Yukiko. She's a sweet girl. No idea what she sees in me, but she seems to care, so..."

"I take it her family and yours approve, then," Osoroshii continues. "I certainly hope so.

"The other way tends not to work out well."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, they're still in the negotiation phase. My being in the Legion means she's more likely to join the Hare, but... no promises. She's an artist- mostly small carvings, but she also paints a little."

He sighed.

"Always wondered what it'd be like, having a duty that didn't involve quite so much bloodshed..."

"It can be nice, truly," Osoroshii says. "I mean, I--"

He cuts himself off abruptly.

"Forgive an older man his ruminations, Usagi-san," he says.

"There is nothing to forgive, Osoroshii-sama."

That gets a grunt of laughter.

"Would that more saw it so," Osoroshii says. "But perhaps it is being here, knowing what may be coming--what is coming, whether sooner or later--has me being more...reflective than usual.

"There are endings coming. Such often prompts introspection. At least for me, at least at this point in my life."

He grins.

"With luck, you'll learn as much."

That got a snort.

"Tell it to the Kuni.They appear to think I hold the Legion in contempt and act as if I have nothing to learn. So their faith in my ability to learn anything is... limited."

Osoroshii shrugs.

"Some might say that all sorts are needed," he says. "I know at least one who would make such a comment--but I'm not."

Another shrug.

"You'll be fit to fight if we need it? I've known some Kuni to be...vigorous in their questioning."

"Vigorous hell, they mostly just tried to scare me with partial shares of the horror we'll be facing. It was more like being nattered at by courtiers than tested."

Osoroshii feigns a shudder.

"I'm not sad to have missed out on so many courts as I have," he says.

Then he grins, almost leering.

"That said, when I have gone, I've had quite the time. There've been...several...who've been...welcoming in the winter cold."