Notes:

This chapter is set about 3 and a half years after One Life, One Love and about one year before the Fallen Hero chapter in Wolf Warriors. Shichiroji is 20. Kanbei is now 30.

--

Kanbei's current aide was a Captain Machida. The man had expressed a wish to return to a commanding position at some point. It would not be fair to keep the samurai chained to him forever when Captain Machida Mahiro had his own career aspirations. Thus, Kanbei began to consider candidates for a new aide. If Chihiro had lived and they had wedded, she would most likely have been transferred to his command and eventually become his aide. But that did not come to pass. Many high-ranking military men employed their wives as trusted aides, since their wives usually came from other high-ranking warrior families and had experience as soldiers reporting to their fathers or brothers. Kanbei's mother had rather conveniently served as his father's aide. But Kanbei had no wife. Shichiroji was the next best thing however. In fact, it was custom to refer to one's orderly as 'old wife'.

"Perhaps Shichiroji can eventually become an aide," Captain Machida suggested. In fact, the young sergeant had been gradually taking on work more appropriate for a higher-ranking aide than for an orderly. Kanbei had considered the idea too. The young soldier's fighting skills had improved tremendously over the past four years, but as long as the orderly remained under-educated in the matters of letters and numbers, he would not be fully ready for an aide's responsibilities. And it would be harder for Kanbei to justify the promotions that would put the young man in position to serve as an aide.

Thus, one evening, as they were wrapping up their duties in Kanbei's office, Lieutenant Colonel Shimada spoke to Shichiroji about sending him to the Aokuma Clan's military school during the months they were rotated back from the front. Typically, low-ranking samurai could not aspire to enter the school unless they had a letter of recommendation from a high-ranking superior. Kanbei made it clear he was more than ready to provide that for Shichiroji.

The blond seemed oddly reluctant. The Lieutenant Colonel was surprised. The hardworking young soldier had always been eager to learn. Why would he refuse this chance to better himself?

After repeated questioning by Kanbei, Shichiroji finally confessed. "I would stick out like a sore thumb." There were many issues at play. Shichiroji was not born within the clan. He came from a faraway place – somewhere east – and entered the service of the clan quite unexpectedly. Four and a half years ago, the young wanderer had rescued two of the clan's children from yakuza bullies while the children were on a trip to town. The samurai children brought Shichiroji back to the clan with them, and the helpful stranger was rewarded by being accepted into Kanbei's clan. Everyone was polite enough not to ask after the young hero's class origins.

The newcomer was assigned to the Shimada household, where he was treated well. Yet Shichiroji had always known his place and been acutely aware of his status as an outsider. His coloration too, set him apart. In the western states, brown-skinned people with dark hair and eyes were more common. It was true that people had moved between the various realms for many millennia, and there were people of all colors in every state, but still, the pale-haired, pale-faced young man was not exactly in the majority as far as his physical appearance was concerned.

Kanbei had attended the clan's military college. He knew the arrogance of the high-ranking samurai first hand, though he was not on the receiving end since he was one of them. But the young commander understood the awkwardness his orderly would feel among the offspring of the clan elite. Thus, Lieutenant Colonel Shimada suggested an alternative for Shichiroji's continued education – a civilian university. "The University of Sai'an has a good Military Studies program," Kanbei said to his orderly, "It covers everything from the science of fortification to military history."

"Sai'an?" Shicihroji's interest was piqued. They had been to Sai'an for Rest and Recreation a few times. It was a neutral city-state whose government had avoided taking sides in the Great War. Samurai from both sides of the conflict came to Sai'an for RnR. The city instituted the rule that all samurai entering Sai'an had to wear civilian attire although they were allowed to carry swords. The blond liked Sai'an City. It was a place where he could just be a man and not be a soldier.

Kanbei observed Shichiroji's response to this new suggestion. The young man's initial smile was almost immediately clouded over by an expression of anxiety. "Is anything wrong?" Shimada asked curiously, "I thought this suggestion would be amenable to you."

That was when the orderly suddenly threw himself at Kanbei's feet without warning. "Forgive me, my master!" the 20-year-old cried out as he prostrated himself. "I do not deserve your kind regard!"

Kanbei raised his eyebrows as he stared down at the prostrate form of the low-ranking samurai. Modesty and humility were virtues, but was such drama necessary?

"Shichiroji, what's the matter with you?" the commander asked crisply.

"I have a confession to make!" the blond said without raising his head to look at Kanbei. "I was not born a samurai!"

So, it was that.

"Tell me something I do not already know," Kanbei suppressed a laugh. "I already guessed that was the case the first time I saw you hold a sword."

"And you didn't mind?" Shichiroji now looked up at his commander in wonder.

"No," Kanbei said to him kindly. "You proved yourself by your diligence and faithfulness. Now get to your feet. Let's go get ourselves dinner. We can talk more about university then."

But Shichiroji did not rise to his feet just yet. He spoke once more with downcast eyes. "Actually, it's worse than not being born a samurai… my family are tanners. We are of the class of eta – people of much filth."

Of all the commoners, it was easiest, though by no means easy, for peasants to become samurai by first serving their lord as foot soldiers. In fact, some famous daimyos of old sprung from peasant stock. But Shichiroji was an eta – an outcast ranked three classes below peasants and one level under the allegedly dishonorable merchant class. The orderly waited for Kanbei to react to his revelation with revulsion.

Instead, he heard his commander's amused laugh. "Tanners, undertakers and butchers are regarded as people of 'much filth' because they engage in occupations that have contact with blood and death. But one can say the same thing of soldiers. Now shall we talk about university over dinner?""

Inspirations and References:

- My version of Shichi's past is inspired by the interview in which the chara designer mentioned Shichiroji was from a faraway place.

- about the possibility of an outcast like Shichiroji becoming a samurai, the wikipedia entry on burakumin (modern term for the descendants of the outcast class of medieval Japan) mentioned that in rare cases outcasts managed to cross the class line when they acquired wealth and could buy samurai status.

- About the possibility of a peasant becoming a daimyo, Hideyoshi was an example. He was born a peasant, started his military career as an ashigaru (foot soldier), became a samurai, rose to become a daimyo, and was eventually appointed regent of Japan. He could not become shogun (supreme commander of the armed forces) because of his non-samurai birth, so the emperor made him regent, an even higher position.

- the part about referring to one's orderly as 'old wife' came from the commentary on Seven Samurai.

- The practice of using a wife as an aide/lieutenant was from the history of Chinese high-ranking military families. General Qin Liangyu of the Ming Dynasty was at first her husband's second-in-command, and then promoted to his position after his death. Her career rose steadily from that point. Both her older and younger brothers were officers reporting to her.

- Universities probably have a place on the planet S7 was happening on, since they had very sophisticated technology. On Earth, universities had existed since ancient times in India. Medieval Africa and medieval Europe also had universities, though departments of studies differed somewhat from modern universities.