"Hey Tatsumi, think fast!" Sayo yelled at Tatsumi. The boy in question barely managed to duck under a flying clod of mud.
"Sayo! What the hell was that for?!" he yelled back at the girl.
Tatsumi was a boy of about sixteen, and he was out hunting with his two friends Sayo and Ieyasu. All three of them were of similar age, making them fast friends in their small village.
"That was for losing the tracks we spent an hour trying to find again! There's a person out there who is probably hurt, and you lost their tracks! We're lucky we ever found them again!" Sayo was incredibly frustrated due to her having the most parental tendencies out of all three of them.
"Look, I said I was sorry! I was even the one who found them again just to make it up to you!" Tatsumi spat back. Ieyasu was simply enjoying the comedy. He found that these two bickered like an old married couple, and he loved never getting in between them.
A couple of hours before they had noticed a set of tracks from an obviously wounded person given that the steps were rather staggered and uneven. They'd spent a healthy amount of time tracking them, hoping to find the person before they keeled over and died. Both Tatsumi and Ieyasu knew that Sayo wouldn't forgive herself if they didn't find the person in time.
"Tatsumi, apologizing isn't going to make her any happier, you know." Ieyasu whispered to his friend. "Just accept the blame and move on. She'll calm down eventually." Tatsumi sighed.
"I suppose you're right. This isn't the first time she's been this way." Ieyasu grinned.
"I knew you'd see it my way!"
All three of them went back to tracking. After another forty five minutes, they eventually found that the tracks led into a cave system. They could hear a crackling fire, and realized that simply showing up likely wasn't a good idea.
"Sayo, Ieyasu, hang back." Tatsumi commanded. He held up his hand to silence dissent, as he knew Sayo no doubt would. "I'm the only one here who has killed large danger beasts, so I'll assess to see if they're a threat."
"Tatsumi, they're WOUNDED!" Sayo hissed back. "If you don't let me come in with you, I'm gonna-" Tatsumi cut her off with a glare. She acquiesced, and held back.
Tatsumi slowly drew his blade, and inched towards the cave. The crackling of the person's fire grew louder as he approached. Entering the cave, he found that the person had fallen asleep in front of their fire, clutching something to their chest. The person was also lying in a small pool of blood. Turning around he yelled out of the cave.
"Sayo! Ieyasu! Get back to the village! Get medical supplies! Hurry!"
"You got it Tatsumi!" he heard Ieyasu reply. There was also some strangled yelling from Sayo, but he didn't particularly hear it. Turning back to the person, he found they hadn't even woken up. Approaching some more, he found it was a particularly beautiful woman.
"Miss! Miss are you okay?" he asked as he started shaking her. She suddenly snapped awake and grabbed the front of his shirt with one hand. Her eyes were wild and full of fear. Staring into his eyes with that wildness, she suddenly spoke.
"You have to run." she shuddered. "You have to take this and run. Eat it if you can. Purity Implant cannot end up in her hands." Pushing what she was holding against her chest into his, she suddenly let go of him. Laying on the ground, the blood began pooling around her at a much faster rate. "...run…." she whispered. "And don't come back."
Tatsumi watched her stop breathing. Shaking in fear, he simply looked at what she had handed him. It was a piece of meat? Who was the 'she' that the woman was talking about? Why was she so dangerous? What made this piece of meat so valuable? However, he knew better than to stick around after having been given that kind of warning. He turned and ran out of the cave as fast as possible. If someone that dangerous was following her, then he had to warn the village! They needed to know that they had nothing to do with harboring her!
He leapt over fallen trees and sprinted through bushes, trying to get home as fast as possible. Who knows who this person was. Maybe they were a serial killer, and they were tracking their target! They'd probably kill his whole village just to find the one woman!
He kept running and running and running, never stopping. Until he finally needed a moment to take a break. He heaved lungfuls of air, his mouth dry and his legs weak from the constant sprinting. He uncorked a water bottle he had at his side, and downed the entire thing. He continued to heave air as much as he could, his entire body screaming at him to stop. But he knew he couldn't. Sayo and Ieyasu were probably running just as fast as him, and he needed to make up the ground he'd lost. Placing the water bottle back at his side, he took off again. The piece of meat from the woman was in his pocket, and what a small piece of meat it was. It fit comfortably in his hand, but for some reason it felt like it was much heavier than that.
'I need food.' he thought to himself. 'But I don't have any besides that stupid little chunk the woman gave me. But I'm running out of energy fast. I'll just have to accept the consequences later. ' Tatsumi took a moment to stop and pull the little thing from his pocket. If he tried, he could probably eat the whole thing in two bites. Ripping it in half, a vomit-inducing squelching noise was produced when he did.
"Eew!" he yelled to nobody. He prepared himself for the most disgusting piece of meat he'd ever eaten. Popping the first piece into his mouth, his fears were blown away. This wasn't the most disgusting piece of meat he'd ever eaten.
It was the worst food he'd ever had in his life. Why was the woman protecting this thing! It was horrible! It thankfully was rather easy to chew, and he swallowed the first piece. Quickly doing the same with the second, he downed it as fast as possible.
"AAAAAAAGH!" Tatsumi suddenly screamed. His entire body had suddenly felt like it was on FIRE. His eyes especially. He clawed at them, almost trying to get them out of his head. He couldn't STAND it. He would later describe it as similar to getting his eyes gouged out. However, the pain subsided almost as quickly as it came, vanishing into nothing after only a moment. He collapsed to the ground, dry heaving and gasping something terrible.
Voices suddenly began screaming and wailing in his head, while at the same time whispering insidiously. They consumed his hearing, and soon began to consume his ability to think. Just as suddenly, though, he shut them down.
'STOP IT!' he yelled in his mind. All of the voices suddenly went quiet. He was still shivering from the pain, but he couldn't hear anything besides the faint whispering of a breeze. Quickly deciding to shelve whatever it was that had just caused that, he began sprinting once again.
Tatsumi was confused, to say the least. He had somehow gotten back to the village BEFORE Sayo and Ieyasu, and he somehow felt less tired than when he started.
"Ah, Tatsumi, how did the hunt go?" the village elder asked as he walked into the village square. "I trust you found something. You always do." Tatsumi nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
"A-actually, we didn't catch anything. Sorry Elder." He felt embarrassed to say the least.
"Well, all the better then. A woman arrived asking if someone had come through here. She came with food and provisions, and is willing to share them in return for cooperation." The elder smiled. Tatsumi, however, froze. The woman was already here.
"W-what's her name?" Tatsumi asked nervously. "A-and can I meet her?" The elder smiled a knowing smile. One that Tatsumi didn't quite like the look of. The elder was a mischievous old man, and he often liked to pull pranks on the children of the village.
"Well of course you can meet her. I suppose you don't want Ieyasu stealing your chance, eh?" he said. "Follow me." Tatsumi did just that. The elder noticed that Tatsumi looked to be on edge. His muscles were tense, and his footfalls were measured. The boy was coiled like a spring, ready to snap at a moment's notice. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Sayo and Ieyasu weren't here yet. However, he figured that Tatsumi would talk about it if he felt it was important. The boy couldn't lie to say his life.
Tatsumi, on the other hand, was far more nervous than his appearance displayed. This woman, whoever, she was, was dangerous in a way he knew he couldn't quite comprehend. Nobody could inspire that kind of fear without being either deadly or powerful. In this case, though, he felt it was likely both. As they approached the town hall, he became increasingly nervous.
"Now, Tatsumi, no need to be so nervous. She's been nothing but friendly and courteous since she arrived. I assure you, she is quite kind and respectful." The elder assured. He then placed a hand on Tatsumi's shoulder. "And between you and me, I think you may find yourself unwilling to believe otherwise when you enter the room."
"Hehe…" Tatsumi replied. "Why is that, elder?" However, instead of replying, the older man only smiled. They reached the town hall, and entered.
What Tatsumi saw on the other side of the door entirely subverted his expectations. He'd been expecting a woman dressed in some kind of armor in order to intimidate her opponents, as well as protect her. Instead, he saw a woman dressed in a white military dress. She had a cap on top of her head, and there were several medals adorning her shoulders. Oh yes, there was also the fact that his brain effectively stopped working because of her beauty.
Her hair cascaded past her shoulders in a long wave of azure, stopping close to her knees. Her eyes were the same shade, and in them Tatsumi saw a gaze of power and commanding that nearly made him weak in the knees. Her chest was rather ample as well, with her military garb leaving the top buttons open in order to show it off. She had a strange red tattoo right in the middle of her chest as well.
She really was everything that a man could lust after. Tatsumi's mouth flapped open and closed in an attempt to make some kind of greeting, but he failed every time.
She smiled at them as they entered. "Hello elder, is this the boy of whom you spoke? He certainly fits the description." She looked him up and down as she said this, and Tatsumi had never felt more self-conscious than then. When she met his eyes, her own narrowed in suspicion.
"Indeed he is Miss Esdeath. As I said, he was out hunting earlier when you arrived. He has returned sooner than his friends, though. I hope that is not too much of a delay."
"Not at all, elder." She then walked up to the two men in the building. Tatsumi noticed that they were the only three in here. His instincts screamed at him to run, but he knew if he did she'd likely kill him for acting suspicious. "I suppose I should ask you, Tatsumi, she asked as she turned from the elder to him, "did you meet anyone in the forest near here? If so, would you be willing to guide me to them?"
Tatsumi felt his muscles lock up. He was like a wounded deer before an advancing bear. "U-uhm, I did meet a woman, b-but she died as I arrived." he managed to eke out. Esdeath smiled a brilliant smile when he said that. "S-she gave something to me and told me to eat it, though."
"This is wonderful!" Esdeath cried as he said this. "She was a wanted criminal, and hearing she is dead is music to my ears." Tatsumi cringed at that. She was overjoyed that the woman was dead? Sure, she may have been a criminal, but who could be so happy about knowing that a person had just died? "I must know, though, what she gave you, do you have it?" Esdeath's face then took on a very serious appearance.
"I, uh, ate it already." Was Tatsumi's nervous reply. Esdeath's countenance brightened once again. "It was disgusting, though. Should I not have eaten it?" Esdeath ignored him and turned to the village elder, who looked exceedingly uncomfortable.
"Elder, given that the criminal I was seeking is no longer here, I shall be leaving. And I shall be taking Tatsumi with me." She commanded. All pretense of pleasantry was gone from her voice. She simply said what is going to happen.
"But he is only a boy!" the elder tried to defend. "Surely he is not ready for the military!" Esdeath responded by drawing a blade that had been hanging at her wait. She stuck the point directly beneath the elder's chin, against his throat.
"I was not asking, elder." she said in a low voice. "And I would suggest you hold your tongue if you wish to keep it."
Tatsumi hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. Esdeath had grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket and dragged him with her towards a carriage. After she had tossed him in, she herself clambered inside. As soon as the door had closed, she turned her attention to him with a smile on her face.
"Tell me, Tatsumi, do you know what an Imperial Arms is?" She crossed her legs as she finished settling in. The interior of the carriage was incredibly plush and furnished, with a water boiler in one corner of it, as well as many forms of powders obviously meant to be added to the boiling water. Tatsumi felt like he should know, but he did not. "It is quite alright if you do not. You lived in an outskirts village where such things are never spoken of."
"T-then no, I guess I don't. Was the piece of meat one of them?" Tatsumi was out of his depth. He was alone in a carriage with a beautiful woman who was questioning him about what he knew of the world, and it felt like she was offering to teach him what he didn't know.
'Bet you wouldn't mind being taught.' A treacherous part of his mind said. 'She certainly looks like a good 'teacher'.'
"Indeed it was, Tatsumi. It-"
"Was I not supposed to eat it!?" he cried, interrupting Esdeath. She glared at him, silencing him from making any further blunders.
"You would do well to never interrupt me again, Tatsumi." He shrank into the seat under her gaze. "But to answer your question, you were supposed to eat it. The fact that there is none left to eat is impressive, however." She then pulled down on her uniform a little.
"Gah! Miss Esdeath! Your chest!" Tatsumi cried as he shielded his eyes. Esdeath simply huffed.
"Tatsumi, I am not soliciting you, and have no intention of ever doing so. Look here." She commanded. "Do you see this mark upon me?" Tatsumi uncovered his eyes with great embarrassment and looked. There it was, that red tattoo. He also noticed how perfectly smooth and supple her skin looked, and had trouble ripping his eyes away from the area.
"Y-yes." he muttered. This really wasn't fair. He was sixteen for crying out loud! What was his reaction supposed to be? No boy with working eyes and a desire for women wouldn't call Esdeath attractive! She could pass as a goddess!
"This is proof of my Imperial Arms, the Demon's Extract. It allows me to control and create ice on a grand scale. Mine was once thought to be unique in the fact that I was required to consume danger beast blood in order to obtain these powers. However, a recent discovery was made far below the Imperial Palace, and that piece of meat you consumed was that discovery."
'I'm dead, huh? She's gonna kill me to get that meat from me.'
"It is called Purity Implant, and it is the exact antithesis of my own Imperial Arms. You now bear the mark of having eaten it in your eyes." Esdeath said. She then held out a mirror for Tatsumi to take. "Take a look. You will find a certain mark in your eyes that was not there before."
Tatsumi almost dropped the handheld mirror when he saw what she was talking about. There, in the center of each of his eyes, was a mark. It looked like a circle with wings on it, but there was no mistaking what it meant.
He had been changed on a basic level into something beyond human.
"What does it do?" Tatsumi asked. He was doing his best to hide his panic.
"What does it do?"
Esdeath smiled. The boy was doing rather poorly as concealing his fear. It was almost adorable, except for the fact that someone this horribly weak had somehow been worthy of such a powerful Imperial Arms. Though, she did have to say that for having been suddenly dumped into a world that was foreign, he was doing rather well. Far better than the child emperor had done when his parents died.
Esdeath sneered internally at the thought of Prime Minister Honest. He was a disgrace of a man, through and through. Were it not for the fact that he constantly provided her with the chance to find a worthy opponent, she would have executed the fat pig long ago.
"I know little of what it does, Tatsumi. Nobody knows anything about it almost at all. There is only one thing about it that we do know, and it is conjecture at best. Given that the research we could find on it indicated that it was carved from the heart flesh of an S-class danger beast, it is safe to assume that you will inherit the powers of whatever it belonged to."
"O-oh. Okay." Tatsumi said. She watched him slink further down his seat. A little smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Do you think you could teach me to use it?" Esdeath grinned.
"Tatsumi, I am glad that you are willing to learn. That way I will not have to force knowledge of its use on you." She watched his face drop at that. Oh how she loved making him squirm. It was like crushing a bug underfoot! "I cannot wait to begin your training to discover the extent of your new abilities."
The rest of the day was spent in relative silence. Tatsumi made no attempt to converse with the terrifying woman, and she in turn made no attempt to speak with him. The man driving the carriage could not care less. The only noise made was by the horses clopping along on the ground.
Eventually, a small town was reached. Tatsumi immediately noticed a high presence of imperial soldiers here. 'It looks like they're storming the place and shutting it down. Why?'
"General Esdeath!" a man said as he walked up to them. 'General?!' Tatsumi wondered internally. "We found no sign of the perpetrator in this town. Shall we move on to the next?"
"No, captain. I have already located and dispatched her. She is a thorn in our side no longer." Esdeath simply waved off his question.
"What of Purity Implant?" another man said as he walked into the clearing. He was much larger than anyone else in the area, with a massive set of armor on his body. "Did you reobtain it?" Tatsumi watched Esdeath grit her teeth.
"General Budo." she said with mock respect. "I have secured Purity Implant. There is no need to worry." Tatsumi watched the exchange with confusion. These two were co-workers in the military, why did they obviously hate each other so much? He decided he'd stick close to the one he knew, shifting a little closer to Esdeath.
"Esdeath, I was unaware you had a penchant for minors as well. Perhaps Honest would like to have a conversation with you about your new ward." Budo said as he looked at Tatsumi. Esdeath's face scrunched up in disgust.
"Hardly, General. This is Tatsumi, the first recorded wielder of Purity Implant." Budo did not react with shock, nor surprise in any form. All that happened was that he raised an eyebrow.
"And here I was under the impression that a powerful person was required to wield it."
"So too was I, General. But it would seem that it is less fickle than the Demon's Extract." Esdeath replied with a nod. "But regardless, we must train him in order to be a useful wielder of it. Come, Tatsumi. Let us retire for the night." Esdeath said as she then stalked away. Tatsumi followed timidly, the eyes of General Budo following him critically the whole way.
As they approached what looked to be a hotel, Tatsumi decided it was time he used his voice again. "Um, General Esdeath?" he asked.
"Yes, Tatsumi?"
"I'm pretty strong, at least for a village boy. Not stronger than you, of course, but I can prove to you I hold my own in combat." Esdeath smiled brilliantly at that.
"Why of course Tatsumi. Nothing gets my blood flowing better than a little fight. We commence now!" Tatsumi had a fraction of a second to register and dodge the whistling swipe of her rapier. It seemed to flash into her hand from its scabbard, with her moving so fast that his hair was blown to the side as the blade whipped past.
Drawing his own sword, he vaulted backwards from Esdeath, hoping to get a moment's respite to prepare himself for combat. He was given no such thing. Esdeath closed the gap instantly, bringing her weapon's tip towards his neck. Tatsumi bent backwards, buckling his knees to avoid the strike. Landing on his hands behind him, he swiped at her feet, hoping to take them out from under her.
No such luck came to him. Esdeath was fifteen feet in the air by the time his swipe completed, and she wore a manic grin on her face. He felt the temperature around him drop significantly, and realized almost a moment too late what was about to happen. The ground beneath him erupted with a pillar of ice, one which Esdeath landed on and began to slide down towards him. A spear of ice formed in her hands and she threw it at him without a moment's delay.
"HRK!" Tatsumi grunted as he felt himself get impaled. He was thrown to and stuck upon the ground by the ice crystal, unable to move. Esdeath landed on the ground next to him with that same manic grin.
"Well done Tatsumi. I must say that you lasted longer than most trained soldiers in my army." she pressed her foot down near the hole in his chest. "But you have a long way to go before you can ever hope to match me." Tatsumi would have screamed from her pressing her foot down, but given that he had no working lungs to speak of, he was unable to do so. "But," Esdeath said as she yanked the ice crystal from his chest. "considering that you will not be dying anytime soon, you have much time to progress along that path."
"At least I impressed you." he said sarcastically. His last moments of consciousness were full of an insane-looking Esdeath.
Tatsumi woke silently. He didn't know where he was, but he knew that he was in a bed. The only reason he knew he wasn't dead was because there was far too much pain involved for this to be the afterlife. He looked around the room he was in and found himself alone. There was a glass full of clean water and a plate of food; something which he availed himself of immediately. He wolfed down the plate of food that consisted of various fruits, breads, and a few slices of meat.
The water also could not slide down his throat faster. The moment his throat was no longer dryer than a desert, he was able to relax and take a moment to think. The last thing he remembered was being impaled by a spike of ice then having it removed by Esdeath.
'How am I alive?' he asked himself. 'That wasn't a small spike, nor was the hole it left. Why isn't there a massive gap in my ribcage, and why am I in bed?' The door to his room opened and Esdeath walked in, flanked by two nurses. Well, he assumed they were nurses, given their clothing.
"Ah, Tatsumi, you're awake. Good." Esdeath said. She nodded to the nurses, and they left the room. "I've been wanting to speak with you since the fight thirty minutes ago."
"Thirty minutes?!" Tatsumi yelled. He'd only been dead for thirty minutes? He had a hole in his chest! 'How did I survive?!' "Better question, why am I-!"
"Alive? You possess Purity Implant, Tatsumi. You are, for all intents and purposes, immortal."
"Immortal?!"
"Yes. New documentation has made its way up the chain regarding your Imperial Arms, and it has been discovered that the most powerful aspect of Purity Implant is unparalleled regeneration, allowing you to recover from almost any form of death not related to hypoxia."
"Hypoxia?"
"You can still suffocate." Esdeath replied flatly. "If your head is removed, you will also die. However, if you are poisoned, you will only suffer momentarily. If you are drugged, you will likely not experience the effects to nearly the same degree someone like myself would. You can regenerate entire limbs and organs in moments."
"E-entire limbs?" Tatsumi asked shakily. "You mean I could cut my arm off right now and it would be back in a few minutes?"
"No. You have just spent a great deal of your body's natural resources replacing your heart, lungs, and diaphragm. Several other organs were also severely damaged. You would likely take upwards of an hour to regenerate an arm in your current state."
"Oh, so I'm not immortal, just hard to kill?" Tatsumi said. That felt like it was intentionally dangerous, trying to trick him into thinking he couldn't die.
"Indeed. The fact that you have already seen through such a simple deception bodes well for your ability to observe and adapt." Esdeath then hoisted Tatsumi out of bed. "Now, we need to get moving. We should be back at the Imperial Capital by tomorrow if we leave now."
"What about-?" Tatsumi was cut off by another of Esdeath's stares. He was quickly beginning to realize that he should just keep his mouth shut. At least that way he probably wouldn't get impaled again.
"Good. Now let's get going." Esdeath said. "We have lost time for your recovery. We must make up for it."
As Tatsumi stepped out of the carriage which had stopped in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace, he began to grasp the true scale of what the words 'power disparity' meant. When they'd entered the city, he'd seen nothing but poverty. The richest people at the entrance to the city looked like they could afford to buy clothes once a year. The poorest were usually dead. There was death and decay everywhere in that part of the capital.
However, as they moved closer to the center, and towards the palace, the average wealth began to slowly climb until there was a sudden jump. It went from middle-class houses the size of a family cottage to mansions ten times the size of his town hall with grounds larger than the village green back home.
He, of course, had said nothing lest he incite the wrath of General Esdeath. She had barely needed to look at some people and they left screaming in terror. It seemed she had a bit of a reputation, but it was one he was apparently blissfully unaware of.
Now, looking at the castle, the houses of those nobles and higher-ups in the government looked like a collection of barnyard shacks. The building itself had a majestic and ostentatious grandeur the likes of which Tatsumi hadn't even believed possible. As they entered the building, that fact didn't change in the slightest.
Gold lined almost everything in the building, from paintings to the carpet on which they walked. The stones were polished marble. Everything that was made of wood was a dark ebony, and were often detailed with ivory. As they approached a set of heavy wooden double doors, Tatsumi began to feel even more disturbed. It was too much. It felt like all of this wasn't just for show. It felt like whoever had ordered this was trying to make a point. What that point was eluded him, but he could feel there was a reason behind all of this.
Esdeath came to a sudden stop in front of a large pair of double doors. Heavy, black, and wooden, they gave of an air of domination. That no matter who you were, after you walked through those doors you were worth nothing. Esdeath then turned to him.
"Tatsumi. On the other side of this door is the king and his prime minister. You will pay them both the utmost respect, and will remain silent throughout the entire encounter unless you are specifically addressed. While I am fully capable of facing both of them down, I have no intention of doing so. You are an asset, a valuable one, but not so valuable as to prompt my defying them. Do you understand?"
Tatsumi nodded. Okay, a king and a prime minister. They couldn't be all bad could they? Surely they had reasonable heads!
Then Tatsumi remembered the massive power disparity he saw on the way into the capital. So many people were suffering beyond comprehension. There was no reason for the rich and powerful to let that go on, yet they did! These two were either idiots, or they enjoyed letting the world exist as it did.
He didn't know why, but that sent his blood into a frenzy. How could they?! There were people, good, honest people, suffering day in and out just to scrape by while these two lived in perfection! It was unforgivable!
He was hauled from his thoughts by the sound of the doors opening, and he found that Esdeath had effortlessly pushed both of them open. Inside the throne room, Tatsumi began to notice various things that made him nervous.
All the guards tightened their grips on their weapons. That alone was a bad sign. He didn't know how he could see them tighten their grips, but he knew they did. There was also an acrid smell in the air, and it made him want to vomit. It smelled like something had died a sickening and disgusting death. As he followed Esdeath past the guards, he noticed that the smell was coming from the guards themselves.
Fear.
He smelled fear. Unsure as to how he knew this, Tatsumi dismissed the feeling and did his best to ignore the smell. He moved his focus forward, towards the two people who were up on a raised platform. There was a young boy sitting on a throne made of solid gold padded with silk and velvet.
"Aah, Esdeath, how good to see you once again." Tatsumi looked at the source of the voice and barely restrained a gag.
The thing looked more like a cow than a human. It was fat enough to play the part, that was for certain. It was chewing on a piece of meat, and it was of a variety that Tatsumi could not identify. It certainly wasn't cow, pig, or sheep meat. Nor was it chicken. He couldn't be sure though. However, the meat itself wasn what disturbed him. It was the fact that it was ripping and shredding at it despite the fact that it was so very evidently raw.
"I have regained control of Purity Implant from the rebels, minister." she said, completely ignoring his previous statement. Tatsumi noticed the man's eye twitch a little at that. "This is Tatsumi, its first wielder."
"I see." the...thing said. "You look like you've seen a ghost, young man, are you quite alright?" Tatsumi barely contained a fit of vomiting. He could see exactly how false this kindness was. "I would certainly hope that the castle is to your liking." Swallowing, Tatsumi stepped forward to speak.
"Of course, Minister. I'm just tired because of the journey from my village. The castle is very impressive." He plastered on a smile, hoping it looked at least halfway genuine.
"Ah, that is good to hear. We put a lot of time and effort into developing it, and I'm glad to see that you appreciate it. To see your smile is good news about how well we run this kingdom." Tatsumi's hand twitched. The creature then turned to the young boy. "My king, look how this village boy smiles. You are running your kingdom splendidly!"
"With your help, Honest. You must know how much you have helped me make the best possible decisions." the boy said. Tatsumi knew this was the king, but he realized that the child was nothing but a puppet. The thing chuckled.
"Of course, my boy." It turned back to Tatsumi. "As I am sure you know, I am Prime Minister Honest. I would like to personally welcome you to our halls as a new member of our military."
"Thank you, sir." Tatsumi said as he bowed. He was barely able to eke out the 'sir'. He felt addressing the creature as something like that was a bit much to ask, but he did it in order to not incur Esdeath's wrath.
"Esdeath, thank you for the report. However, the king has more pressing matters to attend to. Please make sure that your new subordinate is well furnished here in the palace."
"Of course, minister." Esdeath then spun on her heel and walked away, Tatsumi doing his best to keep pace with her.
'Why is she so tall?! Better question. Why am I so short?! It seems like everyone in the capital is taller than me!'
Tatsumi fell face first onto his bed. He was tired. He'd been in a carriage most of the day, then he'd been marched right up to the king and his manipulator without so much as a minute to stretch his legs.
"Mmf." Tatsumi sighed into his pillow. Rolling over, he faced his ceiling with a groan. The entire room was designed around iron-clad utilitarianism, something he figured he should suspect now that he was a part of life in the empire. There was a wooden dresser that he'd found full of nothing but military uniform, and there was a mannequin in the corner with armor plates. He'd found some papers identifying him as 'Captain Tatsumi,' but at the moment he didn't really care. He just wanted to sleep.
He found that it came rather quickly after he changed into provided sleep clothing which was, once again, incredibly simple and stripped-back in both the way of comfort and design. A simple grey t-shirt and pair of grey sweatpants. He laid his sword in a corner of the room where he found a whetstone and polishing set inside a small wooden chest.
Overall, it was rather nice considering he didn't have to sleep in the communal barracks. He'd had enough communal sleeping with Ieyasu to last a lifetime. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were of his friends who he'd all but abandoned back in his village.
Not much to say here! Hope y'all like it!
Just kidding.
First AGK fic for me! Nice to meet you all in this wonderful fandom! I hope to make this a fun ride for everyone involved! Please leave a review if you liked it, or even if you didn't! I won't bash you for flaming, but please don't. All it does is kill my motivation. Till next time!
Tchiao!