Il Cielo dei Tre Regni
by Lunar Wave
Disclaimer: This story borrows the setting and characters of the Koihime†Musou series and borrows multiple elements from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I own neither series as they both belong to their respective owners. Also, considering Koihime†Musou could be considered a fanfic of the Three Kingdoms, I'd like to say I don't own anything related to the stories of the Three Kingdoms.
-()-
The Two Advisors
-()-
"Damn you Karin-san! What are you doing wasting our time? I could be drinking tea with Kuutan-sama by now, so why are you still harassing me!?"
"Reiha-sama…" Ganryou nodded.
"Iishe! You better not let her boorish army get into Kishuu, are we clear?"
"No problem!"
Ganryou coughed, "According to the report, Kentei-sama has moved into Kyoshou, and is now under the safeguard of Sousou."
"And Kuutan-sama?"
"There is no report. She could've come with Kentei-sama as part of her entourage, or she could've remained in Joshuu."
"You can't be sure, Ganryou?" Kataigou asked.
"Unfortunately, upon retirement, Reitei-sama no longer has any presence in political ongoings. And Seishuu, Joshuu, and Yoshuu have all set a trade embargo against us."
"Wait, Seishuu too?" Kataigou frowned. "Were we not allied with the northern lords of Seishuu?"
"Not anymore." Ganryou shook her head, "In Reiha-sama's infinite wisdom, she decided that we should cut them off for failing to be adequate allies to our cause."
And thus united Seishuu against them. "… What exactly happened?"
"They came here begging for food." Enshou scoffed. "Why should I spare resources for them when I have my own army to feed?" Enshou proclaimed, quite forgetting that the northern lords gave her resources for her army.
"Well, if they've used up their resources, then they can drain resources from Joshuu." Kataigou sighed.
"I am surprised at my own genius! Oh-hohohoho!"
"… You definitely weren't thinking of that when it happened." Ganryou sighed.
"Where's that merc, Kayuu?" Kashin demanded.
"Ryofu Housen has been spotted raiding our storehouses in our territory. General Kayuu marched to intercept her." Ganryou replied.
"Wait, Ryofu is here raiding warehouses?" Enshou demanded, "Does that mean… the Joshuu Army attacked without declaring war on us?"
"… Isn't it the opposite? We invaded them without a declaration of war?" Ganryou asked.
A reasonable point. Unfortunately, Enshou is far from reasonable. "How dare they!? And here I so kindly decided to end my campaign to deal with Sousou, and they besmirch my favor!?"
"… That's too much of a stretch." Ganryou sighed. "Reiha-sama's getting worse."
"Enough, Reiha-chan." Kataigou stood up, "Don't we have a more pressing opponent in Sousou?"
"But this insult cannot be ignored! I move to officially declare war upon Ryuubi!"
And so, the Enshou Faction is now officially at war with the Ryuubi Faction, about a month after they marched into Joshuu and try to kill them.
-()-
When Shuri saw the report, she quietly put it away, not even bothering to forward the report to Touka.
-()-
When Josho saw the report, she quietly threw it in the fire. No new information was gained. This is likely the most inconsequential thing that Enshou has done this entire war.
-()-
"So you're… Tei'iku, a friend of Sei's, right?"
"Fuu is Fuu." Tei'iku replied.
"You know, when I first got here, I was under the impression that True Names were really precious to this world's people, that they would kill someone for incorrectly using it."
"That's true." Fuu nodded. "If Mister used my True Name without my permission, I would definitely cry like a baby and asking you to take it back."
"Somehow, I can't really imagine you crying…"
"Since I was crying, that should attract the guards here so that they can kill you."
"Brutal!" Kazuto winced.
"You can legally die that way." Thank goodness he learned about True Names before he made that mistake. A legal death by literal name-calling is frankly one of the most punishing laws he's ever seen. A law like that will definitely not fly back home. If he ever manages to get his friends back to the other world, he's going to have to institute a rule against calling each other by True Names, unless they're fine with a random stranger coming up to them and using a name they just overheard. In the end, it all boils down to cultural differences.
"Has there ever been a situation where someone will accuse another person of using their True Name without permission, and them being killed for it?"
"Why?"
"Just thinking of the potential ramifications of that kind of 'I can kill you if you call me a specific word' law."
"Thinking of repealing it?"
"If it was just me, probably. But this is a matter of the entire country's culture, and I'm technically not part of the country, so I should probably just stick to the convention of not calling a person by the first name I hear."
"Isn't that common sense?"
"Not from where I came from. If someone came up to you and called you by your True Name back in Japan, I'm afraid that if you kill him, you'll get arrested for murder. And calling you by your True Name is not a valid explanation for it." At best you can use that as a sort of hate crime argument if you're in Italy but that doesn't exactly absolve you of murder.
"… So how would someone from here live there?"
"By never using True Names in public, I guess? Can't be called by your True Name randomly if no one can just overhear it, after all."
"If you aren't called by your True Name, then what value is in your True Name then?"
"I suppose someone who changed their given name from Ritsu to Iku would know." Kazuto smiled, "Then, I guess all you can do is grow a thicker skin to being called your True Name. Actively ignore people who call you by that name. And if they keep insisting, slap them and tell them to never call you by that name again."
"Violent.""
"Can't be helped. Not every country in the world has such a culture about True Names. Even I only adopted it. The whole 'my True Name is technically just me being called by my Given Name without adding my surname to it' deal."
"Sounds annoying."
"If you call me Sawada Kazuto, that's like being called Tei'iku to you. But if you call me just Kazuto, that means you're being really familiar, just like if you were called by your True Name. It's the closest to being a True Name dynamic for me."
"Closest meaning it's not the same?"
"I won't exactly instinctively kill someone if they call me Kazuto. I'd just be weirded out by being called familiarly."
"… Got it." Fuu nodded, before yawning, "So? Why are you being bothering this morning?"
"If you didn't want to be bothered, you probably should be in your room?"
"Meeting up with Rin."
"Kakuka, you mean?" Kazuto searched around, "… I don't see her."
"… Let's go find her." Fuu sighed.
A short walk towards the palace, and soon enough…
"… A murder scene." Kazuto said in shock.
"… Who could've done this?" Fuu frowned.
They exclaimed as they see a collapsed Kakuka in the covered walkway. She was lying face down on the pavement, her face in a pool of her own blood. After deliberating what to do, Kazuto and Fuu looked at each other before nodding.
"… She collapsed, didn't she?"
"Nosebleed, likely."
"Should we have fun with this?"
"Best not. Karin-sama passes by this hall all the time. If we make a pointless joke, we might be on the chopping block."
"Hah, I miss being in Joshuu. I would've totally had made this out to be an actual crime scene." For the fun of it.
"Different land, different laws."
"Even between provinces, the cultural divide is startling."
"Fuu thinks you're oversimplifying things."
"Fair." After all, he is technically most everyone's boss (Touka, Paitan, Kuutan, and Touken being the exceptions). If he wants to have fun with them, then they'll only scold him. Not apparently execute them.
"Still… this might be a good training opportunity…" Kazuto hummed.
"… Huh?"
"From what I can tell, although she'll probably be anemic for a while, she won't die from blood loss any time soon," Kazuto replied. "So, I want to go over a few things with you, Fuu."
"I'm listening. But if I get bored, I'll sleep."
"Fine." Kazuto replied. "So, what's the general rule when it comes to this?"
"Hmm… leave the body as is, until the soldiers come."
"Fair. Then let's do a test run."
"Huh?"
Kazuto then yelled, "GUARDS! MEDICS! ANYONE WHO CAN HELP, GET OVER HERE!"
"… Weren't we going to not make a joke of this?"
"Call it an involuntary dry run of a murder scene." Kazuto replied. "It's kind of hard to think straight if you're in the heat of things. But Kakuka's clearly fine. So I want to see how the guards handle this sort of thing."
"… Fine."
"You called!?"
"Ah, Soujin! Huh… are there no guards near here, Fuu?"
"Not so far in." Fuu shook her head. "This walkway is the path to the garden where we normally relax. Having guards all over the place can be tiring. There are guards at the perimeter here to ensure that no one can just climb in."
"Fair. Even we have yards where only gardeners can come through so that they can clean." For privacy's sake.
"Umm, why are we… eh!?" Soujin stepped on something soft. She recoiled back and saw… "Why is Rin on the floor!?" Is… is she dead!?" Soujin then turned around, "I'll go find someone!"
"… She jumped to conclusions."
"… I will go now."
"If you're worried that Soujin will call Sousou and bring down the judgment of God on us, I'll take all the blame."
"Oh, in that case, I will stay."
"You just want to see what Sousou will do once she realizes that Kakuka's not dead."
[I don't know what you're talking about.] Fuu covered her mouth as she moved her puppet.
"… Thank you, Houkei, for your inspiring comment."
-()-
"… So is Rin dead?"
"No."
"Then why was the entire palace riled up for this?"
"Because the scene really did look like she's dead, and Soujin jumps to conclusions?"
"Sorry!"
Sousou accepted her cousin's apology and turned to Kazuto, "… not going to apologize for this either?"
"I was planning on using Kakuka's body as a way to see how your guards are trained to handle crime scenes." Kazuto sighed.
"Shouldn't you have done the proper thing and gotten her on a bed?" Sousou frowned, "Some gentleman you are."
"And invite more misunderstandings? Like Soukou somehow showing up at the side and then accusing me of kidnapping? Or worse, killing her?" Kazuto rolled his eyes.
Soukou scowled, "I wouldn't have done that!"
"Then Jun'iku showing up and doing it."
"Keifa is still at the border with Shunran." Sousou pointed out.
"The point is, my job at that point is to call a guard or a servant and ask them to take her to her room." Kazuto replied, "Which was what I did."
"… Is this true, Fuu?"
"I wasn't paying attention." Fuu casually decided to not involve herself in the matter. And considering her chronic sleepiness, no one's particularly suspicious of her answer. Still, Kazuto promised to take all the blame if any blame were to fall on them, so Kazuto can't expect support from that direction anyway. "But he did call for medics as well as the guards."
"Hongou."
"Yes?"
"Will Rin be alright?" Sousou asked sternly.
"She'll have to be confined to a bed for a few days… again, but that amount of blood loss should be fine." Kazuto shrugged. "Speaking of fine, Kyocho, can you help carry Kakuka to her room?"
"Okaay!" Kyocho nodded, clearly not minding being ordered around.
"Soujun?"
"I'm more of a battlefield medic than a doctor, you know?" Soujun sighed. "But I'll go."
"Hold on, you two!" Kyocho and Soujun halted in place, "Hongou's not part of our chain of command, remember!? He's not allowed to order anyone around here!" Eika pointed out.
"Just do as he says." Sousou backed up Kazuto immediately. "There's a limit to being a contrarian, and frankly, I'm still busy." Kyocho and Soujin nodded, immediately lifting the fallen Kakuka and headed off. Soujun walked after them. Sousou then turned to Hongou, "Since I'm already here, have you been practicing?"
"I got the basics down pat." Kazuto replied, "I was looking for a playmate that won't try to kill me for making a wrong move." Kazuto shrugged.
"… You mean Fuu?" Fuu frowned.
"First one I saw today." Kazuto shrugged.
"… What are you practicing?" Soukou asked.
"Go." Kazuto sighed.
"Ah, one of the four essential arts, huh?" Soukou frowned. "… I might have time to play on occasion as well."
"You just want to beat me while I'm still practicing."
"Can you blame me?" Soukou shrugged.
"I'm not going to make a bet. We play for fun." Kazuto replied. Soukou nodded indifferently, "… And four essential arts?"
"Qin, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting. The four arts learned by a proper scholar."
Kazuto blinked, before inching his head to the side. He spied Reborn smirking from one of the rooftops.
"… I can already see it." Kazuto dully said, "The endless torture and suffering embedded in those four essential arts."
"… Eh?" Eika blinked. Fuu tilted her head. Sousou frowned.
"… These things may give you a few calluses on your fingers, you're not going to die from it." Eika cautiously said.
"… Whatever, I'm going to enjoy a nice relaxing Go Game before I head for the brutal and torturous Go Game that I'll be having later in the afternoon." Kazuto sighed, "Oh, and apologies in advance, Sousou, if you hear me screaming my head off after lunch. Trust me, I don't want to do it either." Kazuto then turned to Fuu, "So Fuu! Please beat the crap out of me in Go!"
"… worried." Fuu dully muttered.
"Oh no. You'll be fine, Fuu. I'm the one that's going to die." Kazuto replied with false cheer.
"You seem so sure of your torture or death." Sousou frowned.
"If you show up in the inner palace later, you'll see." Kazuto replied. And so, Kazuto and Fuu left, off to search for a Go board and the stones needed for the game.
-()-
"So how was he, Fuu?"
"Hmm?"
"You did spend the entire morning playing him."
"… He's the type to progressively get better," Fuu replied. "I beat him every game, but every game became progressively more challenging than the last."
"Did you play him the same way each time?"
"No." Fuu shook her head. "Fuu sometimes changed strategies, but he doesn't get phased by them."
"So he's capable of learning quickly." Sousou hummed.
"Considering the level of calculations he was doing almost a year ago, I can believe that," Soukou said. "Do you think he's a match for Keifa though?"
"Not unless Keifa makes some very careless mistakes…" Soukou replied, "Which admittedly would be easier for him to do, considering Keifa's propensity towards men." Or rather, her misandry. Keifa's absolute dismissal of men, borne from the fact that every notable figure of the current era has been female, might make her more prone to irritation when against Kazuto, who can be naturally infuriating when he's talking.
"I will inform Keifa that I put my True Name on the line as a reward for him if he were to win against both Shunran and her." Sousou replied.
"You did?"
"Honestly, it's just Shunran that he needs to beat in a duel. However, if I were to use Keifa as the gate to challenging Shunran, then I will not be lying." Sousou shrugged.
"That should make her concentrate better." Fuu nodded. "Still, it's worrisome."
"It doesn't matter." Sousou shrugged, "My True Name is a small price to pay to see Hongou match wits with Keifa and match strengths with Shunran." Sousou replied, "If they win, then I'll know the limits of what Hongou can do. If they lose, then they'll finally learn to respect even their most hated enemy, so that they will not lose again. This is something I expect from my head strategist and right-hand woman."
Eika nodded reluctantly, "Still, what did he mean by visiting the inner palace to see him tortured?"
"… I imagine we'll see how he's supposed to be training playing Go against Keifa." Sousou frowned, "But I don't have that much free time. Fuu, is Rin awake now?"
"She should be." Fuu nodded. Although Kazuto claimed that she'll probably need to be bed-ridden for a few days, Fuu knows Rin; Rin can bounce back from something like this within a few hours.
"Then the two of you should go and evaluate the situation. Bring the Hongou Squad with you as well, if you think you need them."
"Is that what we're calling them?" Eika asked cautiously, "In the end, Hongou is an outsider. Naming an entire squad to him feels… wrong."
"It's the most accurate descriptor." Sousou replied, "It's a squad I formed around Hongou to keep him busy as I try to court the Emperor and Josho into my ranks." Sousou shrugged.
"Put that way…" Eika sulkily nodded.
"Go on, Fuu. I don't know what show Hongou is planning, but I want to know every detail of it."
"Today has been really busy…" Fuu sighed, as she left.
"… You going too, Eika?"
"I'll see what it's about." Eika sighed, "I just hope I don't have to drag Ruurin with me."
"As a reminder, Ruurin is a general, not a healer," Sousou said, amused.
"Maybe if you actually hire a proper healer…" Eika muttered.
"Maybe if the next healer that shows up doesn't offer to crack my head open when I get a headache," Sousou replied. "I'd trust Hongou to heal me before then, and he's the first who will say he knows nothing about healing."
-()-
"What are we looking at?" Soujun asked, unsure.
"Hongou training for his match with Keifa," Eika replied.
"Fuu, I think I'm still suffering from anemia. There seems to be a miniature man in noble clothes playing against Hongou."
"I see it too. Maybe I started dreaming while standing up too?"
"Captain!" Nagi called, "D… do you need any help?"
"I'm just fine!" Kazuto called back, "Just… stay there."
"… Okay, Josho, give us the details. What's going on?"
"… This guy named Bon-sensei showed up and challenged Kazuto-sama to a Go match. Every time Kazuto-sama loses a point, he gets punched. If he loses, he gets punched for every point difference. We are playing with Komi rules… which I've never heard of before, but apparently, it's a rule to offset the point advantage that black has for playing first."
"He mentioned it before too." Fuu nodded. "Well, it's common sense in strategy that the first to move has the advantage."
"Anyway, the rule is to win before he passes out from his bruises," Josho replied. "… Paitan-sama is the one putting the stones for Bon-sensei."
"… Uhh, captain? If you pass out, does that mean you're not coming to work tomorrow?" Mao asked. Hope not, she was hoping to weasel some more ideas for contraptions out of him tomorrow.
"I'll be there! He doesn't hit as hard as it looks! I've been hit harder!"
"It still looks painful!" Sawa winced.
"Less moan, more stone!" Bon-sensei sharply tapped the table with his fan. Kazuto grumbled a bit, as he pulled out a stone and…
"WRONG HOLD!" Bon-sensei smacked him up the face, causing him to drop the stone.
Josho nodded, "Also, he's not allowed to place the stone unless he uses the proper hold." She added.
"… This is the single most torturous way of learning Go I've ever seen," Eika murmured. "… So why does he let that outsider do that?"
"We hired the best Go Tutor in the world. This is his methodology." Josho replied. "… And as I watch this, I grow more and more grateful that my teacher was Suikyou-sensei now." Wherever did Reborn find this Bon-sensei, she didn't know.
"Is this really going to work? Would he really be able to learn Go this way?" Kakuka asked.
"… He's already better than when I was playing him," Fuu commented.
"Noticeably better?" Josho asked.
"… Shockingly better." Fuu nodded. "… Is mister a masochist or something?"
"If I was, I wouldn't be getting better, Fuu!"
"If you have time to listen to outsiders, you have time to think of what your next move is!"
"He definitely hates it," Josho replied. "It's because he doesn't want to get hurt that he is trying to get better."
"And why doesn't he just… not do it?" Sawa asked.
"… because he needs to learn Go?" Josho said, unsure, "In the end, just sit still and be prepared to help me carry him onto a bed once he's done."
"How does one play Go, anyway?" Sawa asked.
"You have a square board. Black plays first. You put stones on the intersections. The one that captures the most territory win." Soukou summarized.
"Sounds like a strategist's game." Sawa sighed.
"It's one of the four essential arts for a reason."
"Can you guys stop reminding Bon-sensei about the four essential arts!?" Kazuto called.
"The next training, once you become acceptable at Go, will be Calligraphy. You must perfectly write the character while dodging a hail of arrows."
"You're actually warning me this time!?"
"…" Eika boggled at that thought. "… And how would he train painting?"
"He will paint, and if it doesn't look like it's worth putting in an actual museum, I'll blow him up."
"Wait, did you discover how to make explosives!?"
"Don't underestimate me. For I am Bon-sensei! The teacher of the Heavenly Dao, and will guide talentless hacks into being proper scholarly gentlemen!"
"The fact that you called me a talentless hack…"
"Coming from the boy whose only claim to fame is being second best at Kendo. You wouldn't have gotten this far without your talent for seeing through things. Now, use your talent and actually win!"
"Paitan doesn't exactly have any idea why she puts stones in the place you put them in! At least with Fuu, I know that she knows what she's doing, and I could predict what she wants to do, even if I don't know how to counter it!"
Fuu blinked at that admission. "… How can you know for sure what I want to do?"
"It's called Cold Reading," Kazuto replied he said as he put down a stone.
Bon-sensei tapped a spot on the board and Paitan followed with a stone, "You look at their eyes and where they look or when they blink to see what they are focused on, their fingertips to see if they are hesitating to put the move or if they don't care about the move all that much, and even when they stop to take a breath to figure out if they are switching strategies. It's essentially a cheat sheet for people like the boy who's only good at looking at people."
"I sure have a lot of things I'm only good at."
"When all the things you're only good at stems from one source…" Bon-sensei scoffed. "However, to be a proper Scholar, you need to be able to play Go with someone even if they are literally miles away from you."
"I am not Fujiwara no Sai."
"If anything, you're Hikaru. I'm Fujiwara no Sai."
"Fujiwara no Sai was an actual ghost. He can't hurt Hikaru."
"That makes me a better Fujiwara no Sai."
"You're nowhere God-tier at Go."
"I'm more than adequate at it."
"Cool. I'm still not playing correspondence Go."
"That's a thought! You should play it with Shokatsuryou."
"How fast do you think mail is around here? It'd take weeks to get a single game done, even if Shuri utterly trounces me!" Kazuto grumbled, "… No. Enough. We're not going that far. I'm not aiming to be professional at this; just good enough that Jun'iku won't stomp me into a curb when Sousou puts her up against me." Kazuto grumbled as he placed a stone. Bon-sensei nodded, tapping his fan on a place, to where Paitan put a stone.
"… We never talked about the zither." Soukou pointed out.
"Find a mountain, put a zither on top. If he plays a bad note, drop him. Failing a mountain, the tallest tower in the city is acceptable."
"He can fly." Eika felt that she needed to point it out.
"Which is why I can do it like that," Bon-sensei replied.
"… We're… not going to be in trouble for having him here, right? If you die, Ryuubi's not going to charge at us in revenge?" Soujun asked Kazuto.
"That will only happen if I die," Kazuto replied. "And trust me, I don't want to die any more than you want me to…"
Eika frowned before saying, "… It would be very cathartic."
"Fine. I don't want to die any more than Shanfuu wants me to."
"… Still need to teach me how to fly." Shanfuu nodded.
"And anyway, your catharsis wouldn't last that long, Soukou. The amount of politics that you'll have to deal with if I actually somehow die, you'll have a migraine for days."
"Why shouldn't we stop you then?"
"… Don't worry so much, things only sound bad. In practice, I'll get beat up, sleep, and wake up to do it again."
"Are you sure you aren't a masochist?" Eika asked.
"Why are you so interested in my preferences, Soukou?" Kazuto asked as he put another stone down.
"Hmph, it seems worrying about you is an exercise in futility."
"That's what most people learn when dealing with my training."
Bon-sensei shrugged, "Better dead from training than dead on the battlefield."
"I think most people would disagree," Kazuto told Bon-sensei.
"You are a commander. Being dead on the battlefield means your subordinates too must also be dead, or you decided to be an idiot and charge into danger without any protection. If you were a soldier, certainly dying on the battlefield is better than dying in training, but frankly, if training hard would mean less a chance of dying on the battlefield, then any soldier with a will to live should be training as though they're about to die."
"That doesn't make dying from training better. That's just putting the cart before the horse."
"I tailor my training specifically to the skill of my students. Due to your bloodline, your ability to survive is higher than average. Tying training into your survival instincts is key to your improvement."
"Still doesn't exactly make things better."
"This is the training of the world-renowned Bon-sensei!"
"… No, we've never heard of you in our lives." Eika pointed out.
"He meant back at my home. And yes, Bon-sensei is very world-renowned back home." Kazuto sighed.
Eika scoffed. "You can't be world-renowned if we haven't heard of him."
Kazuto chose to ignore her in favor of looking at the board, "… I resign." There's no way he's winning this one.
"TOO LATE!" Bon-sensei sharply yelled at him, "You should've realized you already lost twenty moves earlier!"
"… Just get it over with." Kazuto chose not to argue.
"FLYING UPPER!" Bon-sensei punched him, and he flew into the sky.
Huh, the sky's really pretty today. He flipped over and landed on his feet.
"Alright, next game."
"Eh, what?" Eika blinked, "But…"
"He rolled with the punch." Nagi said. "He deliberately kicked himself up when he saw Bon-sensei aim for his chin."
"If he can do that, why not run backward?" Sawa asked.
"Because Bon-sensei was prepared for a follow-up, and if he jumped backward, he'll just receive a devastating blow to his chest instead."
"As expected of the martial artist. You recognized quickly. And point to you, my student, for choosing the best way to dodge that strike."
"Simultaneous physical and mental exercise." Kakuka winced. "… Even Karin-sama wouldn't put herself through this much trouble."
"It hurts just thinking about it… Josho, you're also practicing martial arts, right?" Fuu asked.
"… My swordsmanship has hardly been tested in the field of battle. As a scholar, even I'd prefer quiet meditation on Go rather than being physically punished for failure."
"All in all, if I have to summarize what we're seeing here…" Fuu hummed, "… is that Hongou is a masochist." For there was no one in the world who would prefer to train by being inflicted pain on, if they don't have that propensity.
"You guys make it sound like I have a choice." Kazuto frowned.
"You do. Just leave. This Bon-sensei can't possibly force you to study this way if you don't want to." Eika frowned.
"… I am… a boss. A leader. Someone who is in charge of the lives of people who depend on me. If I run away from training because I'm afraid of pain, wouldn't that just be pathetic?" Kazuto replied.
"Your life is literally in danger in training. If anyone disagrees with your decision, point them to the training and force them through it."
"I know my limits and so does R… Bon-sensei. If I thought this training was actually unreasonable, I would have just bothered Fuu some more on possible Go partners." Kazuto then laughed, "You underestimate my ability to survive and overestimate how much punishment my tutor is willing to dish out on me."
"He's a right cockroach when you put him through the grinder." Bon-sensei nodded in agreement. "Or maybe Rasputin?"
"Don't compare me to that guy."
"You resemble him though? A magic man who got into confidence with royalty through dubious means?"
"MOVING ON!" Kazuto yelled, "Anyway, something like this won't kill me. I've been trained to take harder blows than that anyway. Although, he somehow learned to actually punch me…" Kazuto glared at the miniature hitman in disguise. Bon-sensei tossed up a small stone. Reborn's clearly an expert in exploiting loopholes.
"Are you sure you aren't a masochist?" Eika asked once more.
"I think I have some math homework in the room. Maybe you can sit next to me and solve them."
"Prat!" Eika huffed. "And here I was worried for you."
"Well, you wanted to see if I was a masochist. However, what I'm learning is that I am much happier watching other people suffer my pain."
"Bastard."
"Unfortunately, Bon-sensei is the chivalrous type; he won't directly harm girls for any reason." Kazuto shrugged. "So, unfortunately, because of this world's unique nature" of turning all the important people into women, "I can't have any companions in this long painful quest to reach the Divine Move."
"The what?"
"In-joke," Fuu said. "Basically it's some sort of story about a perfect game of Go that all professional Go players strive for, or something."
"It's from a fictional story about Go, so they're going to want some sort of final goal that the protagonist strives for," Kazuto added. "You know? So that the readers have some idea of how far the hero has come. Keeps people engaged." Speaking from personal experience? It's more likely for a computer to find that perfect game, rather than a human. Although calculating for all of Go's possible board states is unreasonably complex and the resources needed to do so should probably just be sent towards something more productive rather than ruining another one of humanity's pastimes.
"Right." Eika nodded. "Fun. Anyway, are you going to play now?"
"Right. Sure. And since you're already here, let's cycle out Paitan. All you need to do is place stones on a board anyway. Can't be too difficult"
Everyone then flinched as they suddenly remembered; the Emperor was there.
Paitan winced as everyone suddenly stood on alert.
"… Our apologies to the Emperor for our discourteousness." Eika, as the highest-ranked member there (Economic Advisor to the Lord), led the bow.
"… At ease. This is still technically a rest day for me." Paitan told them. "Tomorrow, I'll be back to reading Sousou's proposals. For now, I'll be retiring to my room. Josho?"
"Got it." Josho escorted the Emperor back to her room.
And so, the group moved around that Go board and watched Kazuto get beat up, both in the game and out of it.
"What's your conclusion, Fuu?"
"His training method's unorthodox, but by the end of it, he's improved significantly," Fuu replied. "Furthermore that Bon-sensei is a master at instructional Go… if you only look at the Go Board, at least."
"Who exactly is this Bon-sensei?"
"Some hermit that trains Mister." Fuu shrugged, as she casually dropped her nickname for Kazuto. While she did give him her True Name, it still doesn't feel right for her to call him directly by his name. "Honestly didn't know whether he was trying to teach him or kill him, but after the first few minutes, it started becoming funny than worrying."
"If he's going to die, stop it immediately, and then charge him for the treatment."
"I don't really care, either way."
"Regardless, considering how destructive this Bon-sensei to his tutees, make sure to tell everyone not to interact with him." No matter how good a teacher he is, it's not worth it.
"Fuu thinks only a masochist would go through that much trouble."
"And your opinion on Hongou?"
"He doesn't seem to enjoy pain, for what it's worth. But he doesn't avoid it either. He seems to see it more as an obligation, than something he enjoys."
An obligation? What is he obliged to do that he would suffer torture for it? "… I'll question him about it further. And how is he now?'
"He's playing instructional Go with Rin." Fuu shrugged.
"… I might just have to send a message to Keifa, if only to end this nonsense." Sousou sighed. "In all honesty, I'm starting to wonder what Ryuubi's plan is in Joshuu. They have already quelled that worthless uprising, and yet I still don't see much movement from their side."
"… Nothing from our informants?"
"They're mostly focused on putting Touken loyalists in positions of power, I think? After all, they pretty much purged the upper class in their northern cities. Still, it's in their best interests to speed up, and yet they're taking a rather slow approach to the matter." This is rather unusual considering how quickly they subjugated Enjutsu. "How long till Shuuran returns?"
"Shuuran-sama should return soon. At the latest, she'll be here by the end of the week."
"If so, then we can start marching north, and urge the Ryuubi army to do the same." Sousou frowned.
"Did you not want to entice the Emperor to remain here?"
"Funny thing about that, we already succeeded, as far as I'm concerned," Sousou smirked. "Whose territory allowed the enemy into their territory? And whose territory couldn't even be pierced by Enshou? In terms of the security of the Emperor, we've already won. Furthermore, we also have Rakuyou. Under the pretense of asking the Emperor to oversee the reconstruction of the capital palace, doesn't that mean she would have to remain here to do so? The Emperor herself may not like it, but even Hongou would be hardpressed to deny the truth; Joshuu cannot handle protecting the Emperor. They can fight wars, and they could likely have won if I hadn't stepped in, I will admit as much, but a proper ruler wouldn't have even allowed their enemy in their territory." Sousou shrugged, "By simply pointing these truths, the only reason they would have left is the sentimental, the emotional, the irrational."
"And sorcery?"
"You were present when I asked Hongou about it."
"He said he only dabbled in it." Fuu nodded, "Right, then is that all?"
"You may leave, Fuu."
"Understood."
Soon, Sousou was left alone. "… There were no reports of this Bon-sensei. And yet he's here. Likely his small stature allowed him entrance, but…" Sousou frowned, "It seems there are more mysteries to be solved when it comes to Hongou."
-()-
"Huh, so you don't just nosebleed almost to death so often?"
"Please forget that already."
"Twice now, you've had a nosebleed. This time, you actually collapsed. I don't even know why you did. And look at you now, walking around, even though I said that you really should be in bed to recover."
"… Let's not talk about it."
"Just make sure to get plenty of rest, and if it happens, do it where people won't think you're dead. My heart dropped when I saw you like that. If I somehow wind up accused of killing you…"
"It won't go that far!"
(In another alternate history, it did go that far.)
"Still, you sure you shouldn't be in bed?"
"I'm a bit light-headed, but otherwise, I'm fine. I can handle a Go game."
"That's like a drunk saying that they can handle another cup." Kazuto shrugged, placing a stone.
"Wrong."
"… Right." Kazuto nodded, "… Could've been surrounded if I'm not careful, or something?"
"You're catching on."
"My entire day-off I've been playing this game. I'd like to think I've gotten better at least somewhat."
"Honestly, you probably won't be able to beat Keifa even if you do go through all these lengths."
"Why? Is she a professional?"
"Not more than anyone else in a court. Strictly speaking, a lot of us have learned this game at a young age, and we all have some grasp of the game. Furthermore, as a strategist, this is one of the few games we have on hand that can keep our minds sharp, so she probably played it a bit more than she'd care to admit. In turn, you are a professed beginner. You're not going to beat someone on our level any time soon."
"Harsh. Besides, my goal isn't really to beat her. Just not lose badly."
"That mindset will already make you lose."
"Don't worry, I'll just hope to be better when the day comes."
"You better. Karin-sama clearly has high expectations of you."
"You three are really different." Kazuto noted.
"Eh?"
"In terms of personality, I mean. Jun'iku's the aggressive type. Fuu's the laid-back type. While you seem to be the stern type."
"I suppose so… and your strategists?"
"It's a bit hard to pin them down, but that's because I've known them for so long that anything I say feels inadequate."
"Is that just another way of saying you don't want to say?"
"Maybe? I do mean what I said, but at the same time I definitely don't want anyone here to have a profile on how my strategists think." Kazuto shrugged.
"You're rather upfront about it."
"Who knows? Maybe I'm being stupid." Kazuto placed a stone. "So here?"
"Acceptable enough. Still, if we're going orthodox, you should probably have placed it here. Where you placed it is mostly good if you're going on an offensive, but you're in a good position right now. You should be defending your territory, and this is the best to do so."
"Thanks."
"Also, it's fine for you to call me Rin."
"Huh?"
"Sousou-sama believes you are worth some investment into befriending. I'm simply taking the step needed."
"Thanks, I guess, Rin. I'm Kazuto."
"Then I'll be taking my leave."
"Need an escort to a bed? You did say you're still a bit light-headed."
"Stay here and keep guard of the Emperor. That's what you came here for, right?"
"Sure enough. Still, it was nice actually getting to know you, and not just a random dead body on the ground."
"Please forget about that!"
-()-
In some plains within the boundaries of Enshou's territory, a small platoon was clearing up camp, placing them on packs. The food wasn't great, but it was enough. Cut off from any supply chain, without any carriages on their side, the army is forced to live off the land. Or rather, raid their enemy's stronghold and take their supplies. Although this method appears bandit-like (and it is), the small platoon didn't seem to mind all that much. They simply followed their leader's path.
"… That Kayuu's probably still looking all over Kishuu, even though we already left." The tiny strategist by the side of the general spoke.
"Un. Kayuu, persistent."
"So what does Ren-sama think?"
"We can do it."
"That's what I thought. Then let's go!" Nenene nodded, "Let's get an army!"
Ryofu's little platoon roared. No matter what anyone says, they're the soldiers of the strongest general in the empire, no, the strongest general under heaven itself. Unparalleled under heaven (Tenka Musou), she is the Ikkitousen. Ryofu Housen begins her march.
-()-
Chapter End
-()-
Chapter Release Date: June 3, 2022
-()-
Beta Reader: Seraphius
So who here watched Hikaru no Go? Yet another niche show to add to the pile of niche things this story has to offer. Admittedly, I can't say I remember it well, and I had to look up youtube videos and Go instruction manuals to understand things.
Is it obvious that I don't remember much about Rin at all? I used the same gag twice already. She's definitely among my less-remembered cast from Koihime Musou. Fair enough; she's described as being the most plain-looking of the cast, and her quirk (having a high chance of nosebleed when fantasizing about Karin) largely doesn't affect the story.