Chapter 120

Armilla had not been in the High Court of the Golden Lady often. In fact, she’d only been here once before, dragged with clanking armor and rattling sword to the High Court. It seemed like an eternity had passed since then. Unlike last time, the High Seats weren't populated with a full compliment; only half of the Lady Cardinals of the Book were in attendance, including Her Grace the Grand Cardinal. The official announcement was that Lady Cardinals Phoebe Capulet, Celeste Montague, and Constance Comment had retired. Rumors however told a completely different story.

Armilla sweated in her position at the Petitioner’s stand. Back behind her by the great doors, that Yamato woman Sasaki stood stiffly, tiny hands tucked into knotted fists, hair done up in a high ponytail, face a stony mask.

The whole judicial bench was this monolithic plinth that towered over the petitioners and supplicants, a curving arc of stone that strategically filled the vision of any petitioner who approached. Katarina had appeared so casual, so nonchalant back then. How had she done it?

Armilla frowned bitterly. By contemptuously ignoring the authority of the Book of the Golden Lady. By being so utterly incapable of acknowledging their dominion and authority, she was able to appear calm and cool.

One of the Lady Cardinals gestured down at Armilla.

"The Court recognizes Lady Cardinal Gabrielle Valentine." Her Grace the High Cardinal intoned formally, and Lady Cardinal Valentine glared down at Armilla.

"Why did Her Grace release you?" Gabrielle asked coolly. "You knew your responsibilities."

Armilla sighed. "We didn’t agree, Your Grace." She replied dully.

The Lady Cardinal shook her head. "That’s not what I asked. What were the circumstances of your release? What were the reasons cited? Be specific and omit nothing." She demanded acerbically.

Armilla slumped even more. "Katarina was unhappy that I named her a Living Saint, Your Grace." She began. "I thought it was necessary- necessary that people see her for what she was. Not only because she’s the first Living Saint in nearly a thousand years, but also... to inspire people. That anyone can aspire to greatness!" she replied, her voice rising. "She needed to be seen and recognized and treated with respect!" A muffled snorting sound echoed from behind her; as if Sasaki choked back a laugh.

"Her Grace Katarina didn’t approve?" The Lady Cardinal replied, her voice dry. Armilla shook her head. "She- Her Grace ordered me not to, Your Grace."

The Grand Cardinal raised an eyebrow. "You did it anyway, didn’t you?" She asked, her voice as dry as Gabrielles’. Armilla nodded.

Olivia palmed her face, Gabrielle smirked, and Yuriko’s eyebrow twitched.

"How many times did she tell you to stop?" Yuriko asked, and Gabrielle shot a glance at Yuriko.

"Every time, Your Grace." Armilla replied.

"So not an exact number, then?" Yuriko asked fussily. "Was it more than ten? Less than twenty? Exactly how many times would you say you disobeyed the Living Saint of the Anglish Empire, Armilla Chancy?" She demanded hotly.

Armilla’s mouth moved, but nothing came out. Her hands wandered in meaningless directions.

"That was a question, Armilla Chancy." the Grand Cardinal stated flatly. "You will answer."

"I don’t know, Your Grace." She replied in a dull voice. "It was a lot." She added.

Olivia raised her hand.

"The Court recognizes Lady Cardinal Olivia Wolfe." The Grand Cardinal announced.

Olivia propped her elbow on the desk and the point of her chin in her palm. "Did she warn you at all?" She asked curiously. Armilla nodded wordlessly, and Olivia raised her eyebrows. "And you continued, didn’t you." She stated, and Armilla nodded again.

"You were supposed to be an observer." Olivia said, and folded her hands together. "Don’t you think- wouldn’t it at least make sense-" She suddenly raised her voice, "Make sense that you would at least listen and obey?" She screamed, and Sasaki, awaiting her turn, stepped back from the heat of that yell.

Armilla straightened her shoulders suddenly and replied, "I’ve already explained why I did what I did, Your Grace." She replied mechanically. "She told me to stop behaving like a herald or she would dismiss me, Your Grace."

"This is a disaster." Olivia struggled to say. "We’ve lost everything. This one was too stupid to have any long-reaching perspective. Too stubbornly stupid to obey her Master Witch Hunter. Too caught up in "Everyone has to recognize Katarina as a Living Saint" to care whether or not she was hurting her master’s feelings." She cursed and wiped her eyes.

"Sending a paladin was a terrible idea." Yuriko replied, and Gabrielle nodded. "I’ve always said as much." She agreed.

The Grand Cardinal glanced to the left and right at the Lady Cardinals. "It seems we’re in agreement, then." She decided. "Armilla Chancy, we will uphold your removal as Katarina’s apprentice." She stated. "You will no longer be allowed to carry the guns of the Witch Hunter, draw from their coffers, or invoke your Writ and Warrant, which is hereby rescinded." She stated with gravid formality. "We will conduct an additional hearing at a later time to consider your readmission into the ranks of the paladins. For now, you are dismissed."

Armilla let out a sigh that seemed dredged from the tops of her boots and stepped away from the Petitioner’s stand, every movement seemingly hampered by a heavy burden.

The Lady Cardinals shared a few brief words in low voices amongst themselves, and the Grand Cardinal rose up.

"Let’s adjourn for the day." She announced, and the others rose with her.

Sasaki strode forward aggressively to the Petitioner’s Stand.

"Hold on!" She demanded hotly. "I’m here to put forward my request to..." She paused for a moment, "Take that girl’s place. I’ve already worked with Katarina before." She stated flatly.

The Lady Cardinals shared a glance amongst themselves, a few glancing significantly at Yuriko.

"You think yourself competent?" Yuriko questioned, tenting her fingers and placing them on the High Bench. It was telling that none of them bothered retaking their seats at the High Bench.

"Competent?" She scoffed. "I am dangerous, Lady Cardinal." Sasaki replied challengingly. "I’ve fought against mutants and beastmen both on my own and alongside Katarina." She finished confidently. The Grand Cardinal took her seat, and the other Lady Cardinals, taking their cue, filed back to their own. Olivia eyed Sasaki with a certain predatory gleam in her eye.

Yuriko sniffed. "Your name?" She asked coolly, and Sasaki’s mouth twisted.

"Sasaki." She replied curtly. Yuriko’s eyebrow twitched. "Your family name, is it?" She asked, and Sasaki shook her head. "Sasaki." She repeated.

"Ah." Yuriko replied dismissively. "I have heard of you. Violent and vulgar. You were banished from Yamato," she reported, "and you wish to become the Living Saint’s apprentice?" She scoffed. "Preposterous." She glanced at the other Lady Cardinals. "I call for a vote of no confidence. I reject the idea that someone like you could be associated with Her Radiance." She replied haughtily.

Gabrielle glanced at Yuriko, and a small smile touched her face.

"As entertaining as this is, let’s hear Sasaki out." Gabrielle opined with a warm smile. "I have but two questions for the little hothead." She added as Yuriko shot her a freezing look.

Sasaki turned her gaze on Gabrielle and nodded.

"Don’t thank me yet, woman." Gabrielle advised. "Because you’ve jumped into a pit of vipers. My first question is least pressing." She encouraged.

"Ask." Sasaki replied, and Gabrielle laughed.

"As if I needed your permission!" the voluptuous woman exclaimed, and joined her hands together, tapping her thumbs meditatively. "Why are you coming to us?" She asked curiously. "If you want to be Katarina’s apprentice, you should be courting her, not us."

Sasaki frowned. "Katarina is in the Cathedral of the Lily, surrounded by the best, most potent healers." She reported. "But she’s not waking up. I can’t ask her." She took a breath. "I helped her when she was in Higgenfal. We stood together against a demon-summoning Witch, along with a number of mutants and beastmen." She made a gesture with her hand, and Yuriko twitched. "Katarina saw something in me." She said, and fetched a deep sigh and looked down at her feet. "Something I didn’t expect. ‘You’ve got a respect and understanding of firearms, you have the right attitude... more importantly however, you have the right mindset. You ask the right questions.’ Sasaki quoted. ‘I’d like you to consider becoming my apprentice’." she finished. "At the time, I’d decided that I would return to Yamato and face the consequences of my actions." She looked up. "And I have. Now I am ready."

"But why come to us?" Gabrielle repeated.

"Katarina is not capable of granting her assent." Sasaki replied incredulously. "Duh." She added, and the Lady Cardinals murmured amongst themselves at this rudeness.

"I need permission from you to inherit Armilla’s position so that I can continue Katarina’s work in her name." Sasaki stressed. "She was hunting a Witch. I’m told it was her sister. I mean to take up that hunt in her stead." her mouth twisted. "If I am lucky i can finish it before Katarina awakens, to spare her that pain of doing it herself."

Gabrielle nodded. "Well as far as I’m concerned, I vote yes. I’m convinced." She replied with an amused look at the Yamato Cardinal. "However, I have one more question, one far more pressing." She added, and propped her chin in her hands. "What made you think that you could come here armed?" She asked sweetly, and the other Lady Cardinals bolted out of their seats with alarm. The guards in the High Court immediately leveled their spears at Sasaki.

Sasaki drew the dart from her hair and shook it out. "It wasn’t my intention to come armed. I was using it as a decoration." She advised, and casually tossed it to the floor.

Gabrielle laughed again, a rich, sultry, throaty laugh. "By all means, put it back in, then." she encouraged.

Olivia eyed Sasaki. "Do you know why we chose Armilla to be Katarina’s apprentice?" She asked. "Do you know why we forced a paladin to become a Witch Hunter?" She asked. "Do you understand the meaning behind these things?" She asked.

Sasaki sighed. "I haven’t said a single thing to Armilla, and when I met Katarina, she was in and out of consciousness. I was more interested in getting her the help she needed than political crap."

Olivia barked out a strangled laugh that she struggled to cover with a cough at this.

"We wanted someone loyal to the church who could keep an eye on Katarina. Send us regular reports of her journeys." She answered for Sasaki.

Sasaki froze. After a long moment, she looked up at them. "Has she ever needed such supervision or..." She paused, searching for the right word, "accountability before?" She asked curiously, and Olivia shook her head.

"There’s only a little we know of Katarina, Sasaki." Olivia replied. "Fifty years from now, will we tell people ‘Katarina was a Saint of the Golden Lady. She was a Witch Hunter, and after a while we lost track of her.’?" She asked curiously.

Sasaki blinked a few times. "You don’t know her?" She asked, and Olivia gave an embarrassed laugh and covered her face with her hands like a blushing schoolgirl.

Gabrielle nodded. "She’s a very closed girl. All we have is erratic reports when she turned in bounties for Witches." She replied. "From a practical perspective, How can we craft lessons for future Witch Hunters from Katarina’s example, if we don’t know what she’s doing?" She asked. "From a more... romantic... perspective, how can we compose ballads and tales about her?" She asked, and Sasaki laughed.

"Is that all?" She asked wonderingly. "I could do that. I know her. I can write the stories. I haven’t the voice for singing, but I can tell her stories." She said, and thumped her chest for emphasis. "I would do it anyway. Not for the Church, but for her." She grinned. "She’s definitely got the composure fit for ballads, stories, and songs."

"There will be tests." The Grand Cardinal warned idly. She seemed to be the least invested of the Lady Cardinals.

"I’ll manage." Sasaki replied defiantly.

"And your experience with firearms?" Yuriko asked caustically.

Sasaki shook her head. "I’m learning."

Gabrielle nodded. "I stand with my decision. I say yes."

Yuriko shook her head. "I vote no. She is an embarrassment and an offense to the Yamato people." She replied coldly.

"It's a good thing this is the Anglish Empire and not the Yamato Imperium, then." Gabrielle snapped back acerbically. "We saw how that turned out a hundred and fifty years ago. There’s a reason Yamato is a tributary of the Anglish Empire and not the other way around." She shifted her attention to the Grand Cardinal. "Armilla was a colossal failure. It seems Sasaki's heart is in the right place; if nothing else she wants to spare Katarina the pain of having to hunt her sister. I can respect that. I still say aye."

Olivia spoke up, then. "I remind you that we've have spoken to a Witch Hunter from Toledo." She mentioned. "Their methods of hunting Witches are vastly different to our own. Where one Witch Hunter is accorded an apprentice, there they assemble a small retinue of paladins, clerics, priests and the like." She tossed this into the ring diffidently. "Why not allow Katarina that right? We keep the paladin. We add this..." She eyed Sasaki curiously, "mercenary?" She offered, and then continued, "to Katarina’s forces. It’s a viable practice there. Could we not do the same?"

Gabrielle let out a sigh at the exact same time that The Grand Cardinal did.

"The problem with the Toledan Witch Hunters is that they are politicians first, and Hunters second. They play at court, bargaining and jostling for authority." Yuriko replied. "Do you really want Katarina here, in court, day in and day out?" She asked, and Olivia subsided.

Olivia nodded. "I love Katarina very much, but the idea of giving her political agency and a personal army? Unthinkable."

There was a moment of silence then, where each of them relived the conversation with Katarina in their closed meeting. The woman's presence would undermine the Book of the Golden Lady's authority, and sooner or later something would snap.

The Grand Cardinal nodded. "I agree. A vote, then?"

Gabrielle shrugged. "I say yes. She's a fiery one. She should do well as one of the Golden Lady's finest. She's fought alongside Her Radiance. I see no reason to oppose her appeal."

Olivia glanced at Sasaki briefly. "I should say that if Sasaki can pass the tests, I will have no problems with her apprenticeship." She replied. "I am no Witch Hunter. Let the Witch Hunters’ examinations prove her mettle. I vote yes with that condition." She replied.

The Grand Cardinal looked to Yuriko. "Your vote?" She asked the Yamato woman.

"I don’t care what the others say." She replied coldly. "I will not change my vote." She said flatly. "No."

"Then the vote is passed." The Grand Cardinal replied, and faced Sasaki. "You’ve got a great deal of testing to do, little lady. I hope you’re prepared."

"She’s mocking us." Nadette observed as they watched Sasaki flit across the fighting yard reserved for the Witch Hunters. "She’s not fighting at her limits. There’s contempt, there."

Cyrillus snorted. "Probably. Katarina was the one to find her, after all." He replied. Nadette allowed a small smile to touch the ruined horror of her face. "Like calls to like, eh?" She chided gently.

Cyrillus shook his head. "Katarina went all out in the fighting yard. There was no contempt or arrogance in her fighting, just an avalanche of force."

Nadette nodded thoughtfully. Katarina had trained more vigorously, more rigorously than most of the initiates of her class. She was driven, relentless, seemingly desperate to push herself past her limits. Sasaki was completely different. She simply and arbitrarily seemed to assume she was better than anyone else.

"Do you think we should put her in check?" Cyrillus asked, and Nadette made some expression; the scars across her face turned it into a ghastly grimace. "Do you think you could?" Nadette asked.

He chuckled. "I could, if you don’t mind rebuilding the yard." He replied. Nadette nodded. Since the return of the Blaze of Glory and the dissemination of Katarina's translations, the prayers were regaining power. Cyrillus, schooled in the Rites of Detestation, could flatten the Garrison if he unleashed the full limits of his power. There was a reason his prowess was feared.

"I for one would like to see her pressed to her limits. I can do it, if you like." Nadette offered, and he nodded.

"Her style seems to revolve around dodging and redirecting strikes. Misdirecting her opponents and exhausting them." Cyrillus mentioned. "She’s small and light, so she focuses on speed."

Nadette nodded in agreement. "I’m familiar with the style." She replied.

Nadette stepped into the training yard from the tower where she’d watched with the old warpriest, carefully adjusting a strap on a leather bracer.

"Sasaki." She called to the slight Yamato woman, who had relaxed her fighting stance after disabling one of her classmates. Today she wore a gray pleated hakama and a blue-gray top. Her sword remained sheathed on her back. So far, nobody had seen her draw it.

"Draw your sword. Today you’ll be fighting me." Nadette called as she approached.

Sasaki turned and eyed the taller woman casually. Nadette was something of a legend in the Anglish Empire. Both her admirers and her enemies feared and respected the woman. She was brusque, brutal, stubborn and relentless. Her admirers called her the Nadette the Boulder, because she was as relentless, brutal, and inexorable as a boulder rumbling down the mountainside, casually crushing everything under her inevitability. Her enemies also called her The Boulder, because she was as hardheaded, stubborn and utterly immovable in her decisions.

"I will draw my sword when I have cause to." Sasaki replied casually, as Nadette reached her.

Nadette lashed out quickly with her left hand in a straightforward strike and Sasaki ducked around it exactly as Nadette predicted, allowing her right hand to grab the front of Sasaki’s robe and yank her forward into a brutal headbutt that exploded stars across Sasaki’s vision.

"That wasn’t a request." Nadette grated, while simultaneously shoving Sasaki back with her right and drawing a slender sword from her waist with her left.

"-you!" Sasaki gasped out indignantly.

"You Yamato are skilled with hands and feet and fists, but you neglect your head." Nadette observed drily, arcing her blade up intoo a ready stance and forcing Sasaki to step back.

"No fucking around, Yamato." Nadette warned. "No bullshit. This time, you’re under my blade, and you will fight." She insisted. "Now draw your sword, else you lose something today. Your hand offends me, shall I cut it off?" She asked rhetorically. Her blade flickering out adroitly. Sasaki pivoted, hand blurring to knock the blade aside. At the last possible moment, Nadette twisted the blade in her hand so Sasaki’s hand kissed hot steel. Sasaki yanked her hand back with a hiss of pain as a cut opened on her palm.

"First blood." Nadette observed in her dry, grating voice.

Sasaki took a step back and Nadette matched her, step for step. "That impertinent gaze." Nadette remarked casually. "Your eye offends me. Shall I pluck it out?" She asked, and as Sasaki instinctively raised her guard a fraction, Nadette thrust low with her blade, at Sasaki’s legs. As the smaller woman pulled back, Nadette twisted, pivoting, her leg hammering down just shy of Sasaki’s own foot, forcing the woman to leap back. Nadette allowed the momentum to carry her around, switching the sword from her offhand to her strong, and as she came back around she revolved her grip and lunged forward, thrusting the pommel of her sword at Sasaki’s face. The smaller woman fell back, but the pommel caught her just under her eye.

Pain exploded in Sasaki’s face and she staggered back, bleeding. Her head pounded and rang and colors washed in and out of the world as adrenalin dumped into her veins. She couldn’t see out of one eye, had Nadette plucked it, as she claimed? Her whole body seemed incapable of responding properly and she dreaded the thought of touching the wound on her face. Her hand burned with searing pain.

Nadette took the opportunity and drove a second strike just below Sasaki’s ribcage, forcing all the air out of her with one blow. Sasaki fell back and struggled to rise.

"I’ll admit, against a normal foe you probably would have no problems." Nadette observed. "But my job isn’t to train warriors that ‘probably will survive’. My job is to weed out the weak." She added in a voice as hard and as brittle as stone chips. "Now get up. I’m going to draw blood once more." her voice softened into a mocking tone. "Unless of course you draw your sword."

‘Now I know where Katarina got her relentless nature’. Sasaki thought wryly as she struggled to her feet. She probably was trained by this hideous woman every day.

After Sasaki had killed her fiancee’s retainer, she’d vowed never to bare her blade to a weaker opponent. Nadette was certainly strong enough.

A flood of techniques were considered and rejected. Arc of the moon? Sasaki didn’t have the distance. Viper’s tongue? Sasaki’s blade was too long, she’d have to fall back to draw. Windcutter? Sasaki couldn’t see properly, so striking Nadette’s weapon would be futile. Swallow’s Dance would certainly work, but Nadette was clad in leather, which meant she would be annihilated, and Sasaki struggled with the urge to do it.

Yes.

Cut Nadette down as brutally and as violently as she had the others and be done with it. Responsibility? It was Nadette’s, for pushing her.

Sasaki gained her feet and a searing line of pain kissed her ribs as Nadette lunged forward.

Sasaki gasped in shock. Nadette’s weapon had been in her right hand this time. When has she switched? Sasaki had unconsciously adjusted her stance to dealing with a left-handed person. Everything she knew of the woman was what she’d gained today.

The taller woman, picking at the bracer with her left hand. Her left handed draw. Her unconscious movements that all added up to someone that was southpaw. Had Sasaki made a mistake?

Striking Sparks, she thought as she plucked the knife from her wrist sheath and brought it in a short brutal arc. Killing Nadette? Absurd. But the woman could do without an arm. She’d likely live longer, too.

The short blade jarred as it impacted the woman’s bracer and glanced off, the shredded leather revealing metal beneath.

Nadette grinned, a wretched, ghastly thing on her ruined face. "You see, Yamato?" She grated. "I am not so defenseless as you think."

Sasaki’s sword was out of her sheath so quickly Nadette couldn’t register the draw. If she hadn’t worn folded steel plates beneath the leather, there was no doubt she would have died in an eyeblink as Sasaki’s blade hammered at her arms, legs, and across her chest seemingly simultaneously. If her arm hadn’t been up to block the woman’s dagger thrust, the last strike would have lifted Nadette’s head right off her shoulders.

Nadette stepped back and dropped her sword. "Well done, recruit." She praised in her gravelly voice.

Sasaki grinned and dashed blood from her face. "Do you like tea, Nadette?"

"We are going to have a dialogue, Yamato." Nadette stated roughly. "Come with me."

Sasaki pulled herself to her feet. "As you wish." She replied easily enough.

"Do you know what makes a Witch Hunter?" the scarred woman asked the smaller as they walked across the dusty yard.

Sasaki snorted. "An ability to think around corners. To take a dozen scattered facts and hammer them together to reveal truth." She replied, and Nadette nodded. "That’s part of it. In many ways you are the grasping Hand of the Church, and your responsibility is to pull secrets from the sand." She agreed, but made a seesawing gesture from her hand. "That’s a response you should give Cyrillus or Alayne. I am a warrior, however. My care is purely martial." She stopped and faced the smaller woman. "What is it that makes the Witch Hunter so distinct?" She asked again.

Sasaki clamped her lips together to still the snide remark she wanted to let fly. Nadette had rebuffed Sasaki’s advances with a brusqueness that hurt all the more because of its impartiality, and she, petulantly, wanted to make Nadette hurt the same way.

"The gun." Sasaki replied simply, and Nadette nodded. "Exactly. The gun." She replied, and unlocked the doors to the side yard that contained the gun range. "I had wondered what sort of gun would suit someone such as yourself." Nadette reflected as she gestured to a side door. "We’re going to the armory first." She advised, unlocking that door, and stepping inside, leaving Sasaki room to follow. As Sasaki stepped into the darkened hallway, Nadette casually dunked a small crystal in a bucket of water that had been left at the entrance to the hallway for such a purpose. The crystal immediately flared alight with a cold, pale light.

"A pistol? A rifle? A shotgun?" Nadette offered to the air. "‘What gun could we offer a swordwoman that would compliment her style?’ I reflected, and then the answer came to me, and the answer was so obvious I considered taking a penance for the absurdity of it all."

"I’m afraid I don’t follow you." Sasaki replied cautiously as they moved underground to the armory.

"You’ll see." Nadette replied confidently. "I’m going to talk to myself for a little while, and it’s my hope that nobody overhears." She announced with a significant glance back at the smaller woman. "If any ears do hear, I hope they’ll understand it’s just the mindless prattling of an old soldier."

Sasaki nodded silently.

"Yamato has systematically and consistently refused admission to Yamato lands to everyone, not just the Anglish." Nadette began. "Three years ago, we heard several interesting, but disturbing rumors, and so at great personal cost, we inserted several operatives on Yamato soil."

Sasaki immediately tensed up, hands knotting into fists. They dared tread on lands deemed sacrosanct to the Yamato? They dared? A furious wave of patriotic rage thundered through Sasaki, and her hands itched to cut Nadette down for the offense.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Sasaki asked hotly, shoulders stiff.

Nadette stopped and eyed Sasaki with a raised eyebrow. "I thought I was just talking to myself."

Sasaki ground her teeth and forced her anger down bit by bit until she could control it. Nadette smirked at that.

"The operatives achieved unprecedented levels of success." She continued. "We were able to retrieve documents, schematics, and this."

She moved through the doorway into the armory, which was a large room ringed with cabinets and cupboards and dominated by a large table in the middle of the room. On the table was a gun a bit longer than her forearm.

Sasaki examined the gun carefully. "This mark..." She observed quietly. "Yamato is making firearms?" She asked suddenly.

"Wasn’t it your Musashi who said that firearms were peerless on the battlefield?" Nadette asked curiously. "That’s what led us to infiltrate. How would someone like him know about Anglish firearms? There is only one force that is permitted to carry guns, and that is the Witch Hunter. We don’t use firearms on the battlefield because it’s currently impossible to make them both cheap and reliable." Nadette pontificated. "Moreover, when we forced the surrender of the Yamato, it was because of cannon, not firearms. The Yamato should have had nigh zero exposure to our weaponry, except here we are with a bolt-action Yamato gun that is chambered for rifle ammunition."

Sasaki took a shaky breath and let it out slowly.

After a long moment, she asked in a low voice, "Will it be war?"

Nadette eyed her carefully, and shook her head. "Whether or not it will be war is no concern of yours, Sasaki. Your responsibility will be to hunt the Witch." She gestured at the gun. "Take it, it’s yours now."

Sasaki shook her head, and pointed to the golden filigreed emblems that had been inlaid into the wood on the gun. "I cannot use a weapon with another Houses’ symbol on it." She replied steadily.

"It’s a gun. Yes you can. We can take that off later." Nadette replied dismissively. "Take the gun, pick up the ammunition, and let’s go to the range."

"Regrets?" Nadette growled from behind her. Sasaki immediately laughed.

"Certainly not." She replied. "I only do this sort of thing with people I respect." She replied, tugging on her socks. "If there’s one thing I can say, it’s that I definitely respect you." She added, and turned to favor the other woman with a smile.

"What about the Living Saint?" Nadette asked. "I thought for sure you were pining after her." She remarked thoughtfully.

Sasaki shrugged. "Same thing that drew me to you." She replied simply. "I’m attracted to exceptional people." She gave Nadette’s leg a squeeze. "Besides, I’m not stupid. I’m a warrior, I keep my ear to the ground. I’ve heard the talk, and I’ve met the woman. I can’t remember her name, but that woman is..." She trailed off. "I can’t compete."

Nadette let out a snort. "I’ve heard the stories too." She confided. "Frankly I’m not surprised the Living Saint..." She paused. "I trained her here ten years ago. I figured she’d last longer than the others." She spoke in short, clipped sentences. Sasaki nodded.

"Will the Anglish go to war against the Yamato?" Sasaki asked, and Nadette favored her with a narrow, guarded look.

"I will answer your question with one of my own." Nadette replied. "Do you really want to be the Living Saint’s apprentice?" She asked. "Because if you’re here to fuck around, I’ll answer your question one way. You answer that you want to be a Witch Hunter, and I’ll give you a completely different answer." She replied steadily.

Sasaki let out a sigh. "Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be committing to something like..." She gestured around her. "I figured I’d just travel around with Katarina, solve mysteries, kill Witches, and you know..." She trailed off.

Nadette let out a gravelly chuckle. "You have to understand that if you do this, if you really do this, your question becomes irrelevant. Will Angland go to war with the Yamato nation? Who cares? For you, there is only the next job, the next Witch, the next investigation, the next heresy. You won’t be ‘Sasaki the Yamato’, you will be ‘Apprentice Witch Hunter Sasaki’."

Sasaki lifted her hands up from her lap and looked at them. "I have a lot to think about." She remarked quietly.

Nadette nodded sagely. "If there is to be a war, it will likely be a punitive one." She advised. "The Empire will punish the Yamato with sword and fire until they are sufficiently convinced that the Yamato have learned their lesson. Then comes the occupation and reeducation. No more Yamato sovereignty. The culture of the Yamato will be replaced with Anglish culture." She recited dryly. "Our history is rife with such things, Sasaki. The Anglish have been at war in some form or another for more than a thousand years. We are very, very good at it."

Sasaki let out a sigh.

"You can do this, Sasaki." Nadette encouraged. "You can be a Witch Hunter. You’ve got the heart for it. You get the mythos." She persuaded. "You just have to let go of the idea that you have a nationality. You become a Witch Hunter, and you belong to the Goddess."

Sasaki nodded. "I think I need to spend some time alone." She reluctantly admitted.

"Best to tell that dark one that follows you around, then." Nadette observed.

Sasaki twisted around. "Dark one?" She asked, eyeing Nadette askanse. The scarred woman nodded.

"She keeps an eye on you. I see her, from time to time, lurking in the shadows. Long black hair, pale eyes, dark dress." Nadette described.

"Oh, Kuroyuki." Sasaki realized, and smiled. "I’m not surprised she checks up on me." Sasaki mentioned. "I don’t know why she wouldn’t let me know she was there, though."

Sasaki got up and slipped into her kimono quickly, followed with the bloused and pleated skirts of a warrior. She picked up her sword and sketched a saucy little salute to Nadette, who was still abed, and left quietly.