THE BODYGUARDS WERE STILL FIGHTING against Shirei as they tried to contain him, to no avail. After both of the people that were meant to be in control of him collapsed, Kasegi interrupted the smackdown that Shirei was laying on the men.

“Thank you,” he began, “that will be all from you two.” He then turned to Shirei. “As for you, your task has just begun.”

“What do you want with me?” Shirei huffed. “Was I not pardoned by the King during his coronation? Why then am I being kidnapped by his goons.”

“I believe you are mistaken,” Kasegi answered, slowly approaching him. “We are quite the opposite of his goons. Our purpose is not to serve the King, but rather to stop his neglect and maltreatment of Aotoshi. You have seen this firsthand, much like we have, no?”

“So what if I had? I’m not going to go against him when he had the heart to pardon me of my crimes during the War of the Swords. I’ve already sworn allegiance to Aotoshi, and if Yukan is the one with her crown then so be it.”

“That’s the problem, Shirei. We all have sworn allegiance to this country, but our king hasn’t. You were the top of the military chain, second only to the Emperor. How could you let yourself fall so far from grace and decide to just sit around while our name is being shit upon?!” Kasegi paused to regain control of his temper.

“Look,” he continued, “I don’t know why you choose to remain blind to this. I don’t know how you succeed in doing this. Yet, it is here that I ask you to remove this thick veil from over your eyes and see the threat that Yukan is. He has done very little to protect Aotoshi since he gained control. Rather, he let the country fall into ruin. You have so many reasons to not do this, but we have so many reasons for you to do this.”

“My stance remains. I shall not let myself ruin my chance at redemption.”

“How can you not see that this IS your chance at redemption? Not redemption in the eyes of the Akuni elite, but in the eyes of all of Aotoshi. Not redemption in the eyes of Yukan, but in the eyes of Kunshu.”

Shirei gasped upon hearing his old leader’s name. Kasegi was right. How could Shirei have been so blind to not see this? The ghost of Kunshu had been crying for vengeance for nearly two decades now and Shirei had done nothing to heed those cries. It felt as if he’d betrayed Kunshu and taken the man who saved his life all those years ago for granted.

“I may not know him as well as you knew Kunshu,” Kasegi continued, “but I do know that he would’ve wanted you to avenge him. As his cousin’s son, I feel it necessary that you help me in upholding his will.”

“What do you mean ‘cousin’s son’? I thought he was the last of the Mujihinas.”

“You see, Shirei,” Kasegi explained, “Kawata had more than one child with his wife Aki. She had two children. One was named Dokusai and he was the father of Kunshu. The other was named Cedric and he is my grandfather. Cedric took up the surname Kando after he became estranged from the Mujihinas. I got my surname Shokin from my wife Shofu. Once I found out about my heritage, I decided to take control of this, the Saisei Coalition. Now, do you have any other questions?”

Shirei paused for a brief moment before turning to Kasegi, taking his hat from his time as commander out of his pocket and putting it on his head. “What do I need to do to help you all out?”

❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎

“On the 21st of July this year,” Kasegi began in his briefing, “Yukan will be attending the premiere of his latest opera based on the epic of Cu Chulainn. We will be in the audience in one of the booths on the balcony, spectating him throughout the show. Once the opera ends, we will send you a signal as he exits the building. First things first, one of us will slash the tires of his car, preventing escape. Next, we will send an arrow through the driver’s head. Lastly, you will toss the Kaesu Dagger into the sky before commanding it to kill Yukan. You will be posted at a tower a few hundred yards away from the Aotoshi Opera House in Gurenoson, so you should have enough time to escape.”

“Gurenoson, you say?” Shirei asked the head of the Saisei Coalition.

“Do you have any problem with that location?”

“None at all, my friend,” Shirei responded. “It’s just that Gurenoson was the town I was raised in before we moved to Suijidan. Domestic violence was the main reason we left, but I couldn’t help but think that my father’s death had an influence as well. Perhaps my mother wanted us to start anew once we left.”

“How fitting then that you will start a new life once more by returning to Gurenoson,” Kasegi responded. “Not as a normal man, but as a hero of Aotoshi.”

The crew of the Saisei Coalition then gave Shirei a small black hard case, about the size of one you might put a pair of glasses in. As Shirei looked over this case, he noticed that it had actually been a bifocal case that had been repurposed. He opened the case up and inside, laying on the velvet bottom of the case, was the Kaesu Dagger. It had looked slightly different from the variety of the dagger he’d been familiar with, seeming to now possess further mechanical aspects.

Kasegi then brought a thin wire headband to Shirei. It seemed as if it would break if you breathed on it incorrectly, but Shirei tested its durability and found that its spindly nature was a ruse.

“This headband is made of a garnium-titanium alloy,” Kasegi answered, already knowing what Shirei was going to ask, “therefore it will not be easily broken by any mortal objects. As long as you wear this headband, you will be able to control the Kaesu Dagger for a range of about 700 feet with perfect accuracy, after which its reliability begins to taper. It is completely useless at 1,500 feet, yet I don’t think you’ll be needing to kill anybody that far away. Now, do we have any questions?”

The room went entirely silent for ten whole seconds. By this time, the rain had stopped and the Brass Gate Inn was almost closed for the day, completely vacant outside of the Saisei Coalition, the people working at the inn, and the few lifeless patrons at the bar who remained. This meant that, throughout those ten seconds of silence, it had been so extreme that the people in the room could hear the vibrations of their ears as clear as ever.

“Alright then,” he continued, noticing that everybody understood the mission. “We continue preparations in two days’ time. Until then, you are free to do as you please. I hereby adjourn this meeting, you are free to go.”

As everybody poured out of the meeting room, Shirei nodded to Kasegi and Kasegi nodded back. Shirei was the second last one to leave, followed by Kasegi, who began to plan out how he would accomplish his goals. Although he wanted to kill Yukan, it had not been his malevolence that motivated Kasegi. Rather, the main reason he had decided to gaslight the rest of his nation into believing that Yukan was a cruel king by hiding information about his deeds was that he wanted to claim the Fabled Swords that he believed were rightfully his.