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Character | Mirumoto Tetsujin | |
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To be a samurai is among the best things in the world. For the first time in my life, I found myself wishing I wasn't one. As Akodo said, "Duty is heavier than a mountain." My duty now calls on me to champion a cause I find most offensive and distasteful.
I won't send this letter until this issue has been resolved, and only if they become commonly known, since the Emperor or the Crane Champion might wish these events to remain hidden. A gaijin ship washed up after a storm in the bay controlled by the Doji Shiju. Shiju-sama showed admirable charity in offering aid to the crew of the ship, despite the White Stag Edict prohibiting dealing with the gaijin.
These gaijin claimed to be from a group that are enemies of the gaijin who betrayed the Empire, causing the Edict to be written. They offer trade in exchange for assistance in their battle against the betrayers. Shiju-sama decided that it was not his place to decide such important matters, as they would have an effect on the Empire as a whole. Instead, he would take the gaijin daimyo and his monk advisor to meet with the Crane Champion, who would either decide the issue, or take it to the Emperor.
My duty was to escort Shiju-sama and the gaijin safely to Kyuden Doji, and once there, I would be released from Shiju-sama's service to offer my word or opinion as needed. However, a group of treacherous bandits attacked us on the road, killing Shiju-sama and his personal retinue, and wounding the gaijin monk. My honor will now not rest until the gaijins' case has been presented to Doji Kurohito-sama. Of my traveling companions, I believe I am perhaps the only one who feels this way, which may put me at odds with them, including even friend Ridachi-san.
I can only hope that the issue does not come to a formal duel, as I will probably feel honor-bound to offer myself as champion for these gaijin, whom I personally dislike. They fall outside the Celestial Order, and they stink. The only reason I will champion them is that it is the last wish and task of the lord I failed to protect on the road. As soon as I am finished speaking for them, I hope to never see them again, assuming I survive their presentation to Doji Kurohito-sama.