The room was dark.
A small lit candle on the desk provided the only light. The small flame flickered, chasing shadows about the room. Bayushi Subudi slid the door shut behind him as he walked into his room.
The desk still had several of his papers he was still investigating on some matters, stacked on top of a couple boxes. His master sat behind the desk, his white mask glistened in the candle light, and he looked up as Subudi entered the room. It seemed as if the room got colder to the young shugenja.
“Come here Subudi. There are one or two matters we must discuss.” Subudi limped over, leaning heavily on his cane, and sat down across from his master, his leg notably popping as he knelt down.
“Yes Kusabana-sama? I have not yet finished looking into the matters at the docks, but the records are badly kept. It will be some time before I can find the information you wanted.”
The Yogo shugenja waved a dismissive hand. “I am not here on such matters. I have recently been informed that you have been spending quite a bit of your stipend, and have continuously asked for more. I have been asked to ascertain the meaning of spending such funds over so short a period of time.” Silence filled the room for a couple seconds until Kusabana continued, “Well?”
Subudi leaned over and slid one of the stacks of papers off of one of the boxes, and removed the top. Kusabana reached into the box and looked through it’s contents.
“I see only a couple new kimono and various other articles of clothing. This would not have caused the use of as much koku that has to be accounted for.”
“I am sorry Kusabana-sama. It is not merely the fact they are new kimono, but they are also bearing the mon I sent into the Imperial Heralds. You’ll note the black ivy leaf on the red field. That is the personal mon I have settled on. I have not heard back from the Miya as of yet, but I figured I would go ahead an have these clothes ordered. I have not heard of anyone else with the same design, so I do not expect any difficulties.”
Yogo Kusabana loked at his yoriki with an appraising eye. “And do you think you are ready for a personal mon? It is true you have been performing rather well in the courts, and your name is being recognized more and more, but what makes you think you are ready?”
“Sensei,” Subudi began with a bow, “I did not think myself worthy until a few weeks ago. At the Emerald Championship I was able to meet with O-Doji-Koneko-sama. It was just a whim that I went to speak with her, but I must have made an impression, for later during the events, she called me to her room for some discussion. We engaged in some banter and she cleverly wrangled me into a game of sadane. She seemed excited by the game, and surprised by my skill with my words, and of course the training you have given me. It was then that I realized it was time for a personal mon.”
Yogo Kusabana looked at his student with an appraising look. The surprise was evident in his eyes despite his years of training to hide his emotions with his eyes. “That is quite an achievement. Your time in the courts has been well spent indeed. I give you my blessing for the mon, and I do not think anyone else has chosen that particular design either.” Kusabana muled over the papers in front of him. “That aside, there is still a lot of koku to be accounted for.”
“Look in the right hand drawer sensei.”
Kusabana reached over and slid the wooden drawer open on the desk and pulled out one of the small envelopes inside. Opening it up he poured the contents on the desk and looked up at his student. “What is this?”
“That, sensei-sama, is what I have been working on for some time now. You’ll note that some time ago I requested access to a couple prayers I had not previously been given?”
“Yes, you called in some favors from the Clan to be allowed to have access to the prayer of Calling Upon the Wind , and the prayer to Summon Fog. But this,” Kusabana trailed off as his studied the pile of fine powder, rubbing a pinch of it between his fingers, “is this jade?”
“Yes sensei-sama. I have been spending the funds you have asked about to acquire fingers of jade throughout the Empire. Wherever my travels have taken me I have purchased a few jade fingers so as not to be noticeable to anyone outside of the Clan. During my research in the schooling I have been given, we have discussed various aspects of maho and shadow lands creatures, so that I may not only better aid you, but also for my hopeful future life as a Jade Magistrate myself.”
“Yes, you have been focusing your recent studies on those subjects. Was a bit worried about your zeal of knowledge on those subjects, but as you had not shown signs of corruption, I figured it best to let you live. But why would you crush precious jade into sand. It has no potency in this form to ward off the taint. It is ruined.”
“If sensei-sama would care for a demonstration?” Subudi stood up, using the small cane to support himself as he did so. He motioned for his master to come across the room to stand beside him. Kusabana stood up and followed his yoriki, staring at the desk.
“I wished access to those spells so that I could test an idea I had. The air kami like games and tricks, so I figured, if the would be willing to lift a person in the air, how much easier it would be to lift something smaller, like a finger of jade? Then I remembered that the air kami would be willing to create a mist using the water in the air and toss it about, creating a fog. Why would it not be possible to perform the same act with something besides water, if the kami would be willing?”
“Go on?” Kusabana turned his head and listened to his student intently.
“Well, I ten began to look into the effects of jade on maho spells and also on shadow lands creatures. It was about that time that I began asking all those questions. I am sorry if I seemed mysterious on the matter, but I wasn’t sure if my research would be halted through fear. I have not tested what I am about to show you on those two forms, maho or tainted creatures, but I am rather sure of the effect.”
Subudi pulled out a scroll and began to recite the prayer off of it. The words called to the air kami in the small room, and Kusabaan could feel them reel about. Suddenly the small pile of jade dust burst forth into the air and danced about the room. The flame of the candle seemed to glitter from the jade in the air, and a pale green glow covered everything. The air kami danced back and forth, tossing he jade dust between each other and upon everything. Subudi continued to concentrate upon the prayer as he began to explain.
“This is a small game I devised. The air kami love it. Due to the number of kami needed and the amount of jade it takes to make the piles of dust, I have only done this a couple times, but a lot of jade was needed to perfect the spell.”
“It is interesting but I fail to see the application?” Kusabana looked about the room, the swarm of the air kami almost making him dizzy. It was not an effect he was expecting.
“It is my theory, that with so much jade in the air itself, that maho spells being cast within, or being cast into this area will be greatly hindered. Also, draw your blade sensei-sama.”
Kusabana reached down and draw his wakizashi from his saya and held it before him. Almost as soon as it was free from the sheath the blade reflected a dull green from the dust being thrown at it.
“While indeed not potent enough to prevent acquisition of the taint, the air kami tos the jade upon everything, including weapons, and especially upon tainted creatures. I have not seen this yet, but I think they will have an allergic reaction to the dust which is always funny for the air kami to laugh at. I also think that while the dust remains active, weapons used inside will be able to cut through the tough hides of shadow lands beasts as if they were made of jade.”
Subudi let the spell fall down, and the air kami left the game and went back to what they were doing before it started. Kusabana looked about the room. No trace of the dust remained.
“Of course the jade once crushed and used is not recoverable. A small cost for such a weapon against the tainted foes of the Empire.” Subudi handed over the scroll to his master who took it and look at his student with a proud gleam in his eye. “I have written a copy of the prayer for you, and hope this explains the meaning for the koku expenses I have been requesting. I also hope it goes towards proving my dedication to fighting the evil that the Empire faces.” Ending his display, Bayushi Subudi bows low to his teacher.