Speaker
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Dialogue
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??? Meursault
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I have made my move.
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??? ???
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... Oh, so you have.
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An old man garbed in a glistening white dopo robe sat opposite the child, who wore a hat woven from horsehair and bamboo.
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The furnace was dark and unlit; the room was freezing. The two sat without even lighting a candle, the moonlight their only source of illumination.
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Yet the moon was fully waxed and bright...
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... bright enough to cast its cold light upon the black and white stones on the board.
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The Second State Councilor and his bodyguard were having a silent discussion via the game of baduk.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Apologies, young man. I was absorbed in thought.
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Protector Meursault
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It is quite all right. We have not set a time limit for this game.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Ha ha ha.
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The old man gently chuckled.
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He sat there for a moment, toying with the black stones in the bowl.
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Protector Meursault
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Mind me not, Second State Councilor. I am but a student in this match. It would be unbecoming of me to bid you hurry.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Yet you are quite impatient now, no?
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Clack.
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The sound of smooth pebbles grinding against each other ceased.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Has it been seven winters already?
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Protector Meursault
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Yes.
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Protector Meursault
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I have been your protector for seven years and four months, Second State Councilor. Time passes fast.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Mmh.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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May I ask for your opinion? I am certain that your perspective may vary from mine; I was raised in affluence, yet you have clawed your way up from the bottom.
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The child began fiddling with the stones again, briefly absorbed in thought. Then he answers with a gentle voice.
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Protector Meursault
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The path you walk is a dark and arduous one.
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Protector Meursault
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But I believe that you walk that path with unyielding tenacity for the good of this Nest and its feathers.
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The old man knitted his brows. Perhaps the child's answer wasn't what he was looking for.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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You have not once shared your opinion with me, ever since you became my protector.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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I suppose that is why I am content with you by my side.
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Protector Meursault
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I apologize. My response must not have been to your satisfaction.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Ha ha, there is no need for apologies.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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... You had the potential to become a 'Blade of Clouds' had you served the Third State Councilor instead.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Is that not the title all those who walk the path of the blade in S Corp. seek? To be recognized as one of the very best in the Nest.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Not even you would jest that you have never sought one such privilege.
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Protector Meursault
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I am your blade to wield, Second State Councilor. You were the one who chose me.
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The child responds immediately and indifferently.
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Protector Meursault
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A blade follows the hand that wields it. And you are that hand, Second State Councilor.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Hah. This is not a move one makes without nary a thought, young man.
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Protector Meursault
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I saw no reason for hesitation.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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......
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The old man—the Second State Councilor—smiled, but there was a tinge of woe in his eyes.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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... If that is your answer, then... I have something to ask of you. Though I hardly deserve to.
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Protector Meursault
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I will do as you command.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Next week... I plan to present this appeal. May I ask you to protect me until then?
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Protector Meursault
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I fail to see your purpose in asking me to do the duties that I am already intent on performing.
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Protector Meursault
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... Ah, do you seek to dismiss me after this?
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Ha ha ha! I see that your talent in jests have grown since we first met.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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... Written in this appeal are the hideous conspiracies, heinous deeds, and studies that have been conducted in secret.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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Should the contents of my appeal be made public... it will shake S Corp. to its roots.
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Protector Meursault
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......
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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That is the strength this appeal carries. And such revelatory strength begets those that seek to destroy it. Assassins.
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S Corp. Second State Councilor
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... Be my blade so that I may see this path to its end. That is my request.
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Protector Meursault
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It shall be done.
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The child replied without a moment of hesitation. He had no reason to.
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Because he never questioned the fact that it was his purpose to protect the Second State Councilor.
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... And that is why the child could not even imagine that he would ever fail.
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The old man perished, despite the child's vow.
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The child's skills with the blade were unparalleled; yet there was only so much that a single person could manage. The powers that be of S Corp. held resources and ploys that no single human could possibly withstand.
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No one in S Corp. quite knew who murdered the old man, or how he was murdered. He was killed in a manner that could never be traced.
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But the child knew.
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It was the old man's political enemy... the Third State Councilor's doing.
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It is before sunbreak; not a soul stirs awake in this hour.
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There was another old man, sleeping—yet soon awakened by a noise from outside his window.
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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What... I-is there anyone out there?
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The old man peeked open the sliding paper door to his room...
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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Huh...?!
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And came face-to-face with the child.
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??? Meursault
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It was you.
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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H-how are you still alive? How did you even get in he—
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The child was surrounded by corpses of decapitated men.
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He glared at the Third State Councilor with a look of a fiend; there was naught but the silence of dead men who were once his bodyguards.
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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I-if you cut me down, it shall not end with your neck! Your entire family, your entire bloodline shall be purged!
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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The Royal Court will send the Ch'unokkun against you!! Y-you must know how terribly tenacious they are; they will not let the borders of a Nest stop them!
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S Corp., a Wing that places heavy emphasis on tradition and hierarchies, oft sends the Ch'unnokkun after contractors who have fled or violated a Taboo.
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Within S Corp., the Fixers might as well be called Ch'unokkun.
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And the Ch'unokkun sent by the Royal Court are known to be like the Taboo Hunters of other Wings; they are deadlier and more tenacious than any pursuers.
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??? Meursault
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I will not cut you down. Your death will change nothing.
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The child's voice is terrifyingly cold and collected.
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??? Meursault
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Let this be a warning still.
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??? Meursault
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A warning that, if I ever find anyone who is capable of tearing these putrid roots from the ground... I will return.
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??? Meursault
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A warning that I can easily separate your pathetic head from your body as a blade cuts through weed.
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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What—?!
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With that, the child disappeared into the early morning wind.
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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Men!!! Find the best Ch'unokkun in the Nest, now! Arrest anyone who ever had ties to that man!
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S Corp. Third State Councilor
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I want them hung before me!!!
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The child left the Third State Councilor's echoing bellows behind and resolutely made his way to the borders of S Corp.
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His persecuted fellows who were barely maintaining their status as feathers at S Corp.
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Those who wielded their blades under the banner of the Blade Lineage. He would one day return to this place with them by his side.
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