tushanshu | (01 video)

[The camera flips on to reveal a young girl with long bright blonde hair drawn up in two high pigtails, and a blue and white striped sweatshirt. There’s also noticeably a long, wrapped package slung over her shoulder, in what someone who’s familiar with swords might realize is exactly the right size for a full length katana. There’s a fierce, set expression on her face, and she dramatically points her finger directly into the camera.]

Alright! Let’s not waste any time around here! If we’re given obstacles, then we have to overcome them, right? I’m sure if you’ve all been here for a while, then you’ve gotten a lot more answers than what those unhelpful lackies told me on the ride down… So, fill me in. What's something interesting you've learned since you got here? Just one thing!

[She’s not totally mindlessly determined and naïve, though. Raimei sobers, frowning slightly.] My name is Raimei Shimizu, a samurai. We don’t need to keep any secrets here, do we…? I’ll openly try to achieve my goals with my sword.

[Then she brightens up again, not letting herself think about how dire circumstances are for too long.] Ah, and--! Since I guess I’m not going anywhere fast, what’s all this about a job? Shouldn’t a girl my age still be in school?!

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But you're probably planning on it when you can, right? [she persists.]

What are you going to ask her?

I'd like to ask her why she is so secretive and yet selectively informs us. I'd also like to attempt to formulate a method by which we can more easily share information and propose it to her. Despite the circumstances, I would like to cooperate with her.

[He is a king. A king should always seek compromise and negotiation. A king should attempt to understand others and seek to meet their needs. A king should offer aid and build trust so that all can work together for the greater good.

He needed more people to tell him 'a king should just do what he wants' as a child.]

You think we should cooperate...? [She's frowning in thought.]

We don't necessarily all need all of the information. We just need someone who knows all of it who we can trust to direct us. But... how would we know who to nominate?

[Raimei sighs. This is all too complicated for her.] I don't want to follow anyone I don't know. [Not after what'd happened with Koutarou.]

Indeed. With the way new people are brought in, and others disappear, it is hard to create a coherent community from which clear leaders, known and trusted to all, can be chosen.

But I do believe that, though I don't entirely trust the Emperor, cooperation is our best bet in developing an effective way to counter what threatens us.

Yeah. If she's the only one that knows everything, we don't really have much choice, do we?

[She shakes her head.] We can at least assume she'll protect her own people. [Not necessarily, she knows, but she'll operate on that assumption for now.] As long as we're living with them, that'll have to be enough. Charging in blindly without knowing what's going on, thinking you can fix things...

[Suddenly more pensive.]

That won't solve anything.

It never does.

[He wonders if Raimei knows from experience. He doesn't ask.]

I would like to know what it is that the Emperor wants to protect, whether it is herself, her people, this turtle, or this whole world. Unfortunately, that isn't usually a question that is best directly asked.

[Oh, she does. But she's much better about that now.]

But you could ask the people around her, couldn't you? The ones that support her? I don't know if they'll give you the truth-- but-- even a king has to be seen clearly by his friends!

[She's thinking about Miharu, here, as the once prospective king of Nabari.]

[Richard can't argue with that; no one knows him better than his friends and his closest advisor.]

I may need to look into who they would be. Perhaps Commander Evandau is one such. I know little about how the Emperor's court is run, and whose position would be closest to her. We have little opportunity to observe such things.

They don't make that public?! But it's a government, isn't it? Whatever happened to transparency?

[Yeah, she's grumpy and annoyed at that.]

[He's a little surprised at the idea. Perhaps she comes from a democratic country? The Strahtans feel differently about it.] While I believe there is more emphasis on transparency in the democratic republic of Strahta, monarchs do not conduct their affairs with that same need for public accountability. Unless there are laws or traditions in place to limit her, it is entirely at the Emperor's discretion whether she wishes to have a council, act independently, or take advice from the general population.

And there's nothing to keep her in check? Is that really what it's like here?

Augh... That's so old-fashioned! There needs to be someone responsible for keeping the balance.

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