Once I began regularly visiting the forge, Old Gon immediately decided I’d be staying at his place. Actually, when I said I was going to find another place so I didn’t impose on him for too long, he got mad and demanded I stay. So I learned and taught blacksmithing during the day, and drank with Old Gon and talked with Mizuyo at night under the moon. On days when I couldn’t visit the forge, I’d practice together with Old Gon. I had settled into a gentle, relaxing life here.
From time to time, though, I was struck by the realization that this was a kingdom perpetually at war. For example, the time when the equipment we made in the forge was carried off to be shipped to the front lines. When the people training in the dojo left for Chinju. When the wounded from Chinju came back to Outo, unable to continue fighting...though they came back in far fewer numbers than those who left. Old Gon’s house was the dojo of the Rasen School of Spearmanship. There were plenty of young people from the school heading up to the front lines.
One day, while Old Gon and I were training side by side, me with my sword and him with a staff standing in for a spear, a bird...no, a skyfolk flew down into the courtyard. His name was Kotarou, and he had jet-black wings like that of a crow. Being only thirteen years old, he was still a child in my eyes, but among the skyfolk he was very much an adult. It wouldn’t be long before he left to fight in Chinju himself.
“Yo, Kota.” Old Gon stopped his practice and called out to him, so I did likewise.
As a skyfolk, he wasn’t an official student of the Rasen School, which focused on teaching spearmanship to humans. The twisting and turning motions used by humans when fighting were all but impossible for the skyfolk with their enormous wings. The skyfolk fought primarily using throwing spears, swooping charge attacks from the sky, or dogfighting in the air, all taught by their own schools of martial arts.
However, a number of skyfolk grew passionate about their martial arts, and deciding there was something to learn from human martial arts, sometimes came to visit the dojo like this. Among those visitors, Kotarou was a particularly agreeable guy, happily answering my questions when I couldn’t hold back my curiosity any longer.
“Greetings, Master Gonzou, Sir Acer. My apologies for intruding on your practice,” Kotarou greeted us with a deep bow of his head.
That said, he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was obvious that larger, open areas were preferable for landing to the skyfolk. It wasn’t like they were unable to land in streets or other more restricted spaces, but there was always the possibility of accidents occurring if either they or the passersby below them weren’t paying careful attention. Facilities like inns that were regularly visited by skyfolk would have an access point on the roof for them, but unfortunately the buildings that made up the dojo were all single story, so they couldn’t accommodate something similar. Many of the structures in the city that had air access for the skyfolk were built like castle towers or large pagodas.
In short, a flat, single-story dojo like this was not an ideal place for landing. As such, the best option available to Kotarou was a courtyard like the one we were using. Neither Old Gon nor I were stuck up enough to find fault with him for doing something so natural.
“Not at all, we stopped ’cause we wanted to. Isn’t that right?”
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And beyond that, the fact that he was so polite despite being so young was one reason both Old Gon and I had taken a liking to him.
I nodded, waving off Kotarou’s concerns.
“You have my gratitude for your forbearance. I will soon be making the trip to Chinju, so I wished to come and say goodbye to the Rasen School. You have all been a great help to me,” Kotarou declared proudly, eyes bright and chest puffed. I, on the other hand, was internally gasping.
He was so young. I mean, I already knew it wouldn’t be long before he was deployed, but still...he was so young.
“Oh, really? Congratulations. Kota, I’m not your master, nor am I the head of this school anymore, so I don’t have anything to give you. Instead, let me leave you with some advice.” Old Gon, on the other hand, took the news perfectly in stride, congratulating him right away. Ah, it seemed giving a gift to someone heading to the front lines was only proper for someone who was really close to them. If someone like Old Gon or I were to go over the heads of his master or his close relatives and give him something anyway, it would probably be perceived as a little rude. That seemed to be the custom here in Fusou.
“A skyfolk warrior is in the most danger on his first sortie. They tend to get carried away with pride and bloodlust. But nothing is as helpful to us humans as an experienced skyfolk, one who has lived long and felled plenty of oni. Go become a great warrior, Kota. You’re more than qualified.”
The proud excitement immediately vanished from Kotarou’s face, replaced by an earnest and attentive nod. If he was able to take the words of his predecessors so seriously, I had no doubt he’d be a great warrior.
It was just like Old Gon said. All he had to do was survive that first battle. I could only pray that he would. There was nothing I could do for him, not even any words I could give him.
Kotarou left us behind in the courtyard, off to say goodbye to the current head of the Rasen school. Seeing my gaze following him long after he was out of sight, Old Gon poked me with his staff.
“Hey, no need for a face like that. I don’t know how it looks to you, but for us, this is a great honor, and something to be celebrated.” Rather than rebuke me, it felt more like he was trying to convince me.
I was sure he was right. This was a story that you could hear anywhere. Even on the Great Grasslands, Juyal had been sent out on the battlefield at thirteen years old. When you took into account the small but very real difference between the life spans of humans and skyfolk, that age wasn’t too early for Kotarou to be deployed to the front lines either. It was nothing for me to get so sentimental over, especially for someone I only barely knew.
I took a deep breath, then started swinging my sword once again. Today I’d sweat hard and drink harder. I was sure Old Gon was looking for the same thing.