PC: Mizu

[trifocal]

Comments

[trifocal]

[ so it wasn't meant to be cruel. there's some relief in that, but it is fleeting. was it the only way? ... would mizu know the answer? ]

... I suppose it did not go as planned.

[purities]

... No. It didn't.

[and there's guilt here, plainly visible on mizu's face for a moment before it's gone just as quickly.]

If I had known that boy would lead him to us anyway, then I would've killed Boss Hamata and his men from the start.

[trifocal]

[ there's another relief here, that it's the boss who would die instead, and not the boy... ]

Are you an assassin?

[ after seeing this, she might as well ask. ]

[purities]

I'm not. [easily enough.] However... The proprietor, Madame Kaji, had information on a man I was searching for. She was reluctant to just tell me, so I offered my sword to her in exchange for what she knew.

[trifocal]

That's quite the price... Finding this man must be very important to you.

[purities]

It is. He is one of four men that I am sworn to kill.

[trifocal]

... Why must you kill them?

[purities]

Because one of them took my mother and impregnated her — with me, a creature of shame. They've been hunting me down to kill me ever since the day that I was born.

[trifocal]

[ oh. yikes. ]

They wanted you dead?

[purities]

Yes. They can't afford to have any bastards running around, after all.

[trifocal]

Why is that a problem?

[purities]

Their kind is banned from entering my country. It's the law. Has been, since before I was even born.

My very existence is evidence they've been allowed to continue their operations regardless.

[trifocal]

Their "kind"?

[purities]

White men. Foreigners.

[trifocal]

... Oh.

[ she doesn't know what white people are, but. she understands. ]

I suppose... it would be a scandal in my homeland, too. But to enforce it by trying to take someone's life, simply because of how they were born...

... Will you be safe, then, if those men are stopped?

[purities]

I don't know about safe. But I will certainly be more at ease. Satisfied.

[trifocal]

Satisfied...?

[ she's thinking about it. trying to understand. ]

I too have someone I must kill, but I do not expect that it will be satisfying...

[purities]

No? Then why must you kill them?

[trifocal]

He is a man who believes only in power, who will use it to seize anything he wants and destroy anything that obstructs him. I met him just once, and he told me that had I not cooperated with his men, he would have burned my village to ashes. He said this with not a shade of hesitation or shame.

He is a candidate for the throne. If he becomes king... no one will be safe.

[purities]

... I see. So you must kill him for your own safety and that of your people. [frowning, just a little troubled.] It's unfortunate that there are men like him everywhere.