Holding a gengiri carapace, Kajima was noting the features of the mat black curved plate of chitin, it was the size of a dinner plate. Conversing with Azi, as they had done before, he went over its different uses. It was a good start to the lesson as it was a versatile piece of material for craftsmen.
The carapace, in Azi’s opinion, seemed big enough that even Kajima’s wide head could use it like a helmet, so he had no doubt his own would definitely have room to spare if he put it on. In fact he tried putting it on for fun which got a laugh out of Kajima.
The topic then moved on. Kajima showed Azi some armor pieces made from multiple gengiri carapaces weaved together into a scale mail pattern. Obviously, each scale on it was honed and cut into shape. How? Azi didn’t know, not yet that is.
The pattern was unique on each scale mail, every piece of carapace seemed to be finely detailed and interlocked with each other. He deduced Kajima must’ve cut the carapace into smaller pieces so that he could make a flexible weave of armor. Overall, each scale was the size of a finger.
This is incredible.
“Woah.” Azi had only laid a soft touch but could tell from that brief contact that they were uncannily smooth. The edges and surfaces he thought would feel jagged, by his initial guess, were carefully sanded down and fitted together in a perfect alignment which made it seem as if there were no gaps between the armor.
There was so much attention put to this armor pattern and it didn't look as if even a piece of sand could get into it. Hefting the armor onto himself, Azi was surprised by how the chainmail-linked scale armor had only a somewhat small heft. The whole attire was on the much larger side in comparison to his own stature, so it should’ve been weighing him down.
He was much shorter than the average person or soldier. Even with the added weight from the difference in builds, the scale mail felt comfortable and he could run in it if he wanted to. As he was taking it off, Kajima rummaged for a few more books.
He passed a few to Azi and said jovially, "Guess you can already tell. Gengiri carapaces are lighter than normal metals but aren’t all that strong, a steel knife or saw can punch through it, but that makes it easy to reform the carapaces to the needed shapes. Not really as good as real steel plate armor, but the carapace can stop an arrow from a distance. What you have there is my current design and it's supposed to be worn under leather armor to provide more lightweight protection."
"Mind if I try my hand at shaping some carapaces?" Azi asked, his excitement to take a crack recreating a piece like Kajima’s was palpable.
Impressed with his eagerness Kajima didn’t let himself get carried away, he had to calm Azi down. Enthusiasm was good, but patience was key.
"Yes, but later. No need to rush head first into this. Let's have you study from this monster anatomy book, it will teach you the basics, that way you’ll be able to know the ins and outs. There is also something I want to show you." He handed the book over and made for the door.
Azi nodded. “Alright.” He stowed the book under his arm following along. “I'll hold onto the book for now.” He said. “What is it that you want to show me?"
"Well, you’ll need to learn how to disassemble a monster, so we’ll start with gengiri, if you want materials to work with you’ll have to make it from scratch yourself."
“Sounds fun.” As usual, Azi had a smile of delighted anticipation.
Leaving the workshop, they stepped out into the snowy grounds surrounding the house and arrived in front of a small warehouse only a few meters away. It wasn’t all that big to live in but the space was well organized. The cold winds chilled their bodies as they got it open. Thanks to some forethought they had adequate coverage with the use of some fur coats they had grabbed on the way out.
After pushing open a pair of heavy doors, Kajima began searching in a lax manner as if he were just picking up some groceries. Azi took the time and looked around, comparing the drawings in the book he was given to the stuff stored here.
There were stacks upon stacks of various materials in boxes and wooden crates. Ores of different colors were organized into one corner that filled an entire side of the small warehouse.
Off to another side, he could see that Kajima was moving to grab something that was wrapped in a cloth and what looked like a wooden stand with ropes and hanging hooks.
After retrieving what they’d need, Kajima took everything outside and began to set up the stand. The hooks found themselves dangling as he mounted and secured what was rolled up in the cloth.
What now hung in front of them like an upturned fish was a gengiri corpse. Azi thought it looked like a big shrimp, though he couldn’t remember what a shrimp exactly was, it sounded tasty. With the last of the stand’s hooks secure, Kajima got on with disassembling the gengiri with his own carving knife.
"First, you would drain the blood by making an incision and then stick a tube into the incision to drain the blood into containers.” He said, pointing the tip of his knife near what looked like a branching gray vein. “The blood of the gengiri is poisonous but is useful. Making antidotes and such are possible, those things eat a lot of poisonous plants, so they have a kind of resistance in their blood. Watch carefully for this part.”
Running the blade along the gengiri’s belly, Kajima continued. “This is where it gets tricky though. I’ll show you where to cut when it's your turn, but the real issue is how to remove all the flesh from the corpse to ensure that there is none of it remaining on the carapace."
He showed Azi a few of the tricks he came up with to make the process easier. It involved shoving the knife in between each larger carapace piece to loosen them from each other.
Then, he cut into as many of the contact points between the carapace and flesh, and the final trick was to cut a grid pattern into the underside of the gengiri's body so that a wide headed shovel could easily scrape out the flesh from the carapace.
With the soft bits cut into smaller pieces and its connection to the carapace weakened, the innards were scooped out cleanly with only a few shovelfuls. Any remaining flesh was then either burned off or cut with a knife.
“Ugh, gross.. So that’s how you do it.” Azi was taken aback by the abhorrent smell of the gengiri. The smell wafted with every cut, though it was satisfying to see the end result come together.
Kajima moved to grab a fresher gengiri corpse from the warehouse and told Azi to try his hand at butchering this one.
Giving it a try, Azi grabbed a few buckets and a rubber-like hose from the workshop. With Kajima’s instruction, he began to drain the blood. The thing, again, reeked, the clotted blood squelched and Azi got squeamish.
“Urk, I think I’m going to be sick.” He gulped the forming knot in throat.
“You’ll get used to it.” Kajima patted his back, assuring him he’d be fine. “Try to breathe through your mouth and wear this.” He handed Azi a cloth and helped him tie it around his face.
“Oh..” Azi sighed in relief, it was like the smell had lowered in pungency, it still stank to high heaven, but at least it didn’t trigger his gag reflex as much. “This is so much better.” He said and cut into the carapace points, making sure to sever as many connections between soft and hard bits. “Phew! This thing’s tough, even when it's dead.”
“That’s because it's gone rigid.” Kajima ran a finger along the grain of the gengiri’s intestines. “The muscles are all tensed around here, so put your back into this part.”
“Alright! Let’s try this then.”
Azi pressed harder and moved his knife in a sawing motion. Recognizing the direction of the innards’ grain, he cut perpendicular to it. Doing so made making the grid pattern cuts easier.
This was the most tedious work Azi had done but he derived a somewhat satisfied emotion when he finally scooped out the innards with a shovel. It came out like butter, and in such satisfying uniform pieces.
“Urk.” Azi grimaced. “I think I’ll wear two cloths over my mouth next time.”
At some points on the last step, he had to hold his breath to prevent himself from inhaling too much of the corpse's stench, but this did not deter him. With his focus honed like a freshly sharpened spear, Azi continued until he was left with an empty black shell.
He panted, his mouth gaping. Kajima was right, breathing through his mouth helped. It lessened the stench from getting into his head and he was sure he could taste the rot a lot less in his mouth.
It took him much longer than Kajima to butcher one gengiri, but he had been told to take his time. This was a skill that took a labor of love, so he gave his all while not burning himself out. He did wish that the sight of blood and guts didn’t wear at him so much, that was going to take some time to adjust to.
"Nice work. It's better that it is done right rather than quick.” Said Kajima. “When you make tools from materials, it is best if those materials are in good condition." He inspected Azi’s work one more time.
Azi nodded and continued on another gengiri corpse, trying to get his technique down. A few minutes passed and he soon finished another disassembly. Kajima again appraised his work closely and made a few comments on how he could have improved and where he went wrong.
“Hmmm, your knife work needs some finesse.” He said. You don’t have much muscle so you’ll have to practice to work up the strength. Overall, a good start. Let’s move on then.”
As he talked, Azi listened to every word Kajima told him with a passionate glee. It was so amusing. Kajima hadn’t seen such a fervent willingness to learn in all his life. Not many people were in the prospect of blacksmithing or craftsmanship, it was a family trade and most peasants had their eyes set on the Empire’s capital to make it rich. So he had to ask.
"Why do you always seem so interested when we talk about things like this? I don’t believe I’ve seen a soul as curious as you." Azi was looking over his work as he answered, pondering as he examined the differences between their cuts in the butchered monsters.
"I don't really know. I just find it fascinating.” Picking up a piece of carapace, he knocked on its black surface, as if trying to hear something. “There are so many topics I have no knowledge of. So when I think about being able to learn it, I feel an urge to figure it out. You know. Take it apart, note it down, try out an idea, and then see what happens."
It was childlike fascination. Kajima couldn’t deny it, nor that Azi wasn’t a child.
"Your motivation and passion to learn is admirable.” Kajima let out a chuckle and then said. “I'll be sure to teach you what I can." Giving a big smile, he had no doubt that Azi was genuinely overzealous in almost everything he didn’t know. Shizu was right, he had a wanderlust to his personality, so it was a matter of time until..
Kajima was taken away from his thoughts when hear Azi say, "Thank you, teacher." Azi flushed as he scratched his head in embarrassment. “I can’t wait to learn more, plus, I can’t wait to hear more about your stories.”
"Teacher?" That took Kajima off guard.
Azi didn’t seem to notice his distress. "Yes, Teacher. That is what I'll call you now."
Kajima laughed exuberantly. He was too old and too uneducated to be considered a teacher of anything. It felt wrong, though alright in this situation. But he had a few conditions. The title of teacher was reserved for actual scholars, not commoners like himself. So being called so in public might make people get the wrong idea.
"Okay.” Kajima nodded. “But only call me that during lessons. It's embarrassing to have someone as old as you call me a teacher of all things." He began to flush. Azi found it amusing.
"Deal.” Azi agreed for his sake, picking up on Kajima’s rare change of shade on his cheeks. “I'll do my best.. Teacher."
Kajima chuckled again. “Heh, As will I." He smiled and Azi smiled back. They were sharing a jeering moment and then both of them shared a small laugh. The day went on and continued with a lesson on beowolves.
Days went by and eventually Azi had gotten the hang of the basic butchering skills. His lack of strength was still a road block though, and it would take time to get past it. He’d still need to also study, so he spent his time in the afternoons reading books after lunch.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Meanwhile, Shizu had finished moving in and had already set up a place for herself to work in the living room. The bulk of her work involved being out of the house, but at every start of the day, attending to the arriving messages during breakfast at home was preferred.
One day, with the day’s lunch finished, Kajima went to clean up and Azi got up to go to his room for some studying. Suddenly, Shizu grabbed his collar from behind.
“Huh? Wha-what is it Shizu?” Azi asked, but already knew what she wanted. He had been avoiding her and the annoyed look on her face wasn’t welcoming.
“Oh don’t ask me that.” Shizu said accusingly. “You’ve had your lessons with Kajima these past days, now it’s my turn.” She forcefully dragged him outside by his collar, all the while Kajima waved to them.
Kajima wasn’t welcoming at how rough she was handling Azi, but knew not to interfere if he couldn’t help it. Shizu was still a noble and he was a peasant, he couldn’t intervene and preferred not to get into politics, or into whatever Shizu was up to if he couldn’t help it.
“Wait! What are we doing then?” Azi reached for his collar to try to get her hand off him. Shizu didn’t relent and didn’t even give him an answer. She just mercilessly dragged him out into the snowy grounds outside. Pulling him up, she then pushed a wooden sword and shield into his hands.
“We're sparring today, so try to attack me.” Shizu took a few paces away from Azi and pointed her own wooden sword at him. “Show me what you can do!”
“Uh? Okay?” Azi wasn’t sure how to approach this, or how to react to the battle hardened exterior Shizu was fronting on him. Fighting her seemed like a big step to take on day one of her.. so called.. lessons. Nevertheless that didn’t stop him from at least trying, he didn’t want to back down. This was also a good chance to blow off some steam. He’d.. try. At least.
Azi came in as quick as he could, his shield up in one hand and his wooden sword thrusting out. Shizu parried his straightforward attack and then delivered a thudding hit to the side of his head as he lost his balance. His footing was off, it was crude.
For a second, his feet left the ground and he landed on his butt as he rubbed his sore head.
“Ow! Ugh, did you have to hit that hard!”
“Stop being a baby.” Shizu glowered and pointed her sword to his throat. “Try.. Again.. Or are you really a little pup, helpless and weak.”
“Woah, talk about spartan.” Azi sighed though Shizu didn’t get his meaning. It seems she didn’t know what a spartan was.
“Hurry up. I don’t have all day.” She said. “I still have my other duties in the village, so don’t make me regret giving you these lessons.”
“Fine, but I would at least like some guidance rather than getting smacked around. Can’t we start with practice swings?”
“No, that won’t help. Just trust me, this is the best way to train you.”
“You gotta be kidding me.” Azi grumbled. He didn’t like it but he had to accept what he had gotten himself into. Some combat training would do him some good, especially since he didn’t want a repeat with the Kengiri. Please, for the love of the emperor, let me get out of this without any broken bones.
He stepped back and restarted the match. Scrutinizing every move he made, Shizu inwardly appraised him. His swings were amateur by her estimations, too wide, out of control, and most of all, too predictable. He was like a child swinging a stick.
Where had that bestial fighting spirit gone? He had it when he killed 3 gengiri in just seconds. It was an impressive show of force, so why couldn’t he bring it out now? Shizu blocked his suddenly thrown out low swing. Parrying, her sword rose quickly and prodded at his forehead. Knocked back, Azi stumbled as he tried to keep himself from falling.
Well.. he’s underwhelming. Shizu couldn’t help and sigh in disappointment.
“Come on!” She shouted. “Bring out that fierce side of yours, like before.” Azi came at her again but like always he was too forward and lacked any style or pattern of attack. Shizu again encouraged him with a few light hits to the head.
As a result, Azi was sent into a slight daze that took his breath away.
“I.. hah. I don’t know.. Hah.. How.” He gasped between every fruitless swing Shizu evaded. “This is my first time.. Real.. Hah.. fight. That last time.. was a fluke. It.. happened so fast.. I can’t.. remember.. Hah. How to do it.”
“Then keep trying!” Shizu shouted, clashing with him and could feel his feeble effort to push against her sword, it was so slight that she didn’t even need to strain her arm. Stepping to the right, she watched with judging eyes as Azi fell from his own uncontrollable momentum.
Pathetic. Shizu wanted to sneer, but she held it back. She couldn’t be hard on him, as much as she wanted to, he was in the process of learning from the start, a blank slate. Her eyes though didn’t hide her contempt.
“Excuse me.” The voice of a man suddenly called out behind her. Shizu looked over her shoulder and found a soldier, likely from the village watch, approaching as Azi was getting up and dusting the snow from his clothes.
The soldier held a letter in one hand, presenting it for her to see with a stiff bow. “My lady Shizu, An urgent letter from Village Chief Manu, he would like you to sort a continued matter out personally.”
The man’s tone was both a touch of fear and awe, he was all wound up like a taut bowstring. Shizu took the letter from the soldier and opened it, making no apparent reaction.
“Oh, so I have to deal with this. Alright then soldier. Tell Manu that I’ll work it out today. That will be all.”
“Yes My lady.” The soldier left in a hurry as Azi limped up to Shizu’s side. By the look Azi was giving her he was asking for a break. In fact, he looked as if he wanted to hurry up and go study. Shizu sighed. This was not what I was expecting.
“Fine.” She finally said. “Go have your fun with your books. But I won’t start helping you train you in magic until I think you’re ready.”
“Why not?” Azi whined. “I was so excited for that. Can’t you make an exception?”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Shizu wasn’t backing down on this point, he didn’t deserve that knowledge in her eyes. “You can either teach yourself or wait until I think you’re ready.” She said, shrugging. “It’s your choice, but I do want to preface that learning magic is both dangerous and challenging. Monetarily, mentally, and physically.”
“I.. Uh, dang it, Alright.” Regretful as it was, Azi understood the true trials of learning anything new, especially in a topic that he knew was out of his depth. He had to be ready, he couldn’t just learn something without any base or foundation.
“Fine.” He said. “I’ll be inside, you know where to find me.”
“Yeah.” Shizu folded up the letter and pocketed it. She threw him her training sword and he caught it before heading back inside. “Make sure you keep your room clean Azi. I don’t want to have to clean it up again.”
“I know, I know. Thanks, and I’ll see you later.” Azi waved with his back to her. It was inappropriate, though Shizu didn’t mind. In fact she preferred this informal mannerisms of conversation. It was more tolerable than the stiff atmosphere with the soldier earlier.
Leaving Kajima's house, she went to handle the affairs left after the investigation they had finished with Yashimu days prior. The transactions of the monster materials with the village had to be completed on her end. Her brother had thought it wise to give her the responsibility as it was an issue that could be settled on a later date. With her new post at Shisayama, dealing with the said issue was convenient time wise.
She arrived at the village barracks and got two soldiers to aid her in moving the materials to the assigned village store houses. The surplus monster corpses had been getting worked on and were now ready for appraisal and storage.
A stout man, likely the village’s warehouse manager, came out to greet her out front of a series of uniform looking warehouses. Sacks of flour and other goods were being brought around and organized, it seemed the village’s business and stockpile were going strong, even during the winter season.
"So what can you give me for what we brought you today?" Shizu eyed the crates her soldiers were lifting and setting on the ground next to the manager.
The stout man peered into each crate, touching and running his palm across the processed monster parts.
“Well let’s see, quite a good haul and a rare find, Kengiri, I see. You must’ve had a fun time fighting that.” The man's joke made Shizu crack a small smile.
“Kinda, it was tough and caught my group off guard.” She then paused for a second, mulling the event over. We almost lost someone.. No, we did lose someone. The thought put a dower mood on today. She wished she could’ve been stronger at that crucial moment or had been quicker on the draw.
The warehouse master, keeping his distance from her, began to fiddle with a ledger as he flipped through it. Shizu didn’t know it but she had that look that said not to mess with or con her. While not her intention, she was putting up a good intimidating front, perfect for negotiations.
"In all, you have 1 kengiri, 45 gengiri, and 10 beowolves.” The master said, somewhat timidly. “The usual going rate for each gengiri and beowolves are respectively 1 bronze plate and 2 bronze plates. The kengiri comes to 1 silver coin, so after a bit of math, minus the village commission, the payout is 4 silver coins and 6 bronze plates or 46,000 Minos."
“Sure.” Shizu nodded. “That should work. I’ll take it now and distribute it.”
“Then we have a deal.”
The warehouse manager handed her the money and got her to sign the needed paperwork, he then bowed before briskly walking away to a deeper section inside one of the warehouses.
Shizu returned to the village barracks and divided the money into portions. The soldier’s who had opted to stay in Shisayama would be earning extra pay from today’s transaction.
Not only that, but they were doing extra patrols at night. With this and their salary, they were making a tidy sum and would continue to do so whenever they brought in new monster corpses from patrols. It was a perk of sorts for being posted so far from their original homes in Kujyuri’s capital.
With 46,000 Minos and with the 5 groups of soldiers who stayed, each team would receive 7000 Minos and the remainder would then be given to the village treasurer as a gift. On the side, Shizu pocketed 5,000 Minos for her own use.
Some would see this as thievery but it wasn’t, she was only taking her group's sum from the last events with the Kengiri.
During usual hunts or investigations, soldiers were not paid extra for monster material submissions, so it was only fair that Azi and Kajima were compensated like the soldiers would be. They had put their lives on the line, so a little pay wouldn’t hurt.
But, like every decision, this case was different as Ozen had negotiated with Manu on how to use the money from the surplus materials they had gathered and would be gathering in the future. The village affairs needed some work. In the coming days, the soldiers would be doing work that was out of their regular schedule and both Manu and Ozen had found it unfair to not pay the soldiers for their extra labor.
Right now, it was Shizu’s role to mediate and ensure the proceeds were processed. The final agreement between Ozen and Manu was that the soldiers would be given a bonus on this last hunt and subsequent hunts, while a part of the money would go to the village for its growth and development. The village’s portion would be taken in the form of a commission fee since the villagers would be the ones dissembling the beasts.
This was not going to mesh well with the soldiers because, yes, it cut into their profits. Luckily, Ozen had preempted any outrage from that fact with a promise of booze, an enticing offer for soldiers who usually were forbidden to drink on duty and had little money to afford liquor since most of their earnings were sent home to their families.
The extra money from the village commission would also be vital. Shisayama could pay and hire hunters from other villages to reinforce the village watch and offer some of it as an up-front tax as an early offering to the Emperor of Yamato.
At the turn of every season a tax would be collected, so sending some of the taxes early was a small gesture to curry favor with the Emperor or top officials in the Imperial Court. There was an enormous load of backroom dealing and managerial decisions. Shizu was glad she wasn’t part of those long drawn out meetings.
Doling out the soldier’ bonus pay, Shizu ended her day and made her way back to Kajima's house. Along the way she bought a few meat skewers and a few bottles of sake for everyone back at home. Arm in arm, she had paper bags of food and drink, along with some of her own personal shopping.
She had been busy the past few days, nothing of note had happened in her recent reports, so a bit of leisure was in order. Her father and brother, with their servants, had already finished their share business in Shisayama and had moved back to the capital the day prior.
Officially Shizu was now on her own. It was.. Freeing, but she would be hearing from them in the future. For now though, she would enjoy her freetime.
Suddenly, she thought about who she had left at the capital. Her personal guard was of note. That was of little concern though since they were on a holiday of sorts and bringing them here would be a waste.
Their talents were best used in the capital, training soldiers to Shizu’s standards. The next person she thought about was Rulu. Shizu got the urge to write a letter to her. It had only been a few days but she was missing her adorable little sister.
By the time she got home it was the late afternoon.
“I’m back!” She called out as she walked into the living room of the house.
“Oh, welcome back.” The unenthusiastic greeting came from Azi, who waved to her for a moment. He was sitting down at the dining table, eyes glued to a large book. He was quite the bookworm and overly fascinated most of the time. Not even the loud banging of metal from the workshop distracted him and he didn’t even regard her for more than a second.
Noting the noise, Shizu guessed that Kajima was likely working on some of his commissions, so she stayed clear of going inside the workshop any time soon. By the sound of it, her uncle was getting into it which was likely why Azi was sitting outside, he wasn't ready for that advanced kind of work and she could tell by his mood.
Azi looked peeved, as if someone told him that he couldn’t stay and watch. Not to mention, his recent inadequate performance these past few afternoon spars with her were having an effect on his self esteem. Come on, Don’t be like that. Shizu wanted him to buck up, so she rustled the bags in her arms.
"Hey! Azi, you want a snack!"
Startled from his intense focus, he reflexively turned his head in her direction. Thinking it was a lot for one person to carry all those bags she had, he got up and walked over to grab them from her.
"Umm.. yeah.. Here, pass it to me. Where do you need them?"
"Thanks, take this and this.” Shizu passed a couple of the items to him. “Just put them on the dining table. It's mostly food and drink so let's enjoy it together."
Azi shot a questioning gaze at what he was holding and took a whiff of the leaking aroma from the lip of the paper bag. A smile formed on his face. He could recognize the smell of grilled meat that reminded him of a food called BBQ from his memories.
Would the meat taste like chicken, beef, or pork? The inner question caused him to slightly drool. Noticing, Shizu cracked up at the dumb smile of bliss on his face.
"Don't drool on the food, Azi. We all need to eat it."
“Huh? Wha! Oh!” Snapping out of his short daze, Azi recomposed himself and deftly wiped the drool away with his shoulder sleeve. "My bad. Anyway, good timing. Kajima said he’ll finish soon. He’ll be out in just a moment."
Shizu gave a nod and the two began to set the table. Tonight was going to be heavy on the drinking, and she wondered if Azi could take his drink, or if he was even old enough. He still looked like a kid to her, except these days she was coming around to agreeing that his personality and daily demeanor was overly mature.
He took his lessons seriously, even if that silly little head of his was in the clouds sometimes.