Decem 18th of 4831 AS During the morning of the 4th day of sparring practice with Ougi, Ben and Bail had dropped by Kajima's house. It was an awkward situation as Ougi had again thrown Azi over his shoulder. Lying flat on the snowy ground, Azi groaned a bit but noticed that two familiar figures were standing over him. They looked at him wryly, and Ben asked a bit worried that they might have come at a bad time. "Hey Azi, is now a good time?" Getting to his feet, Azi dusted the snow off his clothes and looked to Ougi who was a few paces away. Giving Ougi a look to convey his question of if they could have a break, Ougi responded with a smile and a nod. In the few days that Azi spent with Ougi, this was a way of communication between them was picked up as it seemed that Ougi had the ability to read the mood and expressions of others. It made conversations with him brief and concise. Azi still had a hard time trying to read Ougi's expressions as his squinted eye made it hard for hi

Chapter 74 Rest and Relaxation As Ougi's right fist flew through the air towards Azi's face, Ougi had a slight grin on his somewhat ever stoic face. His brow furrowed in the next moment as he did not feel the expected sensation of Azi's face against his gloved fist. Deftly moving his less dominant left hand, Ougi caught an unexpected punch coming at his right side that was just out of his blind spot. He had noticed a few strands of a familiar head of disheveled black hair pass by his side after his punch missed. It was Azi and he had spun to Ougi’s right while using his left foot as a pivot to move out of the path of Ougi's punch. Using his small stature, Azi slouched a bit to hopefully hide from Ougi's sight as he closed the gap between his fist and Ougi’s face. Azi had been trying to improve his hand to hand combat and grappling techniques for the past two weeks and was beginning to show progress. After being constantly thrown to the snowy ground, he learned how to evade and cou

While the two lovebirds were having a moment, Rulu, Nosuri, and Ougi had arrived at a certain bookstore near the northern end of Shisayama. Many goods that were sold here came from Yamato and Rulu was fascinated by the variety of books that she could now buy. As the group walked into the bookstore, they could see that the wooden shelves were filled with a wide variety of books. Many were decorated with pressed flowers or hand drawn images made from a variety of colored inks. This sight was due to how paper was a common resource created in the Empire and its nations. In the history of the Empire, its creation was made and gifted by the emperor as an innovation that replaced the previously used bamboo scrolls that were cumbersome and had little space for writing. These were still used as a cheaper alternative, but it had no advantage over the invention of paper. It was over a century ago since its introduction and since then the empire has had a boom in the variety of literature tha

-Prior to Ben and Bail's arrival- The duo of Azi and Shizu continued their bath and while they had enjoyed the comfort of each other's bodies, they had incorrectly bathed themselves as they should have washed themselves with soap and water before entering the tub. "While I do enjoy our moment, I believe we should get a proper bath in. I can still smell the sweat from your morning training." Said Shizu. "Alright but I'm not letting you wash me, not unless you let me clean you as a fair exchange." Argued Azi. Still haunted by how roughly Shizu had previously "cleaned" him, he hoped to either never experience such an embarrassing event again or be able to get even with her. Shizu, the stubborn kind of person she was, would not back down as she endeavored to win the next battle to determine who was the more dominant one between the two. This had become a common occurrence between them ever since that day they fought each other while drunk. Shizu had never lost in a duel to any man,

"TO OUR NEW, UP AND COMING BLACKSMITH! CHEERS!" Making a toast with a raised cup of sake, Kajima congratulated Azi for his recent success. While they had already celebrated the news of Azi's workshop, today's dinner had an excessive amount of people which made the situation devolve into a party. So, following the flow, everyone raised their cups of sake and drank it down with festive expressions and cheers. Moments before the start of the impromptu party, Azi was given a large pouch from Kajima. When it was dropped into his hands, he was stunned by the weight and the number of silver and bronze coins and plates that were contained inside. He knew that Ben and Bail were going to give him a share of the sold blood steel weapons, but he was not expecting such a large amount, this was due to how he was not kept in the loop about the business side of Bail's work which was quite secretive. While surprised, he was also somewhat relieved and excited as he could do so much more with this