Kajima was surprised by Shizu's declaration of suggesting Azi into becoming her potential fiancé. The last 4 who Shizu gave a chance had failed to even pass her standards, let alone her first trial. When the 4 attempted to show how "worthy" they were, each of the 4 men pestered Shizu until she allowed them to take the first trial even though she told them that they were not ready. But their persistence was truly admirable but was short lived. The 4 potential candidates were able to get Shizu to begrudgingly allow them to attempt the first trial. Originally, Shizu would keep the details of the trials a secret, but wanted to get it over with quickly so she revealed what the first trial was. Hearing that they only needed to survive a strike from her and to then land a flow up strike, each fiance believed they could succeed as they were experienced fighters. But things didn't turn out well. The 1st candidate had his arm broken by Shizu's first umbrella strike and he surrendered after no
Starting his first lesson, Kajima held a gengiri carapace and was conversing with Azi about the different uses of a carapace. Kajima showed Azi some armor pieces made from multiple gengiri carapaces weaved together into a scale mail pattern. The pattern was unique as each piece of gengiri carapace were like smooth scales with edges that were sanded down to fit together in a perfect alignment which made it seem as if there were no gaps between the pieces. Azi could see how much attention to detail Kajima gave in his work since it seemed that not even a piece of sand could get in between the carapace pieces. Hefting the armor onto himself, Azi was surprised by how the chainmail-like armor felt only somewhat heavy. It was on the much larger sides as his stature was smaller than the average person in Yamato, but even with the added weight he felt he could run comfortably in it. As he was taking it off, Kajima rummaged for a few more books and answered Azi. "Gengiri carapaces are lighter
After setting the table with food and drink, Azi was about to take a seat but before he did Shizu pulled out a chair for him. Accepting her gesture, with a bit of hesitation as he was still somewhat scared of her, he sat in the chair and was pushed in by Shizu. She then pulled up a seat next to him and began to pour herself a cup of sake. While Azi wanted to tell Shizu that she should not drink in the middle of the day, he remembered how Shizu had a silver seal and he imagined her childishly commanding him to let her drink in peace. ‘Is she really a knight?’ Is what he thought as he witnessed Shizu drink so casually and in such a lackadaisical manner. Shrugging off this thought, Azi sighed in exasperation and grabbed a meat skewer. He began nibbling on it and savored each bite as he could taste the heavy and robust taste of the meat’s fat spread across his tongue. An uncontrollable smile formed on his lips but was soon broken as Shizu had offered a cup of sake to him to wash down th
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: SHIZU AND AZI ARE BOTH DRUNK AND SLURRING) As Azi and Shizu exited Kajima's house. they took position in a Kajima's weapon testing area which was a large clearing covered in inch deep snow. The pair stood 10 meters away from each other and the sun's position showed that it was the mid afternoon. Kajima told the two of them to only go one match and then moved to stand to the side to oversee their upcoming bout. He was worried that Shizu might kill Azi due to her drunken state, but knew that she would not risk the plan she had for him. ‘This will be interesting, so for now I’ll enjoy the show.’ Azi glared at Shizu with a ferocious look on his young face which got Shizu’s spirit fired up as she found her wanting to wipe that smug and prideful expression from his face. Additionally, Shizu was not able to get into any good fights with other ordain knights and mostly hunted monsters for her father to support the stability of Kujyuri. When she saw just how fierce Azi looke
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: SHIZU AND AZI ARE STILL BOTH DRUNK AND SLURRING) Shizu fell to her knees after she witnessed her katana break from Azi's heavy strike with his oversized greatsword. He stood triumphant over her with a gleeful expression of victory as he pumped his fist up in the air as he cheered. "YES! I WON! I DID IT! I DIDN'T FAIL....huh?" Hearing a soft whimpering Azi cut his cheering short as he began to notice the tears on Shizu’s face, he initially thought that Shizu was crying over her loss but felt that his assumption was wrong. "Whatsup, what is wrong?" Shizu looked up at Azi and then at her katana on the ground and then back to Azi. Affirming how indifferent Azi looked made her cry as tears streamed down her cheeks. "500,000!" "500,000?" Asked Azi, he didn’t understand what she meant at this moment but seeing the broken katana a line of cold sweat began to form on his brow. "This costed me 500,000 Minos to fix and costed me more to get it customized. Waaaah, you broke
After Shizu was satisfied and got her fill of cuddling with Azi's small body, she finally released him and laughed at his now completely red face. "Oh, I am going to enjoy teaching you many things." A sultry smile played on her lips while Azi tried to recompose himself. As face returned to its normal shade he spoke a single word so plainly as his eyes squinted at her in derision. "Lewd." Taken aback by his accusation, Shizu flushed when she realized how promiscuous she was being. "Ehhhhh, No, no, no. Who said it was going to be anything lewd?" Panicking at his misunderstanding, she soon realized that she was being teased as Azi just grinned at her outcry. Before she could smack him, he got up and went to the door and before leaving he turned around with a smug smile plastered on his face. "You just implied it. Hahahaha." He quickly moved the door to block the incoming pillow Shizu threw at him in her embarrassment. After the pillow made a soft thump, Shizu could only hear Azi’s
In the central area of Shisayama, Azi and Shizu arrived at the village barracks. According to Kajima, all thaumaturges are currently stationed at the barracks due to the increasing monster attacks and number of wounded. While apothecaries were the healers of the army, the Thaumaturges were the specialist when it came to the manipulation of magical energies which could aid the body in natural healing or be used to unleash elemental might upon their foes. Azi posed a question to Shizu, as he began searching around with his eyes. "Shizu? Do you know of a thaumaturge by the name of Touma? Kajima said that he could help me with my idea on how to fix your katana." "Yes. He should be somewhere around here in the village barracks, give me a second I think he should be around here." Shizu began to scan the area with her eyes to find Touma amongst the surroundings. The village barracks consisted of numerous 2 story wooden buildings that had a few clearings to allow the soldiers to gather fo
After leaving the village barracks, Azi led Shizu to the northern part of Shisayama which was where one could find an assortment of shops that sold trinkets, tools, luxury goods, and high-quality services. He took the chance to explore his new surroundings on his own for the first time. The northern market was an interesting place due to the many goods that arrived from the Empire's capital, Yamato. He had never been to this part of the village before so there was an assortment of different kinds of goods that excited Azi's inquisitive mind. He noted the difference in price for the goods that could be found there and deduced that these goods were priced so highly because they must have come from Yamato due to the evident quality he could ascertain. The vibrant colors of fabrics and dyes lined the shop's shelves and stalls. Some sold dresses and others sold jewelry that had a level of craftsmanship that would put what he saw in the southern markets to shame. Shizu kept Azi company