" I of course have not met him myself. Just heard of some rumors. General Saku, right? That one some time ago."
" Do you know Risai? She said to be originally the general of Jyou Province Army.”
" No, I can't possibly know that much. -- Oh, by the way, her kijyuu has now recovered."
" Really. That's great."

" Yeah, I don't know anything about General Ryuu, but from her kijyuu I believe she is an outstanding general. The kijyuu was very loyal to its owner, and the kijyuu itself was very tame. Very tamed, maybe I should say. She must have taken great care of it, but also established her authority as its owner --otherwise, kijyuus cannot be that tamed."
" Wow..."

" It was just that I haven't heard of her name before. Foreign generals' names are not supposed to spread to us in the first place. General Saku is just an exception, I think."
" An exception... How great!"

Ha ha, Kantai looked as if he noticed something.
" You must be drawing a comparison between General Saku and yourself just now."
" I can't help it. He is outstanding."
" If he is truly outstanding he will not let Tai be devastated like this."
" That is cruel on him. He didn't exploit Tai to this barren state. Some accidents happened somehow and he disappeared without a trace. That cannot be related as his own failure, can it?"

Kantai cocked his head with a slightly more sober expression.
" And that accident is?"
" A rebellion, that's what I've heard. A false emperor (偽王, gi-ou) rose to power, and Tai-ou and Tai Taiho were missing. I only know that much. Risai is not in her best condition, that's why."

Really, Kantai mumbled, and slipped into his thoughts. Youko also got sunk into thoughts. She didn't know the details, but she knew Risai had come to entrust Tai to Kei. She also knew Risai was desperate to save Tai. However, Kei is just a scratch-team government -- it doesn't have power to help with anything else.

" In the end, evaluations were things other people give."
Kantai mumbled, and Youko turned to him.
" ... Pardon?"

" Things that other people stick onto the character after seeing results, right? Even if everything is just luck, if one wins in every battle, he is called the invincible general. Those invincible generals might look outstanding, but it may also be that they are just incapable, but somehow get never defeated before, don’t you think?"
" So you say that praises to Tai-ou might be too exaggerated?"

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