Shinji was water drinking at a well sight hidden near gum-trees, humming to himself, enjoying the late night coldness.
'Derniere-san sure is hard working. Not only did he dig a well, but he also made restrooms... only Sora and I know that, possibly Tsukino too.'
The hygiene at training camp is... unique, in the worst way possible. It's miracle why cholera hadn't killed them, maybe they had reached a stage of immunity to such everyday illnesses.
Time slowly moves, and Shinji caught sight of Lucien coming to his direction. Arriving, Lucy notices the slap mark on his face, and did his best to hide a laugh.
Annoyed, Shinji hisses, "Just laugh Derniere-san. At least I survived a hit from the Shojo."
Fortunately, Lucy's desire to laugh was gone - that was enough for him. His face slowly turns indifferent, as he threw a tin into the well.
"Do you know the story of the Frog Shōgun?"
Lucien didn't reply or show curiosity to the story, but Shinji said otherwise:
"Once, there was a beautiful Shōgun who went to the forest to play and dance. During her plays and frantic dances, she dropped the diamond necklace her mother gave her in a muddy well. She was sad, weeping out loud. As her voice was about to be stolen by the wind, a fat frog approached her.
The frog promised to get the necklace if she could remember him, and she agreed —the Shōgun thought, 'I can do whatever I want! Isn't this the place my parents left for me?' As fate had it, the frog showed up at her castle one night. She tried getting rid of it, but it relented, until she gave up.
The frog was incorrigible in his requests, and at the end, he asked for her kiss. At the point, she was already used to his shamelessness, and gave him one. Right then, he turned into a man. She instantly knew him: the Iron Shōgun from the South who went missing after meeting a shaman.
The Iron Shōgun set off back to where he belonged without asking more. This was his plan all along. He is the one who had stolen the diamond necklace, making sure the other Shōgun saw it falling into the well he spoiled."
As he concluded, Shinji stood by, placing his hand on Lucien's shoulder who had finished having his share of water.
"Some actions are necessary for one to archive their goals, even getting their bodies dirty. Cruelty, Kindness, Love or even hate can be used on you, and you can use them too.
Everything that occurs in heaven or Earth has a reason behind it."
Letting go, Shinji slowly walks toward the bamboo trees, warning in a mutter, "Knowing when to stop... and who to mess with is essential in every confrontation. Don't be eaten by the thief at night, Lucien Derniere Etoile-san."
'Eaten by the thief at night,' Lucien pondered the words, and immediately knew he was being warned to act more tactfully in his ways.
***
It was a dreamless sleep, but when the morning drums signaled the start of the day, Sora instantly jagged up. Turning her head sideways, she found Lucy gone.
'He's gone to train again... poor guy. I wonder if his girlfriend knows how much he is going through.'
The story around Lucy's girlfriend was hard for her to believe at first —such a sweet person couldn't exist. However, considering the fact that Lucien doesn't know how to lie, she believed.
Just when she was about to get up, she saw the bottom of Lucy's clothes approaching. For someone who trained a lot, it was wonder how Lucy's clothing hadn't turned to rags like the lot they came with.
Dropping the issue, Sora pulls herself out of the blanket to listen to the surrounding murmurs.
"What's going on?!"
"The sun isn't even up yet!"
"Why did they wake us at this ungodly hour?"
Sora looked west and saw the pink moon about to set; Lucy's cold expression sent warning signals to her mind.
'There must be an emergency! No, it is time for the newbies to take their first mission! How can Sora forget that our death contracts are already signed?!'
***
The newbie group walked over to the assembly point with gloomy expressions. Some used the chance to mock Tama-Artists in hushed tones... if heard, who knew what their fates would be.
Arriving, the group weren't surprised to see no one there, and when the sun began its ascend, the Bushi started showing up.
Lucy's gaze suddenly trailed Katsura's direction were a ginger-fur pig was walking behind him. His jiggling pot-belly made vibrations in the air, peaking out of his kimono. His hippo like neck that made him look like he had no chin took away most of his ability to turn his head —don't laugh, everyone is special, with such a neck, no-one would strangle him to death.
A dark glint shone in Lucien's eyes. 'It's that cousin of mine... I beat him up after he insulted Mama. He then later told his parents, and Mama got the worst of the stick.' He slightly lowers his head thinking of the events of that day.
Slowly releasing air from his nostrils to calm his rage, he thought about the rumors surrounding his cousin. According to them, the hippo is on punishment for ditching classes from one of the two Tama-Artist Academies in the village, and would act as a temporary head, until a perfect candidate is selected by yours truly... Shinji's love interest!
Lucien could confirm they are true based on the information he got from his Shinji that Academy students would be sent to the age regiments camp for stress relief punishment. However, one small thing bothered him:
Why is the Shojo making a move on such trifle issues?
'It couldn't be...'
At that moment, an elephant sized punch landed straight for Lucy's gut, sending him flying back with little to no force. He had seen it, but dodging or blocking was suicide... at the moment. Also, he had to use his own weight to make it look like there was much of an impact.
Bam!
Lucy made sure to land on his face.
'Positive enough, I can kill him... this is the difference between the Shojo and rubbish.'