The Sword of Kaigen

by M.L. Wang

“Silangwe,” Elleen said, her photographic memory never failing to identify a face.

Beyond her, Robin was locked in combat with the infamous Yaotl Texca, but Misaki and Elleen couldn’t worry about him at the moment.

Why are they the japanese charlies angels

Mathaba’s flames—blue-white instead of orange, far hotter than the average

Ooo we love some lore!!!

exhausted littigi take a deep breath, gathering her concentration.

I feel like a moron tbh because there are so many terms not getting explained right away and like i assume itll be clear what they are but theres so many that i forget the context n shit

Misaki exploded forward. As she did, half a dozen Misakis burst from her, rippling illusions, all wearing her same blue and black cloak, moving with her trademark agility.

Ayoooo sounds like killua lmao

Ultimately, the illusions had only bought her a dinma of time,

See like whats dinna -_- like i cant tell if im dumb or not

Mathaba screamed, her flames guttering out as boiling-hot blood spurted from her arm.

DAMN WERE TRYNA CHOP LIMBS IN THIS BITCH

Elleen serving as his crutch and using her illusions to conceal them from curious eyes.

And this was their city, not hers.

“These kallaanas are killing each other all the time,” a third officer spat. “If we sent an ambulance every time, the city would be bankrupt.

In elementary school, Misaki had been told that Hadeans’ light colored hair and eyes were signs that they were a more primitive variety of human,

related to dogs and monkeys who shared their coloring. She was realizing that she had been told a lot of ridiculous things.

Damn

She had come to Carytha at a young age, as a refugee, as Robin had. She didn’t talk much about what she had seen in her homeland before that, only to say that it made the streets of Livingston look like a paradise.

Even though Elleen’s gold hair and pale eyes were a bit frightening—perhaps because they were a bit frightening—Misaki found them beautiful.

Is Misaki actually gay but forced to marry a man and have his children

“Don’t patronize me, Princess.” Strangely, the words didn’t come out with the hostile bite they should have. Instead, Elleen sounded sad.

Princess feels like more here idk why

Robin had such strong senses in some ways, yet his general awareness of nyama was lacking.

Ryuhon Falleya, birds were sinister figures, heralds of disorder, disease, and destruction.

In the legends of her childhood, any human who took on avian characteristics was some kind of demon.

Weird but also birds scare me a lil

Apparently, it was a creature of empowerment to Hadeans and Native Baxarians. Depending on the bird species and the tribe, it could stand for wisdom, freedom, or rebirth.

Really makes you think about how many things like this happen to symbolically "other" another culture

“My leg is fine,” Robin said. “It’s bandaged well enough to stop the bleeding for now, and I’ll have someone take a look at it later. I don’t think I’ll need you to fix it.”

Why is all the dialigue italicized

“Who said anything about fixing it?” Misaki said, turning back with an indignant toss of her hair. “I just wanted my knife back.”

Lmao

“No.” Robin rolled his eyes at her, his voice dripping with that Carythian-style sarcasm Misaki was just getting used to. “I didn’t know that.”

Is this just another term for white ppl

“They were just Texca’s hired security. As far as we know, they haven’t done anything except accept a job from the wrong guy.”

You realize that’s the idea, don’t you? Not to destroy the people of this city but to make them better.”

We can’t claim to be crime-fighters if we disrespect life just as much as the criminals we fight.”

Dayum

koronu would say that it’s a duty.” It was agreed upon across all warrior cultures—Kaigen, Yamma, Sizwe—that killing in self-defense or defense of the innocent was a noble thing.

“You know what I am, right? I’m a jijaka from a very specific family famous for killing people with swords. If you didn’t want your enemies dead, why even bring me onboard?

Sure, she had already been friends with Robin and Elleen when the two orphanage buddies decided they needed a third koro on their team.

When Robin didn’t answer for a long moment, she grew anxious and found more words spilling from her mouth.

Me asf but i want to learn not to do that

“I picked you because of this… because you’ll fight me on things like this. You see the world in a way I just don’t, and that…”

“That’s important to me.”

This is so sweet

A lot of people would argue with me just to make themselves feel better, or smarter, or nobler.

Thats facts

You were supposed to look a fighter in the eyes when you killed him; everyone knew that.

Its so odd to me that humans have rules for things like war and killing

they’ve made a life and a culture here for themselves. It’s not perfect, but it’s worth protecting, even if the ruling theonites and the politicians and the police have all decided otherwise.”

“If the people here are honestly trying, then how come this place is such a mess?” Misaki challenged. “How come they’re still so poor and uneducated?”

Oh honey

Native Baxarians. They were doing fine until the Yammanka colonizers showed up and killed a third of them, enslaved another third, and forced the last third into Falleka marriages.”

I knew about 1/3 of the words spoken here lmao

The jaseliwu back in Ishihama had always told Misaki that the natives of Abiria and Carytha had been thankful to intermarry with the more powerful Yammankalu.

not everyone in the world considered a strong bloodline to be a good trade for their autonomy.

Kelenduguka physically, but the adyns don’t even have that.

Bruv what are all these names like im so lost

It’s easy to judge when you inherit property, and an important name, and amazing powers from your parents.”

!!!! Mhmmmm !!!

“How easy do you think it is to build a life out of nothing?”

He would honestly die to protect the dirtiest beggar in this slum. It was ridiculous, it was beautiful, and it sent a terrible anxiety clawing through Misaki.

It wasn’t a question of whether or not he was going to die. It was a question of whether he would die quickly, with all his spirit intact, or slowly, after the evils of the world had ripped and beaten every shred of optimism out of him.

DaMN

There were some fights you could only win by being more ruthless than your opponent.

I can take care of myself.” “I know you can,” she said. “I’m just not sure you will.”

Misaki realized in a rush of heat that this was the closest they had ever been.

I was wondering if baby had a crush on him

Misaki felt her face turn bright red. “Excuse me!” She said very loudly.

DEAD

If he had, he would have sensed the way her heart was fluttering through her

“Why are you so mad at me?” “Because I like you!” Misaki shouted the words without thinking.

Awwww stoppp I’m so sad knowing that they didn’t end up together

“If I think your life is in danger, I will kill for you.” “What? I don’t want you to do that.” “Well, it’s not up to you.”

I love her actually