Shinji is drinking water at a well sight hidden near gum-trees. Humming to himself, he enjoys the late night coldness.
—Derniere-san sure is hard working. Not only did he dig a well, but he made restrooms... only Sora and I know that, possibly Tsukino too.'
The hygiene at the training camp is... unique, in the worst way possible. It's miracle why cholera hasn't killed them, maybe they have reached a stage of immunity to such mundane illnesses.
Time slowly moves, and Shinji catches sight of Lucien coming to his direction. The moment Lucy arrives, he notices the slap mark from the Female Lead of Shinji's story, and did his best to hide a laugh.
Annoyed, Shinji decries, "Just laugh Dernier! At least I survived a hit from the Shojo."
Fortunately, Lucy's desire to laugh is gone, and he shrugs. Slowly, his face turns indifferent, as he throws a tin into the well.
"Do you know the story of the Frog Shōgun?"
Although Lucien didn't reply or show curiosity to the story, 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 suddenly found out that the ruby and diamond necklace her mother gave her had dropped in a muddy well. She got sad and wept out loud.
As her voice was about to be stolen by the wind, a frog approached her. Furthermore, the frog promised to get the necklace if she would remember it, and she agreed. However, the Shōgun thought: 'Who would want to remember an ugly thing, like you? Humph, this is the place my parents left me, and I do whatever I want! Someone lowly like you, should be obliged to even to talk to me!'
As fate had it, the frog showed up at her castle, asking for work as a cleaner, but she kicked it away. Valorous, the frog shouted about how the Shōgun took advantage of it; adding its own lies. Scared about her reputation, the Shōgun gave it a job.
However, the frog refused; saying that its requests should be taken care of first. Since the Shōgun wanted to save her reputation, she agreed, and did all the frog's shameless request. At one point, the frog asked for a kiss, and promised to never bother her again.
When it was given a kiss, it turned into a woman. Forthwith, the Shōgun recognized her as the Steel Shōgun from the south, who went missing after meeting a Shaman. Without waiting, the Steel Shōgun went back where she belonged, without asking more.
This was her plan all along. When she saw the other Shōgun playing, she stole her necklace, and made sure the young lady saw it falling into a well, she messed up herself. Afterward, she played the Good Samaritan to use the other Shōgun."
As he concludes, Shinji stands up, placing his hand on Lucien's shoulder.
"Most things aren't as they appear to be. Some people might appear kind and good, so that they can exploit you in the future. You, as a child of your mother, always have a clear consciousness, and try to gain things from them, whenever you can."
Letting go, Shinji slowly walks toward the bamboo trees, warning in a whisper:
"Your mother once said: knowing when to stop, and who to mess with is essential in every confrontation. Don't let yourself be deceived, and join the filth of the earth, Lucien Derniere Etoile."
—Don't let yourself be deceived, and join the filth of the earth.
Lucy repeated the sentence in his mind. It's last part is fairly obvious, since the filth of the earth are those who die, whether be it human or goat. As long, as you die, you're nothing more than manure, with no value after a certain time.
As for the first part, Lucien is apprehensive. In every confrontation, know what you're going to do.
If you're taken by surprise, it's better to take a deep breath, and hear what the other party wants. When they say something out of line, ignore it, or change the topic. That way, you'll control the confrontation, and not get controlled by it.
***
From the depths of a dreamless sleep, the morning drums signal the start of the day for Sora. Groggy, she did her best to chase away the phantasmagoric in her eyes. Sitting up straight, she turns her head sideways, and finds Lucy gone.
—He is still training, 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 believes.
Just when she is about to get up, she sees the bottom of Lucy's clothes approaching. For someone who trains a lot, it's wonder how Lucy's clothing hasn't turned to rags like the rest they came with.
Dropping the issue, Sora pulls herself out of the blanket, listening to the surrounding murmurs.
"What's going on?!"
"The sun isn't up yet!"
"Why did they wake us at this unholy hour?"
Sora looks west, and sees the pink moon about to set; furthermore, Lucy's cold expression sends warning signals to her mind.
—There must be an emergency! No, it is time for the newbies to take their first mission!
***
The newbie group walks over to the assembly point with gloomy expressions. Some use the chance to mock the Tama-Artists in hushed tones... if heard, who knows what their fates would be.
Arriving, the group isn't surprised to see no one there, and when the sun begins its ascend, the Bushi start showing up.
Lucy's gaze suddenly trails Katsura's direction, where a ginger-fur pig is walking behind him.
The fat youth's jiggling pot-belly makes vibrations in the air, peaking out of his kimono. Also, his hippo neck makes him look like he has no chin, and it takes away most of his ability to turn his head —with such a neck, no-one would strangle him to death.
Suddenly, a dark glint shines in Lucien's eyes, 'It's that cousin of mine, I beat up after he insulted Mama. Afterward, he told his parents, and Mama got the worst of the stick.' Lucy slightly lowers his head, trying to forget of the events of that day.
Slowly releasing air from his nostrils to calm his rage, he thinks 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. Also, he will act as a temporary head, until a perfect candidate is selected by yours truly... Shinji's love interest!
Lucien can confirm they are true based on the information he got from Shinji that Academy students would be sent to the age Regiment Camp for stress relief punishment.
However, one small thing bothers him:
—Why is the Shojo making a move on such trifle issues?
'It can't be...'
At that moment, an elephant sized punch lands straight for Lucy's gut, sending him flying back with little to no force. Although he had seen it, dodging or blocking was suicide... at the moment. Moreover, Lucien used 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.'