Hatate Quest

[O4rfish]

>We are taking notes, right?

[Oldmansour]

>We are taking notes, right?

>You have been.

>Chuckle and smirk. "Shall we leave that off the record, or would you prefer it be central to the record?"
>"How long were you with the Ishitaka family?"

>Juma blinks. "Off the... Oh, I'm sorry." she adds. "I'm not sure I was expecting that from someone who worked for Aya. Thanks for asking." she says with a smile. "But it's fine. It's no secret anymore, that little squabble got public and resolved a long time ago." She lets out a small little sigh, tinged with nostalgia. "Now that's a long story."
>Juma's eyes roll upwards as she thinks. "All in all.... a bit less than five years. Ishitaka-sama herself passed away after I'd been there for four years, and Konata spend the next year managing the family affairs, and that included the staff. And by that, of course I mean 'cutbacks'. She sold my services to Izolda Uematsu, worked with her and her family for almost a dozen years." She gives a helpless shrug. "I'm afraid there's not much I can really say about that time, however, the Uematsus are pretty private in some ways."

[O4rfish]

>"All right, whatever you can tell me is fine. So after you left the Uematsus you joined up with the Rangers?"

[Oldmansour]

>"All right, whatever you can tell me is fine. So after you left the Uematsus you joined up with the Rangers?"

>Juma shakes her head. "You're getting a little ahead of me there. I wasn't done with the feather duster juust yet." she says with a friendly grin. "No, after the Uematsus let me go, I spent exactly one week working for Seiichiro Kazutaka." Her face darkens. "And believe me when I say, I'd just as soon not dwell on that week anymore than I have to, and neither would he. We didn't exactly see eye to eye."
>"After that, I worked my last job as a maid, with the Ayatsuji's. Tsubaki Ayatsuji, to be precise. You might have met her, now that I think about, since she's as involved as she is with the news."

[O4rfish]

>"What did you think of her?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What did you think of her?"

>Juma hesitates a moment before answering that one. "Personally or professionally?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Both, if you would."

[Oldmansour]

>"Both, if you would."

>Juma takes a couple of breaths. "Well, as far as bosses go, she's... I want to say 'fair', but that doesn't sum it up well enough. She rewards her employees pretty well, if she likes your work. But if she doesn't like your work, well, you won't work for her for very long. I guess you cold call her 'Demanding, but generous'."

[O4rfish]

>"I'm guessing you got along with her then?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm guessing you got along with her then?"

>"I managed to stay on her good side. Most of the time. I never do less than my best on any job, that's just the way I am. And she recognized that. Of course, I won't say every day was paradise, but all in all, I'd say yeah, we got on well enough."

[O4rfish]

>"So how did you get here from there then?"

[Oldmansour]

>"So how did you get here from there then?"

>"Indirectly, I actually have Karen to thank for that. You see, a couple of hundred years ago.... No, more than that. 250, at least. Anyway, Karen got hired by Ayatsuji-sama to provide weapons for her men at arms. About a week or so later, she held a dinner party for a number of guests from the armed forces, including the Shogun himself. As part of the dinner, she arranged a demonstration of the skill of her fighters. Unfortunately for her, two of her warriors were unavailable that night, since...." She gives you a grin. "Well let's just say they had a good reason."
>"Anyway, since she was stuck for choice at the time, she drew two of her housekeeping staff to fill in for those two. One of those two was me, since I'd been practicing with weapons here and there over the years. After the dueling was done, the Shogun took me and Ayatsuji-sama aside and said I had a lot of potential. After that, I had two jobs, since Ayatsuji-sama wasn't willing to give me to the Rangers full time. That didn't happen until Shogun Oda came to power."

[O4rfish]

>"The Shogun noticed you more than Ayatsuji's guards? That's impressive."

>"Heh, so I guess you and Karen know each other pretty well by now."

[Oldmansour]

>"The Shogun noticed you more than Ayatsuji's guards? That's impressive."

>"Heh, so I guess you and Karen know each other pretty well by now."

>"Shogun Sohma had an unbelievable eye for potential." Juma says with undisguised admiration. "That woman could see someone's potential with a blade after only seconds. I didn't even think I was much better than average, to be honest, but under her, I learned what I could do."
>"I'd like to call her a friend." Juma replies, a bit uncertainly. "But, it's not always easy to tell with her. I mean, I'd trust her in a fight, but as for having a night on the town, or just sitting around having a talk, y'know, friend stuff..." She shakes her head. "Not as sure about that. She's one of the hardest tengu you'll meet to figure out."

[O4rfish]

>"I suppose the Ayatsuji would be a much easier tengu to figure out."

Oh, I just realized her calling us Hayate might be a reference to Hayate the Combat Butler, where some people get his name wrong.

[Oldmansour]

>"I suppose the Ayatsuji would be a much easier tengu to figure out."

>"For the most part, yeah, no question. Well, once you get used to the backhanded compliments. Even if she likes you, she never really lets you forget that she's the Dai-tengu, and you're not."

[O4rfish]

>"Really? How does she deal with other Dai-tengu?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Really? How does she deal with other Dai-tengu?"

>Juma sucks in a breath between her teeth. "Tough question. I mean I spent a lot of time working around the upper class, and I'm sure there's still layers to their dealings that I haven't got a clue about. But I guess when you boil it down, her attitude changed based on who she was dealing with. It wasn't like when she was dealing with her staff; with us, she either liked and respected us, or she didn't. With others of her own caste, it never really seemed to be that straightforward."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Levels of politeness are often a thing difficult to grasp from the outside, aren't they? Let me ask it like this, did she generally get along with Dai-tengu with lesser standing?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Levels of politeness are often a thing difficult to grasp from the outside, aren't they? Let me ask it like this, did she generally get along with Dai-tengu with lesser standing?"

>Juma considers that. "For the most part." she says at last. Though her tone is one of a woman that has more to say, but isn't comfortable saying it.

[O4rfish]

>"Hmm. Well, how did she get along with Karen for example?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Hmm. Well, how did she get along with Karen for example?"

>Juma's discomfort dissipates as she smiles again. "Ah, now Karen's a bit different than just about any other White Wolf, like that. You see, since she's blind most, Dai-tengu don't give her much respect at all. Sure, they recognize the quality of her weapons, but only because she's been turning such quality work for centuries. They have no choice but to respect her work, but that doesn't mean they respect her personally."
>"Ayatsuji-sama, on the other hand, got some first-hand experience with Karen's skill not only at making weapons, but also with wielding them. Now, that's an old story, one that got run by Shameimaru-san almost the day after it happened, but I can still tell you, if you'd like."

[O4rfish]

>"Sure, go ahead."

[Oldmansour]

>"Sure, go ahead."

>"Well, you remember I mentioned before, when Karen dropped off a load of weapons to Ayatsuji's place?" You nod, and Juma continues, "Ayatsuji-sama wanted to check the quality of the weapons herself. So she challenged Karen to a duel. You have to give Tsubaki credit where it's due, and that Dai-tengu is not afraid to get her hands dirty. But she badly underestimated Karen. No, check that, everyone of us underestimated her. I mean we all knew she was a killer blacksmith, but no one there had any idea how good she was at wielding a weapon."
>Juma stifles a chuckle. "I'll spare you the blow-by-blow report, but... Well, I can't think of any other way to say it, so I'll just say it. Karen peeled her out of her clothes. Seriously, Karen left her standing as naked as the day she was born by the time she was done."

[Hello Purvis]

>"...How did she get away with that?"
>This might be our page three picture!

[Oldmansour]

>"...How did she get away with that?"
>This might be our page three picture!

>"Ayatsuji-sama made the mistake of challenging Karen in front of too many witnesses. By that, I mean most of her staff. She couldn't lie about what happened, and there was no way to sugarcoat it. She made the mistake of thinking that since Karen was blind, she could take advantage of that for her own little gains."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm surprised she didn't try to have action taken against Karen for going too far or whatever."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm surprised she didn't try to have action taken against Karen for going too far or whatever."

>Juma's ears twitch, and her eyes dart back and forth once. After a moment, she leans in a bit closer. "Off the record?" she asks quietly.

[O4rfish]

>"Well, all right."
>Close notepad.

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, all right."
>Close notepad.

>With your notebook put aside for the moment, Juma says, "If it was any other weaponsmith, Tsubaki would probably have done just that. But Karen isn't any normal weaponsmith. She's been the go-to smith for the both of the last two Shoguns. Even the Dai-Shogun acknowledges her work and its value. Tsubaki doesn't have the kind of pull she'd need to make Karen pay for humiliating her like that. Especially since it was her own fault, and everyone knows it. She left herself open to that kind of humiliation. Tsubaki just assumed Karen was helpless because she was blind. Karen just took advantage of that assumption."