[D5 EE] Notadate

[Hantei Genji]

"True." He let out a laugh. "It is strange...from what Kenshiro sensei told me, swords weren't as prevalent half a generation ago as they are now. It is a bit strange, how much life has been upended by my father's generation."

He seemed to mull on that for a moment. "My father is a firm believer that a samurai is more than just a skilled warrior. We are people of culture now, and must act like it. As a leader, it is my duty to show example, and give hope to others." He shrugged. "Besides, poetry is fun. I'm still terrible at it, but still."

[Bayushi Kogi]

"Your father and his family brought the wisdom of the Heavens down to earth. If things didn't change, that would be more surprising." Kogi muses.

"Hm... you know? You live at the center of it all. The people around you probably changed the most and the fastest. Little wonder they want you to be a model for everyone else." Her brows draw together, a mixture of recognition and sympathy coloring her expression. "There are a lot of other places in the Empire where the ways of Heaven haven't reached as quickly. Border areas, people isolated by forests or waters... the Empire didn't really come to the mountains where I grew up until ten or more years after the great tournament, and we weren't even that far from the capital. No one knew that at the time, though."

[Hantei Genji]

"Your father and his family brought the wisdom of the Heavens down to earth. If things didn't change, that would be more surprising." Kogi muses.

"Hm... you know? You live at the center of it all. The people around you probably changed the most and the fastest. Little wonder they want you to be a model for everyone else." Her brows draw together, a mixture of recognition and sympathy coloring her expression. "There are a lot of other places in the Empire where the ways of Heaven haven't reached as quickly. Border areas, people isolated by forests or waters... the Empire didn't really come to the mountains where I grew up until ten or more years after the great tournament, and we weren't even that far from the capital. No one knew that at the time, though."

"Well...changed, for sure. Yet I was too young to notice most of it. I always felt what I knew and learnt was natural. After all, I was just a young lad." He smiled. "It is only know, close to two decades later, though I appreciate what has happened there." He fell silent for a moment. "Do you think there are still areas around the Empire like that? That don't know they're part of an Empire now?"

[Bayushi Kogi]

"I know there are." Kogi leans in a bit as she nods. "Maybe only a few places where people don't know at all, but more than that where they don't know what it means yet. Or where things still haven't changed enough from how they were in the old days."

[Hantei Genji]

"I know there are." Kogi leans in a bit as she nods. "Maybe only a few places where people don't know at all, but more than that where they don't know what it means yet. Or where things still haven't changed enough from how they were in the old days."

"So much work to do then." He smiled. "We must ensure they are all protected and enrichened, after all. That is the purpose my uncle set out, at least what I believe he did." He let out a small sigh. "The job of a god's lifetime. Or maybe even that won't be enough."

His eyes settled on her again. "Speaking of not enough time...I have some other matters to attend to, unfortunately."

[Bayushi Kogi]

"Of course. I understand entirely." Kogi answers, with a gesture that is half nod, half bow. "Thank you for giving me so much of your time already."