Zhuo district, Youzhou province, Xizang
Four months and two weeks after the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven
It was a beautiful day in Xizang, one that had become the norm ever since its leader had returned from the battle that led to the death of 35,000 Yellow Turban rebels. In that short time, many more districts and villages within Youzhou had sent emissaries to Xizang, bringing deals of alliance and treaties with them. Sometimes the messengers were proud and formal, and other times they were desperate, but regardless of whether they hid their intentions well or not, the message was always clear: we trust you to protect us, so please let us join you.
Ragna didn't really have a problem with that insofar as accepting them was concerned. He did, however, have a problem with all of the "tedious shit" (in his own words) that went hand-in-hand with accepting them.
Right now, said "tedious shit" was embodied by 1) several short stacks of paperwork sitting on his desk, and 2) Shoukatsuryou and Houtou sitting on the other side of the desk, looking at him expectantly.
"You're kidding me," Ragna muttered. "All of this is for three measly treaties? Can't we just say 'Welcome to the alliance, pay your taxes on time and send us your soldiers when we ask you for them and we'll treat you good'? That's all it boils down to, anyway!"
Shoukatsuryou sighed. She could honestly not fault Ragna for being so annoyed with the amount of work that he had to do, as she had been handling a similar workload to accommodate the restarted flow of new immigrants to Xizang. Trying to find ways to manage the treasury and expand the city without stressing the infrastructure was difficult, to put it mildly, and it had kept her and Houtou up several nights in a row. As young as they were, it was still exhausting to pull five separate 24-hour work sessions over the last two weeks.
"Lord Ragna, proper records must be kept in order to ensure that the Imperial Court does not find fault with us should they send a messenger to inspect our records," Shoukatsuryou said, trying not to let her frustration with Ragna's petulance show. "They do have the liberty to do so, and at the rate we're being approached by other cities and provinces, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens sooner instead of later."
"Yeah, but why am I the one doing this when I'm not even literate yet?" Ragna asked. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to make sense of the print on the papers in front of him. "I know that you two have better things to do than help me sit and read through all of this. If I didn't need you all to help me through all of it, I'd rather do it by myself."
Houtou shook her head. "We've caught up with all of our work, Lord Ragna. And these treaties are important." Her voice was firm, despite how softly she spoke. "If we have to sit here the whole night with you to get them done, then we will."
Ragna did his best to match the uncharacteristically tense stare that Houtou was giving him from under the brim of her hat (made more impressive by the way her eyelids were half-open and how the bags sat beneath her eyes), but on the inside he could feel himself withering under its intense pressure. "I'm not gonna sit here and make you do that. Either of you. If it means that damn much for you all to make sure I get this done, I'll make sure it gets done, but we're going to take breaks like normal people. It ain't the end of the world if it takes a few days."
Shoukatsuryou shook her head, but there was a slight hint of frustration in her voice as she continued. "We're not worried about that, Lord Ragna. We're worried about what Aisha said about your habit of sneaking off when no one's watching you do your work."
Ragna slapped his face with one hand and rubbed his eyes. "That's only because she doesn't let me take a damn break. I don't have the stamina to sit and pore over shit for hours at a time like she does when she gets in the zone."
"She already told us about the time when you got one of the servants to slip something into her tea so you could sneak out while she fell asleep," Shoukatsuryou replied flatly. "She also told us how by the time she woke up, you'd been gone for at least four hours." She finally let herself express her annoyance with a sigh. "Lord Ragna, we've been over this. You have to try to actually take your duty seriously when you're not fighting on the battlefield! People look up to you. People respect you. Yet you have no compunctions swearing and dodging work if the mood strikes you to. If you don't act like you should in your position, what reason will anyone have to obey you?"
Now the conversation was going on a track that Ragna had ridden many times before. Shoukatsuryou would continue to go on about his duties as the ruler of Zhuo and he would continue to argue that he was fine doing things his own way. It hadn't erupted into a real argument before, as Shoukatsuryou had always taken pains to be polite, but her lack of sleep was likely to make her much blunter than normal, and he could tell from the way her weary eyes were starting to tighten in annoyance. "I hear you, Shuri. I do." He sighed. "But I was grown rough. Heaven ain't exactly the paradise you think it is."
Shoukatsuryou's irritation immediately faded, overridden by her scholar's curiosity. "Oh? What do you mean by that, Lord Ragna?"
Ragna realized what he had done only after he had done it, but the fact of the matter was that it was too late to get around it now. Fucking lovely, Ragna. Plenty of time to scar the innocent girls with stories of your gruesome, righteous campaign against the NOL. This is probably the best damn plan you've come up with since you decided to go to Kagutsuchi in the first place. "Tell you what. If you agree to let me take a break every hour or so, I'll tell you a little bit. All right?"
Shoukatsuryou nodded eagerly, as did Houtou, but much more slowly. Ragna let out a quiet sigh, and shook his head, running a hand through his mop of white hair. "Then let's get this started."