"Well then, repeat after me. I, Kori, daughter of Morishita, swear loyalty to the Fire Nation and the Fire Lord. I solemnly vow to uphold the laws of the Fire Nation, to strictly follow military regulations, and to obey the orders of my commanders and superiors. I swear to carry out my duty with honor and to bravely defend the freedom, independence, and order of the Fire Nation, its people, and its homeland."
The girl repeated the oath word for word.
"Rise, Warrior of Fire. Take up your weapon and remember why it was entrusted to you!"
The newly minted "Warrior of Fire" practically squealed with delight, bouncing in place from sheer happiness.
Damn it.
Just a girl. An ordinary girl.
She hadn't even smelled gunpowder — and didn't even remotely understand what she'd gotten herself into.
The father of this walking disaster was already groaning aloud, while her mother pressed her lips together in displeasure. Suki frowned, not entirely understanding what exactly had just happened. By the standards of her island's traditions, everything was perfectly normal... Hm… Her island… Now that was an interesting thought! I'd need to consider it carefully later.
After calming Kori down, I sent her off… for now, just to prepare and pack her things. The happy child bowed and quickly slipped away to her chambers. Meanwhile, the concerned parents of this little miracle dispatched the servants to go make themselves useful elsewhere.
"Mmm…" I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "You've really put me in a difficult position, Mayor Morishita."
"My apologies, Herald. I had no idea she would do something like this." The man looked utterly bewildered. Gathering his resolve, he finally asked, "May I ask you to look after her?"
"You're certain I'm actually taking her with me?"
"I would be overjoyed if she stayed in the city," he admitted, "but that's impossible."
Right. Thanks to the servants, naturally. If the girl remained here living as before while supposedly "serving," then the entire thing would become one enormous farce, which would reflect rather poorly on both the mayor and me. Not catastrophically, of course. At worst, it would be a minor inconvenience for the two of us. But if it could be avoided — and even turned to our advantage at the same time…
"Ahem. Very well. To begin with, could you tell me more about Kori? Her personality, her skills, her ambitions."
"Of course!" Morishita replied at once.
And so the explanation began.
First of all, the girl wasn't nearly as simple as she looked.
This young lady happened to be a rather capable… earthbender.
How?!
Quite simple, really — she took after her mother. Yes, her mother was an earthbender too.
At that moment, Suki's expression was absolutely priceless. Personally, I preferred believing that I'd managed to preserve the level of dignified composure appropriate for my rank.
But I digress.
The girl had always been deeply troubled by the fact that she wielded earth instead of fire. Because of that, she'd developed a strong need to prove that she was a true daughter of the Fire Nation. How exactly she was supposed to prove it, naturally, no one really knew — but then rumors began spreading about a certain heroic me. And after the rumors came the actual me in person.
So Kori decided that serving in the entourage of the Fire Lord's very own "special envoy" was exactly what she'd been looking for all this time.
As for combat talents, she possessed a respectable level of skill with the double-headed meteor hammer she'd just presented to me, along with a knack for improvisation and adapting quickly to changing circumstances.
Her flaws were the usual ones for youth: impulsiveness, extremism, and at times a rather unfortunate tendency to think with anything except her head. And, of course, she was completely green. A sheltered girl with a bad case of romanticism rattling around in her skull.
Quite the "gift." Not something I had any desire to drag to the front lines. Best case, she'd get herself killed — unpleasant, but manageable. Worst case, she'd get my people killed instead, and they already had a well-developed reflex when it came to protecting pretty girls.
And no matter how useful an earthbender might be while traveling through the Earth Kingdom, the problems she'd bring clearly outweighed the benefits.
On the other hand… sending her to Kyoshi Island as, say, my "representative" — and at the same time as a powerful propaganda tool — now that sounded promising. After all, what could be more persuasive than a bright-eyed youth utterly convinced of the righteousness of their own beliefs?
Besides, it was safe there. And quiet, too.
After discussing things with Suki for a while, I refined the plan further. Alongside the girl herself, it would be useful to send a couple of competent officials back with her, as well as "return home" several Kyoshi warriors — preferably those who'd already found themselves boyfriends, and ideally together with said boyfriends.
That idea deserved serious consideration.
For propaganda purposes, five to ten beautiful warriors would already be more than enough for me, so the thought of sending the "extras" away from the front lines was extremely tempting.
The mayor and his wife were exceedingly pleased with the outline of the plan. Morishita even went so far as to promise me any assistance and the fulfillment of any request at any hour of the day or night. All in all, if this worked out, I'd be gaining a very useful debtor in a very advantageous position. And his willingness to cooperate, combined with my authority… together, we could accomplish a great many interesting things.
By the time we parted ways with the Morishita family, we were practically the best of friends. Especially after I requested that they give their daughter a good spanking for that little stunt of hers.
Deciding it was already quite late and feeling no particular desire to return to the barracks or the ship, Suki and I rented a room at an inn, where — accompanied by the girl's delighted laughter — I finally got my hands on everything that had been making me drool throughout the entire evening.
(End of Chapter)
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