North Winds Fall (Xianxia - Survive the Protagonist)

The talisman and gear locker was only large enough to fit a few pieces of equipment, but the Master Sergeant told her it was restocked regularly.

The talisman she now wore felt cool around her neck, and she pondered the marvels of West Winds, as she had never worn something so advanced as a Princess, but now as a soldier she did.

Master Sergeant Kumagai spoke to the other girls of 25th platoon. "I want each of you girls who was in the 25th before to pair up with one of the girls who is new to the unit. Get to know each other. Get your bunk assignments out of the way before the real business is at hand."

Autumn couldn't help but think of all of these ranks like Sergeant and Master Sergeant as being male positions. But girls like First Sergeant Shiraishi and Yamada, and now Master Sergeant Kumagai had the same kind of intensity she expected of such people.

Of course, Kumagai could be in her mid-20s and was hardly a girl at this point, since the Officer program kept the soldiers in the army until they were 27, unlike the enlisted ranks who stayed until 22. She would have liked to see Shiraishi as a Captain. Autumn could respect Captain Tsuda's sword skills, but as for the rest of his approach, she would tolerate it as best she could. At least he wasn't Major Sumida.

None of the existing 25th platoon girls wanted to talk to Autumn, so she ended up paired with a girl who even the new members of the 25th didn't want to talk to.

"Private Setsu," Autumn said, offering her name and bowing to the senior girl.

"Sergeant Venkata. My parents were immigrants from South Winds."

"I'm sure you've proven a lot of girls wrong by becoming a mighty soldier. As long as you don't plan on switching sides, I have no problem with that," Autumn said.

Looking around, Autumn noticed the steady noise of girls opening drawers and chests, and moving their gear around. Autumn had only a very few things, so she didn't need to move. In the middle of the distraction and noise would be the best time to connect with Venkata.

"My sister and I came here from the North Winds recently. We changed our last name to avoid suspicion."

Sergeant Venkata told her, "Forgive me, but I have a hard time believing you can keep up with this group. It's simply not the same army you experienced in 3rd platoon. These are all refined fighting women."

"I'm excited for the challenge," Autumn admitted. "I know I have a lot of catching up to do."

She would have a chance to be the one seeking mentorship instead of being the mentor of the younger, inexperienced girls.

It was only by facing the challenge of those stronger and further in their Way that she could progress in her own path. Daily fights with Kazumi had been helpful in a small way, and the fight with the Captain solidified a few more things. Observing a sword speed master clarified and defined her own Way. She firmly believed that there was a time for subtle motions of the sword, speed was not everything.

More importantly than the continual refinement of 2nd Step notions was her progress in awakening the Emperor's blood. Whatever other cultivators called it, Autumn knew she had the Emperor's blood, and when it was fully awoken, she would be able to progress to the edge of becoming a 4th step Pathist and begin identifying the shackles preventing her from unleashing the Indomitable Might of the Emperor!

Even her father was only attempting to follow in the path of the Divine Emperor. She didn't look to her family's imperfections, but to the ideal that they all had professed to follow.

Considering Sergeant Venkata her senior, she let the South Winds native have first choice of bunk, so Autumn ended up in the bottom bunk.

"We won't be staying on base long. Captain Tsuda's receiving orders tomorrow and then we are marching. Likely we'll have a transport formation specialist to assist us."

Venkata had already learned the South Winds style straight sword, so she continued to use it here.

"I prefer the Dao blade, but all they had available for single-edge training weapons was the saber," she told the sergeant.

"I'll speak with the Master Sergeant. I guarantee she'll have a Dao training blade for you by tonight. We can keep our training blades with us also, instead of leaving them at the training center."

Venkata pulled out her own training straight sword and sheath.

Because of the difference in age and rank, she didn't get to know Venkata's given name, but the atmosphere of this hall was much different from the rather casual 3 platoon, anyway. There was a serious dedication to warfighting to excellence with all of these women.

As a seventeen year old, she was now surrounded by women older than her rather than girls that were younger.

At lunch, Captain Tsuda said a few words: "Tonight, we'll have a little bit of a special Start of War dinner, with dessert. Make sure to eat more than you need, because we won't be eating like this again.

Wherever we are assigned, we will be away from bunks and mess halls for many days. Hopefully the war comes to a resolution in our favor soon, but if not, I expect and hope for continual sacrifice and extraordinary accomplishments from this unit. If Cherry Blossom base isn't talked about with pride at High Command by the end of the war, I will be disappointed. Don't let me down, girls. West Winds forever! West Winds forever, forever, forever!"

The afternoon was the last chance to get in some training for most girls. Autumn was able to claim one of the best training rooms in the Battle center, because she was in 25th platoon.

"I made 4th platoon," Wei told her.

"That's really good. What do you want to practice today?" Autumn asked her.

"Will you help me improve my guard?"

Improve her sister's guard was a matter of defeating it a few times, and then providing pointers, and exercises to improve her hand and arm strength.

"Remember the vertical cross block, and the horizontal. You can reposition your blade to block earlier or later, and then move your feet. Pay attention to where your opponent's blade is going to be when it slides away from your own blade."

She trained with Mari next. The girl was starting to get past just brute force in her attack style, and actually learning the art of the hammer. Private Toda even asked for a few tips, perhaps she was embarrassed at being sent back to 1st platoon.

But all of the girls she trained with regularly seemed to enjoy her spars with Kazumi even more than learning stuff themselves. They waited by the door of the training room, watching the fight.

"Sergeant Setsu, be wary, I've learned my own active power to match yours," Kazumi said boastfully.

"I'm not a sergeant, Kazumi. I will watch for your new technique. I've learned a few things fighting the Captain however."

"Me too!" Kazumi shouted.

Autumn wouldn't call herself an intimidation style fighting, but she stared at Kazumi like she had laser eyes. Front guard position, ready for a wild fight.

Kazumi struck first. Her two-hand sword strikes were much more powerful now, reflecting much greater strength than before. The hammering blows of the heavier sword meant each time Autumn deflected the blade, she had to fight to return to guard position.

Kazumi's furious assault of three consecutive slashes, which forced her to back up again and again ended when she showed her own strength by stepping out of the arc of her swing and then swiftly pressing the attack with her own lunging strike.

Kazumi was able to handle the stabbing motion this time, deflecting the blow off to her right side. The saber wasn't built for stabbing but it had surprised Kazumi for a few days when she first started using it.

As she restored her saber to guard position, a blinding flash of light caused her to flinch and look away, she deflected the two-hand sword that she knew was there but couldn't see, but Kazumi adjusted the swing, her sword arm recovered and she scored a clean hit on Autumn's upper right arm. Even a blunted two-hand sword hurt when it struck.

Before they could do anything else, Mari ran back into the training room.

"There's a general on base! I just heard. I mean, Brigadier General," Mari said.

Autumn pondered this, "Don't they just send our orders with a messenger, why a personal visit?"

The girls' own speculation and chat was soon replaced by several Lieutenants ordering them to return to the mustering field for a special visit.

She had to run over to 25th platoon as she accidentally started forming up with the 3rd.

"This is a great honor sir. Girls, please pay complete attention to Brigadier General Oya. He is overlord over the entire Girls' Army," Captain Tsuda was saying.

"Thank you, Captain. I only have an hour to spend here. Would your 25th platoon please come forward and stand at attention before the rest of your girls?"

There was a murmuring in the platoons before all quiet rang out again. Autumn tried to march as crisply as the rest of 25th platoon, she didn't think she achieved it.

They stood in front of the rest of the platoons, facing Captain Tsuda and Brigadier General Oya.

"In coordination with the General of the Armies Shoji, the decision has been made that all 10 Girls Army Bases' 25th platoons will be taking part in combined operations with the Special Forces.

Lieutenant Sano, your leadership of these girls is admirable. However, special forces are not platoon level operations, you will be released back to your Captain, to lead operations as he sees fit. In keeping with each girl's individual skills, I will be offering two to three choices for their initial posting. I will also hand over the main assignment for your battalion, Captain Tsuda."

The Captain hesitated for a moment before acknowledging Brig. General Oya. "Please, go ahead sir."

Autumn was midway down the line of her platoon, so she got to watch as the General spoke to each soldier. He gave them two new sets of uniforms, one formal, one practical. Provided the Specialist, junior grade insignia, which was shaped like a shield with a triangular base. The insignia was made out of a gold alloy, with one silver line across the upper third of the insignia.

The practical uniform seemed to be mottled gray, and the formal uniform was black and gold.

When Autumn received her uniforms and insignia, General Shojl spoke softly to her: "High Command is aware of your unique situation. We will not put you in the North. I offer you two choices:"

Choose your first mission:

Autumn will be traveling to the capital city with the rest of 25th platoon (except officers) in a few days. There she will link up with her Special Forces counterparts.

[ ] Protective Detail - Prime Minister Kasai.

You will join with two Special Forces soldiers to act as the new protection team for the Prime Minister. Do you trust the Special Forces soldiers, or are they there to enforce the will of the military if Kasai displeases them?


[ ] Infiltration & Scouting - South Winds

You will join with three Special Forces soldiers and one other Specialist from your platoon to perform infiltration and scouting near the Southern border. Survivalist skills and the ability to escape in a hurry will be important.

"Specialist Setsu, time is short for this mission, Agricultural Minister Kasai is assuming the Prime Ministership in three days. Warrant Officer Saito will be arriving by teleport formation late tonight, be ready outside your barracks hall. Your assignment to this mission is considered restricted information, do not tell anyone who isn't brought in on this."

"Thank you sir."

The Brigadier General continued down the line of platoon members, and when he spoke to all of them, he returned to the Captain.

"Your mission assignment," the Brigadier General said, producing a large sealed envelope from his briefcase.

"Thank you sir."

General Oya bowed slightly before Captain Tsuda, "On to the next base, Captain."

The duffel bag of uniforms and the small hand bag of insignias were empty. He picked both up and walked away as if he was planning on covering the whole distance on foot.

Captain Tsuda spoke up, "Well, this is a surprise. We will certainly miss our best unit. All of you new specialists, I want to see you in your new uniforms, and we will have a little send off with dinner."

There was hardly any time for more training, so Autumn instead returned to the 25th platoon hall to get changed. Most of the platoon had the same idea.

The dress uniform's slacks were black with gold-colored stripes, and the dress shirt was collared gold, there was a ring of white rays of light surrounding a black star shape in the upper left, and Autum noticed the other girls were pinning their new insignia below the star and rays.



Not knowing the background of this star and rays she didn't know if it was a special forces logo, or something for all of South winds.

"I know we can't share our missions," Autumn said to the now Specialist Venkata, "but good luck, wherever you go. Maybe we'll be working together on a future mission."

"Oh, I can share my mission. I'm heading to the southern border with a team of Special forces. It's widely known that my family turned over a lot of information about the South Winds when we arrived. We were happy to hurt the South fanatics as much as we could. Here, no one even asks me what I believe."

Autumn pondered. In the West Winds, she guessed most people would laugh in her face if she talked about the Divine Emperor. After they had abolished their own line of emperors, they went in a different direction from the North.

She had no desire to bother Venkata on this issue. West Winds would be the best place for someone fleeing judgmental religiosity. Autumn's own experience was going from complete acceptance of the Divine Emperor, to complete indifference here. In neither place was there a lot of discussion or questioning people's beliefs.

"Stay safe," she said.

Lieutenant Sano was kind enough to let her sit at 4th platoon's table for dinner. Lieutenant Uyeda had no objections either, so she sat next to Wei.

Obviously this was better stuff than the Cook Crew made. Lieutenant Matsuura had paid a pretty penny to some cooks in Sabaku no tochi City.

This actually rivaled her old chef's cooking. Everything she'd had during her days at the base was different from the stories of West Winds cooking. This, though, was West Winds beef steak, on a bed of rice and fresh vegetables, and they actually had courses, with a noodle soup for the first course, and for the third course, each table shared a platter of an enormous fish.

It was a type of fish not found in the small lakes of her homeland. This fish was six to eight feet long.

"Captain Tsuda went all out," said one of the girls two tables over.

Alcohol was strictly forbidden in the Girls' Army, but she knew the Captain drank because he was doing so just before their battle during the training exercise. Second brother had also been very strict with drinking, promising to cut their funding if they wasted money on alcohol.

Instead they all had a sparkling grape juice, and as one of the girls gave a toast to the captain, they all stood up, and toasted him.

The Captain spoke up, "Eat up, we have business to attend to shortly,"

Autumn noticed him drinking real spirits as he sat together with 1st lieutenant Yamada and the other lieutenants.

She was actually full. This was the first time she felt like back home, relaxing in the aftermath of a meal that left you stuffed.

Captain Tsuda stood up. "Girls of the 25th platoon. I want to thank you for leading your junior sisters, encouraging them in training and in the classroom. The Girls' army Cherry Blossom base wants to see our alumni accomplish the most amazing feats, and if our paths ever do cross again, remember your home base, remember Cherry Blossom! A toast to the girls of the 25th platoon!"

Autumn was in the wrong place, but she cheered for the rest of the 25th as well, and then sat down. She wanted to hear what orders her sister, Kazumi and the other girls would receive.

After cheering and toasting, Captain Tsuda continued "25th platoon, you are dismissed and relieved from all Cherry Blossom base duties!"

The Captain didn't even want them to hear the orders, now that they were no longer his charge? She gave Wei a long hug, and spoke with Wei for a few minutes, encouraging her, but she noticed Captain Tsuda was ready to move on.

"Sorry sir," she said towards the Captain's table.

"No matter what, I'll be thinking and worrying about you Wei."

"You be safe too!" Wei said.

Hurriedly, Autumn left the mess hall, wondering where these girls were headed.

Lieutenant Sano spoke to her. "Come, get your sword from the armory, and Path pills."

The talisman, the sword, her gray specialist uniform and Path medicines were all she was bringing. The lieutenant gave her a small bag to keep things neat and together.

"My mission starts tonight, so I won't be here in the morning," she told the Lieutenant.

"It's only a few days until I only have the Master Sergeant to boss around," Sano said joking.

"I'm sure the Captain will put you to work, sir," she said.

Master Sergeant Kumugai had a weapon cleaning kit she could use, so she took the opportunity to give her Dao blade a thorough oiling and cleaning.

The platoon hall was eerily quiet. Some girls were preparing their weapons like Autumn, some were cleaning their boots. Some chatting quietly, some staring into the distance, some catching catnaps.

Autumn was sitting in 25th platoons little lounge while she was oiling the Dao blade. She wiped down the blade for the last time, and made a few small sword swipes.

Master Sergeant Kumagai was sitting across from her with her own longsword.

"I wanted to learn the katana, but it's been heavily discouraged in the Girls Army," the Master Sergeant was saying.

"I haven't heard of that one," Autumn said. She couldn't picture what kind of blade it was, not being something that existed back home.

"The Katana is tied up in a lot of tradition that the old-guard want to keep, and the new army wants to use to control people. It's a heavily male-associated weapon, so they don't want us girls having them. The naginata was used by women in the old days, but it's fallen out of fashion, I don't know if they produce many of those anymore," Kumugai said.

"I can appreciate a good weapon, regardless of whether men or women use it," Autumn said. "In my family, It was unfashionable to use weapons. I appreciate the acceptance of swords and all kinds of weapons here, even if there's a lot of traditional thoughts about men and women and who is supposed to use each weapon."

"I've become accustomed to using a double-bladed weapon. You don't have to worry about positioning as much. The katana is single-edged, much like your Dao blade."

"The entire blade of a single-bladed weapon is designed to cut, narrowing out to a deadly edge. In a two-bladed weapon, half of the blade has to support each cut direction. If you want a reasonably light weapon, the single-blade offers advantages. It's a tradeoff," she said.

After an animated discussion that covered many aspects of swords and how they were designed, Master Sergeant Kumugai decided to take some rest. Autumn felt like talking with the sergeant had been more among equals when they discussed swords.

It would be a long time before the Warrant Officer arrived. She moved over to her bunk, but she didn't want to risk not being awake when the officer arrived. She laid awake on the bottom bunk, contemplating the Emperor's blood and what she had experienced of it so far.

Specialist Venkata was sound asleep, and she was feeling dreary and tired when she heard what sounded like a thunderclap.

She quietly walked outside, trying not to wake the sleeping.

The man standing outside her hall stood up from a large -- thing, made of metal and wood. This was a type of teleport formation? It was much different from the Divine treasure she had used to get to the High Mountain palace. It was not much bigger than a carriage, but had no wheels at all, maybe ten feet long by six feet wide.

It must be Warrant Officer Saito. His uniform was much the same as her gray one, but his insignia consisted of two silver diagonal lines, instead of one horizontal line like hers.

He also had a mustache and goatee. None of the regular army soldiers, or even Family guard had those, so it must be a privilege he could get away with as Special Forces.

"Specialist Setsu, we don't have much time. Attire, makeup, introductions, all of these things must be done quickly. I'll explain once we arrive back to the Special Forces unit house. Have you used one of these things?"

"Something similar," she said, which surprised the Warrant Officer.

Indeed, even though it was smaller, there was a second seat of the contraption, and a lock mechanism that held her in place like the one underneath the Palace.

Saito checked her own lock before locking himself in. He didn't need a Card this time, but simply a lever mechanism which was on the side of his chair.

It was like they were sitting side by side in a carriage, but it was a teleport formation, and after the familiar wrenching pain, they were seated, indoors, somewhere in the capital city, whose never she had never remembered from those history lessons.

Chiba, no. Mazumi? Mizumi. Mizumi ken technically. That was in.

This was a house. It looked to her like an ordinary house, large but not government or military in design.

There were paintings and fancy cups. Chairs and upholstery that would have been worthy of her old home.

She unlocked her seat and stood up as the Warrant Officer did the same.

"This is one of our Special Forces houses in Mizumi ken. I only know about this one, but I'm sure others exist," Saito said to her.

"Three points that are not specific to you, but simply mission critical. As a newbie, you don't have that special forces attitude, don't try to imitate us or act that way. Whenever possible, our protective details are arranged to have one embedded operative and two overt operatives. In the event that hostile forces take down the obvious overt target, the embedded operative responds, relying on surprise and confusion to stop the attackers and protect the mission target.

Minister Kasai is barely known to Mizumi. After three other ministers refused their appointment, we have a rare opportunity to insert you into the unknown official's backstory.

You will play the part of Minister Kasai's daughter. However, there are certain things you simply can't fake in front of the shrewd. Your backstory is that you have just returned from a visit to the North Winds at the behest of your father. You managed to get back three weeks ago, just before the troubles began there. You were impressed by the North Winds people and your trip was longer than your father expected, but you are ready to be by his side as he takes the Prime Minister position.

Minister Kasai and his wife have been briefed on the plan and they will follow through with their part. You need to get into character, and quickly. Your bedroom is on the left at the end of the hall. Please wear civilian clothes tomorrow, and leave early, heading towards Kaido avenue north of here. There you will meet your contact for breakfast and the next part of the plan.

Oh, and Setsu, your name will be Kasai Shūsui."

Saito looked at the sheath she was carrying, and then said something further. "Ah, it seems also, you need a different weapon. Leave your current blade in your room. Your new blade for this mission will be one much more likely for the daughter of Kasai to have practiced with.

"Remeber, all association needs to be removed between you and the protective detail which I will lead."



Of course, they wouldn't use a girl in Special Forces without a twist… Autumn, a third name already! Impressive. Autumn, the name changer.

What weapon will Autumn carry while she is pretending to be the Minister's daughter?

[ ] Katana

High-society girls sometimes do practice with them, unlike members of the Girls army like the Master Sergeant. Being a single-edged blade, it's not that different than the Dao blade or sabre that Autumn has used.

[ ] Tessen (Japanese War Fan)

Inconspicuous but secretly providing some fighting power. Autumn is completely untrained in such weapons though.

[ ] Write in

Anything realistic. The larger weapons would be impractical.

The dress laid out for Autumn's civilian clothes was rather dull. While it had variation in texture, the dress went down to about her ankles and it was monochrome. There was a repeating pattern of white dotted here and there, they were little snowflake shapes, but the rest was pure black.

She wore fancy perfectly clean and nice white shoes, like she hadn't wore since the dinner party at her house. It was a bit painful to put on the silver earrings as she hadn't wore any in the army.

On the end table near the outside door was a sheathed weapon, and also a small hand bag. She had both hands full with the sheath and bag. The weapon was longer than her blade, but largely from the sheath it seemed similar. She wouldn't know for sure until later.

She hoped it was early enough as she slipped out of the house at half past six bells. She walked along the sidewalk, only passing a few people this early.

Where exactly on Kaido avenue was she supposed to go?

She actually saw a teleport formation arriving, and those exiting them seemed to be a trio of wealthy, yet perfectly civilian men, carrying briefcases.

"Good morning miss," one of them said as she passed by.

Forms of address, she reminded herself. This was a new place, with its own etiquette, and Warrant Office Saito had thrown her right in the deep end.

"Good morning, mister," she said hoping her bow was respectful enough, and she turned back north.

As she walked along, she encountered more shops and businesses with wild names like: Port Exotic, Onishi Formations and Sonoda Rare Coins and Coinage Exchange.

Kaido avenue was a fascinating mix of carriages, formations, and hucksters. There weren't just the teleport formations. It seemed like some young men were advertising the benefits of their formations, and others were selling folk medicines and unique solutions to every Pathist's struggles. These were all on the South side of the street as a massive building and well manicured grounds loomed over the North side

Access to special equipment and medicinals would have been this common back home if not for the complete monopoly the Emperor and First brother held.

It was hopeless to identify which person she was supposed to contact, there were so many. Hightown was empty by comparison. Why didn't Warrant Officer Saito give her more detail on this point?

Her eyes were finally drawn to the building which everyone seemed to be streaming into.

She remembered this from books! Although the Parliament House was more famous, it was only used for the initial address of each term of office, and important votes. The day to day business was done at the Parliament Offices, where key ministry members and legislative staff were housed.

Autumn did her best to approximate what a Minister's daughter might be like. She walked into the building.

There was a woman standing behind a podium examining a list, and a half dozen guards within fifty feet of her. Perhaps special forces, themselves, or maybe only the leader of the building detail?

She needed to see Minister Kasai. Perhaps the contact person would link up with her there.

The woman standing behind the podium took one look at her and said, "Who are you here to see?"

"Minister Kasai."

The entryway of this building seemed large and airy, like the Government didn't care if they wasted all of that open air."

"Please hand over your weapon, Miss. We will keep it for you when you leave the building."

Autumn quickly handed over the weapon which she hadn't even seen yet. The hilt seemed nice enough.


"You can find him in room 217," the woman said.

Unlike out on the street, everyone in the building was dressed more nicely, and it was almost all men.

Autumn let several men go ahead of her when she entered the stairwell. The stairs were simple carpeted, and not very steep steps, but there were a lot of them because of the tall ceiling on the first floor.

Room 217 was an office in the middle of the building, illuminated only by artificial light, as all of the blinds were drawn.

Perhaps the people on the inside noticed, as she hesitated, standing outside the door. She didn't know if she could just go in or not.

This was not Warrant Officer Saito. "I am Minister Kasai's lead Protective detail officer. And you are?"

"Kasai Shūsui. My father can verify who I am. I've been out of town on travel recently, but I came to see my father and congratulate him."

"This is a very serious matter. Minister Kasai faces the greatest danger as he prepares to become Prime Minister, and I prepare to pass my detail to another soldier. I will go get the minister."

The stern-faced Special Forces member who was Saito's predecessor in the position went inside to talk to the Minister.

"Yes, I know. I have to see my daughter's face, I will surely know if she's an imposter."

Minister Kasai was a small man, impeccably dressed, smiling though wrinkles seemed to betray nights of worry. Both short and small of build, he seemed delicate, like he was made of glass. This was the Agriculture minister?

"Kichōna musume! My daughter is home, Gorou" Minister Kasai said. The minister's act was impeccable.

Before he could give her a hug, the operative spoke sharply, "Are you sure this is your daughter? Perhaps you should step back into the office first."

"Don't be so worried, Gorou. There's plenty of time for that in the late hours. Come in Shūsui! You've got backup for a reason, so go get Miss Chou, I have need to discuss a few things with her."

There was a younger operative inside, and a massively overfull desk of papers.

She was shocked as her 'father' made one motion, and the papers, as if obeying by fear, carefully arranged themselves into piles in the four corners.

Xue Son would have been impressed. No Cards needed.

She gave Minister Kasai a big hug. "My daughter has returned!" the minister said cheerfully.

"Otōsan, forgive me for being gone too long. I was almost too late."

"It was good for you to go east and see your aunts and uncles. I've bought a flat here, you can stay with your mother and I now that we've settled down from the constant trips."

"I can't wait to see mom, but I wanted to go here first to cheer you on."

The leader which Minister Kasai called Gorou returned with a woman.

"What can I help you with, sir?" the lady said.

She was perfumed, dressed nicely and wearing makeup that seemed to perfectly match her face. Autumn remembered the beauty treatments she had to go through, and that Wei would have gone through after moving into the home that would have been hers.

"My daughter is here, and she wants to attend the Governor General's meeting with me. Can you do it so quickly?" Kasai said.

"Am I not Chou, Good minister?" she said, smiling at him, "Come on Miss Kasai, we have much to do."

Chou moved at a pathist's pace, and Autumn had to apply her own efforts just to keep up.

"My fashion parlor is still in Minister Kasai's old office. It's halfway across the building."

There were only a few people out in the halls, but she caught quite a few people already at their desks, doing work at an early morning hour.

The Agricultural ministry wasn't a corner office, it was wedged in between the Foreign Trade and Mining departments. No one questioned them as 'Chou' lead her into her own office, a room filled with stuff, especially mirrors and chairs and spun when you sat in them.

A man was already sitting at one of the chairs.

"That's Vice Minister Itoh, your father's assistant, and soon to be new Agricultural Minister. The Governor General is ratifying his position today as well."

The Vice Minister looked weird, as his face was covered in a foamy liquid and his hair was wild, like Chou had run out amid brushing the man's hair.

"Take a seat, and I'll finish the Vice Minister's preparations first."

Autumn watched fascinatedly as the Vice Minister's face was made more youthful, and his eyes less full of tiredness. His hair was nearly combed in a perfect way, but Chou's speed with a comb with completely unnatural in it's quickness.

It was only five minutes before the Vice Minister looked like an entirely new and more handsome man.

After he left, Miss Chou returned to her.

"You could call me a Fashion Pathist. Making people look amazing is my Way. And so I have all the techniques I need to make you look like the daughter of Shigeru and Amaya. Let me just appreciate your beauty the way it is now."

It was creepy as Miss Chou gazed at her face, and examined her whole body. Although she was fully-clothed, she felt completely naked before the Mistress of Fashion.

"The last person who looked after your fashion. Whether he or she, they were a First Step Fashion Pathist, although they may have been unaware of it. Quite well done for a young Pathist. Now I can remember your appearance, so you can change back afterwards…"

Miss Chou began to hold her hair, and arranged it in incredibly quickly in different positions. "Often elaborately braided hair is the safe formal choice, but I think, even such formal occasions need a little more liveliness."

Chou walked around in front of her, and touched her cheeks next.

"Yes, I've got hair ideas, but I'll let those thoughts meander while I make you Kasai!"

It was an incredible awkward sequence of events where Chou touched her face many times, deciding how to change it.

After that, she took Autumn to a changing room, and with just her underclothes on, Chou adjusted her shoulders, legs, arms, neck, chest, belly and abdomen. Every child was different in infinite variations, so how could Chou know or care how Autumn 'should' look as a child of these two people?

"I really am sorry," Miss Chou said. "There are perverse arts that can expose ones such as yourself by their lack of family signature markers. There are many markers of family lineages in the body, and I have trained for many years in fashion to achieve the unparalleled ability to modify these markers."

They will try their marker arts from a distance, but with my help, you will be confirmed as Minister Kasai's daughter. Now let's get back to that hair!"

Autumn was happy to get dressed, but soon Miss Chou was whipping her hair around with the same free-spirited approach as before. It was refreshing to see a Pathist completely in their element, even if she was squeamish about Miss Chou's methods.

These markers must have been subconscious, as there was really something different about herself, when she looked in the mirror, and the feeling of being in this body was different.

Autumn looked at herself as the completed perfection of Miss Chou's way. The makeup was enhancing, not overdone, her hair was in a weird combination of braids and flowing hair. The braids provided an accent to her hair that neither was unruly nor overly firm but moved just so gently as she stood up.

She now had distinctive dimples when she smiled, and her teeth were perfectly white and straight.

She pondered the thought of Miss Chou being a servant on her old staff. No, not at all. She was no servant, but a fearsome Pathist, a cultivator as advanced as Xue Lee surely. But it would have been magical if Miss Chou had a salon in high town.

Autumn thought perhaps Minister Kasai's reaction was real when he first saw her, transformed. "Miss Chou! You truly are the master of beauty! My daughter was not much trouble then?" he asked.

"No trouble at all."

Autumn couldn't say she expected this, when she found herself sitting in a carriage, riding over to the Governor General's mansion for the first discussions of Minister Kasai's election by his party members to be the 86th Prime Minister. The formal and official occasion would be in three days, but Minister Kasai told her that there were certain formal issues, and a few real issues to discuss.

The Minister's Protective detail had changed while she was in Miss Chou's chair. This "Gorou" had been replaced by Warrant Officer Saito and the brand-new Specialist Nagano. Autumn succeeded in taking no notice of them. She had practice doing that with her own staff, as said as that felt now.

The Governor General was the formal head of government. In imitation of the South Winds governmental style, he was the Head of State, formally identified as the highest position in West Winds society, but uninvolved in politics.

From the histories Autumn read, the Emperor had become a similarly ceremonial person here, before the line of West Wind emperors was ended. The Governor General would acknowledge Minister Kasai's party as "recommending" him for Prime Minister, but the Governor General had never refused the recommended person.
Minister Kasai filled in the details she hadn't read about. There were a number of procedural hurdles to cover with the Governor General, as well as matters of tradition.

"We will meet the Governor General, and then you'll have to find a preoccupation for a few hours. The man does love his culture. Once our private discussions are done with, there will be dinner, and then returning home.

Your mother wanted to stay home tonight, she'll be arranging a room for you surely. I confess I haven't had the time to look after anything like that."

When they arrived at the mansion, Autumn realized she wouldn't be surprised if it was an Emperor's villa. Not as large as the main Palace in the North, it was surely larger than the High Mountain palace.

The style was full of sweeping vistas, layers of an almost bluish gray painted wood. The path to the manor's front door passed underneath the upper part of the house, creating a subterranean feel even though Autumn was at ground level.

The Governor had a part of honor guards in red and white uniforms with tall hats. Each guard a naginata and their weapons formed an X in the middle of the hallway, blocking passage.

Both guards did not respond to Minister Kasai's arrival. He took the lead standing a few feet in front of Autumn and the detail.

The guards were apparently relying on some kind of communication that they could hear, as eventually they pulled back their naginatas and Minister Kasai walked forward as Autumn followed.

Autumn's first impression of the Governor General was old. His hair was white and only present in a small tuft at the front of his head. He walked with an unsteady gait, but a group of five other people accompanied him.

"Governor General, thank you for your invitation. Mrs Kasai appreciated the flowers, and I also appreciated your other gesture. I have humbly brought Master Ban's reserve."

Warrant Officer Saito provided Minister Kasai with the bottle of alcohol, who presented it to the Governor General delicately.

"Amusing. And who is this who is with you?" the Gov Gen. said.

"I would like to present to you my daughter Kasai Shūsui," Minister Kasai said.

She stepped forward, bowing deeply. "I am glad to meet you, Lord General."

As someone underneath her "father's" new stature, Kasai had told her to address the governor in a different register of respect. This was familiar territory for her.

"You do have a breathtaking daughter, Minister. Please follow me. I am eager to try Master Ban and discuss certain matters."

Warrant Officer Saito and his protege followed Minister Kasai, while she stood back. Luckily one of the Governor General's staffers stepped away to speak with her.

"Honored Miss, You are not alone in the Governor's manor. There is much here to pass the time."


Vote for where you want Autumn to be while waiting on the Governor General and Prime Minister to be?

Always keep in mind the potential that something could happen. You are the backup in case Warrant Officer Saito and Specialist Nagano are removed from the picture, or need assistance. You will be present in some situations where they cannot be at hand, and also there are reverse situations where you have to wait while they can be present with the Minister.

[ ] Music Hall

Performances of several styles of music, including old-style flute, vocal styles and modern styles influenced by off-world trade. Difficult to hear anything outside the hall, but the performance keeps people focussed so you don't have to socialize as much.

[ ] Game Room

Go and Backgammon are particularly popular. Mostly a casual social experience.

[ ] Lounge

Plenty of snacks and chats. The Lounge is where the Governor General's friends and invited guests gossip and chat the moment.