The Kingmaker

Tears on the Floor

A touch, tears smear floor

Hand begins its tragic tale

Doom's dance, fate betrayed 

"Mind that filthy bucket, you oaf!" Haizaki Shougo brushes the sleeves of his tunic as though Shigehiro has dirtied him. "That Alon man is so pissed off that he has made all of us clean. Who does that arrogant dog think he is?"

Answering will not help any of them, but Haizaki also has no love for being ignored.

"He has lost many crew members."

"If I were him," Haizaki scoffs, hauling a sloshing bucket of rancid, fly-swarmed offal, "we should be sailing back to our Empire." With a grunt of disgust, he upends the vile contents into a fetid trough beside a begrimed cupboard. "Why should I care about another king? I was doing well. I should be dying well, not spending my time on this." He sends a long, hard kick against the bucket. Thankfully, he does not do any real damage. Mayhaps deep inside, Haizaki knows he has no choice but to cooperate.

Leaving him be is the better choice. When a person like Haizaki is fuming, calming them down is fruitless.

Walking for minutes, he finally finds Alon, or at least, the captain finds him. He tries to avoid staring at the layers of bandages on his chest. According to what he has heard, Alon was hacked with a long sword. He has only survived because of Temil, who sacrificed his life.

Although he has got nothing to do with any of it, Shigehiro cannot help but feel too sorry, as though he knew Temil when, in reality, he had never spoken to the deckhand.

Alon's usual playful smirk is now curled sourly. He waves him over. Agitated, Shigehiro follows. The captain has been in a foul mood, and who could blame him? Half of his men died. Somebody had the guts to jest that at least distributing provisions would not be a problem anymore. That servant received a blow to the jaw.

"Your job is to not walk. Your job is this." Alon thrusts a mop into his hands. "Swab the deck. Don't stop until I can see my face on it!"

Shigehiro swallows his protest. He cleaned many rooms back in the Palace, so this should not be a problem for him. But the ship is so humongous that a day will not be enough to clean the deck.

Instead of pointing out the obvious flaw in the command, he nods and thanks Alon.

He starts at the stern, the back of the ship. Yani has taught Shigehiro some details, and whilst they are difficult to pronounce and thus difficult to remember, Shigehiro believes he is getting better at naming them. Speaking of Yani, Shigehiro barely sees him after the attack. He ought to give his thanks to the man who saved his life from a fatal slashing. But how can he do that when Yani is only there to teach them how to use swords? Afterwards, he goes back to his duty.

"After the stern, I will clean the starboard," he mutters. The starboard is the right section of the ship, the opposite side of the port. He nods to himself, quite happy that he recalls the terms well.

Wetting the frayed mop proves a challenge as the bucket slides perilously with each roll of the ship. He traps it between his boots. Soon, he realises his foolishness as briny water sloshes over his shoes. He sighs, contemplating his life.

"You can kick the bucket."

He jumps and freezes. He needn't turn around to confirm whose voice it is. The handler has only spoken to him a few times, and those instances are enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

Mibuchi Reo is not necessarily cruel. He is just. Too just.

"In order to do things here on the ship, you must follow its rhythm. At first, I had a hard time figuring it out, but she is predictable once you are used to her."