Moonstones and Madness

Thirty-seven

     As soon as the audience with the Crown Prince ended, General Tan headed straight to the training yard he leased to Knight-Master Lei. He was surprised to find it nearly empty but his nephew soon arrived with a couple of prospects for Scout Jia to assess.

"Still recruiting?" The General frowned at Scout Jia.

"We picked up some private contracts. Mostly short-term but they are letting us vet candidates with a bit more experience under their belts." He answered and with a nod took the others on a tour of the stable to give San Jin time with his uncle.

"I'm sorry I could not make the finals," General Tan said.

San Jin showed him the prized sword and scabbard then said, "I'm sorry you have been carrying so much on your own. It must be difficult rooting the bad actors in the provinces."

General Tan shrugged off the comment and asked about how the team was shaping up.

"It has its ups and downs." San Jin admitted before giving the kind of report he knew his uncle was expecting. "There has been some trouble in the prefecture so Lord Lei sent half the trainees there with Manager Doak and Journeyman Yang. We miss them, especially Bon Xuiyang's practical approach in the forge. Pange In-Yeon just set out for the Temple of the Dawn but left us letters to open each week. Bother Kuin scolded him for scrying so much and went along to keep him out of trouble. Kim Hae-sung is still recovering from the crash at the championship. It's funny when Park Chenhui tries to mother him especially when he has his own worries. Im Song-hee keeps to himself but can be amazing in the workshop. When he and Junseo get going on a project together it's hard for the rest of us to keep up."

"The gangs backed off. No more attacks" The general asked.

"None we know of, but we've lots of extra palace protections with our commission work with Rainbow-maker Mein," San Jin said and looked away uncertain how much more it was prudent to say.

"Yes. I just got a preview of the project. So, tell me why night messengers?"

"That was Junseo and Hae-sung brainstorming. During the day it is easy enough to use flags for basic messages across a battlefield but if you are moving at night and don't want to signal your position with fires or flares its hard to communicate between divisions." San Jin paused waiting for a nod from his uncle before continuing. "We tested different shades to make them harder to see against a night sky. I suppose we could experiment with different colors for daytime use but they seemed more likely to be intercepted. Otherwise, proper tuning and practice makes them pretty reliable."

"It's safe to say the Crown-Prince was very taken with the idea of anything overcoming the dissonance and being able to better map all the zones. I think your little fliers may just have a wider application. Tell me, how much training and practice would it take for an ordinary soldier to be able to use these in the field?"

San Jin blushed and stuttered while he tried to frame an answer. "It would really depend on the soldiers. Our team members are all at least fourth dan, and follow temple rituals with special stone mantras. Even then it took a long time to get the tuning right for different pairs and we still rely on Junseo's experience as a kite racer. You should ask him about it after the commission gets cleared. Honestly. I'm not sure how much we are allowed to share."

"You're right. I shouldn't have put you on the spot. Still, I would like to see a field trial after your presentation at the palace." The general nodded.

"What presentation is that?" Scout Jia interrupted from behind. His face twisted into a regretful smirk when he heard the general's short explanation. "Wen-Hou is not going to like it. He would rather keep the team well clear of palace engagements."