Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Suicides of the Honorable and Social Kind

Seeing how no requests came aimed at the Tribunal, Mana expected the procession to move on but, oddly enough, it appeared to go the entirely different direction.

"Well, in that case, we shall settle the matter of the samurai and their ability to provide us and the Voices the necessary security." The Fire Lord leaned back into the massive, carmine cushion of the throne-like chair that each Feudal Lord or another manner of a member of the Council sat on. The Council made a much bigger deal of this incident than Mana had predicted initially. If it went a particular direction, the entire event may have been postponed or canceled.

"It was one minor mistake, surely it does not cast a shadow too wide upon the entirety of the samurai order that has provided more than adequate protection when asked for it every time." The Water Lord stroke his long beard. "No disrespect to the Voices of ninja, but they are dangerous people, it is next to impossible to avoid accidents like these when putting so many of them together under one roof."

"That is beside the point." The young man behind the Fire Lord in regal attire closed his eyes. "While I do agree that conflict between ninja of various countries, villages, and backgrounds is unavoidable, we have promised to provide them total security. It does not matter how possible that is, it is a matter of our promise to the Kage who have entrusted the security of their people to us. The importance of this accident will not be downplayed, I will not allow my father to be made into a liar."

"Indeed, we have promised the Kage the security of their assets. If you borrowed a shogi board from your fellow Feudal Lord and then had it accidentally burnt in a fire, you'd feel responsible for the loss of the item, would you not?" a small, dark-skinned old-timer in orange and white colored, majestic silks and an afro-like, round nest of curly hair noted with a joking smirk.

"Assets? We have come here to judge how much more reliable ninja are than assets. If the Lightning Lord has already made his decision, perhaps our presence here isn't necessary. I'm sure with only the Land of Lightning party present, the samurai could avoid even the few accidents they could not prevent." A bald and feeble old man wrapped in similar royal-looking clothes to his colleagues but also littered with countless accessories to compensate for the lack of height or stature of the man. Still, even with the towering hat counted into the equation, the man looked merely as tall as his peers.

"That will be enough, Esteemed Tribunal!" Isuki, the samurai leading squad fourteen who was the figurehead behind the discussed matter which managed to postpone the main topic on the agenda by demanding all of the Tribunal's time already. "I am a man of honor and as such I shall be imposing my own punishment. I do not yet know how the accursed snow-woman managed to slip her dogs through our security, nor do I care, my knowledge of the exact reason for the mistakes I've made does not matter nor does it prevent me from my penance."

The past-his-prime sword-master moved his black and white haori to reveal a short scabbard tied to the belt holstering his main two weapons. The man unsheathed the blade and made it twinkle in the gleaming light of the Tribunal room, the lightning-fast arm of the battle-hardened warrior stopped raised in mid-air.

"Don't tell me..." Mana objected, her objections were wobbly at first but they rose in intensity directly proportionate to the worry of what the man was about to do. There were too many people around, too stoic and static, like planted into the ground, like little stone army protecting the repenting man from Mana's attempts to change the drastic nature of his atonement.

The swordsman plunged the gleaming tanto into his gut, the burst of blood that scattered onto the mat was tame at first but with a forceful push, the warrior drew his blade from left to right, slicing his entire abdomen open. That was when the contents of the man's physical essence spilled to the outside for real, just like the captain intended, no doubt.