Despite Yoshika’s best efforts, it wasn’t practical to broadly incorporate the demonic forces into the rest of Jiaguo’s army. Instead, they were relegated to their own specialized unit under the command of Yang Qiu. They made up the bulk of the front line fighters, supported by a handful of artillery mages under Kaede’s direct command.

The second largest unit consisted of volunteers from Urayama. Many of them saw the campaign as a way to take back their homeland from Shogun Hayakawa’s oppressive regime. That sentiment really drove home just how fractured Yamato was as a nation. As Lord Ienaga said, the people were loyal first to those closest to them, and then only distantly to the Shogun himself—if at all.

Establishing a chain of command for them had been challenging. Rika was away on her spy mission, and Kaede was the high commander of the entire army. Among the villagers themselves, many were former soldiers, but none had served as officers—those tended to stay in their military careers rather than return home to become rice farmers.

Guan Yi offered to lead them, as he had military training and even first hand experience as the leader of the coalition forces that ousted the demons from what was now Jiaguo. But Yoshika didn’t want to invite trouble by having the heir to one of Qin’s most highly respected sects fighting under her banner.

The solution came in the form of another problem.

Jin Hu was an extremely odd case. The mysterious rogue cultivator who’d just wandered into town on his own had become something of a local phenomenon. He was friendly and forthcoming, did well in the academy, and had a knack for showing up at opportune moments to help solve conflicts.

Jiaguo was a small place, and a person like that doesn’t go unnoticed. Everybody knew Jin, and most people liked him. Even Yoshika found something oddly familiar about the man, but after discovering that the priest Hattori Koji had been deceiving her the entire time they traveled together, she was a little suspicious of mysterious old men.

Okay, so Jin Hu wasn’t an old man—but he was a cultivator. Who could even say how old he really was?

Nevertheless, when he volunteered to fight for Jiaguo, she had a hard time finding a reason to turn him down. He was strong—perhaps even the strongest third stage cultivator in the nation. And unlike most of the others who could match him, he had no major obligations.

But where to put him? Aside from the demons, there were almost no other combat-worthy spiritualists among Jiaguo’s citizenry. Xin Wei and Guan Yi were to be left behind due to their ongoing affiliation with major sects, and Lin Xiulan had elected to stay behind as well, saying that she’d rather reserve herself for defensive action, should it come to that.

Some of the Cult of Harmonious Stars signed up anyway, even without their leader and despite their misgivings about the demons. But Luo Mingyu was already leading the support corps—his father having badgered him into it.

So Yoshika was stuck with a powerful and highly experienced expert without a place in the army, and a unit of fighters without a commander. It seemed like the answer was obvious, but to be sure, Jia called a meeting with Jin Hu and some of the Urayama volunteers.

They gathered in the ever popular gazebo overlooking Qin Zhao’s park. Urayama’s volunteers were represented by Ito Yuuki—the same young man who’d acted as a forward scout and messenger when Lady Tennin’s people had first arrived in Jiaguo.

Jia bowed to Jin and Ito as they arrived.

“Thank you for coming. Ito, how is Suzu doing?”

The boy started—he’d been staring at her. The poor man was a bit enamored with Jia, and she’d been doing her best to politely ignore it. It was a harmless crush, and he hadn’t actually made any advances, so it would be rude to preemptively reject him, even if she could sense his emotions.

“Eh? Mom? She’s fine, I guess. Has her hands full taking care of the younger ones, but it’s actually been a lot easier after the move, so she hasn’t needed to work in the fields lately.”

Jia smiled. It was good to hear that things were going so well for the village.

“Good, I’m glad. Jin Hu, this is Ito Yuuki of Urayama. Ito, this is Jin Hu, a settler from Qin.”

Jin Hu held his hands in his sleeves before him, bowing in Qin’s traditional fashion.

“Thank you for the introduction, Lady High Arbiter, but we have already met.”

Ito nodded.

“Yeah, we’ve got a few classes together in the academy. Besides, everyone knows Jin.”

“As you say.”

Jia shrugged. That made things easier, then.

“Great! I have a proposal for you both, if you’re willing to listen.”

Jin Hu inclined his head politely.

“Of course.”

When Ito nodded in agreement, Jia continued.

“Ito, my understanding is that you and the other volunteers from the village have been struggling to choose a leader.”

“That’s right, Miss. Most of us didn’t serve much more than the minimum, and we don’t know the first thing about leading armies. Put us in a group and point us in the right direction and we’ll do alright, but that’s about our limit.”

“I think you sell yourselves short, but it’s true that we don’t have time to train new officers. So in the meantime, I was wondering how you would feel about Jin Hu leading.”

Ito Yuuki blinked, glancing over at Jin Hu, whose expression remained placid.

“I mean...I don’t think we’d object? Like I said, everyone knows Jin, and he’s alright for an imperial. Would he know how to lead us martial artists, though?”

Jia turned her attention to the man in question.

“That was the next thing I was going to ask. Jin Hu, you’re a highly capable cultivator, and you’ve repeatedly surprised us with the extent of your knowledge. You’ve clearly done a lot of traveling in your time, but would you be comfortable taking command of Urayama’s fighters?”

He held a hand up to his lips and stood for a moment in silent contemplation. When he came to a decision, he looked back up and shook his head.

“Regrettably, I must decline. I have no qualms fighting alongside them, but I do not believe I would be the ideal candidate to appoint as their commander. However, may I make a recommendation?”

Jia’s eyebrows rose. She hadn’t expected him to turn down the appointment, but that he had an alternative was even more of a shock.

“Go ahead.”

He bowed gratefully.

“I would suggest Long Ruiling. Though her fiendish appearance may be off-putting for some, she has leadership experience as the daughter of a village chief, and the body techniques of fiends are highly compatible with martial arts disciplines.”

It was Jia’s turn to frown in contemplation. Jin had a point, and Ruiling was another odd one out. After they’d fought through Chou’s realm together, Yoshika was considering keeping her close by as an advisor, but maybe Jin’s suggestion would be a better opportunity.

She turned to Ito.

“What do you think about that? I’ve personally fought alongside Long Ruiling, and she’s very capable.”

“That’s the dragon woman, yes? Huge wings, glittering scales, intimidating glare?”

Jia wasn’t sure intimidating was the word she’d use, but Ruiling did have a habit of putting on airs around those she didn’t know.

“That’s her. Long Ruiling’s people are from across the sea, but as Jin says, their techniques aren’t too unlike those of Yamato. That would also mean you’d have Melati looking out for your people, which is a huge advantage.”

“The...bee woman? I’ve seen her around a lot, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about her.”

“Let me introduce you, then.”

She glanced back at the flower garden. Sure enough, one of Melati’s drones was there, pretending not to eavesdrop. Jia held out a hand.

“Come say hello, Mel.”

The drone hesitated, then flew over and perched on her hand, calling out in a tiny voice as it waved at her.

“Hi Yoshi!”

Jia held the drone up.

“Gentlemen, this is Melati. Mel, could you bring a few more of yourselves over?”

“Sure!”

A few minutes later, four of Mel’s fully-grown bodies arrived, each one smiling and waving as they spoke in chorus.

“Hi there! I’m Melati! You can call me Mel or Melati!”

Ito looked around, blinking in wonder.

“There’s...more of you?”

Jin Hu nodded sagely.

“It’s a rare phenomenon among fiends, but sometimes a group of beasts will ascend together as a colony, sharing a single core. Demon hunters usually assign a very high priority to their destruction, as such colonies can quickly grow out of hand.”

Melati giggled.

“Yep! That happened to Melati, too! My hive grew too big and the villagers kept killing me. But I kept coming back so they gave up when I promised to be nice!”

Jin Hu made a blithe gesture towards her.

“Case in point. If any part of the colony survives, it can refine a new core and return. Very dangerous.”

Jia put her hands on her hips and glared at Jin Hu.

“Melati is a friend—please don’t talk about her like that.”

He bowed.

“Apologies. I meant no offense. The cases I am familiar with were not as personable as Melati.”

Melati smiled, waving off his apology.

“It’s okay! Melati wasn’t always able to person either!”

Jia held her face and sighed.

“That’s not what that means, Mel. I mean...I guess it sort of is? But not like that.”

She cocked her heads in unison.

“No? Sorry! Melati is still learning! That’s why we’re in school!”

Ito Yuuki scratched his head.

“I’ll...have to run it by the others, I suppose. They won’t accept it as readily, but I doubt they’ll reject the idea outright. Melati, it was nice to meet you...all?”

“Melati has some other Melatis still—we’ve been practicing! But it’s nice meeting all of you too!”

“Right...”

With that, Ito took his leave, and Jia dismissed Melati, asking Jin Hu to stay behind.

Once they were alone, Jia relaxed a bit, gazing out across the park and sighing.

“It’s good that we got that mostly sorted out, but now I really don’t know what to do with you...”

Jin Hu cocked his head.

“My lady?”

“There’s just nowhere to put you. You’d be wasted as a regular soldier, but you’re not quite strong enough to be considered a strategic asset either. The real problem, though, is that I just don’t know you.”

“It has been nearly a year since my arrival. Have I done something to earn your suspicion?”

Jia frowned.

“Not really, but you haven’t exactly earned my trust, either. I’ll be honest, you’re a really weird guy.”

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“One might consider being slightly less honest about such things.”

“I don’t mean it like that. You came out of nowhere, you keep your aura completely hidden at all times—which nobody I’ve ever met does—and you’re a cultivator who never cultivates. Even when you meditate you just sort of sit there and focus on your own qi.”

“You’ve observed my private meditation? With respect, my lady, that’s quite invasive.”

Jia blushed, feeling weirdly hypocritical for some reason.

“We were just trying to make sure there’s nothing fishy about you! It’s not like we make a habit of peeping on people!”

He smiled slightly.

“Apologies, I was only joking. I understand that I am rather unusual, and you’re right to question it. I’m afraid that I do not have any answers that would satisfy you. I am who I am. I quite like this place, and I will fight to protect it. However, I won’t take it personally if you decide not to believe me.”

She frowned. The problem was that she did believe him. Her intuitions around him were a confusing mess. Yoshika was certain that he was hiding something, but at the same time she felt as though she could trust him. He seemed so familiar, and she found herself relaxing in his presence despite herself.

“I don’t know what I believe. So for now, I’m going to keep you close by. Report to Hayakawa Kaede at your next convenience. I’m appointing you as Chief Military Advisor.”

He held his hands out in front of him and bowed deeply.

“As you command, my lady.”