Scenario:Shion - Salt's Best on Tempura
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Salt's Best on Tempura
The crew sneaks into a palace to save a townswoman from the chancellor, but a samurai named Shion does the deed for them. Though she was hired as a palace guard, she could not allow the chancellor's misdeeds to go unpunished. Now unemployed, Shion, who happens to know Mirin, joins the crew after the incident so as to learn more about samurai culture.
A man and a woman appear to be leaning into each other in the private chambers of a palace.
The woman is, actually, trying to put some distance between them, but her frail arms are powerless before the man.
Townswoman: Please, Chancellor...
Chancellor: Ohoho... A little fun never hurt anybody.
Townswoman: As I've said before, my heart already belongs to my fiance...
Chancellor: Yes, I tried giving up on you once after hearing that. But doing so only inflamed my passions further.
Chancellor: Consider this training for when you do get married. You'll thank me later!
Townswoman: Noooo!
???: My apologies.
Chancellor: Huh? What are you...
???: My name is Shion. I was hired as a bodyguard a sennight ago.
Shion: I apologize for disturbing you so late into the eventide, but I come with news.
Townswoman: Sennight?
Chancellor: Eventide?
Chancellor: I heard of the increase in security personnel, but you're quite different from the samurai I know...
Shion: Forgive me, for I am still studying samurai culture.
Chancellor: Studying, you say... You admit to being a phony samurai? In any case, what news do you bring me?
Shion: I've spotted knaves in the vicinity of the palace and request permission to assemble the guards.
Chancellor: Oh? If it's just a few prowlers, leave them be.
Shion: But, Chancellor, they may still pose a threat despite their numbers—
Chancellor: We've had numerous reports of knaves surveying the palace's perimeter in the past, but they've never attacked. Surely anyone would give up after seeing how much security we have.
Chancellor: Please consider whether your "news" is truly worth reporting in the future. I'm a busy man after all.
Shion: My apologies. I shall return to my patrol.
Townswoman: ...
Townswoman: Um... Excuse me!
Shion: Hm?
Townswoman: I-I was just preparing to leave... Could I ask you to defend me from those knaves on my way back?
Chancellor: Ahem! What are you saying! You haven't even swept the floor yet!
Townswoman: ...!
Chancellor: As you were, samurai. I'll see to the girl myself.
Shion: ...
Shion: No.
Chancellor: Huh?
Shion: Chancellor, the girl's expression is very telling.
Shion: Answer me truthfully. What happened in the room? What were your intentions for her?
Townswoman: Miss Samurai...
Chancellor: Humph...
Chancellor: Don't make me repeat myself. Return to your station.
Chancellor: Look, I couldn't care less about your samurai shtick, but you took on the job for money, yes?
Chancellor: I could fire you on a whim. If you expect to get paid, then go.
Shion: ...
Meanwhile, walking in the palace halls are (Captain) and company.
They snuck past security and are making their way to the inner chambers.
Vyrn: Huff... Huff... Looks like there's fewer guards the deeper in we go.
Lyria: This must be where the living quarters are... The chancellor's room should be coming up.
Vyrn: Let's hurry it up. No matter how much of a big shot this chancellor is, he's gonna pay for bullyin' our client's fiancee.
Lyria: Ah, Vyrn! That room by the corner has a fancy candlestand outside.
Vyrn: You're right! Ready to do this, (Captain)? His bodyguards might give us some trouble.
Lyria: Stay on the alert... Slow and steady now...
Shion's Voice: Bonsai Art...
Shion's Voice: Formless Blade!
Chancellor's Voice: Brgwaah!
Vyrn: Whoa! Something's flyin' our way!
Lyria: Yikes! It's the chancellor! He's fainted!
Shion: Forgive me... As a false samurai, I have trouble controlling my power.
Townswoman: I'm sorry you had to do this for me, miss!
Shion: It's fine. Samurai are meant to protect the weak.
Shion: Though I failed in my duty as a bodyguard, I am a samurai first and foremost.
Vyrn: Wow, you did a real number on the wall. Is "Formless Blade" what you call smackin' someone real hard?
Shion: Oh? And who might you be?
Vyrn: Just a skyfarer crew. We had business with the chancellor.
Shion: A crew! You must be the knaves roaming about earlier!
Lyria: I think we have a misunderstanding! We're here on assignment!
Vyrn: The client told us his fiancee's possibly bein' bullied again...
Townswoman: Fiancee? Could your client be...
Shion: Stand back.
Shion: A samurai is loyal above all else. Even when their lord is an evildoer, the domain must still be protected.
Shion: I take it you're the leader of this band of rogues. I challenge you to a duel.
Shion: Do you tread the path of the samurai yourself? If only we'd met under different circumstances...
Shion: My blade is a much better conversationalist than myself.
Continue 1
Shion: To battle then! Bonsai Art: Sushi Buffet!
Shion swings her blade with the grace and ease of a trained sushi chef, not wasting a single movement.
But (Captain) immediately dodges the attack.
Shion: Rgh! Impressive footwork...
Shion: But every plate of sushi comes with two pieces!
Vyrn: Whoa, look at her go! She's got crazy skills!
Lyria: We need to break up this fight, but they're both moving so fast!
Shion: I have you cornered! Bonsai Secret Art: Tempura Flurry!
Shion launches into a flurry of rapid strikes, the sparks from the tip of her blade resembling the splashing hot oil in a tempura frying pan.
But like a seasoned chef who fears not fire, (Captain) meets the heat head-on.
Shion: You stopped me! What remarkable visual acuity...
Shion: But let's see you handle this! Bonsai Super Art: Tea Stalk Garden!
Chancellor: Ngh... Still hurts... Damn it, how I could let this happen...
Chancellor: Guards! Anyone! We have a traitor and knaves in the palace!
Vyrn: The rotten chancellor's making a run for it!
Lyria: (Captain)! Miss Bodyguard!
Turning away from Shion's incoming attack, the captain throws a sword at the chancellor, which lands right by his feet.
Chancellor: Urgh!
Astonished to see (Captain) take such a bold move, Shion changes the trajectory of her blade away from the captain.
Shion: You gave up your means of defense in order to stop the chancellor...
Vyrn: We got him, guys! Let's skedaddle before the guards get here!
Lyria: There's a secret passage here! Our client should be waiting at the opposite end!
Shion: Understood!
The crew has returned the townswoman to her fiance and exposed the chancellor's wrongdoing.
With the sun rising on a new morning, Shion catches up with the crew as they return to their lodgings.
Shion: Your client explained everything to me... I must apologize for my behavior last night.
Vyrn: Nah, it's all good! We were glad to see you've got your own moral code too.
Lyria: I believe you called yourself a samurai? Is that how you learned to fight?
Shion: Indeed. Samurai culture hails from a nation far to the east.
Shion: Although I may be from there originally, I moved elsewhere at a young age.
Shion: That is why my mannerisms may not be entirely accurate to my birthplace, and why I consider myself a false samurai in many ways.
Vyrn: But you swung that sword like a pro. Not to mention you kicked butt as a bodyguard.
Shion: In order to better understand samurai culture, I was on my way to the far east.
Shion: But I lost my travel funds to a thief. I had saved up some money after that, only to lose it all again—this time to a swindler...
Shion: And now I've lost my job... How will I ever reach my homeland at this rate...
Lyria: I'm sorry to hear that!
Lyria: Hey, I know! Why don't you come with us on our airship?
Shion: You have an airship?
Lyria: You'll have plenty of chances to make money during assignments, and we might even drop by islands in the far east.
Lyria: Don't you think it'd be the perfect arrangement, (Captain)?
Shion: Thank you for the kind offer! I will certainly consider it.
Lyria: Hooray! Why don't we stop by the ship before returning to the inn? We'll introduce you to the rest of the crew—
Mirin: Gozaru! Hey, guys!
Mirin: I hope no one's hurt. I heard you finished the assignment and thought I'd drop by.
Shion: ...!
Mirin: Huh?
Shion: Mirin?
Mirin: Ah... Shion!
Continue 2
???: Gozaru! Hey, guys!
???: I hope no one's hurt. I heard you finished the assignment and thought I'd drop by.
Shion: ...!
???: Huh?
Shion: Mirin?
Mirin: Ah... Shion!
Continue 3
Shion will soon embark on an adventure across the skies.
Only time can tell what lies in store for this young woman who wishes to return to her samurai roots.