On Friday morning, I was lacing up my tabi and getting ready to journey to Castle Noriaibasha when I received a message from the Shomei-gumi. It seems my contact there, Kaisei, has left the group to pursue other ventures.
Luckily, with heralds’ groups like Shomei, “he has left to pursue other ventures” is not a code phrase for “he has gone to join his ancestors”. I am sure that Kaisei — who I found to be intelligent and pleasant, and with good taste in shōchū — is still in fine health.
But it does make me wonder about the health of the Shomei-gumi. When I first joined them, my contact was Megumi, who placed me with Clan Noriaibasha. Then she left and was replaced by Kaisei. Now I have an entirely new contact. Such rapid changes do not bode well.
Still, Noriaibasha is pleased with me, and will likely take me in as a full clan-member when my contract is complete. All I need to do is wait.