Wine of the Rivers and Lakes, Ask Me Not

People of the martial world don't ask about the affairs of the martial world. As the saying goes, once you're in the martial world, you can't help yourself. Just sweep the frost from your own doorstep, and don't bother with the snow on someone else's roof. But the martial world is bound by loyalty and feeling, and people have always lived together. When someone asks him, "Why involve yourself in the affairs of the martial world and the imperial court? Wouldn't it be better to live quietly, free of worldly concerns?" he answers, "I owe too much. How can I live quietly when I can't repay it all?" As they say, debts must be repaid, but favors are hard to refuse.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.