44 Glade 122
Probably not a welcome sight but at least a much needed addition, Shuai had reached the frontlines of the war with a bunch of thralls from the Chisuo in tow. That had been the reason for why he had to send so many troublesome days in the Warrens and had to work with things very unfamiliar to him- numbers, necromancy and such, but the results speak for themselves. They were not much although to be fair, the Chisuos were savvy enough to know not to commit their resources into the war efforts. It was not as if the family were simply doing this as some sort of show to display their loyalties in a way for the whole of Kalzasi to see but war or not, there were always more important considerations the family had to prioritize as well- that and if their goal was to truly put on a show for their loyalty, what better method was there than also having Shuai in the frontlines? Even if he was not fighting?"You know, I could just ride down there on you and I- we could mow down a bunch of them and end the war now instead of wasting time on these errands" Shuai told Ruborudean, obviously a joke but with Shuai his bodyguard knew better than to take it as such and immediately dismissed the idea even after Shuai insisted "I could order you to take me down as my trusty steed." Ruborudean's dismissal the second time of course was proof enough to the difference in quality between the usual run the mill thralls the Chisuo sent to the Warrens for the sake of search and rescue and other such expeditions for Kalzasi and, the thralls which were used as their bodyguard because that autonomy allowed Ruborudean to think and make a judgement that his task was not to let Shuai into the frontlines- probably an order by someone high up in the family too. "I could... just take my spear and fly right over there before you can even stop me?" Shuai suggested which Ruborudean simply said then he could have to try and stop his ward. Try. Ah there it was, the bad thing about giving these bodyguards a degree of autonomy.
Nonetheless they reached their destination without much of an incident other than having to explain to the alarmed guards that they were there with reinforcements. There were some reservations about the thralls since the Chisuo's thralls, once the family actually did their work on them, had a rather unnatural quality to them that only the blind would be unable to detect but Shuai in what some would say was a sign of his savviness but obviously to the bodyguard he delegated the task to a sign of his tendency to avoid troublesome things not of his interest, had Ruborudean talk to the guards. They were still uncomfortable of course but Ruborudean once had talked them down, or more like showed them that the thralls were not there for show, had Shuai show them their credentials so they could gain entry. Ruborudean seemed quite well versed in this... had he been a soldier before? Probably but Shuai would not know since other than his bodyguard's martial ability which he even made use of to spar sometimes, he had no other interest with.