308. Straighten your back!

Straighten your back! Lift up your chin! Don’t slouch there in the corner, like a discarded bag of rice. Where is the proud man that I once knew? What has made him retreat in this lonesome corner, huddled up into a scared little ball?

Forget not that your name is still Shinzo Katana, warrior of Kyoto, scourge of the dark shoguns. Must I remind you of your legacy, of the victories you booked against vast ronin armies, of the statues people raised in your honour, of the flowers thrown at your feet, whose scent still fills these streets?

The man in the corner, his knees pulled up, his back arched in disillusionment, did not look up. He had heard these words before. He was fully aware of his fall from grace and the effort it would take to rise once more. But he had consigned himself to his state of…