Shiyuka the Coward

In The Teikodian Empire, a soldier’s honor is worth more than their life. Shiyuka was once a soldier who made a different calculation. During a hopeless ambush in the dungeons beneath the palace, their commander ordered a final charge. Shiyuka saw it as suicide, not sacrifice, and refused. They survived. For this, they were branded “the Coward.” Stripped of rank, they lost everything but the katana on their back—a permanent reminder. In the ruin of that life, they found a new one. They became a merchant, cultivating a gleeful persona and tending to the lucky plant they wear. They traded a warrior’s death for a thousand small, joyful transactions. The war paint is a ritual they can't abandon, a ghost of their past self. They lost their honor, but found a reason to live.