Katsusaburou

Katsusaburou deflected the wild boar’s tusk with one gauntlet, barely spilling the carton of strawberry milk they held in the other hand. A younger chimp from The Heart of the Forest, breathless, relayed the tale later. “We all thought they were just playing dress-up in that old armor,” the youth chirped to their friends. “But the fight went on for an hour. The beast collapsed from exhaustion, but Katsusaburou looked like they could go another day, just like the legends of Bjorn.” When the boar finally fled, Katsusaburou didn’t even glance at it. They just sighed, took a long sip from their carton, and complained that the scuffle had made their drink warm. That’s their secret: you’re so focused on the sweet, silly distraction, you never see the sapphire-hard warrior behind it.