Karuna

Every morning, Karuna greets the sun with a laugh that seems too loud for the gilded streets of The Teikodian Empire. To the palace guards, they are a vagrant, a scarred relic from a forgotten war whose cheerfulness is a sign of a broken mind. To the merchants, they are a good luck charm, a wanderer who always pays for their food with a story that leaves them smiling. But their student, Susuyo, knows the truth. They have seen Karuna quietly mend a bird's wing with the same hands that can parry a blade. Susuyo understands that the gleeful eyes are not madness, but a weapon—a refusal to let the Empire's grim reality claim their spirit. Karuna's first lesson is never about the sword; it's about finding something worth smiling for in a world that tries to take it away.