There exist few men with a story as pitiful as Takeo Karaoshi's.No friends, no family, and reeling from the death of his only love, the wandering ronin has less of a reason to live than most. He has but one companion now, an ex-knight and former enemy named Gavin Shaw, who suffers from equally dismal prospects. Once the two men lived to serve a greater purpose, but now they've been cut loose from all bonds of service and obligation, and times have never been worse. Only their lingering rivalry keeps back the darkness of total despair.But it's hard to keep a heartless rogue and a drunken bastard down forever. With only the loss of their one true love in common, they set out on a quest so ambitious that were they men with anything left to lose, they would surely turn away.