Visaelya cleared her throat in an effort to get the conversation back on track. "Anyways, with such high-quality Spirit Weapons and Armor, the Andunayans would've been a formidable force in battle. Like I said before, their numbers had grown considerably since they'd founded their kingdom, and that went for the royal family as well; the reigning king at the time of their return to the continent had five daughters and four sons. Given the significance of the number nine in Andunayan culture, it's safe to say that this also had an effect on how the people regarded their ruling family; they felt that it was a sign, although as to what it might portend was the subject of some debate. Having such an expansive family wound up being a considerable asset when the king decided it was time to end Nur-Andunaya's isolation, though."
Jiraiya leaned forward. "Really? How so?"
"As powerful as the Andunayans were, there was no way that they could bring order to the Soul Society on their own," Visaelya replied, "They needed allies. Fortunately, given the way the noble clans on the continent were fractured, finding new friends wasn't exactly difficult. Thanks in large part to the network of spies they had sown throughout the Soul Society, the Andunayan king already had an idea as to who he would approach. Five families in particular were key."
Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Let me guess; the same ones that currently make up the Five Great Noble Houses."
Visaelya nodded. "Precisely. Although they did not hold great power within the Seireitei at the time, their ancestral lands gave them a considerable amount of resources and manpower. Each family also brought its own unique gifts to the table, and the Andunayans were eager to bring them over to their side. In order to seal the new alliance, the king pledged each of his daughters to one of the clans. Once the marriage ceremonies were complete and the pacts finalized, the combined forces of the Andunayans and the Five Great Noble Houses all but encircled the heart of the Soul Society. The nobles that occupied the Seireitei at the time were still too busy squabbling with each other to realize their peril. By the time they finally understood what had happened, it was already too late."
"So, what happened next?" asked Jiraiya, "Did the nobles in the Seireitei end up uniting to face this new threat to their power?"
Visaelya shook her head. "One would think that having an external foe appear would've given them cause to do just that, and indeed many of them tried to do so, but petty rivalries and base ambition prevented any concrete alliances from taking shape. The coalition of the Andunayans and the Five Great Noble Houses were able to essentially pick them off one at a time. Some they coaxed into the alliance through offers of trade and promises of both personal and political security. Others were quite intransigent, though, and thus more forceful means were required in order to deal with them."
"How bad did it get?" asked Itachi.
Visaelya sighed. "From what I understand… it was an ugly affair. Assassinations and the burning of supply stocks were typically the opening strikes. Spreading misinformation, stealing weapons, hostage taking… the Andunayans and their allies may have had a noble goal, but the methods they employed to reach it were often another matter entirely. With a hostile house reeling from an extended campaign, being weakened severely from the shadows before they even had a chance to face the Andunayans in open combat, by the time those that had refused to yield were able to marshal their forces they were at a considerable disadvantage. Even on their way to the field, they weren't safe; the Andunayans and their allies would subject them to withering hit-and-run strikes, attacking at night to maximize confusion and panic. It was quite rare that they had to face an intact army on the field; most of the time their enemies could only bring forth a battered and demoralized force by the time the sabotage campaign was complete."
Itachi nodded; campaigns like that sounded very familiar. "Not necessarily heroic, but no doubt it was quite effective."
"Indeed," said Visaelya, "Our instructors in the Academy may not like to talk about, but according to my private tutors it's an excellent example of how conquest should be conducted. By offering friendship, security and wealth with one hand while holding a knife behind their back with the other, they executed a divide-and-conquer strategy that had no historical precedent in the Soul Society. Nothing even close to its scale and sophistication had ever been attempted before, and the petty nobles of the Seireitei had no idea how to respond. Riven by pointless rivalries and driven to new depths of paranoia by the campaign, unity proved beyond them, and that wound up being their undoing."
Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought. "Maybe, but still… there's something missing in all of this. If the Seireitei was truly overwhelmed, then why didn't the Royal Guard step in? A situation as drastic as the one you're describing had to have fit whatever criteria they might've had for intervention."
Visaelya nodded. "That's true. To be honest, the fact that the Royal Guard refused to intervene in the entire conflict has long been a mystery that's baffled scholars. There are several competing theories, but no conclusive answer has ever been provided."
Yoruichi smiled. "I remember Minerva told me hers during one of lessons. She believed that the Royal Guard recognized that the Andunayans and the houses allied with them would be much more capable of providing safety and security for the broader Soul Society, along with enabling much more active hunting of Hollows in the Realms of the Living to help preserve the balance of souls. Due to that, she surmised that the Royal Guard essentially sat out the conflict until the Andunayans finally secured the Seireitei, and then came to an accommodation with them afterwards."
"That's certainly plausible," said Kirio, "It's also possible that the Andunayans may have found a way to reach out to the Royal Realm beforehand and explain their intentions."
"Whatever the case may be, in the end it's irrelevant," said Soi-Fon, "The Royal Guard's primary mission is to protect the Soul King. As long as they determined the Andunayans and their allies to not be a threat to the Soul King, any other concerns would've meant little to them."
"Not necessarily," Yoruichi argued, "Preserving the balance of souls is important, although it's not something that the Royal Guard would directly involve themselves in unless they felt there was no other alternative."
Soi-Fon nodded. "That's true, Lady Yoruichi. I should've accounted for that."
Yoruichi shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, it was all so long ago that it hardly matters why they sat out the whole show at this point."
"True enough," said Visaelya, "It was more than enough to ensure the end result; the Andunayans and their allies took control of both the Rukon District and the Seireitei. For an outside force to accomplish such a tremendous feat was quite a shock to both nobles and commoners alike, and many feared what the new order might bring. According to the records, it was the period immediately after the conquest that proved to be the tensest; everyone outside the coalition was desperate to know just how the victors would preside over the vast realm and what it would mean for the people going forward."
"What ultimately happened?" asked Itachi.
Visaelya smiled. "In short, it was the beginning of a new golden age for the Soul Society. The Seireitei was finally brought under a single strong, central authority, and unity there meant greater cohesion for the Soul Society as a whole. The army marshalled by the Andunayans and their allies became the kingdom's peacekeeping force, and it was also used against Hollows in the Realms of the Living to great effect. In unprecedented accord reached with the Royal Realm, the ruler of Nur-Andunaya was allowed to take on the title of High King and allowed to govern over the Soul Society in the name of the Soul King. To facilitate such a political union, the High King agreed to send one of his four sons to the Royal Realm to act as an intermediary, a position that would become hereditary. For the first time in ages, there was finally peace in the Seireitei."
"How did the people of the Rukon District react to all of this?" asked Jiraiya.
"The newly forged kingdom was well-received there," Visaelya replied, "Especially after it became clear that the High King's commitment to providing security against both marauders and Hollows was genuine. At the height of the old kingdom's power, the Rukon District knew a level of safety and organization that had never been achieved before… or since, for that matter."
Yoruichi reluctantly nodded. "All too true. It's sad to say that the Central Forty-Six doesn't share the same level of concern for the Rukon District as the old kingdom did. They tend to focus more on the Seireitei, which means that the Thirteen Court Guard Squads oftentimes don't get out into the Rukon District to keep the peace as much as we should. I wish that weren't the case."
Kirio sighed. "Yes, it's quite a sorry state of affairs. Hollow intrusions, like the one you and Itachi found yourselves on the other end of the night you met Yoruichi and Unohana, have become more common lately as a result of the Central Forty-Six's insular thinking. It's still not as bad as the near-anarchy and constant infighting that reigned in the days before the rise of the old kingdom, but it's hardly an ideal situation."
"Squad Two continues to advocate for an increased patrol presence in the Rukon District," Soi-Fon added, "While Lady Yoruichi does send us out on missions there, the simple fact of the matter is that the Rukon District is too vast for us to police on our own. We need the cooperation of the other squads in order to effectively maintain a security presence out there, but with the Central Forty-Six directing much of the necessary funding and resources to the Seireitei it's unfortunately tied our hands."
Itachi leaned forward. "If it's an issue of resources, wouldn't the most obvious solution be to increase the available manpower? In the time I've spent at the Academy I couldn't help but notice that there is actually significantly more space in the classrooms and dormitories than what our current numbers require. Some of the vacancies may be due to attrition, but even discounting that there's still plenty of leftover room."
Jiraiya nodded. "I agree. Given how vast the Soul Society is, there's gotta be far more people out there with latent spirit energy that's potent enough to qualify them for Soul Reaper training than what's currently represented by our class sizes. An increased recruitment drive would go a long way towards alleviating any personnel shortages."
Yoruichi smiled. "You two continue to impress me; you cut to the heart of problems much more quickly than others, whether they be students or fully trained Soul Reapers. Visaelya, I'm assuming your thoughts on the problem are the same?"
Visaelya nodded. "Yes, Captain Shihōin. I know that part of the problem is powerful families like ours constantly recruiting people with strong spirit energy for our own personal guard forces, but even discounting that there are likely still far more potential trainees out in the Soul Society than the noble clans are capable of finding on their own. An increase in recruitment resources for the Thirteen Court Guard Squads would be a sound investment with both short and long-term payoffs. Given the simplicity of the solution, I have a hard time fathoming why the Central Forty-Six has not already implemented such measures."
Kirio somberly shook her head. "The short and long answer to that is politics. I wish that weren't the situation, but it's what we have to deal with. Denying reality will not make it any easier for us to deal with."
Yoruichi grimaced. "Can't argue with that. We're starting to get sidetracked again, though. Recruitment's an issue for another time."
"You're right, Captain Shihōin," said Visaelya, "It wasn't just the Rukon District that became safer under the old kingdom; the Seireitei's reorganization under the Andunayans greatly improved its security. In fact, although its current rulers would be most reluctant to admit this, the modern Seireitei owes much of its contemporary defenses and fortifications to the efforts of the old kingdom. For example, the great wall of Sekkiseki rock that descends to protect the Seireitei from invaders was actually developed thanks to cooperation between the Andunayans and the Royal Realm. This is just the most prominent of their defensive innovations. Another legacy is the Thirteen Court Guard Squads; before they came into being, the primary military force of the Soul Society was the thirteen armies created and maintained by the old kingdom. For those who are aware of this history, the signs of links between the old kingdom and the contemporary Soul Society are not hard to find, no matter how much the Central Forty-Six may try to make it otherwise."
Itachi leaned forward. "There's something that bothers me. You said that the king of Nur-Andunaya became the High King of the Soul Society after the campaign was concluded, right? If he had nine children, how was the line of succession organized?"
Jiraiya nodded. "With that many kids, it's not hard to see them fighting amongst themselves when the time came for a new ruler to rise."
"That is a valid concern," Visaelya conceded, "First of all, since the five daughters had already married into the Five Great Noble Houses, that precluded them from seeking the throne for themselves. That left the four sons, the youngest of which had gone to reside in the Royal Realm per the accord reached between the Andunayans and the Royal Guard. The remaining three were carefully divided and given great responsibilities in the hopes of preventing infighting when the time for succession inevitably came. The eldest was granted the title of Prince Chancellor and charged with overseeing the day-to-day governance of the Seireitei; this was seen as suitable training for the day that they would ascend to the throne. The second son in line became the Marshal General, head of the thirteen armies and all the militias operating under them. The office of Marshal General became hereditary to members of the Royal Family, and while a powerful position it also came with a decree enacted proclaiming that the holder of the title was ineligible for seeking the throne, so it was never passed to a firstborn child of any generation. Finally, the third son was granted the title of High Lord of Andunaya and sailed west to rule the island that the old kingdom had been founded upon. His line would continue to hold dominance there until the Darfulth."
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "The Darfulth?"