"No." Tetsu shakes his head with a chuckle. "In fact, the joke is that engineers are the furthest thing from it. We are supposed to be the people you throw into the bowels of a ship and ignore. There's a long tradition in the Rokugani military of having the techies wade in the night dirt so that others shine, where we are expected to pull rabbits out of our hats, so it's made me, well perhaps a tad bit paranoid when I see people potentially sharpening their knives"

"Mmhm, I'll take Kaiu-san's word for it." Sora nodded, smiling smugly. "Furthest from a courtier, yes. That would make sense." the young priest seemed bemused. "Oh yes, though I am sure that your lords do value your sacrifices, no? We all do serve as we can, neh."

"Of course." Tetsu replies, perhaps a touch a defensively. "We signed up to serve, and I will gladly toil in the belly of a ship even if it doesn't get me a flashy callsign if it means that we all come home safe. Even if we were unnoticed, our sense of duty and pride in our work demands excellence." Tetsu offers a grin that turns perhaps a bit savage "If excellence means needing to be aware of challenges outside of the engineering, then we'll build it"

"Not everyone can fly a fighter, not everyone can talk with the spirits." he nodded, scratching his chin. "It is what it is. No shame in doing what you can, I think." It still very much sounded like he thought differently. "I think that I would have some idea what excellence takes." Sora smiled. "But perhaps not on the field where Kaiu-san works."