Series by 安彦良和

In the tense atmosphere of late Meiji-era Japan, on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Ryo Asumi, a bright but unassuming student from Tokyo's First Higher School, finds himself swept into a world of danger and intrigue. While accompanying an academic expedition to Manchuria to study the ancient Kōtaiohi Monument, Ryo is captured by bandits but manages to escape, returning to Japan to marry Cui, a shrine maiden from Suwa. Just as he hopes for a peaceful life, the outbreak of war and the machinations of revolutionary forces draw him into a web of national and personal conflicts.