V9-B C19

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

16-2 Asen strode into the main hall. “Of course. This is where you end up.”

Taiki made the first move. With a respectful bow, he gestured for Asen to have a seat. Asen settled onto the ottoman. With a gracious mien, Taiki knelt in front of the ottoman.

“Your sudden arrival caught us all by surprise.”

“Well, seeing that you were able to sneak up on me, I figured I should be able to return the favor.” Asen smiled to himself.

“Being able or not is beside the point. It is a breach of protocol for His Highness to visit Jinjuu Manor without permission, quite beyond the bounds of propriety.”

Taiki’s objection only prompted stifled laughter. “You know, intruders entered my domain last night.”

“So I’ve heard.”

p. 219

“Seemed they came to rescue the Chief Cabinet Secretary.” Asen wasted no time beating around the bush. “They dispatched the guards and attempted to free the Chief Cabinet Secretary but failed to achieve that objective in the end. Retracing their steps brought me here. What do you make of that?”

“Surely you jest,” Taiki said, equally point blank. He knew for a certainty they had left no trail that could be tracked.

Asen smirked. “I see. You’re not about to fall into such a simple trap.”

“More importantly, didn’t you just mention the Chief Cabinet Secretary? And that someone tried to rescue Seirai?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“And yet they failed.”

“Well, maybe they did. Then again, maybe they didn’t.”

Taiki gave Asen a blank look.

“They were apparently not able to extricate Seirai from his predicament. The question is, why weren’t they?”

“And why weren’t they?”

“The intruders made contact with Seirai. They eliminated the guards securing the perimeter. Seirai claims it was all his doing, but that is quite impossible. Without a doubt, the intruders cleared away the security and made contact with Seirai but then left him behind. There was no good reason for them to do so. The guards on patrols above ground were still unaware of their presence.”

p. 220

Taiki looked back at Asen and said again nothing.

“They could have easily brought Seirai along when they fled. But they did not. Why didn’t they?”

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage here, as I am not familiar with the particulars of the situation.”

“You do know when to be discreet,” Asen said with a grin. “Perhaps they concluded they couldn’t make their escape with Seirai in tow. Or perhaps having accomplished their objective, there was no need for him to accompany them. Which of the two options strikes your fancy?”

“Accomplished their objective?”

“The ledgers. The Chief Cabinet Secretary is a thief who made off with the wealth of the kingdom. What did he do with them? I always suspected he’d passed them on to Gyousou’s subordinates. But that these intruders should break in now just to make contact with him persuades me otherwise. In fact, I don’t think Seirai ever had the opportunity to give them to any of his retainers. In short, he hid the ledgers and hasn’t since been able to pass them on. Somebody had to meet with him in person to find out where they were. Seirai wasn’t the objective. The objective was the location of the ledgers. As he would only become a hindrance, he was left behind. Seirai may have even chosen to do so. A satisfactory outcome if the ledgers found their way into the hands of his retainers.” Asen paused and said, “So, what do you think?”

Taiki furrowed his brows. Asen’s version of the events was slightly off target, but in a way that he couldn’t very well evaluate right here and now.

p. 221

“In any case, I do not see your bodyguard around.”

“You mean Kouryou? He definitely has not made an appearance today. I have been inquiring after him as well.” Taiki pointed out that Heichuu and Tokuyuu and several of his servants had gone missing as well. “An illness seems to be spreading throughout the Imperial Palace. I am concerned that Kouryou has contracted this disease as well.”

“Or else he ran away,” Asen said. “The intruder most likely was Kouryou. He returned to Hakkei Palace in the first place to search for the ledgers. You lent him a hand.”

“I did?” Taiki slowly shook his head. “In other words, are you saying that I cooperated with Kouryou on behalf of Gyousou-sama’s retainers? If that was true, I surely wouldn’t still be here, would I?”

“I imagine you still have goals of your own.”

“Like getting in touch with Gyousou-sama’s retainers?”

“No?”

p. 222

Taiki said with a wry smile, “Supposing that I did return to the palace to get in touch with his retainers, I would not have stayed a minute longer than necessary. Abandoning Seirai would be no less out of the question. I would have vanished from the palace along with Kouryou and taken Seirai with me. Nothing would have made me happier than to pull off such a feat.”

“And why didn’t you?”

Taiki sighed. “Because that is not why I returned. I very much doubt Kouryou is the intruder that you speak of. Even in the off chance that he is, I am the last person on earth who would have cooperated with him. To start with, the ledgers belong to the people of Tai.”

Tai looked straight at Asen. “Let me see Seirai. I will persuade him to reveal the location of the ledgers. Winter is coming and Tai will only get colder. The support of the kingdom becomes all the more necessary. That makes the ledgers all the more necessary. However Seirai may have believed he was doing the right thing concealing them on Gyousou-sama’s behalf, it is not the right thing to do now.”

“That is out of the question.”

“Why not?”

“Do you really think you can convince him to give them up?”

“Seirai is a rational man. He will see reason once I explain that he would be doing so on behalf of the people. He won’t give the ledgers to you because he does not believe you will use them in such a manner. If I ask him to entrust them to me, I think it likely he will understand. Furthermore, if Seirai himself put forth the request that they be used under my auspices and for the good of the people, I believe the possibility is high he would reveal their whereabouts.”

p. 223

Asen responded with a cynical smile. “And what of the Imperial Court under my auspices?”

“It’s complicated. Asen-sama being the emperor, I would serve you as a matter of course. The same goes for the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Should he refuse no matter what, he would have to be removed from his position. But I do believe I can persuade him in regards to the ledgers.”

Asen narrowed his eyes and studied Taiki’s face. “Am I the emperor?”

“I have said so many times already. You are the emperor. Have you not been convinced?”

Asen did not answer. He stared at Taiki as if attempting to divine his true intentions. “No covenant has been made.”

Taiki answered in a cool tone of voice, “Because no abdication has taken place.”

“In other words, what?” A smile filled with scorn rose to Asen face. “With no covenant between us, I should take you at your word and march Gyousou in here? And if he refuses to abdicate?”

“The result of such an outcome all depends on the Will of Heaven. That is far beyond my ken.”

p. 224

Asen sprang to his feet. He grabbed Taiki by the arm and yanked him toward him. “You think you can only do what is convenient for you?” he spit out. He seized hold of Taiki’s head and pushed him down to the floor. “Pledge your fealty. The rest will take care of itself.”

For a moment, Taiki raised his head and looked at Asen. A stone-cold expression filled Asen’s features. Asen couldn’t bring himself to trust Taiki. As a result, he couldn’t move. Without getting Asen to act, there’d be no way for the people of Tai to tide over the winter. Even given that Asen wouldn’t lift a finger to help his own subjects, if he didn’t at least step forward and bring Chou’un to heel, it’d be almost impossible for Taiki to do anything on his own.

“Please stop!” Juntatsu cried in distress, forcing himself between them. “No matter what Heaven may say, surely no new covenant can be forged when there are two emperors at large.”

Asen didn’t answer. He only wordless turned his icy cold eyes on Juntatsu.

Rising to Juntatsu’s defense, Keitou stepped forward. “It is not for us to put the Divine Will to the test. Doing so would be akin to blasphemy.”

At that moment, Taiki softly raised his voice. “Keitou, it is all right.”

p. 225

Keitou turned to Taiki in stark surprise. Taiki looked back at him, a look of firm resolution on his face.

“Without a covenant between us, I should not expect Asen-sama to simply take me at my word. Doesn’t that explain why he keeps putting off the enthronement?”

Without waiting for Asen to respond, Taiki corrected his posture. Asen must be compelled to take action, he thought. He had once before tried to see what happened, but a kirin could not kowtow to anyone but the emperor. Not that he possessed a frame of mind that prevented him from doing so. He physically could not do so. Except this too must be akin to the problem of shedding blood, a barrier he could break using his will alone.

Taiki faced Asen and planted his hands on the ground. “I shall never part from thee nor disobey thy decrees. My fealty I hereby pledge—”

His forehead touched the cold darkness and stopped.

“—in covenant to thee.”

“I accept.”

He thought it was impossible when all he had to do was put down his hands and cross that mere distance.

That was all it took.

p. 226

The inorganic gray ground rose up in his mind’s eye, carnage covering the bare concrete. This was a mere sliver of space compared to the gulf between the roof and the ground.

The abyss leading directly to death yawned open at the feet of the victims. Petrified by the fear of death right before their eyes, they got pushed off the roof. Following the logical chain of cause and effect, it was ultimately Taiki was pushed them. Could he now allow himself to claim that this distance was unbridgeable?

If he could marshal his will to kill, he could cross this distance as well.

Taiki lowered his head. He wrestled with the resisting force and sank his skull into the darkness. The pain was real, like a spike driven through his forehead, a throbbing pain that radiated to the back of his head, that threatened to break through the bone with every beat of his heart.

Except their bodies too were likewise destroyed.

The pain racking his whole frame hardly compared. At that moment, Taiki was little more than a vessel filled with agony. But nothing compared to the pain he must have felt while being trampled underfoot by his classmates. Those torn apart in the jaws of his shirei. The destruction of the temple gates, the collapse of the wing facing the school quadrangle, the senseless death and fear—he who had sown such suffering was hardly qualified to complain about his own.

He reached the depths of the darkness. Amidst his pounding pulse and ringing ears, he heard Asen muttering something. Taiki couldn’t move. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He raised his upper body and looked up. Juntatsu’s face twisted with concern.

“Taiho—”

The voice came from far away. His vision misted red.

“Taiho, what happened to your eyes?”

p. 227

My eyes?

He blinked. His vision slightly cleared. At the same time, something wet and warm spilled from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Juntatsu wiped it away. He fingers came away stained with blood.

“Are you all right?”

Taiki nodded. There in front of him, Asen turned away.

“I’m fine. It turns out this body was indeed created by the Lord God of the Heavens. It doesn’t really hurt so it must be some sort of auspicious sign.”