by Fuyumi Ono
At the same time, some distance off to the side, came a shrill shout. "There she is!"
Ten or more soldiers turned the far corner of the ramparts. Shoukei froze. The girl planted herself in front of her. "Go," she said. "Get out of here."
"But--"
"Don't worry about me," she said, flashing a bold smile. She put her right hand to her waist and deftly drew out a sword.
Shoukei goggled at her. She didn't have time to ask, Do you know how to use that? The girl pushed her on her way. She hesitated and again looked back at the girl, who again told her forcefully to go.
"You'll be okay?"
"Don't sweat it."
Shoukei nodded. She'd be out in the open, cutting across the open countryside. So instead she followed along the weaving, undulating ramparts and soon disappeared from sight.
As she turned the last corner, she looked back and saw the red-haired girl, sword in hand, practically flying about the field. She was acting as a decoy. Shoukei spotted a soldier holding up his arm and pointing towards the girl. Most of soldiers went charging into the field.
Thank you, she said in her heart, and started running in earnest, looking for a place to crawl under. The wall here was too high to climb over. Maybe there was a hole in the wall somewhere.
She turned another corner when a voice above her said, "Hey!"
Thinking it was one of her pursuers, she ducked down. But then glancing up, she saw a man atop the parapets extending his hand down to her. Here the wall was low enough for him to reach her.
"Here, grab my hand."
Shoukei hesitated for a second, glanced behind her. She could hear the sound of footsteps approaching the corner of the wall she had just come around.
"Hurry!"
Shoukei grabbed the hand. The man was twenty-five or six. His strength belied his small size. He pulled Shoukei to the top of the wall with remarkable speed.
Three soldiers appeared from the corner of the ramparts. "Halt!" they called out.
She swallowed the pain from her practically dislocated shoulder, kicked her toes against the stone wall and crawled up to the wall walk. A soldier's hand reached for her foot and missed, clawing at her ankle. Her rescuer's hand still holding hers, she collapsed on the walkway.
She fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. Behind her, a soldier climbed onto the wall walk. The man almost casually delivered a kick that sent the soldier sprawling. The soldier roared with anger. The next soldier appeared, holding a spear over his head.
"Run!"
The man grabbed the business end of the spear as it was thrust toward him. A tug of war ensued, ending several second later with the soldier losing the battle and just as quickly finding the grip of the spear planted in his throat.
"Jump!" was the man's next command, as he whirled the spear like a knife through the air and positioned himself. The expression on his face was distant and dispassionate.
Shoukei nodded. It was a good twenty feet from the edge of the parapets to the road below. Sandwiched between the walls was an alleyway strewn with garbage. Hearing the yells and screams of the soldiers, Shoukei jumped, or rather, slid herself off the edge and down the wall. The shock of impact shot up through her legs. She collapsed on the ground.
She sat up, breathing hard. Above her, the man had seized a soldier by the collar and flung him off the far side of the wall. He threw the spear in the opposite direction, spun around and jumped down next to her.
"You okay?"
Shoukei nodded despite herself. He grinned somewhat mischievously and peered up at the wall. "The other girl made a clean getaway. She a friend of yours?"
Shoukei shook her head. Her ragged breaths tore at her throat. She couldn't speak. The alleyway was empty, but at least she heard no one else approaching.
"Can you move?" the man asked.
Shoukei again shook her head. In a past few minutes, she had used up a day's worth of energy. She didn't think she could move another inch.
"That so?" he said with a generous smile. He turned around and crouched down. "Climb on." Shoukei sat there, confused. "C'mon," he said, "hurry it up."
Shoukei obediently clung to his back and the man stood up without faltering in the slightest. "For the time being, pretend you're asleep. I'll take you somewhere where we can rest."
13-3
A shadow approached the woods. "Your Highness," said Keiki, recognizing her in the cold and desolate twilight.
"Sorry about that," said Youko.
"What happened? The word was, you would be leaving the city sooner than later." Keiki pushed through the undergrowth as they climbed the slope. He abruptly stopped and grimaced. "You have a bad scent about you. I am not referring to you, personally."
"You can smell that? Sorry. I had Hankyo bear the victims away from the square."
Keiki sighed. Hankyo had come to the inn, said that he was to leave the city, and then guided him here. Keiki shrank back from the smell of blood. "So a youma appears in the city of Hokkaku."
He glanced at her and found that she was scowling at him. A wry smile came to her face. "I was helping out hurt people. Don't give me that look."
"Then I shall come to my conclusions after being informed of the details."
Youko sat down and again smiled a deeply ironic smile.
They had taken an inn in Hokkaku and stayed there for three days. There, too, Keiki noted the smell of death. With no other town nearby, they had to stay in Hokkaku. Youko strolled around the strange city. The hard toil of the citizenry built these wall, and all to suit the selfish needs of Gahou, province lord of Wa Province.
The better way would be to build the walls as big as possible, at the reach of the city limits, and then build the city small and let it grow over the years. Built it right and the people will come for protection from robbers and highwaymen. But Gahou built no bigger than he had to at any one time, and added the rest to the money he collected in tolls.
The city was densely populated, Gahou having shut most of the population out of Meikaku. The taxes were so steep in Meikaku that only the rich and mighty could afford to live there. People and commerce had been chased out, enlarging Hokkaku and Toukaku to an alarming degree. With travelers and their belongings, the streams of refugees, the cities were cramped. And all because of Gahou and his lousy walls. The peasants who lived in the countryside around Meikaku didn't even have time to farm.
"That's why at least four of them were being executed. They fled the forced labor gangs to get the crops in. They're the ones I had Hankyo help."
"Oh," Keiki muttered.
Youko laughed to herself. "A girl threw a stone at the executioner. I helped her escape, too, but the soldiers came after us. I guess my hair kind of stands out, huh? Getting back to Hokkaku looked difficult, so I had you brought here. Sorry for the trouble."
Keiki let out a breath. "I do wish Your Highness would act with more prudence."
"My bad." Youko propped her elbows on her knees. From the slope of the hill, Meikaku was visible in the distance. "I didn't know people in Kei were executed by crucifixion."
"Nonsense."
"They're crucified in Wa Province."
Keiki looked at her, speechless.
"There are lots of things like that going on in this kingdom that you and I know nothing about."
Like a tax of thirty percent even in the Dutchy of Yellow, inhuman methods of punishment, corrupt officials like Gahou and Shoukou. Two months after acceding to the throne, the Wizards of the Earth had presented themselves at court. Gahou had surely been among them, and Shoukou as well.
"They all fell at my feet and kowtowed, but that only served to hide their scorn. What a stupid empress, they must have all thought."
"Your Highness."
"I need civil servants I can trust."
Right now, in truth, she needed allies. It hadn't occurred to her when they were toppling the pretender. That's because she had En by her side--the personal support of the Royal En and
six divisions of the En Imperial Army, commanded by impeccably disciplined staff officers and generals. Youko didn't have to order anybody around. After rescuing Keiki from the clutches of the pretender, the ministers and province lords who had conspired with her one by one were brought into line. It was clear to her now that they had fallen before the authority of the throne and the might of En.
"What kind of person is Enho?"
"Enho?" Keiki answered, with a puzzled expression. "He's a man who knows much about the way things work. He has taught a great many people."
"Maybe I should invite him to the Imperial Court."
Keiki said neither aye nor nay to that proposition. "When it comes to rousing the bureaucracy to action, rather than simply following their lead, Your Highness must make her own decisions. That is the first priority."
"That I intend to do."
Keiki sighed. "There are those at court who battle for power. In order to drag down an opposing faction, they will go so far as to fabricate crimes and make accusations."
Youko suddenly raised her head. "Who are we talking about?"
Keiki didn't answer.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing. If Your Highness cannot confirm it for herself, she is unlikely to believe it. That is all I have to say about the matter. I only ask that you think it over."
"You mean, Koukan?" The previous Marquis of Baku Province. She'd dismissed him, though Keiki had stubbornly remained opposed.
Keiki raised his eyebrows. "I was not referring to anyone in particular. If Koukan is the first name that springs to mind, then perhaps his fate is weighing on Your Highness's mind."
Youko took a soft breath. "Well, that's something I wouldn't expect a kirin like you to say."
"It is the stubbornness of my lord that drives me to such things."
Youko got to her feet, grinning. "We'd better hurry or the gates are going to close. Let's go."
"Where to?"
Youko brushed off the dead grass and glanced again toward Meikaku. "I understand conditions in Meikaku. I like to go back to Kokei by means of Takuhou. You don't want to be away from Gyouten much longer, do you?"
Keiki nodded, looking up at her with a concerned expression. "And Your Highness?"
"Yeah, I know. I'll be back as soon as possible. But the one thing I have learned living in the real world is that I don't understand it at all."
"Empress."
Youko smiled at the scowling Keiki. "I'll return after I've learned everything inside and out. I can't believe I'm saying this myself, but I don't know when I'll return to Gyouten. That's how much I've figured out I didn't know."
"Indeed," said Keiki.
"I'm pretty sure I'll know for myself when enough is enough. I don't regret it. Coming down to the real world to live like this was absolutely necessary."
"Yes."
"So please wait until I've come to a conclusion. I don't think it will take that long."
Keiki didn't answer, but only bowed deeply.
Part XIV
14-1
Her rescuer came into the room. "How are you feeling?"
Shoukei smiled stiffly. "Nothing worse than a sprain. Thank you."
The man had carried her to a dilapidated house in Hokkaku. The first thing she'd noticed when they arrived was that she couldn't walk. She'd twisted her ankle either when she was scrambling up to the parapets or jumping down into the alleyway. She'd already observed it swelling up a bit.
Shoukei sat down with her leg propped up on a couch. The man pulled out a chair. "You're a brave young girl, but caution is the better part of valor. The girl who ran off into the countryside, do you know who she was?"
"I don't. She helped me get away and then just disappeared."
The man said absently to himself, "Her actions struck me as something more than simple kindness--more an extraordinary display of resolve."
Shoukei leaned forward. "I could say the same about you."
The man smiled broadly, a smile that bespoke the character of a good-natured individual. "Call me Kantai. I've settled here in Hokkaku. I'm a mercenary of sorts."
"A mercenary? You?" His laid-back attitude didn't match the merciless image of a soldier.
"I've got a good arm for it. You run into a lot of highwaymen around here. So I get hired to protect people and their stuff. You don't really need to be all that strong. There simply aren't that many men who really know how to handle a sword."
"And that's why you came to my rescue?"
Kantai gently smiled. "I know the feeling, wanting to clobber somebody with a rock like that."
"Oh." Shoukei felt the tension ease out of her shoulders. "I'm Shoukei."
"Shoukei-san. Did you have a place to stay tonight? The gates have closed already."
Shoukei shook her head.
"You can stay here if you'd like. I'm renting the place with a couple of my mercenary friends. They're admittedly an ill-bred lot, but they're not bad blokes."
"Thank you, but I hate to impose."
Kantai laughed. "Forget about it. After having to look at their sorry faces all day, a pretty girl like you is a breath of fresh air. Anyway, you'd have a tough time trying to find an inn after this."
Shoukei nodded. There was still the possibility that people were searching for her. "But what about yourself? I'd think they would remember your face as well."
This truly did bring a worried look to the man's face. "That's for damn sure. I'm going to have to lay off work for a while. Well, at any rate, food's not an issue, so I'm not too concerned."
"I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to be sorry about. It was my decision to rescue you, after all. I've got my own thoughts about the way they do things around here." Shoukei leaned closer and looked at him. Kantai smiled a bit awkwardly. "When you take seventy percent in taxes, not everybody's going to be able to pay."
"Seventy percent."
"In Wa Province, seventy percent is the standard. In fact, the governor of Shisui is the only beast who collects seventy percent. So you're talking fifty to sixty percent on the outside. But nobody can live under that kind of tax burden. In Wa, everybody lives the life of a refugee."
"That's awful."
The tax rate was normally ten percent. At the very worse, additional levies could increase it to thirty percent. At seventy percent, it's tough getting enough to eat, let alone living any kind of life.
"And if you don't pay, you end up like they did. On top of the taxes are the heavy demands placed on the work gangs, building walls, roads, bridges. Those walls are what you get when you throw people off their land and press them into hard labor."
"Why do they put up with it?"
"Because nobody wants to be crucified."
"Yeah."
Kantai patted Shoukei on the shoulder. "Until things calm down, you can rest here. Take your time. " He smiled a bit bashfully. "But before you go, I could use a little help around the kitchen."
"Understood. Thanks for everything."
The house was about the same size as a rike. As private residences went, it was pretty big. The courtyard was surrounded by four halls, with the main gate in the southeast corner. Kantai seemed to be the landlord. He lived in the main wing, and as his guest, she was given the use of a room across the parlor from his room. Her room didn't have so much as a bed, but a divan instead.
Twenty men who looked a lot like soldiers were camped out in three of the rooms surrounding the courtyard. There were maybe two or three women, and they were all quite striking.
The next day, Shoukei found that she could at least walk, so she first decided to check out the kitchen instead of going to an inn. Even the pots on the stove had collected dust. The kitchen obviously had not been used in ages.
"Amazing," she said to herself.
"What is?" Kantai asked.
Shoukei literally jumped. "You surprised me."
"Sorry. How are you doing? Can you walk?"
"It doesn't hurt that much
. Does anybody actually use this kitchen?"
Kantai smiled. "Most everybody here eats out. To tell the truth, I'd be happy just to be able to brew a cup of tea. But you can see the state things are in."
"Well, then let's get to the point where we can brew a cup of tea."
"Anything I can do to help?"
She looked up at him and was about to say it'd probably be easier for her to do it by herself, when he smiled sheepishly. "Naw. I know I'd better stick to the cleaning up. I'm all thumbs when it comes to stuff like this."
"You don't say. So, I take it you were brought up in nice digs."
Men and women became independent at the age of twenty, and were at least capable of doing what they observed going on around them. Those who could not were betraying their reliance on servants, of being brought up in luxurious surroundings, of having somebody to watch over them.
"Yeah, something like that."
"Well, I'll wash the pots. You run the water."
"That I shall do."
His overly formal answer struck her as a bit odd. The two of them carried the assortment of pots outside, to the rear of the kitchen. There was a bucket next to the well. The dipper in the bucket suggested that whenever anybody wanted a drink they just came out here and helped themselves.
"It really is every man for himself here."
"They're not the type who give such matters a second thought."
"When was the last time this bucket was cleaned? Unbelievable."
"You think so?"
"No matter. Are you a citizen of Kei, Kantai?"
"Yes. And you?"
"I was born in Hou."
"So you've come a long way to end up here."
Shoukei filled the bucket to overflowing. She washed her hands and smiled. "Yes, I did. I've come a long way. I never thought I'd ever end up in a kingdom where it didn't snow in the winter."
"Huh," said Kantai, as he lowered the bucket into the well.
