by Fuyumi Ono
"See a definite improvement?"
"That's right." Seirai smiled raised his hand in an exaggerated gesture. "The details are top secret."
"They're what?" Taiki reflexively grabbed Seirai's sleeve. "Um, Seirai—"
"No, no, no. When you look at me like that, there's no way I can resist spilling the beans. And if I did, I'd catch a tongue-lashing from Gyousou-sama for sure."
Chapter 4
A flurry of communiqués between the Foreign Ministries of Tai and Ren followed. Schedules were set and the mission members were selected.
Taiki was designated head of mission. His retinue included his bodyguard Tansui and Regent Seirai. The deputy ambassadors were Sougen of the Zui Provincial Guard of the Left and Asen of the Palace Guard of the Right. Serving those four were a handful of junior ministers, bringing the total to only nine (in addition to Taiki, Seirai and Tansui).
They were not escorted by any Imperial heralds and traveled in civilian dress. Although in name a diplomatic mission, in fact Taiki was traveling as a personal emissary of the Royal Tai at the personal behest of the Royal Ren.
The Kingdom of Ren was an island in the Kyokai, separated from the main continent to the south and west. A mirror image of Tai, it was the kingdom furthest away. In fact, Tai and Ren had no formal diplomatic relations. Up to this juncture, they had not once exchanged ambassadors, the necessity having never before presented itself.
The only change between then and now was that Renrin had personally helped Taiki out. She had been the one who'd brought Taiki back to this world after he was swept away to the strange realm of Yamato—then his home country.
"What kind of person is the Ren Taiho?" Taiki asked Seirai soon after they left Kouki.
They employed kijuu on the way to Ren, but Taiki still couldn't fly one on his own. Instead, they rode comfortably in a palanquin strapped to the backs of two oxen-like kijuu.
Seirai raised an eyebrow and said in an almost startled voice, "I thought that'd be something the Taiho would know about."
"I haven't met her either. Well, I have met her, but she just brought me back here. I was really startled at the time and only remember her face." He confessed with a touch of embarrassment, "To be honest, I spent most of the time crying. I don't really understand it myself. And when I wasn't crying I was sleeping. When I woke up, the Ren Taiho had already returned to Ren."
"So that's how things went. I don't know her either. There really isn't anybody in Tai who's familiar with the Ren Taiho or the Royal Ren."
"There are only twelve of us, so it'd be nice if we could all get to know each other."
Seirai grinned broadly. "That's certainly true. Though it should become clear why the getting-to-know-you part is not so simple."
Taiki responded with a blank look. After thinking about it, he couldn't disagree. Ren was too far away from Tai to visit on a regular basis.
Even using these fleet-footed kijuu, leaving the territory of Tai had taken a day and a night. Another day and night to cross the Kyokai. Then setting out from a port city in Ryuu, they skirted the coastline toward Kyou. At Han, they turned south, and then again crossed the ocean. After two weeks of flying, the coastline of Ren finally came into view.
"Yeah, I get it now," Taiki said as they alighted in Juurei, the capital city of Ren. "It'd be hard to get to know anybody when they live so far away. The going and coming won't leave much time for anything else."
"Exactly," Seirai smiled. "That was a rough trip. How are you holding up?"
They set down in an open field on the outskirts of Juurei. The city before them was still festooned with the decorations celebrating the New Year.
"We only spent half a day in the air today."
"Ah, yes." Seirai sighed with an air of disappointment. "You've got much more perseverance than I do. An old man like me is so much dead weight."
Taiki peered up at Seirai. "You think you're just dead weight?"
"Unfortunately so. My specialty is seizing young ruffians by the neck and giving them a good dressing down." He grimaced playfully. "If I didn't give you the occasional paddling for pulling the occasional prank, my life would be completely devoid of fun."
Taiki giggled. "I'll have to try harder."
"If you wouldn't mind," Seirai laughed.
Two junior ministers—who'd arrived at Juurei ahead of them—emerged from the Horse Gate adjacent the huge main gate. Among the four junior ministers, two alternately went ahead to arrange the night's lodgings.
"Ah, the reception party has arrived. Tonight's accommodations should be a cut above the usual."
Chapter 5
Juurei was unbelievable warm. The weather had become noticeably more temperate as they had passed through Ryuu, Kyou and Han. Upon reaching the south of Ryuu they finally removed their wool-lined down coats—which were absolutely necessary during the Tai winters—for good.
Entering the inn and changing into court dress for the first time since leaving Hakkei Palace was enough to put in Seirai in a dour mood.
"It's hot, isn't it?" Taiki called out to Seirai when he came out of his room.
Seirai agreed glumly. "I'd heard that Ren was hot, but I didn't imagine it was like this. And this is typical of their spring and fall."
"That's for sure."
"At any rate, this is typical court dress for this time of year. I'm going to pay a quick visit to the Foreign Ministry and announce our arrival."
"Do I have to come with?"
"Just checking in for the time being. When the time comes, you'll be going in full ceremonial dress too. So stay cool and comfortable while you can. I should return by nightfall."
"But who knows what kind of trouble I'll get myself into before you get back."
Seirai laughed. "You've got a point there. Tansui will have his hands full."
He glanced at the bodyguard lurking like a shadow in the corner of the room. As always, Tansui maintained a stoic front and didn't respond. Nevertheless, there was a flicker in his eyes that could be taken for a clever smile.
"Tansui doesn't know this, but I've always wanted to make Tansui lose his cool just once."
Taiki said, "I'll try my best to make it happen."
"You do that. And as soon as I get back, I'm sure I'll see you swinging like a monkey from one of the trees out there in the garden."
Chapter 6
Seirai left with two junior ministers, who had also donned ceremonial court dress. On their way out, they passed Sougen and Asen coming to visit Taiki. They'd already changed out of their traveling clothes.
"You must be pretty tuckered out by now," said Sougen.
Sougen had previously served under General Gyousou. With the establishment of the new Imperial Court, he'd been appointed commander of the critical Zui Provincial Guard of the Right. He wasn't the giant of a man that was Ganchou of the Palace Guard of the Left. But he possessed a towering stature and a calm dignity and bearing that reminded Taiki of the fairy tale samurai he used to read about back in Japan.
"I'm okay. Look—" Standing at the window, Taiki indicated the gardens outside the inn. The two generals sauntered up to the window and looked where Taiki was pointing. "There are flowers in the garden."
Gyousou had said that Ren was a place where there were flowers in winter, but it hadn't seemed possible that such a kingdom existed in this season. No snow lay on the ground. Even this close to the window, he didn't feel the cold. In Tai, the frigid draft leaking through the nooks and crannies in the window sills always made him shiver.
Sougen narrowed his eyes contemplatively. "What kind of flowers, I wonder. They would seem to be coming into bloom. I wouldn't have believed that there was a kingdom where no snow fell at this time of year."
"Me neither," agreed Taiki, pressing his forehead against the glass. "Since Tai is covered in white, I though it'd be like that everywhere here."
"Everywhere here?"
"Yeah. It only snows now and then where I lived in Yamato. It wasn't uncommon
for there to be no snow at all. But it was never this warm. Still, Tai being the way it is, I figured that all the kingdoms here were the same way. Because this is my first winter here. I guess Tai is the only kingdom that cold."
"Indeed," Sougen nodded quite thoughtfully.
"This world must be really big."
"The fields outside the city are still awaiting the harvest."
"In these southern kingdoms, it looks like there's no letting the fields lie fallow during the winter months," observed Asen.
"I've heard that they can grow a wide variety of grains."
"Wow," said Taiki. "Crops even grow in the winter. You can go to a field in the middle of the winter and pull vegetables out of the ground."
"That would be the case."
"It'd be nice if you could do that in Tai," Taiki said mostly to himself.
The two general heartily agreed.
"Children can run around outside. And livestock put out to pasture."
Just how did these people live here in this warm climate— Taiki stared raptly out the window as if he couldn't get enough of even this tiny slice of Ren.
"How about we take a little stroll?" said Asen. "I'm getting my second wind back, so I'd be happy to accompany you."
"Really. Is that okay?" Taiki said, jumping up.
Asen smiled and nodded. Both he and Gyousou had served in the Palace Guard under the previous king, and Taiki had heard them referred to as the two jewels in the crown. Asen was renowned as a skilled soldier, and perhaps for that reason was also compared in appearance to Gyousou as well.
Except that now and then Gyousou could put on a fearsome front, possessed of an almost frightening ambition that Asen never displayed. So Taiki never felt cowed by Asen's presence.
Taiki looked at Sougen expectantly. As Sougen thought the request over, Asen interjected, "There can't be anything wrong with taking a look at Juurei, can there? It seems to me that expanding the scope of the Taiho's world is a good thing."
Sougen nodded. "Well, with Tansui and the rest of there, I don't see anything wrong with that."
Chapter 7
Like Kouki, Juurei spread out beneath the towering Ryou'un Mountain. Though it was the middle of winter, the streets were filled with people. A bright and open atmosphere seemed to embrace the whole city. Taiki found it all very strange.
Kouki was pretty much the opposite. Its citizens lived under roofs covered with snow, and depended on the thick walls of their houses to keep warm. The mountains and valleys were a solid blanket of white. Not even the livestock could be let outdoors. Any nobody would think for a moment that any crops out there awaited any kind of harvest.
Only those who absolutely had to ventured far from home, and then dressed in a thick, padded long coats with a high collars. The head wrapped in a scarf or fur, ducking into the wind, moving as fast as was possible, pressing on with firm determination from shelter to shelter—that was the kind of kingdom Tai was.
Ren was the exact opposite. Even at this time of year, much of the city was wide open. The shutters of the windows were open. Taiki could see inside the building. The doors to the shops along the high street were also open, and great crowds of people came and went. People paused to chat in the streets. Children ran to and fro. And in the fields, livestock grazed on the dry grass covering the fields.
"This is really something," Taiki exclaimed.
"Yes, it is," Asen agreed with a small smile. "If winters in Tai were half this temperate, the lives of the people would be completely different."
Taiki thought so too. This kingdom did not strike the eye as particularly wealthy—Kyou and Han seemed much richer—but there was a carefree air that somehow seemed to suffuse the streets and the people. Ren had apparently been afflicted by chaos until recently, but no sign of that tension was anywhere to be seen.
Tai was never like this. Not much time had passed since the change in the Imperial Court, and it was not unheard of for people to freeze to death on the streets of cities like Kouki. There were towns that had exhausted their stores and people starved to death. So despite the tremendous risks, lines of people could be seen leaving their home towns behind and setting off through the deep snow for a neighboring village.
Despite having to scrape by harvesting whatever they could from the land, all their spare time and energy was spent mining gems and silver and gold. The previous king had hoarded all of it for himself, laying that heavy burden on the backs of the Tai people for a long time. And though a new king had acceded to the throne, not much had changed.
"It'd be nice if God had blessed Tai with warm weather," said Taiki.
Sougen smiled. "Tentei was good enough to give us a new king instead."
"Yeah," said Taiki, lowering both his voice and his gaze.
"As long as there is a good king, the kingdom and the people can join hands and overcome any hardship together. That's the only blessing we can hope for."
"Sure."
"Was there something else?"
Taiki shook his head and didn't say anything more. He avoided Sougen questioning eyes and turned his gaze toward the broad fields of green, where farmers were working with spades and hoes at a relaxed pace.
It'd be nice if Tai was as warm as this, he couldn't help thinking.
Chapter 8
Returning to the inn, they met Seirai. Even after retiring to his room to prepare for the next day, that was all Taiki could think about.
If Tai was warm like Kyou or Han. Or blessed with the warm climate of Ren.
Since Gyousou had taken him beyond the Forbidden Gate, a small lump of ice had remained behind in his chest. The people of Tai lived within that cold. From what he heard from the ministers, the lot of the average person's life was not a good one. Word of people freezing to death or starving to death was a good as a thermometer.
So many people in such desperate circumstances. Amidst the pure white landscapes.
And yet he could do nothing.
Taiki was a kirin. Something made by Heaven to serve the people. Follow the Divine Will and listen to Divine Mandate. It was said he was a child of Tentei and Heaven's ambassador. But he had not been furnished with the power to save anybody, let alone change the weather.
The kirin chose the king. That was all. Taiki had chosen Gyousou and made him king. Taiki had a feeling that he had thus used up the last of his miracles.
I really am powerless.
Even what he ought to do he couldn't do. He had his duties as Saiho, as Province Lord, but not way to accomplish them until he grew older. In fact, Seirai and Gyousou did his job for him. He just did as he was told. It was up to Seirai and the others to explain why.
Having chosen the king, what did a kirin exist for?
He knew people had high expectations for him. He understood from observing Seirai and Asen and Sougen. They treated him deferentially, but as a child. As Seirai explained, nothing other than the respect owned such an irreplaceable object.
But what exactly was the nature of this irreplaceability? He perhaps had possessed it once. And in the future, Gyousou might stray from the Way and the time for a new king would come, and there it would be again. But Taiki now was nothing but a mere child of eleven. He could do nothing. He understood nothing. He was simply baggage.
Therein lay the source of his anxiety.
He knew what was expected of him. But had no idea how to fulfill those expectations. All he could do was stand and watch. He couldn't shake the feeling that his was a useless existence and otherwise in the way. Didn't everybody think that? Wasn't it an entirely obvious conclusion? Even Seirai? Even Gyousou?
Chapter 9
The next morning, Taiki donned his ceremonial garb. They went to the northern quarter of Juurie, passing through the Highland Gate into the soaring Imperial compound, and then to Urou Palace, the residence of the Royal Ren.
The party was met by the Daikoujin and his assistants from the Ministry of Heaven, who served as their guides. They passed under the
Five Gates one by one. With each gate, through each tunnel and flight of stairs leading them deeper in and higher up, they arrived at the gigantic, cloud-piercing mountain's third station, and then fifth station, and then seventh station.
Climbing the final passageway to the Romon, the fifth gate, they were already above the Sea of Clouds, where the mountain peaks floating like islands. The expansive Inner and Outer Palaces and the layout of Urou Palace were much the same as Hakkei Palace.
The air above the Sea of Clouds was even warmer than the world below. The upper slopes of Juurei Mountain were less precipitous than Kouki Mountain, and the broad summit of the mountain spread out from the water's edge.
The Imperial Palace compound was larger than that in Tai, the buildings arranged in a spacious and relaxed manner. The spaces between the buildings, despite the time of year, were thick with verdant growth. The view aroused in Taiki a touch of homesickness.
Most of the large palaces and manors spaced among the luxurious green had their doors flung wide open. Many of the corridors and arbors were not fenced or walled in. Taken all together, it resembled what he'd seen at Mt. Hou during his short stay there.
Taiki and his retinue exited the Romon and headed to the Gaiden. In the center of the cool but cloistered Seiden was a resplendent throne. There was nobody on or anywhere near it.
The empty throne surprised Taiki and obviously confused Seirai and the others. But the Ren officials who had guided them there appeared even more taken aback. They looked at each other exchanging exasperated expressions, and cast flustered glances about the great hall.
A solitary officer came running from the deserted wings of the Seiden. He whispered something to the Daikoujin. The Daikoujin's eyes widened with surprise. After a heated back and forth between the two of them, he approached Taiki with a troubled air and bowed deeply.
