PreCursive

  “This,” Masayuki said, drawing a circle around one area on a map he had pulled out from underh the table. The tea tray had bee aside to make room for the rge strip of part. “Is ahat is known as Goryuen.”

  I leaned forward in order to i better what the Lord had indicated. His finger ointing towards the third isnd to the southwest in the archipego, away from the rgest sub-tihat Hinaga y on.

  His finger was resting on a stylized mountain that y in the exact ter of that isnd. It looked to be shrouded in ominous-looking bd red clouds, from which peered glowing malevolent eyes.

  I ratcheted down Language Adaptation for a moment. Goryuen seemed to transte roughly to ‘Garden of the Imperial Dragon’.

  Ominous.

  “This is, perhaps, one of the highest Aether tration zones on Vereden,” Lord Ashiwara tinued. “The entire isnd is essentially forbidden from settlement, sidering just how dangerous it is. Monsters spawhat are much, much more powerful than anything upon this Kawashima.”

  That being the name of the sub-tihat we were ht now. My uanding was that Kawashima was the heart of the Kawamaran ‘Empire’. I don’t even know why it was an Empire. To my knowledge, the Kawamaran’s had no ies anywhere else on Vereden, little signifit diplomatic presen either the Principality or the Kingdom, and were in faewhat subservient to Herztal.

  “By Imperial Edione may veo Goryuen without permission,” Masayuki said, defting my hopes. He must have noticed because the etri gave me a pyful smile, despite the serious air he had created. “Worry not. With my permission, I easily secure a pass for you. If that is your wish.”

  Hopes officially reinstated.

  I smiled wryly at the other man. “I am indeed ied, Lord Ashilease, tinue. You said what I seek ys at this mountain? This…Gorenzan?”

  Masayuki me. “Yes, the heart of the isnd, and by far the most dangerous pce upon it. Gorenzen is essentially the gathering pce of the Oni Primes. As you likely know, Oni Primes are not intelligent per se, but they do possess a bestial instinct that resembles it. They gather there, uhe watchful eye of the mountain’s lord, in order to establish dominance over each other. It’s…essentially nothing more than a monstrous pissing test, to be frank. But it leaves the entire area highly dangerous to go anywhere near.”

  Yeah, that sounded…bad. But something else he had said caught my attention.

  “The ‘mountain’s lord’?” I asked, half curious, half dreading the answer.

  Please don’t be another fug Camity. I only killed the st one because of a fluke, and a bunch of help from some very powerful beings.

  Masahiro finally spoke up from where he had been sitting quietly, frowning at the map. “A persistent threat to the Empire that we’ve atsugan,” He said dourly. “The beast appears to be immortal.”

  I raised an eyebrow at that, looking over at Masayuki. He me sadly. “Quite regrettable. Tatsugan is what the System refers to as an ‘Oblivion Wyrm’. Not quite a true dragon, but close enough in appearahat the point is moot. Tatsugan has the potential to grow into a Camity-”

  Son of a bitch.

  “-but we make sure that he does not,” Masayuki tinued. “It takes the beast over a tury in order to gather the strength to evolve in that manner. So, we cull him before . You see, the Oni pete in his shadow because their petition fuels his growth. It’s a form of twisted refle to hooken grow in power. Before he asd into a true Camity, the greatest warriors of Kawamara gather uhe blessing of the Emperor to sy the monster.”

  “That…” I said, a frown growing on my face. “That sounds out of my league, as much as I hate to say it.”

  “Perhaps not, Sir Kuroshō,” Masahiro uedly said, drawing my attention. “The st Ryūmetsu Matsuri was only twenty years ago, where Tatsugan was st sin.”

  Masayuki his son, before turning bae. “Yes, I remember it well. I wasn’t in attendance, being only about Masayuki’s age at the time. But we lost some storied warriors to the festival. The Empire simultaneously mourned and celebrated for weeks. Our intelligence of the isnd tells us that Tatsugan has returo the mountain in his weakened form, but that the petition of the Oni has resumed in order tthen him. It’s why the Oni Hunters are so hese days. Those defeated in the petition flee from Goryuen to pgue the other isnds.”

  I tilted my head in thought after a moment, my brow furrowing. “Why…do you allow it?” I asked out loud, Masayuki’s own brow raising iion. “Why allow Tatsugan to tinually accumute power in this way? Why ablish a for the isnd that just kills the wyrm whenever he returns, and deals with the Oni at the same time?”

  Uedly, Ashiwara’s face twisted sourly at my question. “A few reasons,” He sighed tiredly. “The first is that it’s been tried. Hundreds of years ago, our records tell us that the Emperor at the time, one Jinsoku the Prudent, raised a force to try and quer the isnd. He succeeded for a time, and for decades his warriors fought. Every time Tatsugaurned, he was sin. And all Oni that gathered at the mountain were cut down with him. But it was all for naught, because it caused a disaster. Thirty years after Goryuen was quered, a great wave exploded from the shores of the isnd, rag away it to wash over the others. This tsunami would e to be known as the Vengeance of the Dragon. Records tell us that the devastation was…catastrophic.”

  “Dragon’s rage untamed,

  By the sea, the isnds weep-

  Folly drowns the nd.”

  I jerked in pce, almost instinctually looking around for Venix at the unprompted haiku. But no, it was just Masahiro, who looked to have beeing something from memory. At my baffled look, the young man just gave me a forlorn smile. “From the collected works of Kaito the Sagacious, a popur poet from that era.”

  “Iigations into the tragedy told us that we atsugan to keep ing back,” Masayuki said, drawing my attention. “The creature is drawiher from something deep beh the isnd, and it was from that source that the wave inated. He siphons just enough power from whatever is dowhat it ot devastate all of Kawamara in an endless procession of waves. Thus, the decision was made to just…leave him be. And then, when he has drawn just enough power to avert disaster, and before he asd into Camity, we strike. We have repeated this cycle for… millennia.”

  “That sounds…” I trailed off. I couldn’t even imagine living with something like that, stantly hanging over the fate of aire nation.

  “We do our duty,” Masahiro said firmly, straight-backed and proud. Masayuki id e hand over his sons and squeezed with a forlorn smile.

  I looked aolitely from their moment. It wasn’t my pce to intrude, even if I was a guest.

  Eventually, I heard Masayuki clear his throat, drawing my attention once more. The two nobles had returo their previous positions as if nothing had happe all. “Imperial records from that era tell us that a strange pair of doors were discovered at the base of Gorenzan, that no man could open,” Ashiwara the Elder tinued, in an ingruously upbeat tone. “No Skill, nor Spell, nor bde of man could pierce their metallic surface. It came to be known as the ‘Yami-no-Koshi’ due to its impervious surface, and have never been opened. But not for ck .”

  Yeah, that sounded…familiar. The gates at the base of Hollow Hill had been impervious to harm as well, from what Grey had told me. He’d spent years trying everything he could to opeo no avail. Only for me to waltz up, y on hand on them, and poof!

  Mysterious doors open.

  It made me wonder how they, and that bunker, were going to be handled now that the war was over.

  The point was, though, that I…might be able to do the same thing with this ‘Yami-no-Koshi’. Though, Language Adaptation helpfully told me that trahly ‘The Gate of the Underworld’.

  Joy.

  Still…

  Ohing was b me.

  I carefully id my hands, palm ft down, oable ahe knowing, calg gaze of Lord Ashiwara. I made sure to very carefully cut my eyes over to Masahiro, in the least threatening manner I could.

  Lord Ashiwara got the hint.

  “Masahiro, if you could leave us for a moment?” He said, surprisingly firmly. The younger man jerked i the strength in his Father’s voice but dutifully did as asked. He picked up his new sword bde and backed up to the door, bowing respectfully as he did so. In moments, he was out of the room.

  Silence desded owo of us left. It felt like Masayuki was going to wait, patiently, for me to break it first.

  Fine by me.

  “Did you evehe sword?” I asked bluntly, my eyes locked on Masayuki’s own.

  There was no reason to have given me so muformation. Some of that sounded like it could have been publiformation.

  Some of it decidedly not so.

  The disclosure was suspicious.

  The etri smiled ever so slightly. “I could have presented my heir with any number of bdes greater than what you created, Kuroshō. But the child has ever been enamored with Oninite, and it presented a ve opportunity for the court to take your measure. So, no. No, I did not he sword, Apprentice of the Shadowed Sun.”

  Hmm.

  Well, there was a firmation for that suspi.

  I may not be part of the Noe Division anymore, but I still had my instincts. Almost immediately after I had stepped off of the Thorny Reef, I’d had the suspi that I was u least some level of surveil hadn’t felt malicious, and I’d never noticed any kind of a being taken against me. But I had almost physically felt the eyes ohose first few weeks here in Hinaga.

  I’d even raised my suspis with Liora, someoh far more experien this field than me. She had calmly firmed that there were Kawamaraives of some kind keeping an eye on us, but told me not to worry about it. The Empire had the right to keep an eye on fn visitors, especially when they were as heavily armed and as powerful as roup was. So I hadn’t raised a stink about the surveilnd had tried to put it out of my miually, the pressure of my watcher's eyes had eased, and I only occasionally felt it return. Presumably, I had been deemed a non-threat to the citizens of Hinaga, which was true.

  Holy, I hadn't care about it very much. I know I sure as hell would have kept an eye on someone as weird as I was.

  I hadn’t been arrogant enough to think they were gone food, though. Nor did I think they hadn’t figured out who I was. It’s not like I was running around using a false identity. Kuroshō was just a local title given to me.

  I ined my head to Lord Ashiwara. “Well, I’m here now,” I said impassively. “For urpose did the court wish to take my measure?”

  I don’t even know why I asked. I retty sure I had an idea already, after Masayuki’s entire expnation. Still, pretenses had to be maintained. It was the way of nobility, after all.

  I was getting used to it.

  A slight smile crossed Masayuki’s painted face before disappearing. “I have in my possession a pre-signed writ of permission to travel to Goryuen, for you and your panions. I also have a map to the ter of the isnd which leads to Mt. Gorenzan. The ronin Venix, Azarus, formerly of House Savoy, Miss Liora Valen, Renauld of the People, and Captain Isabel Blue of the Thorny Reef are permitted to travel with you. But hers, including the Oni Hunter squad you and yours are acquainted with, may apany you. If you wish, I bestow both of these items to you, Sir Hart.”

  I nodded slowly to show my uanding. “And what does the Empire wish of me iurn?”

  “Nothing,” Masayuki answered. At my unimpressed look, the man chuckled lightly. “Nothing officially. The Imperial seat would never dare to imposition the household of Elys’s sort. However…we request that if you possess the means to open Yami-no-Koshi, you iigate the depths that must y oher side. And in your iigations, if you find the source emp Tatsugan?”

  The smile on Masayuki’s face vanished in an instant. In its pce grew a scowl so fierce, it tradicted my view of the man.

  “Destroy it.”