Chapter III.XX (3.20) - Emperor Sasaki X

  Everyone stared at the white robed man.

  “Nope.” He gave a single shake of his head. “No. Not happening. Not what we agreed on. No way. Wan, you’re doing a bit, aren’t you? Did someone teach you humor while I was asleep?”

  “My name is Kuroi,” the elderly princess stepped forward.

  Sasaki’s eyes widened even further. He looked her up and down, mouth agape.

  “Like, little Makoto’s friend Kuroi?”

  “His wife.”

  “Damn. Time really did pass me by. How is he?”

  “He died a decade ago.”

  “Oh. Well, I guess that’s what I planned for. It’s supposed to be just me and Wanchan. A new adventure. A fresh start.”

  “Unfortunately,” Wan said. “Emperor Tamotsu was not quite as effective at procreation as your father assumed. He had one child, who also had two children. One of which died in infancy and the other sired only one child. Who is now dead. Leading us back to you.”

  “Damn.” Sasaki said again. He rubbed the back of his head. “Not how things were supposed to play out.”

  “Perhaps it will be some consultation to know your other siblings had many children. Makoto had nine grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and five great-great grandchildren. And that’s to say nothing of your younger sister’s lineage.”

  “Small comfort. Doesn’t help me get out of this…unless, you think I could fake my death? Like, maybe the stasis vat actually killed me thirty years ago?” The new Emperor waited but only silence followed. “Fine…. It was just a suggestion.

  “How old are you now?” he asked Kuroi. “The math isn’t going right in my brain.”

  “ Ninety four as of three weeks ago,” she answered with a smile.

  “Okay, yeah. Twelve when I left. Eighty-two years gone. That all adds up. So what about the rest of you? What are you all doing here?”

  “I am Taroe. An Elite of the Hon Empire.” He began to introduce the other Elites as well but then the Emperor cut him off.

  “Hold up, what’s an Elite?”

  “They're a specialized unit that your brother created while in power. The Emperor’s private guards. They often work in groups as task forces throughout the Empire to accomplish goals given to them by the Emperor.”

  “Okay. And the rest of you? You two look a little young to be in a task force. But…I mean both are cute. Did you bring them in an attempt to throw me into the courting scene as early as possible?” He grinned again. “I guess that’s one perk of being Emperor. Everyone will want a piece of me, right? Don’t have to compete with chiseled-jawed Tamotsu anymore.”

  “The girl is your great niece,” Kuroi said. “And the boy a companion of hers. They witnessed the death of Emperor Honzo.”

  “Um, whoops.’ Sasaki looked away sheepishly. “Sorry about that. Not into nieces. Promise.”

  “I thought you may want to ask them questions.”

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  “Interesting. I assumed you wanted him to meet others his age,” Wan said.

  “That too. The world has changed a lot since I was a girl.”

  “Well, welcome my new friends.” The new Emperor stumbled forward and wrapped both Kizu and Aoi in a big hug. “Thanks for showing up!”

  “Ah…thanks.” Aoi pushed the Emperor aside. “My name is Kotei Aoi. And this is Kaga Kizu.”

  “Kaga? New noble family?”

  “My parents are silk traders,” Kizu explained. He hoped the Emperor didn’t have any more questions about his family, because he barely knew more than that himself.

  “Hm. Times sure have changed. Traders get to hangout with the Royal Family youth now. My father once burst a vein when he found me sneaking out to meet up with a girl.”

  “She was a peach farmer,” Wan clarified. “I believe you would have encountered a great deal less ire in that particular situation if you’d been meeting with a silk trader.”

  “Ah, it’s all the same. People are people.” Then his smile faltered. “I wanted to meet more people like her. That was why I agreed to this whole thing.”

  “Unfortunately, life often does not always seem to go as planned.”

  “Ugh. Tell me about it, Wanchan.” The new Emperor sighed dramatically. “So, I suppose I should probably avenge my dead nephew. What exactly got to him?”

  Taroe stepped up and explained all of the assassination’s details. He mostly just rephrased what Kizu had told him in a more official report, but Kizu was grateful to not have to go through all that again. Occasionally, Sasaki would stop him to ask a question from either Aoi or Kizu, but mostly he just listened attentively, mostly mellowing down into a more serious attitude.

  “So,” he said after the story finished. “Basically, someone didn’t like my family because they’re all anti-necromancers. They felt disadvantaged by society and took out their anger in a big way.” He considered then clapped his hands. “Okay! First royal decree!”

  The Elites snapped to attention but Wan looked at him with a tired expression.

  “Sasaki, while you do in fact have enough witnesses for a royal decree, I suggest waiting a few days.”

  “Nope. I’ve got it figured out. I’m going to legalize necromancy.”

  There was a moment of silence as Sasaki smiled proudly at each of them. The Elites looked broken. And a manic smile cracked Aoi’s face.

  “Sasaki…” Wan started.

  “I want my own Royal Necromancer too. If my nephew had one of those, he wouldn’t have died from the soul attack, right?”

  “While that is hypothetically correct-”

  “And if all necromancers were legally registered, we’d never have had trouble finding the assassin.”

  “I suppose that’s one way to hypothetically avoid repeats of our current predicament in the future.”

  “Sire,” one of the Elites said. “I…um…is this…uh.”

  “Oh relax. I’ll implement it slowly. And make sure that all necromancers are properly taught a special moral education class. You still have academies, right?”

  Someone confirmed the existence of schools and Emperor Sasaki nodded succinctly, as if that proved his point.

  “I’m not certain how the churches will feel about this,” Wan said. “They’re said to be very anti-necromancy.”

  Sasaki wrinkled his nose. “Churches are still around. Drat. I had hoped they’d go out of fashion by the time I woke up.”

  “Churches have been ‘in fashion’ for nearly four millennia. Since the dawn of the human age and their record keeping.”

  “Yeah. So about time they finished up already. Nearly as old as you.”

  “Not quite.”

  Kizu blinked. Was the stoic friend of the Emperor making a…joke? But then again, he was still here after eighty years apart and looked to be in his early twenties at most. He wanted to ask, but the Emperor barreled forward in the conversation.

  “That will be a problem. But I’ll figure it out. Do you know of any good necromancers I can talk to about all this?”

  “Me!” Aoi burst forward. “I love your idea. I’ll help you.”

  The Elites all looked at Aoi in horror.

  “You know necromancy? Perfect! We’re already getting the ball rolling. And you’re in the family too, which should make things even smoother. It’s Aoi, right?”

  “Sasaki,” Kuroi said with a smile. “You certainly haven’t changed. You’re exactly what I remember.”

  “Well, I mean, that was sort of the whole point of dumping me in a stasis vat in the dungeon of my school, right?” Sasaki looked around the room. “Speaking of. Are we at Yamagako right now? Place still up and running?”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Good, I can tell the headmaster on the way out to start prepping things to add a necromancy class. I wish I could say that to Headmaster Tsumara. Don’t suppose he’s still around, Wanchan?”

  “He died sixty years ago.”

  “Damn. Too bad.” Then the Emperor grinned again, a sparkle in his eyes. “Maybe one of the new students can resurrect his bones so I can tell him about the new classes I’m implementing!”

  Ten Blood Curse Academia chapters (5 weeks) ahead of Royal Road.