by Fuyumi Ono
In any case, Shushou still couldn’t imagine how a traveler like Rikou had managed to secure an official seal.
“Where are you from?” she asked him.
“A long ways away.”
“How long a ways?”
“Sou. Do you know where Sou is?”
“Sure. It’s a kingdom in the south. Pretty famous, isn’t it?”
The Kingdom of Sou was known for its long-lived dynasty and its wealth. Rikou definitely did not hail from around here.
The Ministry of Fall not only prosecuted lawbreakers, but notarized contracts and other important documents, and publically certified that official papers were authentic and in proper order. Shushou had learned this at the prefectural academy. Now she had to wonder how trustworthy a document bearing the seal of the Ministry of Fall really was.
Considering the nature of the thing, she couldn’t imagine that a government clerk would stamp any odd piece of paper presented to him. At the very least, the bearer would have to establish his bona fides. Because Rikou was a traveler, that would mean his passport. On top of that, the document didn’t even have Rikou’s name on it.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, I was just wondering how you got the seal of the Ministry of Fall on that certificate.”
“Ah.” Rikou smiled. “That is because I am a much better teller of tall tales than you, young lady.”
“And have you been telling them to me?”
“Not to you,” Rikou said with a broad smile. He took up the reins of the suugu. “A little of touch of this and a little touch of that. There’s a way to getting these things done, you know.”
Shushou reached into the pocket of her kimono. “How much?”
“How much what?” Rikou blinked.
“That what it came down to, didn’t it? I’ll cover whatever it cost you. How much did the clerk take you for?”
“Where would a nice girl like you learn something like that?”
“I’m the daughter of a merchant. It comes with the territory.”
Rikou laughed and patted Shushou on the arm. “I’m afraid you didn’t catch my drift.”
“But—”
Rikou crouched down in front of her. “The shops will all be opening pretty soon, right?”
“Yes. That’s true.”
“And all the merchants and shopkeepers are going to show up with any paperwork they need to get done. First thing in the morning, the Ministry of Fall will be swamped.”
“Oh. I suppose so.”
“Amidst the confusion, a man comes running in with the story of an unfortunate lass who’d lost her father a few towns over.”
“You mean, me?”
“That’d be you. The dead man worked for his brother. He was delivering a kijuu with his daughter. Alas, they were attacked by highwaymen along the way, and he died protecting his dear daughter. The tough-minded girl managed to get away. Having a strong sense of responsibility, rather than mourn his passing, she felt compelled to complete the job her father had undertaken. She continued on the journey, her sad tears freezing on her cheeks in this frigid winter weather. Unfortunately, the burden of the kijuu now prevents her from securing lodgings—”
“Um—” said Shushou, tugging at his sleeve.
Caught up in his own story, Rikou continued: “What a brave young woman! Don’t you think? Such are the times we live in. Regardless of who was working for whom, they were, first and foremost, brothers. What a cruel man this uncle of hers must be!”
“That’s what you said?”
“The clerk knows when the shops are going to open. So he’ll want to take care of any business before him as soon as possible. And here is this man going on and on, burdening him with the sad tale of an unfortunate girl.”
“And trying his patience.”
Rikou laughed heartily. “There are times when the best recourse is to tell the biggest whale of a lie you can imagine.”
“This is all very instructive.” Shushou shrugged and looked up at him. “Do you mind my asking why you’re doing all this for me?”
Rikou stood and again took hold of the suugu’s reins. “I’ll take a pass on that, if you don’t mind. I haven’t asked you why you’re going on the Shouzan, have I?
“I don’t mind. It’s all the same to me. Because no worthy person has yet stepped forth.”
“Really? Well, take care of yourself.”
“I should be all right, thanks to you.”
“Getting to Ken is one thing. After that is when your true character must rise to the fore.”
“Oh, um, thanks.”
Rikou smiled and urged on the suugu. Shushou watched as the two of them disappeared into the distance.
Chapter 7
[1-7] Thanks to the certificate Rikou had finagled for her, Shushou didn’t have any difficulty securing lodgings after that. She proceeded directly as planned along the provincial roads to the Black Sea.
Shushou had never seen the ocean before. This wasn’t surprising, as she had rarely left Renshou. Taken aback by the broad expanse of water, for the first time she felt a pang of helplessness in her heart.
To Shushou, born and raised in Renshou, wrapped in the embrace of the Ryou’un Mountains, such a view keenly impressed on her the sensation of being literally at the end of the road with nowhere else to turn.
“This world sure has all kinds of places in it. Well, let’s go, Hakuto.”
She petted the anxious Hakuto, who was no doubt reflecting Shushou’s own sense of unease. The kijuu shook it off and rode like the wind.
They traveled south along the coastal road for several days to the city of Rinken. Rinken was located at the southernmost point of Kyou. Across the Ken Straits was Ken County, the city of Ken, and the Reiken Gate.
“Six days until the spring equinox. Thanks to you, Hakuto.”
And Rikou.
Perched on his back, Shushou gave Hakuto an encouraging pat on the neck and he took off. For reasons she didn’t understand, Hakuto was no less eager to press on. When the wind blew in from the south, he shook off the fatigue of the journey and picked up the pace again.
Were Shushou not holding tight to the reins, the kijuu showed every intent of plunging across that broad expanse of blue before their eyes.
“There’s no need to be in such a hurry. You’re going to hurt your feet like you did yesterday.”
However Shushou pulled on the reins, Hakuto’s speed did not slacken as he galloped along the roads threading among the mountains and fields, leaping clean over the forests and groves. With every town left behind, Shushou bent another finger. One more and they’d be at Rinken.
The sun was almost touching the ridgelines of the western mountains. Though there was still time before the sky turned amber, Hakuto’s fleeting form painted long shadows on the ground below. So far on her journey, Shushou had learned that when the dusk came, not only did the tint of the mountains darken all the more, but so did the seas.
Hakuto cleared a hamlet with a small hop. Rinken came into view. At the same time, for a brief moment, that did as well.
“Hakuto—”
Shushou drew back on the reins. Hakuto didn’t stop in mid-air, but began to descend in a falling arc. This was not, for Hakuto, normal behavior. Fixated on that, Shushou’s eyes met empty air.
“Hakuto—jump—”
As soon as Hakuto alighted on the ground, he vaulted into the sky with all his might. Hakuto’s field of view opened up. Astride his back, Shushou took in the great expanse of the sight before them.
Slight signs of spring played across the countryside below them. The nearby hamlet was charred and black, burned by fire. But at that moment, the scars in the earth did not register in her senses. Instead, her eyes focused on the far horizon—
Beyond the coastline fringed by whitecaps, beyond the promontory jutting into the sea and the port city at its base, beyond the great gray sweep of the sea, shimmering in the haze—
The rising slopes mel
ted into the blue sky. The ridgelines stood out as only a slightly different shade of blue, like the azure shadow of a wall cast against all that vast blue.
Bands of fading purple wrapped around the towering enormity floated beyond the sea.
Faintly silhouetted by the setting sun, that stretched out in great bands across the water. One notch in the ridgeline—that seemed sculpted out of decorative granite—glowed brightly, stretching out to the left and right until finally fading into the midst.
“The Kongou Mountains.”
They were so big.
Shushou felt goosepimples shiver across her skin. In that stunned moment, she let go of the reins. Scrambling for them, she felt Hakuto’s hair standing on end as well, as if ruffled backwards by the wind.
This was the barrier wall around the Yellow Sea. Beyond that huge wall was a land hostile to human habitation. And in the center was the Gozan, the Five Mountains.
I’ve made it, she thought. And those are— Even having grown up at the foot of Mt. Ryou’un, the immensity of these mountains were beyond belief.
Hakuto reached the zenith of his leap and fell in a graceful arc, gradually building up speed. That hazy, blue wall disappeared behind the screen of the nearby hills.
“The Kongou Mountains!” Shushou exclaimed. She buried her face in the fur of Hakuto’s neck. “Let’s go, Hakuto. Those are the Kongou Mountains!”
Hakuto kicked off the ground, accelerating so fast he almost bucked Shushou off his back. He climbed the hills, descended the gentle slope to the provincial road, and shot past the Rinken city gate. Shushou did not pull back on the reins.
Hakuto overran the end of the road, bounded over a knoll thick with shrubs, and there reached the headlands of the promontory. Before them was the blue sea and the silhouette of the Kongou Mountains hovering like a mirage above the far horizon.
Shushou watched as the purple-banded blue faded to indigo. The ridgelines glittered white from the light of the setting sun before dissolving into the sepia dusk. Before she knew it, she had all but lost track of time.
Chapter 8
[1-8] Rinken was a port city with a harbor. Ships departed for Ken County once a day. Hakuto couldn’t leap across the broad expanse of the sea. But even a flying kijuu could book passage on a sailing ship, which was certainly a lot easier on the kijuu.
Filling their faded gray sails with the brisk breeze, a ship could cross the Ken Straits in half a day. Leaving port in the morning, it passed the ship returning to Rinken shortly past noon, and slipped into the harbor on the opposite shore around evening.
Shushou spent the time on the deck looking at the mountains. On several occasions youma-like creatures swept through the air above them, but none of them attacked the ship and she didn’t have to retreat to her cabin.
Catching remnants of the joufuu, the ship knifed through the water, leaving a white wake behind. The shadows cast on the deck by the sails shortened, turned toward the east, and lengthened again. Looking beyond the silhouette of the ship returning to the mainland, the Kongou Mountains already filled the entire sky.
A bell rang out when the ship entered the harbor. The sound reverberated across the waves before being swallowed up by the surf.
“Looks like we got here in one piece,” Shushou declared with a triumphant air as she descended the gangplank. From here to Ken would take three days on foot, no more than a day riding Hakuto.
The ship had arrived in the city of North Ken, the gateway to Ken County. Because Ken County was on the frontier, it was not too large and finding lodgings shouldn’t be too taxing.
Mingling with the other passengers going ashore, they entered the city and turned down the main thoroughfare where the inns should be located.
Shushou felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find a smiling middle-aged man with a round face looking down at her. “Miss, that’s a moukyoku, isn’t it?”
Shushou had heard the question plenty of times on her journey. She clearly wasn’t alone in her love of kijuu.
“That’s right.”
The man crouched down and petted the white fur with soft, childlike hands. “A splendid kijuu and very well trained. What nice eyes. He sure looks well taken care of.” The man smiled and scratched Hakuto behind the ears. He looked up at Shushou and said, “This is the first time I’ve seen such a splendid moukyoku. It is yours?”
“No. This is my master’s kijuu.”
The man eyed Shushou’s worn kimono, grinned and nodded. “Really? I suppose so. Are you responsible for his care, or would that be your master?”
“My master prizes him very highly, just as I care for him a great deal.”
“Of course, of course.” The man bobbed his head as he got to his feet. “What a fine master you must have. He who cares for his kijuu cares for his servants no less.”
“I wouldn’t say that was always true.” Shushou glanced up at him. “I need to find an inn.”
“What, are you in the midst of a journey?”
“I am. Do you live in this town? Perhaps you could direct me to an inn with good stables?
“I don’t know about what makes stables good or not, but I am familiar with an inn where kijuu owners like to congregate. Shall I show you the way?”
“You needn’t go to such lengths. Directions would be fine.”
“No problem. Just once I’d like to hold the reins of a kijuu. In exchange for me showing you the way, how about you let me lead the kijuu?”
“Sorry, but I couldn’t do that. I’d catch a scolding if my master found out I’d let his moukyoku be handled by anybody else.”
“That’s too bad,” the man said in a regretful tone. But he smiled. “You are a cautious young lady. Whoever entrusted that kijuu to you, though, most definitely is not.”
The man’s face split into a broad grin. He grabbed Shushou by the arm.
“Hey—!”
What are you doing, she was about to say, when the man shouted, “Thief!”
“What?”
Shushou looked up at him in amazement. People passing by paused and turned their attention to him.
“This is my kijuu! Give it back, you stupid little kid!”
For a moment, Shushou gaped at the man’s round face, struck dumb by the sudden transformation.
“What’s going on?” somebody in the growing crowd asked.
“This brat stole my kijuu!” he spit out. “Unbelievable, kids these days! Can’t take your eyes off them for a second!”
The man wrenched Shushou’s arm, prompting a yelp of pain. “No!” she managed to blurt out, though she couldn’t be sure that she’d made herself heard.
“Hold on a minute,” came a woman’s voice from the crowd. “That kijuu belongs to the girl. We were both on the boat coming over.”
“Yeah, she stole it from me in Rinken! I thought there was something fishy about the way she was hanging around my kijuu.”
“Well—”
“That’s not true!” Shushou raised her voice, but with her arm feeling like it was about to rip out of its socket, she couldn’t find the words to say anything more.
“What’s not true? Look! I’ve got the papers to prove it!” The man drew documents from his breast pocket and unfurled them for all to see. “This one proves the kijuu is mine. And this one says it was stolen. Both bear official seals!”
The wall of people surrounding them shifted their sympathetic gaze from Shushou to the man.
“Unbelievable,” the man hissed, giving Shushou’s arm another twist. “There are surely unsavory masterminds behind this all. There’s no way a kid like you would be put in charge of transporting a kijuu! That’s got to be the dumbest thing I ever heard! It should make anybody suspicious.”
The man gave Shushou a shove and sent her flying.
“It’s not dumb!” Shushou cried out. “That’s my kijuu!” She reached into her own pocket and pulled out the certificate Rikou had prepared for her. “If you want papers, I have papers too!”
The words had barely left her mouth when the man yanked it out of her grasp and tore it into pieces. “Worth the paper it’s printed on!”
The man’s shamelessly overbearing manner stunned her. Tossing the shredded paper aside, he next set to stripping the travel packs off Hakuto’s back and tossing them onto the ground.
“Be grateful I don’t hand you over to the authorities,” he called out, and jumped into the saddle. Hakuto cast Shushou a brief, bewildered look. The man dug his heel hard into his sides. Hakuto bolted away in a panicked sprint.
“Wait! Wait! Hakuto!”
The congested street parted before Hakuto and swallowed up the beast and rider. Shushou gathered herself up and bolted after them. Someone behind her grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Let me go!”
“What should we do? Call the constable?”
“But the man who says she stole from him—”
Shushou shouted at the jabbering adults, “I’ve got the notarized papers right here. He’s the real thief!”
With a curious glance at Shushou and then at the disappearing form of Hakuto, one of her fellow travelers plucked the scraps of paper off the street and pieced them together.
His mouth dropped open. “Hey, these are the real thing!”
“That’s what I’ve been saying! How can a bunch of adults be so stupid!”
While half of the onlookers who’d gathered around her scurried away, the other half peered at the certificate.
“Yeah, it’s got an authentic seal.”
“What about his?”
“Only caught a glance. Did anybody get a good look?”
As the adults stood there and chatted, Shushou shook herself free and ran off in the direction she’d last seen Hakuto. But the kijuu was nowhere to be seen on the crowded high street. Several adults tailed after her and assisted in a cursory search. They concluded only that the thief and the moukyoku had left through the main gate.
“Sorry about that, Miss.”
The man held out Shushou’s bags. He’d picked them up for her. Shushou took them from him. The two travel bags that had been slung across Hakuto’s back now dwarfed Shushou as she hugged her arms around them. She sunk to her knees and let out a long sigh.