PreCursive
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Chapter 230 - Tale of the Dragon
🕑 Added 2024-09-11 17:00:09 +0000 UTC“This,” Masayuki said, drawing a circle around one area on a map he had pulled out from underneath the table. The tea tray had been set aside to make room for the large strip of parchment. “Is an area that is known as Goryuen.”
I leaned forward in order to inspect better what the Lord had indicated. His finger was pointing towards the third island to the southwest in the archipelago, away from the largest sub-continent that Hinaga lay on.
His finger was resting on a stylized mountain that lay in the exact center of that island. It looked to be shrouded in ominous-looking black and red clouds, from which peered glowing malevolent eyes.
I ratcheted down Language Adaptation for a moment. Goryuen seemed to translate roughly to ‘Garden of the Imperial Dragon’.
Ominous.
“This is, perhaps, one of the highest Aether concentration zones on Vereden,” Lord Ashiwara continued. “The entire island is essentially forbidden from settlement, considering just how dangerous it is. Monsters spawn there that are much, much more powerful than anything upon this Kawashima.”
That being the name of the sub-continent that we were on right now. My understanding 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 colonies anywhere else on Vereden, little significant diplomatic presence in either the Principality or the Kingdom, and were in fact somewhat subservient to Herztal.
“By Imperial Edict, none may venture onto Goryuen without permission,” Masayuki said, deflating my hopes. He must have noticed because the eccentric man gave me a playful smile, despite the serious air he had created. “Worry not. With my permission, I can easily secure a pass for you. If that is your wish.”
Hopes officially reinstated.
I smiled wryly at the other man. “I am indeed interested, Lord Ashiwara. Please, continue. You said what I seek lays at this mountain? This…Gorenzan?”
Masayuki nodded at me. “Yes, the heart of the island, and by far the most dangerous place upon it. Gorenzen is essentially the gathering place 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, under the watchful eye of the mountain’s lord, in order to establish dominance over each other. It’s…essentially nothing more than a monstrous pissing contest, 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 fucking Calamity. I only killed the last 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 named Tatsugan,” He said dourly. “The beast appears to be immortal.”
I raised an eyebrow at that, looking over at Masayuki. He nodded at me sadly. “Quite regrettable. Tatsugan is what the System refers to as an ‘Oblivion Wyrm’. Not quite a true dragon, but close enough in appearance that the point is moot. Tatsugan has the potential to grow into a Calamity-”
Son of a bitch.
“-but we make sure that he does not,” Masayuki continued. “It takes the beast over a century in order to gather the strength to evolve in that manner. So, we cull him before can. You see, the Oni compete in his shadow because their competition fuels his growth. It’s a form of twisted reflection to how we Awoken grow in power. Before he can ascend into a true Calamity, the greatest warriors of Kawamara gather under the blessing of the Emperor to slay 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 unexpectedly said, drawing my attention. “The last Ryūmetsu Matsuri was only twenty years ago, where Tatsugan was last slain.”
Masayuki nodded at his son, before turning back to me. “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 island tells us that Tatsugan has returned to the mountain in his weakened form, but that the competition of the Oni has resumed in order to strengthen him. It’s why the Oni Hunters are so needed these days. Those defeated in the competition flee from Goryuen to plague the other islands.”
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 in question. “Why allow Tatsugan to continually accumulate power in this way? Why not establish a force on the island that just kills the wyrm whenever he returns, and deals with the Oni at the same time?”
Unexpectedly, 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 conquer the island. He succeeded for a time, and for decades his warriors fought. Every time Tatsugan returned, he was slain. 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 conquered, a great wave exploded from the shores of the island, racing away it to wash over the others. This tsunami would come 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 islands weep-
Folly drowns the land.”
I jerked in place, almost instinctually looking around for Venix at the unprompted haiku. But no, it was just Masahiro, who looked to have been reciting 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 popular poet from that era.”
“Investigations into the tragedy told us that we need Tatsugan to keep coming back,” Masayuki said, drawing my attention. “The creature is drawing Aether from something deep beneath the island, and it was from that source that the wave originated. He siphons just enough power from whatever is down there that it cannot 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 can ascend into Calamity, we strike. We have repeated this cycle for… millennia.”
“That sounds…” I trailed off. I couldn’t even imagine living with something like that, constantly hanging over the fate of an entire nation.
“We do our duty,” Masahiro said firmly, straight-backed and proud. Masayuki laid one large hand over his sons and squeezed with a forlorn smile.
I looked away politely from their moment. It wasn’t my place to intrude, even if I was a guest.
Eventually, I heard Masayuki clear his throat, drawing my attention once more. The two nobles had returned to their previous positions as if nothing had happened at 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 continued, in an incongruously upbeat tone. “No Skill, nor Spell, nor blade 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 lack of trying.”
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 open them, to no avail. Only for me to waltz up, lay 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 translated to roughly ‘The Gate of the Underworld’.
Joy.
Still…
One thing was bothering me.
I carefully laid my hands, palm flat down, on the table and met the knowing, calculating 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 in place at the strength in his Father’s voice but dutifully did as asked. He picked up his new sword blade and backed up to the door, bowing respectfully as he did so. In moments, he was out of the room.
Silence descended on the two of us left. It felt like Masayuki was going to wait, patiently, for me to break it first.
Fine by me.
“Did you even need the sword?” I asked bluntly, my eyes locked on Masayuki’s own.
There was no reason to have given me so much information. Some of that sounded like it could have been public information.
Some of it decidedly not so.
The disclosure was suspicious.
The eccentric man smiled ever so slightly. “I could have presented my heir with any number of blades greater than what you created, Kuroshō. But the child has ever been enamored with Oninite, and it presented a convenient opportunity for the court to take your measure. So, no. No, I did not need the sword, Apprentice of the Shadowed Sun.”
Hmm.
Well, there was a confirmation for that suspicion.
I may not be part of the Nocturne Division anymore, but I still had my instincts. Almost immediately after I had stepped off of the Thorny Reef, I’d had the suspicion that I was under at least some level of surveillance. It hadn’t felt malicious, and I’d never noticed any kind of action being taken against me. But I had almost physically felt the eyes on me, those first few weeks here in Hinaga.
I’d even raised my suspicions with Liora, someone with far more experience in this field than me. She had calmly confirmed that there were Kawamaran operatives 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 foreign visitors, especially when they were as heavily armed and as powerful as our group was. So I hadn’t raised a stink about the surveillance and had tried to put it out of my mind. Eventually, 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.
Honestly, 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 for good, 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 inclined my head to Lord Ashiwara. “Well, I’m here now,” I said impassively. “For what purpose did the court wish to take my measure?”
I don’t even know why I asked. I was pretty sure I had an idea already, after Masayuki’s entire explanation. 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 companions. I also have a map to the center of the island which leads to Mt. Gorenzan. The ronin Venix, Azarus, formerly of House Savoy, Miss Liora Valen, Renauld of the People, and Captain Isabella Blue of the Thorny Reef are permitted to travel with you. But none others, including the Oni Hunter squad you and yours are acquainted with, may accompany you. If you wish, I can bestow both of these items to you, Sir Hart.”
I nodded slowly to show my understanding. “And what does the Empire wish of me in return?”
“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 consort. However…we request that if you possess the means to open Yami-no-Koshi, you investigate the depths that must lay on the other side. And in your investigations, if you find the source empowering Tatsugan?”
The smile on Masayuki’s face vanished in an instant. In its place grew a scowl so fierce, it contradicted my view of the man.
“Destroy it.”
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