A short while earlier, time turned back.
"There is someone requesting an audience with the Moon Prince."
Jinshi's office was visited not by the root of all evil, but rather Rikuson.
Himself.
Gyokuyou's second son, Hiryuu, had come along as well.
"May the Moon Prince be in the finest of spirits. I am most honored."
What was this feeling that seemed to go beyond mere courtesy? Jinshi wondered. Before, Rikuson had been merely a slight concern, but lately he was becoming more of an annoyance. And Jinshi wondered whether Rikuson himself was aware of this.
However, since he was someone capable enough to work alongside, Jinshi had no intention of treating him carelessly. Making personnel decisions based on personal feelings would only increase Jinshi's own workload.
"What do you need? Usually you would handle this with a letter."
Jinshi asked Rikuson.
"I thought it would be better to discuss this in person."
Rikuson glanced around the room.
"Step out for a moment."
Jinshi said to the guards and officials in the office. In the room, hidden behind the curtain, were also Maryou and Bashen, so there should be no problem.
"If this will be a long discussion, you may sit."
"Thank you for your concern."
Rikuson sat down on the sofa without hesitation. Although Hiryou hesitated, when Rikuson also urged him to sit, he sat down as well.
Rikuson had been the eccentric strategist's adjutant, but Jinshi sensed a brazenness in him that reminded him of his former superior.
Basen, who was standing nearby, grimaced slightly but didn't particularly complain. As a bodyguard he still had a long way to go, but compared to the past, he had grown considerably.
"There is a foreigner who wishes to meet the Moon Prince."
"Who?"
Jinshi asked point-blank.
Normally, word should have reached Jinshi before Rikuson. The channels through which foreigners entered were limited. If they had come by sea or were staying at a post town, the Great Sea should have been the route through which word reached them.
"
Rijin Country," the reply came.
"Rijin Country?"
Jinshi pulled up the map in his mind.
Northern Alliance —it was a country on the eastern side. Though called the eastern side, among the countries bordering the vast Northern Alliance, it was merely considered eastern; geographically, it lay to the north of Jusai Province.
The Northern Alliance was a collection of several countries, but fundamentally consisted of one large country and multiple smaller nations belonging to it.
Rijin Country bordered Li, but existed as a barrier for the Northern Alliance, so if it foolishly picked a fight with Li, it would suffer losses beyond its national strength. However, since there were allied nations that wished to expand their territory, it was forced to frequently bolster its military.
Short straw —that was the impression it gave, and Jinshi felt sympathetic, but at the same time it was hard to call it a friendly nation. That said, it wasn't as though there were no diplomatic relations at all— Saou —through that route, they sometimes imported Rijin Country's crafts, and occasionally special envoys were sent on diplomatic missions.
"Through what channel did word come?"
Jinshi asked point-blank. Given Rikuson's recent behavior, he had concluded that asking directly would be more efficient than beating around the bush.
"Would it be alright if I explained the matter myself?"
The one who spoke was Hiryu. Tamao's son, though he was slender and didn't much resemble her.
"Permission granted."
Hiryu bowed deeply.
"The special envoy from the Kingdom of Rijin is my uncle. Grandfather's—"
Tamaen "—second son provided the introduction. That's how the matter came to us."
Hiryu knew exactly what he was doing. Having multiple uncles, he'd deliberately avoided naming anyone and simply said "second son." Jinshi had all the names committed to memory, but this method of reference was the most straightforward.
"If I recall, he was in the land transport trade."
"Yes. The second son handles land, the third handles sea."
Unlike the sea trade, the second son's business had limited foreign contact. Having Hiryu relay the message wasn't unreasonable.
"And what business does this person from Rijin have with me?"
"On that matter, they expressed a wish to meet with you directly and discuss it in person."
Hiryu spoke apologetically, whereas Rikuson was beaming from ear to ear. He seemed to be enjoying watching how Jinshi would handle the situation. Jinshi found himself considering whether to have the man arrested on charges of contempt.
"Am I the only one who will do?"
"We determined it would be best to present the highest authority in the Western Capital."
Rikuson delivered this with effortless casualness. Jinshi silently vowed to find some pretext to punish Rikuson in the future.
"Even if not me, what if one of you went instead? Rikuson, your knowledge of the western regions surely surpasses my own."
Jinshi was politely trying to pass the task along, making clear he had no desire to handle it himself.
"I fear I would be seen as beneath the occasion."
Rikuson said this without his smile faltering.
"Beneath the occasion? Are you trying to tell me the foreign envoy is someone of great importance?"
"Yes. That would be my assumption."
Rikuson answered with a pleasant smile.
Jinshi's expression didn't change. He closed his eyes. From behind the curtain came the sound of a desk being tapped rhythmically. It was Mabara's signal. Two taps meant "yes," three meant "no." The two taps indicated that Rikuson's words carried credibility.
"Why do you think that?"
"Given the current state of the Kingdom of Rirei, there are several suspicious points. I imagine Lord Moon is already aware, so it is not my place to say."
Again, Baryou tapped the desk twice.
Jinshi steeled himself.
"Very well. I'll make time."
"Thank you."
Rikuson and Hiryuu bowed deeply and left the room.
Once their footsteps had faded entirely, Jinshi exhaled.
"Lord Moon, are you really going to listen to what those two have to offer?"
Bashen wore a skeptical expression.
"Listen to it or not—if there's no other choice, then doing so is the job. Baryou."
"Yes, Lord Moon."
A voice rang out from behind the curtain.
"What is the Kingdom of Rirei's situation right now? Can you guess what they're hoping to gain from this meeting?"
"I have two guesses."
Baryou's rustling of papers filled the air.
"The first is a food crisis, similar to Sao. The Kingdom of Rirei lies to the north of Rei. In terms of food shortages, it likely suffered deeper damage than Rei did."
Jinshi could imagine that much for himself. But would a country that wasn't even an ally ask so conveniently for food?
"And the second?"
"The second is a succession dispute. I hear the King of Rirei has been ill for several years now. He has four sons by direct bloodline, and if I recall correctly, the eldest was not born to the queen. The second son is the crown prince, but that information is hardly new, so I have no idea what the current situation is."
"And if Rei were to get involved in the succession dispute?"
"Under normal circumstances, the likelihood of that would be virtually nil, but…"
Baryou seemed to find it difficult to say what came next.
"Is there something that concerns you?"
"Yes. The other day, there was a request to borrow a physician, and…"
Torou "Do you remember when I came from the palace?"
Jinshi remembered. She had said she wanted to go out, so he had given her permission.
Torou had not gone as an envoy.
"
Maomao —it's about sending her out. I heard it was to examine a young girl."
"Yes. The girl's features closely resembled the fourth son of the Rijin kingdom that was mentioned earlier."
"...That wasn't in the report."
Jinshi directed a cold gaze at him.
"Wife, Suzaku —I judged her to be Suzaku, and concluded it would be better not to report to the Lady of the Moon."
"Brother, why did you make that decision on your own?"
"Basen, be quiet."
Jinshi stopped Basen, who was about to raise his voice.
"From the Lady of the Moon's position, if she becomes aware that another country's fourth prince is in our kingdom, it could cause problems going forward."
What another country's prince might be doing while hiding in their kingdom.
"There's a great difference between knowing, not knowing, and pretending not to know."
"But now I know, don't I?"
"When pressed this far, I thought it would be better to have her pretend not to know rather than remain truly in the dark."
Baryou answered clearly.
If the Rijin kingdom's envoy was after the fourth prince, handing him over would be the natural thing to do. That would certainly be the safest course of action for the kingdom. But it would be troublesome if people suspected the kingdom was engineering the prince's defection, or grooming him to serve as the Crown Prince's guardian.
That must be why he had feigned ignorance.
But that created one problem.
"Then hypothetically—as the Fourth Prince, is there a chance the person you contacted in Li could be suspected of being the one who guided you?"
"...Yes."
"What happens to the medical aide who treated the Fourth Prince?"
"If it was a coincidence, we could cover it up."
"Is there a way to cover it up?"
"Yes. As long as no strange accusations are leveled against us."
"Accusations..."
Unfortunately, diplomacy also involved mutual fault-finding. The real question was whether each side could trip the other up and drag out more favorable terms for themselves.
And if royalty was involved, there was even the possibility of it escalating into war.
"Why did Koulan request that that person's condition be examined?"
"Well, but connections can be fabricated any which way."
The helplessness was plain in Baryou's voice.
"...Lord Moon."
"What is it, Basen?"
The man who had been silent the entire time finally spoke.
"Well, I did hear something once..."
"About what?"
"Lord Koulan is close with the eldest brother, and he was told that"
"Lord Chishou"
"wanted him to arrange introductions to people from foreign countries as well."
"..."
Chishou—the eldest among Gyokuyou's four siblings, the family's black sheep.
He was often spoken of as a scoundrel.
If Chishou was the one who had brought the Fourth Prince of Li into the fold, it would be difficult to know how to respond.
"Lord Moon. I think it would be best to keep your distance from Lord Chishou for a while."
"Yes. I know."
For better or worse, the only times he had come face to face with the eldest son so far were when he had been dragged out over the Jade Oriole inheritance dispute.
"For now, others can still be swapped out. However, if you, Lord Moon, become involved, it won't just be Seisei Province — it will appear that Li is openly picking a fight with the Reishi nation."
That was something he could not afford to let happen.
Let sleeping dogs lie. Jinshi exhaled a long, deep breath.