After a series of long and painful deliberations, Jiaguo’s war plan was eventually drafted. It felt like not a single person was happy with the terms that they’d established, but Yue assured her that getting the assembly to agree to plans that none of them fully approved of was a good sign. It meant that they were willing to make sacrifices in the interest of continued cooperation.

First, Jiaguo’s army was to be entirely voluntary. Interestingly, this actually faced surprising pushback from most of the mortal factions. Pan Zixin argued that cultivators in particular had a duty to protect the mortal population. Mortal industry in exchange for immortal protection was the cornerstone of Qin’s sects, and as a former resident of a sect town, Pan Zixin was particularly supportive of the model.

An Minjun agreed, adding that in Goryeo many battle mages were put through their college education through military scholarships. Ja Yun was one such example, but she was quick to point out that Jiaguo’s academy was very different from the mage colleges. Academy tuition was granted as a right to all residents, and there was no way that they could insist that the paying students from abroad should participate in the military.

That sparked an entire side-discussion about potentially instituting new conditions on academy membership for residents, which Yoshika had to step in and table for another time.

For their parts, the factions most likely to end up directly involved in the war—Xiulan’s cult and Yang Qiu’s prisoners, respectively—were happy to hear that participation would be voluntary, though it sparked an entirely new problem.

Faced with the choice of either ongoing imprisonment, or fighting in the army for a chance at freedom, it was unlikely that many of the demons were going to turn the offer down. It was a shallow illusion of choice, but it was the best that Yoshika could do for them. On the other hand, the Cult of Harmonious Stars were some of the most outspoken about their disdain for demons. Few of them would be willing to work so closely with the former prisoners.

It was a delicate balance. If things went well, then it could lead to a shift in the relationship between the two factions. Fighting side by side was an excellent way to forge bonds, after all. But if things went poorly, or if Xiulan’s people didn’t even give the demons a chance, then it could widen the rift even further, potentially creating an intractable divide between them.

The second contentious point was a minimum age. Nobody could agree on that point. Some thought the entire notion was foolish, while others felt that even as high as twenty years old was too low. In the end, they settled on sixteen years old. Yoshika would have liked it to be higher, herself, but the prevailing opinion was against her, and it felt like too petty a thing to veto.

She’d just have to make sure that potential applicants were heavily screened and educated about the potential risks.

For international policy, there was near-unanimous support for using Kaede’s status to challenge Hayakawa Takeo for leadership of the clan. Integrating Jiaguo seamlessly into the loose collection of states that made up Yamato was a very powerful way to build diplomatic connections there, and it was the only way to justify preemptive action without disrupting the foreign relations they’d already established.

The council was also largely in favor of expansion. Jiaguo’s small size and limited resources were a pain point for many of the factions, and they would be much more comfortable with a nation that could prosper without a dependence on trade.

Yoshika didn’t really agree with the isolationist reasoning, but more territory would give Jiaguo more economic security. It would also make them look much more dangerous in the eyes of their neighbors. The Qin empire in particular was a huge concern, as information coming across that border was very limited.

Lastly, the matter of advance scouting. Rika and her team were already in position to move ahead and spy on enemy movements, but the deeper into Hayakawa territory they went, the more danger they’d be in.

Yoshika herself had mixed feelings. She needed to know what had happened to Master Yumi and Grandmaster Murayoshi, but she wasn’t comfortable putting Rika in so much danger. Her closest friends were similarly split. Dae and Yue thought it was a good plan, but for obvious reasons Ja Yun and Eunae didn’t like it.

For those who weren’t personal friends of Takeda Rika, though? There was no question. Information was critical. Hayakawa had been meticulously managing the flow of information through Yamato for years, and already had an enormous advantage in terms of intelligence.

Rika and her team had to be deployed, or Jiaguo wouldn’t even stand a chance.

Of course, the conclusion of the assembly didn’t mean that Yoshika’s work was finished. Policies needed to be drafted, recruiting offices established, absolute mountains of paperwork, and that was before she contacted Lord Ienaga to discuss strategy.

Within the comfort of Yoshika’s cozy little home in the center of the government district, Jia slumped over her paperwork and groaned.

“When I started cultivating, I imagined growing up to become a powerful immortal, soaring through the air and punching mountains into rubble. Nobody warned me about all the politics and paperwork.”

Eui looked askance at her and chuckled.

“Punching mountains?”

Jia blushed.

“I was fifteen, okay?”

Jung walked in with steaming hot cups of tea, placing one before each of them and smiling softly.

“I suppose that’s the thing about power, dear. You have to find ways to coexist with your equals. After all, what if the mountain you punch belongs to someone, and in their anger they come to punch your mountain to retaliate?”

“Is this really the analogy we’re going with?”

Her sister giggled and shook her head.

“As tiresome and tedious as all these negotiations may be, they serve a valuable purpose. Without them, our world would soon be utterly devoid of any mountains to punch. Just endless fields of rubble.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Eui snickered.

“I bet people would still find ways to fight over the rubble.”

“Indeed. Now, girls, you know I love you dearly, and you have my full support in whatever endeavors you choose to undertake. But when were you planning on telling me that we’re going to war?”

Jia froze. Jung knew that there were tensions with Yamato, but since they’d contacted Rika, it had been one big blur of constant excitement. She’d completely forgotten to talk to Jung about it.

“I’m so sorry, big sis. It slipped my mind.”

“It slipped your mind to inform your appointed minister of foreign affairs about the nation's most important foreign affair?”

Jia buried her face in her palms.

“You should have been at the assembly. Ancestors, I’m so stupid!”

“No, I shouldn’t. I’m merely a civil servant, not part of Jiaguo’s leadership. But I should have known it was happening, and I’d like to be apprised of its results. I believe I’m going to be quite busy soon.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, I was afraid to tell you about Master Ienaga, and then everything kind of started happening at once.”

Jung cocked her head and raised one eyebrow.

“Oh? What about Yumi, now?”

Jia grimaced, but quickly brought Jung up to speed on what was going on. Jung remained surprisingly calm throughout.

“I see. Well, I’m very glad to hear that you are doing what you can to help her, but are you sure it’s what’s best for Jiaguo?”

Jia blinked. She thought that Jung would be the most concerned about Ienaga Yumi.

“We think so, yes. And the council agreed. I wouldn’t put everything we’ve done here at risk just for personal reasons.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

That was a shocking question, but Jung always had a way of cutting straight to the heart of things. She was just usually a lot more gentle about it.

“I...don’t think so?”

“You gave Takeda Rika an artifact that would alert you that she was in danger if she destroyed it. Not quite as powerful as a spiritual tablet, but essentially the same concept. If you were occupied with something critical for Jiaguo as a nation, and she called you, would you answer?”

Yoshika didn’t hesitate.

“Of course. We’d have our hands full cleaning up the mess afterwards but...yes.”

Jung smiled brightly.

“Good! I wouldn’t want you to lose sight of who you are in the midst of all this power and responsibility. You leave the messes to me, so long as you always remember who and what you’re doing all of this for.”

“Thanks, Jung. I’m lucky to have you.”

“You certainly are! Now, let me take care of some of this for you. I can work with Miss Ja Yun to get started on recruiting, and Sir Hyeong should be able to help me assuage any worries from our visiting mages.”

Jung gathered up some of the paperwork before giving each of the girls a quick peck on the tops of their heads.

“I’m so proud of you both!”

Jia smiled wryly.

“I’m honestly a little surprised you’re not more worried about Master Ienaga.”

Jung covered her mouth and giggled.

“How could I be? I know that you’ll do whatever it takes to bring my Yumi back safe and sound. Ancestors help any mountain that gets in your way.”

She gave them a wink before turning on her heels and striding out of the room.

Eui laughed and shook her head.

“Ancestors, what I wouldn’t give for her confidence.”

----------------------------------------

Jin Hu begrudgingly had to admit that he was impressed. Not even a year after its inception, Jiaguo’s academy had managed to successfully create an entirely new discipline of cultivation and then use that new discipline to construct their own long distance communication arrays.

Of course, they’d done that instead of simply using existing solutions. Do Hye’s disciple should have been able to recreate the spell his master used for delivering letters across the continent, and barring that, there were plenty of perfectly mundane ways to communicate—though such methods came with an increased risk of failure or interception.

Nevertheless, they had succeeded. And it was a powerful tool indeed. Already Jiaguo was years ahead of a war that would have otherwise caught them almost entirely by surprise, and was actively coordinating with their allies to ready the first strike.

Not that Jin was supposed to know any of that.

He’d extrapolated the true purpose of the special workshop easily enough. Qin had long since created its own methods of communication over long distances, but those were limited to the great sects and the imperial family, and Jin Hu literally couldn’t share them.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t offer a few hints, or nudge his disciples in the right direction.

Learning what they’d actually used the reflecting pool for was more complicated, but ultimately relied on one simple fact—children were exceptionally poor liars.

Seong Haeun was very careful not to reveal any details about who Yoshika was so eager to contact, but there were signs. Takeda Rika had been away since the beginning of the year on a diplomatic assignment. Nearly half of Jiaguo’s population was an entire village from Yamato. Hayakawa Kaede was not only a member of Jiaguo’s government, but if Jin Hu’s observations were correct, then she’d also become part of Yoshika.

From there, it was just a matter of asking the right leading questions, and taking note of the things the young princess refused to answer or outright lied about.

She probably didn’t even realize she’d revealed anything.

This placed Jin Hu in a complicated position. Jiaguo going to war would put the burgeoning nation in a very difficult spot, and invite a response from the empire. There wasn’t enough information coming from Qin to know just how volatile that could be.

Frustratingly, it reminded him of playing Go against Do Hye. Except now he only had one stone to place—himself. None of the options looked good. He could return to his homeland to get a better view of the situation, but the closer he approached the greater the risk of detection by his grandfather, Emperor Qin.

That the empire hadn’t already descended on Jiaguo in force was a good sign, and Jin Hu didn’t want to tempt fate.

Should he join in the war effort, then? He had a bad feeling about what was happening in Yamato, and such intuitions were rarely safe to ignore. That would almost certainly mean revealing himself sooner than later, however, and he wasn’t certain it was the right time for that yet.

Lastly, he could simply stay behind in Jiaguo and take a reactive stance. Prepare for any unexpected developments and silently support his disciples from behind the scenes.

In the end, the decision was made for him—as it so often was—by the unfortunate tangle of bonds and oaths that gave him his power.

Among the first volunteers to join Jiaguo’s army to participate in the upcoming war effort was Long Ruiling. Though she was the councilor representing Jiaguo’s fiends, that demographic consisted of only three individuals—depending on how one counted Melati. They were pariahs among the rest of the population, second only to the demons and in some cases mistaken for them.

It seemed the young dragon woman wanted to prove herself as a true citizen of Jiaguo by placing her life on the line.

Alas, he’d sworn to her ancestor that he’d do what he could to protect her. For the first time in nearly a thousand years, Qin Zhao—or rather, Jin Hu—was going to war.