Kucheon was an odd city, even setting aside the way they all fawned over the memory of Seong Heiran. It had originally been a Qin settlement, and the people and architecture represented that. Aside from their own local mage college, Kucheon’s buildings weren’t as tall as they were in most Goryeon cities. There were also fewer half-spirits. They were still the majority, but it was closer to sixty percent rather than the overwhelming ninety percent or higher across the rest of the nation.

The administrator in charge of the city, one San Mingxia, was of mixed descent herself, and showed no signs of her half-spirit ancestry.

The wizened old magus stood and bowed as Eunae strode into her office. She had long gray hair, tied into a solid braid, and wore the loosely fitting robes typical of her station.

“Your Majesty, welcome to our humble city. I hope it is to your liking?”

Eunae pursed her lips, debating between flattery and honesty. The people already worshiped her, so she decided on honesty.

“Truthfully, Magus, I find it all rather disconcerting. You are aware that I’m not Seong Heiran, yes?”

The old woman chuckled, giving Eunae a knowing smile.

“Of course we are. I apologize if the fervor of my people has been off-putting, but we have waited a long time for you.”

“Again, I am not the woman portrayed in that gaudy statue outside.”

“Yet we’ve awaited you all the same. May I be seated, Your Majesty? These old bones aren’t what they used to be.”

Eunae gestured to the magus’ seat, before taking her own across the desk.

“Yes, of course! My apologies—I didn’t mean to make you stand.”

The administrator took a moment to settle back into her chair and smooth out her robes.

“Alas, I was never quite lucky enough to break through the houtian barrier. May I speak freely?”

“Always, please.”

“Hah, you really aren’t her. Perhaps that’s for the best, but I suppose we’ll see. Let me explain something about Kucheon that outsiders have trouble understanding—hell, even we locals usually get it wrong.”

She gestured to the window, where that accursed statue was plainly visible. It seemed to be a popular trend for the ‘best’ rooms to have a view of it.

“We revere Seong Heiran, but we do not blind ourselves to who or what she was. She freed us from the God-Emperor’s yoke, only to place her own around our necks. Yet, for all that she could be cruel and capricious, she was also very generous in her own way.”

Eunae furrowed her brows. That sounded like exactly the sort of thing someone suffering from generations of brainwashing would say.

“I hesitate to give credit to a cruel tyrant just because she occasionally deigned to offer a token of kindness.”

Magus San nodded.

“A credit to your wisdom, Majesty, but that’s not what I mean. Look at this place. It’s been neglected for centuries—at least as long as I’ve been alive, and I’ve been alive quite a while! Yet we persist. Your predecessor knew that she would not last, yet she saw fit to ensure that we would.”

That was something Eunae could identify with, at least. Yoshika had been taking great pains to shape Jiaguo into something that could survive in her absence, and while she wasn’t always successful, she hoped that one day she could leave behind a legacy that would outlive her. It was a little surprising to learn that Seong Heiran had left behind anything but misery and suffering.

“I don’t intend to neglect it any longer, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my family’s cruelty. The late queen could be...narrow in her perspective, it turns out. But what do you mean, then, when you say you’ve been waiting for me?”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not you specifically—indeed, it may not be you at all—but rather someone like you. A new ruler to usher our people into a new age of prosperity.”

“And what makes you think that’s me?”

The only lady grinned, a twinkle in her eye.

“Your appearance, I’m afraid. We’re a shallow lot. You embody your ancestor in a way no other has before or since Seong Heiran. That is enough to give us hope. And while we’ve survived the centuries, I cannot say that we are thriving. We need that hope, Your Majesty.”

Eunae sighed miserably.

“I’m not sure I can be the beacon of hope and prosperity you’re looking for. I’ve brought war to your community. The main armies are already on their way, and I’m here to discuss garrisons, evacuation, and defense preparations.”

“Haha! War is no obstacle. This place was built on war, born from the blood of our predecessors. Let Qin come and try to reclaim his yoke—we’ll fight to the last.”

They began their planning in earnest. Another unusual aspect of Kucheon’s demographic that Eunae had missed at first was that they had a disproportionately high population of immortals. Not to the same degree as the cultivators in Jiaguo city, or Yamato’s martial artists, but a remarkable number of mages compared to other Goryeon cities.

Their patriotic fervor didn’t extend only to Seong Heiran, either. They were proud of their land and their history. So proud in fact, that as Eunae discussed strategy for the upcoming battle, they quickly encountered a serious problem.

“The people will not evacuate, Your Majesty. It’s not a matter of defying orders—there simply isn’t a man, woman, or child who wouldn’t lay down their lives in defense of our home.”

“I understand, and I’m sure we can find a place for volunteers, but I cannot guarantee that the shields will hold against the concentrated might of the great sects.”

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“If we fall, Your Majesty, then we fall. I will give the order to evacuate, but unless you plan to force people from their homes, I wouldn’t expect broad compliance.”

Eunae huffed. Goryeon cities were made to withstand sieges, but that meant that it was exceptionally difficult to move people out of the city once it had begun. If Jiaguo’s armies had to retreat from Kucheon, then the population would be left behind.

“Maybe I can make a public announcement. They’ll be more likely to listen if it’s coming from me directly, right?”

“Possibly, yes.”

It would have to do. Eunae would make sure to create logistical roles for the volunteers to subtly place them in more defensible positions should the battle take a turn for the worse.

After that it was just a matter of establishing accommodation and provisions for the garrison, which was both easier and harder than anticipated. Kucheon’s shield was smaller than most, so there wasn’t a lot of room to set up camp, but the people of the city were swift to action and the magus administrator assured her that Jiaguo’s armies could expect a brand new command center by the time they arrived.

The shield itself was another matter. Eunae, Lin Xiulan, and San Mingxia toured the perimeter to take note of any weaknesses and survey the linked artillery formations. As they did, Xiulan made casual conversation with the administrator.

“Mingxia is a Qin name, is it not? Were you here during the occupation?”

“No, Lady Grandmistress, I’m old but not that old. My grandparents were, on my father’s side. Seong Heiran’s rule was short-lived, so she was gone before I was born. My father used to brag that he’d met the fox princess himself, as a boy.”

Eunae crossed her arms and grumbled.

“No doubt to establish her hold over him.”

The administrator chuckled.

“I don’t know what they remember in the rest of the country, but she didn’t just enthrall every person she met, Your Majesty. My father’s mind was entirely unaltered.”

“And your grandparents?”

She averted her eyes and scratched her cheek.

“Well, they were probably in her thrall, yes. I didn’t know them very well, and it was a long time ago, but they seemed quite at peace with it.”

“Of course they did. They weren’t able to feel any other way. Heiran turned them into completely different people.”

“Then with respect, Your Majesty, I do not know or care about the people my grandparents were before I met them. I only knew them as they were, and I loved them dearly.”

Eunae paused, then bowed slightly.

“You’re right. I apologize for disrespecting their memories.”

Mingxia waved her hands urgently.

“Please don’t lower your head to me! This old heart can’t take it. I took no offense, I assure you.”

Lin Xiulan ran her hand along the inside of the barrier, frowning a little bit at whatever she sensed before turning back to the old magus.

“What about your mother’s side? If your Qin ancestry is on your father’s side, I’d expect you to have kept his family name.”

“My mother was an immigrant from the inner cities. For a long time, nobody was allowed in or out of Kucheon. Eventually, the ban was lifted, and my mother was among the first wave of new settlers. My father took her name when they married.”

Xiulan raised an eyebrow curiously, and Eunae interjected.

“In Yamato and Goryeo, married couples take one or the other’s family name.”

“I know that, of course, I just thought that it was typically the man’s.”

“Typically, but if the woman’s family has a higher status it’s not uncommon for them to take hers instead. Not to mention same-sex marriages.”

Mingxiu nodded sagely.

“Many of the native Qin families were quite eager to marry into Goryeon clans, as a way of proving that they were loyal—though I suspect the crown never quite trusted it.”

Xiulan hummed thoughtfully.

“Yet your given name is still from Qin.”

“My mother insisted on it. She hoped that perhaps one day Kucheon would become the bridge between Goryeo and Qin, and that our peoples could live together in peace beyond the borders of our little city.”

Eunae smiled.

“I think I’d have liked to meet her.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. How do you find our defenses?”

She pursed her lips as they shifted back on topic.

“They’re...”

Xiulan shook her head and sighed.

“Subpar, to say the least. I’m not an expert on formations—I’m here to parlay with Qin’s forces—but even I can tell that this shield is barely holding itself together.”

Eunae winced, but she was right. The artillery formations were literally hundreds of years out of date, and even if they weren’t, the shield wouldn’t be able to handle the extra draw required to power them. It was impressive that Seong Heiran had managed to create her own shield formation, and Kucheon’s college had maintained it dutifully, but it was still a replica. It showed its age in a way that the original formations and Do Hye’s masterpiece did not.

“It needs to be updated. This might be fine for keeping out monsters and spirits, but it isn’t going to hold up against a concentrated attack.”

The administrator grimaced.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Can it be fixed in time, do you think?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll bring in some experts to look at it, and I’ll have my apprentices start replacing the combat formations with something more efficient in the meantime. Can you direct me to the spell circle?”

“We would be honored, Your Majesty.”

Yoshika summoned Narae, Haeun, and Heian through her soul realm so that they could get to work immediately, and requested Dae and Magus Hwang Sung to join her in Kucheon as soon as possible. In the meantime, there was another expert who she could summon at will, since he was still bound to her.

Once they arrived at the spell circle, she plucked Do Hye’s avatar from Misun’s lab and reformed him at her side. He blinked in confusion for a moment before putting his hands on his hips and frowning at her.

“Do you mind? I was in the middle of something!”

Eunae shook her head.

“This is more important. Look.”

They were in the college’s tower, beneath the ground in a restricted chamber where the center of the great shield formation that Seong Heiran had created centuries ago rested. It was a dark room with magically reinforced jade-brick walls. The bricks had their own dim glow, but the spell circle taking up the entire floor was the main source of light, cutting through the gloom with its pale green shimmer.

Do Hye scratched his head.

“Oh, I see. Ancestors, who drew this? It looks like a lazy copy of Songdo’s shield formation using methods from five centuries ago. I could have done far better than this even back then.”

Eunae crossed her arms and stared at him.

“You know full well where we are and who drew it. You were there when mother told me about it.”

“Ah! Yes, of course. Must have slipped my mind.”

She narrowed her eyes. Nothing slipped his mind—like all mages, he had perfect recall, and like her he’d gone out of his way to improve that perfect recall into an even more powerful technique called Absolute Awareness.

“Are you sure you’re going to be useful in this shape?”

Do Hye waved off her concerns.

“It’s not ideal, but needs must. You’ll have to pardon the occasional gap, but the important bits are all still here—I think.”

“Can you repair this formation or not?”

“Well...”

He grinned and rubbed his hands together, staring down at the spell circle eagerly.

“Let’s find out, shall we?”