The communication crystal lit up after the fourth vibration.
“I expect you to have something worthwhile to speak about.”
The voice on the other side was masculine, rich and cultured, and carried an undercurrent of power. Unsurprising really, given that there were few in the entire Empire that could challenge him and survive.
“...Depends,” said Solana from the other side of the Empire, a distance that would take even their fastest translocator several days to cover. Normally when she called up, she was usually received by one of His assistants. The man despised the idea of being so easily accessible to others via any means, and these calls left him just shy of irrationally irritable.
“Are you more interested in what your feelers didn’t tell you, or what they don’t know themselves?”
She wasn’t mocking him. She was asking how much he already knew.
Even if He hadn’t figured anything out yet, he would never admit it. Worse, had she attempted to excuse herself for the recent absence and lack of information, it would only attract his ire.
Lady Kandra had access to the highest echelons in the Asukan regime. That didn’t mean she enjoyed the same level of respect everywhere.
And it also meant playing the longest game in the world. The game of patience.
“You have gotten sloppy,” He rebuked. “Lady Kandra doesn’t take sides. That was the deal. And now you played Naowa and Shimizu against each other. Had things gone haywire, your little game could’ve thrown the entire South-East into a war.”
On this side, Solana clenched her teeth. She had known there was a chance that her activities would be discovered. She had made a public move against the Shimizu, had bargained with Lord Naowa using Aguilar as an intermediary, and leading to the eventual destruction of the Earth King’s warship, and the death of Mujin Shimizu, his long-time accomplice.
As far as He was concerned, she had gone rogue.
Regardless of the reasons behind her actions.
But confusion begets confusion. The truth was what the presenter portrayed it to be. Mujin’s declaration in front of the Emperor was a perfect example of that, but nothing was set in stone yet. To those that were watching, this turn of events was completely unprecedented. The most powerful person in the South-East, Mujin Shimizu, Warlord and close acquaintance of the Earth King, had marched into the Desert and had gotten himself killed, and the Earth King’s army massacred. It would not be unimaginable to assume that something else was at work here. Something that the audience didn’t know, and wouldn’t know, not until the official reports came out.
So until the final scenario was made public, the truth would still be malleable, flexible to interpretation, and if certain half-truths were added to the mix… Well, who could prove otherwise?
In the end, history went to the victors to do as they pleased for their own benefits.
Had Solana not contacted Him, then he too would only know of what had happened on a superficial level. Just another spectator that would come to know about the destruction caused by Lady Kandra’s intermediation.
It would be embarrassing. Humiliating. Unforgivable.
But she had contacted Him. She had planned on informing Him of the situation before the masses. She hadn’t intended to do that before, but had mentally prepared for this at some point.
With this call, the veil would be lifted for him and him alone. The news reaching Lord Naowa would be limited, especially with them dealing with Lukas personally in the future. This call was for him to be ready for those that would try to attack him with the ‘truth’ that had yet to come.
“I already know what happened. Being aware of how it happened means little at this stage.”
Straight to the point then, Solana decided. Still, this would require careful handling.
“Tanya Shimizu and her ally Lukas Aguilar, both close to Warlord-Level, sieged the Peak, infiltrated its defenses, captured Ultaf Shimizu and destroyed the castle. They planned on leaving behind enough cues to lure Mujin into the Desert, and ensured the Cobalt Army to be repositioned from the Desert borders to the capital city. Mujin Shimizu was killed through unknown means.”
“Unknown?” He asked. There was a dangerous tone to his voice.
Solana grimaced. “My agents in Tanya Shimizu’s army informed me of a massive purplish mist engulfing a large section of the Desert. Mujin was later found on the sand, dead.”
What she didn’t say was that neither she, nor anybody else for that matter, remembered anything about what happened. All she could recall were those metallic doppelgangers surrounding Mujin in his great bestial form. She remembered that purple mist manifesting out of nowhere like a massive dome and engulfing everything and then…
Then….
She didn’t remember what happened immediately after, nobody did. Not even Tanya, and she was the one that supposedly killed Muijin, given how the bastard had died with a shard of Everfrost spearing through his heart.
Solana didn’t know what was scarier. That the Outsider had the means to kill a Warlord with an unleashed kami within the blink of an eye…
Or that he could pull off a mystery capable of erasing everything he did from every single mind caught within that purple mist. Solana considered herself a master at certain elements of psionics, and yet Lukas Aguilar had played with her mind in a way she couldn’t even comprehend, much less explain.
“Hm. Interesting.” Solana could’ve almost believed his reaction had it not been that nonchalant. “Even so, you have been sloppy.”
“I didn’t know that gaining you a new Lady Shimizu was sloppy, Lord Earth King.”
And there was the crux of the matter. In the cut-throat world of Asukan politics, Trestan Banksi was the one figure that was fixated, almost obsessively perhaps, with a stable Sacred Eight. Solana had tried to figure out why, but everything so far had ended up with shut mouths and grave warnings.
In fact, the Shimizu’s survival was the main reason behind her services to the Earth King. Whatever the reason might be, the Earth King wanted a Wind King really badly, and he had quickly decided that Mujin and his grandson Ultaf would never be able to make it.
It was a brilliant game played on two fronts. Mujin got a flank and a warship, and if the Warlord captured Tanya, he won. Lady Kandra on the other hand, got resources and timely intel, and if Tanya defeated her grandfather, she won.
Either way, He won.
“And what of this…Aguilar?” asked the Earth King. “I imagine he was instrumental in the destruction of my warship. How did he accomplish that?”
“Aguilar is capable of motion deflection on an epic scale. If I had to fathom a guess, I’d say it’s close to Warlord level, if not there already. That is all I can say.”
“Motion… deflection. An unconventional skill to elevate, but I can see the merits,” mused Trestan Banksi. “One would expect you to have more information than that, Lady Kandra.”
“I try not to appear overly curious in someone that has the ear of the Fire King.”
And just like that, the game started.
“What is Jimmo Asuka’s involvement in this?” He asked, the dangerous tone in his voice returning.
There was a reason why Solana was playing such a dangerous game. She did not know the details, but there was a cold war happening between the Earth King and the Fire King for over a century now. Lady Kandra had been using this enmity to play to her advantage for a while now, and much to her surprise, Lukas Aguilar had gotten the attention and patronage of the Fire King without even working for it.
Solana had laughed herself crazy on hearing about that bit.
In a way, the two Kings were quite similar to each other. Both used rather grandiose, albeit practical approaches to deal with each other, playing a rather elaborate game from the shadows, using other clans as mere pieces on the board. And from her experience, she knew that both Kings were playing an equally long game as her.
Both were waiting for something.
Both were biding their time.
Both were holding back.
Both were aware of the threat the other posed.
Both were playing the game in their own way.
Both believed they knew something the other didn’t.
The only real difference was that while Trestan Banksi threw common courtesy away when dealing with others unless it was absolutely necessary to keep them, Jimmo Asuka only threw them away if needed, but could still do so without any issue.
It was an interesting inversion of otherwise identical habits.
“I assumed you already knew,” said Solana in a crafty tone. “The Fire King has made Lukas Aguilar the new Forger of Zwaray Keep. And… if rumors are to be believed, he is the girl’s lover.”
“...I see. Poor Lord Naowa.”
This time she really did smile. It would have scared the shit out of anyone that saw it. “Does that mean the girl shall have your blessings when she offers her candidature in front of the Sacred Eight?”
It was the idea she had been working on ever since Aguilar had destroyed any and all chances of resurrecting the Empress in Tanya. As a Sacred Eight Lady, Tanya would open doors for the yokai to penetrate the heart of the Empire.
Through her, and Aguilar’s nifty quirk of identifying loopholes and flaws in others defenses, Solana would get closer to her goal of paralyzing the Empire from within.
Support from not one, but three Sacred Eight clans. And two of them being Kings themselves. And if she played her cards right, she could even pitch the two Kings against each other.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Things couldn’t get better than that.
“It depends on how long it will take for her to deliver in the end,” said Trestan Banksi. “I can only afford to keep an open mind for so long. Especially for a candidate that hangs around Asuka’s dog. A mad dog that has the gal to destroy my warship.”
“Noted,” she said. Her smile was gone now. “I will begin preparations immediately.”
It appeared she was mistaken. She had assumed that with the Warlord’s demise, the period of strife had ended and things would turn peaceful and favorable for a change.
In reality, the simple truth was that the war had only just started.
----------------------------------------
Lord Naowa hummed as he sat down over the table, playing with his goblet of wine. If everything had gone according to plan, then Lukas Aguilar and Tanya Shimizu had just fought in the middle of the Desert. Aguilar had promised to send word about the status of the battle, an irrelevant endeavor all things considered. If Mujin won, then he’d be parading the girl with the Wind King’s kami before the Earth King, and Naowa would soon find a missive for yet another Shogun’s meet to reconsider the Shimizu’s dormant status. If Mujin perished on the other hand….
His mental meanderings ceased to a halt as Tatun Kinosu, the Overseer of Haviskali entered the room. The fact that the man only looked slightly uncomfortable and wasn’t radiating irritation, he could only come to a single conclusion.
“Good news, I take it?”
“The gamble was a success, Lord Shogun,” said the Overseer. “The girl Tanya, and the Pathforger, are both safe. Tanya still retains Ezzeron. Zuken Banksi is safe. Mujin Shimizu was killed, and his Level-4 kami, neutralized. We have no idea what happened to it.”
“Only Mujin was killed? The Pathforger is even better than we thought,” said Lord Naowa with a faint smile, internally breathing out a sigh of relief. He didn’t miss the annoyed look the Overseer shot at him. “What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be pleased as well? Aguilar has truly outperformed all expectations.”
The Overseer held his gaze at the table, for several long moments, as if trying to determine how to challenge his Boss’s beliefs without appearing audacious. “A victory is only worthwhile so long as one knows how to appropriately capitalize from it. Otherwise, it is merely a more palatable defeat, sir.”
Naowa’s good mood died a little as he slowly digested his words.
“And here I thought your worries would be over with the good news,” he sighed, half-groaning and shooting the man an annoyed glance. “Who knew you could be so selfishly avid? Zuken Banksi is safe, and can safely return to his duties. The Pathforger will take over the Zwaray Keep and continue the svartalfar legacy. And we have a potential Lady Shimizu under my wing, operating from the Eaborid Kingdom.”
“I’m sorry, Lord Shogun,” said Tatun, not backing down. “You are not the one that has to now deal with a new world power capable of totalling a Warlord, and withstanding the might of a King.”
“We both know that he wouldn’t have truly survived the wrath of the Fire King,” said Naowa easily.
“True, and neither would we,” said Tatun. “Or Haviskali, for the matter.”
Ah. So that’s what had his Overseer worried.
“You felt it, Lord Shogun,” said Tatun. “You felt it when the Pathforger resisted the Fire King’s power. I have been a Level-3 pyromancer for close to six decades now, and while I might not stand a candle against the Fire King’s might, I understand the nature of Flame. All of us fought against it — you, me, the girl, but not him. The Pathforger didn’t just resist his power, he ignored it. Like the very laws of the Universe that govern Fire did not apply to him for that moment.”
Naowa stopped playing with his goblet.
“I have made inquiries, Lord Shogun,” said Tatun Kinosu softly. “On one side, we’ve got a bunch of documents on his name. Adventurer license, dated purchases for fractals from the subsidized government stores in Maluscion, a minor listing in the local and private guilds, and even permits for a tanning salon. There are transfer details to Haviskali courtesy of a permanent employment contract by Zuken Banksi, and a clearance certificate from the Cobalt Army permitting entry to Haviskali.”
“But?”
Tatun pursed his lips. “I pulled in a few favors and accessed Maluscion’s citizen directory. Lukas Aguilar, if that is indeed his name, doesn’t exist. No identity with that name and face in citizen records. Not registered with any Shrine. He wears fractals, but the nature of his kami is unknown. There are several mentions of him taking up jobs, but all of them are under-the-table. No known acquaintances. No friends, no enemies. Not even a bar-fight. No clearance certificates from any other Army posts in Maluscion or surrounding territories.”
Naowa nodded. “A hastily forged backstory then.”
“Yes,” said Tatun. “It’s like before the mess with the anomaly in the Desert, Lukas Aguilar didn’t exist.”
Lord Naowa didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. Both of them knew exactly what he was thinking.
“The Fire King might be a benevolent Lord,” said the Overseer. “But he is no fool. He will make inquiries, and I’m afraid of what he will find. What we will find.”
As a Shogun and member of the Sacred Eight, Naowa knew all about manipulating research, money, favors, evidence — false, real and circumstantial. The Empire was a cesspool of back deal games where the rules were ever changing before the show even started. That experience told him that they were at critical crossroads. There was no doubt that the Fire King would not like the truth of the situation, especially if it contained information that would put a stain on not only Naowa, but on his own as well.
The latter of which was especially unacceptable.
The issue was that while Naowa was no stranger to forbidden research, antiquated knowledge, and conspiracy, rarely was he the one at risk. Due to the duties they were about to put on Aguilar’s soldiers, and the status his new position would grant him in the Empire, the repercussions could be potentially catastrophic.
Both stayed silent for a moment. Finally, Naowa spoke.
“Aguilar still has to come in for the swearing. I’m certain we will have questions to ask him. And questions that will not go unanswered.”
“I’ve already prepared a list of questions in advance for his swearing in,” said Tatun, holding up a stack of documents. “Including and especially why he wants the Zwaray Keep free of bremetan workers.”
Naowa arched an eyebrow. “And how does he plan to —”
“Golems.”
“Golems,” repeated Naowa. “Paranoid, much?”
“I think we are the ones that should be paranoid.”
Naowa closed his mouth and grabbed the documents the Overseer passed to him. The report claimed titanic explosions and massive shifts in air pressure noted somewhere in the middle of the accursed region. An entire flank of the Cobalt Army dead and gone. A massive purplish mist. Destruction of the Earth King’s —
Naowa blinked, and read the page again.
“Is this…?”
“We should’ve known something was amiss when he destroyed the Peak,” said the Overseer. “The wards there are King-class. We presumed that he might have infiltrated the Peak and undone the defenses. But if he could total a King’s Warship....”
Suddenly Tatun’s worries seemed a lot worse. A ghost by all records, a bremetan-svartalfar hybrid, potentially Warlord-Level if not more, and a Pathforger to boot.
And he would be placed in charge of national security.
His fists tightened. It was a mistake to jump in and elevate Lukas Aguilar to the Fire King’s attention. A rash decision that he had employed in his mute thrill of witnessing someone employing runecraft, and promising the continuation of Well Creation within the Empire, and saving his ass from the Fire King’s wrath. Aguilar was special, but he would be the Fire King’s to command, his employee, his dog of sorts. And in doing so, Naowa had elevated Aguilar, and now, he couldn’t reprimand Aguilar as easily as he could’ve if the deviant had stayed under Banksi’s or even his own command.
However, there was a fine line between a bad dog, and a mad one. A line that he wasn’t sure about anymore, let alone the supposition that he even had one to begin with.
For several long moments, Naowa stayed silent. “The Fire King has declared Aguilar to be the new forger and gatekeeper, and that shall be done. Despite our fears, Aguilar has given no reason to persecute him. If anything, we must use his infamy to our benefit. Release the knowledge about his status as a Pathforger through private channels and… cut off Zwaray Keep and the surrounding territories from Haviskali.”
“Cut off from….” Tatun paled. “But Lord Shogun —”
“Relax,” said Naowa. “It’s like you said. Aguilar is a wildcard, one that neither of us can control. Thus, it is imperative that he be placed in a situation where he becomes directly answerable to the Fire King. The materials we ordered for the Zwaray Keep’s reconstruction have arrived, yes?”
“Delivered at the Keep.”
“Good,” said Naowa. “Engrave a writ, stating that effective immediately, the Zwaray Keep and its surrounding territories are to be declared sovereign territory. Register the Llaisy Kingdom as its official trade partner and the Empire’s intermediary, with rights to first refusal. I shall sign it and suspend it. As soon as Aguilar takes over, and the constructions are complete, you can activate the writ and pass it as law.”
“But sir —”
“Don’t worry, Kinosu. On paper, Aguilar and the Keep will be an independent nation, solely responsible for any positive or negative attention he brings upon it. Economically, he won’t be able to move a finger without our say so, and it will keep him under our thumb.”
“But we will be essentially giving away the rights to a powerful Warlord-class Pathforger. As Shogun, you could command —”
“My dear Overseer,” said Naowa softly. “I do not need to hold the mad dog’s chain. I have Banksi for that. For all your paranoia, you have ignored one simple thing. Lukas Aguilar attacked the Peak, a Warlord’s fortress protected by King Class wards, just to rescue Zuken Banksi. You said it yourself — power, prestige or popularity does not interest him, and neither do favors among the upper echelons of the Empire. This is a man that just asks himself if something is right and must be done, and if it is, pursues it with everything he has, no matter who or what he might have to face in the process. This isn’t a man to be restrained, but one to hold a debt over and see him go out of his way to return the debt multi-fold because he feels obligated to do it.”
“But —”
“Kinosu,” said Naowa evenly. “The Shimizu Warlord is dead. The Shimizu Clan has lost its Sacred Eight status. Surely you know what fate befalls the clans that abuse their power only to fall to the dust later on? With the girl bearing Ezzeron and wanting to revive her clan’s prestige, what kind of attention do you think she will incur from the other clans? Do you truly want Haviskali to become a battleground for this covert war that is about to follow?”
That shut Tatun up.
“No,” said Naowa. “We both know that Aguilar will support the girl, which means he will elevate the Keep to a fortress and center the girl and his allies inside. Unless I am wrong, he already planned for that, which is why he must have insisted on having golems instead of Asukan workers. This really should be interesting, especially in the light of…. Hmmmm…..”
The Overseer stayed silent, and Naowa observed him closely.
“But that’s not what that troubles you, is it, my dear Overseer?”
Tatun KInosu stayed silent for a long moment. When he finally spoke, there was an edge to the man’s voice that wasn’t there before. “With all due respect, sir, Mujin Shimizu was the greatest power in the entire South-East, not including the Earth King. The fact that Aguilar managed to kill the Shimizu Warlord is something not to be ignored.”
“He had the girl —”
“Please do not pretend otherwise, sir,” Tatun interrupted callously. “Yes, the girl is the Shimizu heiress and wields the Wind King’s kami. Yes, most would assume that he used the girl to combat the Warlord directly, and I wouldn’t bother to argue against it, but we know better. We know that Aguilar was the one that killed Mujin Shimizu. Stared him dead in the eyes and everything. The girl might have helped, but the deed was his.”
“Are you claiming he is a threat?”
“No, I don’t think so,” admitted Tatun. “If anything, he is unrepentantly straight-forward. It doesn’t take a genius to see that he’s utterly uninterested in gaining power, prestige or popularity. If anything, he has tunnel-vision about his goals, and will happily ignore everything else. And he is frighteningly well-informed about the Haze. You heard him state his requests in return for managing the Keep, They were not unreasonable, immortal or unrealistic. If anything, they were the most demure things you’d expect from someone of his potential. This hasn't changed the fact though, that he has warred against a Sacred Eight clan, manipulated multiple Shoguns and political forces, and faced possibly the strongest man alive in the entire South-East and a King’s Warship at his own personal risk just to ensure that these priorities, these goals, are upheld. And he won."
“What are you saying?” asked Naowa. “You claim he isn’t a threat, and at the same time, you fear his presence?”
“Yes I do,” Tatun all but snapped. Taking a deep breath, he said. “With all due respect, sir, Aguilar is currently the most powerful individual in the entire South-East. Added with his Pathforgery that we don’t know anything about, he could very well resist the Earth King to a degree. Someone with that much power doesn’t just appear out of nowhere, Lord Shogun. I fear someone very clever is playing an elaborate game with us, and I am not sure if Aguilar is a mere pawn, or something more. And the Fire King has unwittingly handed him the keys that could sabotage the Empire’s security.”
Naowa nodded slowly. “Fine. Summon Aguilar,”
“I…cannot.”
Naowa blinked. “I don’t understand. He is supposed to take over the Keep after taking care of this little issue with the Shimizu. Surely you can send a missive through Lady Kandra again?”
“I could sir,” said Tatun softly. “It’s just, neither Lukas Aguilar nor Tanya Shimizu are currently in the Llaisy Kingdom. In fact, no one knows where they are.”