"Alicia, we had six stops and three train transfers to get to the front of Government Mountain. You're not going to make us climb all the way to the palace, are you?"
None could tell how many times Wisesa had issued harsh sighs and tongue clicks that the pathogens started grating on Alicia's nerves too. They had received a summons to the castle, yet they travelled like a peasant seeking an audience with the king, only to be expelled because governing life had left the king run ragged. The road that circled the side of Takamagahara's Government Mountain Road conjured up images of vertigo. Regardless of what the spiralling pathway did for the sloping terrain, there was no way for Alicia and Wisesa not to memorise what it symbolised.
The spiral was literally emblazoned on the plan board before the gate.
A subtle wince came from Alicia; Government Mountain was verdant, not as bleak as Heiminbjörg, nor as steep as Mahāmeru to the point of almost poking the celestial vacuum. But a mountain was still a mountain. And mountains were tall. Her round spectacles assured that. The oversight lay with her for not telling the Magisterium to give them a lift; or at least the address for the night.
But in hindsight, Alicia pacified her little heart. Even she had no idea where she would have slept before Wisesa introduced her to the Tamoanchanese enclave,
"Can we not take to the skies, still?”
"You really think we can just cruise to the state palace without getting hit by air defenses? I'm shocked your four eyes didn't spot those posted at every level of the mountain!"
"Awright, awright," Alicia conceded. "Perhaps we can ask for a guard over there," she gestured at a Kagatsean Civil Guard platoon stationed at the mountain's entry arch.
Wisesa scoffed. "Yeah, wonder how they'll react when a pair of gaijin orders them to bring them a horse or qilin to ride to the palace? A katana at the throat!"
"Yer're exaggerating! They must have been briefed by Dajō Daijin, haven’t they?"
"I don't want to embarrass myself in case your guess is wrong. Test it yourself," Wisesa replied, then flicked his eyes in another direction. A moment of a reproachful look came from Alicia before she made a first step onto the cobblestone road.
Just as both her legs entered, the screech of beasts startled her, and she scrambled backwards, almost slipping.
The beasts then braked right before her, not one but thirteen of them. They were equine in form, one with brilliant blue scales, the rest with white that mirrored sunlight. People would mistake their hooves for wasted gold trampled underfoot. Their manes and coattails were exactly those of horses, some crimson and some blue, but softer, fluffier, and curvier. In stark contrast, their facial structures did not represent any horse at all—it was draconic and possessed forked horns.
"Alicia-san!" resonated a voice from atop one of the creatures. "You grace the palace? Where are your guards?"
Alicia adjusted her glasses and stared at the familiar figure. "Lord Henge!" she called back. "Wisesa certainly doesnae want to be thought of as a bodyguard, so no, we dinnae have one. We took the train."
Besides Henge, there were Magisterium practitioners in spiral masks and baubles, as well as Kamakuken Hashomon, the magic shogun, head of the Kagatsean Magisterium. A cocked brow betrayed the shogun’s puzzlement as he observed the confused Alicia and the indifferent Wisesa leaning against the pillar.
"So you are Wisesa," Hashomon stated, scrutiny still focused on the young lad. He did not wait for a reply, however. He dismounted immediately from his steed and bowed. "Please accept our deepest apologies, Alicia-san, and Wisesa-san! We failed to ask about your accommodations, thus failing to dispatch an escort."
Henge should not have asked that question just now. Regret was etched on his face, he probably felt like an embarrassing fool now. Wisesa almost had the gall to tell him that.
"Eh... it's alright, Lord Shogun. Y-you can stop bowing. Time is of the essence," Alicia interjected. Still, a disconcerting feeling ran down her spine.
"You're right. My two practitioners will offer you their qilin mounts." The shogun signalled to the practitioners behind him. "Don't worry. Running back and forth on Government Mountain is their daily bread during training."
"Qilin? Lord General that's a gracious offer, but really?" Alicia remained anxious. "An ordinary engine carriage will suffice."
"There's no need to be afraid. My men will persuade the qilins to accommodate your journey."
Alicia remained unimpressed, even alarmed. She and most of the world understood qilin to be an "Arcane" for horses—its majestic and robust back meanders were not meant for just anyone to jump on. Strangers without its blessing would find their bones crushed beneath its golden hooves or flesh ensnared in its teeth like missing puzzle pieces. The lass’ aversion intensified as she felt the heat of a qilin's breath, the sharpness of its gaze stinging her skin, and its head subtly bowed as if poised for impalement. The original rider held the crucial role of mediator for both sides.
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But things were different for Wisesa. Right now, he seized the spotlight as the " Child of Miracles" for horses. He had already stormed up to his qilin companion and was stroking the creature's neck until it shook its head, and its hooves stamped the ground in a joyful dance. The enigmatic emotions of the spiral-masked practitioners were represented by the dumbfounded faces of Henge and Hashomon.
"How did he become that familiar so quickly?" Hashomon muttered in his reverie. Then, with a dismissive nod, he remarked, "Very well. We'd better not keep Dajō Daijin waiting."
They circled the mountain trail until they reached a fortified housing complex guarded by sharpshooters and air defences. Their journey concluded at the courtyard of a gable-roofed multi-storey building, supported on sturdy stone concretes. They were not the only ones to arrive. Fame Box carriages belonging to daimyos and ministers were neatly arrayed, people clad in the colours of their clans were lost in small talk, and before long, a sphereship landed in the courtyard as well.
Out of the spherical flying ship were three other people, distinct in their attire from the Kagatseans—their clothes were predominantly orange, blue, and green, embellished with feathers and beads. The elder among them wore a formal suit bedecked with an absurdly large pendant—more like a pendulum—and a thick feather cloak repleted with ornate patterns. His head was crowned with jewels and long strands of cockatrice feathers. Ahead of him were a lad and a lass. the lass stood out because of her pointed hat in the shape of a horned snake, while the lad, a helmet in the shape of a rooster. The horned snake also graced the lad's outfit, coiling around his neck not as a decorative collar, but as a living entity.
Alicia and Wisesa impulsively approached the three, particularly because they were in thrall to the female one.
"You coming too, Izel?" Alicia expressed her disbelief, then panned her gaze to the others. "And you must be the other Tamoanchanese warriors." And so she acknowledged them with a respectful bow.
Wisesa, still harbouring a sour expression, splayed his arms in exasperation. "You could have taken us along on the sphereship—"
"Ha! Ha!" the male bodyguard suddenly screamed, the crowing of a violent Tamoanchanese rooster. His thrusting spear suddenly lunged for Wisesa's neck. "Don't advance!"
"Whoa, what’s this?" Wisesa retreated reflexively, hands raised. "I don't think this is the authentic greeting of the Tamoanchanese people?"
His eyes and the bodyguard's met in a glare, and it was a contest of angry faces as to which of them was more menacing.
"Peace, peace, Nenexoch," Izel placated in Tamoanchan's tongue. "They're guests of honour of the Dajō Daijin. Lower your lance."
"Aren't we all Dajō Daijin's guests of honour?" Nenexoch, the rooster-headed bodyguard, still scowled at Wisesa, teeth chattering.
"They differ from the rest. More honourable than anyone present, Man, you'll learn later. And they're my friends, which makes me special, and which makes you all special. Hence, lower it."
"Special. Before Ginnungagap we were special. Even when we wandered as homeless travellers we were special. What kind of 'special' are you referring to?"
Again. The lamentation of their fate for not accepting the fact that humans would not always have their glory days.
"It would be an unfavourable one should you harm Dajō Daijin's 'favourite' guest," Izel replied, nodding her head to the warrior in supplication.
Nenexoch groaned like a tiger (despite the chicken head) but lowered his lance anyway.
"Pardon me, friends. I had to fetch Nenexoch and the Community Chief early in the morning," Izel addressed the two youths. "I saw you two were still snoring. And I also recognise that you can't present yourself before Dajō Daijin with baggy eyes.
"I wasn't... snoring," Alicia muttered.
Wisesa, still engaged in a stare-off with Nenexoch, suddenly realised the xiuhcoatl coiled around his neck.
"Don't point a spear at me again when I ask this, sir," Wisesa pointed at the horned snake, "but that thing can really shoot like a rifle?"
"It can pulverise men like a cannon," Nenexoch responded in a snide tone. "Watch your distance if you have no wish to suffer such misfortune."
"Hm. Interesting. Perhaps I can negotiate with it."
"Xiuhcoatl do not negotiate!" the Rooster let out another hiss. "They choose."
"Well, my negotiations with a qilin went smoothly. I'll try my luck with the snake."
At that moment, they heard a haunting melody echo through the air, as if nature itself had unleashed a deep and powerful primal call. It came from a pair of imposing gates—a resounding trumpet of a conch shell. Kagatsean warriors approached those concerned and ushered them inside through their guiding hands.
"The elder behind me will make your acquaintance during the meeting," Izel said, then proceeded into the castle.
The assembly were led into a spacious enclosed room, with walls white stained with black ink that depicted natural landscapes and war. A maid stood at each corner, presumably making sure that the cushions were neatly arranged on each side of the room, and that the sand garden in the centre was carved with various kinds of spiral carvings. Alicia marvelled not at the fact that this was a war room unlike any she had ever been to—a rickety stall in the middle of Agosh Grendy's undead plague in Eidyn—but rather that there were three frames of human-sized dolls sitting at random points in the sand pool, palms joined together.
Not puppets, Alicia thought, definitely automatons. Three samurai automatons in gabled, sapphire blue lamellar armour. Their faces were concealed by a hanging piece of paper. If she had to guess again, those papers are Ninshu sealing talismans.
The meeting guests took their seats as indicated. The daimyos and their guards knelt with their backs to their clan banners. The Minister of Defence's entourage had their backs to the official Kagatsean banner and a painting of a kneeling samurai. The Magisterium, the owl banner. The Tamoanchan representatives did not kneel; the eldest extended his cloak over the back of a rattan-and-fur-backed chair and seated himself as a royal due to a golden sceptre clutched in his hand. Izel and Nenexoch stood behind him, and behind them was theTamoanchanese banner of a snake eating its tail, surrounding a bright-coloured orb. Alicia and Wisesa sat at the far end, facing Dajō Daijin's cushion. No banner represented them.
And once everyone had assumed their positions, none continued their earlier banter in the palace courtyard. Silent as statues, eyes fixed ahead, scarcely blinking. Izel promised the elder that he would make the acquaintance of the two teenagers, yet even the Tamoanchan representatives maintained an eerie silence akin to wax figures in a museum. With a puzzled look, Wisesa turned to Alicia to which she shrugged, equally confused.
Not long after, their disciplined silence in the meeting room met its merit—the sliding door chimed.
"Her Imperial Highness Dajō Daijin, Yūsha Mōmoku, enters the war room."
The Shogun for All Kagatse arrived clutching Toyoshigo Domen's hand, accompanied by a number of personal attendants. After a brief struggle with the cushion, the shogun sat on her knees before the assembly. []