Read Online The Wings of Dreams by Fuyumi Ono - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Fuyumi Ono
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out a kijuu boarding the ship and send a carrier pigeon to North Ken. Something like, There’s a moukyoku headed your way. Their colleagues in North Ken then select the proper certificates from the ones they’ve already got on hand, nab the moukyoku and make off with it. Since they handle a lot of kijuu, they’ve got a certificate for every one they’re bound to encounter.”
Shushou lapsed into a silent sulk.
“They would have secured a theft report from their colleagues in Rinken. They’ve got a whole network dedicated to stealing and selling kijuu. Yours is probably in the Kingdom of Han by now. I wouldn’t count on getting it back.”
“I am going to remember this,” Shushou said under her breath. When Gankyuu looked at her, she said, “When I ascend the throne, I’ll have them all rounded up. I swear, they are going to regret this.”
Gankyuu’s shoulder’s fell in dismay. “Going on the Shouzan isn’t enough? You’re already planning on becoming Empress?”
“What else does one go on the Shouzan for?”
“And you think you’ll be the one chosen?”
“Anything wrong with thinking so?”
“Not at all,” Gankyuu grumbled.
A moukyoku wasn’t a bad kijuu, certainly worth targeting by the criminal element. It’d fetch a fine price. A family that owned one would be well off. Upon a closer look, the kid had a genteel air about her and didn’t shrink from ordering people around. This well-bred girl, treated with kid gloves her whole life and naive to the ways of the world, had let it go to her head and launched herself on the Shouzan. He’d never heard anything like it before. But seeing it for himself, it didn’t strike him as all that strange.
“At least you can be grateful they didn’t rob you of your money as well.”
“That’s why I took off my ruqun when traveling. Dressed like a pauper, nobody would believe a child like me was carrying that much money, right?”
“That’s very clever.”
“It’s common sense.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Why?” she said, tilting her head up at him.
Gankyuu patted the kijuu. “Couldn’t I just as well take off with all your money here?”
Shushou sighed. “You’re not as smart as you think you are. Your name is Gankyuu. You’re a corpse hunter, well known to that innkeeper. If you ran away, I would report you to the authorities at once. Do you know what province this is?”
“I Province.” Ken County was a detached administrative territory of the capital province.
“That’s right. I am no stranger to the government officials of I Province. Or rather, my father isn’t. In North Ken, I was in a hurry so I gave it a pass. But if I ended up missing the Spring Equinox, you could count on me pursuing every legal option available.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Hells bells, Gankyuu cursed to himself. What a shrewd little kid. “But what if somebody shut your mouth for good? Not a few people enter the Yellow Sea never to be seen or heard from again. I couldn’t carry the body out, Your Honor, and had to leave her there. Hard to made any of those legal options stick in that case.”
Shushou snorted through her nose. “That is not likely to happen either.”
“Why not?”
“If I die, then nobody will become Empress. It is unlikely the Gods would let such an injustice pass without a righteous response.”
Gankyuu’s shoulders sagged again. “Look—”
Shushou smiled and held Gankyuu’s hand. “When my moukyoku was stolen, I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in time for the Spring Equinox. But we’ve arrived right on time. Heaven must be smiling down upon us.”
“Sure seems that way.”
“When I become Empress, I am not going to do bad things. You are a lucky man.”
Gankyuu took a deep breath and let it out. Where the hell does such confidence spring from? “Mt. Hou is a long way away.”
“No problem. I knew we’d have a kijuu.”
But yours got stolen, Gankyuu was about to say. Shushou glanced at his haku and
Shushou lapsed into a silent sulk.
“They would have secured a theft report from their colleagues in Rinken. They’ve got a whole network dedicated to stealing and selling kijuu. Yours is probably in the Kingdom of Han by now. I wouldn’t count on getting it back.”
“I am going to remember this,” Shushou said under her breath. When Gankyuu looked at her, she said, “When I ascend the throne, I’ll have them all rounded up. I swear, they are going to regret this.”
Gankyuu’s shoulder’s fell in dismay. “Going on the Shouzan isn’t enough? You’re already planning on becoming Empress?”
“What else does one go on the Shouzan for?”
“And you think you’ll be the one chosen?”
“Anything wrong with thinking so?”
“Not at all,” Gankyuu grumbled.
A moukyoku wasn’t a bad kijuu, certainly worth targeting by the criminal element. It’d fetch a fine price. A family that owned one would be well off. Upon a closer look, the kid had a genteel air about her and didn’t shrink from ordering people around. This well-bred girl, treated with kid gloves her whole life and naive to the ways of the world, had let it go to her head and launched herself on the Shouzan. He’d never heard anything like it before. But seeing it for himself, it didn’t strike him as all that strange.
“At least you can be grateful they didn’t rob you of your money as well.”
“That’s why I took off my ruqun when traveling. Dressed like a pauper, nobody would believe a child like me was carrying that much money, right?”
“That’s very clever.”
“It’s common sense.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Why?” she said, tilting her head up at him.
Gankyuu patted the kijuu. “Couldn’t I just as well take off with all your money here?”
Shushou sighed. “You’re not as smart as you think you are. Your name is Gankyuu. You’re a corpse hunter, well known to that innkeeper. If you ran away, I would report you to the authorities at once. Do you know what province this is?”
“I Province.” Ken County was a detached administrative territory of the capital province.
“That’s right. I am no stranger to the government officials of I Province. Or rather, my father isn’t. In North Ken, I was in a hurry so I gave it a pass. But if I ended up missing the Spring Equinox, you could count on me pursuing every legal option available.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Hells bells, Gankyuu cursed to himself. What a shrewd little kid. “But what if somebody shut your mouth for good? Not a few people enter the Yellow Sea never to be seen or heard from again. I couldn’t carry the body out, Your Honor, and had to leave her there. Hard to made any of those legal options stick in that case.”
Shushou snorted through her nose. “That is not likely to happen either.”
“Why not?”
“If I die, then nobody will become Empress. It is unlikely the Gods would let such an injustice pass without a righteous response.”
Gankyuu’s shoulders sagged again. “Look—”
Shushou smiled and held Gankyuu’s hand. “When my moukyoku was stolen, I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in time for the Spring Equinox. But we’ve arrived right on time. Heaven must be smiling down upon us.”
“Sure seems that way.”
“When I become Empress, I am not going to do bad things. You are a lucky man.”
Gankyuu took a deep breath and let it out. Where the hell does such confidence spring from? “Mt. Hou is a long way away.”
“No problem. I knew we’d have a kijuu.”
But yours got stolen, Gankyuu was about to say. Shushou glanced at his haku and
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