As we mentioned before, after arriving in Xinjing and reporting their existence to the superiors, the group of people who were traveling together as traveling companions were treated separately by those in power because of their status.
The Qingtian family and Sakura, who is of noble blood, were placed in the area of the large mansion where the nobles lived. There were patrols here to make it difficult for civilians to approach. The aristocratic district is a place in Xinjing that retains a lot of green vegetation. Cherry blossoms and other plants are planted on both sides of the road, and there is often a carefully polished courtyard.
It is very different from the urban areas where the houses are crowded and crowded, and the spaces between people coming and going are bricks and stone beams and papered windows, and the borders are often guarded by sentries, just like the huge city within the city of Xinjing.
Although it seems a bit callous to have no contact with Yue from the perspective of the still young Mira, the Qingtian family who are loyal to Xinjing have their great recovery to do. With the rebellion rising in the vassal territory, their origins destined them to struggle in Xinjing. If they want to gain a firm foothold and one day regain the Chinese fiefdom, now is the critical time to open up various connections.
Henry, who has experienced more years, has this view that is very similar to Kazuto's aesthetics - if we are destined to meet each other in the future, we both still have a long life to go, and there is no need to be persistent or obsessed with temporary separation and reunion. .
Young people will always struggle with temporary separation and sadness, but if you keep living, you will find that we will meet again in the same direction.
It seems like a long time of 10 or 20 years.
In fact, it is just a fleeting moment.
——But let’s get back to the original point. Except for the Qingtian family and his entourage who are busy establishing a foothold in the new capital’s political circles and the missionaries who are under strict supervision and will not have a chance to see each other in the short term, the doctor lady and the great witch are both because of their noble status. Having the authority to move freely.
Therefore, before parting, our sage also told them some secrets about the rift and the inner world, and waited for good news. As the base of the shrine maidens, Xinjing naturally has teahouses and other networks for transmitting information. This is also how he informed his location.
As for Aya, all she needs to do is rely on the miko to relay the information.
It's just that there has been no news during this period. Now that they are busy with celebrations during the New Year, when they finally take a break to come and meet, it can be seen from their faces that the result is not optimistic.
Because the rest of Rigal's group were basically ignored by Xinjing, and even the sages did not have the right to enter the center of power and politics, he had tried his best to pass on the intelligence information he knew. Trying to make Xinjing aware of the seriousness of the situation, and take advantage of the temporary truce with the vassal area to send troops to deal with it.
But even with the blessing of the dual identities of witch and doctor.
"A crack has opened in New Moon Continent that leads to another world. If you accidentally step into it, you will get lost in it and die of exhaustion and chaos, and monsters and ghosts will also emerge from it to cause trouble in the world." This statement still sounds like some kind of folk A story about gods and monsters rather than an actual warning.
"Let alone the rift, they don't even believe in the monster I'm tracking." Ms. Doctor looked very decadent, with thick dark circles under her eyes. At the beginning, she went north alone to seek knowledge. After encountering Henry and his group, she had roughly explored the ecology of the mineral-related monsters and the potential threats that might exist. However, no matter how detailed her report was, it was still not known. The boss buys it.
The landlady brought over the hot soba noodles, but Aya, who had been staying up late for days thinking about how to revise and organize her words so that the boss could accept the information, just stared at the noodle bowl emitting waves of mist under the light of the lantern nearby in a daze.
Unlike Aya who had a loss of appetite, the great miko who came from further away clasped her hands together and ate the noodles gracefully. The beauty of her eating posture instantly silenced everyone watching around her.
It was as if the fragile soba noodles had succumbed to this elegant and precise movement. Not a drop of soup was spilled, and there was no "soothing" sound that could be described as bold but considered indecent by the upper class of Kazuto. Quiet, precise, and efficient are obviously not what ordinary people can get from education.
She ate without saying a word. After finishing the noodles and thanking the landlady, the great witch straightened up her appearance and began to speak.
Although she seemed to be more energetic, she also encountered a similar situation to Aya when she reported the relevant information.
"I was willing to listen at first, but then I tried every means to blame it on other people. Almost no one in the court or the Onmyoji was willing to help. After getting tired of it, I even told the witches and ghosts to solve it on their own." She seemed very worried. have no choice.
As the sword of the new capital, the shrine maiden troops were ambushed by traitors and thieves when they were responding to the rebellion in the feudal territory. Now their strength is reduced to ten percent. Although Teruyuki and the great miko herself, who were the core of the ghost army, survived under the desperate cover of others, they were now bare generals with no troops available.
Xinjing only allows female ghosts and gods to join the shrine maiden army. The long lifespan of the ghosts and gods brings an extremely long growth and breeding period, so their total population is always quite sparse.
It is difficult to replenish the number of ghost warriors who are the main force in the battle, but they are willing to abandon the graceful and luxurious life of the nobles and run towards this free and human woman made of steel, thunder, lightning and blood.
It’s also one in a million.
Not to mention that most miko can actually only serve as think tanks and nurses. Only a few elites can control the power of lightning. Although it is basic for samurai women to wield swords, considering various factors including equipment and training level, their combat effectiveness is at best higher than that of ordinary ashigaru.
Teruyuki is the daughter of the clan leader of the Onishen Clan, and to a certain extent, she is equivalent to a princess of the Onishi Clan. If they could recruit the main force of the Ghost Clan, they would indeed be confident. However, the Oni clan was firmly restricted in their own territory by Xinjing, and the royal family intended that they and the Hayato clan would form a mutually restrictive situation so that they would not threaten themselves.
The saying that "a hundred ghosts and gods can destroy a city" is a golden rule for Kazuto's senior generals. Except for joining the miko army, if ghosts with more than 10 people want to leave the territory, they must submit an application in advance through layers of bureaucracy.
And this application will be stuck in various stages for a long time, either until the person who submitted the application withdraws it on his own, or after waiting for three to five years, a slow "not accepted" will come out.
They themselves are powerless, but those who are capable will shirk away in every possible way. Even those who certify listeners based on small considerations such as establishing a good relationship with the miko often become embarrassed after roughly understanding the manpower and material resources required.
The Kingdom of the Moon is a huge country, and being huge means that it has many things and threats that need to be dealt with.
Prioritizing things is difficult enough in itself, but if there are conflicts and obstacles between various parties in power - for example, some people think that if something is not handled well, their political opponents will suffer disaster and step down, so they deliberately If you conceal something small and turn it into something big, it will become more and more difficult to do the right thing.
The fundamental problem this time is the biggest obstacle.
Is a sage.
He probably guessed what was going on, and actually mentioned it when he told the two of them at the beginning.
"The source of the information about the major disaster that you claim can threaten our moon."
"Is he a little-known southern barbarian man?"
Contempt, rejection, distrust.
Kazuto nobles are even more arrogant and arrogant than the Laman Empire. No matter how detailed and objective the information is, when I heard that the source of the arguments of the Grand Miko and Miss Doctor was a southern barbarian.
You will scoff at it the first time, and the judgment cannot be trusted.
They would rather believe that these two women, who also hold high positions and have excellent knowledge, were "bewitched by that shameful southern barbarian in some way" before they "uttered such ridiculous and treasonous remarks as the great moon is about to die". They are willing to send even a team selected by themselves to the scene to investigate and verify.
This time, it was Aya and the great shrine maiden's excellent character that stood in the way.
If the existence of the sages was not mentioned and they were just investigated by themselves, this matter might be taken more seriously. But both of them were too honest and felt that they must tell Henry and his party to gain some kind of fame and recognition. Although they hold high positions, they are not in politics after all. They don't know that sometimes clever words can achieve goals that cannot be achieved even with ten times the effort.
So the moment the information source spoke out, they all met with contempt from their superiors.
Later, I tried to modify the plan and submit it again, and even asked the other party to personally send a supervised team to verify whether it was true, which only made the problem more and more serious.
Because they have no real power after all.
Scholars and witches have noble status but no real power.
The more detailed the implementation plan given, the more it will poke at the fragile self-esteem of those Chinese people in high positions - are you qualified to teach us how to do things?
Not only did the two's persistence not achieve the desired results, but it also made the problem very personal. Because they challenged the authority of those in high positions to a certain extent, in order to show their authority, the other party would only let their subordinates receive them coldly - Kazuto called it the 'salt response' - without ever showing up in person.
Stumbling and getting rejected.
He had seen the great miko a lot, so he was relatively accepting of it, and because of his understanding of Kazuto society, the sage had already anticipated this.
Only Ms. Doctor seemed to find it difficult to accept it. She would go north alone in pursuit of the truth because she believed that truth in the world was the most important thing. When she met these people who refused to accept the truth no matter what because of their power and prejudice, it was natural for her to feel frustrated and unable to understand.
Aya's way of thinking is pure. Although she is knowledgeable, she does not understand the ways of the world because of this.
The knowledge and truth she cherishes are seen by many in power as nothing more than a tool that can be exploited. When the tool is no longer useful or is not good for themselves, they will destroy it without hesitation.
"You did everything you could do." Henry said to the doctor while sipping the coarse tea brought by the landlady.
"He." Ling was stunned for a while, then said with a wry smile: "The teacher said the same thing."
The teacher she was talking about was the tutor from Tiange Academy, who was not very supportive when she ran away alone to pursue the truth, but this was also for her safety. Now when she comes back, her mentor accepts it without hesitation and helps her a lot when reporting the information.
But it is precisely because I am a tutor in a major academy, and as a scholar, but have a lot of contact with people in power, that I understand that sometimes even if you have the right knowledge, people will still reject you.
Aya is still young, and she is so talented that she became a doctor at such an age precisely because she is dedicated to pursuing the purity of knowledge and truth.
But this purity also means that she will be very hurt when she comes into contact with the dirty world of politics.
Some people are more suitable to do their own research in the ivory tower all their lives. Not everyone can get happiness from communicating with others, especially when this "other" tends to trample and despise the things you love.
If she had been born in Rigar, perhaps she would have lived a happier life as a special adventurer.
Traveling with companions and writing illustrations of local customs and creatures, those simple and pure days are more suitable for this little lady who is dedicated to pursuing the truth.
But people are not free to choose their origin.
The lady boss came over silently and put an egg in Miss Doctor's noodle bowl with a spoon.
"Sa, my face is almost cold." Her face was filled with a smile as warm as the flickering firelight in the store: "I don't understand what you are saying. You big shots must have a lot of troubles that I can't understand. ."
"But if you're hungry, you'll feel bad."
"Eat well and on time, and there is nothing you can't handle." The lady boss said this. Miss Doctor, who had been stunned for a while, lowered her head and thanked her quietly, then scooped up the eggs with a spoon and ate them in small bites.
"....tasty."
As she said this, tears fell down little by little. Mila hit Galeva hard with her elbow again, and Leng Touqing groaned because of the soft flesh around her waist, but she still looked at a loss.
"What can I do?" He asked in a low voice, and the Luoan girl stepped on his foot.
"Just sit next to her." She said this, and the bewildered young man Suomir sat down awkwardly at this moment.
Ling looked at the actions of the two and her mood improved somewhat.
"That's right." The great witch suddenly remembered the same thing. She rummaged through the embroidered cloth bag on her waist and took out a few tokens carved from jade.
"This is a reward given by Xinjing because you are so loyal as southern barbarians, or to put it more bluntly."
"It's just a prevarication to make us stop harassing them." The great witch shrugged like the sage.
"So beautiful." Mira took it and looked at it carefully.
The pure white jade stone is dotted with a bit of green like clouds, and the overall shape is a relatively short oval, with a bright moon engraved on it, and the surrounding circle is wrapped in a carved gold frame. The dyed lanyard above is made of silk, with many gems and gold embellishments, and a piece of azure magatama with holes in the middle.
"The Imperial Order of Xinjing is given. The person who holds this order is equivalent to having the noble status of a nobleman regardless of his origin." The great witch said: "Thank you very much. Now you can be regarded as the nobles of Xinjing in name only, and you can freely enter and leave many places." .And what I think is the most important point.”
"You can ride freely now," she said.
"Okay!" The Luoan girl felt sincerely happy because she could finally appear with Mitya openly.
"Seeing that you are so happy, this thing used to smooth things over is quite valuable." The great witch sighed: "What are your plans next?"
"Most of the things have been resolved. I plan to go to Fuso." While the other people looked at their tokens carefully, the sage took a sip of tea and said calmly.
"Fuso, what's important?" The great witch frowned, and Henry moved his chin in the direction of Mira: "Make her a sword."
"Yes. It's better!" The Luoan girl, who had almost forgotten about this because of a year, once again sounded cheerfully.
Yawen Library
"It's so good to be full of energy." The great miko sighed with her chin in her hand.
"Then that's it, everything that needs to be said and handed over has been done. I want to try again when I go back. Maybe a few more attempts can convince those old stubborns." She stood up as she spoke, and just said In an instant, she seemed to have returned to the image of that steady and quiet miko.
"Then, let's say goodbye and see you again when we are destined."
It was as if the relatively relaxed tone just now was an illusion, so it took a while for the group to react.
"You are truly an unfathomable lord." The red-haired swordsman, who was blind and more sensitive to other people's tones, said this, and the others nodded in agreement.
————
After the meal, because there was nothing they could do in Xinjing, the group decided to set foot on the road to Fuso.
After running into obstacles one after another, Miss Doctor also applied for permission to travel with her supervisor, planning to go out to relax.
The group of people, who were ostentatiously hanging the Xinjing Charter, put on new clothes and saddles under the surprised gazes of the Nanman and local people, and mounted their horses with weapons and armor and headed towards Fuso.
After leaving the Xinjing area and gradually entering the mountainous area, the temperature also dropped again.
The cold wind blew under the gray-blue winter sky, and the evergreen broad-leaved forest made a rustling sound. Xinjing, bustling with people, was behind us in the blink of an eye.
"It's Naka. I didn't expect it to grow in Crescent Continent." Galeva suddenly said this after noticing the small white flowers growing on the roadside.
"Naka?" The doctor lady on the side asked.
"Uh, yes, Suomir language. Let me think about the translated meaning, on the mountain, Awen——" The tall and slow young man thought about the language, while the Luoan girl who was more proficient in the language beside him translated it. He rolled his eyes and answered directly: "It's the fairy tree."
"That's it." Ling looked at the swaying flowers.
"It's a beautiful name." He said with a smile.
The young man watched her remain in a daze without saying a word, while Mira, who felt anxious and angry, rolled her eyes again and drove her horse forward to follow Henry, Lulu and Joshua in front.
"It doesn't seem like it will rain. Let's move on." The sage in front said after observing the weather for a while.
The group then moved forward.
The white and strong cold flowers are left alone.
Swaying alone on the hillside on the border of Xinjing.
