The three sisters and his aunt will be staying at the red-haired lady’s place. They judged that his aunt, who did not make a public appearance like his mother and older sister did, won’t be recognised as a member of the Ih clan.
“Big brother, are you leaving?”
The oldest of the three sisters, Haku’u tugged Rikuson’s sleeves.
“To somewhere a bit far away,” he replied.
Rikuson can no longer stay in the western capital. He’ll surely forget his mother and sister’s words should he remain behind now. He’ll end up harming the people of the western capital. He reluctantly turned his back to the three sisters.
He rode a bumpy carriage to the harbour.
It aggravated him, but he could only be in Gyoku’en’s care. A child of merely thirteen years of age didn’t have the means to live alone. Apparently the former Ih clan had a house in the capital. They had recently lost a child who was the same age as Rikuson. Their heights were similar too. The other party also said they will take Rikuson into their care.
“There should be no problems with the family register too. You can use his name as it is.” It seems Gyoku’en wanted to say that he won’t go down the same road.
Rikuson still had yet to forgive Gyoku’en. This man said he was responsible for it. Rikuson thought he had the right to ask the man for the reason behind it.
“Why is it that, when you were not around, the You family did it?” Rikuson asked.
At the question, Gyoku’en made a troubled look and muttered, “It has to be my son. Ou isn’t my child.”
“…I know.” Recalling the conversation about the family register and stuff, Rikuson had thought it in his own way. Ou was probably the child Gyoku’en spoke with Rikuson’s mother about. “Because he’s not your biological child, are you going to run away from responsibility?”
“Far from it. All of the other children aren’t mine either.”
“Wha?” Rikuson panicked. Even though he had that many wives and children.
“I guess I’m infertile. My first wife gave birth to Ou, but we couldn’t have any for the six years she was with me. Regretfully, we tried other means but it was useless. I gave up and looked for a widow who had children. The clever and strong mother agreed to have the child raised as mine. I changed the document and wrote up an unconditional merchant contract. In return for bringing up the child and his future, I had her keep the secret and have her offer me her resourcefulness. Now the children are also mine in the family register. It’s not a good look for a merchant to be barren.”
“Then…”
“Everyone was brought up thinking they are my biological children and I am their biological father. But there are people who know that my first wife was a slave from Sha’ou. They pestered us, saying that her son would have to be a slave too and that I am not his father.”
Reflected in Rikuson’s eyes was a merely a plump man who was clutching his head.
“Fortunately, this didn’t get spread around, but they came to threaten me. I silenced them through a contract. The other party lacked confidence so they dropped it with that. But to bind a person to a convenient contract, you’d have to bind others in the same way too. I suppose I am the kind newcomer You.”
The You surname must have been taken when he left the Ih clan. It was a common name.
“I had planned to keep it a secret forever. I had planned to take it to the grave with me.”
But it couldn’t be.
“Unlike me, Ou looked for other kinds of merchandise. One of them was the black stone. But I never thought he would come across the survivors of the Wind-reader tribe.”
It was there Ou learnt of his mother being a former slave and harboured doubt about this birth. It seems he had always thought that he didn’t look like Gyoku’en.
And it must be there where he heard about the output of the black stone being falsified.
“Then…” Rikuson said.
“Yeah. His real father was…someone from Sha’ou, I guess. You can’t really see it since he inherited a lot of Rii features. I thought in recent years that his attitude towards Sha’ou and foreign tribes was different. So he’d found out.”
Gyoku’en spoke to Rikuson at length. Perhaps as consideration towards Rikuson, or perhaps he wanted to reveal the secret that burdened him.
“Then, he’s the one who framed the Ih clan!”
“Yeah. This is one of the Wind-reader tribe’s revenge.”
“What’s the other?”
“The other is…” Gyoku’en looked at Rikuson. “…Is that they think the child of the Ih clan is mine.”
‘What a clever child. Can you give your son to me?
Rikuson recalled the exchange Gyoku’en had with his mother. Was Gyoku’en saying it half-seriously? If one can’t have kids, it would be natural to adopt children from a relative.
To make Rikuson disappear, they fabricated his blood relation to the imperial family.
His elder sister was a fool. Her survival would’ve been more important than Rikuson’s, if so.
Why did they keep Rikuson alive?
And why was Gyoku’en saying it now?
Rikuson held back his tremendous urge to swing a punch at the man. It seems the carriage was built in a way that even if you scream a little the driver wouldn’t hear, but Rikuson can’t hit him. Even thinking about pushing him off the carriage was no good. The injury on his ankle from Rikuson’s biting was still there. He wanted to find an opening, but this man had a use too.
‘You protect the western lands. That is the duty of the men of Ih. Use whatever and whoever at your disposal.’
He recalled his sister’s words. Rikuson can’t die here. And, to not harm the western land, he will go to the capital.
“The capital that handed down that stupid edict, huh.” There must be good-for-nothing people in the imperial family. Rikuson heard that the emperor’s mother pulled the strings in the government.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s the true motive of the capital,” Gyoku’en said.
“What?”
So Gyoku’en said. Does he mean that they handed down the imperial edict by mistake?
“It has the emperor’s seal, but not the empress regnant, no–the empress dowager’s seal.”
So, the problem was that, rather than the puppet, it was missing the puppet master’s approval?
“In the capital, the emperor’s health has deteriorated a few years ago and the empress dowager is old.”
“And through this sloppiness…” Rikuson trailed off.
“That’s right. I understand that falsifying the imperial family is a mistake, but the case about the coal mine cannot be concealed.”
“…my word.”
The Ih clan was also at fault.
“Which was why I was planning to snatch the rights for the mine.”
“What?”
There was a fire in the plump timid-looking man’s eyes. “The capital doesn’t know the value of coal. At least, they don’t know one-tenth of the value it has here. I will use that against them.”
“That, being?”
“The material for the negotiations is the sloppy edict. The clan that governed the western land has perished. This is a serious issue.” A merchant’s indomitable will dwelled in Gyoku’en’s eyes. “The same time I take you to the capital, I will negotiate with the imperial court as the former Ih clan. The incident was brought about by my seal, so I have a responsibility too.”
“No, then what about you? What about your family?” Rikuson didn’t care about the foolish son called Ou, but there was also the lady who was sheltering his cousins. No matter the lack of blood relation, can he go that far to throw them away?
“Behold.” Gyoku’en brought up a cage from his feet. It contained several pigeons. “This is the reason I could expand my business. People who control information, control the market. Trying to get me hanged, trying to get my family eradicated, it doesn’t matter. I’ll know first by pigeon, and none of my wives are weak to simply roll over and die.” Gyoku’en beat his belly like a drum. “You still can’t believe me?” he asked.
“…not yet.” His mind couldn’t catch up. Rikuson was still a child. He didn’t know if the adult was telling the truth or lying.
“Then, shall we exchange contracts?”
“What kind of contract?”
“I am a merchant. I will make the child who invigorates the western capital the most as my heir.”
“Then Ou too?”
“It will be so. All my wives have signed the same contract. That the family will be given to the one who invigorates the western capital the most.”
It was a merchant-like result-oriented approach.
“But at the same time, it begets danger. My lifespan will always be shorter than the children. Which is why the greedy children may do something when I’m gone.”
The man called Ou seems like he would do something, Rikuson thought. And in reality, he did.
“When the time comes, eliminate the child. Then you’ll protect the western capital.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Rikuson asked.
In the end, wouldn’t that just mean becoming Gyoku’en’s successor?
“Are you making me clean up the mess when the time comes?”
“What cleaning up the mess. This is the fate of the men who have become the wind,” Gyoku’en replied.
“The men who have become the wind, huh.”
No matter Gyoku’en’s appearance, he is a man of the wind that mum and sister spoke about, Rikuson thought.
It was a sly and dirty way of doing things. With this, Rikuson had no choice but to accept this.
He had no choice but to obtain the determination that was under that gentle smile.
He had to polish, polish, polish his sharp stony heart, polish it beautifully to smoothness. Then, when something occurs, become a sharp blade that can cut down anyone…
“We’ve arrived.”
They alighted from the carriage. It was the port.
There, Rikuson spotted a man with odd movements.
“A ship. No. I can’t. I don’t want to board!” There was a grown man who was throwing a tantrum like a child.
“If you don’t board the ship, you can’t get home. There’s finally a ship you can board.”
“But ships. I can’t.”
The man called Rakan was there.
“Mister. What are you doing?” Rikuson found himself calling out to Rakan.
“Mn? Who are you? The teeny pawn, I see.”
He had completely forgotten about Rikuson.
“You’re going back to the capital, right? I think the ship would be more comfortable than the land route.”
The rocking of the carriage is the same as the rocking of a ship. The shorter time is better, Rikuson thought.
“Ngghhh.” Rakan reluctantly boarded the ship.
“Mister, you can’t remember faces at all, but is it really okay?
“Ummm, it might be tough if you promote.”
Will I be able to promote? Rikuson thought, but merchants were limited to making connections.
“Then, hire me when I promote. It’ll be handy when I can never forget a person’s face to make up for mister.”
“Mn, then I’ll employ you.”
It was a casual exchange, but Rikuson never thought that it truly happened ten years later. And the person who would later come to be called the weirdo tactician had completely forgotten about Rikuson.
In the end, the Ih clan was gone. The imperial family didn’t admit to making a mistake with the imperial edict, but they’d probably laid down a compromise plan.
Firstly, the survivors of the Ih clan were not pursued.
Secondly, even at present time, it was called Isei Province.
Thirdly, not the Ih clan, but the former Ih clan member, Gyoku’en was now governing the western capital.
Lastly, the coal mine, through hush money, wasn’t closed and was improved. Unofficially, to the bitter end.
The Ih clan perished with its dishonour intact in the end. However, Gyoku’en must have chosen to develop Isei Province over honour. The man, who sought for the gains of the western land more than anyone else, although vexing, was Rikuson’s role model.
.
.
.
Rikuson reminisced about his past while standing in the middle of a pool of blood.
The current government office was originally the Ih clan’s residence. Moreover, Gyoku’ou had turned the room Rikuson’s mother used into an office.
Seventeen years prior, the man had stabbed people to death in the place he raised violence. For karma, it was too good to be true.
When Rikuson accepted Gyoku’en’s proposal, had he known about Gyoku’ou being the one behind his mother and sister’s murders, he wouldn’t have been able to accept it. When he arrived at the western capital, the moment he knew that the man he was told was his direct superior was the person he can never forget, he felt like he was going to go insane.
But he endured in order to abide by his sister’s last request.
A blood relative of the Ra clan. When he was told that, he was so angry he burst into laughter. The man whom Rikuson could never forget had completely forgotten about Rikuson’s existence.
Though imperfect, this was a man raised by Gyoku’en. Even if there was no blood relation, he had the ability to invigorate the western land. Would the unfortunate thing be that he had too much of an inferiority complex?
He did not invigorate the western land, nor did he protect it, but he exploited it to try to attack Sha’ou. He must have done it to eradicate the origins of his blood.
This was the only thing Rikuson couldn’t overlook.
More importantly, he had to set the stage.
Rikuson returned the small knife to the farmer’s hand and picked up the sword Gyoku’ou had been carrying.
“What is this? What is this?”
The people who rushed over looked at Rikuson who stood alone in a pool of blood.
“W-what is the meaning of this, Rikuson-sama!?” Gyoku’ou’s aide asked.
Other people also showed up chatting noisily. There was even an attendant who screamed.
“It is as you can see. He was already killed when I came in. I could only look for an opening to stab the back of the enemy,” Rikuson replied.
“Is this true?” The aide scrutinised him. Everyone regarded Rikuson with eyes of suspicion.
That’s right. It was natural to be suspicious of Rikuson. Everyone should know that Rikuson had been given a cold reception. Rikuson understood that he was suspicious.
He had to do this very, very well here, otherwise….
No, would it be better to be buried in the same place as his mother and sister…?
It was the very moment he thought such things.
“When you entered the room, he was already killed. Which was why you killed the enemy, am I correct?”
It was Rakan. His eyes were bleary and he had also taken off his monocle. It seems he had been asleep. This man would be hard to wake once he’s asleep, and yet.
Ahh, it’s over, Rikuson thought.
Rakan cannot hide things. It was already his bedtime, and yet.
“Yes,” Rikuson said.
“So he says.” Rakan looked around.
“W-what is that supposed to mean, Grand Marshal Kan?”
“Mn? That guy didn’t lie. He killed the enemy. What’s bad about that? Rather, wouldn’t you be responsible for having such lax security?”
“What?” The aide panicked when he was suddenly told that.
“I’m sleepy so I’m heading to bed.”
Amidst the commotion, everyone stepped back, saying “If that is what Grand Marshal Kan says.” The suspicion directed towards Rikuson dispersed in an instant.
Would it be okay like this? Rikuson felt.
But at the same time, he also felt relieved that he had kept his promise with his sister.
“I’ll listen to your explanation later, so please, for the time being, change your clothes,” the aide said to Rikuson.
The attendant who had screamed just now timidly presented a towel to Rikuson. He had seen this slender attendant many times before.
“Are you working, Chue-san?” he asked.
“…Oh no, how did you know it was me?” Though her face was completely different, the voice belonged to the cheery attendant.
“I thought that such a staged scene had to be someone’s suggestion.”
“Is that so? Was it too dubious?” Chue didn’t deny it either. “How did you know it was me? I changed my hair colour and the size of my eyes.”
“It’s the shape of your ears. Chue-san has very beautiful ears.”
“Oh dear. Are you looking at a married woman’s ears?” The voice was Chue’s, but the timid attendant’s appearance was a completely different person. Although she was uneasy about the blood on Rikuson, she brought over a change of clothes.
“When the court physician comes in, will I be disposed of?” Rikuson tried asking.
“The one in charge here is Court Physician You. He’s a hard worker, but he has a flexible way of thinking, and should wish for peace in the western capital above all. Maomao-san might be one to investigate out of curiosity, I suppose. The other two court physicians seem to have their quirks too. Good for you.”
“Is that so? Then, I won’t meet you again after this.”
“I suppose. While you’re at it, don’t say anything about me, please.” Chue took the opportunity to forbid him from talking.
“My lips are sealed. Can I ask you one favour?”
“What is it?”
Rikuson could hear her peculiar voice very well, but everyone else probably couldn’t see her move her mouth. Even for Rikuson, it was an elaborate disguise that he would have missed if it wasn’t for the couple of days he spent alongside her at the farming village. In reality, he had seen her at the government office many times before.
“Can you quickly dispose of the family register you obtained?” he asked.
“If you know this much, Chue-san’s head will roll.”
“It’d be beneficial for both of us, to have it disposed of.”
When he heard about Rin-shoujin’s features, Rikuson had a few people in mind. He knew that one of the people among them had spoken with the currently disguised Chue.
Which was why they reached an agreement.
“Wouldn’t it be troubling to know that the empress’ father is some unknown person?” he said.
“That’s true. It’ll turn into a troublesome matter.” Although her voice was easy-going, her facial expression was the only part of her that tensed up. She must be quite a competent spy.
Rikuson had believed that at this rate, he would be erased, but that won’t happen, as expected.
The chances of Empress Gyokuyou’s real father being revealed by looking up the family register existed. It would be troubling when they search up her mother’s previous husband, and their relationship, even if deceased, can be found out.
“Chue-san understands the major reason, but why did Rikuson-san think about getting rid of the family register?”
“There’s not much to it. Just that if I expose the secret of the person I wrote a contract with, the contract would lose its value?”
It wasn’t for Gyoku’ou’s sake. The man foolishly tried to put the western lands in danger. He was the embodiment of an inferiority complex towards Gyoku’en.
The reason why Rikuson wanted to dispose of the family register was only just out of gratitude towards Gyoku’en.
“Understood. I’ll have a discussion with my superior,” the disguised Chue said. She passed over Rikuson’s change of clothes, then went off somewhere.
“It doesn’t seem like she’s working directly under the Prince of the Moon.” Rikuson won’t pursue any further. More than anything, he was now someone with a guilty conscience.
He returned to his room, closed the door, then crouched down. “I wonder why. Even though it’s already over.”
Tears rolled down his cheeks. “Was I wrong? Is there still more after this?”
He sniffled like a crying child.
It was embarrassing as a grown man, but he felt that his mother and sister were watching over him today.
Besides, whatever his intentions, Rakan had covered for Rikuson.
“It wasn’t a lie, but he should know the truth.”
My former boss did something that was out of character, Rikuson thought.
And also…
In order to protect the western lands, he had to live as the wind from now on.
