Editor: Tseirp
Under a clear blue sky, Ryo and Abel set out an ice table and chairs on the main deck and began reading the materials Inspector Li Wu had brought.
They were filled with information the two of them didn’t know… plenty of both good news and bad news.
First, the good news.
There were said to be one hundred thousand phantoms in the Choouchi Empire, but most of them were ‘empty inside’.
Empty inside ant exactly what it sounded like: they were simply there.
Other phantomkins could move them, but they had no will of their own and could not act independently.
They were nothing more than dolls.
Among the phantoms, they were called ‘vessels’.
In fact, they vanished with just a light tap.
Apparently, that was where the ‘phantom’ in ‘phantomkin’ ca from.
However, they could use sorcery.
Because of that, they were often employed as sothing like mobile artillery.
Then, the bad news.
The location of the Choouchi Empire was far to the north.
So far north that in so years, January temperatures dropped to minus thirty degrees…
It wasn’t quite that cold this season, but the place was still extrely distant.
Naturally, it was also a sea route that Darwei’s official vessels had never travelled before.
Captain La Wu intended to obtain maps—and if possible, nautical charts—along the way in the country of Peiyu.
Ryo had already relayed everything written in Prince Ryun’s letter to Captain La Wu.
Apparently, even before that, Captain La Wu had made so guesses based on what he’d heard from Inspector Li Wu.
Ryo also handed over the formal written order addressed to the Tenth Ship, issued by Prince Ryun in his capacity as an imperial prince.
Captain La Wu would likely have cooperated even without it… but with this order, the crew would absolutely not face punishnt.
Operating a ‘public vessel’, which was state property, apparently ca with many constraints and little flexibility.
There were several other astonishing pieces of information as well, but…
“Oh, there’s information about the Phantom King.”
“The Phantom King’s Palace? Like Prince Ryun’s Royal Residence?”
As they went through the sections related to the Phantom King, Ryo and Abel noticed the term.
“So the Phantom King isn’t just soone from among the common phantomkins, so figure from the masses. Even within the Choouchi Empire, the imperial governnt officially recognises the Phantom King’s existence.”
“The fact that there’s a ‘palace’ makes that clear. But according to these docunts… doesn’t it read like power is split in two?”
“Huh?”
Abel handed the docunts he’d finished reading to Ryo.
After three years buried in paperwork as a king, Abel read docunts at remarkable speed.
Ryo didn’t think he was slow, but he couldn’t compete with Abel.
“…You’re right. And it even looks like the Phantom King holds more power than the Choouchi Emperor?”
“Since he can control phantomkins… does that an the Emperor is just a puppet too…?”
“Ah, but look—this docunt here lists their respective objectives.”
“The Choouchi Emperor wants to push south and dominate Darwei. That makes sense. But the Phantom King’s objective is…”
“Passing through the ‘Corridor’ to reach the Central Countries? What? Why would he want to go to the Central Countries?”
According to the docunts, the Phantom King’s goal was to reach the Central Countries, leaving both Abel and Ryo confused.
Why the Central Countries?
“It says the Darwei Emperor is necessary to open the Corridor leading to the Central Countries, but…?”
“What does that an?”
The information was a treasure trove that could be called priceless.
Yet it was too fragntary to fully grasp…
“At tis like this, if you don’t properly set priorities, the project will fail!”
“Pro… what?”
“First priority is rescuing His Majesty the Emperor.”
“That’s true. That cos first.”
“Everything else, we’ll handle as it cos.”
“…I suppose we have no choice.”
Both Ryo and Abel accepted this compromise.
Ideally, Ryo would like to defeat the Phantom King and free Duke Helb from the ice, but that would have to be a lower priority.
Just then, Captain La Wu ca over.
He seed to be there to explain the tentative schedule, but…
“Honestly, I don’t know how long it will take to get there.”
“That figures…”
Ryo nodded sympathetically at Captain La Wu, who spoke with a troubled, apologetic expression.
They didn’t know the exact distance, the ocean currents, or the winds.
There was no way he could give a firm schedule.
“I don’t know how closely the Darwei Imperial Palace is tracking this ship’s movents, but we’ll avoid major ports. Water won’t be an issue since Ryo-san is aboard, but we’ll need to resupply food sowhere.”
“True.”
“We loaded a generous amount of food at Hoi An when we departed, so we should have about twenty days’ worth. It takes fourteen days to reach the capital Hanlin, which ans we can head north for about six more days after passing Hanlin.”
“Is there a good port around six days past Hanlin?”
“There is one place that cos to mind, roughly halfway between Hanlin and Peiyu. It’s a port town called Shunboul… if things go as planned, we should reach it in eighteen to nineteen days from here.”
Captain La Wu answered Abel’s question confidently.
As expected of a public vessel captain, he seed very familiar with Darwei’s ports.
“We’ll resupply there and continue north. The destination, the Choouchi Empire, lies even further north of Peiyu, but we should be able to get maps in Peiyu. Whether we can obtain nautical charts is the tricky part…”
“That’s the hard part.”
Sailing unknown seas ca with many difficulties.
After Captain La Wu was called away by a crew mber and left, Ryo and Abel resud their discussion.
“In the worst case, we might have to go overland from Peiyu.”
“You think so too, Abel?”
Both of them were realists.
They didn’t know how far north they would go, and it was possible the sea would freeze, making further travel by ship impossible.
“It really is all improvisation from here.”
“Not being able to see the path ahead makes things difficult in many ways.”
Suddenly, soone caught Ryo’s eye—another person aboard who, like them, wasn’t part of the crew.
“Inspector Li Wu is staying on board like this too, right?”
“Seems so. He might disembark at the port we reach on the nineteenth day… but until then, he’ll probably stay aboard.”
“Won’t he be questioned by the Imperial Palace—or rather, by Prince Kouri’s faction?”
“Hard to say. He’s an inspector by trade, right? He travels all over Darwei to conduct inspections. It wouldn’t be strange for him not to be in the capital. Secretary Shau probably took that into account when he entrusted him with this.”
“Ah, I see.”
As they spoke, Inspector Li Wu began swinging his sword.
Apparently practising.
“Ohh!”
“That’s a pretty sharp sword technique.”
Both Abel and Ryo praised Inspector Li Wu’s form.
Though he was an inspector who travelled the provinces, he clearly knew how to use a sword.
He hardly seed like a civil official.
Admittedly, his nearly two-ter-tall physique didn’t look like that of a civil official either…
Noticing their gaze,
Inspector Li Wu stopped swinging his sword and ca over.
“Sorry—did our staring bother you?”
Abel apologised lightly.
“No…”
Even if it had, one didn’t usually say, “Yes, it did”.
“Inspector Li Wu, you don’t look like a civil official at all. Your swordsmanship is impressive.”
“You flatter . When you travel the provinces as an inspector, your life is often targeted.”
“What?”
The two were taken aback by his words.
“There are corrupt lords… though not only lords. High-ranking officials like magistrates as well. To them, I’m apparently a thorn in the eye…”
“They try to placate you with bribes, don’t they?”
Abel asked, responding to Li Wu’s self-deprecating tone.
As a ruler himself, Abel likely understood well what provincial lords and senior officials—far from the central governnt’s watchful eye—were capable of.
It was sothing common to all eras and all worlds.
“Exactly. But I refuse such things outright. So when I obtain evidence of wrongdoing, I submit it directly to the Inspectorate.”
“Impeccably incorruptible…”
“Impressive.”
Ryo exclaid in admiration, and Abel echoed the praise.
“Well, to be honest… my family is wealthy, so I simply don’t need bribes…”
“That happens…”
“There are people like that…”
Li Wu gave a wry smile, Ryo nodded, thinking of people he knew who held public office yet were wealthy enough to reject bribes outright, and Abel nodded as well, picturing soone like Phelps in his mind.
Abel himself probably wouldn’t accept bribes either.
“So you trained with the sword because your life was in danger.”
“That’s a big part of it, yes.”
Inspector Li Wu admitted it with a wry smile.
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