"{\3cHFFFFFF\4cH808080\cH23373D\3aHFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\move(191,182,191,183,20,2480)}Kei" "Suzu is determined to avenge Seishuu's death on both Shoukou, the Town Chief of Shisui, and Queen Kei, who's behind him." "After Shoukei entered Kei, she headed for the town of Shisui where refugees supposedly are provided with land and citizenship." "Youko has learned about a corrupt chief named Shoukou in the town of Shisui." "The fates of three girls are about to meet in the Wa Province of Kei." "Episode 33" "{\3cHFFFFFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\b1\bord1.5\pos(191,176)\cH010AF8}A Great Distance in The Wind, The Sky at Dawn, Chapter Ten." "{\3cHFFFFFF\4cH808080\cH23373D\3aHFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\move(215,181,218,187,27,2696)}Gyouten" "So you are certain this is the seal of Queen Sai?" "Yet the girl is not even an official?" "She is requesting to see Queen Kei." "She also has a letter from Queen Sai." "The Kingdom of Sai is another kingdom that recently crowned a Queen." "We are under no obligation to be so friendly with them, however..." "What is it, sir?" "What if Queen Sai found out about her Majesty's absence and sent us the girl?" "I will examine the letter." "You are now supposed to serve as the Sankou." "Or is this a habit from when you were the Minister of Law?" "You have my permission." "While the Taiho is absent, I'm in charge of the Court." "There you go." "What is Queen Kei like?" "Well, she still seems to have trouble understanding this world sometimes but she is a very kind person." "Her hair is crimson and perhaps she is about the same age as you are." "I am the Daishikou, the Minister of Law." "You have come a long way from Sai." "You must be tired." "Um, where is Queen Kei?" "Unfortunately her Majesty has left the kingdom to study for the time being." "Left the kingdom to study?" "May I ask you where she went?" "I will let her Majesty know about your visit immediately." "May I have the letter from Queen Sai?" "I'm sorry, but I was told to give this to her Majesty in person." "I will bring the gift again the next time." "I am sorry to have bothered you." "Must you leave so soon?" "Excuse me, but you are a high-ranking official of this kingdom, aren't you?" "Do you know what is going on in Shisui of Wa Province?" "Shisui of Wa Province?" "When is Queen Kei returning?" "Within a short space of time." "Actually, her Majesty is..." "This is your Sansui, isn't it?" "Yes, it is." "It's not used to me yet." "It wasn't hard to get into the Royal Palace..." "First Shoukou and then Queen Kei..." "Seishuu, I'll avenge your death soon!" "{\3cHFFFFFF\4cH808080\cH23373D\3aHFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\move(192,181,191,187,40,3209)}Kokei" "Youshi." "Good morning, Keikei." "What's the matter?" "I saw some strange men last night." "What?" "They were outside, and staring at the Rike." "Keikei." "Don't worry Youshi like that." "They're probably refugees." "Keikei, I'm going to make breakfast so would you get some water?" "Okay." "Hankyo, are those the same guys you were talking about?" "Yes." "They stayed in Kokei last night, and left for Takuhou early this morning." "Men from Takuhou..." "Could Koukan have sent his men for me?" "Youko." "What are you doing?" "Sure." "Where are you going this time?" "I'd like to go to the capital of Wa Province." "To Meikaku?" "Does something bother you about Wa Province?" "Rangyoku says she wouldn't want to have land in Wa Province when she became adult." "She even says she'd rather get married to someone just to remain in Ei Province." "What is it about Wa that would make her marry someone she doesn't love?" "You should not worry about something like that." "This is different from your world." "Let me ask you this, why do you think people get married?" "Because it's lonely to live alone." "If that's the reason, you could just live with that person without getting married." "That's what we call an illicit intimacy." "But what if you have a child?" "In this world, you must make a wish to have a child at a Rishi." "So if you want to have a child, you must get married." "Also both husband and wife must live in the same village to have a child." "So sometimes one must move to the village of their spouse." "People have been using this system to leave devastated areas and move to their ideal area by marrying, and later separating once they move." "So if a husband and wife don't live in the same village the marriage will not be legitimate, thus they won't be able to have a child." "But why is it?" "Only the Riboku and the Tentei can answer that question." "It's been established by the Heavens..." "By the way, I heard that a ruler cannot have a child." "It is a different story if you were married before you became a ruler but a ruler is not a human." "So even if you asked, no Ranka would grow." "I wouldn't mind that." "Because my friend said that she would have many children for me." "It made me very happy." "I don't know how to say it, but..." "It seems that the Heavens control everything here." "That's what bothers me sometimes." "Now the people of Kei are your children." "Go wherever you want." "And observe your children well." "We're off to school now." "We'll see you later." "Youshi, do you really have to go?" "I'll be back in a couple of days." "Don't worry, I don't think those men will show up anymore." "Bye now." "Youshi, please come back soon!" "Those men must be after me anyway..." "Youshi!" "Say hi to that good friend of yours!" "{\3cHFFFFFF\4cH808080\cH23373D\3aHFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\move(285,74,281,90,36,2163)}Takuhou" "Miss." "You've come back..." "Why?" "Why?" "Because I didn't see you after that, so I wasn't expecting to see you again." "A Kijyuu..." "Did you buy it?" "I had the money I was going to use for the carriage my sick friend needed to travel." "Come with me." "Let me introduce myself again." "I'm Koshou, I'm the owner of this place." "Well, actually Sekki is the one who runs everything." "But anyway, what's your name?" "Suzu Ooki." "That's a strange name." "I'm a Kaikyaku." "I see..." "It must've been tough." "It's nothing." "I wasn't chased out of my country, and I'm still alive." "Miss." "Would you mind staying in the same room as before?" "Um, not at all." "A chain..." "Shoukou..." "Koshou..." "Let's go back." "This is the house of Shoukou, right?" "I've finally found it!" "I'm going to kill Shoukou!" "If Shoukou finds out you're staying at our place he'll kill us, too." "We won't go down so easily, though." "I was..." "Besides, Shoukou isn't here." "What?" "He left abruptly." "We've been watching him." "Miss!" "Thank God..." "Thank goodness..." "I'm glad you're safe." "Don't rush." "Do you hate Shoukou that much?" "Yes, I do." "But he isn't someone you can take on by yourself." "But..." "Seishuu was very sick." "Shoukou didn't have to kill him." "We were going to Gyouten to get treatment." "We shouldn't have come to this town!" "So you blame yourself, don't you?" "You hate yourself more than Shoukou." "You want to punish yourself, not Shoukou, don't you?" "That's right, because I'm the one who brought Seishuu here." "He said he didn't want to die." "He was such a strong kid, but he cried because he was scared of dieing!" "But he's dead anyway." "It's my fault." "It's all my fault." "Seishuu would forgive me, that's just the way he was but I cannot forgive myself!" "But if you killed someone out of hatred, you'd be just a murderer like Shoukou." "So you're saying I should leave Shoukou alone?" "So many people suffer because of him, so many people die because of him!" "Not everyone in Shisui is a coward." "Shoukou will fall." "We're just waiting for the right moment." "Forget about Shoukou, if you can't, take this." "Once you take this, you can never leave." "Betrayal will cost you your life." "Please give it to me." "I will never betray you." "I'll do anything." "{\3cHFFFFFF\4cH808080\cH23373D\3aHFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\move(213,190,231,191,26,2654)}Meikaku" "That is Meikaku." "It's big, isn't it?" "Meikaku is a very important crossroads." "The shipments from the port by the Kyokai and wheat and woolen goods from north..." "Those products all have to pass through Meikaku." "The Lord Gahou taxes the travelers and the goods." "He says it's a safety tax." "I hear there have actually been highway robberies." "Could the robberies also be Gahou's doing?" "It cannot be..." "Did you know that the tax in your jurisdiction, Hokui, is thirty percent?" "Asano." "Yes." "I will give you this." "This pass has my endorsement." "You will not get into trouble anywhere in Wa Province as long as you have this." "Cool..." "What?" "The Taiho is in Hokui?" "Hokui is his jurisdiction, so it is nothing out of ordinary..." "But I've heard that the Taiho has gone to En to visit her Majesty or at least so the ministers say." "The rumors may be true." "Do you think her Majesty is running from Koukan's men?" "Perhaps." "But the Taiho was visiting a Rike, you said?" "I cannot imagine that her Majesty would stay at a Rike." "What if we sent this man there?" "If there is anyone there who is connected to her Majesty, let alone the Taiho I am almost certain that her Majesty will hear about Asano." "Would you tell me what you are talking about?" "Isn't Queen Kei at the Royal Palace?" "Someone is trying to take her Majesty's life." "Kill Yuka?" "Why?" "It is very unfortunate..." "Now her Majesty is hiding among the citizens to escape from assassins." "The Lord is trying to protect her Majesty secretly." "We must find her before that murderer, Koukan, does." "Can you do it?" "So Yuka was forced to be a queen first, and now someone's trying to assassinate her?" "All because of the stupid rules of this world..." "I have to save her." "And then we'll get the hell out of this world." "I see you understand our deal." "I will give you information about the Rike." "Find her Majesty at any cost." "Yes, sir." "My lord..." "Oh, is it time?" "Why don't you stay for the show?" "It's a dead-end again." "What's wrong with this town?" "Miss, did you get lost?" "Are you from this town?" "I suppose." "Is this really Meikaku?" "I heard that Meikaku is a big town, second to Gyouten." "Well, there used to be just a few inns in this town for travelers but it slowly got bigger since then." "They would build new walls, but wouldn't bother to take down the old walls." "No one really seems to care about who actually uses these streets." "This is indeed Meikaku." "What's that?" "Don't mind that." "Hey..." "Stop!" "The walls of Meikaku protect citizens and travelers from Youma and robberies." "And it is the duty for people who live in Meikaku to take care of the walls." "Those who neglect their duty to maintain the walls are endangering the welfare of the citizens of Meikaku." "This is the judgment of the citizens!" "Crucifixion?" "But I thought no kingdom was practicing crucifixion anymore..." "My son felt sorry for a child who was about to get executed and he threw a rock at an official." "He was killed next to the child." "Who threw that?" "Drag out the person who just threw the stone!" "Come this way, quick!" "It's a Youma!" "It's an Isoku!" "It's going to eat us!" "What are you doing?" "Hurry up and catch the one who threw that stone!" "That monster..." "I've seen it before." "The woman who threw the stone..." "Capture her." "Use that weapon of yours." "That wasn't very clever." "Thank you." "I understand how you feel." "The man who was being crucified..." "He is okay." "You guys look over there!" "Run." "But..." "You don't have to worry about me." "Thank you." "There she is!" "That's her!" "Hold it!" "Capture the other one!" "She still must be hiding somewhere around here." "Give me your hand." "Come on!" "Hurry up!" "Hold it!" "Oh, it's you again." "What?" "I've never seen you before." "What are you doing here?" "I'm going to free Queen Kei." "Huh?" "Then why are you running after this girl?" "Well that's..." "Damn it..." "What am I doing?" "Forget him, catch them!" "Jump off." "Yes!" "Get on my back." "What?" "I hope the other girl got away..." "What was that man saying?" "He was a Kaikyaku." "Kaikyaku?" "He was saying that he wants to save Queen Kei..." "I don't get it." "I was counting the sands of time without realizing." "In a false dream I became speechless." "{\3cH000000\cH8A7F78}I would stare into the fire... {\3cH000000\cH8A7F78}...as I swore to be true forever." "Let my prayers be heard, I will overcome hardship and keep my oath until the end of the world." "Rangyoku gazes at the object in her hand." "She sees something gold between her fingers." "It's the seal of the ruler of Kei." "The Twelve Kingdoms, episode 34." "Episode 34" "{\3cHFFFFFF\4aHFF\fnPoor Richard\b1\bord1.5\pos(191,176)\cH010AF8}A Great Distance in The Wind, The Sky at Dawn, Chapter Eleven." "A Great Distance in the Wind, The Sky at Dawn, Chapter Eleven."