The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

reforms have proceeded at a respectable pace. The prejudicial laws against hanjuu and kaikyaku were abolished by imperial edict. Believe it or not, the general of the Palace Guard is a hanjuu."
    "That really is impressive."
    " It's about time, might be the more appropriate reaction."
    "You don't think it's impressive that the Royal Kei should make such changes by imperial edict? Nothing like that has happened there for a very long time."
    Rikou smiled. "Yes, the status quo is getting stirred up in Kei. It's a good feeling."
    He still harbored some doubts about this flurry of activity in Kei, and about the strength of their new empress. But the closer he'd gotten to the capital, the more energized the people appeared. This was evidence that confidence and hope was radiating from her presence outward. The kingdom had been visited and revisited by strife and rebellion. The bureaucracy had hardened like stone. And yet he sensed an energy there that could knock them out of their set ways like a sledgehammer.
    Kei would make it past the ten-year mark, and in good shape.
    Ritatsu sighed. "Well, we can all be thankful that Kei is settling down. There is unrest on the home front that keeps me up at night. Perhaps Kei presents us with an example worth following. Not a few places here stand in need of improvement."
    "Are you trying to tell me something?"
    "Well, according to your own accounting, you do seem to growing a bit senile."
    "Yes, yes," Rikou answered with a self-deprecating grin.
    The room grew quiet as the people seated around the round table sank into collective contemplation.
    Senshin broke the silence. "How is Ryuu actually holding up?"
    Rikou had to think about it for a minute. "Hard to say. My guess is that once things come to a head, the situation will resolve itself quickly one way or another. Things are bad enough that youma are showing up. The Divine Will is definitely wavering. It is entirely possible that the shitsudou will strike down the Taiho any day now."
    "When it comes to Ryuu, we don't have to get involved, do we? We should be able to count on En and Kyou for that."
    "En has already got a handle on things, so I don't think we need to worry."
    "But aren't they already accepting refugees from Tai, Kei and Kou? Things are improving in Kei, but they're still not ready to go it on their own. Tai is a complete mess and En is taking the full brunt. Add to that the refugees on Kou's northern borders who will make a beeline for En as their first alternative. They're not going to risk crossing youma-infested territory in order to get to Sou. But supporting Kou, and on top of that, supporting Ryuu when things start getting rough there is asking an awful lot of them. I suppose it would be rude of us to offer aid."
    "Well, I wouldn't go that far," Rikou smiled. "Rather, it might be better to think about ways to accept more refugees from Kou. We'd actually be taking the pressure off Kei, seeing that Kei hardly has the resources to support them these days."
    Senshin grunted in agreement. "The problem is, how to get the Kou refugees to Sou?"
    "We could transport them by sea," suggested Ritatsu, making a note. Writing with one hand, he raised the other and added, "Going from the Red Sea to the Blue Sea is problematic. For the time being, we can maximize the number of ships putting into harbor on the Red Sea coast, and after that use the Kyokai to send ships to pick up refugees moving north up the Kou coast."
    "There aren't any good harbors on the Kyokai, are there?"
    Expecting the question, Rikou nodded. "There are only two harbors big enough for large ships. But quite a few capable of handling fishing trawlers."
    "Then small is the way to go. That way they can dock at the fishing ports too. In any case, we couldn't get enough larger ships out of dry dock in time. We don't have enough ships now, so we'll have to build more. Trawlers don't make the best ferries, but combined into a fleet, we can drastically increase the number of routes."
    "Hmm, I hadn't thought of that," agreed Meiki. "Let's do it. If we build a lot of big ships in a hurry, we'd eventually end up with no way to use them. At least fishing trawlers can be sold to fishermen once we're done with them. Traveling up the Kyokai and gathering refugees from the north of Kou will relieve the pressure on Kei."
    "Indeed. The rest of the problem then becomes Kyou's," said Ritatsu, looking up at Rikou.
    "I dropped by Kyou on my way home. I told them that storm