The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

new Taika, we can only conclude that the disposition of Taiki remains in question."
    "Anything else?"
    "The throne of the Royal Tai appears to be empty."
    "That's the whole of it. A pretender sits upon the Tai throne. The Royal Tai and Taiki are nowhere to be found. The Royal Tai doesn't seem to have left Tai, so his fate is beyond our control. That's why we've decided to look for Taiki alone. It seems very likely that Taiki was swept away to the other world by a meishoku."
    Gyokuyou said nothing as she filled the teacups with hot water.
    "But this is too much for us to handle alone. We are asking the other kingdoms to pitch in and help. We hope to find Taiki and return him to this world. But simply taking him back to Tai would hardly be the end of things. Tai must lay away stores and prepare for the coming winter. Taiki would require allies and backers in order to escape the eye of the pretender and resume the search for the Royal Tai."
    "There is no precedent for the kingdoms reaching beyond their mutual self-interest to tackle a problem together."
    "Do you think this offends Divine Law?"
    "Hard to say. I see nothing wrong with seeking out Taiki and returning him to this world. I am concerned with what would happen next. That may well offend Divine Law." Gyokuyou replaced the cover on the tea cup and offered it to Rokuta. "Moreover, that Taiki has not returned since he was swept away tells me that he is unable to at the present time. We don't know what condition he is in. If these circumstances, and the reasons for them, can't be addressed, then the difficulty of removing those obstacles remains."
    "Indeed. And what would you advise?"
    "Hmm--" Gyokuyou sank into silence. A long moment later, she nodded. "In any case, this is a pitiful state for Taiki to remain in. Let me look into this further."
    "If you wouldn't mind," said Rokuta.
    Gyokuyou stood up. "Grab a wizardess and make yourself at home in any of the palaces. I'll see you again tomorrow at noon."

Chapter 28
    Y ouko watched Gyokuyou leave. She gave Rokuta a troubled look. "What exactly just happened here?"
    "Exactly what it looks like. This incident really lacks for precedents. Nobody is exactly sure how to proceed. So she's going to confer about it."
    I got that much. But Youko kept these thoughts to herself. She felt quite unenlightened, and yet didn't know how to express the feeling.
    "What kind of person is this Genkun?"
    "Pretty much what you saw there. She's the Mistress of Mt. Hou. The one who keeps the wizardesses in line."
    "So having met with her, what happens next?"
    "She'll give us an answer. That's why we came here, right?"
    "Why would she know the answer?"
    "Ah." Rokuta sighed. "But of course. It's the whole ball of wax you're after." He fixed his gaze on her. "In this world, Divine Providence is fixed and inalterable."
    "Yeah, I know, but--"
    "Yeah, you know, but you don't really know, right? This isn't one of those things. This world is defined by boundaries of Divine Providence."
    Youko answered with a quizzical look.
    "The Divine Providence of Heaven is taken as a given by the people. Or rather, the absolute nature of its logic is imposed on them. And nobody can change it."
    "I still don't get--" Youko started to say.
    Rokuta waved his hand, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Okay, okay. Let me give you an example. And I'll make it simple. Right now, there stands in our way a sin of the most immediate nature. The armed forces of one kingdom may not trespass the borders of another. This dictate constrains us in our attempts to save Tai. In fact, there is in our past the precedent of the Imperial Army of a kingdom crossing an international boundary. Namely the Jun Tei incident."
    He continued, "Jun Tei sent his Imperial Army into Han. As a result, both Jun Tei and Sairin were struck down almost at once. That day, there appeared to be nothing particularly wrong with Jun Tei at all. He went about his business as usual. But exiting the Outer Palace, he suddenly grabbed his chest and fell down the stairs. Alarmed, the ministers rushed over to him. A small river of blood was flowing out of his flesh and over the cobblestones. They tried to help him up, but found that his body had turned into a sponge, and any pressure only squeezed out more blood. He soon expired."
    "You can't be serious--"
    "It was even worse for Sairin. When the ministers ran back to the place to inform Sairin of the calamity that had befallen Jun Tei, they found only her remains