The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

imbued with those qualities in the same way."
    "But don't you end up with the same problem anyway? If everything gets imbued with these qualities, then who does the imbuing?"
    "Who, indeed?" Rokuta stared up at the ceiling. "We have to say that Tentei does the imbuing. But the fact is, nobody knows anybody who's actually met Him."
    Youko nodded. "Me neither."
    "Nobody knows whether Tentei exists or not. Except that His precepts certainly exist here in the world, covering the world like a net. If they are transgressed, a punishment is guaranteed. Moreover, the circumstances are not taken into account. The problem with Jun Tei was not the purity of his intent, or rightness or wrongness of his actions. All that mattered in the end was whether his actions touched upon that which is written in the Divine Decrees. The rest was automatic."
    Youko shivered. A bad feeling crawled up her spine.
    "One proof of that is when we helped you. Simply examining our actions, then it sure looks like Shouryuu sent the Imperial Army across an international border. No matter how you look at it, this would seem to be a sin of the most immediate nature. To be sure, you came to En, but you didn't come to En with the express purpose of seeking our help. You didn't ask us to help you so you could strike down the pretender. You came to En because you had no place else to turn to and you needed asylum. Those were sufficient grounds to us. We persuaded you of the necessity of retrieving Keiki from the clutches of the pretender. You took command of the En Imperial Army, but for appearances only. Believe me, we were quite aware that what we were doing was not substantively different than what Jun Tei did. But the precepts are not balanced on such distinctions. As long as the Royal Kei was in En, as long as the letter of the law was fulfilled, then no punishment was forthcoming."
    "But don't you find that rather strange?"
    "It is strange. A loophole that a lawyer of low character would come up with. The Divine Decrees definitely prohibit invading another kingdom under force of arms. But nothing says a rightful ruler can't borrow the forces of a neighboring kingdom. At the same time, if this is something the Royal Kei wishes--if the Royal Kei herself is at the vanguard--then it surely can't be called an invasion. However unbelievable it might be, this passes muster."
    "It is unbelievable."
    "It does no good to debate what is 'good' and what is 'bad.' This world must be accepted for the way it is. Explaining exactly why things are the way they are may tax our facilities. To tell the truth, you weren't the first to make use of our armed forces in such a manner. It had come to our attention that the precepts of Heaven operate in an extremely dogmatic manner, and we concluded that with the proper king in the saddle, we would not brush up against the law. Still, we were pretty much on pins and needles the first time we put the theory into action. We had our own doubts about 'outfoxing god,' as it were."
    "So you gave it a shot and watched what happened?"
    "Don't be silly." Rokuta scowled. "We weren't going to take a gamble like that. So like we're doing now, we turned to Genkun for advice."
    "To Genkun--"
    "Yeah. The Mistress of Mt. Hou. According to some, Oufujin, the guardian deity of Mt. Hou runs the show. But I happen to know for a fact that it's Genkun who's in charge of the wizardesses. She wasn't born here, but she was brought up here. So who do you think appoints the wizardesses here to be wizardesses in the first place?"
    "Well, that'd be Genkun, wouldn't it? It wouldn't be the kings or empresses."
    "You're exactly right. The wizardesses of Mt. Hou are called Wizards of the Air. The rulers of the kingdoms don't appoint them, and they in turn don't serve any king or empress. Moreover, the wizardesses of Mt. Hou won't be found on the census of any kingdom. They reside in a world apart from any head of state. They are separately recorded on the Registry of Wizards and serve Genkun."
    "Doesn't that mean that there's a thirteenth kingdom then? Genkun's position would seem on a part with an Empress."
    "Yes, it does seem that way. Except that this is clearly not a kingdom. Its distinguished citizens notwithstanding, there are no subjects. Besides, there are no kirin here to rein in the ruler. Genkun can't really be said to govern Mt. Hou. Nothing that could be called a 'government' exists on Mt. Hou."
    "Then what exactly is this place?"
    "A part of