The Wings of Dreams

being empress involved?”
    “And with that knowledge in hand, you thought yourself capable of becoming empress?”
    “Yes. What, you don’t see it?”
    “In any case,” Shinkun said, eyeing her coldly, “you’re going to have to make your own way after this. Just to let you know, there are already youma headed this way. They won’t attack as long as I am here. But as soon as I leave, they will, without a doubt, make their way up here.”
    Shushou glared back at him. “I’m not surprised. Become a wizard and you lose your humanity.”
    “The throne is not a child’s plaything, not furniture you sit on but a burden you must bear. If you truly comprehended the responsibilities and obligations of a ruler, you would be the last one to claim yourself as a worthy vessel.”
    “I do comprehend. The burden the emperor must be bear is the kingdom itself and the lives of every one of its subjects. Simply choosing between two equally compelling options can mean that ten thousand will die on the other hand and ten thousand mourn on the other.”
    “And you’re saying you could correctly make such decisions?”
    “Of course I’m not!” Shushou shouted at him.
    Gankyuu started a bit. “Shushou—”
    “I am a child. I don’t know anything about the in and outs of imperial government and administration. When I came to the Yellow Sea, I couldn’t take a single step without relying on the help of others. A person like me could hardly safeguard the lives of others! The best I could do on my own was study, go to school, and become minor government official. That should be obvious on its face. If a person like me really did have what it takes, the kirin should at least have met me halfway rather than coming to a place like this.”
    “Then why go on the Shouzan?”
    “Because it was my duty!” The long journey through the Yellow Sea had done nothing if not convince her of her own powerlessness. “I am a subject of Kyou. If I was the prime minister, I would make a law that everybody in the kingdom had to go on the Shouzan when the flag of the kirin was raised!”
    Her father had no desire to go on the Shouzan. He wouldn’t do anything to compromise the good life he already enjoyed.
    “The next emperor or empress is somewhere to be found among us. Nobody knows who. But while they all tremble in fear at the long journey ahead and the dangers of the Yellow Sea, people are dying like flies.”
    Hearing of youma appearing everywhere, they only wrung their hands and lamented the fallen state of the world.
    “If every subject went to Mt. Hou, the next ruler must be among them. But instead they treat every bad turn of events like it’s somebody else’s problem, somebody else’s business. They bar the windows and the doors and whine about how bad things are getting from inside their self-imposed jail cells. Such stupidity!
    “Shushou—” Gankyuu reached out to her.
    “When I ask why they’re not going on the Shouzan, they laugh and go on about how I don’t know anything about the grave responsibilities of ruling a kingdom and the dangers of the Yellow Sea. I’m only a child, you see, and a child of privilege to boot. They smile and tell me how naive I am about the ways of the world, while they are wise to everything.”
    “I see.”
    “As far as I’m concerned, when people are dying all around you and you turn the other way and pretend it won’t happen to you, you’re the one who’s being naive. You’re the one who knows nothing of death and suffering. Do you disagree?”
    “Not at all.”
    “The Yellow Sea is a scary place, they say. Don’t be unreasonable, they say. What is unreasonable? Even I only came here with a single resolve in mind!”
    Shushou slumped to the ground. Gankyuu caught her in his arms. “You’ve got nothing to cry about. You’ve done well.”
    Shushou got to her feet and wiped her face with her sleeve. “If had no desire to go on the Shouzan, I might as well be like the koushu and say that nobody needs an emperor. When youma show up all over the place, shrug it off. Learn how to live with them, how to protect yourself from them, how to keep from being attacked.”
    “Definitely.”
    “People live in the Yellow Sea, after all. So people should be able to live in Kyou. You could hunt youjuu everywhere, pick up work guarding people traveling through the kingdom. Everybody would be a goushi or a shushi.”
    Gankyuu grinned. “Nothing wrong with that.”
    “Gankyuu, right