[Mkguild] Round Robin: Out of the Library

[Indagare]

Trey jumped onto the ground and willed himself to grow. It was an odd
sensation, though not unpleasant. He’d never actually grown to his full
height before–all he needed was about three or four feet to help carry in
the gleanings. Now, once he finished, he found himself a head taller than
Merlia and shorter than Kasaima, though that wasn’t surprising.


“As fun as being small is, I think I’d be more helpful at my full height.
Though, I’m not sure how much help I can be. I only know how to read
Common.”


Merlia went to a shelf and picked up a large book. She opened it and Trey
could see Common written on one side and some other script on the other.
“This is the dictionary Zhang Yazi provided. I’ve been making use of it to
translate in my spare time. I think I can find the glyphs you need to look
for in it.”


“I can provide those.” Kasaima raised a hand and several glowing glyphs
appeared in the air. “These are what you’re looking for. Will you be
helping us too Merlia?”


“Sure, I’ll just get Mael to watch the desk and I’ll be right back.”


Trey helped Kasaima to remove the scrolls and began looking through them
for any symbols similar to the glowing ones overhead. Merlia returned
shortly to help them and the three poured over the documents until. “Ah! I
think I found something!”


Kasaima and Merlia looked up at Trey, who was pointing at a place on a
large scroll. “It’s here beneath this map.”


Kasaima took the scroll and read through it quickly. “So it is! You’ve done
well, Trey-san! This is the map I’ve been hoping to find. Hmm…this isn’t
good.” He frowned as he looked at the scroll. “This isn’t good at all!”


“What’s wrong Kasima-san?” asked Trey.


“Apparently the reason the Celestial Sword was hidden is because it began
to refuse to work for the emperor! It says here that the heart of the
emperor at the time was tainted with evil! I wonder if that’s related
somehow to what happened recently.”


“Why didn’t your clan know about it?” asked Merlia.


“I’m not sure,” said Kasaima slowly. “My clan has many tales of struggles
against evils in the land, not too unlike what’s happened recently. They
knew the Sword had been hidden, but we never found out why; we were simply
told that with all the trouble it seemed wiser to hide it than risk it
being lost somehow. Whoever wrote this knew a lot more than they placed on
parchment! I wonder if even finding the Celestial Sword will help now.”


“What do you mean?” asked Merlia.


“Well, I was always taught it would only respond to the true imperial heir,
but if it is going by morality then it’s possible bloodlines won’t matter
anymore and even if all of the princes tried it they could be found
wanting! I’ll have to consider this. Do you have some spare ink and paper?
I’d like to make a copy.”


“Of course! It’s right nearby.” As Merlia fetched the paper, Trey shrank
down and sat on the table. He sighed.


“I’m sorry I caused you more trouble Kasaima-san.”


Kasaima smiled gently. “It’s not your fault Trey-san. This is a new
problem, but it’s not insurmountable. We’ve trained our ward well, and I
believe him pure of heart, so it may well choose him anyway. Even if it
doesn’t we might still be able to find a ruler who will be worthy of it,
and a virtuous ruler is always the best to have. Once I’m done copying
we’ll go to the Jolly Collie and see what I can do.”


***

It was late by the time they left the library. The columns within were
shaped like fruit-bearing trees. As dusk fell, those fruits began to shed a
gentle light, keeping the interior of the library safely and well lit.


They stopped at the Deaf Mule for a late meal, Kasaima insisting on paying
for them both, before they embarked further south to Euper and where the
Jolly Collie was. When they arrived, however, the scene was one of chaos!
Several city guards were around the Collie and Trey spotted Reed among the
men the guards were questioning.


Their attention was diverted at Kasaima’s arrival. “Oy! You what business
‘ave you got here?” asked one of the guards.


“I was told there were some rugs for sale. I wanted to see them and hear
their price. What’s going on?”

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