<div dir="ltr">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?”--[Next Part Below]-- </div>