Fates Parallel Chapter 157 - Departure (Patreon)

Over the next few days, Jia and Eui spent their time reviewing what they knew about spellcraft and cross-referencing that with what Hattori could share of onmyouji techniques. As Yoshika, they redoubled their efforts to glean some understanding from the unimaginably complex formations that they had memorized—including the likes of Do Hye’s barrier, the reflecting pool, or the spell that Seong Misun had used to carry their friends away from the academy two years ago. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to make much progress. The exact methods for crafting shikigami vessels were secrets that Hattori was unwilling to give up in detail, and it was rapidly becoming clear that his talismans were as different as they were similar to the more familiar Goryeon variety. Jia found herself wishing she had Hyeong Daesung’s insight to help her through it. Dae had always had a way with the arcane arts that she could never quite match, and she kind of missed the way he could get swept away by his own explanations as he got excited about some topic or another. She hoped she’d get the opportunity to meet him again on her return to their homeland.

In the meantime, Hayakawa Kaede finished making the arrangements for their departure on the final leg of the journey to Goryeo. First, she presented Jia and Eui with their entry key—a golden medallion much like the ones they had used to enter the academy years ago.

“We were only sent a limited supply of these—and only two of them will work for cultivators in the third stage. Originally this was Takeda Rika’s, but she can make do with a less potent one. In theory, it should get An Eui through the shield formation when we arrive at Nayeong City.”

Jia’s eyes widened in surprise as Hayakawa explained.

“Nayeong!? We’re not going to the capital?”

Hayakawa raised an eyebrow at her.

“Not immediately, no. Diplomatic envoy or not, they aren’t going to allow a force of Yamato martial artists deep into their heartland unaccompanied. In the first place, these tokens are single-use and keyed specifically to the border city. Once there, we’ll be assigned a military escort. I’ve also sent word ahead regarding our legal matter.”

‘Legal matter’ was quite an understatement for Eui’s predicament. Jia wasn’t certain of the law, but the magical brand marking Eui as an exile was more than just a way of keeping her out of the cities. Jia had, on occasion, met branded exiles even while inside the supposed safety of the shield formations surrounding Goryeon settlements. She’d never had occasion to ask how they’d gotten in—generally she tried to stay as far out of their sight and beneath their notice as she could—but they always made a point of sticking to the outskirts. They also tended to kill anyone they thought would threaten their secrecy, so Jia was fairly certain that an exile found within a city would be facing dire consequences. None of that was why she was surprised, however.

“Uh, Nayeong is the last city I was in before I ended up in the academy. They kicked me out.”

Hayakawa frowned slightly.

“Is that going to be a problem? We only have enough tokens for An Eui and me. If you’re unable to enter the city...”

Jia shook her head.

“No, I don’t think so—I’m not branded or anything. I can probably enter just fine, it's just...well, the guards there have standing orders to beat me on sight if I enter the city.”

Eui snorted derisively.

“I’d like to see them try.”

Hayakawa allowed herself a small smirk.

“Indeed. I doubt that will be much of an issue, Miss Lee. Besides, it’s been years since then, and I doubt they will even remember you.”

“Yeah, maybe...”

They went over the rest of the details. Travel was going to be slow, due to the large entourage accompanying them. Many of them were mortals or low stage martial artists serving in logistical roles that Jia didn’t even try to make sense of. It seemed entirely unnecessary to her, but Hayakawa assured them that everyone joining them served a purpose. Even Hattori Koji ended up petitioning Hayakawa to join them on the trip, which she agreed to once Lee Jia explained that he was helping them train Heian.

At their projected pace, it would be about a month of travel across unclaimed territory before they officially arrived in Goryeo. There was a large no-man’s land between the borders, partially to serve as a buffer for any border skirmishes that occurred and partly because of the rather unique way that Goryeo claimed land. Strictly speaking, their territory consisted only of the land within their shield formations. That wasn’t to say that they didn’t hold some claim over the roads between cities, or the general surrounding area, but Goryeon territory was infamously easy to cross. It was said—according to Hayakawa—that any army could lay siege to any Goryeon city they liked at any time. A standing challenge, daring their enemies to break themselves on the mighty fortress cities guarded by their legendary formations. A challenge that had yet to be overcome, though the invasion of the Grand Academy during the descent of the gods had somewhat shaken the otherwise unwavering faith in the strength of those formations.

This did present some danger, however. Travelling through the no-man's land between nations would leave them open to attack by magical beasts, spirits, or even enemy action. Hayakawa doubted that the Empire was unaware of her mission, and if their spies managed to discover her travel plans, an attack was all but certain. Their first contingency was secrecy—only Hayakawa knew precisely when they’d be leaving. Their second was misinformation—several false travel plans had been intentionally disseminated in order to throw off potential spies. Their third and final contingency was...Hayakawa Kaede herself. And now, with the inclusion of Yoshika, their fighting force had no fewer than three combatants in the third stage—along with Takeda Rika and Hattori Koji, who could fight on par with most third stage martial artists themselves. That wouldn’t protect them against a xiantian level threat, but Hayakawa assured them that dedicating such strategic resources to a casual assassination attempt was highly unusual. Somehow, Jia didn’t find those words comforting.

---

Jia was almost sad to go when the time came to move on. She’d hardly gotten a chance to experience a Yamato city while cooped up in the castle, and she was definitely going to miss that bath. At least she’d managed to pilfer a small banquet’s worth of excellent food during her stay, and she was looking forward to trying some of the new cooking methods and recipes that Eui had learned over the last few weeks. There was one thing that she was definitely not going to miss about her stay in the castle, however...

“So, how many did you get?”

Rika’s question made Jia’s face twist into an ugly grimace.

“Four for me, and one for Eui.”

Eui snickered.

“Plus another one for both of us at the same time. He was persistent!”

Rika let out a low whistle.

“Wow! He must have really liked you! I only got two invitations before he got the message. How about you, Lady Hayakawa?”

Hayakawa sighed, drawing her attention away from the carriage window. They were travelling in a rather ostentatious wheelless vehicle that was something like a cross between a wagon and a palanquin, being carried by four first stage martial artists. It comfortably seated the four girls, but Jia felt more than a little ridiculous being carried around, especially when the rest of the caravan had to walk—including the mortals.

“You can drop the formality in private, Rika—likewise to the two of you, Miss Lee, Miss An.”

Jia gave Rika a questioning glance, and she shrugged.

“I told Hayakawa that she could call me Rika if she wanted to. After spending so much time with Eun-eun it felt weird being called Takeda all the time. Of course, the fact that she only does it in private sort of ruins the point.”

Hayakawa let out a small huff of indignation.

“I do have appearances to maintain, you know. To answer the question, Lord Noguchi is not foolish enough to make such overtures to me directly—even his debauchery has its limits.”

Rika raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile spreading across her face.

“And indirectly...?”

Hayakawa grimaced.

“Nearly every second word out of his foul mouth. If I am being charitable, he was mostly just fishing for political favors but...well, there’s a reason he’s out on the edge of the country where his predilections can’t cause too much harm.”

Jia nodded in understanding. Lord Noguchi was, to put it lightly, a lecherous moron. He was much more interested in partying and entertaining than he was in actually performing his duties as a lord of the land. Luckily, his debauchery was a known factor, and the Noguchi province mostly consisted of self-sustaining territories that could handle themselves like Lady Tennin’s Urayama Village. His armies didn’t do much other than patrol the border and respond to levies from higher ranking lords. For all that, though, he seemed harmless enough. He never took offense at being rebuffed—though it also didn’t stop him from just trying again and again. They had parted ways with him amiably, though she privately hoped never to see him again.

It took less than a day of travel for Jia to get sick of being carried, and leave the palanquin to walk around. She spent her days getting to know the entourage accompanying them to Goryeo, studying with Hattori and Heian, and sparring with Rika. Occasionally she’d retire to the palanquin to do some meditation, but for the most part she made a point of being a common face in the caravan.

The envoys were mostly nobles, with the occasional stand-out from a high status family like Takeda Rika, and they were standoffish at first. Jia didn’t really blame them—she was an unknown foreigner, after all—but she’d learned a thing or two from the social force of nature named Seong Eunae, and she was a powerful empath. Breaking the ice was easy enough.

By the time they finished their second week of travel, everyone in the caravan knew Lee Jia and she knew them. She even managed to drag Eui along to make a few connections—albeit a bit reluctantly. Eui wasn’t as sociable as Jia, but she still managed to make a few friends despite her prickly exterior. Plus, Eui was using her Tranquility of the Verdant Marsh to create an aura of comfort and healing that encompassed the entire caravan and eased the burden of travel dramatically. That got the envoys practically eating out of her hand.

As the third week ended and they made it to the last leg of their journey, everything was going smoothly. They hadn’t encountered anything more dangerous than a few particularly bold magical beasts, which were dispatched before Jia and Eui could even lift a finger to help. Just when Jia was starting to think that all of their precautions had been unnecessary, they encountered the worst kind of trouble. The caravan was stopped by a group of imperial cultivators.

“Halt! By His Majesty, the God-Emperor's decree—all travel is restricted. Submit yourselves for inspection or face annihilation!”

There were roughly a dozen cultivators in the group, all dressed in some kind of uniform robes that Jia didn’t recognize. They were vastly outnumbered by the martial artists in the caravan, but they didn’t seem worried in the slightest. Jia could guess why—half of them were easily in the third stage, while the rest were at least at the peak of the second. This was a group of elites. Hayakawa scoffed irritably inside the palanquin, where Jia and Eui had joined her in order to hide the moment they sensed the cultivators approaching.

“Demon hunters. They’re normally not much more than a nuisance—glorified highwaymen under the employ of the great sects to disrupt trade between Yamato and Goryeo. This could be bad.”

Jia swallowed nervously. Could they take this group on? It wasn’t impossible, but they’d almost certainly take casualties in the process.

“How do you normally deal with them?”

“Typically, they can just be paid off with mana stones and cores. However, there’s three problems—”

Hayakawa began counting off on her fingers.

“First, since the demonic sect took over the former academy grounds, they have enjoyed a much higher status due to the more imminent threat of demonic influence. Second, this could very well be the assassination attempt we’ve been worried about and third—”

Hayakawa pointedly met Eui’s eyes.

“We actually are harboring demons, are we not?”

Eui clicked her tongue in irritation.

“Aw fuck.”