Chapter IV.IV (4.4) - Emperor’s Cards

  All eyes swiveled to Kizu.

  “Iroi,” the Emperor instructed, “have your golems escort my new necromancer to his rooms. And make sure he’s incredibly well protected. Triple the normal security measures.”

  Aoi tried to protest, but her father ushered her out along with everyone else.

  ‘Everyone’ did not seem to include Wan, as he made no move to exit. And Sasaki didn’t appear to mind.

  “Do you need something from me?” Kizu asked.

  Sasaki sighed and flopped back in his chair.

  “Please talk Emperor Sasaki out of his next proposal,” Wan requested.

  The Emperor rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Wan.”

  “I believe I am being an appropriate amount of scornful in your foolish endeavor.”

  “Ah, what exactly is this about?” Kizu asked. He looked between the two of them.

  Sasaki opened a drawer in the desk and began rummaging through it. Then, leaving the drawer still agape, he put his hands on the desk and leaned forward, a grin on his face.

  “Okay, so Kizu. Do you know about our nation’s stockpile of artifacts recovered in the World Dungeon?”

  “Yes, I’ve heard it mentioned once or twice.”

  “There’s all sorts of fun stuff! Back in the day my father wouldn’t let me touch our collection. And it looks like we’ve accumulated quite a few new toys over the last hundred years.”

  “These artifacts are not toys,” Wan said wearily.

  “I wanted to show you a few,” Sasaki continued, ignoring Wan. Without further explanation, he reached elbow deep into the drawer then, with a slight grunt, pulled out a long wooden shaft. He nearly toppled over before the last bit of it emerged.

  Kizu blinked. A broomstick. A very familiar broomstick.

  “This, I believe, should belong to you.” Sasaki tossed it to Kizu who fumbled his catch.

  “The same one the Elite’s confiscated from the crone?” Kizu asked.

  “Yep. I was reading up on a debriefing on your old crazy guardian when I came across a note about an enchanted broomstick.”

  “I read the report,” Wan clarified. “Emperor Sasaki listened to the debriefing while upside down in a gravitational armchair. There are still fruit stains on the carpet from him dripping watermelon while he ate.”

  Sasaki rolled his eyes. “It’s as if you expect me to not use all the cool new artifacts I now have unlimited access to.”

  Kizu shifted the weight of the familiar broomstick in his hands. “Is this considered an artifact? I thought it was just something the crone enchanted.”

  “That was the assumption of the Elites at first,” Wan explained. “However, upon further inspection, they realized that’s likely not the case. Enchantments require a recharge from an experienced enchanter. Small ones like your translation earring can go years without any issue, but they do eventually run out of juice. Artifacts, on the other hand, have no such limitation. They remain at full power regardless of how many times they are used.”

  Kizu nodded. He knew a bit of that. The crone had required him to recharge the wards around her hut more than a few times. But it gave him more appreciation for the few artifacts he owned. His enchanted ring that created blades of ice, his necklace that kept him from detection, his atlas which recorded all movements of the World Dungeon, and the bell which directed the dungeon’s full attention to him.

  “And the broomstick is like that too? It won’t ever need to be recharged?”

  “Precisely. The logical conclusion is that it is an artifact recovered from The Great Labyrinth Sekai by your previous guardian.” Wan paused. “However, I am skeptical. There are a few inconsistencies with that theory. The materials it's made from are magical so perhaps it is preserved in an incredibly unique way. It appears to be relatively recently created and feels…different from a standard artifact.”

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  “Come on, Wan.” The Emperor was now shoulder deep in the drawer, clearly searching for something else while Wan spoke. “We can trust Kizu with your secret. Tell him why you really suspect it was created by the witch.”

  Wan pursed his lips and paused. “I have…a specific affinity with ancient artifacts. Suffice it to say, the energy given off by the broomstick is unlike any other I’ve encountered.”

  “If you haven’t figured it out already,” Sasaki said. “Wanchan isn’t human. He’s actually the most sophisticated golem in existence. An artifact prototype unlike anything ever discovered in the World Dungeon before or since. And I found him wandering around on my very first visit!”

  “That is extremely classified information,” Wan warned.

  “People are going to figure it out eventually. Your immortality and emergence from seemingly out of nowhere made a lot of people wary. The Inari family is already investigating. You uncovered three different divination enchantments in your room in the last two weeks.”

  Despite himself, Kizu couldn’t help scanning Wan’s skin, looking for anything that hinted his true origin. It looked like flesh, though maybe it did have veins to it that did look a little reminiscent of wood grain. But maybe he just saw that because he was looking for it. Then he realized how rude he’d been, staring at Wan while the Emperor continued to chat.

  “Is there anything else you wanted to show me?” Kizu asked quickly. “It’s all interesting information, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not sure if I can give you many insights. I never saw the crone use the broom for anything other than whacking me once or twice. I didn’t even know it was enchanted to fly until I saw the Elites using it last month.”

  “It’s a gift to you! A personal thanks from me for saving our lives.”

  Kizu blinked and looked down at the broomstick. That would have been an amazing lifesaver before his grafted leg when he was limping around in pain. Not to mention his advances in spatial magic made flight significantly less important. Still, even now he wasn’t about to turn down the gift. He bowed his head to the Emperor who just waved away his gratitude.

  “I wanted to ask you about something else as well,” Sasaki continued. He finally withdrew his arm from the drawer and set a small rectangular package down on the desk. “This is another artifact. One of the most powerful ones ever discovered.”

  Kizu leaned forward. While the brown paper packaging was unassuming at first glance, Kizu could sense a powerful enchantment laid over it. One of the strongest he’d ever felt. And that was just from the paper concealing it.

  “What is it?”

  “Extremely dangerous,” Wan replied. He stared down the package with malice.

  “It’s a deck of cards,” Sasaki said.

  “Cards?” Kizu repeated. “Are they like throwing cards enchanted to slice through flesh?”

  “Ha. This artifact is far more powerful. Any other guesses?”

  Kizu thought about Ione’s bestiary deck. “Can each card conjure a monster?”

  Wan’s eyes flickered over to him before returning to the enchanted object. “Interesting idea. No. However, you are thinking in the right direction. Since the Emperor has decided to be obtuse about their usage, allow me to explain.

  “Every continent appears to have one of these decks. They correlate with the Calamities. One has been discovered in both Edgeland and in Ilosin-Don. Each deck contains twenty cards. Edgeland has drawn all of their cards throughout the last thousand years. Legends still remain of the catastrophe the cards created.”

  “And the massive boons granted!” Sasaki cut in. “I saw first hand the result of the last card the Tainted used. It made every pregnant mother give birth to a mage of unrivaled power. With that strength they were actually able to found Chasm City and even create trading routes off to the west. If the continent had been united, they could have conquered the known world.”

  “The card before that doomed them to a decade under a smog. And before that one caused a curse to be placed over the land making it so everyone forgot how to read. It created a dark age.”

  “So the cards are high risk, high reward?” Kizu asked. “I’m not sure now is a good time to gamble.”

  “Six cards are great, six are bad, and eight are neutral,” Sasaki explained. “We’ve already pulled four of the bad ones, six of the neutral, and three of the good ones. The odds are high for a good card. Three out of seven.”

  “Less than half,” Wan said dryly. “I know you are not a numerology expert, but those are not the phenomenal odds you seem to believe them to be. And those ‘neutral’ cards cause a random chaotic event. They still result in havoc to ecosystems. The last one we pulled made all green parrots flightless and twice as fat.”

  “Can you pull multiple?” Kizu asked. “Not to say you should, but why haven’t they all been pulled by now?”

  “Only one every fifty years,” Sasaki said. “But a lot of times the Empire goes centuries without pulling any.”

  “With good reason,” Wan said. “I recommend we exercise caution.”

  “I…agree with Wan,” Kizu said. “There’s not a massive threat on you right now. The Kitsune aren’t threatening you like the other Calamities. Why take a risk to make yourself weak and open to invasion from the Dragons?”

  “Because it’s exciting!” The Emperor tapped the paper wrapping. He looked for a moment like he was going to disregard their advice. Then he signed and dropped the package back in the drawer. “I guess it will still be there tomorrow.”

  “Thank you for being a voice of reason.” Wan bowed his head to Kizu. “While he has many admirable traits, Emperor Sasaki X often is prone to bouts of rash decision making.”

  “Wan, I’m right here.”

  “I am aware of your presence, Your Majesty.”

  “I’m…going to go,” Kizu said. He hefted the broomstick over one shoulder. “Thanks for the gift.”

  “As always, it was a pleasure,” Wan said. “Now, Emperor, we need to return to our earlier discussion. About your fiancee.”

  “No! Kizu, don’t leave me!”

  “Thanks for the broom!” Kizu shut the door.

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