Continuing on our strange course to look for clues about the Claire Bible, we’ve finally arrived in the holy kingdom of Seyruun!  Under the leadership of Misao’s grandfather, the ultimate pacifist Prince Okina, it’s become a great city devoted to white magic.  It’s full of ancient temples and libraries of magic books – the perfect place to search for the Claire Bible!  Um, wait a minute, white magic and Prince Okina?  That combination can’t mean anything but trouble.  And why are you following us, Fujita-san?

Why, I thought I’d sample Seyruun’s famous kake soba.

Misao ran joyously through the streets of Seyruun.  She loved going adventuring, but she also loved coming home and seeing her grandfather.  “Kaoru-san!” she called.  “This way!  Hurry up!”

“Hey, calm down, Misao!”  Even Kaoru found it hard to keep up with the energetic girl.

“Aa, Misao-dono is anxious to see her grandfather de gozaru yo,” Kenshin smiled.

“That’s right, I want to see Jiiya!  Jiiya’s the best person to ask about anything to do with Seyruun!”

“I figured as much,” sighed Kaoru.  “I get chills just thinking about seeing that maniac again.”

“Maniac?” Fujita blinked.

Kaoru drew a deep breath.  “Okina, the crown prince of Seyruun.  That overgrown issun-boshi has never been anything but trouble for me.”

Fujita looked startled.  “Seyruun’s prince is an issun-boshi?”

“It’s just a figure of speech.”

“Kaoru-san!” Misao interrupted.  “What are you doing?  We’re trying to find a clue to the Claire Bible, right?  So show some enthusiasm and come on!”

“If that’s why we’re here, why do we have to see her grandfather too?” Aoshi grumbled.

“I guess the weasel girl’s still pretty much of a kid that way,” Yahiko shook his head.

“Come on!” cried Misao.  “The palace is just through those gates!”

“I know, I know,” Yahiko sighed.  He had been to Seyruun before, after all…

Misao ran through the great gate and stopped.  Something was very wrong.  The plaza, that should have been thronged with people – messengers, servants, clerks, petitioners, scholars, courtiers – was completely empty except for a squad of ceremonial guards at the doors of the various official buildings.

“It wasn’t this dead before,” Yahiko murmured.

“And there are a great many guards,” added Aoshi.

Kaoru’s eyes went to the flags that flew over the towers.  They seemed unusually low.  “Half-mast?”

“It looks as if they were in mourning for an important person,” observed Fujita.

“That’s… that’s ridiculous!”  Misao darted toward the gates of the royal residence, only to be stopped by the guards’ crossed halberds.  “Shiro! Kuro! What’s the meaning of this?” she demanded.

The two guards blinked, then knelt.  “Misao-hime!”

“What’s all this after I finally make it back home?”

“Hime… you came back too late!”  The larger of the two guards, Kuro, burst into tears.

“What is it?  What happened?” cried the princess.

“I can’t bring myself to say it!” Shiro wept.

“Oro?  What happened de gozaru ka?”

“I’m not sure,” muttered Aoshi.

The guards led Misao and her friends into the palace.  In one of the formal reception rooms they found an older man in the robes of a priest, and a slender youth in blue.

“Misao!” the priest cried.  “You’ve come back!”

“Misao!” echoed the youth, with a dazzling smile.

“Uncle Anji!  Soujirou!”  Misao rushed to embrace her relatives.  “I’m sorry I was away for so long!”

“Misao, you’ve finally come back!”  The smiling youth took her hands.

“Soujirou, it’s been such a long time!  You know, though, the guards were acting very strange, and Shiro and Kuro wouldn’t tell me anything.  What’s going on here!”

“Well, you see,” Anji began.

“Misao, who are they?”  Soujirou nodded toward Kaoru and her friends, who were being kept at the door by the guards who had escorted them.

Misao waved her hand.  “They’re my traveling companions.  Jiiya will vouch for them if you want.”

“That’s right!”  Yahiko stepped closer to one of the guards.  “You heard the weasel girl, let us through!”

“I know they don’t seem very reliable, but… please go on, Anji-jiisan.”

Anji bowed his head.  “All… all right.  You see, Misao-hime, your grandfather, Prince Okina…”

Misao gasped and blinked.

Okina’s coffin still lay in state in the palace chapel.  Misao approached slowly and picked up a single rose from the coffin lid.  “This… this can’t be…” she whispered.

“Prince Okina is dead de gozaru ka?” asked Kenshin.

“It looks that way,” Aoshi replied.

“Just hold on!” Kaoru exploded.  She grabbed Anji by the front of his robe.  “How did this happen!”

“Please don’t maul my father that way, Miss,” Soujirou interrupted with a brilliant smile.  “My father is Prince-Archbishop Anji Wil Brogg Seyruun, second in line for the throne.”

Kaoru blinked.  “Huh?  He’s Prince Okina’s little brother?”

“I am horrified by what befell my brother,” Anji told them.

“Then explain the situation to us in more detail,” Aoshi requested.

Anji turned toward him.  “A few days ago we learned of a plot to assassinate Prince Okina.”

“Assassination?” Kaoru exclaimed.

“My brother worried that innocent citizens might be caught up in an attempt on his life, and so he left the city against our wishes.”  Kaoru could picture it well – stubborn old Okina, riding out of Seyruun on his great white horse while his brother and nephew ran after him.  “And then…”  And then the ground had exploded in fire, almost under the horse’s hooves.  “By the time we reached him, it was too late.  There was only one thing left in that burning clearing.”  The fire had prevented any attempt at rescue, had consumed everything organic that might have been used to resurrect the murdered prince, beyond the powers of even Cephied’s highest priest.  All that remained was Okina’s tonfa.  Misao took it with tears in her eyes.

“Then the coffin is empty de gozaru yo,” Kenshin murmured.

“So, were there any clues about the assassins?” asked Aoshi.

“We have no idea who they might be,” Anji replied.

“The enemy’s gone into hiding.  There’s no sign of them.”  Soujirou’s smile was as bright as ever, but his eyes were serious.

“You’re saying that Okina was their target, right?” Kaoru asked.

“It could be a plot by Seyruun’s enemies,” commented Aoshi.

“It’s not true!” Misao exploded.  “It couldn’t have happened!”

“Misao!” exclaimed Anji.

“Jiiya couldn’t lose to evil!!  He wouldn’t have left me!!”  Sobbing, she ran from the room.

“Misao!”

The storm raging outside only reflected the storm in Misao’s heart.  She gazed unseeing at an illustration in what had been her favorite story, remembering how she used to act out its deeds of derring-do, standing on the rail of the gallery in the presence chamber and brandishing a toy sword.  She had fallen – just as every nurse she had ever frightened away with her antics had sworn she would – and Okina had thrown the court into chaos by racing to catch her.  She remembered going to sleep with him sitting beside her, his tonfa at hand so he could chase away the monsters she thought lurked in her closet.  “Jiiya,” she whispered.  Tears dropped onto the page.  “Jiiya…”

“Hey, cheer up, Misao.”  She looked up to see Kaoru standing beside her.  “I’ll find the guys who did this to Okina and make them pay for it, okay?”

“But…”

“Come on, Misao!  Seyruun needs you!  And you never know when you might find you’re the target!”

Outside the window, rain lashed the city.  No one moved about the deserted streets, no one saw the shadowy figure standing atop a lamp post, his cape and long white beard whipping in the wind.

“Look,” Kaoru went on.  “Okina had kind of a strange way of going about it sometimes, but he was a strong leader who believed in peace.  Considering that, there are only two possibilities about who could have wanted him dead.  It might have been another kingdom, like Furinkan, who saw Seyruun as an obstacle to their own ambitions – or else…”

“What are you saying?” cried Misao.  “No way!”

Kaoru ignored her.  “Or else it’s someone who wanted the crown prince dead so they could have the throne.  And if that’s the case, then they’ll come after you next!”

In the rain and darkness, the caped shadow leaped from ground to balcony to roof, moving almost too quickly to follow.  Elsewhere in the palace, Aoshi broke off his meditation, suddenly alert.

Misao’s eyes went round.  “But who could it be?”

“That’s kind of a tough question.”

Lightning flared, silhouetting a man’s shape against the window.

“Misao! Get down!”  The door flew open and Aoshi burst into the room, the crimson glow of a fire spell already in his hand.

Flare Arrow!

He flung a spear of flame at the shape in the window – which evaporated as quickly as it had appeared.

Kenshin charged into the room, his sakabatou bare in his hand and Yahiko at his heels.  “What happened de gozaru ka?”

“An intruder!” Aoshi snapped.  “Stay on guard!”

“I sensed no threat de gozaru yo…”

Meanwhile, the commotion had roused the guards.  “Intruder!  There’s an intruder in the palace!”

“After him!  He may still be nearby! Don’t let him escape!”

But the mysterious figure was gone.

“I won’t forgive this,” murmured Misao, gazing down at torch-carrying guards running through the downpour.”

“What’s that?” asked Kaoru.

“Killing Jiiya for wicked personal ambition!”

Kaoru sweatdropped.  “Misao?”

“I swear in Jiiya’s name that I’ll smash the evil with the hammer of Justice!”

Misao wanted to see the spot where Okina died right then and there, but Aoshi managed to convince her that she could find little evidence at night in a rainstorm.  Fortunately, the storm blew itself out before morning, and the new day dawned clear and fine.  Not everybody was happy about the expedition, though.  “Sheesh, I couldn’t sleep last night with all the yellin’ and people throwin’ Flare Arrows around,” Yahiko yawned.  “Oi, weasel girl, where are we goin’ so early in the morning?”

“Do you need to ask?” the princess demanded.  “To investigate the scene of the crime!”

“I still say you ought to be looking at people, not places,” grumbled Kaoru.

“For example, that priest Anji,” Aoshi pointed out.

“That’s right,” agreed Kaoru.  “He’s next in line for the throne, so that ought to put him at the top of the suspect list.”

“If only that intruder last night hadn’t escaped,” the chimaera murmured.

Misao gave no sign of having heard.  “We can’t get anywhere if we just stand around!  No matter how fearsome our enemy might be, if all of us allies of Justice work together we have nothing to fear!”

Aoshi sweatdropped.

“Ano…” Kenshin asked.  “Where is Fujita-dono de gozaru ka?”

The man known to them as Gorou Fujita sat in a small soba shop, looking over a map.  “Naruhodo,” he murmured.  “Exactly what one would expect of the holy capital of white magic.”  The map showed that the city was laid out in the form of a great magical diagram, the holy star of Cephied.  The center was occupied by the palace complex – but the exact center of the city was not the royal residenced, as might be expected, or even the great hall where the monarch and his advisors heard petitions and made laws.  No, the exact center of the holy city was the high temple of Cephied.  But Fujita appeared to be more interested in the rest of the map.  “You could spend days exploring all the temples and libraries.  Miss, another bowl of plain soba, please.”

The waitress sighed.  There was little profit in a customer who sat by himself and ate nothing but plain soba.  “Don’t you want something to go with that?”

The place where Okina had died was completely empty.  Nothing remained except a swath of scorched grass, growing green again after the rain.  “Wow, nothin’ here at all,” muttered Yahiko.  “Even if you dug the whole place up.”

“It’s hopeless,” agreed Aoshi.  “And while we’re wasting time here, Fujita is…”

“It’s all right, Aoshi,” Kaoru reassured him.  “He won’t get away with anything.  Even if there is a clue to the Claire Bible in the city’s libraries, security is very tight right now after Okina’s death.  A suspicious character like Fujita won’t get very far.”

“Exactly!” cried Misao.  “Besides that, first we have to find the criminals who attacked Jiiya!  And for that we need clues!”

“Clues?” Aoshi repeated.  “In the end, didn’t Prince Okina come here because he was looking for clues too?”

Behind them, unnoticed, a figure rose out of a patch of shadow on the ground.

“Do you mean he was making himself an easy target so they’d attack him?” asked Kaoru.

“Sou de gozaru yo,” Kenshin murmured.  His eyes narrowed and paled, and his hand dropped to the hilt of his sakabatou.  “Okina-dono was strong.  No ordinary assassin could have taken him easily.  There had to have been – ”

Flare Arrow!

Kaoru whirled and pointed her bokken at someone behind her.  The figure vanished, but mocking laughter echoed around them.

“A mazoku?” asked Aoshi.

“Something even bigger than I expected!” Kaoru exclaimed.

“Here I thought I’d take Seyruun with no trouble,” the disembodied voice boomed, “but you’ve become quite an obstacle to me!”

“No way!” whispered Misao.  “Why would a mazoku want Seyruun?”

“You can ponder the answer to that in the next world!” the voice mocked.  “Now take your spell back!”

Kaoru looked up.  The vanished mazoku hung in the sky, a gaunt figure whose head looked like skin had been tightly stretched over a fire-eyed skull.  It wore an exaggerated version of a priest-mage’s robes, crowned by a collar of vicious spikes, and it held her Flare Arrow in long, sharp claws.  It flung the bolt, sending Kaoru and her friends scattering in all directions.  Then it divided itself into four, and attacked!

Digger Bolt!

Fiery lightning streaked from Aoshi’s upraised hand to strike one of the attackers.

“Hikari yo!”  Kenshin drew the Sword of Light and sliced through another of the monster bodies.

Elmekia Lance!

Kaoru blasted a third apart with white spirit-energy.

Misao drew out Okina’s tonfa as the fourth monster attacked her.  “Even fighting against a mazoku, my righteous heart will not waver!” she murmured.  “With the tonfa my grandfather left behind I shall punish you in the name of Justice!”

“Misao, what are you doing?” Kaoru screeched.  “No matter what you do, that tonfa’s useless against a mazoku!”

Misao grinned.  “I know!  That’s why I’ll use…”

Elmekia Lance!

It was perfect.  The mazoku had been expecting a physical attack, not a spiritual one.  Misao’s attack caught it completely off guard.  It vanished in a blaze of light.  Misao flashed a “V” sign at Kaoru.

Her triumph was short-lived.  The mazoku, that they thought they had vanquished, reappeared behind Misao, blue energy glowing in its claw, too close for them to counter its attack.  And then –

“Hold it right there!”  The mazoku whirled, looking around to see who had spoken.  “I cannot ignore this outrageous behavior any longer!”  Silhouetted against the sky was a caped figure.  “Darkness will never engulf a land lit by the light of Justice!”

“That’s the intruder from last night!” exclaimed Aoshi.

“Wait a minute,” Kaoru began.  “He sounds just like…”

The figure launched itself at the mazoku.  “For a peaceful future… Pacifist Crush Royal Special Thunder!”  As it attacked, Kaoru caught a glimpse of a long white beard tied by a jaunty pink bow.

“Jiiya!” cried Misao.  “Isn’t he cool?”

“Damn,” muttered the mazoku.  “I didn’t think Prince Okina was still alive.  No matter – it just means I take a different tack now.”  It vanished in a sphere of negation.

Okina glanced around.  “Looks like they’re all gone.”

“They vanished in shame when the realized Justice wasn’t with him,” agreed Misao.

“Oh, were they that bashful?”  Grandfather and granddaughter laughed.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” Okina began.  “I didn’t mean to cause such an uproar.”

“What’s goin’ on here?” demanded a thoroughly confused Yahiko.

“Well,” explained Okina, “everything happened pretty much as you thought it did, but when I was caught in the blast I had a great idea.  If the assassination plot was a grab for the throne by one of my relatives, if I was dead I’d be able to see what his next move was.”

“And when he moved, you’d have the evidence to stop him!” added Misao.

“That’s right.  But your friends arrived before I could check on what was happening in the palace.  I only sneaked a peek into your room last night to make sure my dear Misao was safe.”

“And almost got Flare Arrowed,” murmured Aoshi.

“I’m afraid that even though the current crisis is over, we’re still facing the main problem,” Okina went on.

“I know,” replied Kaoru.  “A mazoku’s involved in this.  It’s going to get really bad.”

“In other words, the real battle is still to come,” Aoshi added.

“Still, no use sitting around and worrying about it,” Okina grinned.  “We’ll just have to deal with everything as it comes.”

“I have a feeling we’re getting’ dragged into trouble again,” muttered Yahiko.

“No problem, no problem!” Okina cackled.

“Stop taking it so lightly!”

NOTES, EXPLANATIONS ETC.

There’s something rotten in the state of Seyruun… but it’s not quite what you think it is.  (But if you know the source or were paying attention to the casting, you can figure that out.)  My thanks to Luriko-Ysabeth once again for her assistance and inspiration in dealing with Seyruun’s dysfunctional royals.  I’m assuming that Cephied does not have a celibate clergy…

Issun-boshi is a folklore character, the Japanese version of Tom Thumb – the name literally means “one-inch monk.”  Like his Western counterpart, Issun-boshi armed himself with miniature weapons and became a mighty warrior.

The mazoku is based on Kaiou, Amakusa’s evil henchman from the Shimabara arc.  Well, he sort of looks like a mazoku anyway, and there’s a reason for using him here…