Fates Parallel Chapter 354 - Assignment

As soon as the girls arrived back at Misun’s mansion, the princess practically ambushed them.

“There you are! Oh, good, you’re all here. I need to know the type and grade of your dimensional ring—Yan Yue said she doesn’t know.”

Jia blinked.

“The what?”

“Oh for—you’ve had it for how long and you don’t even know?! Fine—come here, we need to do some tests.”

While Jia was whisked away by Misun to figure out exactly how much they could cram into her storage ring, Eui and Meili joined the others at the table. At some point Guan Yu had joined the other Purewater elders, and Rika had finished her conversation with Eunae and Ja Yun.

They were going over a map when Eui sat down.

“What did I miss?”

Yue sighed and shook her head.

“Nothing you could have contributed to—no offense. Mostly just boring logistics stuff, but I can give you a summary.”

Eui grimaced, but it was better that she knew.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Earth Rending Sword will send footsoldiers to Geumji, led by Guan Yi, while Xin Wei will lead support units from Flowing Purewater to back them and our allies up. Naturally, this means our wedding is tragically indefinitely delayed.”

Xin Wei shook his head and chuckled.

“Convenient, that. But I’m leading in name only—a ridiculous bit of political smokescreen to obscure what everyone already knows.”

Eui raised an eyebrow.

“Which is?”

Lin Xiulan giggled.

“The healers will be from my Cult of Harmonious Stars, and I’ll be leading them myself. I’m not going to put my girls at the mercy of Sun Quan’s men, no matter how much I trust Wei’er.”

“Why not have Guan Yu lead his sect, then?”

The elder in question leveled Eui with his stoic glare.

“I have every confidence in my son to lead my armies. Candidly, I am the strongest single-combatant between the three of us and as such the most efficient way to allocate me is to the group chasing after Longyan.”

Xin Hai nodded.

“Don’t confuse status for power. Guan Yu may well be a match for even Yan De or Sun Quan.”

Guan Yu shook his head.

“Only if the circumstances were to my advantage. Qian Shi is better, but I couldn’t convince him to cooperate alongside Ienaga Yumi. The Austere Mountain will not be committing any xiantian assets.”

Eui was slightly surprised to hear the grandmaster admit his inferiority so readily, but Guan Yu wasn’t a man who minced words.

“I think I can guess the answer, but why won’t he cooperate with Master Ienaga?”

Ienaga frowned, thumbing the hilt of her sword idly.

“We’ve met before, on the battlefield. I killed his disciple and fought him to a standstill before he was forced to retreat with his forces.”

Eui winced.

“Yeah, that’ll do it...”

Yue tapped the table with her finger, scowling.

“Which brings us to the part that actually does concern you. We have a list of the elites that Yan De and Bai Renshu are committing to the tomb expedition, and it’s like they engineered it to include everyone who hates you. Zheng Long, Han Yu, Bai Lin—by the emperor, I’m shocked they didn’t somehow manage to get Sun Jaehwa in there.”

Eui looked over the list. She didn’t think she had that many enemies, but aside from the three obvious ones, the remaining names were people she recognized from the academy. Qin students who’d either been part of Yan Zhihao’s entourage, or who she’d faced during the Grand Tournament.

Yue chewed on her thumbnail and huffed.

“When I heard about the terms of your arrangement with Shen Yu, I tried to get myself onto the list, but I was denied. Which brings us to this—who are you bringing with you?”

Eui scratched her cheek.

“That’s not really my decision to make, is it? I mean, I was supposed to ask you to attack the academy, but it looks like you’re all way ahead of me.”

Rika snorted.

“Of course we are—did you think we were going to say no? We’ve got your back, Yoshika.”

“I know, but you don’t have to—”

Eui clutched her chest as a spike of pain shot through her, permeating through her meridians and running soul-deep. Yue smacked her in the head with a closed fan.

“Don’t try to talk us out of it, you moron! I cannot believe how cavalier you idiots are about soul magic. For that reason alone I would suggest bringing Eunae with you.”

Eunae winced.

“Um...actually, I’ve been forbidden. Misun was quite firm about it, and apparently it’s an order that was given to her by the queen before we even left. I’m not to approach or enter the Bloody Sovereign’s tomb.”

Yue looked like she was about to flip the table, but she took a deep breath and turned back to Eui.

“Well then—other than Eunae, apparently—who would you prefer to join you?”

Her first choice wasn’t even a question, and even if Eunae had been an option, it wouldn’t have been her.

“You, of course. There’s nobody I’d rather have on our side.”

Yue blushed, taken aback.

“That’s very flattering, but while I’ve been diligent in my practice, I’ve never been much of a combatant.”

“There’s more to it than that. You said yourself that the Qin expedition hates me—we’re going to need you if the truce with Zheng Long is going to last more than a minute.”

“Eui, this may come as a shock to you, but I’m not exactly on the best terms with my ex-boyfriend.”

Eui shrugged.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to win him over with that signature charm of yours.”

“Tsk, fuck you too, Eui. Who else, then?”

Eui snickered, then looked up at the ceiling and stroked her chin, considering. Ideally, she’d want to bring Eunae or Hayakawa, but since Eunae was off the table and Hayakawa wasn’t present, it limited her options.

Xin Wei and Guan Yi were already accounted for, and Pan Jiaying was completely out of the question. That really left only Rika and Ja Yun. Eui frowned—Rika was third stage, but only just, while Ja Yun was sitting somewhere around the peak of the second stage.

Neither seemed like a good choice, now that she thought about it. She’d greedily demanded to be able to bring five friends when dealing with Shen Yu, but now she was wondering if it was wise to bring any at all. She’d be putting them in danger.

Eui turned her attention to Rika, and saw her oldest friend giving her a knowing smile. Eui furrowed her brows.

“What?”

“Nothing. Go on—you looked like you were about to say something.”

Eui didn’t like the feeling of anticipation she was sensing, but set it aside.

“I don’t think I should bring anyone else—it’s too dangerous.”

Rika slapped her thigh and let out a barking laugh.

“Hah! Pay up, Yan!”

Yue scowled, and handed Rika a small pouch of coins.

“That’s what I get for overestimating Yoshika’s self-preservation.”

Rika chuckled as she pocketed the coin.

“We already talked about this, Eui—we’re all in on this. Everyone is. We know we’re risking our lives, and so are you. We’re all adults who can make our own decisions, and this is the one we’ve made—so make yours! Who’s joining you in the tomb?”

Eui crossed her arms and pointed her tail at Rika angrily.

“If you’ve already talked about it so much, who do you think should go?”

Ja Yun, who’d been mostly silent so far, politely raised her hand.

“Me.”

Eui raised an eyebrow, but Ja Yun preempted her comment.

“Hear me out! I know I’m weak compared to everyone else, but even if I was never much of a soldier, I am a trained warmage. More importantly...no offense, but you’re terrible at arcane arts.”

Eui narrowed her eyes dangerously.

“What do you mean we’re ‘terrible’? We can produce talismans faster than most mages, write our own formations, decipher spells as they’re cast, and even helped invent a few spells. We just don’t use talismans much because our other techniques are usually enough to cover whatever we need.”

“R-right, of course—I didn’t mean to insult you—you’re exemplary warmages, there’s no questioning that. But I’ve been studying with you for a while now and...your theory just isn’t there.”

“Whatever, so we’re not about to write any academic papers, but it’s the results that matter. As long as we can read and write talismans and formations, what does it matter?”

Ja Yun looked to Rika for support, who smiled and shrugged.

“Don’t look at me—I’m actually terrible at arcane arts. All the spells I know are memorized. You’re the expert—prove it.”

Eunae gave her an encouraging smile and Ja Yun nodded, taking a breath to center herself.

“Okay, yes, that’s true—for a warmage—but there’s a difference between knowing what a formation does, and understanding how it does it. Between replicating and modifying. I know you helped invent that soul sight formation, but how much of that was Hyeong Daesung doing the hard parts?”

Eui pursed her lips.

“We still know how to write our own formations from scratch.”

“Yes, based on Hwang Sung’s theory of modularized formation arrays, which is great for combining and routing known effects into new emergent applications, but what happens when you encounter something completely unfamiliar? Do you know how the Sky Hall in Songdo converts excess tribulation energy into usable mana? Have you managed to replicate Do Hye’s barrier formation?”

“It’s a sealing formation, actually. It keeps things in, not out.”

Ja Yun gave her a pointed look.

“How many years of study did that revelation take?”

“...Four.”

“And that’s with help from Hyeong Daesung, one of the greatest academic minds in Goryeo and the apprentice of the man who created that formation in the first place. The tomb is going to have ancient magic from another world created by a guy who has literal gods trembling in their boots. You need an expert, but you’ll have to make do with me.”

Rika sighed.

“Stick the landing, Yun—you are an expert. I’ve seen you studying those spells day in and day out—could an amateur have reverse engineered Misun’s windwalking spell?”

Ja Yun blushed.

“No—I’m not—”

She shook her head.

“Sorry, you’re right. Eui—Yoshika, I’m not just the best option you have, but short of Hyeong Daesung himself, I’m the best option you’d ever find. I can do this!”

Eui hesitated. They made a compelling argument, but she was still worried about the danger.

“Are you sure? You’d be leaving Rika behind, and we don’t know how long it will be. What about Iseul?”

Ja Yun sighed.

“We already talked about it. I don’t expect Rika to wait for me.”

“I will, though.”

She ignored Rika’s interruption and continued, her eyes filled with determination.

“This is important. If there’s such a thing as destiny, then it placed me here for a reason. I haven’t felt this certain of something since my first awakening. As for Iseul...”

“I can help too.”

The voice that interrupted was hollow and distorted, and Eui was surprised to see that it had come from Iseul, who’d oozed up alongside Ja Yun. Eui  furrowed her brows.

“Since when could you talk?”

Rather than answer in words, Iseul returned to her sign language, explaining that she’d figured out how to make the right vibrations to replicate sound a long time ago, but that she had a hard time keeping her liquid body from absorbing most of the sound.

“So you don’t like your voice?”

Iseul signed back to indicate that she hadn’t said that. Eui snorted and shook her head.

“Even if it wasn’t too dangerous for little blobs like you, it’s a two-person limit, remember? I’m pretty sure you count.”

Ja Yun reached out a hand and let Iseul flow up her arm and settle around her shoulders, the elemental protruding her face out of Ja Yun’s shoulder in an unsettling manner.

“Actually, I don’t think she does. You got an exception for familiars, didn’t you? I’ve got a magical bond with Iseul—the normal kind, not whatever you’ve got going on with Heian. We used a non-binding spell, but she’s functionally my familiar—we can even share mana.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“She’s pretty good with magic, being made of it and all, and elementals are pretty sturdy. I don’t think she has anything to worry about unless someone directly targets her, and if they do then they’ll have to answer to you, right?”

Eui chuckled.

“I appreciate the confidence, but we might end up getting caught between xiantian fighters, and there’s no way I can promise to keep you both protected.”

Iseul stuck out a pair of pseudopods to sign that she was a big girl who could make her own decisions. Eui wanted to point out that she was barely a year old, but Ja Yun shrugged.

“There you have it. We’ve made our decisions, if you’ll have us.”

Eui scratched the back of her head.

“Well it’s hard to argue with that. Especially when you’re so adamant about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so assertive.”

Ja Yun chuckled.

“Ah, that—I asked Eunae to give me a temporary boost in courage. I’m going to completely freak out when it wears off.”

Suddenly, Eunae turned red and averted her eyes, while Rika covered her mouth and tried to suppress her laughter. Ja Yun slowly turned pale.

“Uh...guys?”

Eunae covered her face.

“I’m so sorry, Yun.”

Rika broke, clutching her sides as she failed to hold back her laughter. Ja Yun’s eyes widened with a terrible realization.

“You—you did actually do it, right?”

Eunae’s guilty refusal to meet Ja Yun’s eyes was answer enough.

“O-oh...”

Eui gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“Welcome to the team.”