Enlightened Empire

Chapter 302

After the court session had been dissolved, Corco and Sumaci had a long discussion in private. In the end, they realized that they had to adjust their plans, by a lot. With the local warriors riled up against all foreigners, and the next moves of their enemies still unknown, they were in a much more passive position than they had first thought. In the end, they had to come up with a plan that either put the locals on their side, or with one that wouldn't have to rely on Rasacopa's warriors.

On a morning a few days after his arrival in Rasacopa, Corco traveled through the palace with his guards by his side, deeper into the Green Court's main complex. He followed Sumaci's directions and soon reached the heart of the palace.

Hidden in a corner people rarely visited, even beyond the Grand Hall where they had held yesterday's meeting, he found an old wooden building. Despite its low height and dilapidated state, it still exuded the grandeur only long and treasured history could create. Once, this place may have been an important part of Rasacopa's palace complex. Now however, it was virtually abandoned. Only a single, sleepy guard at the entrance proved that the people of Rasacopa were still aware of its existence.

“Hello, good man,” Corco said as he came closer, “Are you in charge of this place?”

Only when Corco had already finished his sentence did the guard look up from his daze, using his spear like a crutch to prop up his body. Clearly, this warrior wasn't part of Rasacopa's elite and had been pushed here either as a punishment or for an easy job.

Even so, he still showed some suspicion towards the stranger who had come to his place of work. Slowly, his eyes focused as he stared at Corco's unfamiliar face. Only when the king rearranged his belt with the Hulpatec family's seal hung on it did the tired guard's spine straighten a bit. Corco was glad that Sumaci had provided him with the royal seal. It would make things a lot easier.

“Eh, aahh...” Now that he knew of Corco's important status, the guard stuttered as he tried to remember the arrival's earlier question. After a few awkward seconds, he finally found his footing in the conversation.

“Not the entire library, lord. Just the door, lord,” he said.

“In that case, would you please lead me to the man in charge? There are some things I need to study here, and a guiding hand would be appreciated.”

“Of course, lord. Please follow me, lord.”

After a bow, the warrior opened the door without any key or lock and led Corco into the dark interior. While the Verdant Folk were Yaku, and thus adherents of Pacha just like the Medalans, they followed a slightly different strand of the faith. Considering their surroundings, it was obvious that they put less focus on the star worship of the religion and were more preoccupied with water instead.

As a result, almost all houses of the Verdant Folk had some kind of water feature attached to them, many of them inside closed rooms. Only this royal library was a big exception in this regard. Instead of water, it sported a murky, dry air that was meant to protect the ancient tomes of generations past from rot.

Fascinated by the ancient building, Corco followed the bored guard through the halls of the library. They soon marched past rows upon rows of shelves, filled with rice paper, wooden scrolls and rare metal engravings. In the end, they arrived at a clearing in the forest of books. From a distance, they could already see the warm, yellow glow in the darkness of the library.

The light came from a single oil lamp atop a large desk in the center of the open space. However, the lamp took up little room on the desk. since most of the space was occupied by a massive piece of cloth, engraved with old Yaku marking, withered by time. An old man with long strands of gray hair down his back was hunched over the cloth, his squinted eyes only centimeters away from the surface.

“Master Liwru,” the guard called out from a distance. “There's a guest.”

The old man looked over, but from his murky gaze it was obvious that he didn't really see them. Even so, he marched towards the new arrivals.

“Greetings, guest,” he said with a voice that was smoother than Corco had expected. The old man stopped right in front them. In fact, he came far closer than Corco was comfortable with. In order to see who had come to visit the library, the old man leaned in and squinted hard, only centimeters from Corco's face. When the king leaned back in discomfort to avoid the old man's milky, unfocused eyes, the librarian finally relented and stepped back.

“Please excuse my rudeness, guest. But over the years, the wisdom of the ancients has robbed me of my eyesight. Maybe they believe me not worthy.” The old man bowed in Corco's vague direction. “I am Liwru, head librarian of Rasacopa's royal library. I believe we have not met before, for unlike my eyes, my memory still serves me well.”

“No we haven't met,” Corco admitted. “I'm a guest of your green princess. Me and my men have come here to assist your people in the defense of your island. I suspect you can show us around?”

Suspicious, the king stared at the librarian whose eyes drifted around the room without focus. He wasn't sure the old man was in any state to lead them anywhere.

“Indeed I can, young man. As you are a guest of the princess, and here to help us in need, this old man will assist with whatever wisdom the ancestors have left behind in these halls. What can this old man serve with? Maybe ancient battle plans and strategies? Or maybe some works on diplomacy?”

“Neither, thank you. I'm looking for an accurate map of the region. I'd like anything that's detailed and describes the waterways around Rasacopa well.”

Again, the old man stepped closer and stared hard. Though this time, he focused on the seal on Corco's belt, rather than on the king himself. Before, the old man had probably just assumed Corco's high status from the way the guard had treated him.

Now however, he tried to verify his guest's identity for himself. Of course, Corco understood the old man's thoughts very well. Maps were considered top secret for any kingdom, so he couldn't just trust his instincts. Instead, he would have to trust his failing eyes.

In the process of the identification, the guard looked uncomfortable with the rude behavior towards this important guest. As if he wanted to say something, he opened and closed his mouth, but stayed quiet in the end. Maybe he didn't want to embarrass the old man. Thus, it was up to Corco to help out a bit. He took the seal off his belt and handed it to the head librarian.

“There you go,” he said.

The librarian took the seal and began to inspect it in detail. Meanwhile, Corco decided to give the old man some extra incentive for his help. After all, there was always a chance the man wouldn't fully trust his unknown guest even with the royal seal. As a result, he may hold back on some maps and only show him inferior versions. However, the accuracy of the maps would be an important part of Corco and Sumaci's plans, so Corco chose to make things more enticing.

“You know, I can help fix your myopia,” he said out of the blue.

“Honorable guest tends to joke,” the old man replied as he returned the seal. Now that he had identified the royal seal, his way of address had changed.

“It's not a joke,” Corco insisted. “So long as you can properly help me out here, I'll get you some decent glasses made. That way, you can see again like when you were young. You'll be able to enjoy the sights of the world again, wouldn't that be great?”

While Corco was speaking, the librarian had extinguished the lamp on the table, leaving them in almost complete darkness.

“The maps are this way. Please follow, honorable guest.” He turned towards the guard. “Ah, you can return to the entrance, young man.”

With this, the librarian made his way down a corridor deeper into the library. Since the old man had ignored Corco's offer, he probably didn't believe him. Nothing I can do about that, the king thought. So he just shrugged and followed along, past the history of this country. After he had followed for a while, the shuffling of the old man's rough sandals on the ground was all Corco could hear.

“So,” the awkward king tried to fill the silence, “why does this place seem so deserted? It looks like you've got an impressive collection here. How come no one's using it?”

The old man stopped in front of a shelf that reached the ceiling and began to take out scrolls made from sturdy animal hide.

“Recent generations of kings have been more interested in practical action than in the study of knowledge. Then again, that is how the people here have always been.” The old man sighed and continued to pull out more maps and stacking them on a large table in another clearing. After, he also ignited another lamp on the table to fill the space with dim light.

“Not even the maps are of interest to them anymore,” the old man continued. “These days, the kings are judged by how well they know the islands and the currents by memory. For the warriors, all that matters is practical experience. How many days, how many years they have spent aboard a ship. Yet down here, all the knowledge that their forefathers have suffered so much hardship to collect goes to waste. A right shame it is.”

“Sounds like it.” Since Corco knew little of the island's history, he wasn't in a position to judge the locals. So he just gave a non-committal answer, something the old man didn't miss.

“Please ignore my rambling, honorable guest. This old man talks too much sometimes. All that loneliness, you must understand.” Maybe he thought that Corco's answer had stemmed from disinterest, rather than respect. “Now then, what is it honorable guest wants to find, or what course does guest wish to plot? Is there anything specific this old man can help locate?”

“Maybe. I'm looking for a small island, or group of islands. They should be somewhere in the vicinity of the Green Island. We can also consider all other places controlled by Rasacopa. Preferably, these islands I'm looking for should be along the major waterways to Rasacopa itself, or to the shores of the Green Island in general.”

“Hmmm... There might be several candidates.” The old man began to rummage through the maps and spread out one that gave a good view of the Green Island and the surrounding waters.

In fact, Corco was quite impressed by the quality of the map itself. It turned out that it was much more detailed than the work of his ancestors in Medala. Though this was no wonder, since the Verdant Folk practically lived at sea. It was no surprise they would be better navigators, and put a higher value on precise maps.

“Here for example,” the librarian said and pointed towards an island group in the east of the Green Island. “This formation here seems quite fitting in terms of its position. Most travelers from three of the Colored Islands have to cross through there if they want to reach Rasacopa. As do guests from northern Medala, in fact. However, the islands here are closer to rocks in the water than to actual islands, very small. Is there any specific purpose honorable guest has in mind for them? Maybe that could help narrow down the search.”

“Sure thing,” Corco replied. “The green princess plans to set up an outer defensive perimeter around the island. As you may or may not have heard, we've had allies stuck in the harbor, and they can't come ashore for political reasons. Since they can't help out here, and since building defenses in Rasacopa has proven difficult as well, we may as well use our allies outside the island. I'll take them with me and set up a defensive perimeter around the Green Island, build some towers, place some cannons... station some ships in strategic places maybe. Once we're done, it'll be both an early warning system as well as a defensive measure against enemy invasions.”

“What an outstanding plan, and noble undertaking. As expected of princess, she carries the wisdom of her forbears.” The old man's face lighted up, even in the dim shine of the lamp. “In this case, there are several islands this old man could recommend. Please observe here.”

The librarian leaned over the maps again and began to explain the surroundings of the Green Island as if he had perfect eyesight, while Corco listened with great intent. Thus, bit by bit, their next direction became clear.