~ Qianyu's Diary: Mission 2, Day 1[Journey] ~
The ride… is boring. It's not like there are too many different sceneries when we have barely crossed the inner circle of the Imperial Region… we basically crossed the same distance as we did when we drove to Ferrarius… City.
Elder Brother is truly smart. In only a few weeks he made the town into a city, gave them a long-lasting foundation for them to build upon it a prosperous city. If one day the city becomes really large, then it would be interesting to see how it compares to the drawing I have made for it already. Maybe I could make it a series, as Ji Li calls them.
Hmm… for the first day, we will visit a barony, right? In this part of the country, there are many wildflowers growing freely, mainly because think nature is holy and shouldn't be touched if it isn't explicitly blocking something.
I'm not sure why… but I kind of don't have the same reverence other eunuchs have for it. I really like nature, but somehow… it feels more like it's there and looks good, we also should take care of it… but to call it 'holy' or even 'divine'?
Is it because I am of wind element? But Ji Li is of Wood and Ice element, shouldn't he be a designated caretaker of any and all gardens? After all, Ice is not only cold but also perseverance in many cases.
I find it difficult to understand how he does things, if I am perfectly honest. Shixuan and I kinda just followed him when we were younger, then got somewhat stuck with him after pestering him into teaching us the funny words he used.
Anyways! I've had this urge to explore a bit the whole way and it's not going anywhere. The only thing I can do is sit and draw the places I'd explore; in the future I will use them as reference points to act upon!
The tree there… looks very nice! Oh that bush is huge; nah this small hill has an interesting colour… from here I can't see the main emerald tree, but a small green shine still is all around us influencing the nature!
…
As Ji Li was meditating, one of his brothers wrote in his diary, the other had his nose nearly touching the formation jade. Thinking about it, he took out his Ocarina and played some nice calm tunes that help with focus. There was only intent and some tunes, no real song he was singing on, just enjoying the mood.
They had slept in a barony the first night, only visiting the branch hall to sleep and look at some reports. Since there had been no unusual activity, they hurriedly went on the next day.
The second night, they visited a viscounty. Again, there was nothing inte-
Ji Li had used his Talent on several plants throughout the viscounty when he arrived, being careful to make sure that no one saw it, he also spread some around the outskirts. He felt a sudden rush of essence around one of the plants he strengthened a few dozen meters away from the city gate.
This should not happen, as a sudden rush would mean the use of essence in the environment, but he had heard a bit about the viscount and also about the guards he had; the Viscount may be a noble of the viscount-rank, but he was not yet in the materialisation realm.
He was barely in the Talent Refining stage, because his father, the previous viscount, gave him the rank as he left for the military. It was a movement all around the country, the request of the marquis wasn't the only one of its kind.
But Ji Li couldn't just jump to the situation and look what's happening; that would do him no good, especially as he was not proficient in neither speed nor stealth. So, he just calls upon Qianyu and told him to check it out instead.
"Yu, if you see anything suspicious, directly come back. No matter what it is, as long as it's not of a very high importance, we would only report it back and ask other eunuchs to check it out. We still have a mission to fill, and I'm not really interested in playing detective in some viscounty when we have better things to do."
Qianyu nodded and strode forward with each step he took, silent and fast. He was more fit for scouting, there was no need for them to bother with it if they had one proficient in it.
Just a few minutes later, Qianyu came back with a bit of a confused expression. He sat down and explained "I saw the viscount and two of his guards, they rode off towards the forest in the north. They rode very fast, and I could barely keep up.
When they stopped, I finally got a proper glance at them… the young viscount was playing in the forest with a beast. It was a small grey fox that sat in his cage and was forced to run around and catch the meat the viscount threw.
I thought it was a bit weird for them to make a show out of it, but then I heard the viscount say 'Such a stupid beast, we bought it for so many ES only for it to never leave and move around if it's not for food! Father will visit in a few weeks again, if I can't make it seem like this shitty fox likes me a lot, how am I supposed to keep it!'"
Ji Li was somewhat surprised and hurriedly asked "Did the fox give off any essence or the sort?"
Qianyu thought a bit and then nodded "Yes, it was a bit, but it would use essence whenever it run after the meat… and a bit when it looked at the viscount. It seemed that it was angry, but I'm not sure about the expressions of a fox, the viscount hadn't noticed either."
This… Ji Li didn't know how a viscount of the empire would be so stupid "Go call the guards, tell them to drive in the carriage. Shixuan! Go and call the branch leader immediately. How can people be so incompetent when there is trouble right below their eyes!"
It didn't take long before the carriage was in front, and a Branch Leader came out of the inner building of the branch. They hadn't seen him earlier as they only arrived late in the evening. Breakfast would be when they greeted each other and then left.
The Branch Leader was a Senior Eunuch, he and greeted Ji Li a bit grumpy "Hello younger brothers. What seems to be the issue?"
Ji Li eyed the senior eunuch and looked coldly at him. It didn't matter at the moment whether they were part of the same faction; this was a major mistake "How come you had not reported that the young viscount is rearing beasts?"
The branch leader was confused for a second before he replied "Ah! You mean the young fox? The Viscount had catched him in the woods and was keeping it as a pet."
Looking even colder, Ji Li questioned again "Since when has it been a norm to just take things as you were told? The beast has primary control over its essence; any beast like that has to be registered. But what is worse, is that it is showing signs of primary sentience!"
The branch leader seemed happy "This is good news! The young viscount will be alighted!"
Incompetence was something that made Ji Li angrier than he should be, but he couldn't stop himself as he saw the guards "You!" he pointed at one "keep the Senior Eunuch beholden here for now. Don't let him leave till I'm back!"
He initially wanted to check out on the senior eunuch and maybe ask him for help with the communication, but it seemed he would only cause more trouble if he didn't even know the laws. As an eunuch, he was more than a disgrace.
The guard he pointed at seemed hesitant till one of the other guards whispered something to him "The eunuch we follow has more than enough authority to even put a Count under arrest! Follow his command or we will be the ones to suffer."
An Eunuch was superior in rank in comparison to all other ranks when it comes to matters that would cause instability inside of the empire; not to mention a count, if his elder brothers were here, they could even detain a Duke if they had the evidence to later on back it up.
The Senior Eunuch was angry for a second for such a command till he saw the six Talent Refining guards… he was still confused and angry and expected a proper explanation, but he wouldn't cause a ruckus at the moment; his education hadn't failed him that hard.
Ji Li went out and entered the carriage, Qianyu outside with the guards, telling them where to go. Inside, Shixuan wanted to ask, but he knew that he would get to understand it soon enough, so he wasn't worried about that. His brother wouldn't make a mistake if it was this serious, his brother wouldn't be raging like that otherwise.