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Gyousou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Kouri is still only ten years old."
Enki knitted his brow. "I was curious about this before. Your name is very interesting."
Taiki blushed a little. "Actually, my name is Kouri, without the grass radical."
"I see..."
"Oh, that's right! I heard that En Taiho was also born in Hourai. What was your name?"
"Rokuta. I don't have a surname, because my status was not high enough."
Taiki tilted his head. It seemed like it had been a long time since everyone had a surname. Could it be that the Kirin of
En has lived a long while? "When were you born?"
Enki glanced at the ceiling. "500 years before you!"
"Huh!?"
In the capital, flags fluttered about. To the common people, who were already weary of the extravagance of the
previous king, the simple coronation ceremony was even more favorable.
Beside the throne stood a child. His hair color was hard to come by, but because of where he was, it would not be
wrong to assume that he was the kirin.
A wise elder explained that Taiki was a black kirin. Though he wasn't clear on what sort of special characteristics a
black kirin possessed, he had heard that they were very rare creatures. The people of the square were all filled with
pride.
From on top of the platform, Taiki looked down at the thunderous multitude. He was a little bit afraid, and yet there
was no feeling of guilt as they gazed upon him, and this made him happy.
Under such great and eager anticipation, Gyousou stepped onto the platform. The square boiled over with cheering
and applause.
Gyousou calmly sat upon the throne. Taiki walked towards him and kneeled down.
Without any difficulty, Taiki bowed his head, and pressed his forehead onto Gyousou's shoes. The thing he wasn't
able to do with King En was now exceptionally easy. He didn't feel any sort of discomfort as he carried out his duty.
His heart filled with joy.
The tightly packed crowd of people once more rose up in thunderous applause.
--Taiou sokui! King Tai has ascended to the throne!
In Taikyokukoku, the Far Kingdom of Tai, a new dynasty has begun!
In the spring of the twenty-second year of Wagen, the Saiho suffered Shitsudou and thereafter died. Within a
month, the king passed away and was posthumously called Kyouou, the Extravagant King. The Taiou had reigned for
one-hundred and twenty-four years, and was interred at Souryou upon Tappisan.
In the first month of the same year, the Ranka of Tai appeared on Houzan. Within a few days, a shoku struck Gozan.
The Taika was separated from its branch and disappeared. A hundred shin and a thousand sen searched everywhere
for it.
In the first month of the thirty-second year, the Kokki returned to Houzan. Yellow flags fluttered across the world. In
the summer, Saku Gyousou entered Koukai by way of the Reikonmon, climbed Houzan, and accepted the oath of Taiki.
He was entered into the Shinseki and was then called Taiou.
Gyousou, original surname Boku, given name Sou, was a man of Garyou. He achieved the rank of Kingun Shougun,
and was stationed in Sakuken of Zuishu. He received the Will of the Heavens and ascended to the throne. The era of
Koushi was proclaimed. The dynasty of the Sakuou began.
--Taishi Sakusho (The History of Tai, Book of Saku)
AFTERWORD TO VOLUME TWO
I don't know when it started, but there's been a Romance of the Three Kingdoms boom... I already said that in the
previous volume. I am that Ono who has already written until she doesn't know what else to write, and is afraid of
writing afterwords.
After my previous book, Shadow of the Moon, Sea of the Shadow, was published, I received a question from many
readers: "Could it be that you didn't plan on writing a series?" Thank you very much. For the time being, I intend to
write a series. In addition, there are preparations, and to that extent, with the support of the readers-sama, I will keep
writing... If only that were the recent publishing situation. Oh, relentless world...
In brief, I'll try my best to write as much as I can. I also ask everyone for lots of advice.
Since I aim to write a series, I regret that my writing speed is too slow. I've thought about it very carefully. If I were to
write a book a month...in an instant, the series would also be completed, and following that, I'd have to start a new
story... It's easy to say five books or ten books, but when I work it out, I'll have to spend many years' time. When I
think about that, I can only put it aside with a "tohoho." However, for those readers waiting for my next work, I feel so
helpless... I will be diligent.
The speed of my writing is already slow; if I didn't have the help of a word processor, the situation would be even
more dire. I can't even imagine that. If there were no word processors in the world, I don't think there would have
appeared such an author called Ono. So, I must really thank our home's old-boned 98-kun (also called Zorac-kun) that I
still whip around, and the support it gives me.
That's right, the Zorac we have at home is already an old soldier. We often think about getting a newer, faster
machine, but because I've saved so many definitions in the old machine, this isn't a problem that can be solved with a
new computer and new software. For instance, when I type 'kuji' for the 'nine words,' it will appear as 'Rin Byou Tou
Sha Kai Jin Retsu Zai Zen' instead of 'Rin Byou Tou Sha Kai Jin Retsu Zen Kyou.' And if I take into account the fact
that this story is a series, the more I write, the more strange words will be added. I wonder how many megabytes the
dictionary will be a year from now... Hmmm...
Since I wrote the previous book, I often hear people saying, "Even the second standard set of kanji aren't enough to
use." But JIS-2 unexpectedly served its purpose. Just when I was praising its performance, for the first time there was a
character that couldn't be found in the second standard set of kanji. Just thinking about simply organizing the already
enormous dictionary and then all the words that I've added, makes my head spin.
...If I keep talking like this, people are going to think that I'm a computer otaku. I should say first that I am definitely
not a person with extensive knowledge. I may want to be an otaku, but I just don't have enough time. Just dealing with
the word processor on the Zorac (with its attached communications function) already keeps me busy. I'm very, very
sorry.
Oh, yes, speaking of communications, I should talk about the SF forum at NIF. Thanks for the encouragement you
guys gave me last year. When the vote for the best was going on, you guys especially wrote a commentary that made
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