Who could have imagined that when the Lady Witch used to visit for royal snacks, her frequent complaints were actually about this—
If she issued a divine oracle to her New Moon followers saying she wanted something sweet, the next time she looked at the altar, there would be sacrifices of people suffering from diabetes, their flesh and blood sickly sweet.
If she said she wanted something salty, the cultists would offer up some poor soul who had been salted to death, their skin and flesh encrusted with brine and their very soul dried and shriveled.
If she said she wanted something soft, someone would go and crush a person’s bones to splinters.
If she said she wanted something hot, someone would push a living person into a furnace.
Despite living peacefully on the moon, grisly fragments of her people would periodically turn up at her doorstep.
The followers simply could not understand the oracles of the deity they worshipped, and the Witch had no way to explain it to them.
The Azure Sky King remembered when the Green Mist King, at the behest of their court teacher, had tried to subtly offer help to the Witch to resolve this issue by initiating a dialogue with the New Moon Church.
The Witch had refused without a moment's hesitation.
She was exceptionally sensitive to malice.
Even when they tried to subtly probe where the remnants of the New Moon Sect were hiding, who was still performing sacrifices, or who was acting in the name of the moon, the Lady Witch would simply chew on her royal snacks and vaguely dodge the topic.
If she grew annoyed by the questioning, she would simply refuse outright.
“Perhaps the Green Mist King was just stressed by administrative affairs,” the Azure Sky King said cautiously. “The next time you visit, he might sign the permits readily and give you more snacks.”
Miaoyue shook her head.
“Next time? There is no next time.” She looked down at the few clean snacks she had picked out, her voice unnervingly calm. “I don’t think he and I will meet again.”
The Azure Sky King’s fingers stiffened.
“Why?”
“I no longer feel any goodwill coming from him.”
Silence fell over the long hall for a moment.
The Azure Sky King finally looked up.
If it was just the Green Mist King refusing to sign a permit, that was merely a matter of governance.
If it was just the Lady Witch being unhappy, that could be smoothed over with snacks, fruit, apologies, and the slow pace of royal etiquette.
But if the Dual Kings could no longer see the Witch, then it was no longer a matter of permits.
Solitude had lived under this moonlight for far too long. The royal family could struggle against the New Moon Sect, they could pile the weight of the Mining Bureau, the Patrol, the Companion Registration Office, and royal tax rights onto the remnants of the sect, but they could not truly sever this land from the moon.
Especially not when the Witch herself said she no longer felt goodwill from one of the kings. He could not pretend this was just a child throwing a tantrum.
The Azure Sky King really did not want to sign.
But he wanted even less to find out what disastrous, unforeseen consequences would befall Solitude if both kings were cut off from the Witch.
“I can sign,” the Azure Sky King said.
Miaoyue looked up.
“Really?”
“Really.” The Azure Sky King nodded. “But before I do, please, Lady Witch, have some snacks.”
Miaoyue looked at him, then at the long table.
Several plates of snacks intended for officials were already laid out on the long table used for temporary meetings.
They were untouched; after all, one couldn't exactly stuff their face while the King was discussing national affairs.
Miaoyue pointed seriously at a piece of Moon Salt shortbread closest to her.
“Has this plate been touched?”
The Azure Sky King glanced at it. “It looks like one piece was taken...”
“Then I don't want it.”
Miaoyue walked to another plate and pointed at the frosted cookies.
“And this one?”
“No one has touched that.”
Miaoyue took the plate.
She went through them one by one, picking out the snacks that hadn't been touched and stacking them neatly in front of her.
If a single item on a plate had been near tea, pressed by a silver fork, or if she simply couldn't tell if it had been sampled, she would frown and push the entire plate away.
The wind outside the long hall gusted through the gaps in the high windows, fluttering the noble ledgers on the table that hadn't been put away yet. Elizabeth's name was held down by a silver paperweight, and several lines of names next to it were marked with thin lines indicating unconfirmed disappearances.
The Azure Sky King glanced down and slowly closed the ledger.
“Lady Witch,” he said. “What is the name of this Saintess of yours?”
“What, are you trying to poach her? Do you want a Saintess too?”
“You’re far too guarded. Nothing of the sort.” The Azure Sky King was amused.
“Hmph. She is my precious, peerlessly intelligent disciple. Don’t you go getting any ideas.”
The Lady Witch's disciple? Then she must be very 'intelligent' indeed.
It seemed she had nothing to do with the Elizabeth matter.
The Azure Sky King picked up a pen. The end of the pen was inlaid with a small Royal Mining Seal; as long as he wrote down the permit items, the magic circle on the desk would automatically generate spaces for tax receipts, mineral sources, companion filings, and patrol seals.
Permits... permits... he had to find a way to issue so many permits legitimately.
Dammit, how could this Saintess be so greedy? She might as well take his throne while she's at it.
Miaoyue crunched on a small green fruit.
As she chewed, she asked, “How did the two of you fall out?”
The Azure Sky King’s eyelid twitched.
“We haven't.”
“Oh.”
Miaoyue shrugged and said no more.
She simply went back to munching on her fruit.
The Azure Sky King pulled a stack of blank application papers toward him and pressed the Royal Mining Seal onto the corner.
He couldn't sign them directly to the New Moon Sect, nor could he sign them directly to this so-called Saintess.
The Green Mist King was right; the national system could not be abandoned for the sake of private sentiments.
Even if those sentiments involved the Witch, it couldn't be written that way on paper.
However, the permits could be issued as mission rewards.
There were indeed problems with the border mining town on the outskirts of Silvervein City recently.
Since the fall of the Elizabeth family, several old warehouse routes, Night-Redemption Carriage lines, and mineral transit points there had all become tainted. There were rumors of bandits, monsters, missing miners, and severed nocturnal trade routes. The information sent back by the Patrol claimed everything was fine, but that was impossible.
The so-called 'Night-Redemption' involved using lead tiles, rune arrays, companion guards, and patrol filings to buy a trade caravan a night path that wouldn't be swallowed by the moonlight.
If that was cut off, no one would use the road.
But the adventurers sent there had failed to report back, one after another.
If the Saintess wanted permits, then let her handle the border.
Clear the anomalies there, rescue the missing people, retrieve the mineral ledgers, and reopen the trade routes.
By then, the royal family would be issuing the permits as mission rewards, not as a handout.
On paper, it would be a royal commendation; in reality, it was the Azure Sky King’s answer to the Lady Witch.
At the top of the application paper, the Azure Sky King wrote: Border Mining Town Anomaly Cleanup Commission.
It was just that there were an awful lot of permits.
Royal Mining Permit, Mineral Sale Quota, Mine Transport Transit Permit, Silverware Export Permit, Mineral Tax Receipt Issuance Permit, Slave Trade Audit Exemption, Night-Redemption Carriage Operation Filing Permit, Alchemy Horse Purchase and Maintenance License, Royal Warehouse Leasing Permit, Bank Mineral Mortgage Guarantee Permit, Cross-border Caravan Transit Permit, Discord Route Royal Trade Permit...
Sigh, forget it. I’ll just sign. What else can I do?
The Azure Sky King pressed down his seal.
Rate on N.U.
