Chapter Sixty-Three

The Doll Objects

 

Judging by Morokata's clothes and refreshed complexion, he'd had plenty of time to come back home from the Emerald Palace reception, rest or sleep, and dress in daytime robes of powdery silver. But not enough time to have had his breakfast. Thus, while Hibiki and Kataji were examining and discussing the joints and seams in Nekohiko's parts, Morokata sat back by one of the cluttered tables and ate rice cakes one of Hibiki's many assistants had brought.

Nekohiko followed Morokata's motions with his gaze closely. At first, he'd wondered if Morokata would act as if he didn't recognize Nekohiko's face -- but Morokata quickly dispelled such doubts.

Hibiki just now began pulling apart Nekohiko's fingers to look at how the ball-joints fit together.

"Careful!" Kataji hissed.

"Amateur work," Hibiki mumbled, amused. "There are so many ways to achieve this effect easier..."

"Yes, but... my doll works fine as he is," Kataji replied, only slightly sounding stung. "Besides, we don't have time for fixing stuff. Not to say I would agree to it even if we had time. What if I simply prefer it to be this way?"

Morokata hummed in pleasure after sipping his hot green tea dessert. "Ah, so good. Now, about your preferences, Cousin Kataji -- that's quite an interesting facial preference you have in your doll." To Kataji's doubtful glance, Morokata shrugged languidly, dabbing a napkin to his lips. "It is reminiscent of one very popular dummy model in Nara, I hear."

Kataji stiffened. "...it is?"

"Mn." Morokata nibbled on another of his cakes, eyes directed upward in deep thought. "The Emperor, your brother, likes this type a lot. Hence my interest. You are not planning to use this doll as a gift to your Eldest Brother, are you?"

"No. Never."

A visible shudder raked Kataji's frame.

"Then it just means that your and your Eldest Brother's preferences run in the family, ha-ha-ha!"

It was impossible to describe the shade of queasy that Kataji's skin gained as he helped Hibiki slowly pull Nekohiko's robes off his shoulders. The act itself made Kataji uncomfortable even though they had no choice but to get Nekohiko undressed for his body to be reassembled -- but now after all these jabs of Morokata's, Kataji's mood deteriorated with painful speed.

"Ah. Gorgeous," Hibiki growled predatorily as he undid the last ties of Nekohiko's undergarments and pulled them open. Hibiki's eyes caressed all the moveable seams in Nekohiko's waist and chest, and his fingers inched closer for a touch.

"Do not," Kataji started saying.

But Nekohiko shot him a warning glance.

They'd come this far. Why ruin it now -- and for what -- for somebody brushing their hands over Nekohiko? As if Kataji hadn't done it hundreds of times before when he'd been carving him...

A dollmaker's job, nothing more.

"How can I Bind him if I can't touch all of him?" Hibiki drawled out, clearly enjoying Kataji's possessive reactions. He curled his fingers into Nekohiko's hair and tugged, making Nekohiko flinch to one side.

But difficult as it was, Nekohiko didn't make a sound nor did he blink. He had to appear still and numb like a low-tier dummy. So he did.

Yet of course his stupid body reacted regardless of his intent.

His skin flushed under Hibiki's touch and his cheeks heated up. Hibiki let out a gasp of delight, grabbing Nekohiko's chin to witness his reaction better.

"What an amusing doll you are, Itsuki. You do not have cognition yet you blush?" Hibiki's slender, almost spidery fingers traced down Nekohiko's jawline to his neck and lower over his chest where the Bound skin of his face stopped and the painted wood surface began.

"And the wood can blush, too..." Hibiki whispered, hushed. "Very, very interesting. What did you say are the First-rate aspects Bound into this wood?"

"Um... Resign and, um... Heat," Kataji answered.

"Pfff." Hibiki gave Morokata a cringing glance. "Typical non-Binder. Can't even tell the difference between First and Second-rate aspects."

"To be honest, I wasn't very sure which aspects the Binder put into this piece of wood," Kataji admitted after a moment. Nekohiko and he had prepared this lame excuse for this exact situation, and Kataji had played it out marvelously. As he then did the segue into the next topic. "On that same note, though. I dislike it that Itsuki blushes and gets flustered so easily. Would it be possible to remove these aspects out of him?"

"Sure, why not."

Yes! Yes, yes, yes. Nothing Nekohiko hated more than this. Being so vulnerable and pure almost every appreciative look directed at him would make him redden and smile pathetically in shame!

Everything, to get rid of this.

But Kataji wasn't saying all of it. Nekohiko had asked him to beg for more fixes, too! Of course Kataji was reluctant because he disagreed with these fixes, but this wasn't his body.

As subtly as he could, Nekohiko blinked at Kataji menacingly.

Come on! Ask! he glared.

"Would it be too hard to make Itsuki's facial expressions... less lively?" Kataji said, audible displeasure in his tone. "I would want his face to look as though he is bored or at least absent most of the time. Even when he has the urge to smile or to frown. I want his face to... downplay almost every emotion a normal human face would show." Kataji laughed, nervously. "You know what I'm talking about?"

Hibiki paused with his groping of Nekohiko's wooden thighs. "Urm... no." Most eloquently, he sized Kataji up and down. "You freak. Do you mean you want your doll to look like a complete mannequin no matter what emotions it feels?"

"Yes!" Kataji nodded. "Exactly that."

"What an amusing fix..." Morokata said from the side. His head tilted, he studied Nekohiko's sitting-up frame. "What's interesting, Hibiki and I once made a few dolls with exactly the same qualities -- to gift to your brother. Because facially-paralyzed expressions is, I guess, one of his kinks as well."

"And you said it's not in your blood," Hibiki told Kataji, shaking his head. "Liar."

Morokata got to his feet, excited. "Do you want to see? I still have the carcass models of those faces over in that shelf. You'll love it."

"No. No, I'm good!" Kataji cried, his pallor deepening with each moment. "Instead, can you also put inside his chest cavity -- a..." It took an enormous amount of courage for Kataji to voice this out. But Nekohiko had really wanted him to. "A purrbox," Kataji finished.

Yes. Nekohiko had no regrets about becoming human and leaving his cat body troubles behind.

Except for the purrbox. Somehow, he'd gotten so used to the calming, pacifying nature of his body's vibrating purrs that he found it hard to fall asleep without that rumble deep inside his chest.

If he was getting all these fancy fixes done to him -- why not a purrbox, too? At least his sleep patterns would improve.

"I've met hundreds if not thousands of doll-fuckers in my life," Hibiki whispered to Kataji heartfully. "But out of all of them, you, young man, have truly expanded my horizons."

Judging by Kataji's defeated mien, he didn't even feel like arguing.

"Now, show me how you walk without clothes on," Hibiki commanded to Nekohiko. "I want to see the exact motions."

At first, Nekohiko had been unnerved by having to be naked in front of so many people. But he'd been busy suppressing all his emotions about this not to blush too severely and not to show some other humiliation reaction of his body.

So, by now, he felt comfortable enough to stroll through the room without being bothered by it. Kataji was averting his eyes anyway while Hibiki's stare was drawn mostly to the hinges and joints of Nekohiko's limbs like a true professional's.

On the contrary -- Morokata's attention...

It never left Nekohiko's face.

When Nekohiko had walked a bit too close to him, Morokata reached out his hand and snatched Nekohiko's wrist. As though hit, Nekohiko lurched to a halt, but managed to keep his expression neutral.

Gentle, Morokata's fingers rubbed Nekohiko's polished knuckles. The young Lord's lips quirked up in a smile.

"My doll is supposed to be walking around," Kataji reminded him, anxious. "Could you... please release him?"

But Morokata only smiled warmer at Nekohiko. "Yes, yes. Just one moment, Cousin Kataji. I really want to check something." Morokata turned around, leading Nekohiko by the hand to the massive door of a shelving unit embedded in the white-tiled wall of the room. One quick touch and the door of the unit slid open just a crack.

Beyond it, Nekohiko only glimpsed a few shelves on which head carcasses of several dolls lay while beneath the shelves, body carcasses hanged, suspended by the metallic hooks that came out of their necks.

A chill of foreboding ran up Nekohiko's spine from this shelving unit. Yet before he could take note of the faces of the doll heads, Morokata swept one of them off the shelf and snapped the door shut the next moment.

"See? Very, very similar," he said, holding up a doll head of... Nekohiko in his hands.

It was a very well-made doll head. Frankly, Nekohiko found it hard to define what material this face's skin was made of. It looked so smooth and genuine. The shimmery beauty of his own eyes in the doll's eye sockets... the flowy, cascading hair on its head.

And above all -- the dull, blank expression the face showed.

As close to a mirror image of himself as Nekohiko had ever seen.

Morokata toyed with it as though it were a throwing-ball, then lifted it up to be level with Nekohiko's 'Itsuki' face.

"Do you like this face more, Cousin Kataji's doll?" Morokata murmured at Nekohiko tenderly. "Perhaps Hibiki should swap it for the one you have now and see if it fits better? And Cousin Kataji would not even know Hibiki did that, no?"

Cold sweat gripped Nekohiko's naked back as he peered straight before him, ignoring Morokata's insinuation.

"Future Cousin Morokata." Kataji hurried through the room past all the tables and shelves blocking his way. "I care a lot about my doll. His Resign was taken from a timid person, so he can be a bit too easily-upset by things. Please do not bully him."

"Do not misunderstand me, Cousin Kataji." Morokata propped the doll head in his fingers. "It's only to show the inner workings of the carcass. See?"

Gently, he used a Splitting spell infused with Hisome glamor to touch the head's skin. As though an orange peel, the outer layer of skin and fat curled away, revealing the metallic structures of the skull underneath. Disturbed, Nekohiko watched the scaly surface and how it merged together under the animal tissue.

But unlike him, Kataji was not at all unnerved. The young man leaned forward, a trace of fascination on his face.

"Haaaah, this is amazing," he breathed as Morokata turned the head around to show the connections in the back. "I wish I had a model like this to study before making my own version."

"The model you did is incredibly good for an amateur, no worries." Morokata smirked. "I was only showing you how your doll-making skills can grow and in which directions if you choose to. Too bad we're in a hurry with your current doll. Why is that, by the way?"

Kataji tensed up, still enthralled by the head in Morokata's fingers. "Just... you know -- my Eldest Brother's wedding. The festival and the celebrations would paralyze the city industries for days to come, so if I want this doll reBound, better hurry."

"Mmmm, yes, yes." Morokata let out a graceful chuckle, a picture of hearty joy. "His Supreme Divine Majesty is going to be incredibly busy the next few days. For example, right now. I bet he hadn't had time to go to bed at all today -- having to finalize all the governmental and council questions in preparations for the ceremony. Poor thing. No time for anything non-council related, no time for visitors or much else, not to say any would be allowed to see him at this time."

Nekohiko bit down the inside of his lip.

What? No visitors even allowed to see him before the wedding?

Shit.

"Maybe you and I may be let in, though," Morokata went on, carefree. "Family matters, all that. In fact, I'm having my dinners with him in the Palace each day before the wedding. To review the ceremony's program and everyone's role in it. I wonder if he'd send an invitation to you or your sister to discuss these things with both of you before the ceremony as well? After all, your own wedding to some of the young ladies you've matched with shouldn't be too far away, either -- as I heard?"

Grim, Kataji turned aside. "I had no idea I was such a popular person others talk about me."

"Oh, but you are, Cousin Kataji! With your looks and your proud lineage -- ah!" And Morokata feinted a girly swoon. "Every noble House in Nara talks about you, so of course I know."

A frustrated breath erupted out of Kataji's lips. "My looks? Or my similarity to my brother's looks?"

Nekohiko wanted to recoil when Morokata suddenly hugged Kataji from the side to whisper into his ear. "What would it matter, Cousin Kataji? Especially if we remember that in case your brother's life ends tragically and suddenly -- you are the very next in line to the Emerald Throne, no? You do look like him, and you have the same blood as him. So many people would want to abuse that, you know..." His eyes flicked for a moment toward Nekohiko, who pretended he didn't notice. "You have to be very careful about such people, Cousin."

"Done! Dooooone!" Hibiki yelled from the center of the room where he'd been clanging jars and metal boxes, pulling instruments and various animal tissue materials to the tray he was preparing before the reBinding. He'd made an awful lot of ruckus all this while, yet Nekohiko hadn't paid him attention.

Not when Morokata was so whispery and so sleazy right next to him.

But now Hibiki demanded everyone's attention. He banged a mallet on a bronze bell hanging in a niche beside him as though calling an assistant to come. Then he flicked his fingers at Kataji and Morokata impatiently.

"Come back and bring your dolly here! I've made the most perfect selection of tissue for him. So much better than that discount crap he's wearing right now."

"Not unless I agree to it first!" Kataji retorted and hurried back to Hibiki. "Show me!"

Nekohiko wanted to follow him, but just then, Morokata turned back to the shelf unit and slid the door open to deposit the metallic head he'd been showing Kataji. And this time, Morokata had opened the door much wider than before and held it open for much longer.

Only a sliver of light poured over the shelves with the heads and limbs lying on them. But one look at them was enough to send Nekohiko into a cold stupor.

He'd thought these would be the heads of himself inside it.

But instead...

Asazuma's doll face, numb and staring.

Okinaga's.

Abihiko's late dad, Kinashi's face.

And Okinaga's wife, and their dead little daughter. And beside them -- pallid, blank-faced heads of... Kataji and Aomi.

A whole shelf of Nekohiko's own faces was such a minor detail in comparison!

...!

Nekohiko froze, his heart hitching in full dead-stop only to resume much, much faster than before.

What... the hell was this...

He could not be mistaken!

He would recognize any of those faces from a single glimpse.

This entire shelf unit was as though made out of Abihiko's deepest nightmares.

But... why...?

Morokata slid the doors closed, then turned his head to Nekohiko coquettishly. "Seeing something interesting, Kataji's doll?"

Maintaining impassivity was nigh impossible in such circumstances but Nekohiko forced himself. As unamused as he'd been a moment before, he waited for Morokata to lock the shelf unit and pull Nekohiko along with him as they went back to where Kataji and Hibiki argued.

Morokata's hand lay ghostly on the small of Nekohiko's back. "You're such a good doll, aren't you?" Morokata stopped just before reaching the other two young men. Eyes crinkling, he raised his finger and poked it at the tip of Nekohiko's nose. "Meep. I sincerely hope that after this reBinding, a bit more of your personality will come out for us to see."

Nekohiko endured it all. As long as he was left alone and was given exactly what he needed -- the full control of his dummy body -- he didn't care one bit about Morokata's creepy side projects to torment Abihiko with.

And this was what the shelf unit was about, he believed.

Morokata kept the faces and images of all the people whom Abihiko held dear -- and probably, this was part of the reason Abihiko was so reluctant to argue or deny Morokata right to his eyes.

The only surprising face Nekohiko had seen among those of Abihiko's relatives and loved ones -- was the Lord of Utsuro? Sakai. Nekohiko half-wondered if he was mistaken about that one because from what he knew -- Abihiko and the Lord of Utsuro, the Fifth Great House, had almost never interacted.

All in all, a vile, frightening discovery.

And yet, Nekohiko did not regret coming here to reBind his body. He knew for sure -- Hibiki and Morokata were the right choice for him. Nobody but them would be so good at Binding together doll parts. If part of him was afraid after having seen their sinister practices then he could nothing about it.

So why bother?

Kataji would never leave him alone while the other two would Bind him. The young man would see if Morokata or Hibiki tried to take some part of Nekohiko or put the wrong one inside him. And during the Binding spell, Nekohiko would be able to discern if they did something tricky magically.

So -- no, he wasn't worried about being betrayed by them. Not at the stage of Binding-him-back-together, at least. And after that stage? Nothing would matter anymore.

He would be whole again and he would gain all his powers back. Even Morokata himself would not want to fight Nekohiko at that point.

When Hibiki beckoned him to help him climb the Binding table for disassembling, Nekohiko went freely. Not a flicker of doubt clouded his mind.

He lay on the cold metallic surface of the table, only glancing to the side to check if Kataji was watching.

He was.

The young man's eyes were like a hawk's -- not missing a single thing Hibiki and Morokata did as they prepped Nekohiko's body. Out in the tunnel entrance, another person's footsteps sounded nearer and nearer. The assistant that Hibiki had called some time ago.

A thin, dull-looking woman carrying trays with equipment. She put it all down beside Nekohiko's head and allowed Kataji to take a peek and see that nothing shady was being added to the spell array Hibiki was readying. Just to make sure, Nekohiko also scanned the trays for marks of glamor or some other trick, but there were none.

Just tools. Just cold metallic instruments with which Hibiki would start pulling Nekohiko's body apart -- joint by joint, ball by ball, limb by limb.

Hibiki cocked his head to the side, then gave Nekohiko his obsessive, hideous smile.

"Let us begin," he whispered and dug a metallic scoop into Nekohiko's eye socket to gouge the fake eyeball out.

And like thousands of times before when Nekohiko's body was being worked upon, he had no choice but to keep quiet and pretend like the most agonizing pain he felt simply did not exist.

 

 

---

***

 

The disassembling took them hours. Kataji checking the contract and signing it -- hours more while Hibiki studied Nekohiko's smaller parts with magnifying lenses over his eyes. Nekohiko observed both Hibiki and Morokata from inside his skull, trying not to miss a single thing they did.

All of this was such a labor-intensive, gruesome work. Hibiki was the only one who seemed to be enjoying himself, though. Morokata was mainly bored. Kataji's lack of sleep showed, and so did Nekohiko's.

But oddly -- they both pushed through it -- with Morokata's help.

He ordered some Doll Palace clerks to go fetch them black tea drinks from the nearby restaurant to help Kataji get through his numbness and even Bound the part of the black tea that would help one focus -- from the tea and onto Nekohiko's wood.

"What are you doing to my doll?" Kataji whelped once again. "Don't use magic on Itsuki if I don't know what it does!"

"It's only the taste and the effect of tea," Morokata replied. And however it frustrated Nekohiko to acknowledge, he wasn't lying. Nekohiko could clearly see that Morokata added no other spells to this one. It was really just the taste of tea he Bound toward Nekohiko to let him have a 'sip' without actually drinking it.

"It's a cute little trick. If I don't want to eat something unhealthy or need to take a very bitter medicine but want none of its bitterness -- this is how I do it," Morokata chatted on, merry. "Once we Bind together Itsuki, if I were you -- I would splurge and buy some pre-made spells like this one to feed Itsuki something delicious and festive. He's gone through so much. Surely he deserves a bit of sweetness to celebrate."

And deep inside, Nekohiko agreed.

Only why would he need bought spells to do that? Once he had his full Binding powers back, he would just do it to himself. Yaaay.

"All right, contract signed?" Hibiki called to Kataji, getting impatient.

"Yes."

Morokata quickly scanned the contract scroll while Hibiki fidgeted, subtly kicking Morokata under the table to hurry him up.

"Hibi," Morokata sighed, giving the younger man a displeased look. "Your manners."

"Come on, I just want to make a fucking Emerald Fir doll already," Hibiki whined in response only for Morokata to shake his head at him.

With a flourish, Morokata snapped the scroll closed then rucked up his long, fabulous sleeves. "I think this is it, Cousin Kataji. Soon, you will have your doll exactly as you want it."

Kataji brightened, straightening up.

"The last thing we'd need is -- a drop of your blood," Morokata said, nodding to the assistant woman behind him. The woman went around Morokata to Kataji, a small silver plate and a needle in her hands which she offered to Kataji with a ceremonious bow.

Kataji drew back, uncomfortable. "Didn't we just talk about it? I want Itsuki to be free from a Master-doll connection. I don't want to be his Master."

"Are you a moron, doll-fucker? No Binder in the world would make a doll free from a Master-doll connection!" Hibiki exploded, hands raised in righteous wrath.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Morokata rolled his eyes at Hibiki. "What did I just tell you about manners, Hibiki? Is this the way Hisome members talk to others?"

Still grumbling, Hibiki shrank and gave Morokata an angry puppy stare. But it was clear he couldn't stay pissed at Morokata for too long. An epiphany came to him, and he smiled like sunrise. He whipped his own arm toward the assistant woman. "Take my drop of blood, Nao. I don't mind being Itsuki's blood Master if this idiot doesn't wanna!"

Nekohiko's thoughts froze.

What did he just say...?

"No!" Kataji cried back, already rolling his own sleeve back to let the assistant woman take his blood for the Binding. "I'd rather be his Master than let you!"

"See?" Hibiki spread his arms. "Easily solved the whole issue. Come over, Nao. It's time to begin the spell."

All of Nekohiko had gone chilly with a terrible suspicion.

This assistant woman's name... Nao. This name stabbed panic and resentment right into his heart whenever he heard it.

Nao, the Dark Sister. The one who had killed his retainers when he was ten. One who had killed Yakabe at his thirteen. And one who had almost killed... Suminoe right in front of him when he was fifteen.

The woman named Nao was the only person Nekohiko himself had come close to murdering in the entirety of his previous life. The vile, wicked ghoul-raising Dark Sister who had taken so much from him.

The woman he hated with all his might.

And now, this... mousy, dull-looking assistant of Hibiki's -- she couldn't be the same woman, could she?

He watched her move, only now realizing that, although she appeared so unimpressive and average in the face and body, her skin was nonetheless youthful and its surface -- flawless.

Like a doll's.

But if she were a doll, too, like Yae was or all the rest of Hibiki's workers -- why did she choose to look so... dull? To look so insignificant? Nobody in their right mind would choose to look so unimpressive unless they wanted to stay... hidden.

From whom?

As Morokata and Hibiki got to their feet to start their Binding formations to cast their spell on Nekohiko, the Nao woman also moved to the table.

She out the plate with Kataji's blood beside Morokata's elbow, but she didn't leave afterward. She remained close.

And slowly, she raised her hands to aid in their casting as well.

Nekohiko tensed up in profound fear.

Her finger formation was only to aid Hibiki's as any assistant's would be, so Nekohiko saw nothing suspicious about her presence. And yet...

And yet...

Seeing those terrible doll heads inside Morokata's shelf unit. Now being Bound together by a strange woman he had never met whose name was Nao -- of all people?

Even though he saw nothing wrong these people were doing, he still squirmed in terrible dislike for all three of them.

One of the first things he'd do after recovery -- would be to research what the hell was going on with Morokata and Abihiko and who the hell was this Nao woman and why was she taking part in these people's doll-making!

Yes, he promised himself. This shit was shady as hell.

He wondered if Abihiko knew something about it, too.

Morokata's fingertips touched Hibiki's on one side and Nao's on the other. The three of them formed a complex hand sign of all Five Houses, then morphed it into the high-level Imperial Fusion spell.

Exactly as they should.

And then, they cast it -- forcing all of Nekohiko's parts to pull back together. And, compared to the previous time this had happened, Nekohiko felt the difference.

His powers.

His Binding, surging up his wooden parts so freely, so unrestricted even just from the way these three people joined his limbs.

...

At last.

Yes -- at last! he screamed inside his mind before the electric pain of all his nerves and joints connecting snapped him together with a squelchy, deafening crack.

 

 

---

***

 

 

Agitated, slightly shaken after all that he had witnessed, Nekohiko left his body that slowly hummed back to life under the watchful gaze of four people -- including Kataji -- on the Binding table.

He didn't need to stay for that. It would take some time for his newly-Bound body to cool down and adjust to its new parameters. He wouldn't be able to do much while there, so why waste his time? He already had a routine he followed during his Binding body cool-downs.

And that routine was -- to check on the rest of his bodies.

After all, he had promised Kasuga to tell her the truth about himself yesterday night. It was already the morning of the following day.

Didn't she deserve him fulfilling his promises to her?

Reluctant, he forced his consciousness to prod any of his wooden blocks in Nagare and the cat to find Kasuga nearby. But what he discovered there instead, was much more jolting.

Apart from one block that Kasuga kept on the desk in her empty office room and apart from the cat who was tucked safely underneath Aomi's pillow on which the girl was sleeping -- the rest of Nekohiko's wooden block bodies were all huddled together in the same place. Stuffed inside crates and wrapped in cloths and straw to prevent them from breaking or cracking.

And the place these crates stood was not at all in the Nagare castle.

It was...

Damn it!

He had completely forgotten about all the blocks Kataji had asked Kasuga to send with mail post¹Back in Chapter 50, Where I Belong in case you forgot ^^ to Hira Okinaga's mansion! And now that Kataji wasn't there -- and the blocks had already arrived...

Arrived right to Okinaga's front yard!

Abihiko's Imperial bodyguards were banging open all the lids off the crates in which Nekohiko's parts had arrived. The same captain who Nekohiko had seen the previous night who had wanted to take Nekohiko's log from Kataji -- was now strolling alongside the crates, peeking inside them and rubbing his calloused thumb against Nekohiko's blocks and their sensitive wood grain.

The man narrowed his eyes appraisingly, then lifted the Emperor's seal over the wooden log parts.

And when he cast a spell to identify similarity -- the Emperor's seal burned with crimson red just as brightly as each and every last of Nekohiko's logs in the crates.

The captain cracked a satisfied grin. "We found them. We found the Emperor's property." He raised his voice in the same powerful boom Nekohiko had heard from him yesterday. "Pack these crates up. We're bringing them to His Imperial Majesty right away!"