Tomo-Eki, Matu-Ura, Pizen
A cloaked figure entered the room where the ambassador was standing.
"Army Minister Syím, has the days done you well after we separated last time?"
"I think we have separated for about two days, my dear Second Governor." The army minister, who was appointed ambassador, responded dryly.
"I see that the journey here has not done you well, for you opt to stand instead of sitting."
"I am appalled at the lack of the barbarian chair in your country."
"I must remind you that the tradition of sitting-kneeling on mats are an import from your country."
"True. But why did you pick such a far-away spot for us to meet?"
"For more reasons than one. There would be too many ears on the wall back in Dazaifu, wouldn't it?"
"Why not Ito Castle? I hear that you are the one who built it."
"Well, I do not own it. Plus, it is a military settlement. I can't let people from other countries visit military camps randomly, right?"
"True."
Outside, the stationmaster prepared the dried squid of the day and retired to his quarters. He would have used squid freshly caught if it had been morning and a good day for a catch; but he had neither of these conditions ready.
"As I understand it, Governor Drjeu arranged for the Beauty to be transported here to Mr. Dong Srweat-Hjuwng. Has she been received?"
"Pudiwara no Pirowo? I do not trust him one bit. Besides, he is in Etizen, much too far away for what we are about to do, so I took possession of the Beauty when she arrived in Pakata."
"That would be even better."
"On the other hand, it turns out that the entire corpse is not necessary."
"Yes?"
"The immortal mentions that a complete corpse is not necessary for our purpose."
"From our country's angle, breaking the corpse is like killing the person again. Besides, if not all of the body is reanimated, then where is the person? If it is in the reanimated body, then what is it that remains?"
"I see your point. So why are you necessarily here?"
"To prepare for the Emperor's arrival. We keep on telling the Emperor that she isn't really dead, but arrived in the land of the immortals, but he is at the point of breaking. We don't want him to find out that she turns out to be dead."
"That is a crime of lese majeste under your law."
"No one can indict me with it."
"Exactly."
"So where is this immortal that you talked about?"
"It would be your job to convince him to help you." With that, Kibi no Makibi raises his hand, indicating the spot where the Stationmaster had stood after entering the room without anyone noticing.
Notes:
Tomo-Eki (登望駅 or 鞆駅) is a placename recorded in the Hizen no Kuni Fudoki, usually considered to be modern Yobuko, Karatsu, Saga.
The romanizations are mutated Nihon-Shiki (with P replacing H) for Early Middle Japanese and mutated Baxter (with accents replacing tone letters) for Middle Chinese.