Kyungsoo sighed. He placed the papers in his hands on the table. After talking with the emperor Hakutoku, he was not so sure what to do anymore. The members of the Ren family weren't bad people. Since his arrival he had heard quite a few things about them. Hakutoku wanted to unify the world under one ruler and therewith bring peace to the world. A noble goal. However, the way he wanted to achieve said goal was what caused Kyungsoo a headache. How was peace achieved when people were enslaved and their culture striped away from them? Maybe over the years more and more would forget about the past, yet until then many riots would disturb the peace. No, in such a way peace could not be achieved!
The reason his country hadn't been in war for so long, was simply do to the peace treaties and the rule of the emperor. Thousands of years ago a horrible war had traumatized the continent and caused the different countries to find a way to peacefully coexist. No one wanted to experience the horrors of the past again.
"Hae Soon, what do you think about the Ren family?", Kyungsoo asked.
Hae Soon put down a cup of tea next to her king. It was no secret that she was not fond of his decision to come here and help the Ren family.
"They are fools. They remind me of that impure that had caused the long and horrible war so long ago. Unifying the world by war, oppression and enslavement? How stupid can a person be? Everyone with a single brain cell should know that something like this does not work. In my opinion, we shouldn't be here. It is none of our business."
"Not our business? I don't think so. The reason Ren Hakuyuu is in his current state is because of us. Well, because of him to be exact. Wasn't the plan to stay away from the world of the impure? So, why is he now interacting with it? I tell you why. Because his heart is still full of hate and pain. He wants to erase the impure. However, many are fine with the impure living here. As long as they stay here and dare not to come to our continent, they don't care. To justify the erasure of the impure, he acts as if he wants to give them a chance to proof that they are able to live in peace and not a bunch of barbarians that only want to kill."
"If Ren Hakuyuu does not survive the purification, he will tell the people that it is because he is too impure and since he is the ruler of one of the biggest countries, he can say that Hakuyuu is just an example for all the impure rulers."
"Correct. This way he can justify the elimination of the impure. Not that he actually needs to go that far, yet it is better to be safe than sorry."
A moment of silence followed his words. Hae Soon didn't know how to response. She understood the emperor's doing was wrong, yet she didn't feel sorry and she also knew that many saw it the same way she did.
"Why do you want to help those impure? You are aware that the emperor does not like you at all."
"If it weren't for my daughter, I wouldn't go against the emperor's will. Although I may disagree with him, I wouldn't have gone against him without my daughter also opposing him. As cruel as he may be with the impure, he is way too soft with her. Of course, there is no guarantee that I will not be harmed for my doing. The same applies to her. Yet I think it at least gives as some leeway."
"Why is she against the emperor? She had to suffer at the hand of the impure. There is no reason for her to side with them."
"I don't know. Maybe because she believes in the good of the people? Maybe because she had impure friends, who were purified? Maybe because she does not like the way he does things? I don't know and it does not matter. We are here now and I think it was a good thing. Those Al-Thamen guys are quite shady. Although, I don't think they are dangerous to us, I still want to get more intel on them."
Kyungsoo took a sip from his tea. What a nice flavor.
With a small hand gesture tiny black particle appeared out of thin air and formed a black square. It was a big as the tray in Hae Soon's hands.
"I will call my daughter. She should be able to help us with getting information."
A few seconds after the black square had appeared it lighted up a bit and the face of a young woman showed up.
"Oh, dad, it's you. What's up? Did you miss me?"
Her voice was filled with excitement and energy.
"Of course, I did and I still do. However, I am not just calling to see and hear you again. I have a request."
"Of course you do. As if you would ever talk to me without wanting anything from me. You are so mean!"
"Please be so kind and get me all the information we have on Al-Thamen from the library. You should look into Solomon's world."
"Solomon? I think there should be a few books about that guy. Is there anything specific you want to know?"
"I want to know, who they are. Find out what their goals are, how they were founded and what made them separate themselves from Solomon. Also search for clues of any interaction with our kind."
"That's it?"
"Yes, that's it. Hae Soon will try to get information here."
"Alright, got it. I will report in three days. By the way, you are aware that a certain someone is very, very angry with you? And with a certain someone I do not mean me, and I am already extremely mad at you for leaving without a word and only contacting me to do some work for you."
"I am well aware of that and don't care. So don't bother yourself with it and just do what I told you. Also you shouldn't blame me. Aren't you the one, who is always annoyed when interrupted during work? How am I supposed to know that you are free? I am more than happy to have a talk with you, but you are always too busy to sit down for even five minutes."
"I am free now, so let's sit down and have a conversation for five minutes."
Hae Soon stood aside and only listened to what was said. Although she had nothing against Kyungsoo's daughter, she also was warry of her. Kyungsoo's oldest daughter was extremely smart and talented. She also had her quirks, which made her look like a hyperactive child sometimes. To Hae Soon that young woman was scary. She knew too much and seemed to lack morals. As long as it severed scientific progress, she was willing to ignore what was right and wrong. Therefore, Hae Soon preferred to not have much contacted with the other woman. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, loved all his children and seemed to have no problem with his daughter's behavior, which was contrary to his preaching.
Luckily the other two children weren't as creepy as the oldest one.
"Your Majesty, I will take my leave now. If there is anything you need, just call. I will be in the library to get some information on this country and how Al-Thamen is involved with it."
After receiving a nod from her king, she left the room.
From the first time she had stepped into Solomon's world, she felt the rukh tugging on her skin; trying to become a part of her. Solomon tried to make her into his toy. Around Al-Thamen the rukh got weaker. Somewhat let her feel some kind of familiarity with Al-Thamen.
Hae Soon could not only feel the rukh, she could also see them, thus she knew that Solomon's rukh were golden, while the rukh of Al-Thamen were black.
She didn't know the reason why, but there must be one. Sadly, it was questionable whether she would be able to get information on that matter here.
The library of the Kou Empire was extremely small compared to the one in the black kingdom. Most of the papers talked about how the Kou Empire was created and how Kou was connected to Go and Gai. A kingdom with the name "Kina" was also mentioned.
Besides that she also found many war scripts. Apparently the Kou Empire always had loved to go to war. What a disgusting country. Al-Thamen was not mentioned anywhere. Therefore, Hae Soon assumed that Al-Thamen only came to the empire recently.
So the question was, when had Al-Thamen come to the Kou Empire? How were they able to enter? What was their goal? What was their connection to the royal family? Hakutoku had seemed to dislike the hooded men. Furthermore, she had seen those mysteries people interact the most with Koutoku, the younger brother of the emperor, which led her to the assumption that it was the younger brother of the emperor that let those people in.
Unsatisfied Hae Soon made her way back to Kyungsoo. If she wanted information on Al-Thamen she had to get them from the people living in the palace. The question was just who could she ask and how should she do it.