The Ghost King's KeeperCh83 - Sama’Ya

~ Regular Update ~

  Mx6cBn

The King’s domain were many, like the floating fortress, the cave, the million peaks, but one domain was considered the foothold of celebrations and all other festivities, it was situated a little further ahead of Manjo’s main terrain, and people called it Sama’Ya, a raised structured plateau with multiple lakes surrounding it. 

Sama’Ya was where several magnificent spiral towers stood, each tower guarding the outer contours of the walled courtyard, the center of it designated with a worshiping ground, pavilion dome, shades stupas and remarkably tall chhatris. 

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The plan was marked with three outer ring walls – porous with massive openings and extruded balconies – and a huge layered bartizan projecting from a turret that stuck out of the extended citadel platform. 

The entire enclosure was green with world’s most expensive herbs and rarest of trees. Small streams circulated under the citadel as they watered the greens and help flourish the blooms.  70Hq S

Sama’Ya was where Ruzen’s Cursed Pilgrimage was to be ended, right above the raised citadel, where people had already started to arrive, as vendors and street stalls catered to visitors.  

An assortment of colored canopies were seen as the blue carpet distinguished the entrance and parted the gathering symmetrically. 

It had been a long time since such a huge followship had gathered in one place. It was a display of affection and support, tinted with a hint of curiosity. 

“How much time now?” 

“By nightfall we presume.” 

“Good,” Ou’Ni had already arrived earlier, before everyone else to make preparations. He hadn’t been able to do much about the decisions that had already been made by the King, he was supposed to follow along and take care of the arrangements. 

Thankfully, with the rest of the guards watching over the parading march, Ru’Zen faced lesser degree of hassle, and completed the rest of the journey smoothly. The King didn’t deploy many men in fear that it would unsettle the ritual balance, but of course, his care resulted in better conditions for the keeper to walk unhindered. 

As per Cursed Pilgrimage ritual, the keepers were deliberately tested to assure their strength and endurance. It was a difficult ritual that gave hardships and struggle. However, if the keeper succeeded, then the ritual offered immense strength and endurance stimulations, as well as celestial recognition. In cruder terms, it was a ceremony which offered gifts if successfully completed. The more the struggle the better the gift.  0hpvdE

Sadly, many Keepers were unsuccessful or had to give up because of hardships. And in the end, they either stuck to temporary contracts or entirely gave up on becoming a Keeper. 

Thankfully Manjo was safer for such ceremonies, but other provinces weren’t this lax. They either rendered the Keeper handicapped with crueler tests, or just left them on their own during ceremonial rites. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Many of them didn’t even support Cursed pilgrimages, thus it was a unique ceremony to Manjo itself. 

“When is the council supposed to reach here master?” Ou’Ni’s disciple, Bearer in training, A’Iz, questioned with a slight frown, “Do we need to invite them again? Are they not aware that they need to attend before the King arrives?”  hBr zE

Ou’Ni cleared his throat, “I know you are punctual, but sometimes, people have vague concepts of time, the higher the status the worse their concepts.” 

A’lz didn’t know what to say, but his face said it all. Ou’Ni could related, in his time, he had seen such tendencies a lot. It was almost a trend to be late among the Council men. 

Right then, they heard startled whispers floating the compound.  

Both Ou’Ni and his students were taking care of the arrangements inside the domed aisle where the ceremony would start, a massive Amphitheater decorated with colored flags and curtains lined by the citadel’s foot, as a long velarium protruded out covering the track that merged ahead with the central platform.  dlGORe

Currently, the public wasn’t allowed to enter the Amphitheater which opened towards a wider platform. It wasn’t like the arrangements weren’t complete, but these areas would be first opened for the Council, then the rest. 

The reason for the strange sectioning wasn’t because the Council were treated better, but because as a general consensus, the Council and the Public didn’t mingle. The public didn’t know many faces who governed them, but it didn’t mean it was strictly a rule to stay in the shadows. Those who were in the council had great name, but their faces weren’t what was given value, it was their deed. 

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Only Bearers were known to have a transparent background in Public, since they were the public face, they were similar to messengers and scouters, only they had more power since they handled the King’s matter directly, guiding the prominent families and branches of Blue Brigade. They weren’t as prominent in strength and status as Summoners and Hordors, but they were equally values and respected, if not more. 

Anyway, talking about the present scenario, it seems like something big had transpired outside. Sensational enough to receive the public’s awe.  LnDOuX

Ou’Ni and his students, headed by A’lz, rushed outside to see what was happening. And turns out, Ghost Moulin had just entered the premise, his harem of Keepers tagging alone. 

Contrary to general belief, Ghost Moulin never performed any contracts with his Keepers, but just kept them in his residency when they asked. One would be baffled to note that currently, his harem was around 1900.  

However, Moulin never touched his harem, his love for artifacts and musical instruments seemed to be his only hobby. 

“Master, he seems familiar?” One of Ou’Ni’s new student asked him with a slight puzzle.  8l6Mfy

Ou’Ni turned frightful when he heard her, “Quickly prepare rooms and the staff, he is our King’s friend, how can you lot not know?!” 

Hearing the master’s hissed out scolding, the students quickly dispersed. They remembered the list of friends, and just knew who this Ghost could be. But since all of them, had recently accepted their discipleship, they were lacking in knowledge. 

A’lz was an older student, but even he was seeing the famous Ghost Moulin for the first time. He wanted to speak to his master, but seeing him already on his way, he sighed to himself and followed after the rest of the students. 

It is said that Ghost Moulin was very handsome. He had short black wavy hair that reached his neck, not to forget his cold crimson eyes that highlighted his fair skin and cold bearing. He was known to usually wear causal clothes similar to white shirts with long sleeves and cuffed wrists, going along with a monochrome of tight-fitted black pants.   v8159n

And just like many influential figures, he had several ear piercings, but the one that stood out was a red diamond stud on his right ear and a few silver ones on the other ear. 

Ghost Moulin was prim and proper, never taking part in dark arts and debauchery, and had a clean background which rivalled even their Ghost King. But much was unsaid about his friendship with the King. 

He didn’t belong to any province; he had his own space not far from the protected lands. It was said that the Ghost King highly favored him, gifting him luxury and wealth.  

So, it was not a surprise that he came with his Keepers to attend a ceremony most weren’t even told about.  wKO2LP

“This humble bearer greets his lordship,” Ou’Ni quickly announced with cupped hands as he stepped in front of the Ghost, “welcome to Sama’Ya Great Moulin, and of course, I greet the Keepers as well.” 

A small nod was received. 

Seeing the Ghost’s compliant behavior, Ou’Ni got courageous, “I had unfortunately not noticed your procession when you entered the lands, if I had been notified of the guests, I would have come personally to attend you.” 

Ghost Moulin showed minimal expressions, but his cold face did reveal a hint of some reluctance.   rh8wgP

Ou’Ni thought he misspoke, “Pardon me, we aren’t generally this lax, but your arrival didn’t receive the attention it should have, I feel deeply incompetent.” 

“This Moulin wasn’t aware of the timing; your king is vague even at his best.” The deep baritone was met with murmurs from females and males alike, since several gathering locals were showing great interest in the guest, they must have never seen such an ethereal being before, not one who was dressed like a King but stood with his Keepers without the general possessions of beasts and guards that all the upper strata of society had. “We arrived via a temporary portal directly, so it was a given that none knew of our arrival.” 

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Ou’Ni was relieved to note that he wasn’t in trouble, and moreover, if the Ghost had arrived via a portal, then of course nobody knew, he must have come from the eastern portal hall right at the edge of Sama’Ya’s gathering street.  

It wasn’t a surprise to note that he had the King’s personal pass in his hands, because being the King’s friend had its own perks.  t GZiL

Looking around at the awnings of lively stalls and the hushed whispers among the crowd that had gathered, Ou’Ni smiled humbly, “This place is very crowded, please follow me to the guest chambers.” 

Moulin nodded, his robes swishing as he walked. Naturally, the fabric of his robe was remarkable, the red embroidery with the black dressing making him look celestial. His harem of Keepers were also dressed with such magnificence that the rest of the crowd seemed miserable even in their best dresses. 

“Bearer Ou’Ni is so mindful, we always feel welcomed in Manjo. Hehe,” a bright young lady spoke as their group followed after Ou’Ni’s guide.  

Ou’Ni was familiar with her, she was Asha, a young keeper who was the last to join the ranks. She was bubbly and talkative, but because of her airy personality, she wasn’t much liked by many.  7UgEmj

Ou’Ni on the other hand found her interesting, seldom had he seen her kind being so open and friendly. She was like a drop of fresh water in her kind’s pessimistic circle. Thankfully she hadn’t faced opposition in the harem, because that would have been too cruel to her. 

“I am well aware of my standing Keeper Asha, please feel free to come to me in case of any problems.” 

Asha giggled, her eyes twinkling with mirth, “Does that mean I am not allowed to come to you when there is no ‘problems’? I thought you liked me old master, what happened to you, were you wooed by that new Keeper?” she didn’t give Ou’Ni time to react as she went on speaking, uncaring about her sisters and brothers eyeing her. “I have heard he gave a random speech about the King, bootlicking some said, not me not me, I thought he was genuine, but who cares, he is a good keeper if he is so opportunistic, if I were in his place, I would have done the same, but like, I really find him genuine. Despite what others say, he said what he said, I mean, isn’t that how one is supposed to be? He sounded honest if I am to say. You know, I even wondered why he was so supportive of the King, but like, anyone can tell that the King favors him a great deal, what is up with that long winded carpet though? Where did the King get all that fabric from, did they stitch it together in some factory, like who even manufactured that thing. So long… And that, that Huge… um, beast, whatever it was, it even came to attack Ru’Zen, that’s his name right, Ru’Zen, so happy, anyway… where was I, yeah, but Ru’Zen didn’t get frightened, if I were in his place I would have run, like really, run as fast as I could. I do wonder though, how fast he can run, his physic looked good, but he is very… slim… I don’t know, maybe he is slim because of his mysterious history, but like, I want to meet Ru’Zen-” 

“Asha.”  CbroLt

Abruptly coming to a stop, Asha shyly pressed her lips close, her hand wringing tediously with restless energy. 

“Please don’t mind her, Bearer Ou’Ni,” An older Keeper, whose name Ou’Ni didn’t get, apologized with an embarrassed smile, “Although I would also like to meet the Keeper personally, he seems like he would be a good friend.” 

~~

I hope I did justice to these characters. Will explore all characters as the story progresses. d6uBQd

Character Index –

A’lz [Human] – suggested by @ Too Much Dog Food [Chapter 70’s comment section]

Moulin [Ghost] – suggested by @ Moulin [Chapter 70’s comment section] 

Asha [Cursed One] – suggested by @ Here_to_eat_dogfood [Chapter 70’s comment section] – They suggested Human race but gave me permission to change the race however I wanted, so I hope it is okay. HMmJC9