Prince of the Second Rank

Just a month ago, at this time of day, Kazi would be eating and laughing heartily with his friends. Not today. Maybe not again for a long time. Sun-young was gone. She officially left the team yesterday. William was in a coma and Marta was not in a state to be dining or doing much of anything. He wasn't totally alone, luckily. Sitting across from Kazi was his spectacled friend, David Tremblay. As always, the owner and waitress of the Nulgupjisin Grill House, Ming, brought out glasses of lemonade for them. Secret recipe, she said, winking. That left the two to talk amongst themselves. The smoke of barbeque chicken rose up from David's side.

"Jack the Ripper…I still can't believe he's alive. I mean, how does it make sense?" David asked. "He reincarnated during the 1940s Heavenly Games and lived through…what? Eighty years? What the hell was he doing that whole time? Living a normal life? I sincerely doubt that. There's no way he dropped his soul."

"Dropped his soul?" Kazi questioned.

"It's what the locals call it. See, when you make it to the top twenty at the end of the Heavenly Games, you have the option of Total Reincarnation and something called Soul Drop." David flipped over the chicken cooking on his grill. "You can either choose to go back to your old body or totally reincarnate as someone new. This is just my gut instinct but I don't think he reincarnated into a baby."

"Hm." Kazi sipped on his lemonade. "Agreed. I talked to Jack very briefly too so I think have a basic grasp on who he is and why he does what he does."

"Oh?"

"He seemed obsessed with finding people that were—are worthy. That's how he does his killings: he does it based on his judgement and that judgement seems to be for the sake of a better world. I don't think he would waste ten years being a child. I just don't see him doing that. I think it's likely that he brought with him a mythical item that granted immortality."

"Oh, I get it, like the Holy Grail." David stopped before putting a piece of chicken in his mouth. "Wait, if that's the case, then…how did he die? Entry into the Heavenly Games is luck-based, right? If he died, there's a chance he'd go to hell."

Kazi crossed his arms. "I know, it's weird. His arrival makes little sense to me. If he died of simple old age, then the question is what mythical item did he choose for his victory? If he was immortal and died, then how did an immortal die? And if he did die, how did he guarantee entry?" 

The conversation lulled into a thoughtful silence. How did his immortality work? How did he come here? And why now and why not before? Coincidence?

Kazi finished his glass of lemonade and Ming immediately appeared to refill the glass. "Thank you," Kazi said. "Say, Ms. Ming, what do you think of Jack?"

"Me?" The waitress pointed at herself. Kazi nodded. "I read the news. Jack definitely sounds like a problem."

"Was there anyone like him in your time?" Kazi asked.

Ming stared down at Kazi, blinking. "Honestly? My era was pretty weak. It's mostly known for Master Li Xuanming's victory. After so many tries, he finally won. Other than that though, not much happened."

"Don't downplay yourself," Kazi said. "You ranked number four. That's huge."

"Aw, thank you, I appreciate that but alas the truth is the truth."

David checked his watch. "Ah, crud. We have an hour left, man."

"Oh?" Ming perked up. "Do you have an appointment?"

"We're meeting up with the Minister of Revenue of the Imperial Sect," David explained, to the waitress' surprise. "I believe he's the third son—"

"Thirteenth son," Ming corrected—or did she? "Ah, right, third son now. How did you manage that?"

Third son now but not before? Many of the Kangxi Emperor's children must have died. 

"We booked this appointment like a month and a half ago," Kazi said. "David and I have been writing blueprints for a new type of factory. We believe he would be interested since the Imperial Sect heavily invests in labour factories."

"That's an understatement," Ming said. "Their hold on manufacturing is absurd. You don't notice it in everyday life but it's there."

"Yep, it's nuts. Aluminium and refined zinc are their biggest money bags," David said. "I talked to the guys at my factory and the sheer scale of the Imperials' operations are much greater than what we have."

"Oh, where do you work?" Ming asked.

"I'm a floor supervisor at a steel factory for the Unorthodox Sect."

"Don't they abuse their workers or something?"

"Uh, I mean…it's definitely tough work, I won't deny that. Actually, technically, our factory is multi-purpose but…anyway, it's not that bad."

"Word on the street isn't so kind." Ming shrugged. "But you do you. Oh, uh, since you guys are new, I suppose I should tell you something useful. Let's see, let's see…the wives of the Caliph and the Kangxi Emperor negotiate often. There's a whole section in the Times newspaper that discusses any of their meetings. So if you want to convince the thirteenth—sorry, third son, maybe say some stuff about his mother."

"Do you dabble in politics?" Kazi asked.

"Not in my life," Ming replied.

"Figured. No offence, but mentioning his mother is the worst way to go about it," Kazi said. "Our potential partner, Yuzin, is the son of a consort of a nameless family. Typically, the Emperor chooses women from clans that work under him like the Tong or Elibun clans. But regardless of status, the Kangxi Emperor invests heavily into his children's' education. He was promoted to junwang—" Prince of the Second Rank— "and Minster of Revenue from his sheer ability. He won't be easy to butter up."

"Ah, but what if Yuzin is a mama's boy because his mother is a nobody?"

Kazi blinked. "Is that true?"

"Where there's smoke, there's fire."

Kazi and David exchanged looks. If there was a weakness to be exploited, then why not go for it?