The Demon General Is My Ex's Little Sister novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Writ

The wax came away in one red disc.

Inside the oilcloth lay a flat leather case.

Inside the case lay a thick stack of folded papers tied with silk cord.

Rin untied the cord with shaking fingers.

The top page was a single sheet, written in a courtly, careful hand.

She read it in silence first.

Then she read it aloud, because Kaede could not read the court's script and had a right to every word.

"'Edict of the Crown, in the third year of the reign."

"By order of the Chancellor, all households north of the Shirakawa are assigned to the tax class of Demon.'"

Kaede did not move.

"'Land held by the class of Demon is forfeit to the Crown at the end of any season the Crown finds necessary."

"Forfeit land may be sold at one tenth of its assessed value to any loyal subject approved by the Chancellor.'"

"Say that last part again."

"'To any loyal subject approved by the Chancellor.'"

Rin turned the page.

Underneath lay hundreds of sheets, all of them the same.

Each was a deed of sale.

Each named a household she had copied onto her roster.

Each named the same buyer.

"Haibara Tomonori," Rin read. "Haibara Tomonori. Haibara Tomonori."

"All of them?"

"All four thousand two hundred and twelve."

The papers were dated.

Each one was dated nine years ago, signed and sealed, with every line filled in except one.

The date of transfer was left blank.

Under the blank, in neat print, was a note.

"'To be dated by the Summoned scribe, as witness, on the day the Demon General falls.'"

Rin's hands went cold.

A small card was tucked behind the stack in the Chancellor's own hand.

It said, "Scribe R. Tachibana. Obedient. Copies without reading."

They had picked her within a week of her arrival.

"That's why they called me," she said. Her voice sounded far away. "Not to record the campaign. To write the date."

"Rin."

She laughed, once, and it came out wrong.

"Nobody can date these but me."

"Until I do, they are only paper."

"I copied the roster. I wrote the word Demon four thousand times and never asked what it meant."

Kaede knelt in front of her and took the papers out of her hands.

She set them down on the stone.

She was very pale.

"It's not your fault."

"It's my handwriting."

"It's not your fault."

Kaede's voice cracked.

"I fought for two years."

"I killed men for this."

"I let them put that name on my banner."

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