No one was ever happy to see a bunch of young rich people walk into any room, and the Scarlet Quill's back office was no exception. The professionals remained irritated even after introductions were made, but put on an insincere show of pretending otherwise. Jihûn wasn't even twenty, and his sister was younger. Neither had official functions. Consort Yeon was known as a ferocious warrior goddess, but what use was ferocity after twenty years of unmitigated peace and prosperity?
"I come in trade," said Jihûn grandly. "You have an expert which my sister needs. In exchange, my concubine is a professional jewel thief."
Only Jieun could believe her brother said that out loud, but although introducing Maurice Lupin in that manner was ridiculous — it was also disarming. No one asked irritating followup questions.
It also helped Jihûn build up some street credibility.
The oldest princes had public personas. The First was a reclusive pupil of the (potentially former) Grand Preceptor. The Second was an accountant assassin with a drive to root out corruption. The Third was the presumed successor — and a "genius" who needed a good punch in his smug face.
But Jihûn needed contrast.
Being a too-tall, too-muscular bumpkin with a professional jewel thief for a concubine would make him stand out among heroes and villains. Not everyone would approve of his moral ambiguity, but there were always people who disapproved of moral this or moral that.
Leaning into disapproval distinguished powerful personalities.
The representative from the Ministry of Revenue complained about the interruption of his official duties. He was performing an investigation. Members of the royal family should stay out of official business unless it was directly related to them.
"Do these coins relate to Your Highness?" the representative asked.
"I don't know yet," said Jihûn. "Strumpet?"
In a blink, Lupin was standing beside the bookstore's expert. The display caused a mix of shock and awe, but also served to establish Lupin's qualifications. He juggled the coin in one hand.
"It's bigger than I expected," he said. "And more authentic. I was sure this was a hoax."
"This is evidence," said the Ministry man coldly, reaching for the coin.
"It's an Autumn Blossoming Dynasty imperial reserve dubloon," said Lupin.
He flipped the coin to one of Jieun's friends. Everyone crowded around her.
"Or at least," said Lupin, "that's my guess."
The young ladies confirmed that he was correct.
"Is that significant?" asked Jihûn.
"Reserve coins only move between the Treasury and banks," said one young lady.
"Merchants don't generally use them," agreed another. "Certainly the public doesn't."
Lupin collected the coin, held it by its rim — and banged it on a desk. The sound was solid. The Ministry man tried to recover it again. Lupin slipped away, and removed a trendy iron buckle from one strap on his ridiculous new clothes. Doing so revealed a scandalous patch of skin.
The Ministry man threw his arms in the air and demanded that Jihûn quit interfering.
Lupin held the buckle between one finger and one thumb. Trying to crush it, he succeeded in bending the metal slightly. He then handed the buckle to Jihûn.
"Lord Jiji is a master of force," he said. "Go ahead."
Lord Jihûn shrugged. Holding the buckle between one finger and one thumb, he manifested thin shells of force on the surface of his skin and crushed the buckle. Lupin then handed Jihûn the coin. When the Eighth Prince placed the coin between a finger and thumber, most people in the room expressed reservations.
Jihûn squeezed lightly — and nearly dropped the coin.
"It fought back!" he said.
Lupin caught the coin and returned it to the agent.
"Counterfeiting a coin like this is a tall order," said Lupin. "Pieces can't be nicked off. If we had another one, we would see that the carvings on top snap into those on the bottom of another — at an offset."
"That's right," agreed one of the young ladies. "Reserve coins stack in an interlocking pattern."
"Doesn't that waste space?" asked Jihûn.
"A bit," agreed the young woman, "but a chest of these becomes a structural support."
"I've only seen five coins like this," said Lupin. "They are resting on my Abbot's desk. Four on the bottom, one on top of the intersection. He puts hot tea cups on the center coin. If I recall correctly, they are made from a special alloy. Gold plus something like chalk."
"Chalk?" asked Jihûn skeptically.
"Orichalcum!" said one of Jieun's friends.
"That's it!" agreed Lupin. "On one hand, the manager was correct to say he has been unjustly enriched. This coin is priceless."
"And you have nothing to do with it?" asked the agent.
"I've been sent to find a sword," said Lupin. "If I had found that coin, however, I would have taken it back to Jian Peak immediately — and not been reprimanded."
"On the other hand," said Jieun. "What did the manager get wrong?"
"Pricelessness is not all honey and rose petals," said Lupin.
"That which has no price," said one of Jieun's friends, "has no value."
"The beauty has it exactly right."
"Did you feel a message on the coin?" Jihûn asked Lupin.
"No."
"It's impossible," said a young lady.
"Define impossible," said the Ministry agent.
"Inscribing a message in that alloy would require so much force," replied the young woman, "it would leave obvious marks. Arcane techniques will fail completely."
"What about heat?" asked Jieun.
"Melting an ordinary Autumn Blossom coin down requires more heat and skill than ordinary gold," replied her friend. "Melting one of these coins requires some master living on a mountain top."
She nodded toward Lupin.
"I'm not sure if the Abbot knows how to melt one," he replied. "Even with my beauty, I don't get to spend much time in his quarters. I get the feeling he uses the coins as cup holders to disguise the fact he actually needs them for something else."
"What else could it be?" asked Jihûn.
"He performs a lot of weird rituals," shrugged Lupin. "Although I am often tied up in these rituals, I have not been told what they are about."
Lupin rubbed his wrists without realizing.
"Did the Treasury know all this?" Jihûn asked the agent.
"Only some," conceded the man candidly.
"You have your coin," said Jihûn, "and more to think about. Let us have the scholar."
The agent bristled.
"This is an official…," he began to protest.
"You've made that clear," sighed Jihûn.
"Then don't interfere," replied the agent.
Jieun stepped forward. She was a feisty one.
"Investigating does not allow you to commandeer the resources of private businesses indefinitely," she said. "If you lack the skills or expertise required to complete an investigation, the proper course of action is for you to file a request with your Minister for more resources."
"I am grateful to the young lady for her instruction," said the agent. "However…."
"Take the coin and get out!" commanded Jihûn.
The atmosphere became charged.
"Thi is an official proceeding!" replied the agent.
Jihûn could not teleport, and therefore didn't. He did cross the room forcefully, however. Taller than most men, the Eighth Prince glared down from a position of menace.
To his credit, the agent held his composure.
"You've abused your badge long enough," said Jihûn. "If you do not take your evidence and get back to your job, I'll throw you out myself. You can file a complaint with your Minister, the Censorate, or the Emperor. Once a hearing is scheduled, we can argue about whether I am in the wrong for removing a commercial nuisance; or you are in the wrong for poor investigative practices."
The agent withdrew.
"That's going to come back to us," groaned Jieun.
Jihûn nodded impatiently. Yes, she was correct. It would come back to them. More importantly, however, Jihûn had established himself as a threat to routine. The politicians would think more carefully about trying to involve him in future plots. Furthermore, the Scarlet Quill's manager could barely disguise his pleasure at being freed of a pest.
The Eighth Prince had earned some loyalty.
"They are looking for books on lost swords," the manager prompted his expert.
"Specifically," said Jieun, "swords which have gone missing in the capital."
"There were countless battles here during the centuries between the Dynasties of Ten Thousand Years and Autumn Blossoming," said the expert. "Many legendary champions died. We have several sagas about their duels. It would then be necessary to cross-reference the champions with legendary weapons. Or do you mean explicitly swords?"
"I imagine Jian Peak Abbot requires an Elven sword," said Jieun.
"I wouldn't mind having a library about legendary champions," said Jihûn.
"I wouldn't mind selling you such a library," replied the manager.
"I wouldn't mind picking out the books," said the expert.
"I may as well come out with it," said Lupin.
"Please," agreed the manager.
"There's supposed to be a sword around here that would allow a grand master living on a mountain top to claim the currently vacant title of Sword Saint," said Lupin.
"I see," said the expert. "I don't recall any Sword Saints dying a thousand years ago. It will take some looking."
"We'll book research time," said Jieun. "Let's start with a week."
"Certainly!" said the manager. "Should we also assemble the Eighth Prince's library?"
"Yes," said Jihûn grandly. "I'll need to keep the packaging crates. As you've no doubt heard, The Family is moving off the Mound to be closer to The People. My condolences to you all."