Chapter 3

The auburn haired woman strode into the inn, each step firm and measured. Stitched into her skirt was the pattern of a scroll and a winding road, done in black thread.

“I’m sorry, we’re closed for the night,” Rena rose to her feet.

“You will make an exception for me,” the newcomer said firmly. She reached into a side pouch and took out a shiny bronze badge with the same emblem on it as the one stitched into her clothing. “I am with the Order of the Unbroken Path, and I was sent here to find that boy over there.” She pointed at Koji with her right hand. As she did so, he was able to see that there was some kind of gemstone set into her gauntlet; it was pearlescent and about an inch across.

The newcomer drew herself up to her full height. “I am Sylvia, of the Order of the Unbroken Path.”

“You already said that,” Rena muttered.

“I overheard you speaking and decided that I would be a better person to answer your questions instead of someone who has only heard rumors and hearsay,” Sylvia said, looking at Rena with slight disdain.

“But on one condition,” she continued. “After I satisfy your curiosity, you will come with me to the Order’s headquarters. The leaders of the Order want to meet you.”

Koji was hesitant, but at the same time curious. “Why do they want to meet me?”

“I do not know why,” Sylvia told him, walking over to the table and sitting down. “But I would not ignore a summons from the top brass. Do you understand me?”

Koji and Rena glanced at one another. Sylvia seemed reasonable enough, if a bit pompous, but Koji wanted to make sure of something first.

“If I go with you, you won’t hurt Rena or her family?”

A look of outrage and disgust came onto Sylvia’s face. She rose up from her chair and loomed over Koji, casting a shadow over him.

“What kind of a person do you take me for?” She demanded. “I would never bring harm to an innocent citizen of this city. That’s not how the Order works, boy. Don’t you dare accuse me of doing something like that again!”

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry!” Koji said quickly, holding up his hands in front of himself. As he did so, a pulse of golden light rippled out and formed a protective spherical shield around him.

Sylvia inhaled sharply and backed off. She clutched her right arm with her left hand.

“So it is true…” She breathed.

“What, that I can use magic?” Koji looked bewildered. He lowered his hands and the shield dissipated into small motes of light that faded away.

“It isn’t magic,” Sylvia said sternly. She extended her right arm to show Koji the gemstone set in the armor. “You see this? It’s a special material that’s able to stop any and all magic. You wouldn’t be able to use it around me. The fact that you did means it’s something… different, something that we haven’t seen before. That explains why the High Lords of the Order want to meet you so badly.”

“Oh.” Koji looked at the gemstone as it twinkled and shone in the lamplight. “That makes sense.” He wanted to ask if he was going to come to any harm because of his new power, but then he remembered how Sylvia had reacted to his previous prodding and decided against it. He didn’t want to upset her any further.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, I will now provide you with the answers about the Order and our enemy,” Sitting back down, Sylvia adjusted her sword so that it wasn’t poking her in the side and gave Koji an expectant look.

Rena, who had been silent for most of this, shuffled her chair closer to Koji’s.

“So, about those dark knights…” Koji started. “And the grim reaper lookalike. Who are they?”

Sylvia looked at Koji seriously. “They are everything we as the Order of the Unbroken Path oppose. They call themselves the Magecroft Organization. We refer to them as interlopers. The Order stands for humanity’s potential and its ability to excel on its own without magic, where all may follow their destinies and reach our goals without unnatural forces like magic to twist the process. The dark knights, as you referred to, are their foot soldiers. At least that’s what we have learned from thirteen years of fighting them. They are hollow men, merely armor animated by magic. Extremely difficult to injure, let alone destroy.”

But I took one down with barely any trouble at all. Koji thought to himself. He could feel the power surging inside of him. It seemed to be eager to be used, and came to him easier than it had before.

“As for the miscreant with the scythe,” Sylvia continued darkly. “We can only say that it is some kind of field commander. We have lost many a brave man and woman to it. The fact that you were able to survive against it gives me hope yet. Still, the plague that is magic continues to infest Behalan and its surrounding countryside, and we dare not leave the city undefended to go out and face the interlopers in their home territory. That would be foolish at best, and suicide at worst.”

“What’s so bad about this Magecroft Organization? Is it just because they use magic?”

Sylvia looked at Koji seriously. “They’re opportunists and predators. The Magecroft Organization specializes in selling magical services and goods. They go after desperate people who are willing to pay their prices for a quick arcane favor, and eventually they end up working for them or worse. The Order of the Unbroken Path sees such inequality as abhorrent, as well as in complete conflict with the idea that humanity can excel without such unnatural assistance, if you can call it that. As you saw yourself, the Magecroft Organization is more than willing to hurt or kill bystanders in order to regain its foothold in the city. The Order will not allow that to happen, for the sake of humans everywhere.”

“...I see.” Koji said after some thought. “You know, all my life I was raised to think that magic didn’t exist. Now I’m here and it is real. It’s… honestly a lot to take in.”

“Where did you live before coming here?” Sylvia asked, her brow furrowing.

“I’m curious about that, too,” Rena added, reminding Koji of her presence. “Have you remembered anything new, Koji?”

Koji looked at both Sylvia and Rena’s expecting faces. It was true that he had remembered quite a bit more from while he had been unconscious. He sighed.

“I’m from a country called Japan. I don’t suppose either of you have heard of it?”

“No, I have not,” Sylvia.

“It’s not a place I know in Firosa,” Rena added.

Koji felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Wherever he was now, it probably wasn’t even on Earth, which made his chances of getting back home pretty dismal. Still, he was determined to not give in to despair and forged on.

“Yeah. Anyway, I was a high school student at a school called… you know what, never mind what it was called.”

“So you were a scholar?” Rena interrupted.

Koji shook his head. “Where I come from, everyone goes to school until they’re eighteen. It’s the law. Anyway, I wasn’t really anything special, my grades were never the highest, but it’s not like I was a slacker or anything. My parents had different ideas for what kind of a job I was supposed to go for once I graduated from high school. My father wanted me to go into medicine, while my mother thought I should be an engineer. That’s like a person who works with machines,” he clarified, just in case the people of this world didn’t know what engineering was.

“By your tone, you don’t seem very excited about either option,” Sylvia observed.

“No, I really wasn’t. To be honest, I don’t really know what I wanted to be once I left school. I thought about being a photographer, but I never put any serious consideration into it. I guess it doesn’t matter now,” he finished with a bitter laugh.

“As for how I ended up here, the last thing I remember before waking up in the field is being in Shibuya with my friends. Shibuya’s like a place for shopping. I… I think I got hit by a car while pushing someone out of the way. Maybe this whole thing is all in my head and I’m actually in a hospital or something,” Koji shrugged. “Anyway, that’s about it. I don’t really know what to do now.”

“What is a car?” Sylvia asked slowly, thinking about what she had just heard from Koji.

“A car? I guess it’s kind of like a vehicle with four wheels that can move without a horse… or unicorn pulling it.”

“That sounds like magic to me,” Sylvia said with a disapproving look.

Koji chuckled. “No, it wasn’t magic. It was just how people got around back in Japan. They run on something called gasoline, which is… liquid dinosaur bones?” He attempted to explain.

“Definitely magic,” Rena agreed with Sylvia.

“It’s not- oh, never mind,” sighed Koji. “It doesn’t matter either way. Unless this is all a dream, I’m probably not going to see Shibuya or Japan again. Does that help?” He asked.

“It certainly is mysterious,” Sylvia admitted. “I have never heard of any of these places you have named. Still, I see no reason for you to lie to us, and you seem like an honest person, at least. I will believe your story.” She stood up from the table. “Now that all the facts have been laid out, I will need you to come with me. I will take you to the High Lords of the Order of the Unbroken Path and present you to them. They are the premier experts in unusual occurrences and sorting them out. I am sure that they can find a use for you and your newfound powers as well.”

“What? Now?” Rena looked puzzled. “But it’s past midnight. Can’t it wait until morning?”

“No,” Sylvia said shortly. “The Order has sent people all across the city of Behalan to search for this boy. They will want to see him as soon as humanly possible. Which means that we have to go right this instant.”

“It’s fine, Rena,” Koji also stood and brushed off his pants. “I’ll go see what the Order wants with me. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

“No harm will befall him, do not worry,” Sylvia assured Rena. “Now come. My steed is just outside.”

Koji and Rena left the inn and stepped into the darkness of the night. Glancing up at the sky, Koji could not help but be amazed by all the stars he was able to see. Spread out like a diamond studded tapestry, it was more stars than the young man had ever seen before in his life.

He was brought back to earth by the sound of a harness jingling. As Sylvia had said, her brown unicorn was right there, and she had just finished untying it from a post. The young woman put one foot in the stirrup and swung up into the saddle effortlessly, before reaching out to Koji.

He took her hand and she pulled him up to sit behind her. He felt very high up, not having ridden anything taller than a bicycle, and certainly never an animal. He could sense the eagerness of the unicorn beneath him, and he felt a small thrill of excitement at being able to ride such a creature,

“If you feel as if you are about to fall, you may hold onto me,” Sylvia offered. “But I do not think you will have to worry about such a thing. Berrytwist is the most surefooted unicorn I have ever ridden. Are you settled? Then off we go!”

Sylvia gave the unicorn a gentle kick with both her heels and the animal set off at a brisk trot through the streets. Although most of the homes and buildings that they passed had their lights off, there were numerous lamps placed at regular intervals that allowed them to see the road clearly.

There was also the continuous sound of running water, but they were moving too fast for Koji to see where it might be coming from. Eventually he fell into a trance where there was nothing but the clip clop of Berrytwist’s hooves and the steady breathing of Sylvia as she steered them towards their destination.

One question remained in the back of Koji’s mind. What would the leaders of the Order think of him, and what might they expect?