Chapter 21

Koji and Makuro were back in the sitting room, staring at Makuro’s Lexicon, which she had placed open on the coffee table. The Magecroft Organization’s logo spun in the air above it slowly.

Dinner had been delicious, courtesy of Makuro. She had brought out ramen and sashimi, which Koji had dug into with gusto. Now, they were waiting for the call to Makuro’s overseeing superior to get through.

“It shouldn’t take long, but my superior is often busy looking after other employees, so we can’t expect an immediate response.”

“That symbol…” Koji said, looking at the projection. “I found a sort of wooden carved hand that I put a coin into while searching a house in the Silver District. Is this like that?”

Makuro looked mildly amused. “Those hands are lower-grade communication devices made by the Magecroft Organization and given to clients. Upon putting a golden Drakkel into the hand, it opens a link to the matching employee. I was surprised you didn’t turn it in to the Order, but protocol dictated that I had to destroy the hand if an unauthorized person made use of it. I did come a-calling later to see who did it, though. Saw you sleeping and decided to leave it at that.”

Koji had several questions about this, but the first thing he said was, “A Drakkel?”

Makuro reached into her sleeve and brought out a bright, shining golden coin, identical to the one Koji had picked up in the smugglers’ apartments.

“This is a Drakkel, the official currency of the Magecroft Organization. Mostly we use it among each other, but sometimes a few end up in the hands of outsiders. Some of our equipment is designed to work with Drakkels, like those wooden hands.”

“Sylvia put a silver piece into the hand and it set the whole house on fire,” Koji recalled the harrowing experience which he and Sylvia had barely escaped from alive.

“A security measure,” Makuro shrugged. “Rather crude and inelegant, but we don’t waste elaborate failsafes on stuff as trivial as a communicator hand.”

Koji simply shook his head.

There was a musical chime from the open Lexicon, and the image of an adult man appeared in the room, sitting across the table from Koji and Makuro. He wore a stylish dark grey suit with a white cravat, as well as a pair of rectangular glasses. However, what caught Koji’s attention the most was the pair of feline ears that were on top of his elegant head of black hair. A similarly colored tail waved slightly next to him.

Makuro sat up straight and folded her hands in her lap. “Superior Grazel,” She greeted formally.

“Makuro,” Grazel nodded back. “I see you’ve made a new friend.”

“My name’s Koji Hagane, sir,” Koji supplied.

Grazel peered at Koji over the tops of his glasses. “There’s no need to call me sir; you aren’t one of my subordinates nor are you a client. Just Grazel will do fine. You must be the newly documented Mu wielder that Makuro told me about. Regrettably, I have not had the time to look into your unique circumstances just yet, but what I've been told reeks of outsider influence. From whom, I do not know exactly yet. I'll consult my colleagues about it when I have some spare time.”

Then he returned his attention to Makuro. “Your submitted paperwork for retaking Behalan is still being processed.”

“What’s taking so long?” Makuro asked with a roll of her eyes. “I submitted that two weeks ago.”

“Makuro, you know we’re spread thin all over the place with the war going on. We are simply understaffed,” Grazel said with a heavy sigh. “Some of your documents have gone through, just not all of it. Your request for additional Dragoons has gone through; they’ve cleared you for fifty of them.”

“What about the reality break requests and the pass for direct confrontation?” Makuro asked Grazel impatiently. “Fifty Dragoons aren’t going to be enough on their own. I need to be out there too.”

“Fifty Dragoons is plenty, Makuro,” Grazel chastised. “Still, I know what you’re thinking. I suppose this is where our new friend comes in.” Grazel turned his head to look at Koji, his cat ears rotating slightly as he did so. “You have spent some time in the Order, been shown around their headquarters and seen their armies. You could provide us with crucial information that we can use when we strike to retake Behalan.”

”Wait, wait, wait,” Koji held up his hands in front of himself. “Strike? You’re going to invade the city?”

“What, you don’t think we can do it?” Makuro asked playfully. “Since you’re no longer with the Order, I think that if we do everything right, we might have a good chance at routing them and restoring the city to the way that it was before with minimal losses on our side.”

“No, but people will get hurt!” Koji protested, thinking back to his first battle out on the road. The Dragoons had made short work of the Order’s soldiers back then, and if Makuro hadn’t retreated after Koji had destroyed one, they might have killed everyone present.

“People are already being hurt,” Grazel said seriously. “If we don’t make a move on Behalan, the persecution of magic and those who rely upon it will only continue. We need to rid the city of the Order of the Unbroken Path before the damage becomes irreversible.”

“We’re probably going to have to take out the leaders, at least,” Makuro mused. “Those three humans who call themselves the High Lords of the Order. Heh.” She let out a small laugh that Koji found uncharacteristically sinister. “But I want to be there myself to confirm.”

“Confirm? Confirm what?” Koji was beginning to feel uneasy. “Look, I don’t like the Order either, but you can’t just go in and kill everyone!”

Makuro and Grazel exchanged loaded looks.

Then Grazel asked Koji, “Well, do you have an alternative plan?”

Koji thought fast. “Look, I’ll go speak to the High Lords. If the rest of this kingdom relies so much on magic, then they should know that their cause is a lost one. I’ll convince them that they can’t win.”

“I think you’re underestimating how deluded these people are…” Grazel said softly. “But I am intrigued. They’ve been holding Behalan for thirteen years, after all.”

“Exactly!” Koji exclaimed. “And even after thirteen years, they still haven’t managed to rid the city of all magic. I think, deep down, they know it’s a losing battle. Sure, they like to talk big and claim they’ll convert all of Firosa to their way of thinking, but after all I’ve seen, I don’t think they can do it.”

“He has a point,” Makuro said thoughtfully. “In comparison to the rest of the kingdom, Behalan is the outlier. I mean, hypothetically speaking, if we could convince them to stand down without a fight, then…”

“Wait, you haven’t tried talking with them before?” Koji asked skeptically.

“The Magecroft Organization does not negotiate with people like them,” Grazel replied firmly. “As such it would go against protocol for me to tell Makuro to open a summit or the like with the High Lords.”

“We’re at war,” Makuro crossed her legs and shrugged. “That’s just how it is.”

“Well, I’m not part of this war,” said Koji with a determined look on his face. “Maybe all you need is a third party to get things sorted out for you. I can go and give them an ultimatum: let magic return to Behalan, or I’ll leave their Order. After their parade about how valuable I am to them, they would have to at least consider it, or risk losing face with me publicly quitting. And that would be just as bad as losing the city, wouldn’t it?”

Grazel thought this over, his eyes pensive behind his glasses. Makuro simply sat back on the couch and twiddled her thumbs.

Finally Grazel spoke. “Alright. I am willing to let you put your plan to the test, Koji. But you must understand, if you are to go and negotiate with the High Lords, then you will be on your own. Makuro’s papers have yet to be processed, and until they are, she cannot officially intervene.”

“What about you?” Koji stared at Grazel.

Grazel laughed quietly, removing his glasses and giving them a wipe. “Oh, no. Superiors do not step onto the battlefield until every subordinate under them has failed. That is protocol, and it must be followed. However, we can give you transport back to Behalan, if you are intent on conversing with the High Lords.”

“That would be fine,” Koji said. “The Order set me up as a fake hero, but maybe I can use that to my advantage. If the people of Behalan see me publicly denouncing the Order, then they’ll turn on them with me, I know it.”

Grazel nodded once. “If that is your plan, then I will not hinder you. Why don’t you stay the night? We can drop you off at your house in the morning. Makuro, do you have anything to add?”

Makuro shrugged noncommittally. “Until that paperwork is processed, my hands are tied. Like Grazel said, Koji. The moment you step inside the city walls, you are on your own.”

“I’m not afraid,” Koji said, clenching his fist. Golden power, the power of Mu, wrapped around his hand and shone faintly. “I’ll be a hero, not to the Order but to the people of Behalan. I’ll bring back the magic for them, and show them that the Order is wrong!”

“Then we are at an accord,” Grazel said. “Makuro, I trust you can bring Koji back to Behalan. I’ve got other people to see to, so unless you have any last matters you wish to tell me…”

“No, I’m good. See you later, Grazel.”

Makuro closed the Lexicon and the projection of Grazel winked out like a candle being snuffed. She tucked the book away and stood up. Koji followed suit and went up to his bedroom. To his surprise, Makuro came up with him and they both sat down on the bed.

Finally, Makuro spoke. “Are you certain about this?”

“More certain than I have been about anything in my life,” Koji replied. “I can’t just let the people of Behalan live like they have been for the past thirteen years. They deserve better. And I… I need to make up for everything I’ve done to stop them from having that life. Make up for helping the Order of the Unbroken path.”

“You were lied to, Koji,” said Makuro understandingly. “You wouldn’t have helped them if you had known what they were really like.”

“Y-Yeah… I guess…” Koji sounded less sure of himself than Makuro did. “When I first met the Order, they looked at me like I was worth something. I wanted to be worth something, to be a hero. And they played me from the start. I’m such an idiot.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands, frustrated.

“Hey, don’t blame yourself too much for what happened,” Makuro smoothed out her coat and patted Koji on the shoulder. “Humans are prone to lying and using each other. That’s why I decided to distance myself from them. The fact that you recognize that you did something wrong and want to make up for it already makes you ten times better than any of the High Lords of the Order.”

Koji looked up from his hands. “You really think so?”

“Yeah, why not? Of course, that’s not saying much considering the High Lords of the Order are a trio of deceitful rats who cling to an imbecilic and outdated ideology that’s not good for anyone.”

At this, Koji let out a small laugh. Then he let out a long sigh. “I just wish I had someone who could come with me, if even to provide a bit of support. Back home I had my friends, my parents, even my teachers. Here… I’ve got nobody.”

Makuro was silent for a moment. Then she said quietly, “You really miss them, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I do. I don’t know what I’m going to do after tomorrow. I’ve got nowhere to go, no future, nothing to keep going for. Before, I thought I had a future with the Order, but now that I know they’re no good, I don’t want anything to do with them anymore. I just… I want to go home,” he finished in a tiny voice.

Makuro simply scuffed one foot on the floor, as if thinking about something. Then she stood up and made her way to the bedroom door.

“Just worry about your mission tomorrow, Koji. Once you take care of that, then you can face the future.”

And with those parting words, Makuro stood up and left Koji to rest.