Foolish Farmer

Misaki collapsed on the bed. The metal of her mail clanked against her scales.

Yoshitaka slumped into the corner tightly hugging his sword.

I sat on the corner of my bed. The wooden floors were invisible to me. All I could see was the mounds of dirt we called graves. Every last one. Gone. We couldn't save a single one. We just got lucky.

Knock knock. "Hello? Bronze Lions? I have brought some food for you. Please eat..."

Yoshitaka and Misaki did not move from their positions. I glanced over at the wooden door and sighed. With heavy steps, I opened the door to a human man with a cart with many plates of food. I let the man in and the man started to place the food on the table.

"I am sure it is not worth much right now, but we appreciate that you saved us. I am sorry for - "

I waved my hand and shook my head. The man took that cue and silently finished moving the food onto the table before leaving. I returned to my corner on my bed and closed my eyes.

Whiteness. Murmurs. Ice. Fire. Red. Black.

I opened my eyes, but not to the room I was in. Before me was an open area full of dark gray buildings. The ground were endless gray tiles of erratic shapes and sizes, and the sky was similarly a gloomy, soft, black dusk.

Dusk. That word describes the feeling perfectly. Yet it did not feel oppressive or solemn. It felt... serene.

There were others here. A few dozen maybe. They were dressed in gray silk robes with a black strip down the left side. They had a crow-like appearance with the most perfect black feathers except for what resembled bed-hair. They wore a boxy silk hat on their head and a gold braided rope belt. Every single one was busy reading a book with their beady, red eyes. I don't think any of them have noticed me.

"Ah, Mr. Makoto has arrived at last. Welcome to our realm, my name is Huang." A man behind me said. I turned around to see another crow-man, exactly the same appearance and height as the rest. The uniformity of them was bizarre.

"You know of me? Are you related to the Fae?"

"In a sense. Frankly, they should not have called you before you were ready. What they did was extremely dangerous and they could have destroyed your soul. Alas, I understand their desperate plight was to save Takato."

"I guess everyone knows Takato out here..."

"You would be correct. He was close to reaching a level few mortals have. Let alone one with a spirit as noble as his. He could have been another Hachiman or Sakyamuni but fate would not allow that."

"Who?"

"Great mortals who have achieved a level of spiritual awakening beyond us or even the Fae. In fact, only you mortals can ascend. We must perform our fated duty for eternity. Which is fine with us. We, the Yingels, enjoy being the shepherds of all knowledge. However, this is beside the point. We did not help you here to unload endless knowledge on you. We are here to help you."

"I see.. this is a lot to take in. Why did you choose me?"

"Fate mainly. The history that you have yet to experience says you must achieve a certain level if fate is to be kept on track."

"So I am some chosen one?"

Huang laughed, "In the sense that everyone is a chosen one. Fate would not be fate if it treated any one person more special."

I scratched my ear and gave a bewildered look.

"Come. Follow me so you read a specific book that shall help guide you when you return. Your memory will be unclear for your first few visits but the knowledge shall be within you. It shall help push you forward despite the trauma and depression. Just be aware that your emotions will be muted here except for destructive ones. Please keep yourself calm while you're in our realm."

I followed Huang through the small town. The buildings and people looked identical to each other and very uniform, yet everything else felt disordered. We came upon a massive gray brick building several dozen meters tall and easily a hundred meters wide. Inside, the building appeared even larger. Several dozen meters tall? I could not even see the ceiling despite soft light shining down as if from hanging lamps. Likewise, any end of the building was out of sight. All I could see were endless bookshelves full of a variety of books. Books of endless genres, sizes, colors, topics. Glancing at one shelf, they don't even appear organized. I saw ancient Faol fables next to Quetzal chemistry books and human treaties.

"These are the Akashic Records. Everything is written here. Anything you wish to know can be found here. Finding it is the challenge."

"You're telling me... why do you not organize these books?"

"The library can't be organized, Mr. Makoto. You can take a book into our city, but a book will not be where you return it. Likewise, a book will be where you need it or will it."

"So if I wanted to know the secret of life, I will find right here?" Makoto gestured toward the nearby bookshelf as he walked up to it.

Huang laughed, "Even we do not know the answer to that. Those secrets lie here somewhere but the will to summon it is beyond anyone thus far. However, you understand the general principle of how our library works. Come, this is the book you need for now." Huang walked next to Makoto and reached for a book. The small, green book shifted into a large, thin leathery black tome. Huang untied the ribbon from the cover and handed the book to Makoto. A book on inner magic, techniques that only the most skilled monks can perform. What Takato did at the end.

"This book will be your first step. Your journey ahead will be long and full of meetings."