Shadowed Entry

Familiarity. Always a nagging sense, not quite déjà vu, but a trickle. A drop of water into a full bucket. None of it made a difference if it was fuller or not, but the bucket still noticed. The ripples couldn’t be ignored. No, the ripples never would be. Why couldn’t they be forgotten?

Miho sat on the cold roof, picking through the sandwich Yori gave her. It had unusual bread, more like a bun and some grilled meat on it. She was used to having something preserved or prepared by the beasts. Each bite into it didn’t make her hate it. It tasted awful and caked in spices and condiments to hide it all. She should have just tossed it away. It was terrible food. How could people on this side live like this? And he just effortlessly chowed down.

She wanted another one.

The humid Tokyo summer started to itch a little under her jacket. So far up, Yori shouldn’t wince about her taking it off. They were just magic catalysts; Miho didn’t see what the problem was. Her understanding was that even this Earth had tattoos, just non-mana-infused types. But out of sight, it shouldn’t matter. She took the jacket and folded it up in her lap.

“Not bad back there,” Yori said, finishing his sandwich.

“I did say I could get intel.”

“We haven’t gotten anything yet. You made a scene.”

“There are many ways to get the job done.”

“Yeah, well let’s hope this turns up a lead. It’d be a shame if all your work goes to waste.”

Any sort of compliment from Yori sounded foreign. She had as much trouble with him as she knew he did with her. They were a jackass most of the time, and when they weren’t trying to make her look stupid, he was smugly gloating about her ignorance. There was a limit to how much one man could ride on pride. She did knock him on his ass, but after everything she learned about him, it became clear that he wasn’t taking her seriously.

He had a terrible personality.

But she couldn’t hate him. No, as much as she should, there was an air about him that just made him pitiable and sad. It was as frustrating as it was confusing. He was a mystery that only created new questions with each thing that she learned.

Miho finished up the rest of her sandwich and nibbled on her fries. Seeing how easily Yori obtained food and ate casually around explained the state of his car. But these would end up in the trash this time. She would make sure of it.

Leaning against the concrete, she looked down at the street of civilians walking. It was still too soon for them to move. “How long after closing do ye want to wait?”

“Ideally, after they’ve packed up. But us waving our faces around there is like a middle finger to them.”

“Won’t they come looking for us?”

“They aren’t stupid enough to make a show during the day. The Veil’s stronger when more innocents are around.”

“It’s far more troublesome on your side.”

“It believes it’s got rules to uphold.”

“Rules…” Miho coughed a little as she bit down the fry. There was so much wrong. And they lived this way. She struggled to see how they could accept such facades and lies. There was no honesty in the world. Fitting somehow.

Night slowly closed in a tight, unforgiving strangle on everything. Hands that just wanted to strip vitality from everything. Clog out warmth and life. Even the moon looked down in a condescending waxing gaze, not even trying to give out light. Pitiful. Depressing. Disgusting.

She coughed, alerting to the time. The thick, ill air that poisoned her almost seemed to be accepted by her body. Barely even two days, and it already had its claws in her. It was enough to curdle her stomach, but she wanted to keep her dinner down. Miho bitterly acquiesced to the invasion. The mission came first.

Behind her, Yori finally moved. She noticed the man was just casually sleeping without care. Like no one might attack them. He seemed so confident that the criminals would only attack at night. But he had been correct. Nothing happened.

“They’re both still there. I think they’re waiting on us.”

“What’s your plan?”

He snapped his coat on and adjusted it to a fit that he liked. “Exactly what you like. Strike fast and get in and out.”

“How do ye know what I like?”

“Am I wrong?”

“No…”

“They’re going to be prepared. No doubt have spells for intrusions and alarms. We’re only gonna get one shot to get any intel before they come raining down on us.”

She stretched out her mana sense over the block. There was some very subtle mana coming from around the building. So low that she would have missed it if she weren’t already looking for it. Definitely the signature of tools and traps. He was right. It was completely locked down. “Dependin’ on the spells, they may even know before that.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. Think you can locate some of them? Depending on the type, I can dispel them.”

“Some spells can have layered spells set on them to detect tamperin’.” These were criminal sorcerers. Most who worked on this side weren’t the weak, low-grade sorcerers. Even she knew that much. If they were too weak, the Veil would have caught them already. All the countermeasures wouldn’t amount to much if they couldn’t manage their mana and spellcraft properly.

“I’m familiar with most they use. I know which are trapped.”

“Then the first is on the corner of that street, tied to the traffic light.”

“Fitted into the whole thing. That’ll be a little annoying.” But undeterred from her claim, he jumped over the ledge of the roof into the alley. It still surprised her for a second that he was doing it unaided. Then remembered his capabilities. He stayed out of sight, even with the few civilians walking.

Calling upon the wind from her Four Fanged Cloud tattoo, she lowered herself down to follow after him. The fact that he could so effortlessly do such acrobatics made her a little envious. His mana control had to be remarkable, and yet he claimed that was common practice on this side. These people could be truly dangerous.

When she caught up to Yori, he had a new device or most likely a magic tool, in his hands that she didn’t recognize. Mado had their share of tools, but with the free use of magic, they had less value. She never saw one person carry so many on them. And that he had the mana to tune to each so quickly was impressive.

The tool he had this time was a branch with red and blue threads woven around it. It was so tightly wrapped she thought it might have been stitched into the wood’s bark. But she turned her eyes to the soft blue glow she could pick up. The trace amounts of mana inscribed flickered like a dying candle.

There were two ways to dispel conventionally. One was to extract the mana fueling the spell so that it couldn’t be triggered. However, that method could cause a secondary layered spell to activate on a conditional change. The other involved breaking down the magic array into its elemental components and carefully removing the correct one that didn’t trigger it to activate. The worst thing about an array with the wrong component stripped was that the parameters changed. It was all predictable; if array construction was their expertise, but most sorcerers didn’t train in ground-up construction. Preset arrays were common practice, making array specialists unique and highly sought after.

The mana finally faded fully from the traffic light. She followed the trace through the ground as the broken link shut down the entire connected system. Expanding her reach, she looked for other mana sources, silently leaving. Nothing. Yori had been successful. One down.

She pointed out the next source that she found. The darkened night made it easier for them to move without much notice. But tension slowly increased for her. Like Yori said, charging straight in would have been preferred. And to a degree that was still going to happen. For as long as this stealth could last. Miho kept glancing around for any eyes or notice of sorcerers. They had to be watching. They knew. Was more already coming? Was that arrogant sorcerer going to be among them? She prayed for another shot at him.

They made it to the back side of the building. A few dumpsters and a parked truck sat in the alley. Yori came to a stop at the next array. She could see it carefully carved into the asphalt in a way that disguised it as paint markings.

“Damn, this is as far as we go. Figures they’d have a Triple Stone Guard. We’re on the clock now. Ready?”

“Always.” They bolted for the door. How long would they have before the sorcerers fell upon them? Miho partly hoped for another fight, but knew she needed to focus. The mission needed to succeed.