Struggling Defense

Unable to go through the front, Miho could only pray that Yori didn’t let his passions get in the way of the mission. Which sounded odd for her. But this whole event was his weakness. If she had a choice, she would’ve left him out of it and brought someone else. This wasn’t a place for him. But she trusted him to keep to the mission. He knew what was at stake, which she hoped would keep him focused.

The front was an utter mystery to her. With a little hope from an invisibility item that Yori bought for her, she snuck into a less guarded part of the backrooms. Once inside, she had a far larger obstacle in front of her. There were far more sorcerers watching than she expected. But she realized it was probably because everyone captured was also a sorcerer; some trained, others not. If they broke free, they’d need enough to stop it. None of whom they grabbed were defenseless.

However, she saw how they kept things managed. In a disgusting way, it was well organized. All the syndicates had separate housing for their merchandise. There were different markings for each of them. No names, which made it difficult, as she knew very few of the groups by their brands.

But it kept everyone separated with dedicated guards to each. They all looked fair, well-dressed and cared for, which was contrary to what Yori reported to her about what he saw. Guess these were important to them. She didn’t understand how they worked.

And worse, while some were alert, others looked to be drugged or under a spell. Something to keep them docile, no doubt, until the event. This much magic in one spot was definitely dangerous. But most of them were too afraid to use it if they had a means. Probably the biggest thing working in the syndicates’ favor was the Veil making normal casting impossible.

Each time she saw someone, it boiled her blood more and made her heart beat a little faster. She thought that she could keep a level head, like when pressed by Yori about it. Her sister was the mission, the goal. No one else could be saved. But the desire to save tried to tear down her defenses. Eyes that begged for anyone to save them. It was impossible.

She had to steel herself.

Her mind and emotions wandering threatened her focus. The invisibility required her to constantly provide mana to it. Even if the tool was designed to be very efficient, it was a drain. And an active one at that. She couldn’t let her feelings distract her. Her sister had to be found.

Miho pushed herself forward. She needed to find the place for Lotus, as that was the most likely location to find Shiori. It was all working on the assumption that she would even be at the event. A small part of her feared that she might have miscalculated, that her feelings just jumped to conclusions. That everything was just a desperate need to find her. But it was also logical to her. All the trade in recent months had to be leading to this.

It just forced her search with more pressure. Shiori had to be found. Otherwise, she sent Yori on a suicide mission. And she promised herself she’d never do that again. This mission would be a success. There was no other choice.

“Who the hell are you?” a voice suddenly said behind Miho. Immediately, her heart jumped even as she kept a stoic look. There was still the chance that they weren’t speaking to her. She should have been invisible. Unless she lost focus. Which was possible.

Turning around towards the commanding voice only made it clear to Miho that any hope was gone. They were looking straight at her. It wasn’t anyone that she remembered from their raid the other night.

She checked around her, and none of the other sorcerers were taking an immediate interest in her. The only fortunate thing was that they had prepared for this scenario, just not at this point in the mission. It was supposed to be for the escape, not the lead-up. She was dressed in a formal suit rather than her hakama and jacket, matching the dress code of all the guards on duty. In passing, she should seem like anyone else if they didn’t press her for details.

Unfortunately, the sorcerer began to approach. He didn’t look that tough at a glance, but it was hard to accurately judge a sorcerer. Especially on this side of the Veil, where spells couldn’t be freely cast. But they didn’t have the presence or stature of someone with experience, just someone confident in their own superiority.

However, as much as she would love to lay him out flat, she had to be careful. She had to not make a scene. Miho marked him with a stern stare back. “I don’t answer to ye. Don’t make me waste my time answering your inane questions.” She just had to muster as much confidence as possible to shut him down.

“I saw you. You just appeared! You cast something.”

There was a bit of hesitation with him she could tell, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. “The hell, ye dippin’ into the Burntweed? I don’t have time to be dealin’ with your hallucinations." She then started to forcefully leave the conversation. With enough pressure, she hoped they would just give up.

Yet they moved swiftly to get in her way. It wasn’t anywhere as impressive as Yori’s, but it was definitely not what she would see from a normal sorcerer. He was right that this side trained differently. “I haven’t seen you around at all. How’d you get in here?”

“I’ve been here all night. It’s not my job to pay introductions.” They were really starting to get troublesome. Miho carefully checked on the others in sight. He wasn’t shouting anymore, though he did raise his voice. No one seemed to immediately give her notice.

He went to grab her arm like he wanted to restrain her. They definitely seemed to be overstepping authority, even if he was right. ‘Channel the mana, compress and feel it out…’ It wasn’t much, but she did request some pointers on how to improve her mana from Yori. He couldn’t exactly train her in the two days, but he explained the concept. She hadn’t been able to make much practice with it. It was very difficult and threw off her control more often than not.

But she still went for it. There wasn’t going to be a choice. This man was clearly enhancing himself, and maybe even preparing a defense. She needed to crack it immediately. Miho struck out sharply in his gut. A heavy, wet-sounding thud came from her. It definitely connected, but felt like before, she didn’t have the accuracy. Mana came out rather than remaining inside her hand. Her fist slammed him like a hammer with a wide spread, lacking the pinpoint strike she desired.

It was enough to make him keel over, but not fully knock him out. Quickly, she walked him out of view between housing quarters. The man remained stunned and looked quite nauseous from the blow. And he would have to feel worse soon. She delivered two more attempted focused strikes that finally knocked him completely out.

Miho hurried and dragged him far out of the way in the hopes that no one would find him in the dark place between cells. With luck, she would get to Shiori before anything. She just cursed herself for not being able to solve it without violence. Flexing her hand, she had to accept the reality. ‘It’s far harder than I gave him credit for… It’s not normal for me…’

As much as she could grant him more praise, she moved on. She couldn’t run, but moved with purpose. The Lotus cell had to be near. But each passing minute that she failed worried her. The auction could start soon. ‘Please be ready, Yori. I need you!’