by Tj Dixon
“That’s better. Now whilst you were lazing around in bed we’ve been defeating monster and the like so your people don’t get eaten or dismembered. I’m not wasting the rest of my life doing it whilst you laze around in bed though.”
“I’m not strong enough to fight monsters!” I protest.
“That’s certainly true. That’s why you need to hire someone who is strong enough.” She says, but repairing the town from the attack that killed mother cost what little money my family had left.
“I have no money, so how am I going to do that?”
“Easy, there are plenty of other ways to pay for help.” Sor says and I blink in confusion.
“How?” I ask curious now.
“Make a trade with Peter’s club. Their protection in exchange for land. A long term deal. They were planning something similar in return for healing the land, weren’t they?”
“Yes, but… Is it really ok to do that?”
“To protect your people is a noble’s most important duty. Not that I can speak.” Sor says sounding bitter for a moment.
“Why…?” I start to ask but Sor’s glare silences me.
“Anyway, I’m here to take you to them. Be grateful, brat.” Sor says. Despite her words I am grateful.
“Thank you.”
“Your thanks aren’t going to earn you any special favours, brat. Emi, port us.” Sor says the last part reluctantly. Then we are in an alchemist’s workshop, with a variety of potions filling the five shelves in front of me. There is a workbench in front of the shelves. The workbench has a few pots and lots of empty glass vials taking up half of it. The other half of the workbench has half a bug resting on it as well as lots of blood and bits of flesh that I assume came from the bug.
“Hello?” A questioning voice asks from behind me.
“Hello!” I say turning quickly and bowing deeply. “I’m very sorry to disturb you!”
“That’s ok, but who are you?” She asks. Glancing up I can see she is probably a similar age to my mother. That makes me wince as I think of mother.
“She’s Hinata Hoshi.” Sor says and pulls me up by my long black hair. I suppress my urge to cry out in pain and instead just wince even more.
“Hoshi, that name sounds familiar.” She says.
“It should do. She’s Asuna’s sister. She’s the girl that left with Peter.” Sor says.
“Oh! Of course. Thinking about it I saw you briefly before you left. You look different now though. I’m not sure what it is, but something is definitely different.”
“She’s no longer obsessed with vengeance now she’s got it.” Sor says. I frown.
“Wouldn’t you be obsessed with vengeance if someone killed your mother?” I ask.
“They did.” Sor tells me. I gulp.
“Sorry.” I say looking down.
“And yes, I can’t say you’re entirely wrong there.” Sor says sounding distant.
“So how can I help you?” The woman asks.
“We need to talk to your daughter.” Sor says sounding serious again.
“What do you need to talk to Rin about?”
“Hinata here needs some help keeping her people safe and Rin happens to have a large team of young mages, who are capable of doing exactly that.” Sor explains.
“I hope you’re not planning to put too much pressure on my daughter. She is still only a student mage and so are rest of the mages in her club, or team as you called it.”
“It’s up to Rin whether she helps us. I don’t imagine any of the monsters in Hinata’s land are going to be a problem for her though, and she would be compensated. I don’t see how it’s any different to the bounty hunts she’s already doing.” Sor says with a shrug.
“You’re right that it is her decision, but I’ll not accept any emotional blackmail.”
“Don’t worry, it isn’t going to be emotional.” Sor laughs.
“Or ordinary blackmail either!”
“Just joking.” Sor says. “So when can we talk to her?”
“She’s been to your land before, hasn’t she?”
“Yes.” I say with a nod.
“Then I’ll have her visit on her day off. I’m not disturbing her during the week. Before you go though, since you left together does that mean Peter is back too?”
“No.” I say shaking my head. “I hope he is still alive, but he sent me back ahead of him. He was stranded there, so I doubt we’ll see him again.”
“Don’t tell Rin that.” Rin’s mother says sharply.
“Ok.” I say taking a step back.
“Knowing Peter, he’ll find a way.” She says with a smile. There is only a hint of sadness and it is very well hidden, but it is something I am very familiar with.
“Make sure she comes.” Sor says.
“Don’t worry, she’ll come.” Rin’s mother says.
“We’ll be waiting.” Sor says and then ports us back to my home. “So I have to waste another day and a half of my life. You may be a useless brat, but you’re coming along with us anyway. It’s your people we’re protecting.”
(Emi)
I’m worried about Sor. She’s been doing her best to reduce the power she uses, but protecting the Hoshi lands has been difficult. If Sor keeps on using magic like she has been she’s going to wreck her magical senses, just like Lucy warned. That’s why Rin and Hinata had better agree to a deal today. Even another week like this would be dangerous.
Despite her harsh treatment of Hinata Sor actually cares about Hinata. She pretends she doesn’t, but she can’t fool me. I assume it is partly from spending time together, but it is more than just that. Sor sees herself in Hinata. Sor knows what it is like to be unable to protect those you are responsible for and she doesn’t want Hinata to experience that. Also Sor’s mother was killed by the enemy and so was Hinata’s, although unlike with Hinata, Sor wasn’t there when it happened.
“What is so interesting about that old burnt out house?” Sor asks.
“Sorry, I was just thinking.” I respond apologetically.
“About what?”
“Whether we’ll be able to make a deal with Rin.”
“That’s Hinata’s problem. I’m not staying here any longer even if she can’t make a deal.” Sor says, but I know it is just a bluff. There is no way Sor will simply abandon the people here.
“Rin’s here. She brought Asuna and Yu Kii too.” I say pointing.
“I know. I sensed her port. I should punish you at some point though. You’re getting way too full of yourself, or perhaps you’re just thinking too lowly of me.” Sor says.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean…”
“Shut up.” Sor says coldly. I obey.
“Sor?” Rin asks as she gets closer.
“Hinata’s inside. I’ll show you the way.” Sor says sounding bored.
“Don’t you normally port everywhere?” Rin asks sounding a bit surprised.
“There’s no need. It isn’t far.” Sor says with a shrug.
“Ok.” Rin says, but she is obviously suspicious. Like she said, Sor really does normally port everywhere.
“This way.” Sor says and leads the way into the house and to the small room where Hinata is nervously waiting.
There is a large light stone hanging from the ceiling. It is many times larger than most light stones and is obviously capable of holding its charge for years at a time. Below the light stone is a faded map with a single stone marking each village in the Hoshi land. There are also a few book cases. There are six chairs gathered around the map, so enough for everyone. They don’t look very comfortable.
“Hinata. It’s good to see you again.” Rin says with a smile.
“Rin. It’s good to see you too.” Hinata says a little weakly. She seems to be avoiding Asuna’s gaze but nods slightly to Yu Kii. “Take a seat everyone.”
We all sit and find the seats are no more comfy than they look. Hopefully we aren’t going to be in them long. I am on Hinata’s right and Sor is on her left. R
in is opposite Hinata. I am opposite Yu Kii and Asuna is opposite Sor. Hinata seems unsure of what to say next and looks to Sor. Sor sighs.
“Rin.” Sor says and everyone turns to face her. “I’m sure you know the basics. Hinata needs help defending her people and you happen to have a club that is already fighting monsters for money. What do you want in return for protecting Hinata’s people and land?”
“The club is Peter’s not mine. I can’t just use it for whatever I want, but we’re not going to abandon Hinata.” Rin says with a frown.
“So what do you suggest?” Sor asks.
“We had a deal with Hinata’s mother. Renewing all the land every few years in return for the land to the east of the river. Hinata was also going to join the club. I think that would be a good starting point. If we want to add in protection by the club we need to increase the land. How about adding this area here?” Rin suggests pointing to an area to the west of the river but to the north. There are no villages there so it seems reasonable.
“Where would you draw the border?” I ask.
“The line here where the northern swamp ends.” Rin says.
“That’s a swamp?” I ask surprised. “Why do you want a swamp?”
“There are plants there that would be useful in alchemy. It would also be useful for training.” Rin says.
“So will this land go to you, or to Peter?” I ask.
“To Peter since it is his club. The original deal was with Peter too.”
“How will you restore the land without the elf?” Sor asks.
“Dairon and Peter will be back by the time we need to do that.” Rin says.
“As far as we know they may both be dead. Even if they aren’t they are probably stranded.” Sor says bluntly. Rin frowns.
“I believe in Peter.” Rin says firmly.
“What about having the wind sisters renew the land?” I ask.
“They’re no good for this.” Sor says and Rin nods.
“Are they ok though?” I ask.
“They’re fine. They’re helping out our wind users, but they aren’t as good as Peter or Dairon, or even Cherry. Still, they’re safe and nobody outside the club has discovered them.” Rin says.
“How about using them to protect Hinata’s people and lands?” I ask.
“It would be hard to keep them secret if they did that.” Rin says shaking her head.
“More importantly, you’re about to make a deal you may not be able to keep. The urgent part is protection now, not renewing the land a few years from now.” Sor says sounding annoyed.
“How about we say that if we aren’t able to renew the land, we’ll just take the swamp in return for our protection now?” Rin suggests.
“Protection for how long?” Sor asks.
“Until we graduate. After that we will need to go wherever we are told to.”
“Then have Hinata join your training. Otherwise she isn’t going to be ready to protect her land. You’ll also have to forget her joining the club, because if she does that there will be nobody here to protect her people. She’ll also have to forget joining the academy, at least for now.” Sor says and Hinata nods sadly.
“By the time we graduate you should be in a position to hire someone to do that. The land is recovered so you’ll be able to tax your people a reasonable amount.” Rin says but Sor shakes her head.
“The land is recovered but it will take time for the people to recover. The land was blighted for most of the year so it will still be a bad harvest this year. The town was wrecked and is still being rebuilt. Next year’s harvest will be better, but if you take too much from the people after their first good harvest they will struggle just as badly as they have been.” Sor says.
“The Year 3 students will still be here when we graduate, so how about until they graduate. That gives you another year.” Rin says.
“That seems reasonable. If Peter is able to heal the land again then Hinata should be able to pay for protection with taxes. If he isn’t then she’ll hopefully be good enough to protect her people. You’ll definitely need to train her though.” Sor says.
“We’re training so many people already that one more isn’t going to be a problem.” Rin laughs.
“Emi, write the contract.” Sor says.
“Hinata, could you summon paper and something to lean on?” I ask.
“Sure.” Hinata says and forms paper and a slate. I take them from her and use magic to write the contract.
“I think this is right, but read it over carefully just in case.” I tell Rin as I hand it over to her. She does read it carefully and then signs it.
“It looks fine to me, but make sure you read it carefully too Hinata.” Rin says. Hinata reads it a couple of times before signing it. “I’ll have Jenny and Jimmy stay here with you. I’ll have a couple of the elves stay here too just in case, but I hope they don’t need to fight, because I don’t want them revealing themselves. Jenny can call us if there is anything she can’t handle, but obviously we can’t come when we are in lessons. Jimmy can’t use magic so he isn’t going to be fighting, but I’m sure they’ll want to stay together. Do you have enough spare rooms for them?”
“Yes.” Hinata says with a laugh. Then her face darkens for a moment. She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes as she says. “There are plenty of rooms, but they aren’t in very good condition.”
“As long as they aren’t going to collapse I’m sure it will be fine.” Rin says.
“They’re not going to collapse.” Hinata says.
“Nya.” The sound comes from behind me, even though I am facing the door and didn’t sense anyone port. I am shocked, but the look on Yu Kii’s face is pure horror. Before I can even turn Yu Kii throws herself on the floor face down, with her forehead literally touching the floor.
“Kuroneko.” Sor says as she stands and turns. I am slightly slower but when I see her the Kuroneko is in a catgirl form. I can only assume that Sor is correct in naming her, but then Sor is always right. At least about anything that uses her magical senses.
“Human girl.” The Kuroneko hisses.
“So where have you been?” Sor asks.
“Know your place.” The Kuroneko hisses. Then she looks at Yu Kii. “I cannot take you or enter the academy because of the contract, but your sister is still mine. Return her before the sun sets, or Ara Kii dies.”
“Please, take me in her place!” Yu Kii begs.
“Like I said, that is impossible.” The Kuroneko hisses.
“What about taking land instead?” Sor asks.
“The land around here is worthless.” The Kuroneko laughs.
“Is there nothing else we could give you in return?” Hinata asks. I look at her in surprise. I was sure she wouldn’t speak up.
“Are you offering to take her place?” The Kuroneko laughs.
“In exchange for Asuna’s freedom I would.” Hinata says. I hear a gasp.