Chapter 101: 170. Guests

“Elementals?”

Jia was surprised. Jianmo had never so much as mentioned elementals as a potential faction. Supposedly the number of deities in the divine realm powerful enough to break through the seal on the world could be counted on one hand, but Jianmo had neglected to mention who they were. She could be such an infuriating teacher. Hwang Sung nodded.

“Indeed. They’re a rather unusual lot. When they first appeared they simply started asking questions and making demands of anyone who would listen to them. They are quite knowledgeable about magic, but terribly difficult to talk to. Nobody is quite sure what they even want.”

Eui cocked her head curiously.

“What do you mean?”

Magus Hwang scratched his cheek and frowned.

“Hrm, well for example, last year they petitioned Queen Seong to join with Qin and help them destroy the demonic threat. Once refused, they almost immediately changed their mind and suggested joining with the demons to attack Qin. Needless to say, that request wasn’t granted either, and nobody has been able to get them to elaborate what stake they have in that fight.”

Jia frowned. That was...weird. If she assumed that Jianmo was right about the demons having the third key, then it seemed like the elemental faction wanted one of the other factions to get their hands on a second key—but did they not care which one? It felt like she was missing something.

“Why won’t they explain themselves?”

Hwang shrugged helplessly.

“That just seems to be how they are. It’s difficult to explain. Perhaps you’ll have the opportunity to meet them yourselves—then you’ll know what I mean. The Queen has given up dealing with them, and now it’s just a few of the high noble houses that continue to entertain them.”

Hayakawa scowled at the magus, narrowing her eyes suspiciously as she leaned forward.

“Why are you telling us this? Having faced one of these deities myself, I understand just how powerful they are. Why would you waste the potential of such an asset, and why would you tell me that you don’t actually have control over them?”

Magus Hwang smiled kindly, and adopted the same tone he would use in his lectures as he addressed Hayakawa’s concerns.

“Lady Hayakawa, with all due respect, you are overestimating your own importance. We both know that Yamato is in no position to move against Goryeo, whether we have a deity on our side or not. Should our nations join forces, it will become important for you to be aware that we cannot simply mobilize our extra-dimensional guests freely, lest you expect more from us than can be provided. Some ‘secrets’ are more valuable if shared.”

Magus Hwang looked pointedly in Lee Jia’s direction as he said that last part, and she sighed. He obviously knew that there was something she wasn’t sharing. For the third time in recent memory, Jia found herself considering just how much she should hold in reserve. In the end, she decided to trust Magus Hwang. He’d been a mentor to them in the academy, and it was by his good graces that she’d ever been given the opportunity to become what she was today.

Jia took Eui’s hand—both for comfort, and as a signal to Magus Hwang that she would be speaking as Yoshika—and allowed their thoughts to merge. Yoshika took a deep breath and met Magus Hwang’s eyes as she spoke.

“Magus Hwang, there’s something else we need to tell you about the descent, two years ago...”

She went on to explain what she had learned after escaping from the academy, with particular emphasis on Do Hye’s involvement with Jianmo before the academy’s founding. The magus listened patiently without interruption until she finished her story, before letting out a long-suffering sigh.

“Damn you, you old snake. Just what mad scheme have you pulled us all into? You’re certain that Do Hye was aware of Jianmo’s presence on Mount Geumji, the existence of this divine artifact, and the demon’s intention to bring all this chaos down on us?”

Yoshika started to nod, but stopped herself and shrugged instead.

“We can’t really be sure. He knew the broad strokes at least, but we can’t even begin to guess just how much of it he predicted or planned.”

Hwang scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure he’d like you to believe that he planned every last moment of it. Still, this brings some of the things I’ve discovered during my investigations into new perspective. I’m afraid there’s a few things I need to go look into now, so I’ll be taking my leave here. For the record, girls, I have rather mixed feelings about working with that demon Jianmo. I do not believe that they are telling you the entire story. For the rest of it, you have my support. It’s not much, but I’ll make sure the queen knows it by the time you have your negotiations. Lady Hayakawa has the right of it—this is bigger than just our nations now.”

As Magus Hwang stood, Yoshika and the rest all rose as well and bowed respectfully in farewell.

“Thank you, Magus Hwang. It was nice speaking to you again.”

Hwang’s hair-feathers puffed out proudly as he beamed at them.

“I always knew you had the potential for greatness in you—all of you. It brings me great joy to see that potential being realized. Now, please excuse me.”

The magus wasted no time casting a complex spell—and Yoshika recognized it as the same one that Seong Misun had used to whisk away Dae and Eunae during the attack on the academy. Once the spell was completed, Magus Hwang vanished in a small gust of wind—off to who-knows-where to look into Do Hye’s involvement in the chaos that had taken hold of the continent for the last two years. Once he was gone, Tae In-Su collapsed back into his chair, looking pale-faced as his face scanned across each of the girls in the room.

“Was—was I the only one who didn’t know about all that?”

 

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Jia needed a break after all the discussion of mysterious elementals, world-shattering schemes, and diplomatic maneuvering. She wasn’t cut out for all that, and talking to Magus Hwang about Jianmo, Do Hye, and the elementals had been more stressful than fighting for her life against powerful cultivators. So, to wind down, she decided to cash in on the date that Eui owed her after their disastrous day out in Nayeong. She walked arm-in-arm with her girlfriend down the busy streets of Yangye, taking in the sights as Ja Yun followed from a respectful distance—trying to give them their privacy without shirking her duties.

Yangye was a different kind of city than Nayeong. It was a bit larger, and it saw more traffic as other cities along the southwestern border moved supplies through it, usually destined for the capital, Songdo, in the center of Goryeon territory. Despite being physically larger, the city was even more crowded than Nayeong had been, as the amount of space failed to scale enough to accommodate the increased population. It all seemed vaguely familiar to Jia, though she’d never been in the habit of remembering the places she’d lived in. If she had prowled these streets before, it would have been a long time ago.

It was during her usual tour of the food vendors in the market that they encountered an unusual commotion. Some fruit vendor had spilled a basket of their stock across the street, and was now engaged in an argument with a man they accused of knocking the basket over. Nothing about that was strange—an everyday occurrence, really—but what caught Jia’s eye was the little girl brazenly filling her seemingly-endless pockets with the spilled fruit while the men argued.

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“Ah, that takes me back.”

Jia’s voice was tinged with nostalgia as she watched—mostly through her domain so as not to draw any more attention to the girl. Eui naturally knew what she was referring to, through their shared link.

“Opportunistic little brat. You used to do that kind of thing?”

Jia nodded thoughtfully.

“I told you about it before. Knock over some produce, blame it on somebody else, then sneak a few handfuls while ‘helping’ clean up the mess.”

Eui snorted.

“She’s not being very helpful is she?”

“Different technique, I suppose. Ah, but she’s way too greedy, she’s about to get caught.”

As if on cue, the merchant’s attention shifted from the man he’d been arguing with to the girl whose pockets were now comically bulging with stolen produce. Before his mouth had even opened, the girl darted away through the crowd as the merchant called after her.

“Stop, thief!”

The merchant wasn’t foolish enough to leave his stand unattended to go chasing after the girl, but nearby city guards had picked up on the commotion and were now tracking the girl through the crowd. Jia and Eui followed along curiously, watching it unfold through their domain, but not making any moves to help either side. The girl was quick, but she was weighed down by all the stolen fruit, and she moved awkwardly, trying not to spill it from her overladen pockets. The guards, on the other hand, seemed to be well-practiced in rounding up their quarry—another mistake on the girl's part, Jia had always made a point of knowing when the lazier guards were on duty. It only took three of them to herd the girl into a corner, where they ended up confronting her.

The girl stood there, trembling like a leaf as the guards closed in around her, eyes darting back and forth as she desperately searched for a way out. She was rake-thin from malnourishment, and dressed in the sort of hand-me-down rags that Jia had worn before her time in the academy. She was a half spirit with horizontal pupils in her amber eyes, and a tiny pair of ivory-white horns jutting out from beneath her flaxen hair. The look was completed by a pair of long, rounded ears, giving her spiritual expressions the impression of a goat or a sheep.

“Don’t move! You are under arrest on suspicion of robbery. Any attempt to move or speak will be taken as a sign of resistance!”

Ah, what a familiar threat. Jia had heard it many times—or some variation thereof. It was nearly impossible to follow to the satisfaction of the guards, and was really little more than a thin veneer of warning that preceded a beating. The girl looked like she was still a child of six or seven—though, recalling her own stunted growth, Jia wouldn’t be surprised to find out she was older. Small children would usually get off with just a beating and a warning before being sent back off to their ‘parents’—more likely an organization like the one Jia had grown up in, or a gang.

Still, Jia didn’t feel comfortable just letting that happen. Even though it was none of her business, it brought up too many unpleasant memories for her to let it go.

“Come on.”

Eui nodded as Jia led her towards the confrontation. The guards had closed around the girl, who now stood utterly stock still in the vain hope that she might at least avoid a beating. The first of the trio of guards had just lifted the butt of his spear when Jia’s voice called out.

“Stop!”

The guards turned in tandem to look at her, and the little girl tried to take advantage of their distraction to bolt—only to be immediately caught by the scruff by one of the guards, who held her struggling form off the ground with contemptuous ease. The same guard eyed Jia up and down with derision, before his gaze settled on her fine silk robes and he reconsidered.

“How can we help you, Miss Mage? This is a matter for the city guard, no need to involve your esteemed selves.”

Jia put on her best smile as she addressed the guards. She’d never really considered herself much of a liar or manipulator, but her year at the academy and training to control her emotions—not to mention her friendships with the likes of Yan Yue and Xin Wei—made something like this trivial to her.

“I’m afraid there is. Thank you for finding our little Hae for us! She hasn’t quite gotten settled in yet—we only just recently adopted, and it’s been something of a project. You know how kids can be. We can take it from here, if you don’t mind.”

The guard squinted in confusion before glancing between Jia and Eui and opening his eyes wide in understanding.

“Oh. Oh! Well, um, she’s been caught stealing you see, and there’s a fine for—”

Jia cut him off with a click of her tongue.

“Tsk, come now little Hae, you know that’s not necessary anymore! My apologies Sir Guard, I can compensate the merchant for his loss. It’s just a few fruits right? Surely five gold pieces will suffice.”

She had the attention of all three guards, now. One gold piece would have been an absurd overpayment, and they knew a bribe when they saw one. Almost immediately, the child was released, and the three guards approached to receive their bribe.

“That it will, Miss Mage. We’ll get this back to the merchant right away. Have a nice day, and try to keep the little tyke under control, eh?”

Jia smiled and nodded as the guards turned to leave. The smile dropped from her face as soon as they turned the corner. She doubted that the merchant would ever so much as sniff that gold, but it wasn’t really her problem anymore. She turned slowly to face the little girl, who was rooted to the ground—more terrified of Lee Jia than she ever had been of the guards. Jia knelt down and held a hand out to the girl.

“Are you alright? They didn’t hurt you, did they? What’s your name?”

The girl eyed Jia warily, but slowly reached out to take her hand. Then, quick as a whip, her hands closed around one of Jia’s fingers—the one with her invisible dimensional ring—and pulled. Jia was surprised by the sudden movement, and the girl was quick, but she was absolutely no match for a third stage martial artist. Jia caught the girl’s wrist before the ring could budge so much as a single millimeter. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously—how had this random child known to even attempt that?

“Who are you?”

The girl’s eyes widened with panic, and she stammered out a response urgently. The name made Jia’s blood run cold.

“L-L-Lee Narae!”