Chapter 52: Chapter 50

“I haven’t received notice that your students have arrived. Where are they?”
“For the sake of urgency, I travelled alone. I can only assume they are still on their way.”
“...Very well. So these are your findings?”
“That’s correct.”

Conrad handed over the neatly organised folder to the representative before him. Despite them both being fully aware of the poor treatment Phoenix had received, she hadn’t shown any sign of remorse, nor offered him an apology.

“Glendraig Primary was built on an old ‘fairy fort’, locations known in Celtic lore to be sacred to the fae people. We confirmed this with a local in the area, and the demons that we faced had attributes matching that of the Aos Sí, a type of fairy from similar stories.”
“Stories. Do you have any proof of this?”
“There are records of construction workers who took part in the building of the school who experienced the exact punishments said to befall anyone who desecrates a fairy fort. These were also noted before the Cataclysm.”

After hearing his words, the representative rolled her eyes. The folder fell limp in her hand, and she looked at him with scorn.

“Before the Cataclysm? This is ridiculous. Is this supposed to be a joke?”
“While it is entirely possible to be a coincidence, the presence of multiple illusion-based greater demons was confirmed on the premises, and even from the case files provided by your team, there has not been a single confirmed incident outside of the school boundary. It lines up perfectly with folklore surrounding the Aos Sí and fairy forts.”
“If even you recognise it could be a coincidence, this report is meaningless and a waste of time.”
“Then, allow me to put forward a hypothesis.”

Conrad’s grim mood from the hours prior had entirely disappeared, and he wore a sincere smile on his face. It wasn’t a surprise at all that the woman sitting across him simply dismissed every word he said, as it was in her benefit to cast Phoenix as disappointing failures to excuse the sudden introduction of Invicta. He wasn’t sure what exactly she got out of their deal, but it didn’t matter anymore - what was done was done, and he just needed to provide his report and wash his hands of this mess.

“There are near-identical cases like this one cropping up all over Ireland. Whether it’s tens, hundreds or even thousands, I have no idea, but I’d wager that neither do you. All you can tell is that there are too many to ignore, and sending the knights is becoming a very costly endeavour, hence you asking for our assistance in the first place.”
“...”

Her pretentious smirk quickly faded from her face, and she withheld her quips. His educated bluff had paid off, and while her silence didn’t tell him specifically which parts he had gotten correct, it was enough to continue.

“Unfortunately we were pulled before doing the bulk of our research, but it seems very likely that the cases are limited to buildings that are either infrequently used or fully abandoned. Old community buildings, private warehouses - that sort of thing. Now I’ll admit that this part is more speculative again, but from the evidence I’ve seen, the fairies appear to be retaking the land as their own wherever fairy forts have been built over.”

It was a shame that he didn’t have the time to find many confirmed cases to support his theory, but even just within a short while he had managed to find another two that lined up, and if that was purely from publicly accessible information then who knew how many the MOD were aware of secretly.

“Retaking the land…?”

Finally, she responded, and had dropped her condescending tone. Even if she had little faith in Phoenix when the meeting started, she was still an important member of the New Ministry of Defence and could recognise the importance of what this meant if it were true.

“That’s right. I don’t believe this is a case of individual greater demons finding their way to these areas, but rather that the locations themselves are the cause. Whether they are somehow spawning these demons, or simply calling them to gather there, is something I believe you would want to investigate.”
“Good god…”
“Now, it’s worth bearing in mind that while there are surely countless inhabited areas that are built over fairy forts, there aren’t any notable cases in those areas. If there were, you’d already be aware of this issue, so it’s reasonable to assume the demons, or fairies, are reclusive, and only cause problems when humans trespass on their claimed land…”

He rapped his fingers on her desk, tying up his performance and finishing with a flourish.

“...Which if you recall, lines up again with the traditional folklore.”
“...”

She looked at him wide-eyed, and he simply returned a smile.

Perhaps, not too long ago, he would have had a similar reaction and scoffed at such a theory on hearing it. Everyone knew that there was no such thing as demons before the Cataclysm occurred - so did he, until he met Hibiki.

The girl was living proof of the contrary. Even if she was an outlier, it threw into question the legitimacy of the myths and legends about demons from centuries past, so from his fresh perspective, he was able to see the possibility that fairy forts really did have some spiritual impact - at least to a degree.

While the girl’s description of how she viewed the demons didn’t help to shed much light on the case, the way she had talked about their quantity, and especially the way they drifted through the walls and floor, had shaped his approach greatly. There was no guarantee he was correct; not until the MOD investigated properly and did their due diligence, but they were the ones who had ousted Phoenix in the first place, so that was their responsibility.

“Should you find my hypothesis correct, I’m sure you’ll manage an appropriate solution to leave the fairies undisturbed.”
“Undisturbed..?”
“Well. You can exterminate every last one if you like. It’d be quite the hefty bill to Invicta, but if you’re lucky they might offer you a discount for your cooperation on this case.”

Conrad revelled in the opportunity to twist the knife, but soon got a hold of himself and reluctantly drew back to the point he was trying to make in the first place.

“If you have to clear an area where a fairy fort is located for the sake of inhabiting it, you’ll need to be prepared to deal with their intense illusions. Otherwise, if it’s a location out of the way, why bother? The legends say that the fairies will keep to themselves, so looking for a fight is just a fool’s errand if you ask me.”
“Can we… really trust such fickle legends?”

He shrugged, and turned away.

“Sounds like something you’ll need to look into.”

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Pulling open the door to the room, he looked back at the once powerful woman, who now seemed a shell of her previous self.

“I’ll see myself out. Should you change your mind about working with Phoenix, you know where to find us.”

He closed the door, and sighed to himself. At first, he had thoroughly enjoyed knocking her down a peg, but as he reached the conclusion of the meeting he almost felt a little pity for the woman. At the end of the day they were both supposed to be on the same side against the demons, so why did it seem to be so difficult to cooperate?

He scratched his head, content to head home and return to some sort of normalcy. These broader questions were far better suited to the Director who had seen it all before and then some.

“Mr Pierce?”

Just as he looked to exit the building, a voice called out and halted his step. He turned to his side in surprise, and a smile returned to his face once more.

******

*Knock* *Knock*

“Enter.”

A deep booming voice rang out, and the thick wooden door swung open. Despite its heft, it moved smoothly without a sound, and the only noise was from the soft footsteps pattering along the pristine marble floor.

“Sir. I have an update regarding Phoenix and your request to the British Ministry of Defence.”
“Hah! I’ve been waiting for this all fuckin’ day. Speak.”

The behemoth of a man turned away from his high-rise office window and faced the woman before him. His grin was vicious and his eyes were intense, but he was clearly enjoying himself.

“Y-Yes. We were able to confirm that Phoenix was removed from their active investigation, and a local team of ours took over. We suffered a number of casua-”
“Haha! Doesn’t it taste so sweet? Just a little bit of pressure was all it took, and they were sent home empty-handed.”

Adrian Walker roared with laughter as he poured himself a glass of fine whiskey. His day-to-day was often filled with mind-numbingly boring meetings and strategy conferences, and while he excelled at being a ruthless businessman, nobody in his own circle would ever dare stand up to him. The only true thrills he found now were outside in the wider world, breaking other big-name players and forcing them under his thumb.

He loathed and detested Ishitake Shinichirou. Not only did the man openly stand against him and his business, but he did so fearlessly, and didn’t budge an inch under intimidation. It was like he was made of stone, which only drove Adrian to want to crush him that much more. Even just thinking about him was making him restless, and he turned his attention to the only person nearby.

“Y-Yes, sir.”
“Hmm..?”

The secretary who stood before his desk was quite new, and she had only been in her role for a few days. He didn’t know what had happened to the last woman, nor did he really give a shit - looking her up and down, she would suit his needs just fine.

“When is my next meeting?”
“I-In an hour and a half, sir.”
“...Good. Lock the door.”
“D-Do you want me to leave?”

He stared her dead in the eyes, his smile growing wider as he began to pull at his tie.

“No. Lock the door, and take your clothes off.”

In his garish tower that dwarfed the New York City skyline, the tyrant reigned supreme.

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