This story is part of the Wanderer series.
The study was still. Cedryck, Juro, Miu, and Kaori surrounded Akasuki at his desk. The twins sat nearby on two of the study’s spare chairs. The children hung their heads low, no one making eye contact. Akasuki, leaned into his elbows with his clasped hands masking his mouth, stared blankly forward, deep in thought as they maintained their silent mourning.
Hazy, afternoon sunlight flooded the room, giving it a soft and even glow. Yet, it did nothing to lift the spirits of its occupants, remaining as damp and muted as the thick blanket of clouds descending from the verdant mountains.
Cedryck slowly gazed up, turning his eyes to his nearby desk and the parchments scattered across it. They spurred him out of his despondence, drawing him mull over the parchment’s contents for several moments.
“We received reports of partisans from the besieged city posing as the Empire’s subjects,” he began, drawing the attention of Miu and Kaori. “It is possible they were responsible for passing information to the enemy.”
No one else immediately spoke up.
Juro, with his hand gripping his chin, moved it up to knead his budding mustache. “Though it may be true, it would not explain how they knew where the General was going.”
Nodding, Cedryck drew in his crossed arms tighter against his chest. “It would not. Nay, they must have had even deeper information. Simply relying on partisan information on where the General’s caravan was last spotted would be too slow, too reactive for a moving target… and it would be too difficult to move as large of an attack force within the Empire’s borders without detection. They must have gathered in force where they knew the fight was going to be.”
Pausing his deductions, he raised his head and stared out the study windows.
“But the partisans… They could have supported individual pieces of this group within our borders… Fed them, reported to them… passed on word from all the other companies hidden in the Empire using secret code—”
Juro dropped his arms, turning to interrupt his senior. “Hold on, Ced. We do not even know if it was the Adders behind this attack or another disgruntled group.”
Cedryck stopped and met his gaze briefly before dipping his eyes down again.
“Yes… you are right… Such a sophisticated organization would be unlikely.”
The two of them went silent, returning the room to its listless state. Returning his gaze to his desk, Cedryck set his fingers on the parchment at the very top of the pile.
“Yet… the Princess already went and exacted her revenge against the Adders…”
Juro eyed the report with him. “Did she truly… destroy the city all on her own? As powerful as she may be, it is preposterous one person could bring such destruction.”
“I, too, find it difficult to believe. But… being first-hand reports from the front, by our own men, I feel inclined to believe them.”
Miu shrunk into herself, her brows knitting. A soft, muted voice rose from deep within.
“… lies.”
Hearing the deep, mumbling voice, Cedryck and Juro glanced at her in surprise.
“Lady Miu?” Cedryck asked.
“They’re lies…” she repeated, her voice mustering, yet still exhibiting a tint of hesitation. “They must be. The Princess would not… She would not…”
Her voice trailed off as she sank deeper, though her utterance drew the attention of the younger children. By her side, Kaori drew closer, worried about her mentor’s sudden state of turmoil. Without moving a muscle, Akasuki flicked his eyes towards her, his blank gaze taking on a new shade of focus as he observed Miu’s denial.
“Exaggerations, perhaps,” Cedryck admitted. “Whether jubilant or horrified. But what we can discern for certain, based on the assessment that…” Pausing very briefly, he scanned over the report for the right words to read aloud. “… ‘The enemy… is in no state to offer any more resistance,’ we can deduce a great degree of destruction was brought upon the city.”
Letting his fingers slip off the parchment, he returned his gaze to Miu, but did not know what else to say. Miu raised her head to look towards the mountains, watching their shrouded tops waver as the clouds descended. She remained in disbelief, lightly shaking her head.
“There’s no way she would… without any evidence of their guilt… She would not…”
Cedryck and Juro stared at her with sorrow, unable to soothe their older sib of her woe. Without any further conversation, the room sank back to a silent mope once more, the three older mages standing around without contact while the three children stayed at the perimeter. Akasuki, who had yet to speak a word during this convention, remained masked and silent, staring ahead blankly once more towards the shaded bookshelves.
Eventually, knowing not what to do to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere, Kaori drew up to Miu’s side and pressed herself into her, clutching her shirt. Miu glanced down to the troubled eyes of her darling, almost pleading her for help to get them out of this situation. Seeing Kaori’s reliance on her brought Miu back, reminding her of her responsibilities as the eldest. Mustering a smile, she raised her hand to pat Kaori’s head.
Without warning, the doors of the study flung open with a bang, startling the mages in the room. A bright voice echoed through the opening.
“Hahahahahahah!!!”
Katsuo, still wearing his armor from the frontier, entered the study, laughing hysterically. The younger mages stared at him with fright.
Cedryck narrowed his eyes. “What’s so funny, Katsuo?”
Stomping down the steps, Katsuo threw out an arm to the side. He glared past Cedryck, disregarding his question, meeting Akasuki right in the eyes with delirious glee.
“Did you hear, Akasuki?!” he shouted, in an almost demanding manner.
The young mages flinched with surprise, Kaori retreating behind Miu. Without looking down, Miu turned to the side to stretch an arm in front of the blue-haired girl, becoming instinctively protective. Seeing Katsuo’s true focus, Cedryck and Juro turned their gaze towards Akasuki, who stayed sat at his desk with his face leaning into his intertwined fingers.
“That blasphemous witch leveled the entire city on her own! You should have seen it!”
He swung forward his open hand, gripping the air viciously as he marched forward.
“Minute after minute, the sky lit up as a bright sphere rose out of the ground like a second sun, incinerating the earth and blasting a hole into the heavens.”
The others backed away a few steps as he approached, vividly describing what he witnessed.
“You could feel the strength of her fury pound against your chest and shake you to the bone! The night air crackled with the screams of women and children! But explosion after explosion followed, even as they cried surrender.”
His hand finally clenched into a tight fist.
“In the end, nothing but rubble was left. Not a single soul remained. Their valiant resistance, which held our great army back for moons… crushed in a single attack! Imagine…! such a power!”
Akasuki said nothing, returning a stoic gaze.
“News of their sudden downfall will shake the continent to its core! The death of the venomous Adders…! No one will dare put up a resistance ever again!”
Kaori shrank behind Miu, gripping her robe tightly. The twins similarly looked uncomfortable, looking around the room to gauge the other mage’s reactions.
Miu, noticing their discomfort, was the first to speak up.
“That’s enough, dear. There are children here.”
Katsuo’s vile face morphed into an amusing expression of surprise, eyes wide, brows high, lips pinched forward with the corners of his mouth dropping, as if he just noticed the other royal mages gathered in the study. He straightened, dropping his arm to his side and shining a shameful smile.
“Oh, sorry,” he apologized with a deceitful smile. “I thought they would all be used to this by now. We’re all Wanderers, after all.”
“Not all of us are fighters,” she sternly reminded.
He nodded. “One day, you will. We all will. That is our inescapable role as Wanderers.”
Bringing up his hand again, he clenched another fist, the metal gauntlets screeching.
“To head the spear that unites the continent under a single banner.”
“Being what we are,” Cedryck finally interjected. “There are ways to bring about the Empire’s cause without needless slaughter.”
“Oh, of course,” Katsuo straightened, opening his fist to the ceiling as he smoothly waved off Cedryck’s concerns. “I’m not discounting your efforts, young scholar. Your research is your fight. But to unite the continent, you must realize we need both the wealth of knowledge and resources and the teeth to defend them. Magic lies at the heart of both. What can be shaped into resources can be shaped into weapons. And, as the strongest of all magicians, we have the responsibility of leading that spear. Take that responsibility seriously.”
Hearing Katsuo pompously lecture his senior, Juro did his best to subdue his frown as he spoke up, breaking his usual demeanor. “We do,” he curtly responded.
Katsuo simply nodded. “Very well. Then I hope you don’t scour on my duties as a warrior. Sensible minds are unfortunately a rare specimen out and beyond our borders, and sometimes you must ruffle them up to bring them to their senses.”
Cedryck looked at him warily. “I would not classify the leveling of a city as simply ‘ruffling up’ our future subjects.”
Glancing back at Cedryck, the flame mage started to show some annoyance of the two scholar’s back and forth with him. “Are we to waste away our wealth on the insensible? We have given them every opportunity to come to terms, and were met with hostility each time. At a certain point, it is most logical to wipe the slate and move forward.”
Putting a hand on his hip and pointing a finger to the ceiling, Katsuo puffed up his chest.
“Remember, the deaths of those who resist will pave the way for lasting peace.”
Miu glared at him. “Dear!”
Surprised by her unusually fierce eruption, he took a step back and threw up his hands, closing his eyes and swiping his head to the side while wearing a witty grin. “Fine, fine. Don’t believe me, I understand. I understand.”
Dropping his hands back down, his face took on a subtly sly expression.
“You girls hang back here in the castle and do the work that you do. We can handle the empire’s dirty work.”
The shrewd jab was not lost on Miu. Her chest puffed up as she took a lengthy inhale, eyes glaring with disapproval.
“Not everything about our empire is about warmaking, dear.”
Smiling, he put his hands on his hips and leaned forward, a shadow darkening his face. Suddenly uncomfortably close, Miu instinctively leaned away, but forced herself to return his gaze, eyes shining rebelliously.
“This empire was born from the ashes of war, in case you’ve forgotten your history lessons. This naive perception of yours will not do the empire good.”
“That’s enough, all of you.”
Katsuo looked up, brows rising. Miu flinched, eyes blinking in surprise, before slowly turning around towards Akasuki, who had lifted his mouth above the shroud of his hands.
“I will not see my brethren bicker on the eve of our great general’s funeral. You do him a dishonor as he gazes down upon us from the heavens.”
Miu straightened, gazing down at the floor. “Yes, Akasuki.”
Keeping his hands on his hips, Katsuo also straightened, giving Miu a last glance as she became uncharacteristically sober. Flicking his eyes towards Akasuki, he met his gaze, calm yet piercing, silently indicating his order was directed mostly at him.
“Very well, General,” Katsuo conceded, putting a half-mocking emphasis on the last word.
Cedryck glanced at Akasuki in surprise.
Taking a step back, the large man dropped his hands to his side and turned around, making his way towards the door at his own pace. He raised one open hand over his shoulder as he walked away. “See you around.”
Everyone but Miu watched Katsuo walk up the steps and across the platform, exiting the study without closing the doors behind him. When he was finally gone, Cedryck abruptly turned his gaze to Akasuki. Miu noticed Cedryck’s unusual behavior, greeting it with confusion.
“General?” he asked, directing the question towards Akasuki.
Juro and Miu perked up, realizing this detail they missed. They turned their gazes towards their leader as well.
Akasuki silently gazed back at all of them for a moment. Even the children, seeing their mentors’ behavior, turned their gazes towards him.
Finally, Akasuki straightened as much as he could, elbows still leant on his desk.
“I have not told all of you yet…”
The mages leaned forward.
“… but I was promoted to the rank of General… of the imperial branch of the Royal Wanderer Army.”
Murmured gasps escaped from Cedryck, Juro, and Miu.
“I will be taking Princess Miyako’s place as the head of our research institute. And she will return to the front, in her uncle’s place.”
The older mages straightened, Cedryck bringing a hand to his chin as he propped up his arm with the other. Silence overtook the room as they took in the news.
“Is that good for the princess?” Juro eventually questioned. “To wallow in the death of her kin on the battlefield. Surely it will only bring her more misery.”
Miu glared at Juro with surprise.
Cedryck raised his chin out of his fingers. “And the princess’ broken heart will only cloud her judgment, bringing unjust viciousness to our future subjects.”
“You two!” Miu exasperated.
The two scholars looked at her, bewildered by her outburst.
“Have faith in the princess! She will…! She will…!”
Her voice stammered as she searched for words. Unable to find them, she gave up, and dipped her head down. Kaori, brows furrowed, pressed herself closer to her mentor, watching with naive confusion as Miu shed tears.
“It is not my place to question the princess’ decision,” Akasuki finally answered, drawing Cedryck’s and Juro’s gaze back to him. “My duty is to manage the division and the tasks it is given from the emperor, both in light and in shadow. And to that end, I need all of you to focus here.”
The two young men straightened.
“Perhaps, one day, we will join the war front. There is some truth in Katsuo’s words, as the emperor instructed the princess several moons ago to explore our integration with the main army.”
Meru and Aliah looked at each other nervously. Cedryck’s gaze dropped down, forehead furrowing further.
“But that day is not here. Right now, our duty is to continue our work in enriching the prosperity of our empire through our gifted circumstances.”
He received some hopeful glances from the children.
“And so, I ask all of you to aid me in that duty.”
Lifting their chins and bringing their feet together, Cedryck and Juro raised their hands to clench them, right fist in the other’s palm, saluting Akasuki. “Right!”
The other children, seeing this, silently followed suit, Kaori finally letting go of her grasp. Miu, wiping her face one last time, turned around and raised her head, sniffing as she tearfully peered past the long strands of hair falling over her face. Raising her hands, she clenched them in front of Akasuki, trembling as she gripped them more vividly than ever.
“Yes…! dear!”