Chapter 203.

PART 1.

With the final rune on his body, James is done with his modification. This new set will help in the efficiency of his magic, allow greater healing and recovery, and will let him operate on less sleep as well. though he is unlikely to do that if he is not in any crisis. Sleeping is awesome after all.

Though James only guarded the hospital, he still got some combat practice in the two invasions of the Academy this year. and if the chaos continues to persist, he is likely to get more practice. better be ready to face the dangers in that case.

He then looks at the picture of his father, whom he cremated just a day earlier. His aunt sent him the body as a courtesy, igniting his rage. Though Floras used to bury their dead, after learning about Hatori’s adventures with the undead, he decides that a permanent solution is in order. He hopes his father’s soul will not mind.

James is certain that he will get a chance to deal with his aunt. And no amount of reasoning is going to persuade him from this track of revenge. Besides, he feels it to be unfair. When she imprisoned him and killed him, that’s fine. But when he tries to do the same, it is immoral and not good. in this case, he takes a page out of Hatori’s book. do as you want, and deal with the consequences later.

He has not spoken with Raven for over a year, since the siege has been going on for that long. His friend is trapped with the general in the castle on the other side of the country, while the remaining three of his friends still have not returned from their competition.

PART 2.

After escaping the island where Magical Girl Academy is located, and other related insanity, the team experiences some extremely bad weather. Enough that even Hatori is afraid to be in the middle of the ocean with gigantic waves.

Not wanting to be drowned or end up with some disaster, the team ends up on an island, where there are no humans. Hatori stores the ship in his runes, while they wait for the weather to pass, and the sea to calm down.

However, things have not improved for a month. Until then, they spent the entire time on this island. Their previous experiences helped them to cope. Hatori is surprised that despite their stressful experience, none of them have tried to murder each other so far.

“Looks like it is clearing up,” said Josh, poking his head out of the camp to see the sun shining down, and no cloud in sight.

They go to check the ocean, and Josh senses the movement of the water. “Yeah, it is normal now.”

Bringing the ship out, they leave this island and resume their journey to the Subcontinent. However, disaster struck soon. When they were crossing the Zhongguo sea, a patrolling vessel attacked them. having no chance to defend against this military vessel, their ship gets destroyed.

“Magic dammit!” screamed everyone, as they end up shipwrecked at the port.

As they try to calm down, they look up. “Hatori, I am not seeing someone with handcuffs staring at us, right?” asked Josh.

“No, you are seeing exactly what you described.” Said Hatori.

And then they get detained.

PART 3.

“Report.” Ordered Sundar, as Raven and Singh twins entered his office.

“The task is done.” Said Ranveer. “From my understanding, the message was received quite positively.”

“I can confirm this assessment.” Said Raven. “They are unhappy as it is, it was only a matter of time before someone voiced their concerns. Once we did that, they were quite supportive of us.”

The general sent these three to the city to scout the situation and observe the mood of the people. They have done this for a while, and today, Sundar made his next move. He plans to fan the flames of the anger of the people living under the siege and take advantage of their support to launch some gorilla-style campaigns to harass the blockade.

Hopefully, this would weaken them enough that they will manage to break out of their current situation. He sent Raven specifically since he knew that the boy comes from the bottom half of society, and the people are likely to listen to him more compared to someone from a noble family or a rich one. and thus, Raven has become quite an important part of his plans as a result.

“But whether they will assist us or not is still unclear.” Said Bhavani. “People can be finicky like that.”

“Agreed.” Said Sundar. “Which is why this will be a long process to keep them angry at the other side. Remind them how things were under Porus’s rain, and how this siege is putting them behind years.”

“Will do.” The three salute, and leave once dismissed.

PART 4.

“Look, we’re extremely sorry for shooting at you like this.” Said the soldier who is releasing them, “We should have confirmed who you are, and your purpose. It was a lapse in our judgment.”

They all feel guilty for nearly killing these young men and women, and their guilt increases tenfold after hearing of their experiences. “Look, that is fine.” Said Avinash. “Just let us go, the only goal we have is reaching our home, nothing more.”

“Yeah, can’t do that. sorry.” Said another soldier. “You see, we have to get the approval to release you. we have already filled the necessary forms, I’m sure we will get the orders any day now.”

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“To let us go, or kill us, or maybe keep us as prisoners?” asked Hatori.

“Can’t say. That is the wonder of executive powers!” they all laugh, but Hatori could see the loathing in their eyes.

“Anyway, how are things in Zhongguo?” asked Avinash. “I hear about some blockade in my home country, but what about you?”

“Oh, things are boiling here alright.” Said the soldier who released their handcuffs. “The damn eunuchs are causing problems once again, riots, rebellions, unrest, that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, I hear that the emperor got fed up with them, and torched the entire bunch a few days ago.” Said the second soldier.

“That explains the military forces on the port.” Said Avinash.

“You finally get it!” they laugh again.

PART 5.

The letter sent by the soldiers travels the chain of command. In theory, even the lowest bureaucrat who received this letter has the authority to let them go, but given the hot mess that could land on their lap if they mishandled this affair, they did the next best thing.

Pass the buck to the person higher than them, and claim they are more qualified to make a decision. After that, they went home.

But the person above them also thought the same way. and thus, this letter is passed around, always ending up on someone higher than the previous position, until it finally ends up on the top.

“Why the hell are you bothering me with this letter?” asked the emperor Zuo Chi. “The port in charge should have let them go yesterday already!”

“They are unsure of its political implications perhaps?” suggested Feng Lei.

“Right. just send the kids to the border.” Said the emperor.

“Through land or through sea?” asked the guy who delivered the letter to the emperor.

Zuo Chi glared. “Through land. Drop them at the border, and then leave them be. If they managed to travel this long without supervision, they can certainly manage in their own homeland.”

“Yes, emperor. At once emperor.” The delivery guy bows repeatedly until he is out of the throne room.

“I can’t believe I am in charge of such dullards. Tell me Lei, where did I go wrong?” asked Chi.

“You didn’t. such as the life of an emperor.” Replied Lei at once.

“You cheeky bastard.” Grumbled Zuo Chi.

This reminds him, that Porus still has not done anything. Chi does not know whether he is alive to do anything or not. truth be told, he would like to help him out, but the politics at home is tying his hands.

“Lei, remind me if I am about to commit the mistake of giving more power to my family or the eunuchs.” Said Chi.

“Yes, emperor.” Said Lei, obedient as always.

He is never letting that damn harem and those eunuchs run things ever again. Good thing he torched them all. They can’t even call him a murderer, after all, it was an accident, the entire castle burned to the ground because of one oil lamp.

The fact that he got rid of various nagging problems is a bonus. Though he married for political reasons, he always remembers his first wife. They had an understanding between them, and she often served the role that Lei himself serves now. not sexually, of course, he is not interested in that with a man. but the advisory role they both have played in his life has allowed him to rule for this long.

Too bad his wife became the victim of the court politics.

PART 6.

“Good news!” said the soldier who released the team, “Your orders are here.”

“I’m not going down without fighting!” said Hatori, magic already swirling around him.

“You’re free to go!” said the second soldier.

“Oh.” The magic dies around Hatori’s body.

“Though the emperor has told us to drop you through the land on the Subcontinent border. Do you have your documents with you?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Avinash, answering for them.

“Good. then off we go!” said the second soldier.

“Wait, you are coming with us?” asked Daphne.

“Yep. Emperor’s orders, you know.” Said both soldiers together.

As they take an airship to the mountainous region close to the Subcontinent, and then travel on foot, Avinash remarks to Hatori. “We have changed sea travel to trekking.”

“I’m not happy in either case.” Said Hatori. “I want an underground lab, I am tired of this traveling.” His frustration is evident by the few stray sparks around his body.

Unfortunately for him, Avinash thinks Hatori is unlikely to get this underground lab. Avinash also knows that the boy likely is aware of this.

Dread pools up in their belly, as they get closer to the Subcontinent. What will they find there? what is happening there, and why there is an information blockade? They are all about to find out. it is no longer some distant goal. It is about to happen, right now, as their documents are being processed.

PART 7.

Porus calls for another drink and reclines in his chair. This is one of the few inns that has escaped fighting, and thus it has gained a lot of people’s patronage recently. Normally, he would be speaking with the other patrons, to hold a pseudo court here in the evening. But today, he is not speaking with anyone.

He goes over his plan in his head. he wishes to make his enemies get overconfident, draw them to one place, and then finish them off in one swift maneuver. But he will not be able to draw them if he continues to remain hidden.

He has recovered from his battle completely by now, and he feels it is the right time to appear here and there in public and make all the nobles gun for him. Once they are at his preferred place, he will finish them off, take his throne again, and end this chaos.

Until then, he hopes that the people will hold out for a little bit longer.