Chapter 242.

PART 1.

Hatori comes into the castle. The matter of Avinash and his cabinet crying after reading a novel has reached his ears. He cannot wait to use this against the others. This is the sort of thing that can be milked for a long time.

Hatori enters the office of the king and greets him. “Soooo! You’re apparently getting popular among the young girls for being emotional. How did that happen?”

“Dammit! I thought they would forget about it already.” Grumbled Avinash.

“I do hope you are not planning to rob some cradles.” Said Hatori, giving him a suspicious glare.

“I am not abusing my position to have sex with young girls of the castle,” replied Avinash with a dry tone. “What brings you here? I don’t think that the news about my emotional moment is enough to bring you here.”

“You are correct. The school has completed its first year successfully. The adults are ready to awaken their magic, while the children are adapting nicely. I do think we should take this chance, and introduce them to some disciplines.” Said Hatori.

“That is good news.” Said Avinash. “How many of them plan to return for the next year though?”

“Ninety percent of them,” said Hatori. “The older adults are most happy; our training is improving their health.”

“Excellent. I do think we should wait for them to awaken their magic before we introduce them to some disciplines. What do you think?” asked Avinash.

“That is a good idea. However, I do think we should start on the awakening process since the new students coming this year will have an example of what they can do in the future.” Said Hatori.

“Hmm. that is a good idea. We do need to give people enough incentive to stick with the training.” Said Avinash. “Have you talked to the professors about this?”

“I have. They are ready to make the next step.” Said Hatori.

“Good then. I wait for the next step.” Said Avinash.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Hatori leaves for his house in the next dimension.

Hatori returns, to find that Naresh is waiting for him outside of his house. “Were you waiting for long?” he asked while inviting him inside.

“Not that long.” Replied Naresh. “I am here for a specific reason though.”

“I figured.” Said Hatori. “What is it?” he asked, as tea appears for the mayor on the table.

Naresh has gotten used to magic, so he is not startled. “The party has decided that it is the right time to move me in the parliament. I plan to make my name there, and hopefully, I will manage to be a face for the prime ministerial candidate in the next one.”

“That is an excellent news.” Said Hatori. “Though I get the feeling that you are not here to tell me just that.”

“Does the magic give you mind-reading powers?” asked Naresh.

“Fortunately, not,” said Hatori.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Naresh explains. “I wish to learn magic. Can you teach me?”

“There was a reason why I chose professors for my school rather than teach myself.” Said Hatori. “Besides, do you have any time in your schedule?”

“I’ll make some.” Said Naresh. “I don’t need to be an expert. I just want to learn enough that I can get a feel for it. I don’t think I can master it at this stage of my life anyway.”

“Well, I suppose I will put a personal trainer on your case. Don’t bully them too much though,” said Hatori.

“The thought never crossed my mind.” Smiled Naresh. “Do you want me to tell you when exactly the move is happening?”

“You don’t need to tell me all the details.” Said Hatori. “Just work as you are now, and tell me if you encounter any problems.”

“Will do.” After that, the politician took his leave.

PART 2.

Sushima is going into the Academy for his second year. Daphne Junior will join him next year. For now, though, he is enjoying his time, while thinking that his father also walked the same path once.

He even found the jamun tree, still there, just like Hatori told him. ‘Maybe I should leave a mark as well?’ thinks Sushima. ‘The tree will work best. Also, it has to be giant. I have to surpass my father after all.’

He smirked with that thought. Whether he succeeds or not does not matter to him. His father is an unsurpassable mountain to him. If he continues to try to climb this mountain, he will surely reach some great heights of his own, even if he fails to surpass Hatori completely.

‘Ambitions are nice, but I would like if I have some friends who will cheer for me.’ he thinks while looking around.

Though he is walking alongside other kids of his age, he is still feeling alone in the crowd. Unlike his father in his first year, Sushima has not made any good friends who will stick by him thick and thin.

PART 3.

“It is an insult to all the folks who helped to build this country!” said one noble, pacing back and forth, while others listened to him and cheered him on. “That king and his dogs have ruined us! People who have no business being in charge are running things, and we have even been ousted from the mainstream economy!”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Arjun is correct.” Said a noblewoman. “Just look at their plans. They will soon kick us out of our own generational lands!”

“We cannot let this stand.” Said another noble.

“We must do something about it.” said another.

“If only we could turn the time back…” mused one noble lady.

The noblewoman who supported Arjun smirked. “I have a plan regarding that,” she said.

“What is it?” asked Arjun. “Are you going to share something from your secret books, Lakshmi Chauhan?”

“Not exactly.” Said Lakshmi. “I plan to use the ritual of Samay the sorcerer. He completed the ritual, but for some strange reason, he did not execute it.”

“I don’t think we should play with this.” Said another noble. “Meddling with time is a dangerous proposition.”

“Of course, you will say that, Jayraj.” Said an old man. “You haven’t suffered like us.”

“Suffered? Who are you kidding? The only reason why you all gather here yearly is because you are miffed that you can’t beat up your servants like you used to. Your businesses are doing fine, the king has no plans to take your lands, and some of you have even managed to be chosen by the public for the representative council.” said Jayraj.

“How dare you?” said the old man. “Do you have any idea what we have lost? You weren’t there to see the time before the war. Our glory eclipsed the king himself!”

“You are diluted fools.” Said Jayraj. “None of you ever eclipsed Porus. He didn’t even see you as a challenge. I’ve seen the records of that time. Most of you were sitting quietly, as he ran the country as he saw fit.”

“If it displeases you so much, then leave.” Said Arjun. After Jayraj leaves in a huff, he turns to Lakshmi. “Now, what kind of materials do you need for this ritual?”

“Mostly bones of the ancient animals, and some bark of the old trees,” said Lakshmi. “But those materials are not easy to come by.”

“I can get you those materials.” said the old man. “Though it will take time.”

“We are in your debt, Raghunandan sir.” Said Arjun. “Once the ritual is completed, we will make sure that you have a prominent position in the new order.”

“See to it,” said Raghunandan. “Now, if you would excuse me, I have some people to speak to. Those materials will not gather by themselves after all.”

PART 4.

Garuda and his older sister are having a hot debate with their father. The topic is simple: the kids think they have better shows during their time compared to Hatori’s childhood.

“You don’t understand.” Said Hatori. “Back then, there was this show called Death Note, which was very deep. It felt like I was watching two people playing chess with each other while trying to achieve their own goals. You have nothing like that anymore. The only thing you have is endless comedy and merchandising.”

“Okay, fine.” Said Daphne. “Prove it. Let us watch some shows of your time, and then we will see what is better.”

“Fine!” said Hatori, while the father and daughter glared at each other.

Though a lot of the anime and other shows of his childhood are in strange positions when it comes to licensing, it does not matter to Hatori at all who owns them. With a bit of magic and some modifications to an old computer, Hatori managed to access the shows licensed or unlicensed on one platform.

Unlike his previous day, he spent the entire day watching these old shows with his kids, all the while some developments continued to happen around the world.

PART 5.

Technology has progressed far enough that some people are living in facilities like the space station of the early 21st century, except on a smaller scale. These stations orbit around the planet, and occasional deliveries of supplies are made to them. While most of them are doing research of some kind, some of them have become a safe haven for the outcasted cyborgs.

These are the humans who through artificial technology enhanced themselves, and were shunned by society for it. Most of them are youth, who were previously disabled, having some kind of body-related problems. Some of them are perfectly normal people, who see nothing wrong with enhancing themselves through machines even further.

One such rogue group is led by a woman named Cyborg Devi. This woman is currently reading about the newly opened school in an old and decrepit city that used to be part of the economic boom in the early part of the century.

She is alarmed to see the feats achieved by the students of this school. For now, they are not that impressive, but she can calculate what this means for the world. “Looks like my plans have to be executed earlier than I thought.” She muttered.

The federal elections are coming up in a few years. “This will be the perfect time to strike.”

PART 6.

Meng Hao reads the spy report. It is about the Zhongguo of the other side, which is strangely enough called “China” by the outsiders. He has no one to disturb him while he reads the report because he has already taken care of the problems his concubines and his wife can cause him, as well as the families.

Needless to say, a lot of people were displeased and had to exit their mortal coils through the liberal application of executions.

He is also certain that Avinash is doing something similar for his own country. ‘I wonder what will he offer them in exchange, once he takes that final step?’