Chapter 27

Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Saturday, December 24th, 2050

As surprising as it might seem, I’d had a little bit of knowledge about Japan, since I’d been expected to eventually infiltrate it. That little knowledge came from an old encyclopedia someone had kept mostly intact back in Pandemonium. What I’d realized was that the Enemy’s false teachings hadn’t made much of an impact on the populace this century. It was a country where most practiced a syncretic mix of Shintoism and Buddhism, if they chose to be anything at all.

So, imagine my shock when I got a good look at Niigata in December and there were Christmas decorations everywhere. No crosses I could see, but there were plenty of the right sorts of lights, and advertisements featured St. Nick and reindeer. I couldn’t look anywhere without being reminded of the coming birthday.

It was all rather confounding. I wasn’t in the habit of chatting with Christian missionaries, which I’m sure will shock nobody. That chat with the bishop back in North Ireland had been the only civil conversation I’d ever had with a man of the cloth. I tended to avoid them, and not for the reasons one might suspect. I’d always had a soft side, and what my fellows tended to do to captured holy men was… messy, to say the least.

Pardon the digression. Those were… memorable occurrences. They flash through my mind occasionally, even all these years later.

Still, it seemed that the missionaries had done well for themselves in Japan! Niigata seemed to have the Christmas spirit in abundance. The impression was even stronger once I stepped out of the APC to walk to the train station. I could just make out some Christmas carols playing from inside the stores.

Then I made the mistake of asking Hiro about it, who chuckled once he understood the question.

“Oh, no,” he said. “We only imported the name. It is more a holiday for boyfriends and girlfriends, really.”

“I see.” I felt myself relaxing a bit, even as I felt my cheeks burn. I hadn’t managed to expose my ignorance of the human realms for a while. On the other hand, I wasn’t so deep in the Enemy’s territory as I’d feared.

We didn’t dally outside for long, since the snowfall hadn’t abated one bit. It was midday, but the dark clouds above had it looking like twilight. Both of the armored cars pulled away, though they separated down the road. The one driven by one of the mundane soldiers went in the direction of a nearby military base, while Mr. Lahlou returned the way he came.

“Is he really going back up into that?” asked Yukiko, shivering even under Hiro’s borrowed coat. She was trailed by a pair of suitcases that pulled themselves behind her. Such a little showoff.

“Hopefully he knows what he is doing,” said Mariko as we all ducked into the train station.

“It is nice to see a man who loves his work,” I said.

The station was just as decorated as the streets outside, with garlands handing from wires, a large Christmas tree filling up valuable real estate, and poppy Japanese music echoing through some speakers. I didn’t need much skill with the language to make out Kurisumasu.

Kiyo groaned. “I almost made it.”

“Made what?” I asked.

Kiyo hesitated, as if remembering that she was still somewhat cross with me. “It’s a challenge. You’re supposed to get through the holidays without hearing Last Christmas. It’s tradition.”

I cocked my head at her. “That’s an odd tradition.”

She shrugged. “It’s an old online thing Dad and I do. You wouldn’t get it, since it wasn’t delivered by carrier pigeon.”

Hiro chuckled at that one.

Our training platoon atomized quickly. Despite our Sergeant’s best efforts, we came with cliques and mostly stuck by them.

Soon enough, Kowalski and his new friend, Antoni, bade their goodbyes. He left me with a bear hug and a Merry Christmas ringing in my ear as they got onto the train to Gunma prefecture.

“Yes, Happy Holidays to you too, Kowalski,” I said. Thankfully some smart humans had come up with something vague that I could stand to say back.

The rest of us weren’t so lucky; the line to Gunma was clear, but a cheery voice announced that the routes to Tokyo were experiencing delays due to inclement weather. “We appreciate your patience.”

“Blast the luck,” I said, taking in our surroundings. There weren’t too many travelers looking to brave the weather, so we had some space to ourselves.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Space was about all we had, really. The train station wasn’t designed for us to dally about. There were a couple of food stalls and a small newsstand for entertainment, but the assumption seemed to be that you’d be in and out quickly.

Mariko checked her watch. “I will call my parents and let them know.”

“I’ll count the moments, my dear,” I said, kissing the fingers of her good hand before she left. I was coming on a little strong, but then again, I had to let out the ‘my dears’ where I could.

The others had eschewed the benches, and I could see Hiro busting out his well-worn War of the Arcane box set. He’d already laid out a few hexagonal maps and was busy organizing the figures. They represented a mix of human and demonic forces.

I sat opposite him on the ground. “Settling in for a long game? I see you aren’t optimistic about the train schedule.”

He shook his head. “I am from up north. If it is like Hokkaido, they only stop the trains when it is bad.”

I didn’t comment on his English; his progress had outstripped my Japanese acquisition, and I didn’t feel like admitting he’d bested me.

“This is a two-player game, though.” said Kiyo. “I don’t really feel like sitting back and watching you whip Soren again.”

“Agreed,” said Yukiko, sitting close enough that she and Hiro were almost, but not quite, touching shoulders. “I got quite enough of that in the old game club.”

“I think of that,” said Hiro, making me feel a bit better with his flub. “We can split the teams. It is good for practicing… teamwork.”

I thought he’d trailed off to remember the word, but a feminine cough came from behind.

“Got room for one more?” asked Gabriella.

I could feel Kiyo’s hackles rising, even if her face stayed mostly blank. “What do you want?”

She shrugged, not put off by Kiyo’s rudeness. I wondered what Ms. Hernandez had done to set her off… aside from some casual arrogance. “I’m just here to kill some time. Oh, are you playing War of the Arcane?”

I turned and considered the American a moment. I’m told that the part of my mind that immediately analyzed her appearance is part of the human male apparatus too, but I think my demonic senses gave me an extra appreciation. She’d removed her winter jacket, revealing a ribbed sweater that flattered her figure. Her face was always lovely, but she’d accented it with just enough makeup to make me question if she was wearing it at all.

Forcing those unwelcome thoughts from my mind, I had to decide if she was there out of actual boredom, or because she still thought there was ‘plenty of Magpie to go around’, as she’d said before. Mariko had been jealous enough about women I’d met once in North Ireland; I didn’t want her to get any ideas about Gabriella.

Hiro spoke while I considered. “Of course! Please, join us.”

Of course, I hadn’t clued in Hiro about any of this. Maybe I should have, given his own history of unwanted female attention.

Kiyo and Yukiko didn’t seem to care for Hiro’s normal gregariousness, but a smile blossomed across Gabriella’s face as she planted herself on the concrete ground next to me.

Damn it all, she even smelled good. I shifted away. “That spot’s reserved for Mariko.”

“Aw, but you’re the only one here I know,” she said. “You’ve got two spaces next to you; she can have the other one.”

Yukiko’s eyebrow raised. “I didn’t realize you two were close.”

“We’re training partners,” said Gabriella, inching closer even as I shifted away. “He’s about the only swordsman in the platoon who gives me trouble.”

Sweet, oblivious Hiro nodded. “Magpie is a great training partner. He fixed my magic.”

Seemingly satisfied with the distance, Gabriella stopped scooting over. “I didn’t hear about that.”

Kiyo nodded. “Yeah, Soren’s pretty good at seeing through people. Except when he isn’t.”

Gabriella cocked her head. “Seeing through people?”

“My Mimic Sight,” I said. “It lets me see how magic is flowing through somebody’s body.” Kiyo’s hidden meaning wasn’t lost on me, but I didn’t see a reason to call attention to it.

She briefly brought her hands up to her chest, as if to cover herself. “Oh, good. I was worried he’d been taking peeks with x-ray vision.”

“He would,” said Yukiko, once again infuriatingly right.

“X-Ray vision? Ah, like Superman?” said Hiro.

“I bet you Superman was using it all the time,” said Gabriella. “I mean, who wouldn’t?”

“Oh, not him,” said Hiro, his smile finally faltering. She’d made the mistake of besmirching his childhood icon. “Superman is a hero.”

“Agree to disagree,” said Gabriella. “Anyway, this is a two-player game, isn’t it? How are we handling this?”

“We’re sharing the teams,” said Kiyo, sounding even more frustrated.

“Magpie likes to play Horde,” said Hiro, shoving a pile of pewter figurines towards my side of the space. “I will take Wizard Corps.”

“Predictable as always,” I said. The win-loss ratio was awfully lopsided, but it felt wrong to have drones and trucks instead of orc riders and goblin engineers. “If the dice didn’t love him best, I’d be able to use that against him.”

“Ooh, I’ll play with Magpie,” said Gabriella. “It’ll be nice being with him instead of against him.”

“I’m with you, Hiro,” snapped Kiyo. “What has the biggest gun on the human side?”

“Uh, this Infantry Fighting Vehicle,” he said, holding up the model. Before he’d even finished, Kiyo had snatched it from his hand.

“I’ll control that, then,” said Kiyo.

“I will handle the infantry, then,” said Yukiko.

“I like the infantry best,” said Hiro.

Yukiko shook her head. “It’s why you need to branch out. You still want to hit every problem with your sword. Think more magically.”

He hesitated before nodding. “Okay. For you, m’dear.”

“M’dear?” said a couple of us simultaneously.

He pointed my way, his face turning a bit red. “Wh-what Magpie calls ladies, isn’t it?”

“That’s ‘my dear’,” I said.

“Yeah, don’t say it like that,” said Kiyo. “You sound like a creep.”

He nodded once. “Ah, Naruhodo.” He turned towards Yukiko. “It is a Christmas gift for you, my dear.”

Yukiko smirked at that. “It’s exactly what I wanted, thank you.”

“Oh, Ms. Hernandez,” said Mariko as she planted herself next to me. “I was not expecting to see you. Are you joining us?”

“Good thing I did,” she replied. “The teams weren’t going to be even otherwise.”

“Teams? Ah, War of the Arcane.” Mariko frowned. “I cannot say I have played before.”

That had been part of her strict pacifism, hadn’t it? Seeing an opportunity to drop a hint, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “No worries, my dear. You’ll have me there to show you the ropes.”

If Gabriella was bothered, she gave no sign. “Alright, who’s ready to go out and conquer for our Dark Lord?”

There was a long silence as we all stared at her like she’d grown another head.

She waved it off. “What? It’s called roleplaying. C’mon, let’s get started. Who wants to roll initiative?”