The room the three young northerners found themselves in was simple, yet practical. It was modest and there were very few furnishings. Soft mats made up the floor of the room, as well as the rest of the villa. They were comfortable enough to sit down on. Genichi sat on the floor behind a low writing desk in a seated position, and behind him were storage chests in which he kept documents, and to his immediate right was a lacquered box that held writing instruments. On top of the desk, a small rectangular object that was similar in appearance to a thin brick was placed. It was an electronic, more primitive than what the Titanians had mustered but an electronic, nonetheless, known as a cellphone. On the wall behind Genichi, an elaborate curved sword was mounted. Stefan guessed by looking at the subtle accumulation of dust on it that it hadn’t been used in years, perhaps decades or even centuries.
He sat just behind Ivan and Anwen, who were positioned next to one another on the other side of the desk from Genichi, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Ivan as the leader of the Black Shield envoy spoke, having Anwen interpret for him. Stefan had taken Anwen’s usual place in documenting the event in a notebook. Meanwhile, the southerners including Manisha, Ilias, and Rohan were led off by Genichi’s wife to arrange their lodgings for the time being and to nourish themselves with fresh food for the first time in months.
“So this great war… it has been going on for how long?” Genichi asked.
Anwen didn’t need to feed the question to Ivan to answer it.
“Almost seven months, Genichi-san.” the girl answered in northern-accented Shimajimese.
“You said seven months, right?” Ivan wished to confirm, signs of being antsy showing in his speech. He didn’t like when he didn’t know what was being said in front of him, but Anwen soothed his troubles by giving him a firm nod of the head.
“Well then… this is a war being fought with the power of the Shinpitekenaishi…” Genichi thought aloud.
Shinpitekenaishi…? Anwen wondered as to what the word could’ve meant. She recognised the word for stone, but the other part of the word was something she was not familiar with. The power of some kind of stone. Utrium? Is that their word for Utrium?
“The power of Shinpitekenaishi is, unfortunately, one that I do not yield. There is little I can do to help you in that regard. I apologise sincerely for that.”
Anwen’s heart sunk, the words hitting her like a ton of bricks. Her gaze lowered to her clasped hands on her lap. Was the treacherous journey of two and a half months a complete waste? Trekking covertly into an enemy land, encountering a close call with a Titanian police officer, negotiating access to a great ship while running the risk of detainment or even worse… had it just all gone down the drain with just two sentences?
“What did he say?” Ivan turned slightly. Anwen’s sullen eyes had immediately caught his attention, and he put a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder.
“He doesn’t have Utrium.” Anwen’s response was simple.
“Well, there has to be someone that we can talk to, right? That massive Barrier…” Stefan muttered, the sudden turn in emotion biting at him.
“How could they not have it? You can’t create a Level 50 Barrier and maintain it for a whole millennium without being Initiated, and you can’t be Initiated generation after generation unless you have heaps and heaps of Utrium! Tell him that, Anwen.” Ivan urged Anwen. She struggled to find the Shimajimese words that would entail encompass their pressing demand.
“Please forgive me, my dear guests,” Genichi spoke, unable to understand what the Yeupisian visitors were saying, but their open emotions transcended linguistic barriers. “It seems that my words have gotten you flustered somewhat. I myself have no access to Shinpitekenaishi, but… I may be able to connect you to its source in our islands.”
Anwen raised her head, and Ivan understood that Genichi had more to say.
“He--he says he might be able to get us to the source of the Utrium.” Anwen said, her heart beating faster as it anticipated this new sliver of hope.
Ivan looked at Genichi again, and with a polite yet cautious smile, he nodded for him to speak.
“From the island of Yakuramoto, I can supply you with 500 armed men as well as additional general supplies that you require. I sympathize with your cause. The Angels are the reason we have locked ourselves in for all these centuries, the same barbarians that cause your people much misery…”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Genichi paused for Anwen to translate to Ivan and Stefan, much to their disappointment.
“Only 500? And they aren’t even Initiated?” Ivan sighed.
“We could do the Initiating as soon as we return home.” Stefan proposed with a shrug.
Anwen then gestured for Genichi to continue speaking.
“On top of that… I can get you an audience before the Shogun himself. He is the most powerful man in our nation and is certainly the one with the most access to, if not the only, Shinpitekenaishi.”
Anwen felt relieved, but also slightly intimidated that there was a man more powerful than the one before them somewhere in the same nation.
He’ll have what we need.
Anwen translated the revelation to her compatriots, who felt a hundred tons being lifted off their shoulders.
“Ask the daimyo what he wants in return,” Ivan said, his voice giddy. “We’ll give him whatever he wants. Spices, tea, wood, fur, anything on Serenity’s Song he wants, he can have. He’s just done us a huge favour.”
“I saw that huge vessel behind you when you came rowing in your boat. I assume it came with plenty of supplies aboard, and not just for yourselves.” Genichi said with a smile.
He sure isn’t direct with what he wants, Anwen surmised. It must be the same for everyone here.
“Well, Genichi-san, h-how much would you like? We have spices, tea, wood, animals furs…”
“Well… we’ve been delaying renovations on a multitude of buildings in our governorate. I suppose some that wood would be great.”
“What did he say, Anwen? What did he say?” Ivan shook the girl by the shoulders, rocking her back and forth until Stefan had to stop him.
“He… he just wants the wood, Ivan.” Anwen sheepishly answered.
“S-Seriously…? That’s all he wants?”
“W-Well… he hasn’t said what the Shogun might want out of this, but…”
“Okay, okay. We can deal with that later. I’ll deal with Rohan and the wood. Anwen, good fucking job!” Ivan wrapped his arms around Anwen, using one arm to hug her and the other hand to pat her vigorously on the back of the head.
Rare instance of Ivan not being in a mood, Stefan scribbled down in his notepad. Good leader?
Genichi rose to his feet, which invited the three northerners to do the same. Ivan held his hand out for the daimyo to shake.
“They don’t shake hands here.” Anwen reminded the older of the two northerner men.
Genichi bowed once more as a sign of respect to his guests, which they reciprocated.
“Your cooperation is much appreciated,” the daimyo said. “I hope that this is the beginning of a new relationship between all of our lands.”
As Anwen translated the phrase to Ivan and did the same for Ivan’s response to the gesture, Stefan swore he heard someone else’s voice.
“Do not be so naïve. Do you think such a deal could come so easily?”
It was a man’s gravelly voice, yet it spoke not in Shimajimese, and it sounded more formal than the Yeupisian he was used to.
An Angel?
Stefan’s eyes darted around, yet the only people in the vicinity were the four of them in Genichi’s office, and two guards standing outside its door.
“The comfort given to you now and before will result in your struggle later. There is no avoiding it, my grandson. When it comes to, do not hesitate like the weak Terrans around you. Confront it and annihilate it.”
“Grandson…?” Stefan muttered softly, for no one else’s ears to hear.
“You’re starting to understand who you are, my child. Using the power only us Titanians have been given the blessing to fully wield has enabled that part of you which you had hidden to gradually surface. Use that knowledge and keep making it a part of you. It is your duty. You kept us hidden your whole life, so this is now your task.”
Your grandson? Us? You’re in my head. What are you talking about?
“Do not dismiss me as a mere thought. I am as much a fragment of you as you are a fragment of your true people. Embrace my words. Embrace yourself.”
Stefan felt his head get lighter, as if a present made its way out of it.
What the hell just happened? Am I so tired that I’m starting to hallucinate?
“Stefan…”
Nope, I still hear a voice. It’s even louder now.
“Stefan…”
What the fuck…? What really are you…?
“Stefan!”
The boy shook his head, as if it would shrug the voice away. He glanced around and saw a small figure standing before him.
“Zoning out again?” the girl wondered, pulling one corner of her mouth upwards.
“I… yeah. Sorry. So what’s going on?” Stefan chuckled nervously.
“Were you not paying attention? You were writing it all down in that notebook, weren’t you?”
“Uh, y-yeah.” Stefan stammered.
“So you do know! Well, in case you somehow forgot in your minute of frolicking in your own world, we just got a way to our Utrium, and tomorrow afternoon, we’ll set out for the Shogun’s palace!”
“Shogun… is he more powerful than the Daimyo?”
“Yeah. There’s a bunch of daimyos, but there's only one Shogun. What matters is that we finally have our Utrium after so long!” Anwen said, pressing Stefan’s hands together and sandwiching them between hers, jumping up and down like a little girl receiving a toy for the first time in ages.
Stefan’s tense face softened, and he squeezed the girl’s hands for a brief few seconds, before letting go.
I can’t tell her what I heard. She’s happy and it should stay that way.
“Well, that’s really good,” he flashed a grin. “We’re a bit closer. Closer to stopping that terrible war.”
“Let’s push that to the side, just for a few hours.” Anwen said, leading Stefan through the sliding door of Genichi’s study. She either didn’t care or didn’t know that the two guards at the door were making faces of cringe at how open she was with expressing herself.
“For what?” Stefan wondered.
“Because we get to try on kimonos and have a feast in this pretty house?” Anwen asked as if it was very obvious what she meant.
“What on Terra is a kimono?”
“There you are, going back to your questions. You’ll see soon enough!”