Chapter 14.
“How embarrassing are those Westernized courtiers who think themselves superior to us, the true defenders of the empire. They live in a bubble of illusions, ignoring the darkness of the world and the threat looming over our nation. They want children to grow up in ignorance, knowing nothing of war, blood, or glory. At what point do children stop being children? When they turn 18? When they get married? When they die? No, children stop being children when they face reality, when they have to fight for their country, when they have to defend their honor.”
“Our military proposals are not warmongering or corrupting minors. They are necessary to secure the future of our empire, which is expanding at an accelerated pace. Enemies arise from all sides, from Cathay to Beikoku, from Chosen to Yukiguni. These terrorists do not distinguish between a child and an adult. They have no mercy or compassion. They only want to destroy our culture, our history, our identity. We must teach young people the reality of the world, prepare them for combat, instill in them valor and sacrifice.”
“The Empire”
Manifesto
Secretary General of the Sun Party, Ichirou Asa
Days had extended their claws since the first lesson given by Professor Oda. Notebooks had been filled with notes on skills that seemed to have been born from the darkest legends, abilities that had stretched the limits of their imagination and which, until then, had seemed unattainable.
Oda, a master of relentless nature, instructed with a passion that fueled the fire of knowledge, but also with a severity that kept them on edge, fearing the weight of his disapproval. And more than once, he had hinted that they would soon have to use their knowledge in a real scenario. That outside the walls of the Forbidden City, a shadow was looming. That something was coming.
On that day, as on so many others, Professor Oda crossed the threshold of the classroom with his characteristic gloomy aura, dragging his damaged leg across the room. He leaned on the lectern and looked at them with his dark, penetrating eyes.
“Well, well,” he said in a hoarse voice, and his crooked smile widened like that of a shark smelling blood. “I’m sure many of you were looking forward to taking the exam to move up in rank. Well, I have news for you: FORGET ABOUT IT, YOU PIECES OF MEAT WITH LEGS!”
Surprise and disappointment spread like a wave among the students. Some looked at each other in disbelief, while others bowed their heads with resignation forged in the heat of months of study and preparation.
Forget the opportunity to prove their worth? Was he crazy? They had invested time and effort, weeks and months, to reach this moment.
Oda smiled maliciously.
“Calm down! It’s not that you’ve failed before you even started, although some of you would deserve it! It’s that it’s been decided to change the exam format. There won’t be one for six months, and instead of asking you boring theoretical questions, I’m going to put you to a practical test. Yes, we’re going to have real fights!”
Surprise turned to alarm and nervousness. Ritsu tensed up, real combat? This was new. He had never heard or read about such an exam. This, combined with Oda’s arrival, made him question what the hell was happening outside the Forbidden City. Were they preparing for something? A war? That prospect terrified him. Besides, what or who would they fight against? Would it be against other students? Against Oda himself? Against some monstrous creature?
Oda seemed to enjoy their bewilderment and continued speaking:
“Oh, I can smell your fear!” Oda sniffed loudly, like a bloodhound tracking a scent. “It’s delicious! Nutritious! NECESSARY!” He limped closer to a visibly trembling student. “Scared, boy? YOU SHOULD BE! Fear keeps people alive... the reckless end up dead or worse!”
Oda limped away, chuckling.
“But don’t be scared, don’t be scared!” Oda shrieked with hysterical laughter. “I’m not going to let you tear each other apart... at least not yet. The fights will be supervised, but dangerous enough for you to feel fear corroding your guts.”
Oda paused and looked at the students sternly.
“And don’t worry about injuries. If you lose an arm or an eye, you can always replace it with a wooden one, right?” He burst out laughing, pulling his hair. “But don’t get too confident, either. This won’t be a game, worms. It will be a fight for your stay here. I will be the judge... and the executioner... The winner will move up. The loser will be humiliated... and expelled forever. So fight as if your life depended on it! Because maybe it will... or not?”
Oda finished his speech and struck his cane against the floor so hard that some stones from the ceiling came loose.
“Up! Follow me to the North Forest! There we’ll see who’s cut out for this and who’s expendable!”
***
They had never dreamed of setting foot in the North Forest. It was a forbidden place for them, the dull browns, the apprentices who had not yet proven their worth to the masters. The North Forest was the domain of the blues, whites, and silvers, those who had reached a level of reiki superior to most. There they practiced arts and techniques that overflowed the capacity of common gardens, that required a larger and wilder space to deploy their power.
Until that day.
Professor Oda had told them they were going to take a special test, one that would push their limits and potential. They had been warned not to separate from the group, not to stray from the marked path, not to touch anything they shouldn’t.
And, above all, not to lose respect for the North Forest.
Ritsu walked nervously, following his companions. To his right was Shinji, who kept startling at every noise or insect. To his left was Shiori. She seemed calmer, but Ritsu knew she was scared too. Both had heard stories about the North Forest, rumors that circulated among the browns. Stories of fierce beasts, poisonous plants, deadly traps. Stories of students who entered and never came out.
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“D-d-do you think it’s true?” Shinji squealed, shaking like jelly while clutching his notebook as if it were a shield. Then he stopped and squatted while frantically touching his head.
“What thing?” Shiori asked with an annoyed face, without looking up from her book.
“EEEHHH?! DON’T YOU KNOW?!” Shinji jumped up, waving his arms frantically. “About the North Forest! It’s a CUR-CUR-CURSED place!” his teeth chattered as he looked around paranoidly. “They say there are ghosts! And monsters! And-and-and things that EAT you!”
“Shinji, you’re exaggerating aga...” Shiori began, but Shinji was already in full horror story mode.
“LISTEN TO THIS!” he shouted, pulling out a reiki stone flashlight from who knows where and illuminating his face from below. “Three years ago, there was a student named Akane! She was suuuper smart, but she stuck her nose where she shouldn’t have!” his eyes widened. “One night she went to the forest and... and... and... DISAPPEARED! POOF! As if a yokai had swallowed her!”
Shinji started spinning around, gesticulating wildly.
“And that’s not all! THEY SAY that on moonless nights you can see her ghost!” he stopped abruptly and whispered in a trembling voice. “She walks among the trees... singing terrifying songs... LOOKING FOR NEW VICTIMS!”
A noise made Shinji jump three meters in the air.
“AAAH! IT’S HER! SHE’S COME FOR US!” he threw himself to the ground, trembling. “I DON’T WANT TO DIE! I’M TOO YOUNG AND HANDSOME TO BE EATEN BY A GHOST!”
Shiori looked at him with a “you’ve got to be kidding me” face and sighed.
“Shinji... it’s just the janitor watering the plants and trees.”
“THAT’S WHAT THE GHOST WANTS YOU TO THINK!” Shinji screeched. “Ghosts are very cunning! They disguise themselves as janitors and... and... and PLANTS!”
“The plants are ghosts now too?” Shiori asked with a raised eyebrow.
“EVERYTHING is suspicious!” Shinji peeked out with just his eyes, looking frantically around. “That’s why Professor Oda always says to be alert! Because ghosts are everywhere! They could even be... RIGHT HERE!” he shuddered dramatically.
At that moment, someone touched his shoulder.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Shinji shot off like a rocket and stuck to a tree like a scared cat. “IT’S AKANE-SENPAI! SHE’S COME TO TAKE US TO THE FOREST! EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!”
But it was actually... Professor Oda.
“What’s going on he...?”
“GYAAAAAAAAAAH!” Shinji fainted dramatically, although he quickly recovered. “P-p-professor Oda! It’s not what it looks like! I was just practicing my... my... my battle cry! Yeah, that’s it!”
Oda narrowed his eyes (well, one of them, the other was still spinning).
“Battle cry, eh?” he limped forward, his cane rhythmically hitting the ground. “HA!”
Suddenly, faster than a blink, Oda sprang on him like a spring. The cane connected perfectly with Shinji’s head, who fell with spiraling eyes. A huge egg-shaped bump rose on his head, pulsing with its own heartbeat.
“Owwww...” Shinji moaned from the ground. “I see Akanes-senpai everywhere...”
“THAT’LL TEACH YOU NOT TO GO AROUND TELLING GHOST STORIES!” Oda roared. “Next time you want to scream, do it while practicing!”
And with that, Oda limped away while laughing like a lunatic. Shiori, who had observed the whole scene with a drop of sweat on her forehead, sighed deeply.
“Still alive, blockhead?” she asked, looking with annoyance at Shinji lying on the ground.
“The little ghosts... are... tickling...” Shinji mumbled, while his bump kept pulsing like a faulty light bulb.
Ritsu observed the forest with uneasiness and turned to Shiori, who had returned to her book as if nothing had happened.
“Despite everything... I feel there’s something strange here. Don’t you think, Shiori?”
Shiori closed her book with a snap and rolled her eyes.
“Oh, please, don’t tell me you’re going to start with that nonsense too,” she huffed. “Ghosts, curses, dark secrets... they’re just old wives’ tales invented to scare new students and keep curious idiots at bay,” she pointed with her chin at Shinji, who was still muttering incoherently on the ground. “Like this specimen here.”
“But the teachers’ warnings...”
“Are exactly that: warnings,” she cut him off, crossing her arms. “Do you really think such a prestigious school would have a cursed forest in its backyard? Please. Only gullible people like Shinji swallow those stories. It’s the perfect way to maintain order: scare the fools with ghost stories and you’re guaranteed they won’t meddle where they shouldn’t.”
Ritsu didn’t seem convinced.
“Or maybe,” he said quietly, “it’s a way to protect us. Maybe there’s something in the forest we shouldn’t see.”
Shiori let out a dry laugh.
“Protect us? From what? From evil trees? From killer bushes?” she shook her head. “Look, if you want to join the paranoid club with Shinji, go ahead. But I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and my brain functioning.”
She hurried ahead, stopping for a moment to look at Shinji, who was now trying to catch with his hands the imaginary little ghosts floating above his head.
“Although well,” she added with a smile, “seeing the example we have here, I guess it’s normal for these stories to keep circulating. There will always be someone gullible enough to believe them.”
But as they talked, the forest was closing in around them. The trees were tall and lush, with leaves of an intense green. The sun could barely penetrate the foliage, creating a play of light and shadow. The air was charged with humidity and aromas. Ritsu smelled the wet earth, the wildflowers, the moss. He even smelled the reiki. It was a different smell from the reiki of the gardens, purer and wilder.
The forest was also a world of sounds. He could perceive the crunch of dry branches under his feet, the song of birds hiding among the leaves, the whisper of the wind caressing the treetops... and the sound of Katsuo and his thugs, who were following them at a short distance, laughing and mocking them.
“What’s wrong, little piggies?” Katsuo shouted, moving ahead and cutting off their path with a malicious smile. “Are you afraid the insects will devour you alive?” He pointed his finger at Shinji. “Look at this one’s face. He looks like he’s going to cry. What’s wrong, Shinji? Don’t you like the forest?”
“Leave us alone, Katsuo,” Shiori’s voice was firm and clear. “We don’t have time for your nonsense.”
The boy fell silent for a moment. Katsuo wouldn’t dare bother Shiori.
She was untouchable to him, one of his own class.
“Damn bi...” Shuichi, a thin and nervous boy who had recently joined Katsuo’s group, tried to intervene. But he didn’t get to finish the sentence, as Tora, the biggest and strongest of the thugs, gave him a dry blow to the back, making him cough and choke.
“Shut up, idiot,” Tora spat at him with contempt. “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
Katsuo raised an indulgent hand.
“I won’t do anything to them... for now,” he muttered, running a hand through his messy hair. “But that lunatic Oda announced real fights for the exam. It will be very fun to see how they fail humiliatingly.”
His smile turned sadistic.
“And if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get to face them. Then they’ll know true pain.”
Katsuo enjoyed instilling fear.
“Don’t fear, my little scared mice,” he continued with false sweetness. “If you’re not my opponents and you pass the exam, I’ll leave you alone. But if you fail...” his expression darkened, and his voice turned into a threatening hiss, “I’ll come for you. And believe me, you won’t want to be in my way when that happens.”
Shinji, who had a much more explosive temper than his, left behind his fear of the forest and seemed ready to attack Katsuo, but before Shinji could lunge at him, Professor Oda’s harsh voice thundered in the distance.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” he roared in front of them, hitting the ground with his cane. His eyes sparkled with anger. “I told you not to stray from the path! Although there are no ghosts, this forest is plagued with ancient reiki and wild beasts. If you don’t want to be food for wolves, ogres, or kappas, obey my orders to the letter!”
Katsuo and his gang startled. The professor’s fury was legendary. They quickly returned to the path, followed by Ritsu and the others.
Oda was waiting for them with a frown, leaning on his cane.
“Listen carefully, ignorant brats. This forest is not a playground. Fierce creatures lurk within, attracted by the scent of your fear. Any deviation from the path can be fatal.”
His gaze stopped on Katsuo.
“And as for you... save your rivalries for the exam. There you can tear each other apart if you wish. But first, you must survive to reach that moment.”
Katsuo smiled.
“Don’t worry, professor. I’ll make it to that exam, and none of these insects will be able to stop me. Count on it.”
Oda snorted.
“We’ll see, arrogant brat. We’ll see.”